I haven't slept much since I arrived in China. Between work, early morning and late night calls, and jet lag, I'm exhausted. Today was a throwaway day as I did next to nothing. I slept in to catch up on sleep, worked out, and sat next to the hotel pool for a couple of hours in the afternoon. I didn't actually hang out in the pool and that is for two reasons. One, it's a lap pool and I didn't want to disturb the two Chinese men swimming laps, and two, like at most Asian hotels, they require guests to wear a swim cap, and I don't really want to wear one. I know that's ridiculous, but I can't help it, I'm ridiculous.
For dinner, I needed to get out and get some fresh air. I asked the concierge to direct me toward some restaurants and nightlife. He told me where the best nightclubs were. I explained by nightlife, I just meant where some people would be, but whatever, I went with it.
The taxi dropped me off and I strolled on the pedestrian path along the water. There were a couple of Chinese restaurants, but mostly, the restaurants were more geared towards Westerners. My personal favorite was the Texas restaurant, which had a mechanical bull in the middle of it. I chose one of the two huge Chinese seafood restaurants and went inside. I figured since it said "Seafood Restaurant" under the Chinese lettering, they would at least have English menus and a staff that spoke some English. I was looking for something Chinese, but not too Chinese that I'd have trouble communicating and knowing what I was ordering.
The Honor Seafood Restaurant looked like so many others in China, resembling an enormous banquet room, all the way down to the chair covers, clinking glasses, and the chandeliers and light fixtures trying desperately to appear more luxurious and expensive than they really are. The clamour of Chinese discussion between friends and family was overwhelming and filled the air that smelled overwhelmingly of seafood and Chinese flavors.
Primarily through hand gestures, I was able to get a table for one. I normally refuse to eat at restaurants with pictures on the menu, but In China, I try not to eat anywhere that doesn't. I fear getting food poisoning in China. This one also had English translations for the menu items.
Eating alone is a strange experience, but one I know all too well from the jobs I've had which require me to travel. At least in the US, the wait staff tries to talk to you (even though I don't really want them to), but here, it's literally 45 minutes of pure silence. It can be therapeautic. Sometimes it is nice to simply have some time to think. Sometimes, it isn't. I like having time to think, but currently, all I think about is work, so I really don't like having dead time.
I ask the waitress for a Tsigntao beer. She asks with her fingers if I want one or two. I thought it was an odd question, but I figured, why not, maybe she's onto something, as I raised the index and middle finger on my right hand.
The waitress hovered over me as I opened and skimmed through what seemed like a 40 page menu. I finally decided on baked shrimp, a crabmeat dish, and beef stir fry. It seemed like 30 minutes or so went by as I waited for my food, but it was probably exagerrated due to the fact that I was alone. The crabmeat dish was pretty good, but when I started getting shell in my bites, I decided I was done with it. The shrimp came and wasn't what I expected when I ordered it. It was more like breaded and pan fried shrimp. This normally would be fine, but they were breaded and pan fried in the shell with the head and tail still on. I had no clue how I was supposed to eat this. It's one of the most uncomfortable things about eating in China, figuring out how and what you are supposed to eat. It's one place I really prefer to eat with locals. I tried peeling one completely and that didn't seem right. I then ate a few in the shell, but took off the tails and heads. I gave up after that and spent my time on the stir fried beef.
As a side note here, most restaurants don't have napkins, so people don't eat with their hands. I later asked Jason, who is from Shanghai and is traveling with me (but had flown home for the weekend), how Chinese people eat shrimp in a shell. He explained (and later showed me) that they put the entire thing in their mouth, de-shell it with their teeth and spit it out on the plate. I'm still not clear if this how everyone does it or only how Jason does it. I'm also not sure if that is more civilized or the way we do it in America with our hands.
It felt like the entire restaurant was staring at me as the meal went on, when in reality, it was just the few tables around me and most of the wait staff. I wanted dessert, but nothing on the menu looked that great and I dreaded trying to communicate with the waitress again. In the end, one of the waitresses walked me over to the register to pay. After paying, besides the receipt, I was handed what looked like Chinese scratchoff lottery tickets. I may be very wealthy right now, but I have no idea what they say.
