Happy New Year everyone!
Mike and I have just spent three days in New York, taking in NY celebrations.
Day 1 we headed through Times Square and down to the Empire State Building. It took an hour of queuing outside the building just to get in and a further hour to get up to the 86th floor where the outdoor observation deck is. It was freezing cold up there and after a few photos, we were ready to come down again. Great view though. Next we headed to Madison Square Gardens for a quick look, detouring via Macy's.
We then me up with my friends, Brody and Cathy for an early dinner (4:30pm) before joining the masses in Times Square at 5:30pm. At this stage, we were already in the 7th block of people back from the actual Times Square intersection which is on Broadway/7th and 42nd Street. We were herded into a holding cell on Broadway between 48th and 49th streets. Apparently the front rowers down on 42nd were queuing since 10am for their place. That's 14 hours waiting!!
Let me tell you all this. New Years in Times Square, surrounded by a million people is unreal BUT the 6.5 hour wait that we had standing around, unable to get food, drink or go to the toilet sucked big time. It was a whole 1 degree and we were all freezing cold. It was almost torture. Still, when the famous ball started dropping, the crowd cheering and the clock striking 12, all of that was temporarily forgotten. Very glad that I've now done that. If you ever do it, rug up, and I mean, seriously, thermals, shirt, jumper, jacket, scarf, beanie and gloves. Nothing less.
Day 2 was new years day and Mike and I headed out relatively early, despite the dreadful looking day. This time we took the subway down to the Stanton Island ferry. We decided against the ferry that took us to the Statue of Liberty as you can only go as high as her pedestal and in my opinion, wasn't worth the $12 + tax asking price each. The Stanton Island ferry, by comparison is free and takes you right past Liberty Island where you can get decent photos of the Statue of Liberty anyway.
When we got back to Manhattan, we took the subway into the financial district where we visited Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange. Given in was a public holiday, nothing was open but never mind. We also wandered over to Ground Zero, which is an amazing hole and a very shocking reality having viewed the 9/11 tragedy on TV. During our visit, I also found the Deloitte offices in the World Financial Centre, which is over the road from the World Trade Centre site. Construction of the new Freedom Tower is now underway.
We headed back to Times Square for a late lunch before heading to Central Park for a bit of a walk around there. At night, we met up with Brody and Cathy again and headed for dinner at Planet Hollywood and then on to a comedy club on 23rd. The comedy club was excellent, very funny. We visited a few more bars before calling it a night and saying our goodbyes.
Our final day in NYC and Mike and I slept in, then checked out. We headed over to the Rockefeller Centre, Sachs 5th Avenue, Hershey's Chocolates, the M&M store and several touristy stores in a last minute shopping/touring spree. Mid afternoon, we hailed a cab and left for the airport, where we are currently, awaiting our overnight flight to London. Today was bitterly cold, about 30 degrees Fahrenheit so about -1 celsius. We'll see what London brings weather wise, although I'm not hopeful on significant improvement.
Righteo, time for us to head off on our next leg. Hope you all had a great new year.
Dave
Hi
Short one as this was a short stay. After Whistler, Mike and I headed to Vancouver for a brief stop through before heading to New York. We bussed back from Whistler and found our hotel located excellently on Robson St, which is a significant shopping street in downtown Vancouver.
That night, we walked around a little to see the shops, which all open late, before turning in ready for a big day the next day. We got up to a rather dull looking day but headed down the main mall to the sea bus which is a ferry to the other side of the river. From here we took a bus to the Capilano Suspension Bridge and tree top adventure. For $24.95 plus tax each, we got to walk over a 450ft high suspension bridge which was cool and do a tree top walk. It was very pretty bus also very expensive in my opinion. We opted not to go up Grouse mountain as visibility wasn't flash.
We headed back into downtown and had a look around Gastown and Chinatown before walking in and out of the shops down Robson St. Next we headed to Granville Island which is a little island where they have a big market selling everything from food to knick knacks to excellent (and expensive) stone carvings. That night, we met up with family friends who gave us a home cooked meal which was nice.
