Well,
There has been such a delay between posts that you can bet you are one of only a few to actually be reading this. But here it goes...
Where I last left off, I was comfortably resting at the Asiana Airlines lounge in Korea awaiting my uneventful rest of the Journey home. Leaving the lounge at 6:45pm, I took the 5 minute walk over to our departure gate. I again was able to skip the long line of those waiting to board by use of the business class/first class entrance (If you think the line is long getting onto a domestic flight - you should see the line for a large 747 - unreal). Taking the now familiar stairs up to the business class section of the plane, I located my seat - 8K (A window seat) and began to unpack. I noticed that the overhead light was not functioning and neither was my new neighbor's in 8J. The stewardess offered to move us, and while I agreed, 8J wanted to say. As luck would have it, I got the window seat in the exit row (11A). And best yet, nobody was seated next to me. Sweet. The only down side is that the window was slightly behind the seat, so that I couldn't look out without being fully reclined. Oh well.
About an hour into the flight, as we headed east, going directly over Tokyo, dinner service began. This time, I went with the western menu and the steak sirloin. Dinner was tasty and after dessert, it was now about 9:15pm and the lights went off for sleepy time. For me, that meant 8 hours of discomfort, darkness, and relative quiet (with the exception of the guy across from me on the isle who had a bad respiratory cough). I did manage to sleep on and off, and awaited dawn (of which I could only guess with all of the time zones we were traversing). Eventually, about an hour off the coast of Washington I took a peek out the window and saw the bring sun! The remainder of the flight was relatively uneventful until we neared landing...
Approaching Chicago O'Hare, we were notified that it was currently snowing, and after about an hour delay, we headed in for our final approach. As we neared the airport (about 5 miles out), the captain notified us that we would be unable to land at this time due to heavy snow. We turned around and was stuck in a holding pattern about 90 miles out for another hour or so. Luckily for me, whenever I am a flight that is scheduled to land, I always make a bathroom stop before we begin our final descent as I have been burned before on seemingly endless circling and delays right before landing.
Eventually, we punched through the thick clouds near the airport,and sure enough, it was really snowing. After coming to a halt, we could really tell this was no small storm, and we were probably lucky to not have our landing in Chicago canceled altogether. As we approached our arrival gate, we came to a stop about 20 feet short. An announcement was made that maintenance had to come out to fix something. Let me tell you, that a 747 sitting in the wrong spot really causes a jam. A wall of snowplows waited patiently for us to clear the area, and many other planes were all jammed up around us waiting for us to get out of the way. After about 20 minutes or so (seemed like 2 hours), we made it the final 20 feet and our gate.
After deplaning at about 6:00pm, we all took the long walk to immigration where a long line awaited us. It moved fairly quickly, and after an uneventful official entry to the country, my fellow passengers all gathered once again awaiting the delivery of our baggage. After a long 40-minute wait, my bag actually appeared (I had my doubts after checking in at Dalian, China). I then headed out into the blizzard for the short bus ride to my rental car. In the darkness, we arrived and my car was, unlike Steve Martin's experience, in the correct spot awaiting me. Unfortunately, the vehicle was a sporty little Pontiac G6 - a pretty decent car under any other conditions than that night. At the time, however, I failed to completely understand just how bad the weather and roads actually were. Heading out, I made my way onto the tollway and began my northern journey to home.
At this point, I was having some doubts that the kids would still be up. It should take about an hour and a half or so to complete the drive in normal conditions and that would put me home a bit after 8:30pm. Right about the cutoff for bedtime. As I continued to head north, the snowing picked up, the snow cover on the highway increased, and I started to realize I would be lucky to just make it home at all this night. The trip had me slipping and sliding, and narrowly avoiding about a dozen accidents that happened all around me. A steady stream of police lights and wrong facing headlights did manage to keep me awake despite my extreme exhaustion. My legs, on the other hand, didn't fare as well - the were pretty much asleep for the night! Seriously, the numbness from the long day of sitting (despite walking around and standing as much as possible), was slowly working it's way up my legs. I really didn't have a good option here as stopping would have meant getting off the snow-covered highway and surely getting stuck (the car proved awful in the snow). All I could do was push on. The slow drive at 30mph, was harrowing, uncomfortable, and just generally miserable, as I now had a terrible craving for a McDonald's Coke! As the drive continued, the snow increased, and by the time I reached Milwaukee, I decided that I couldn't even risk taking I-43 to Racine, instead, I would need to travel further north to I-94 W towards Madison, and exit at a main road in order to not get stuck. By around 9:30pm, I turned onto McCall Street, and saw my next challenge - the driveway. I gave it a bit of extra gas and managed to get through the plowed in end of the driveway and was home free! Well, almost - After punching through the end, I was stopped by the measly 5 inches on snow just sitting on the driveway. The snow coupled with our stunning 5 degree incline was enough to stop the G6 in it's tracks. So, after the 7000mile trip home, the remaining 75 feet would be done walking through the snow.
