Santa Panda

A giant panda wearing a Christmas hat enjoys Christmas Day in a panda garden in Changzhou of East China's Jiangsu Province.

Smiling moon

Last night on 1 December 2008 the moon gave us a special smile. In Thailand and most Asian countries it would have been a smile and in the other part of the globe (USA) it would have been a frown. The phenomenon happened because Jupiter and Venus are 2 degree from each other. Although these 2 planets are hundreds of million miles away from each other but last they showed as if so close to one another.
2 pictures taken from my apartment.

Bell boys

My work bring me in contact with a lot of different people and situations. Most professional meetings are smooth and enjoyable. Countries like Thailand have a long tradition in receiving foreign tourists. Japan is so organised that, even though few foreign tourist visit this country, every step goes very smoothly.
China of course is a different story. As the country is experiencing a long lasting economic boom (but for how long) tourism is also developing very fast.
Most hotels are new or got a face-lift, new Chinese buses are touring the roads, different scenic spots have been accommodated for foreign tourists, ...
So everything looks perfect except that no service is offered, because the staff didn't get a proper training. Evolution goes so fast than anyone with some competence is allowed to work in the tourism business. So working with guides, who just do their job and want to make as much money as possible, is not as easy as it looks. Don't be surprised if you encounter bell boys in the hotels who only bring your luggage after you pay them the tip!

A few months ago I spoke with a manager of a new 5-star hotel in the Chinese capital. As I know the standard procedures for such a new hotel I was amazed to meet some front desk staff who didn't speak English at all. The manager explained me that they had to hire staff, as the hotel had to open just before the Olympic Games, and speaking English or any experience in hotellery was not needed. During the Olympic Games this is the hotel (Westin Beijing) where former American President George Bush stayed overnight.

Another example.
About a year ago I stayed in the Novotel in Beijing, which would be considered as a quite decent hotel with international management. As I got out of my room I heard the screaming of the fire alarm. I didn't notice any activity in the corridor and as I was on my way out I decided to drop by the reception to tell them about the noise.
So I started to explain in my best Asian English to one of the receptionists that there might be a fire alarm ringing near my room. She looked at me in a puzzled way and asked me in I wanted to check-out. My next trick was to imitate the sound of the fire alarm. The girl facing me could not help to laugh and look even more confused. So in my final attempt to explain what was wrong I try to speak in Chinese. I said "Fire near room". Now she looked even more astounded and asked one of her co-workers to help. So I started to explain again, but to no use, I still didn't want to check-out or pay for the minibar. I was thinking of leaving the counter and let the hotel burn down to the ground when a Chinese customer next to me helped. He clearly had understood what all my babbling and waving was about. When the receptionists finally grasped the meaning of it all the immediately asked for my room number and were very busy communicating on their interphone.
So I finally got out to go get my well earned coffee, thinking that maybe I saved this hotel from the flames. Can you imagine a real fire would have ignited?

The most problems I encounter is not with guides or receptionists but is with lazy bell boys. The only work these guys have to fulfill is bring the luggage of the clients as quick as possible to the rooms. Now this would happen in an ideal world but not in China.
Like I said before sometimes these bell boys ask for their tip before working and if it's not enough, according to them, the will work very slowly.
In a hotel in Xi'an I got so angry with the working speed of these porters, that I loaded all the luggage of my clients on the chariots of the hotel, took the service elevator and started to deliver it by myself room by room. After this incident I demanded, still red-faced by fury, to speak to the duty manager. She had to hear all about and was stunned by my allegations. She assured me it would never happen again. So I calmed went to my room and enjoyed my dinner later on. Next day a beautiful picture book was positioned in my room with a sorry note next to it.

The worst encounter I had in China with the porters was in Shanghai. This hotel, which I will not name but which is very very badly managed and is property of the Novotel group, has one or two bell boys working in a suit. Being a bell boy and wearing a suit has some disadvantages especially when carrying luggage. So their work is a bit slow. These worst thing is that these porters only work form 8 am until 8 pm. So next morning when we want to leave the hotel to go to the airport no porters are available!? First time I didn't know this fact so I ordered at the reception that the porters should pick up the luggage at 7.30 Am so we could leave on time to go to the airport. Fine they said and wrote down my request. My surprise was great when, next morning, at 8 AM still no luggage were brought down in the lobby and I asked reception when it would happen. So I got the answer that I could do it myself as the bell boys, who were already there, were only starting work at 8 AM. Unbelievable.

Engrish 2

Bamboo car

"Bamgoo", an electric car with a body made out of bamboo, is displayed in Kyoto, western Japan November 14, 2008. The sixty-kilogram single-seater ecologically friendly concept car, which measures 270 centimeters in length, 130 centimeters in width and 165 centimeters in height, is developed by Kyoto University Venture Business Laboratory, featuring bamboo articles in the Kyoto area. The car can run for 50 kilometers on a single charge.