I like to travel and I like to try new things when I do travel, but being risk averse, I need a little guidance and prefer to have recommendations whether from someone I know or from a guide book. I like to know what I'm getting myself into and in this case, what I am putting in my mouth. I'll most likely stick to eating at the hotel tomorrow and wait to explore again when Jason returns from Shanghai.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Airplane Reviews - Flying to China
I enjoy flying Emirates Air. It's much more comfortable, even in coach, than other airlines. The food isn't terrible, and there are tons of choices on the personal televisions at every seat. The one drawback is that they cater to customers of several different nationalities so when they make announcements, they make them 4 times in 4 different languages. It's annoying.
I was flying to Beijing for work. The last time I flew Emirates, I was able to fly business class, which was incredible. There was no such luck this time. I flew in the afternoon, so I didn't sleep on the first leg of the flight from Vienna to Dubai. I skipped the meal because I wasn't hungry and I wanted to eat in Dubai to kill time during the 5 hour layover.
After spending about 20 minutes looking through all the movies and TV shows available for viewing, I watched The Company Men. I had heard about it when it was released recently and wanted to see it. I don't think it was out in theaters very long. The movie stars Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, and Tommy Lee Jones. The plot centers around the high level employees at a large ship building corporation, who one after another are let go by the company due to large scale layoffs as an attempt to try and stay afloat during the economic meltdown. The story has a ton of holes in it and things escalate from bad to catastrophic in a very short time, but the acting is good. It's an entertaining movie, but a little too manufactured and Hollywood-ized for me. I am not that cold-hearted that I can't appreciate a happy ending, but when it feels forced and fake, it rubs me the wrong way. The movie really tried to force the viewer to understand how layofss and budget cuts affect higher-paid executives, but the problems they have are difficult to relate to or sympathize with when there are those much less fortunate than them with much bigger problems than having to sell their Porsche and move into their parents' house. I really like Rosemarie DeWitt, Don Draper's mistress in the first season of Mad Men, who plays Ben Affleck's wife in this film, though she seemed a little too easy going and relatively unaffected by what was happening to her husband and family.
For the remainder of the flight, I watched old episodes of Parks and Recreation. Many people have told me good things about the show, so I've been giving it a chance. It's pretty funny.
The five hour layover in the Dubai airport was uneventful. I had chocolate, pralines, and caramel ice cream at Haagen Dazs, so it could have been worse.
I was flying to Beijing for work. The last time I flew Emirates, I was able to fly business class, which was incredible. There was no such luck this time. I flew in the afternoon, so I didn't sleep on the first leg of the flight from Vienna to Dubai. I skipped the meal because I wasn't hungry and I wanted to eat in Dubai to kill time during the 5 hour layover.
After spending about 20 minutes looking through all the movies and TV shows available for viewing, I watched The Company Men. I had heard about it when it was released recently and wanted to see it. I don't think it was out in theaters very long. The movie stars Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, and Tommy Lee Jones. The plot centers around the high level employees at a large ship building corporation, who one after another are let go by the company due to large scale layoffs as an attempt to try and stay afloat during the economic meltdown. The story has a ton of holes in it and things escalate from bad to catastrophic in a very short time, but the acting is good. It's an entertaining movie, but a little too manufactured and Hollywood-ized for me. I am not that cold-hearted that I can't appreciate a happy ending, but when it feels forced and fake, it rubs me the wrong way. The movie really tried to force the viewer to understand how layofss and budget cuts affect higher-paid executives, but the problems they have are difficult to relate to or sympathize with when there are those much less fortunate than them with much bigger problems than having to sell their Porsche and move into their parents' house. I really like Rosemarie DeWitt, Don Draper's mistress in the first season of Mad Men, who plays Ben Affleck's wife in this film, though she seemed a little too easy going and relatively unaffected by what was happening to her husband and family.
For the remainder of the flight, I watched old episodes of Parks and Recreation. Many people have told me good things about the show, so I've been giving it a chance. It's pretty funny.
The five hour layover in the Dubai airport was uneventful. I had chocolate, pralines, and caramel ice cream at Haagen Dazs, so it could have been worse.