As I exited the car and grabbed my suitcase, I received an early Christmas gift (a good one too). That was Isabelle running down the driveway in her jammies, boots, and her jacket. I got a big hug and kiss! At that point, the tough journey home had merely done two things: 1) Made the reward I just received all that much better and 2) Gave me one extra blog entry to have written.
Take care everyone.
Dave Snyder
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Entry #12 - I'm off on the Road to Korea
Well, technically, I am in Korea in the lounge right now, but I couldn't resist the homage to History of the World. At the end of the morning in the office, I made my goodbyes as Grace and Cindy took me to the hotel for a quick lunch. We all had a wanton soup in the same cafe that Mike and I eat our breakfast in. The Western feel of restaurants sure is dull by comparison, although it is always nice to be able to read the menu. After finishing, I went up to my room one last time to grab my suitcase and checked out of the Swissotel (yes, that is how it's spelled).
We hopped in the standard old tiny taxi and took the 20 minute ride to the hotel. Funny that by far the craziest driver I had was the one that picked me up from the airport - the rest have been fairly sane. Along the way I was told that at work Mike was taking part in a special lunch event. Apparently, every once in a while, the employees take part in a random lunch. That is, the use a program that randomly assigns you to a particular lunch group (this is across all of the teams in the company). The point being, to meet and spend time with people in other groups in the company. Once assigned a group, they go out to any restaurant that they choose. A terrific idea that would be fun to implement in some fashion back in Milwaukee.
All too soon we arrived at the airport, and after guiding me to the departure point, I bid farewell to Cindy and Grace. Walking into the checkout area was pretty easy as the Dalian airport is surprisingly small for a city roughly the size of Chicago. It is much smaller that Mitchell Field in Milwaukee, if you can believe that. The only item of note is that the guy who checked me in took awhile to understand that I had a connecting flight in Korea and wanted my luggage to go to Chicago, not end up on a carousel in Korea. Only time will tell if he got it right.
The flight was scheduled to leave at 2:15pm, but we didn't push off until about 2:45. Being the only westerner on the entire 737 felt a bit strange, but had no problems. In fact, the same guy who was barely able to check me in got me the exit row seat! Nice surprise. It was funny that I didn't have anyone sitting next to me or even the next seat over from that - this is despite the fact that the plane appeared full. Oh well, I wasn't going to complain. The quick 1 hour flight to Korea was uneventful, yielding a late afternoon landing in Korea.
Upon deplaning, I took the long walk searching for where I should go next. We got messed up a bit after getting off the plane in Korea on the way out as well. Trick is, to find the "Transfer" signs and go up an escalator to a different floor. I found the Asiana desk, got my ticket and headed to my favorite lounge - the Asiana lounge in Korea. That is where I have crafted this uneventful blog.
From my reasonably comfortable chair here, I see that it is 5:45 and I have one more hour to wait before heading off to ate 6 to board the 747 for the long flight home. Maybe presents me a moment for some mini-observations that I was never able to craft into the flow of the blog (or I forgot).
1) Dalian was much cleaner that I expected, with street workers sweeting the sidewalks
2) While it seemed cleaner, it had a distinct smell (to be fair many American cities do as well). This smell, like car exhaust, permeated the air outside and even the hotel room; this was a bit uncomfortable. That being said, my asthma didn't bother me - just a bit tight after playing basketball.
3) I was very impressed that the Rockwell employees for the most part spoke very good English. I didn't recall it being much of an issue communicating at all.
4) If you make the trip yourself, try your hardest to keep an open mind on the food. If not, you will miss out on some truly spectacular flavors.
