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Archive of "Travel" Category
The perils of traveling!
2009 is coming to an end and I just finished my last business trip of the year. On my way back home to Vancouver it dawned me that I used to love flying and that nowadays I simply hate it. I attribute this to the fact that I am on the plane quite often and that I am simply fed-up of traveling. I know that this sounds odd to many people, especially since their is a perception that flying to all these different countries on business is glamorous. Believe me, it isn’t. It is tiring and draining. Yes it is good to see different countries and cultures, but one usually doesn’t have enough time to actually visit any places.
While flying home on my last lag of the journey I thought I would write about the top things that bug me the most when flying and why.
#1: Checking-In
Checking in is painful, especially with a European Passport in Canada. They nowadays have the electronic check-ins, where you have to scan your passport to get your boarding pass and put on your own luggage tags. Every single time, I tell the lady that directs me to the machine, that the machine won’t read my passport, but no, I still get instructed to use these machines, even though they don’t work for foreign passports. What a waste of time. You would expect the airline personnel to know their machines and what works and what doesn’t.If it isn’t the electronic check-in machines, then it is the long check-in lines through economy, why are people are pushing and shoving. Where is the common courtesy to respect people in line? Are they afraid they will not make the flight? If you are late and need to get by, then just ask! Thankfully Airline have mileage programs, where if lucky you can avoid the long line-ups.
#2: Airlines should enforce carry-on restrictions
I am sure this happens elsewhere in the world very often and also with other airlines, but since I have been living in North America for the past 3 1/2 years, naturally I will rage about North American Airlines. I understand the convenience of take your luggage on board the plane and disembark without having to worry about baggage claim of any sort. I admit that I am the same and whenever I can I will try to take my luggage as carry-on. That is a little carry-on and a notebook bag. However what I can’t stand is when people actually take two huge carry-ons on board and by the time you get to your seat there is no space in the overhead, resulting in the innocent who stick to the rules having to put their carry-on luggage under the seat in front of them, as there isn’t enough room in the overhead bins. Then when you ask around “excuse me are these your bags” nobody responds. Where the heck has all the common courtesy gone? If you take two carry-ons on board, then show some courtesy to the others on the plane and stuff one of your carry-ons under your own seat!Airlines: If you have restrictions, then enforce them or at least charge for additional carry-ons and reduce your fees or offer the on-board food a bit cheaper! Why do airlines have a hand-luggage size check right before boarding if it isn’t used?
#3: Mileage Programs
I am a member of Lufthansa Miles and More Program, but I am definitely starting to question it. Lufthansa is a member of Star Alliance which is the global leading airline network, in terms of daily flights, destinations and countries flown to and amount of member airlines. What good does all of this do, if you can’t upgrade your flight at one of the partner airlines? Useless … I can’t upgrade with my Miles and More Card on an Air Canada flight, even though Air Canada is a member of Star Alliance. The same applies to other airlines as well, this is not the “Friendly Sky” you’ve promised.#4 Seat Space
Fortunately/unfortunately I am very tall, meaning I am always cramped into the economy seat. Passengers might consider taking into consideration the person sitting behind them before ramming their seat back or even ask if the person behind would mind, if they put their seat back. Ultimately it’s the airlines who need to invest in newer fleets, built for humane travel.#5 Immigration
Immigration is the worst. Imagine the following picture. You just got off a 12 hour flight cramped in economy and all you’re looking forward to is a hot shower, in a nice hotel room, and a decent meal. Then it feels as if you got hit by an invisible fist, when you see the long line-up for immigration and only 2 counters are open … You then look for a shorter line and see 8 shorter lines with basically nobody standing there, but …. you can’t go their as this is only for “residents” or “citizens” … what is up with that? People visiting your country for either business or leisure, willing to spend money and the first impression they get is that foreigners have to wait.Have you ever experienced any of the above?
Unforgettable trip to Victoria, B.C.
This past weekend, I took my wife to Victoria, Vancouver Island as she had never been there even though she has now lived in B.C for about 1 1/2 years.