Sumo Training

Sumo (相撲) has a tradition of over 2000 years. For Japanese it is more than a sport it's a contest between semi-gods. Sumo is intermingled in Japanese culture, especially with the Shinto religion. Shinto is the Japanese native religion, where Kami (nature gods) are honoured.

In the Sumo sport different Shinto traditions have been kept alive. The ring is covered by a huge roof, representing a rice barn, the ring has to be purified by salt and sake is offered by the referee to the Kami.

Only in the late '80 Sumo wrestling opened up. Some prefixed matches gave the sport a bad label and changes were made. The first foreign wrestlers were allowed. Nowadays the Nr 1 wrestler of Japan has the Mongolian identity.

Last month I was allowed to visit a Sumo training in a typical Heya (Sumo house). I gained enormous respect for these colossuses. The concentrate all their strength on one exact moment where they have to push the opponent out of the ring. There are 3 ways to win a Sumo camp.

1 The opponent surrenders

2 You push the opponent out of the ring

3 The opponent touches the grand with an other part of the body than the feet

I was imagining a wrestler would push me with all his might. I would probably end up flat against the wall!

Even some of them have a lot of muscles and fat, they still are very flexible, as you can see on the pictures.

Seeing them in action was an amazing experience!

The Sumo wrestlers on the pictures are from different rank. The ones with the white belt have the highest rank. One of them is even top 5 of Japan. All of the wrestlers on the pictures are Japanese, except one, he is Brazilian.

Arrested in China

It has been a while since I updated my blog. I will start to compile different stories about what strange experience i had with my job.

In July 2008 I had to take a flight from Kunming to Guilin in China. This is one month before the Olympic Games so security was pretty tight. Another thing about flying in China is that planes are almost never on time and strange things happen all the time.
I took care of a group of 20 people. Because the tickets for us are issued by name, not every couple is sitting next to each other. But we still get all seats in one block. So I developed a system to redistribute the tickets after everyone passed the security check and are standing in front of the boarding gate (The name is never checked at the boarding gate in China). So everybody had a boarding pass with a different name, but could sit next to their companion.
This system backfired on me in July 2008, I was taken away by the airport security.

The airplane to Guilin had about 30 minutes delay and finally we could get on the plane. I redistributed the tickets again so everybody could sit on the plane next to their companion with a boarding pass with a different name.
After the delay we entered the plane and were greeted by the stewardesses. The hand luggage was stored and we were all ready to take off.
But we had to wait about 20 minutes in the plane, because their seemed to be some kind of maintenance problem. So people got a bit uneasy and afraid. Actually nothing to get afraid of as China could not afford to have an international scandal by an air crash. So the stewardesses ask us to get off the plane again. We took our hand luggage out and walked the same hallway back to the waiting hall for the boarding gates.
We had to wait until a new plane was provided, but as I checked we needed our original boarding pass. And now unfortunately 1 girl forgot her boarding pass in the plane. No problem she could get a new one with her name if she would go to the check-in counter again and show the original booking. So I went with her all the way to the start of the checking counters to show the original list and with her passport she obtained a new boarding card. Until then everything went quite smoothly.
We had to pass the security check again. She showed her passport and boarding card and could rejoin the group. Not same story for me. I had my passport, but my boarding card had a different name. So I started to explain (In my best English-Chinese) at the security gate that I switched it in the group and that someone else in the group must have my boarding pass with my name. After some minutes that security guy started to understand what I was saying and accompanied me to my group, which was still waiting at the boarding gates, to show my boarding pass with my name. So when I arrived and asked my group to check if my name was on their boarding pass, they picked up their boarding pass and checked. No my name was on none of them!
I started to panic a bit, as the security man was maybe thinking I was a terrorist (not tourist). I started to argue with him that my boarding pass must have been the one the girl forgot in the plane. As more and more Chinese spectators gathered around us he didn't want to listen to me and took me away to his office.
I was getting quite nervous and angry because maybe the new plane was going to leave soon and my group would be worried. So I started to slam the table and told him to listen very well. That strategy didn't work as I expected and he called his chief, while I was still sitting on a chair like a prisoner in an interrogation session. I experienced some scary minutes, not really knowing what would happen to me. So the chief came in and he started to talk with the security man. He was also looking fiercely at me and I tried to explain to whole story again.
My last remedy was to call my local Chinese agent and to tell him the whole story so he could tell it in clear Chinese to them. After a few minutes of discussion, the security man finally let me free and accompanied me to the check-in counter, where I finally got a new boarding pass. I thanked him, he throw me an awkward look and I headed straight for the security check. This time no problem and I could finally rejoin my group.

