Shanghai

From Beijing, I flew to Shanhghai...I was originally going from here on to Guangzhou but this got cancelled so effectively I had two days in Shanghai. We were staying at a great hotel - the Marriott...very nice but so cheap! I've learnt that a £300-£400 room in the UK costs only around £100 in China and even less in India...not bad at all.

I headed off to Pudong airport and then flew home to Heathrow...exhausted...I worked out I took 8 flights in 12 days...so much for cutting down on carbon footprint...

Beijing

I flew out of Singapore on the Saturady morning, flying Singapore Airlines into Beijing. The flight time was around 5 hours however it was the temperature difference that was quite incredible! I left Singapore in around 30 degrees C. In Beijing, it was -5 degrees C! I got picked up and then we headed to the Beijing International Hotel. I spent the rest of the day just hanging around really as I had a free day on Sunday.


Sunday I was picked up and we headed for Tiannamen Square...quite an amazing place, absolutely freezing and packed full of Chinese. It was interesting to see the amount of pictures of Mao still around everywhere. We next went into the Forbidden City...what an amazing place! Effectively this is where the Emperor and his Concubines resided. Its absolutely huge with an estimated 10,000 rooms. You would seriously require a lot of time to get around this place in full.

We had some lunch at a Chinese Fast Food restaurant (I don't know what we ate but it was nice) and then headed into Beijing Zoo to see the Panda's. They were amazing and reminded me of Chief quite a lot...



After the Zoo we went to The Summer Palace, effectively a park for the sole use of the Emperor. Again, an amazing place but it was so cold! Following th Summer Palace we went back to the hotel and then went out for something to eat at the original Peking Duck restaurant! I have to say it was OK but nothing special. I think western taste's expect something a little more spicy perhaps...

The following day we checked out of Beijing and headed for the airport for Shanghai...

Singapore

Singapore was simply one of the nicest places I've ever visited. Incredibly clean, relatively cheap, very friendly...absolutely great.

The hotel I stayed at was the Carlton and this was excellent...particularly as I had an upgrade to a suite. Considering some of the travelling I'd been doing the previous week it was a very welcome stay.

Kuala Lumpur

KL was a welcome relief from the hustle and bustle of India. I had an overnight flight from Mumbai to KL, arriving around 07:00. A colleague picked me up, we had some breakfast and then we headed to our customers. The first thing I noticed was how clean KL was...really beautiful...even the grass verges on the side of a 1000km motorway are manicured! It's quite unbelievable! I wish I had longer in KL, however I hope to get back there in the near future.

Mumbai

We left Baroda and arrived in Mumbai around 21:00...again, how many people are there here! It's just unbelievable! One thing I could not get over with India is the slums...somehow I expected them to be out of sight, out of mind but in India they're right in front of you...the overall standard of living is way, way below that than a "Western" country for example. The slums are also not located in a particular area, they can be anywhere, even if they're next to a brand-new office building for example. Strange..

It was also in Mumbai where I saw two elephants...we overtook them on the "motorway". I had noticed the cows, pigs and general wildlife dotted around over the last few days but the elephants took the biscuit.

The hotel we stayed at in Mumbai was pretty good...it had a rooftop terrace which was quite nice. On the last night I met my MD at the Intercontinental and we went to eat at the Sheraton...beautiful meal and I believe the restaurant is listed as one of the Top 50 in the world...either way it was nice...

Ahmedabad & Baroda

We arrived quite late in Ahmedabad and then had to drive to Baroda. It was about a 2 hour drive and driving at night in India is not pleasant. There are no lights and the traffic, particularly lorries are simply not roadworthy. A lot do not have lights at all and there is a great deal of horn pressing and light flashing to ensure the "passing" and "passee" drivers have seen each other. Quite simply, I would never drive in India...even our Indian colleagues have drivers!

One thing that did strike me about India is simply the amount of people. There are people everywhere. A simple two lane highway would have at least six lanes of traffic, there is no road discipline whatsoever and absolutely nowhere to park.

Delhi

Delhi was an intersting place...I actually stayed in a suburb called Gurgaon but I was completely taken aback by the amount of people! It is simply teeming with people - there are cars, bikes, pedestrians, scooters, etc, everywhere. I had two nights in Delhi but I didn't go out of the hotel on the first day, however I did get a good tour round in the daytime. ON the night we headed to Delhi airport and flew Jet Airways to Ahmedabad...