Our final day in Vancouver isn't much to write about. We basically got up, did some last minute shop browsing then met up with the same friends who drove us around Stanley Park before dropping us at the airport to fly to New York.
Next update in 2008!
Happy New Year!
Dave
Hi all
Mike and I have just spent the last 5 days up in a ski resort called Whistler, which is located north of Vancouver in Canada. We stayed at a little bed and breakfast just outside of the village called Renoirs which was very nice.
We'd come to Whistler for one main reason, skiing. That, and a white Christmas. Day one, we wasted no time in getting our ski hire and heading up the mountain. In Whistler, you have a choice of two mountains, Whistler or Blackcomb. Day 1 we chose Whistler. Visibility was fabulous with clear blue skies. After remembering how to ski, we both proceeded to carve up the mountain, even venturing up to the peak and then leaving the marked ski run and heading into the powder in the Symphony Bowl. Skiing through fresh soft powder is awesome. It's very quiet, you can't see your skiis and you have to be careful with your turns or your ski digs in and you go down, which is a soft landing anyway.
Day 2 we headed to Blackcomb which is a steeper mountain and had some really good runs. This was also Christmas day and it snowed all day which made our Christmas very white indeed. Each day, we had a few stacks and were rather tired at the end of each day. We finished with some apres ski at the base of the mountains in the Village. Day 3, Boxing Day, we headed back to Whistler for some more powder up the top and more great long runs down below. We found a great run called peak to creek which is about 11kms long and took us quite a while to ski. We later found out our B&B host had once done it in 6 mins on his snowboard but this was when the mountain was closed to the public (he's a snowboard instructor).
Day 4 was our final day on the skis and we did Blackcomb again. We started getting a little adventurous and attempted a few black runs, did some tree runs and mainly skied medium runs. A few of these included moguls, which really aren't fun to ski down. The old legs and knees sure took a beating on these. Our final day in Whistler saw us head out on a snowmobile for a 3 hours wilderness tour. Snowmobiles have to be the most dodgy things I've ever been on. They feel completely out of control because they plane all over the place as the steering skiis hit existing tracks on the trail. However, they are an absolute ball, they really hammer along. Mike took a wrong turn and got bogged which I laughed at but this was nothing compared to my stack later on.
After dropping back from the group to give us some space to really open up the taps, I floored it down a straight up towards a big right hander but when I went to turn, the snowmobile had other ideas and I ended up rather deep into a snow rift and under a tree. I was so buried in snow that Mike barely saw me, noticing only my red backpack. I was completely uninjured with the snowmobile taking most of the brunt and after Mike and another bloke helped me drag my snow mobile out, we carried along. The guide saw where I went off, gave me the thumbs up and we all went along laughing at my stack.
After snowmobiling, we did a little shopping in the village then took the bus back to Vancouver. Still no pics up yet sorry folks.
Til the next update.
Dave
Hi all
Well, I'm off again but this time on holiday with my brother, Mike. We left Perth in the early hours of Dec 20th and flew via Sydney (and a 5 hour layover) to Los Angeles, arriving 6am on Dec 20th (thanks to gaining a day). We first hit up our hotel which was behind the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Nothing flash but very well located. Given nothing in Hollywood opens til 10am, we spend the first part of our morning walking up and down Hollywood Boulevard looking at all the stars and getting familiar with our surroundings.
We entered The Guinness Book of Records store for a tour around there once it opened and then to the Hollywood Wax Museum. Amazing how they can get wax people to look so much like the real things. Next we headed for Santa Monica to visit a ski shop to buy some gear we needed and while we were down there, we checked out the beach and pier. Wasn't a very nice day though weather wise with dark skies and rain. We hung around walking the streets and malls checking out the shops and restaurants, grabbed a bite to eat and headed home. Both of us were pretty worn out and rather jetlagged.
Day 2 saw us head to Universal Studios. We had pre-purchased front of line tickets which were worth their weight in gold. So cool. Literally walked straight in on every ride and every show. Had a great day for it and did all the usual rides + studio tour. Very interesting and parts of it certainly came back from my memory of visiting in 1993. Everything is done there so well with no detail spared.