A new plane was provided and we landed 2 hours later than planned in Guilin.
The security staff in Kunming airport will surely remember me next time. I still think I should revise my ticket system.

Bond in Bangkok

Very funny commercial featuring the old mister Bond Pierce Brosnan and Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi. This whole advertisment is filmed in Bangkok and the main actionmachine is the famous Tuk-Tuk!
Enjoy!

Spiderman helps

A few days ago the city of Hangzhou, which is the capital of Zhejiang province and is located a bit south of Shanghai, launched a particular project.
The city has a major problem with its sewer system. The covers of the manholes, which give access tot the sewers, get stolen in order to sell the metal. Citizens of Hangzhou keep in falling in those manholes, renamed as "deathtraps".
So the city developed a plan of installing spiderwebs which can cover the hole and can hold the weight of an adult person.
Hope it works!

Italy 2 - Belgium 3

Sat Aug 16

18:00
Men's Q/Final - Match 26 - D1 vs C2 Italy vs Belgium

Workers' Stadium

Ready for Olympics

Everybody asks themselves is Beijing ready to host the biggest Sports event of the year?

This is a very tough question. I would have to answer yes and no.

Yes because every major infrastructure is of course completed. Beijing even opened 4 new subway lines and 20 new bus lines in one month. It's really unbelievable how fast the shape of Beijing changed. I went to Beijing in May to witness a major change in July. New hotels, new communication buildings, new subway stations in just a period of 2 months. That's really crazy, but that's China's strength. So on this part China will really amaze the world.

Starting from 21 July the government stopped all construction activities and all factories around Beijing for 2 months! Also cars were only allowed to enter Beijing on even or uneven days according to the number plates. This is a way to reduce the air pollution that's poltergheisting the Chinese capital. One of the 3 traffic lines on Beijing's highways is exclusively reserved for Olympic use.

Only one electable party makes it of course easy to control the whole country. If you combine this with the group-thinking any Chinese citizen herited from the time of Confucius, you can start to understand how such preparations are possible.

No because China stays China and people are not really used to foreigners.

I took some taxis in Beijing last month and was a bit disappointed as I heard that most taxi drivers will possess a GPS system to help the foreign guests, but none was available. In every taxi I saw I never noticed a GPS system. Although every taxi driver could follow a free course of Basic English, it is still very hard to converse with them without any knowledge of Chinese. So the obligatory business cards or a Chinese friend's phone number will still be needed.

And that my friends is of course only the taxi drivers. I can already imagine a few chaotic and funny situations in restaurants, hotels, shopping malls, ...

Oh by the way the officially promoted restaurants for the Olympics were forbidden to serve dog meat. All the other restaurants in Beijing were kindly asked to do the same.

Another thing that bothers me is China's attitude towards foreign residents; Most of Beijing's foreign residents were kicked out of Beijing because their visa was not extended. I suppose the Chinese government wants to limit the troublemakers, and troublemakers in Chinese's minds are always outsiders.

Even getting through the security check at the airports is for a foreigner a braver mission than for a Chinese citizen. Any unidentifiable item (so no Chinese on it) will find it's way to the nearest garbage bin.

So my conclusion can be that what you will see on TV will be perfect (I guess if anything happens the Chinese will just cut off all transmission). But all around Beijing a lot of problems will occur for every non-speaking traveler. So better take a guide, gives me more work haha.

Please don't miss the opening ceremony on 8/8/08 at 8 minutes past 8. It's by famous director Zhang Yi Mou.

Pictures taken near the Olympic Green :

Apartments for the athletes. They will become luxurious apartments once the Games end.




Whole set of apartments. The top of the tower symbolizes the Olympic Flame.




Famous new icon of Beijing, the Bird's nest.



View on the Olympic Green. The tower in the middle will support the Olympic Flame.




Watercube, venue for all swimming contests. After the Games it will become a public swimming pool.

Penthouse party

At the end of June Nok and I were invited to a special party in Bangkok.

One of Nok's close friends is working for the Thai edition of the famous magazine PENTHOUSE.

So we arrived at the party a bit after 19.00 (as in Thailand discotheques have to close at 01.00).

The party was held at Inch discotheque on Ratchadaphiset.

We arrived in the pouring and dried ourselves at the free bar while enjoying some drinks.

The attending crowd was mainly male. And coinsidence or not they all were armed with a big camera, I suppose most of them were professional photographers.

But of course we should speak about the ladies. 12 Thai beauties were parading the whole night in different acts and in different outfits. Some games were organized on stage. Putting condoms over bananas is a classic one, which I brilliantly won!

The crowd got some penthouse stickers and as the ladies walked by, every person could choose to put a sticker on. At the end of the night the lady with the most stickers won.

Better include some pictures!