Female businesscards

Chinese hotels are always a big adventure. Is my booking made?, Will I get the room I booked?, Will there be a person speaking some English?, ...

Upper-class hotels (4 or 5 stars) will not have a lot of problems as the management is competent and the staff is well-trained. But staying in a 3-star Chinese hotel might give you some surprises. For example you are woken at night by the telephone and when you pick up some sweet voice asks you if you would like a massage. This is common procedure in those hotels as the staff tries to make some extra money and sells the information to which rooms single man are spending the night. Quite annoying if you came to a hotel to actually get some sleep.

In those hotels you will also find a lot of female business cards shoved under your door, for the same purpose as well. I took some pictures of them and I really wonder what does "Massge temnder care lighting your booy"?

Top 5 most annoying things on airplane

As I fly quite often for work I like to get to the next destination as quickly as possible. Listening to music, reading, sleeping all help to let time pass faster. But some things, especially fellow travellers can be so annoying that it almost ruins your flight. Here is my personal top 5 of annoying things during flights:

1. Reclining chairs
I completely understand that people want to relax on airplanes, but when space is already limited and people are reclining the chairs at full stretch it can really get me angry. When food is served there is almost no space to manoeuvre your cutlery. When watching TV, the screen is so close that you can only see your own reflection. I try to never recline my own seat as I know how annoying this can be, but if the dude in front of me finds it necessary to click it all the way I have no option than to do this myself too. Of course in business class you wouldn't have this problem. but not everyone can afford this. So when I flew Ryanair a few months ago I was happily surprised that the airplane chairs could not move! Why can't it be possible for all flights.

2. Armrest wrestler
Again this is a concern about the limited space in airplanes. So when you are sitting by yourself, especially in the middle seat, and the person next to you clearly shows his territory by occupying the full length of the armrest it makes your blood pressure rise. So you start a psychological battle of pushing bit by bit and occupying the armrest yourself when this person leave his chair. Annoying to have to spend time like this in the air.

3. Kids screaming , kicking
Sitting for several hours on a plane with a kid or baby crying for the full length of the flight is another very irritating thing. I do understand that kids are tired and that sitting still on a flight can be a big challenge for them. But is it so difficult for the parents to ask your kid not to kick the chair in front of you or can't the parents try to hold the child until it stops crying. Anyway trying to sleep is out of question and you might get of the plane with a major migraine if you didn't provide some earplugs.

4. Never-ending storytelling
It seems like some people are telling their whole life to each other on the plane. When those people are sitting right next to you are behind you and you would like to get some rest during the long flight, it can be a real burden to suppress your feeling to tell them to shut up.

5. Toilet blocker
When you are sitting in the middle or window seat you might want to wake up the people next to you when you need to go to the toilet. Some people or in such a steady sleep it's not easy to wake them up and of course you will get some angry stares. It's also annoying if that person doesn't get up to let you trough but just bend his knees. On the other hand if you have a aisle seat and the person next to you needs to get out all the time, that is a pain in the ass as well.