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
Hi all
On Saturday, I took a road trip along with three other Australians to Hangzhou, which is about 3 hours by car out of Shanghai. We hired a minivan driver for $300 AUD for the day to take us around.
A lot of people go to Hangzhou as it’s quite a pretty area, with a significant lake area called the West Lake as well as temples, carvings and places of worship to see. We spent a bit of time walking around before boarding multiple ferries while we island hopped across the lake. It was very nice and quite pleasant to get out of the hustle and bustle of Shanghai but gee it was hot. Sitting out in the sun while we island hopped and walking around the area in the sun had most of us feeling like we were literally going to melt away until there was nothing left of us. We later found out it was 37 degrees with about 80% humidity. Not nice.
Anyway, we continued on exploring having conquered a small part of the West lake area and headed to lunch at a near by restaurant. After lunch we headed to a couple of temples and observed some of the local religious practices. We visited one place which had some cool stone carvings of people etched into rocks found on the side of a hill and in a cave. We took some path that led up the hill and got ¾ of the way up only to find out from someone that the path didn’t go anywhere. I couldn’t believe this so went the rest of the way up only to find it really went nowhere and headed back down to meet the others. Remembering that it was uncomfortably hot, by the time we all got down, most of us were wet through. Very attractive I can assure you…NOT
Anyway, we ultimately found the temple we had started out to find and went in and had a look at the giant golden buddha inside (not made of gold but physically painted gold). We checked out a final temple before departing back to Shanghai for our three hour drive home, most of us physically exhausted from the heat.
Sunday was fairly quiet back in Shanghai with more preparations for the lawyer visits. We are planning a bigger trip outside of China so stay tuned.
Cheerio
Dave
Howdy
One word describes Hong Kong: Awesome
As part of my visa conditions, I must leave China within 30 days of entry and having been here for nearly three weeks, a few of us took off to Hong Kong last weekend.
Firstly, I must mention my trip to the airport in Shanghai. I took the Shanghai Maglev. To the uninitiated, the Maglev is a train that "levitates" off the train track by a magnetic field and uses said field to propel it along by varying electricity states of the magnets embedded in the track. Sounds complicated and I'm sure it is. However, this particular train here in Shanghai has been limited to a commercially optimised speed of 431km/h, every 15 mins, all day. The ride takes just 7 mins to get from Shanghai to Pudong airport, approx a 35km trip. The train only requires 3 of those minutes to reach top speed which, I might add, is great fun to experience.
Hong Kong itself is another metropolis of high rise buildings and due to it's limited space, the tall buildings are everywhere. What's more, every saturday night, they light them all up and put on a fireworks display which we caught from our vantage point on the harbour aboard a star ferry night cruise. Truely a sign of extravagance. Of course, every other night the buildings are also lit up like Christmas trees but without the fireworks and choreographed light show.
Hong Kong is very much a best of east meets west, with a lot of western feel despite its eastern appearance. We spent most of saturday walking around taking in the shopping of Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui and Harbour Town. Our hotel, the Marriott, was on Hong Kong Island so we took the Star Ferry to commute to the shops on Kowloon and back. We also ventured up to the Peak for a full view over HK by cable car, which was amazingly steep. Saturday night (and Friday night) we headed to a popular drinking area called Lan Kwai Fong. This is the eastern equivalent of Bourbon Street in New Orleans I'm told. Lots of neon, lots of bars and lots of people. Very cool.
Sunday, we headed out to the giant buddha on Lantau island. This consisted of a long ride on the MTR (mass transit rail) and then a long ride in a taxi but after arriving, there atop the hill sat a giant bronze buddha with a great view over the many smaller islands in and around Hong Kong. There was also a monastery there that we briefly checked out before heading back to the hotel so I could get back to the airport.
Now safely back in Shanghai and into the new work week. It's been raining here a lot but it's still hot as outside. The rain just ramps up the humidity rather than bring down the temperature.
Cheers for now.
Dave
Hello
Been a few months since posting so it's time for an update. I'm in Shanghai!
Yet another global engagement has shown up and this time my volunteering has landed me squarely in Shanghai China. This time, i'm not alone with quite a few aussies scattered around the place, including a couple with me here in Shanghai.
I arrived here Monday the 18th of June after flights via Hong Kong and instantly was aware of the heat and humidity, even at 9:30 at night. Next thing I noticed was that the roads are in an organised state of chaos, which includes, but certainly not limited to, people riding bikes at night the wrong way down the highway. If you think indicators are optional to Perth drivers you should see the locals here.
Let me start by saying this, Shanghai is HUGE. Over 16.2m people call it home, skyscrapers are growing out of former rice paddy areas at a rate of knots, there is always traffic and people everywhere and the smog is really bad to the extent that when walking around and I catch a glimpse of the sky, I feel lucky.
The first weekend here saw some touring around the Yuyuan Gardens, up the Pearl TV tower for a look at the smog from 350m high and some shopping in Nanjing Road, a popular shopping area. There are more scalpers of knock off goods in Shanghai than there are people in Perth. I started off by saying no, now I just ignore them completely or pull the mickey by offering them similar items before they get a chance to open their mouths.."watch, bag, shoe, dvd, you like, you lookie lookie, no cash, just lookie".
Walking around Shanghai is definitely a good way to lose weight, as long as you don't mind doing it by sweating kilos. To say that 32 degrees with 95% humidity is hot is an understatement. You're just in a perpetual state of perspiration. On the plus side, the hotel is very nice and has an excellent swimming pool to cool off in.
Work wise, it's starting to ramp up after having been here a week. I'm working about an hour out of Shanghai at the clients premises. Can't really talk much about that and no one wants to hear it anyway.