5) Practice your chopsticks! I was not good when I came here, but now am adequate (with the exception of noodles - man they are difficult).
6) It was interesting to see just how huge Christmas is in China. They only really know it as a time for presents, but the stores sure feel just like back in the States. Even the hotel constantly played American Christmas songs non-stop.
7) Don't eat raw seafood in China - For as much as I love it, that one day of agony was not fun - at all! That also goes for non-bottled water. Personally I also became concerned with hot tea after becoming ill. Although that was probably unfounded as it most certainly would have been boiled.
8) Know the basic words in Chinese - it will impress your guests and make you life much, much easier. These words are: Hello, Yes, No, Please, Thank You, What, How much, Too expensive, and goodbye. For some reason, I also said duibuqi quite a bit (that means I'm sorry). I found a good site at http://www.standardmandarin.com/basicchinese.aspx that also would say the words out loud. The main thing I didn't know until I came out here is that there are 4 main tones to speaking Chinese. Steady, Rising, Falling, and Falling then Rising. The site explains it fully, but it takes a little getting used to in order to speak properly (or at lest close enough).
Lastly and most importantly) Being away from your family for an extended time really makes it clear just how much they mean to you. I can't wait to come home and see the kids running for daddy (and their presents!) See you soon!
If all goes well, I will land in Chicago at 6pm or so (Saturday US time), and be home by 9pm.
I may have yet another blog for a final wrap up after I get back (probably not until Sunday at the earliest), so check back next week in case I forgot something exciting.
Goodbye for now...
We hopped in the standard old tiny taxi and took the 20 minute ride to the hotel. Funny that by far the craziest driver I had was the one that picked me up from the airport - the rest have been fairly sane. Along the way I was told that at work Mike was taking part in a special lunch event. Apparently, every once in a while, the employees take part in a random lunch. That is, the use a program that randomly assigns you to a particular lunch group (this is across all of the teams in the company). The point being, to meet and spend time with people in other groups in the company. Once assigned a group, they go out to any restaurant that they choose. A terrific idea that would be fun to implement in some fashion back in Milwaukee.
All too soon we arrived at the airport, and after guiding me to the departure point, I bid farewell to Cindy and Grace. Walking into the checkout area was pretty easy as the Dalian airport is surprisingly small for a city roughly the size of Chicago. It is much smaller that Mitchell Field in Milwaukee, if you can believe that. The only item of note is that the guy who checked me in took awhile to understand that I had a connecting flight in Korea and wanted my luggage to go to Chicago, not end up on a carousel in Korea. Only time will tell if he got it right.
The flight was scheduled to leave at 2:15pm, but we didn't push off until about 2:45. Being the only westerner on the entire 737 felt a bit strange, but had no problems. In fact, the same guy who was barely able to check me in got me the exit row seat! Nice surprise. It was funny that I didn't have anyone sitting next to me or even the next seat over from that - this is despite the fact that the plane appeared full. Oh well, I wasn't going to complain. The quick 1 hour flight to Korea was uneventful, yielding a late afternoon landing in Korea.
Upon deplaning, I took the long walk searching for where I should go next. We got messed up a bit after getting off the plane in Korea on the way out as well. Trick is, to find the "Transfer" signs and go up an escalator to a different floor. I found the Asiana desk, got my ticket and headed to my favorite lounge - the Asiana lounge in Korea. That is where I have crafted this uneventful blog.
From my reasonably comfortable chair here, I see that it is 5:45 and I have one more hour to wait before heading off to ate 6 to board the 747 for the long flight home. Maybe presents me a moment for some mini-observations that I was never able to craft into the flow of the blog (or I forgot).
1) Dalian was much cleaner that I expected, with street workers sweeting the sidewalks
2) While it seemed cleaner, it had a distinct smell (to be fair many American cities do as well). This smell, like car exhaust, permeated the air outside and even the hotel room; this was a bit uncomfortable. That being said, my asthma didn't bother me - just a bit tight after playing basketball.
3) I was very impressed that the Rockwell employees for the most part spoke very good English. I didn't recall it being much of an issue communicating at all.
4) If you make the trip yourself, try your hardest to keep an open mind on the food. If not, you will miss out on some truly spectacular flavors.