Asia or bust

I'd organised a work trip round Asia for the end of November / start of December. I'd a couple of fixed dates within this period - I had to be in Singapore for the 4th of December to give a presentation and I also had to take in India and China - all in 2 weeks! The agenda was a nightmare but here it is:

Thurs 26th Nov - Return from Miami
Saturday 28th Nov - Fly to New Delhi
Sunday 29th Nov - Freed Day in New Delhi
Monday 30th Nov - Visits in Delhi, fly to Ahmedabad
Tuesday 1st Dec - Visits in Baroda, fly to Mumbai
Wednesday 2nd Dec - Visits in Mumbai, fly to Kuala Lumpur
Thursday 3rd Dec - Visits in Kuala Lumpur, fly to Singapore
Friday 4th Dec - Presentation in Singapore, stay overnight in Singapore
Saturday 5th Dec - Fly to Beijing
Sunday 6th Dec - Free Day in Beijing
Monday 7th Dec - Visits in Beijing, fly to Shanghai
Tuesday - Visits in Shanghai, stay overnight in Shanghai
Wednesday - Visits in Shanghai, stay overnight in Shanghai
Thursday - Fly to Heathrow

My carbon footprint must have been huge! At least I managed to get Exec Club Silver status with BA!

Miami

We've just returned from 10 days in South Beach, Miami! We booked it a few months ago and used some of the points I've accumulated from my travels. We stayed in the Z-Ocean right on Ocean Drive and the hotel was fantastic - we couldn't have asked for a better location. I must say though that Miami is expensive! we couldn't eat out for less than $100 and that was just in athe local restaurants. We did eat in some nice places though - Prime 112, Nobu, A fish called Avalon and (probably the best of all) Tony's Sushi.

We also found Miami Ink, although its moved from where it was filmed during the show. Its now at 1360 Washington Avenue, rather than 1344. We both had a tattoo, SJ a rose and myself a wolf's head. I must admit that the whole Miami Ink experience was amazing - at first, a little imposing, however once they realise you are genuinely interested in a tattoo, then the service becomes excellent.

We did the whole celebrity spotting round Fisher & Star Island but basically we did as little as possible for 10 days...the perfect holiday...

Birthday

Today was SJ's birthday...and what a weekend. We went to the Red Lion in Rugeley for a meal on the Friday, then headed back down to London so SJ could attend a job interview. It was in a really nice location just outside Paddington station. As it happens the interiew probably wasn't worth it, however it was a good weekend all the same.

London town

We spent most of the day in London today - and that traditionally means Selfridges and Sushi...yum!

Back in Rugeley

This weekend we're back up in Rugeley. We got up here about dinnertime and I've just been to see my Grandad. He was pretty good today actually...quite with it. Tonight we've got some friends coming over for a Mexican and then we're going to watch a horror film...I hate horror films...!

Dreak

A bit of a dreary day today...light drizzle and grey. Still quite warm though...taking the mutts this morning for a walk it was quite an effort.

Chief still not managed to get hold of a squirrel although this is not for want of trying - now if he could just work out how to climb trees...

Wordle

Been meaning to do this for a while...

Travels so far in my life...

visited 39 states (17.3%)
Create your own visited map of The World

Travels so far this year...

visited 14 states (6.22%)
Create your own visited map of The World

CaniX

So today Chief and SJ entered their first CaniX race in Bracknell. This is where you and your dog take part in a timed race. Each competitor starts at 10 second intervals and there was around 130 people in total. Well, he was brilliant! Ran all the way round and wasn't at all distracted by the other dogs. I think taking Indi would have been a different story but perhaps next time...

Syracuse

This week, I flew to Syracuse for a presentation to our senior management. Syracuse is in New York State and involved Heathrow - Washington, Washington to Syracuse...basically a days travelling. This was the first time to our head office and it was quite nerve-racking. I didn't do as well as I would have hoped, however I think it was OK. Syracuse itself is a bit boring...there's not a lot going on. I was only there for a couple of nights and so I ate at the hotel (Doubletree) the first night and then went for an Italian on the second night. I have to say that Washington airport is THE most confusing place in the world...they really need to sort out the layout and signage!

The Silverstone Tour

The second part of my Silverstone birthday present was a tour round the facilities. We booked this in for Sunday 18th. It was a beautiful day and we arrived around 14:00. The tour itself was excellent and you got to see round all the areas that you wouldn't normally see.