I left work a bit earlier on Friday (this is the advantage of being on the West Coast. You can leave work at 2 or 3 p.m. and it doesn’t really matter as the East Coast has already gone home). Luck was with us as we just made the ferry at 2:00 p.m. to Swartz Bay. What an amazing ferry ride over. Blue sky and calm seas as far as you could see. I was a bit disappointed, as I had hoped to see some Orcas… We did however see some seals playing while the ferry navigated between the Islands.
Saturday morning was spent strolling around downtown Victoria. What a beautiful city with such British flair. During breakfast we decided to join a Whale Watching tour as I have always hoped to see Orcas in the wild. We left Victoria harbour at 3.15 p.m. on a ship that was fully packed! Before departing they took a head count of 74 people! Wow! I immediately started running the numbers, …. holy cow.
74 people X 95.00 CAD$ (tax excl.) per person = 7,030 CAD$.
3 fully booked tours a day 7,030 CAD$ * 3 = 21,090 CAD$
… nice business.
We were hitting the waves for more than 1 1/2 hours before we slowed down. Our guide had spotted some Orcas. Actually a pod of Orcas, approx 15 whales. Our guide switched off the engines as the Orcas were swimming directly towards us. I was speechless. What amazing mammals! They swam as close as 15 m. passed us. We got some really nice shots.
I remember visiting Sea World in Florida as a kid. It’s one thing seeing an Orca in a tank and quite another seeing them in the wild. What an unforgettable experience, it was worth every single penny. After hanging out with the whales, we headed back to the Victoria harbour. It was already getting late and the temperatures had dropped quite a bit. We grabbed ourselves hot chocolates and listened to some wild stories the captain had to tell. We had so much fun standing on upper level while the others huddled downstairs for warmth. On the way back the waves started picking up and the boat started hitting the waves pretty heavily. I was a bit concerned for my wife, but she was having a blast, thoroughly enjoying herself and laughed every single time we hit a wave!
We finally got back to the harbour around 7.30 p.m. and both of us were frozen, but happy! A quick hot dinner, a stop at the liquor store for a bottle of Merlot and off to the hotel. We hardly finished 1/2 a glass of wine when both of us passed out. We must have had spent the last of our energy staying warm on the boat.
Anyone who visits Vancouver should stay a few days longer and take the time to visit Victoria.
Trip to New York
So, Tuesday I left the hotel in Tokyo at approx. 1 p.m. to take the bus to the airport. Plane left at 5 p.m. and was I dreading the 12 hour flight to Toronto. What a flight!
Got into Toronto on time. Damn, had to go pick up my luggage and go through US customers, meaning had to fill out all these forms. How I hate this. Went through US customs, same old questions, what do you do, how long are you staying, you signing any contracts, …etc.
So by the time I got through had to actually run to my gate to catch the connection to N.Y. Thankfully I made it on time. Just another quick hop and I would be in N.Y.
Hadn’t been in N.Y. since 1985 so was actually looking forward to visiting again. When we flew in, we actually flew directly over “Ground Zero”. It was a weird feeling after having seen 911 on TV and following reports on this tragic day, especially as the plane went absolutely quiet and everyone was looking out their windows. What a sight!
Quick cab ride form the airport to hotel. Quick check in and then off to a party. The next two nights were the worst ever. After having traveed the world on numerous occassions I can clearly say that this has been my worst ever jet-lag! Do NOT fly from Asia to the US East Coast. A nightmare. I haven’t had a decent nights sleep since arriving here in N.Y.
Robbie in Asia Part#4
So my last day in Tokyo, before I head out to N.Y. tomorrow afternoon.
Tokyo is definitely a fascinating city. After dinner at a Japanese BBQ yesterday we hit the night life district. I am still amazed at all the lights, monitors with advertising and the number of people that were on the streets on a Sunday evening. The streets were simply plastered with advertising. The advertising was vertical, meaning every floor of most buildings were plastered with flashy lights and banners or monitors.
This is also something I noticed about the metro in Tokyo. The metro trains are all full of advertising. I was thinking that the Japanese Metro must be making a killing on ad-revenue.
So,, on my way to N.Y.
Robbie in Asia Part #3
So, yesterday I arrived in Tokyo, Japan.
Had no idea that the airport was so far from the city, but that didn’t really matter as the information provided at the airport was more than sufficient. I easily got a bus ticket and took a Limousine Bus from the airport directly to the hotel.