5) Practice your chopsticks! I was not good when I came here, but now am adequate (with the exception of noodles - man they are difficult).
6) It was interesting to see just how huge Christmas is in China. They only really know it as a time for presents, but the stores sure feel just like back in the States. Even the hotel constantly played American Christmas songs non-stop.
7) Don't eat raw seafood in China - For as much as I love it, that one day of agony was not fun - at all! That also goes for non-bottled water. Personally I also became concerned with hot tea after becoming ill. Although that was probably unfounded as it most certainly would have been boiled.
8) Know the basic words in Chinese - it will impress your guests and make you life much, much easier. These words are: Hello, Yes, No, Please, Thank You, What, How much, Too expensive, and goodbye. For some reason, I also said duibuqi quite a bit (that means I'm sorry). I found a good site at http://www.standardmandarin.com/basicchinese.aspx that also would say the words out loud. The main thing I didn't know until I came out here is that there are 4 main tones to speaking Chinese. Steady, Rising, Falling, and Falling then Rising. The site explains it fully, but it takes a little getting used to in order to speak properly (or at lest close enough).
Lastly and most importantly) Being away from your family for an extended time really makes it clear just how much they mean to you. I can't wait to come home and see the kids running for daddy (and their presents!) See you soon!
If all goes well, I will land in Chicago at 6pm or so (Saturday US time), and be home by 9pm.
I may have yet another blog for a final wrap up after I get back (probably not until Sunday at the earliest), so check back next week in case I forgot something exciting.
Goodbye for now...
Friday, December 14, 2007
Entry #11 - Things Winding Down
Friday afternoon was a typical work period, although we are both starting to get a bit worn out. At 5:30pm Grace and Nancy agreed to help me shop for presents for my children - Isabelle 4 1/2 and Adam 2. Mike was still not feeling well and stayed at the office a bit longer to finish up a final task.
We walked back to my hotel so that I can drop off my 40lb work backpack and grabbed my remaining Chinese cash (called RMB's) The current rate was about 7.33 RMB = $1 US. To my suprise, the hotel had a large shopping center in the same building that we took a side elevator down to. They took me to the children's floor of this store. It was very western in feel, and again similar to a Boston Store, but many stories tall (5 or 6, at least). Wandering the toys it struck me as strange that there was no particular order to the toys - infant and 6 yr. old, boys and girls intermixed. After finding a few nice items for each, we took them over to a counter to have some of them wrapped. The did a fantastic job wrapping, I have never seen such meticulous wrapping work before.
The took me next through the children's clothes area and I held out as long as I could, but was tired enough that I requested to return to my room. There I took it easy watching a little TV and enjoying room service of tomato basil soup and apple pie ala mode (Mom, no worries - your's is still the world's best!).
Saturday morning, breakfast, office by 8:00am. I will spend a couple of hours wrapping up some work with Mike and saying goodbye to my many new friends. A group will take me out to lunch, swing by my hotel, and drop me off at the airport at noon for my 2:00pm flight home.
I will provide at least one more blog with my trip home and some final thoughts.
We walked back to my hotel so that I can drop off my 40lb work backpack and grabbed my remaining Chinese cash (called RMB's) The current rate was about 7.33 RMB = $1 US. To my suprise, the hotel had a large shopping center in the same building that we took a side elevator down to. They took me to the children's floor of this store. It was very western in feel, and again similar to a Boston Store, but many stories tall (5 or 6, at least). Wandering the toys it struck me as strange that there was no particular order to the toys - infant and 6 yr. old, boys and girls intermixed. After finding a few nice items for each, we took them over to a counter to have some of them wrapped. The did a fantastic job wrapping, I have never seen such meticulous wrapping work before.
The took me next through the children's clothes area and I held out as long as I could, but was tired enough that I requested to return to my room. There I took it easy watching a little TV and enjoying room service of tomato basil soup and apple pie ala mode (Mom, no worries - your's is still the world's best!).
Saturday morning, breakfast, office by 8:00am. I will spend a couple of hours wrapping up some work with Mike and saying goodbye to my many new friends. A group will take me out to lunch, swing by my hotel, and drop me off at the airport at noon for my 2:00pm flight home.