Day 3 had us renting a car (nothing exciting) and driving (exciting? maybe stressful) to Six Flag Magic Mountain, which is a roller coaster theme park out of LA. This place ROCKS. Biggest, scariest, first, highest, fastest are some of the words that feature in the roller coaster descriptions while names such as colossus, goliath, scream, viper and tatsu are the names of these beasts. By far and away my favourite was Tatsu. This roller coaster loaded you into a chair that hung by the rail above so you were seated. However, once everyone was strapped into the seats, your feet get raised behind you so you are almost in a "flying" position (ie, think of laying on your stomach but with your lower half in a seated position and then dangling looking at the ground). Awesome ride, pulled some serious G forces and had the biggest queues, although we did get through all rides at least twice or more and every ride sitting at the front.
Our final day in LA isn't much to write about. It basically involved me returning the car from the previous day, then Mike and I heading to LAX to check in to fly to Vancouver. Of course, we were selected for a "random" additional security check but otherwise, made it all without fuss. After a rather hairy ride in a bus to Whistler, we made it to our next location.
Sorry folks but as yet, no pics. Stay tuned for my "Christmas Special", live from Whistler.
Merry Christmas!
Dave
Hi all
Having flown back to China to arrive in Changchun, north east of Beijing from my trip to Australia, I was keen to get back to Beijing for a weekend. Last weekend I managed to do this. I headed back to Beijing Friday and joined some colleagues for a few cheeky beers Friday night before getting up for a 7am journey out to the Great Wall saturday morning.
I was joined by my colleague Carolyn, and the two of us headed by car to the Mutianyu location of the great wall. Here we took one of two cable cars up and walked from that cable car stop to the other, roughly an hours walk. To anyone visiting this section of the wall, definitely take the red cable car, the one not associated with the toboggan up to the wall, and then walk to the other cable car or the toboggan for the downward trip. Doing it this way, you get more downhill than uphill. Trust me, that's a HUGE tip.
Anyway, the wall is simply stunning. Running right along the ridges of the mountains, it's quite amazing. What was more amazing was the lack of tourists. I have photos without another soul in them. That simply does not happen in China. We actually walked past the other chair lift and up a very steep section of the wall as far as they let tourists go. Well worth it but my sore legs say otherwise.
After the great wall, we headed to the Summer Palace, via the construction site of the "Birds nest", which is the Olympic Stadium in Beijing. Very cool to see, given I *hopefully* won't be here still during the Olympics. The Summer Palace is a pretty location with lots of temple-type buildings with names such as "Purple Heaven Hall" or "Hall of Virtuous Glories". Perhaps my favourite was "Bridge of Knowing the Fishes". Haha. We wandered around the expansive Palace area for the rest of the afternoon.
Saturday night we had a little Team China, Deloitte Perth dinner before meeting up with more colleague to paint the town red. This included my friend Sigi, from Austria. Was great to catch up with him again.
Sunday we headed to the Temple of Heaven, which was actually quite cool, which surprised me as i'm a little Temple'd out. After walking around there, we headed for Tiananmen Square then onwards to the Forbidden City. Beijing put on a belter of a day weather wise and it was very hot walking around. The other disappointing thing was that so much of Beijing is under construction in preparation for the Olympics. The larger of the halls/buildings/temples within the Forbidden City are all under construction so we couldn't have a good look. Never mind. Interesting to see anyway.
That just about wrapped up our day with an evening flight back to Changchun on the cards. Heading back to Shanghai next weekend so unless I discover a part of Shanghai I haven't seen to write about, there probably won't be an update. Still hoping to get to Xian next to see the Terracotta Warriors so stay tuned to see if I can make that work.
Lots of pics on photobucket to match this rather epic posting.
Hope you are all well, miss you all heaps.
Dave
Hi readers
Will be a shorter one this week.
After Tokyo I was requested to come to South Korea to help out the teams over here. I spend Tuesday - Friday working in Chongwon, about two hours south of Seoul but returned to Seoul for the weekend.