A Day In The Life
(This post has been delayed because I've been traveling and blogging is blocked in China)
It's Spring. The sun is out. The temperature is consistently in the 60's and 70's. The cafes are setting up their outside tables and patios. Bratislava is a completely different city in the Spring and Summer, like a caterpillar breaking out of its cocoon and spreading its new butterfly wings. Sitting at a cafe, dining al fresco amongst buildings that are hundreds of years old, it feels like Europe. It feels good.
Last weekend, we took advantage of the great weather and explored some parts of Bratislava we hadn't yet visited. We walked a couple of miles north along the Danube to the Bratislava Botanical Garden. Along the way, we stopped for a burger at the new Kempinski Hotel at the River Park development. Jenn proclaimed it the best burger in Bratislava, which is funny for two reasons: one, because the burgers are across the board pretty iffy in Bratislava, and two, (we split one) and it cost 15 EUR ($19 USD). At that price, it has no business not being good.
We arrived at the unassuming garden, paid 3 EUR each and strolled through it. It's more of a park than it is a garden, but it was nice. It's quaint, but serene, even if nothing was in bloom so early in the season.
After a couple of hours resting back at the flat, we took a taxi out to the Danubiana Modern Art Museum. It's 15km south of the city, sitting on a peninsula along the Danube next to a small village called Cunovo. Even though we asked at the tourist information office, we called to verify our transportation options with the actual museum. We had learned from Rachel's visit when she and Jenn tried to go to the museum and got lost in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. They never made it. After we did make it and visited, it bothered both of us that the city doesn't make more of an effort to promote this museum for visitors and also make it easier for people to get there. It's nice and very pretty on a nice day like this, but it sits totally unnoticed and unvisited. It's a shame.
We walked through the sculpture garden on the grounds surrounding the museum and then quickly moved through the small collection inside.
From there, we met the Yeagers for dinner and our new friend, Caitlin. Caitlin works for Dell and just moved to Bratislava for a year assignment. She also coincidentally is Jenn's distant cousin. We ate at Antica Toscana, which is a very good Italian restaurant in a small house in another village, Rusovce, outside of Bratislava city center.
Days like this, enjoying the offerings of your city, are nice regardless of where you live. It's all about turning off the TV and the computers, getting outdoors, and seeing that there is a great wide world out there.
I haven't made mention of it yet, but in regards to exploring that great wide world, we've decided to extend our time in Bratislava for one more year. From a work perspective, it is the right opportunity for me, but on the personal front, we like our life here and there is still so much more we want to experience. Being away from friends, family, and Tex-Mex food is hard, no question, but it feels right for us.
It's Spring. The sun is out. The temperature is consistently in the 60's and 70's. The cafes are setting up their outside tables and patios. Bratislava is a completely different city in the Spring and Summer, like a caterpillar breaking out of its cocoon and spreading its new butterfly wings. Sitting at a cafe, dining al fresco amongst buildings that are hundreds of years old, it feels like Europe. It feels good.
Last weekend, we took advantage of the great weather and explored some parts of Bratislava we hadn't yet visited. We walked a couple of miles north along the Danube to the Bratislava Botanical Garden. Along the way, we stopped for a burger at the new Kempinski Hotel at the River Park development. Jenn proclaimed it the best burger in Bratislava, which is funny for two reasons: one, because the burgers are across the board pretty iffy in Bratislava, and two, (we split one) and it cost 15 EUR ($19 USD). At that price, it has no business not being good.
We arrived at the unassuming garden, paid 3 EUR each and strolled through it. It's more of a park than it is a garden, but it was nice. It's quaint, but serene, even if nothing was in bloom so early in the season.
After a couple of hours resting back at the flat, we took a taxi out to the Danubiana Modern Art Museum. It's 15km south of the city, sitting on a peninsula along the Danube next to a small village called Cunovo. Even though we asked at the tourist information office, we called to verify our transportation options with the actual museum. We had learned from Rachel's visit when she and Jenn tried to go to the museum and got lost in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. They never made it. After we did make it and visited, it bothered both of us that the city doesn't make more of an effort to promote this museum for visitors and also make it easier for people to get there. It's nice and very pretty on a nice day like this, but it sits totally unnoticed and unvisited. It's a shame.