I will provide at least one more blog with my trip home and some final thoughts.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Entry #10 - There is no Free Lunch
Thursday morning at 5am had me awake with a bit of a sour stomach, however, I managed to fall back asleep. At 6:45am, when I woke for the day, I realized that I really didn't feel well. A bit nauseous and a bit of a stomach ache. Calling over to Mike's room, confirmed what I feared. He was up all night with what I will politely describe as a more serious version of my tummy ache. Neither of us were able to go down to breakfast, and at 8:30am (about 45 min late), I finally had the strength to go to work. Mike was definitely not coming along as I headed out into the sunny brisk Dalian morning. I was still trying to convince myself that I didn't feel that badly and Mike's illness was just due to way overdoing the Chinese white wine. When I arrived in the office, nobody was around (they had an all-company meeting as it turned out). As I struggled to not be sick at my desk for the next hour, I began having to make sudden trips to the men's room. Not a good start to a very busy day.
At 10:00am I had a meeting with members of the RSLinx Classic development team - I attempted to make a stop in the men's room just before the meeting, but was turned away by the cleaning crew - Damn! I only got about 2 minutes into running the meeting when I felt like throwing up. I hastily excused myself and just made it to the bathroom in time. After finishing there, I actually felt better and against their recommendations, completed the meeting. It wasn't long after the meeting (about 11:30am) that I had enough and had Frank take me back to the hotel in a taxi. Needles to say, Mike never made it in, and I was fairly violently ill until 4pm or so. Frank, after dropping me off, went to a local supermarket and brought us watermelon, bread, and some bottled water. While I craved all of it during the afternoon, I wasn't able to even keep water down until 4pm or so. By 9pm I felt good enough for a small piece of bread, and by 10:00pm I went for the watermelon. I never before cut open a watermelon with just a spoon (that's all I could find in the room) - but sometimes it is under severe diress that you uncover skills that you didn't know you had. :) Best as I can figure, it was the raw oysters that Mike and I consumed the night before that sealed our fate. It should also be noted that we did each receive a concerned phone call from Cindy checking in on us wondering if we needed anything. A very nice gesture indeed.
Friday morning had me feeling much better. Mike still wasn't up for breakfast, so I went down alone and had my usual plate of fruits and some glasses of juice. Mike was able to join me in the walk to work this morning, but is clearly not at 100% (I am about 85%). He is still suffering from total body ache (I suspect that is the white wine hangover on top of a lingering food poisoning). We had much work ahead of us, and plugged along until our lunch at 11:00am. We had a rescheduled lunch with the localization team that I didn't want to cancel. We went, as it turned out, to the nearby spicy food restaurant that we had been to a couple of days earlier. This time, they ordered all gentle foods for us - Mashed potatoes, peas, salad, Chinese porrage (a made up name). Mike struggled to get anything down, and I admit it was a bit difficult seeing the pictures in the menu. One of the dishes that was brought out was a large fish lightly fried and soaking in clearly sweet & sour sauce - one of my personal favorites. I couldn't resist and ate a bunch of the fish. For drinks, we both skipped the tea and had a glass of Sprite - ahhhh.
After very nice conversation and an enjoyable lunch, we walked back to the office. That is where I shall leave off for the time being (since I am now caught up).
At 10:00am I had a meeting with members of the RSLinx Classic development team - I attempted to make a stop in the men's room just before the meeting, but was turned away by the cleaning crew - Damn! I only got about 2 minutes into running the meeting when I felt like throwing up. I hastily excused myself and just made it to the bathroom in time. After finishing there, I actually felt better and against their recommendations, completed the meeting. It wasn't long after the meeting (about 11:30am) that I had enough and had Frank take me back to the hotel in a taxi. Needles to say, Mike never made it in, and I was fairly violently ill until 4pm or so. Frank, after dropping me off, went to a local supermarket and brought us watermelon, bread, and some bottled water. While I craved all of it during the afternoon, I wasn't able to even keep water down until 4pm or so. By 9pm I felt good enough for a small piece of bread, and by 10:00pm I went for the watermelon. I never before cut open a watermelon with just a spoon (that's all I could find in the room) - but sometimes it is under severe diress that you uncover skills that you didn't know you had. :) Best as I can figure, it was the raw oysters that Mike and I consumed the night before that sealed our fate. It should also be noted that we did each receive a concerned phone call from Cindy checking in on us wondering if we needed anything. A very nice gesture indeed.