At the hotel I was a a bit disappointed with the Sheraton Miyako, until I was told that most Hotels in Tokyo are old and have small rooms. Oh well, it’ll definitely do and is more than sufficient.
Today we went exploring a bit and used the metro which is highly efficient. We went to see the Asakusa Shrine, a Buddhist temple in Tokyo.
In the afternoon we had to call it the day as it starting pouring. This was ok with me, as it gave me the chance to take an afternoon nap.
Tomorrow it is back to business and Tuesday I head to N.Y. to attend the Traffic Conference, where .ME will be having its first ever premium domain auction.
Robbie in Asia Part#2
Just about to wrap things up here in XIAMEN, China and head to the airport to catch my flight to Tokyo, Japan.
I was very impressed with XIAMEN. Very clean city on the East Coast of China just above Hong Kong and across from Taiwan.
XIAMEN was not what I expected. It lies beautifully on the coast of China and has a tropical climate. Palm trees, nice coast line, extremely clean and organized. Unfortunately I didn’t have time for any sightseeing, may be next time.
My 3 days in XIAMEN were spent with business meetings with various different Chinese Domain Registrars. After being in the domain business for many years now I am still amazed at how many different business models with respect to Domains exist. One would think the domain business to be very straight forward, you accept registrations and then you renew them in the following year. After being in China and visiting different registrars I am even more convinced that we have only scratched the surface of the Internet and what can be done with respect to Domains, Hosting and other internet related products.
Ok, gotta to start packing and then off to Tokyo, a city that has always been on my “Want to see” list.
Robbie back to Asia Part#1
Sept. 8th, I was off to Seoul Korea thankfully on a direct flight from Vancouver.
This was my first trip to Korea and I was pretty excited, as my dad had worked in Ulsan for multiple years on a Hyundai project and had told me some stories in the past. Also I hadn’t been back to Asia for over a year and was also therefore looking forward to this trip.
It was about an hour drive from the airport to the Hotel. The event was being held at the JW Marriott in Seoul. Sept. 10th & 11th was spent with meetings at the regional ICANN Meeting in Seoul, Korea. These next two days were extremely productive in terms of business as well as networking. It was definitely good to see known faces and friends at this event. I have been to multiple regional ICANN meetings in the past, but this in Seoul was by far one of the best attended Asian regional meetings I have seen.
Sat. Sept. 13th we (Karim and myself) were then off to Beijing. Ahh Beijing, after having been there multiple times I was extremely excited to go again this time around. I hadn’t been there since February 2006 and having read so much about Beijing and the Olympics I was quite excited.
We arrived at the new terminal 3 airport. What a difference. Everything was well organized and impeccably clean. Immigration was quick and efficient and we had a car waiting at the airport for us. Then it was off towards the hotel through which seemed an entirely new Beijing to me. Hardly any traffic, very little honking, … simply well organized. Only later did I find out that during the Olympic 2008 the government enforced the rule of “Odd” and “Even” Day driving, meaning if you have an Odd License Plate Number you are only permitted to drive every other day, so the traffic was flowing and we got to the China World Hotel fairly quickly.
Saturday evening we then met up with Alex, a very close friend of mine, who I have now known for multiple years. He founded ChinaSpringBoard in Beijing a few years back and seems to be doing well. It is always good to see Alex, especially as he knows great places for food and partying. As a result Karim and I didn’t get back to the hotel until early in the morning.
Alex was able to get us into the Olympia Park on Monday so we naturally spent half of our day there. Thanks again so much for everything Alex! We also stopped by Coca-Cola which was pretty cool!
Tuesday was then spent with more business meetings, which went extremely well.
Wednesday I was off to XIAMEN, China. It was a quick 2 h 40 min. flight and no hassle. XIAMEN was not what I expected. Apparently XIAMEN has the highest living standard in China. Very clean and tropical. Met up Leona in XIAMEN as she had the same companies to meet as I did, so why not combine them and utilize her language skills.
The meetings so far have gone extremely well and thankfully Leona was with me, otherwise they would not have been as fruitful.One more meeting today and then tomorrow I am off to Tokyo, Japan!