Saturday I booked myself on a half day tour of the Demilitarised Zone, or DMZ, between South and North Korea. It is one of the last relics of the Cold War and represents an area of approx 4km wide, 2km wide each side of the "truce" line, which represents the border between the two countries. We learnt a bit about the history behind the DMZ and also got to check out the 3rd of 4 inflitration tunnels discovered by the South that the North had been building. Was a pretty interesting tour, and some what surreal to think that I was essentially in a no-man's land between North and South Korea, who are technically still at war!
Saturday avo I went with a colleague to check out Yongsan markets area, which is known for electronic goodies. Didn't by anything though but amazing to see, so many electronic shops in one place, selling everything from PC components all the way up to super-high-end audiophile equipment.
Sunday it was raining but that didn't stop me checking out the Namdaemun Markets, taking a cable car up to Seoul Tower and then going up the tower itself to get a view out over Seoul city and also visiting the Myong-dong shopping district. I spent the remainder of the day relaxing before having a work meeting later that afternoon.
Well, that's it for this update. I will be back in Shanghai this weekend coming and then back in Perth the following so maybe no update for the next couple of weeks. As usual, photos are posted at my photobucket website.
Cheers
Dave
Hi all
After being on project in China for nigh on 6 weeks, it was time for a little R&R so myself and a colleague, Carolyn, decided to take a 4 day long weekend and head to Tokyo. We flew out after work on Thursday night and made our way to the Dai Ichi Hotel, in Ginza, an affluent area of Tokyo known for its shopping.
Friday we got up and headed out with some guidance from the conceirge. We walked down to the river, through some parklands and then cruised up the river to Asakusa where we checked out the Asahi Beer building and grabbed some lunch. We then walked to the Sensoji Temple, through the street bazaar. After checking out the temple, we took the subway to Akihabara, which is famous for its electronics. I purchased a carry case for my DSLR camera which i had purchased the weekend before in Hong Kong. We browsed a few more electronics shops before leaving via subway.
Our next stop was Shibuya/Harajuku. We walked down the Omotosando fashion street to the Meji Jingu Shrine in the centre of more parklands. It was getting dark at this point so we walked back to central Shibuya and caught a train back to the hotel. That night I caught up with a good family friend, Charlotte who took us out to dinner at some Japanese bar/restaurant place.
Saturday we went and had a look at the Beijing tower which we decided not to go up as it looked pretty ordinary. We then headed via subway to the Imperial Gardens which we wandered around before heading to Tokyo International Forum for lunch. After lunch we got on a train straight to Tokyo Disneyland. I was honestly surprised at how tourist unfriendly it was and indeed, how little caucasian people there were. Everything in Japanese which was strange when sitting on splash mountain watching Brer Rabbit and co talking to me in Jap. Most rides were exactly as i remembered from my visit to Disneyland in LA which was very cool. Was a great afternoon/evening though and we stayed at the park til closing at 10pm.
Sunday we'd organised a tour out to Mt Fuji and Hakone. We were picked up early by bus and taken out to Mt Fuji which we couldn't see due to cloud. We did a boat tour down by one of the lakes at the base of Mt Fuji and also took a cable car up one of the neighbouring mountains for a different view. The tour continued up to the 5th station of Mt Fuji where we could actually see the summit, some 6.5kms further up. We drove back to Hakone after visiting Mt Fuji where we caught a Skinkansen (bullet train) back to Tokyo.
Monday we didn't get to do too much as we had a 1pm bus back to the airport. We headed for Ginza where we had a walk around, visiting the oldest beer hall in Tokyo and also the Nissan Automotive gallery. A quick lunch and it was back to the airport.
I forgot to mention that before I left for Japan on Thursday morning, i was asked to go to Korea to help out with the work there so I actually was flying to Seoul rather than returning to Shanghai. I was due to fly business class but JAL airlines upgraded me to first which was very deluxe. Shame the flight was only two hours.
Anyway, i'm now in South Korea, about two hours south of Seoul working in a place called Chongwon-gun and staying in Chongju. Not sure how long i'll be here at this point.
Thanks for reading!
Dave