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From there, we met the Yeagers for dinner and our new friend, Caitlin. Caitlin works for Dell and just moved to Bratislava for a year assignment. She also coincidentally is Jenn's distant cousin. We ate at Antica Toscana, which is a very good Italian restaurant in a small house in another village, Rusovce, outside of Bratislava city center.
Days like this, enjoying the offerings of your city, are nice regardless of where you live. It's all about turning off the TV and the computers, getting outdoors, and seeing that there is a great wide world out there.
I haven't made mention of it yet, but in regards to exploring that great wide world, we've decided to extend our time in Bratislava for one more year. From a work perspective, it is the right opportunity for me, but on the personal front, we like our life here and there is still so much more we want to experience. Being away from friends, family, and Tex-Mex food is hard, no question, but it feels right for us.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Trying to Reason With Ski Season
Temperatures are rising here in Bratislava. This is not only the signal of the end of Winter, but also the end of ski season. Having only learned to ski in December, I wanted to get one more ski trip in to get more practice. I've improved, but I still have a long way to go.
We decided on Innsbruck, site of the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics, because it is an hour flight away and surrounded by ski slopes. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Europa, which was very nice. Because of my work schedule, we actually stayed in Vienna Friday night and flew out early Saturday morning. So, within minutes of arriving at the hotel, we changed into our ski clothes, left our bags at the front desk, and hopped on the morning ski bus. 45 minutes later, we arrived at Axamer Lizum. There were several ski lifts, but the way up to reach the one long blue slope was by funicular. Jenn has skied much more than me and she said this was the first time she'd seen such a thing. Standing up with our skis, jammed in like sardines was not the most pleasant way to get up the mountain, but the fact that they have a track that runs up to the 7700 foot peak was really cool. At least, I thought so. I might be turning into my father.
The views were great from the peak. The way down was challenging, but not too bad. It wasn't overly crowded, which was nice. I worked on trying to keep my skis together in parallel. I was able to do it at times, but any time I picked up speed, I freaked out and moved back into plow, or forced myself to fall. It's all about confidence and I don't quite have it yet. The ending of the slope was fun because it was a steep straight downhill into a long flat stretch which let us build up a lot of speed and then coast into the finish. The highlight of the day was the apple strudel I had for dessert at the restaurant at the top of the mountain.
We hit up the sauna at the hotel, which we've become accustomed to doing after skiing, since that's how they roll in Austria. There was no one else in the sauna, so it was much less awkward for us than our previous sauna experience when we skied in December. After resting the remainder of the afternoon, we walked around the old town and checked out the Golden Roof, the biggest tourist attraction in the city. It's a three story structure that juts out from a larger building. It was built for Maximillian I to commemorate his marriage. It is strange. We had dinner at Cammerlander, a nice, but casual place on the river. The menu was bizarre featuring Austrian specialties, pizza, ramen noodles, and I can't remember what else. I had the Tyrolean style pancakes with cheese in a beef broth. Jenn had a ramen dish.
We missed the ski bus the next morning. It was daylight savings, but that's not why we missed it. We were moving at a leisurely pace. We ate breakfast and went back to the room to each use the bathroom before heading out for the day. When we came down, we realized we were a few minutes late. We regrouped quickly and hopped on a train to St Anton, which is a little over an hour from Innsbruck. Spontaneity is not one of our strong suits, but I was really proud of us on this one. This would end up being a fantastic decision, for which Jenn deserves the bulk of the credit.
The lifts in St Anton were a short walk from the train station, so by noon, we were sitting on the ski lift heading up. The lift system in St Anton is an engineering feat. I'm no engineer so I can't describe it in any great detail, but the main gondola from the base station to the top is a work of art. I tried to take pictures, but it doesn't quite capture it.
It was disheartening that a half day of ski rentals and lift tickets was more expensive than a full day in Innsbruck, but, I'll admit, it was worth every penny. The quality of skiing in St Anton was much better than what I'd experienced in my brief ski experience. The runs were long, challenging, and breathtakingly beautiful. I am not sure if they manufacture their own snow or not (I am guessing they do), but the snow quality was also much better than the previous day at Axamer Lizum. The fact that the slopes were filled with moguls was a new and totally unexpected challenge for me. I'm not good enough yet to control myself at that level where I could swerve around them consistently, but it was very good practice, and hard work.