Friday morning had me feeling much better. Mike still wasn't up for breakfast, so I went down alone and had my usual plate of fruits and some glasses of juice. Mike was able to join me in the walk to work this morning, but is clearly not at 100% (I am about 85%). He is still suffering from total body ache (I suspect that is the white wine hangover on top of a lingering food poisoning). We had much work ahead of us, and plugged along until our lunch at 11:00am. We had a rescheduled lunch with the localization team that I didn't want to cancel. We went, as it turned out, to the nearby spicy food restaurant that we had been to a couple of days earlier. This time, they ordered all gentle foods for us - Mashed potatoes, peas, salad, Chinese porrage (a made up name). Mike struggled to get anything down, and I admit it was a bit difficult seeing the pictures in the menu. One of the dishes that was brought out was a large fish lightly fried and soaking in clearly sweet & sour sauce - one of my personal favorites. I couldn't resist and ate a bunch of the fish. For drinks, we both skipped the tea and had a glass of Sprite - ahhhh.
After very nice conversation and an enjoyable lunch, we walked back to the office. That is where I shall leave off for the time being (since I am now caught up).
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Entry #9 – What a Great Day!
Wednesday morning was a now typical work day here in Dalian
For lunch, the product lead Grace took Mike and I out to a Japanese restaurant that was clearly more for locals than for tourists. Again, we were lead upstairs to our private dining room. For lunch we had an absolutely fantastic tempura (fried vegetables). Tempura has always been one of my all-time favorite foods, but this was easily the best I have ever had. The batter here is consistently lighter than back home, and the taste far surpassed what I have ever tried. Additionally, we enjoyed crab, Chinese cabbage, a bean-type dish with hot peppers (no too hot), and a meat of some sort.
When we returned to the office, the localization team (responsible for testing our multi-language support) delivered us each a cup of cappuccino (I think) from the Starbucks which is located in the lobby. I have actually never ever had Starbucks before as I am not a coffee drinker, but to be polite I thought I had better give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it, and was very appreciative of the very kind gesture.
At about
We soon transitioned to the dining table where Mike and I actually couldn’t get our knees under the table. The table had 3 separate recessed areas on top, each containing two stainless rectangular pans of boiling sauce. One side is spicy, the other not. This was another “hot pot” type of meal where you put the various portions into whichever sauce you prefer and let it cook for about a minute or so. We dined on shrimp (both in paste and in-the-shell form), sprouts, chicken, and oyster. We also even had some plates of the pickled chicken’s feet. I, of course, first went for the chicken feet, which you eat without using the hot pot. I was surprised when I first tasted it that it is served chilled. Overcoming my initial apprehension, I was delighted by the flavor; however, there is not much “meat” on them – mostly cartilage. For drinks, I chose the local beer which I have been enjoying for the week and a glass of orange juice. Mike, however, went for the Chinese white wine (whiskey). His reaction to it was that it is strong (50% alcohol) but very tasty. I had them bring me a tiny glass – which confirmed Mike’s review – very strong but tasty without the strong liquor aftertaste. It seems that Chinese white wine doesn’t have the initial burn of hard liquor, but does seem to last longer in your throat. Mike, in an effort to gain worldwide notoriety, “punished” about 3 (or more) wine glasses of the drink – frequently slamming it down with a Chinese co-worker. Don’t expect a blog post from Mike tonight as he ended up a bit drunk, with a noticeable slur in his voice by the time we left. We had the best night of conversation all week with many, many laughs and a great time was had by all. As we grow more comfortable with our coworkers, I sense a genuine friendship forming between us. This was one of those dinners that rank as one of my most enjoyable dining experiences that I have ever attended. It has become clear that the
At the end of dinner, Grace mentioned that the room has a karaoke machine, but nobody was up to the challenge of singing (I may have if I had as much to drink as Mike, and he was in no condition to sing). We had the staff take picture of our group and called it a night. By
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Entry #8 - We score in China! Tuesday's adventures
Tuesday morning started with the standard routine of breakfast in the hotel and a walk to the office. The work morning had a brief break to celebrate December birthdays in the break room (there is one in each of the three floors of RSI. The room was packed, the excitement palpable (one of my personal favorite sayings), and the cake delicious. Nice to see the group here acting like a large group of friends - which is what I was brought up on from the ICOM days.