That'll do for now. I'm planning on being in and around China for a while so stay tuned to see where i'm off to next.
Zai Jian
Dave
Yes readers, that's right. I've just got back from Mongolia.
In late Jan, work decided that there is simply no limit as to how far they'll send me to check out the books of mining companies and with that mindset, decided they weren't satisfied with sending me to the middle of the West Australia desert and promptly decided that Mongolia would be next on my list of exotic locations.
Left Perth on Jan 29th and flew overnight via Singapore and Beijing to Ulaanbaatar (UB), the capital of Mongolia. At this point, i'm going to remind you that it's January, which means middle of winter in Mongolia. For those whose geography is lacking, Mongolia is located near Russia, China and Siberia. Ulaanbaatar is the world's coldest capital city and has a population of about 1.5m people. Suffice to say, the 40+ degree temperatures i'd had the weekend before flying out were vastly different to the -20ish it was when I got off the plane.
After donning every item in my suitcase in an attempt to beat the cold, we were taken by our driver, Jiggi, to our hotel and then to the office. The next few days passed without too much impact with our morning walk to the office undertaken at around -25 degrees, work being done for most of the day, then out to dinner and home again. Food was surprisingly normal but then again, we probably went to THE most western restaurants in all of Mongolia.
Saturday we worked briefly in the morning before being taken out to the Gobi Cashmere factory, the local shopping centre, visited the museum of natural history, then out for a traditional Mongolian performance. Let me tell you something, the Mongolian contortionists are friggin awesome. I had five girls, folded over backwards on themselves with their heads between their legs (poking through from the back of the leg through to the front) holding themselves up on their hands and smiling at the crowd. At this point, my jaw had detached and left a hole in the floor where it hit. Good lord...
Sunday we again got taken around by our translator Zolo and driver Jiggi to a traditional Mongolian temple, went out to a hotel where you can stay in traditional style Gers (Nomadic huts), did some archery (it was freezing by the way), then took a quick trip up to a lookout to get a view over UB. One more day of work came on Monday then we flew out Tuesday, overnight flights again back the way we came.
And so ends another chapter. Pics are up at photobucket site http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e348/davewylde/Mongolia/
Where to next?
Ok,
There's a fair bit to say about my journey post Majorca so bear with me cause this is going to be long. I'll try and cut out a lot of unnecessary detail but there is a bit to cover. Upon returning to Austria, I set up camp at Siegfried's place for a day or two to help him celebrate his birthday. He and I then ventured into Northern Austria for some hiking in the mountains. This also involved a visit to an ice cave, which I must say is rather interesting. Instead of the formations being made of rocks, they are all made of ice. Very pretty but it's rather cold in them.
After a couple of days on the road hiking around the Alps, I returned to Vienna where I said my final auf wiedersehen to Siegfriend and his friends and headed to Berlin, via Stuttgart airport. I flew an airline called "FlyDBA" and without a word of a lie, the inflight magazine is Playboy. Yep, people just took these as they entered the plane without batting an eyelid. I indulged also purely to see if it's the same "quality" magazine as it is in Australia. Indeed is it.
My next two days were in Berlin where I took in all the sights I could, including a walk along 1.3kms of the original Berlin Wall, a stop at the infamous Checkpoint Charlie, a walk through the Topographie of Terrors, sighting Brandenburg Gate and visits to both Berliner Dom and the Reichstag. From Berlin, I headed to Hamburg by high speed train where I met up with a colleague Karen and his significant other. Karen showed me all around Hamburg, including its Reeperbahn/St Pauli which is the notorious "sex industry" area. I've never seen anything like it and words I type here really can't convey how open they are about prostitution. I had two days in Hamburg and toured around the city and its port, churches and markets. If you're looking for a cheap, very new, funky hotel, stay at the YoHo. Specifically for younger people, it's very affordable.
After Hamburg, I trained back to Berlin then continued on for a flight to Stuttgart. Back to Le Meridien for one final time. I had two nights remaining. I hired a car the next day, much to my disappointment, instead of a BMW 1 series, they gave me a renault convertible. I was looking forward to spending my last two days in Germany blasting around their autobahns in a German car but never mind. I headed south towards Austria and Schloss Neuschwanstein, the pinnicle of fantasy castles and the inspiration behind Walt Disney's castle. Weather was pretty ordinary but I got there relatively early after speeding down the autobahn at speeds my family would rather not know about. King Ludwig II, the mad hatter behind this castle was truly a flamboyant character and his castles are amazing. I completed my tour and headed for Konstance.
To get to Konstance from Neuschwanstein, I had to leave Germany, drive into Austria, leave Austria, drive into Switzerland before returning to Germany again. Konstance is a little lakeside town set upon lake Konstance and is really a very beautiful part of Germany. I had dinner here down by the lake, taking in a fine seafood meal. I then set upon the autobahn for my return to Stuttgart where I proceeded to exceed the theoretical top speed of a renault meagane officially noted as 200km/h by hitting 222km/h flat out in 6th gear. All perfectly legal but that was the last time I'd try that again. Overnight in the Meridien would be my last and I packed up and said my final goodbyes to the staff that had looked after me so well over the last 6 months.
For my final day in Germany, it was pouring with rain. I had earlier had my heart set on getting up to the Nurburgring but bad weather and an impending flight that night kept me closer to Stuttgart. Instead I headed for Heidelberg where I walked around the old town, both the new and old university's, visited the old bridge and went up to see what was left of the Schloss (or castle) which was accessed by funicular. Given my progress to Heidelberg had been slow due to bad weather, I grabbed a meal and then headed back to Stuttgart for the last time mid afternoon. I returned the car to the airport and checked in for my flght home.
And so ended my 6 months in Germany and Europe. Stay tuned for more travel adventures to come.
