Fallig Grand Hotel

Once upon a time, the Grand Hotel was the best hotel and symbol of Taiwan. I had a chance to visit the legendary hotel last Sunday, but I was very disappointed on what I saw. The service crew were not friendly or polite as what I expected. The service was much worse than what I experienced in China last week. That's not the worst yet. WHen I went to the men's room, I saw a big piece of dirty cloth lying in the middle. How sadly fast a legend falls!

New video of Yoshi

Auto Drug Vending Machine

Saw this in Shanghai. You can buy almost any common drugs and condoms on this machine.

Internet Rocks

I use Skype to make video calls with my home on this trip. It's amazing that you can still see and talk with your family even when you're thousands miles away. It's not that I didn't know that, but it is so great that I have to thank modern technology and internet. BTW, it seems that Blogspot is no longer blocked in China, at least I can read my blog now. I can access some google pages, including mail and calendar, but no picasa. I can't figure out what Chinese government is thinking.

Screwed Up

Today sucks. I visited the most important partner of the product line I'm working on, and found out that things is not going to happen as we thought. We may have wasted our time and money to give away to this "partner". And, it can get a lot worse. The entire line can become a bubble and cause a big hole in our income forecast. Besides this, I forgot a contract I brought from Taiwan.

Glory for China, Shame on London

I ate well in this trip, thanks to J.J., whom I'm traveling with. But, I'll leave that in another article. I'd like to record a few things I read today on my way to Shanghai. My plane to Beijing was using the latest terminal opened one month ago, the Terminal 3 (T3) of Beijing airport. I read on a magazine saying that they recruited a "golden tulips" task force to actively serve travelers or local people who visit the new terminal. T3 occupies over 10,000 square meters, and is the largest single air transportation facility in the world. Beijing airport now has three runways and three terminals in operation, which can serve over 650 million travelers this year. Besides Beijing, Shanghai Pudong Airport also has a new terminal (T2) and a new runway joined the service last month. What I noticed is that besides the hardware construction, China is now emphasizing their software (service) in these recent developments. For example, the Golden Tulips team was trained by senior instructors from the Hong Kong Airport and is determined to impress the world in the year of Olympics at the new front door or China. And from my experience in this trip, they are really getting there. How hard is it? Just compare it to the new terminal of London Heathrow Airport, the Terminal 5. T5 has been a complete disaster since the opening day, and the chaos is still getting worse. Oh, by the way, T3 in Beijing only took half the time of London T5, and spent half the money.

First Day in Beijing

I arrived Beijing this afternoon. This is the first time I come to the head of China in terms of politics, but my first impression was ruined by the pilot of Air China. The final approach was the worst I have experienced in recent years. It was extremely bumpy and shaky although the weather was actually good. The plane was moving so terrible that I even got motion sickness. However, the new terminal made the Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) very impressive. Modern and huge are the facilities, with many beautiful young girls wearing volunteer vests to help travelers, it seems this time China really wants to show the world it is modern and friendly. Ironically, there will be more random inspection in central Beijing, especially in the Tiananmen Square for security concerns. Thanks to those big countries (or, USA if only to name one) who made the world so unsafe!

I will be busy for the next few days and I'm not sure if I will have time to write, so don't miss me too much if anyone is reading, ha!