We finished skiing right at 4pm when the lifts were closing. We walked the main street of the town, which was cute, had an apres ski beer, and hopped on the train back to Innsbruck. Dinner was at the hotel restaurant, which was very nice. The apple strudel for dessert was good, but I actually thought the one I had eaten at the top of Axamer Lizum was better.
I'm disappointed that the ski season is over, but we're happy we got in three ski trips. Now that we know the areas and I am somewhat competent on the slopes, we'll be well prepared when next winter comes around.
For now, spring is officially here. The restaurants in Bratislava are starting to put out their outdoor tables and the pedestrian zone is becoming a lot more crowded as people are starting to spend more time outside. The city takes on a whole new personality when the temperature gets above 15 celsius (around 60 farenheit).
Stay tuned, as there is a lot of spring and summer travel is coming. There is so much still that we want to do, see, and experience.
* For more pictures, click here
We decided on Innsbruck, site of the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics, because it is an hour flight away and surrounded by ski slopes. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Europa, which was very nice. Because of my work schedule, we actually stayed in Vienna Friday night and flew out early Saturday morning. So, within minutes of arriving at the hotel, we changed into our ski clothes, left our bags at the front desk, and hopped on the morning ski bus. 45 minutes later, we arrived at Axamer Lizum. There were several ski lifts, but the way up to reach the one long blue slope was by funicular. Jenn has skied much more than me and she said this was the first time she'd seen such a thing. Standing up with our skis, jammed in like sardines was not the most pleasant way to get up the mountain, but the fact that they have a track that runs up to the 7700 foot peak was really cool. At least, I thought so. I might be turning into my father.
 |  |
The views were great from the peak. The way down was challenging, but not too bad. It wasn't overly crowded, which was nice. I worked on trying to keep my skis together in parallel. I was able to do it at times, but any time I picked up speed, I freaked out and moved back into plow, or forced myself to fall. It's all about confidence and I don't quite have it yet. The ending of the slope was fun because it was a steep straight downhill into a long flat stretch which let us build up a lot of speed and then coast into the finish. The highlight of the day was the apple strudel I had for dessert at the restaurant at the top of the mountain.
We hit up the sauna at the hotel, which we've become accustomed to doing after skiing, since that's how they roll in Austria. There was no one else in the sauna, so it was much less awkward for us than our previous sauna experience when we skied in December. After resting the remainder of the afternoon, we walked around the old town and checked out the Golden Roof, the biggest tourist attraction in the city. It's a three story structure that juts out from a larger building. It was built for Maximillian I to commemorate his marriage. It is strange. We had dinner at Cammerlander, a nice, but casual place on the river. The menu was bizarre featuring Austrian specialties, pizza, ramen noodles, and I can't remember what else. I had the Tyrolean style pancakes with cheese in a beef broth. Jenn had a ramen dish.
We missed the ski bus the next morning. It was daylight savings, but that's not why we missed it. We were moving at a leisurely pace. We ate breakfast and went back to the room to each use the bathroom before heading out for the day. When we came down, we realized we were a few minutes late. We regrouped quickly and hopped on a train to St Anton, which is a little over an hour from Innsbruck. Spontaneity is not one of our strong suits, but I was really proud of us on this one. This would end up being a fantastic decision, for which Jenn deserves the bulk of the credit.
The lifts in St Anton were a short walk from the train station, so by noon, we were sitting on the ski lift heading up. The lift system in St Anton is an engineering feat. I'm no engineer so I can't describe it in any great detail, but the main gondola from the base station to the top is a work of art. I tried to take pictures, but it doesn't quite capture it.
 |  |
 |  |
For now, spring is officially here. The restaurants in Bratislava are starting to put out their outdoor tables and the pedestrian zone is becoming a lot more crowded as people are starting to spend more time outside. The city takes on a whole new personality when the temperature gets above 15 celsius (around 60 farenheit).
Stay tuned, as there is a lot of spring and summer travel is coming. There is so much still that we want to do, see, and experience.
* For more pictures, click here
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