[ new paragraph :) ]
For lunch today, we walked a couple of blocks to another nice restaurant known for their spicy food. It was a standard (for China) lazy-susan table and the staff soon was bringing out our meals. The platters most definitely had a spicier smell and were noticeably more red than all of our previous dining experiences. Some things were hotter than others but nothing was too much for Mike and myself. Very tasty.
After work this evening, Mike and I were invited to join about a dozen RSI men over at a nearby university gym to partake in their weekly basketball night. The facility seemed like a Russian-built university from the 60's. Dramatic high ceilings, and a somewhat cold feel - both in temperature and overall "feel". We meandered through the hallways (past a large room of 20 ping-pong tables) and entered the gym. Is is the size of a standard full basketball court with wrought-iron decorated windows lining either side. The room was definitely a bit worn and a bit dimly lit (you see the excuses are starting already). We changed into our "game gear" and did a brief shoot around. I had originally planned to just shoot around to not risk blowing out my knee (I didn't have my brace or even basketball shoes), however, I decided to play for a couple of minutes and take it easy. Everyone was friendly, and after getting my fill of throwing up misses and the occasional basket (hence the title of this blog- scoring in China) - I called for a sub. For the record, I lasted about 40 minutes. Mike stayed in for the whole time (about 2 hours). A good time was had by all. By 7pm, the next group (whom we didn't know) arrived for their time in the gym for some volleyball. Finally, after another Chinese bathroom stop (think large troughs) in the gym, we were off to dinner.
The restaurant the took us to was close to our hotel, and had a beautiful appearance. It's wide building face had many individual dining rooms overlooking the street. It was probably 20 rooms across by at least 4 stories tall. Very amazing looking indeed (Mike got some pics). Inside, the appearance was no less amazing - beautiful marble grand stairways, marble railings, and marble floors were everywhere. This was accentuated by the massive chandelier that was 4'deep by 50' long over the foyer. We proceeded upstairs to our private room - along the way, we could tell this was a high end restaurant - turns out to be one of the top seafood restaurants in all of Dalian. Mike and I both felt under dressed as we walked by customers all in suits and ties. After getting to our room, we walked downstairs to "help" pick out our dinner. We went with crab, flounder, oysters, sea cucumber (I wanted to try it), and other meats and dishes. Dinner was excellent as usual and the evening had more of a "guy's dinner" feel than any other meal. After all it was 6 of the guys who played basketball with us that evening that took us there). We had a number of Chinese beers. Each one poured into champaign glasses and slammed with a "Cheers" and "Bottoms up". Luckily for me, Chinese beer is very light (similar to miller lite - but even a bit lighter). After a number of drinks, Mike got them to say "Punish it!" instead of "cheers" as that is his famous saying for slamming a drink. By the time dinner was over, I was exhausted and again over-full (Lisa - please buy me some bigger clothes for Christmas!). They walked us back to the hotel and we called it a night around 9:30pm.
[ new paragraph :) ]
For lunch today, we walked a couple of blocks to another nice restaurant known for their spicy food. It was a standard (for China) lazy-susan table and the staff soon was bringing out our meals. The platters most definitely had a spicier smell and were noticeably more red than all of our previous dining experiences. Some things were hotter than others but nothing was too much for Mike and myself. Very tasty.
After work this evening, Mike and I were invited to join about a dozen RSI men over at a nearby university gym to partake in their weekly basketball night. The facility seemed like a Russian-built university from the 60's. Dramatic high ceilings, and a somewhat cold feel - both in temperature and overall "feel". We meandered through the hallways (past a large room of 20 ping-pong tables) and entered the gym. Is is the size of a standard full basketball court with wrought-iron decorated windows lining either side. The room was definitely a bit worn and a bit dimly lit (you see the excuses are starting already). We changed into our "game gear" and did a brief shoot around. I had originally planned to just shoot around to not risk blowing out my knee (I didn't have my brace or even basketball shoes), however, I decided to play for a couple of minutes and take it easy. Everyone was friendly, and after getting my fill of throwing up misses and the occasional basket (hence the title of this blog- scoring in China) - I called for a sub. For the record, I lasted about 40 minutes. Mike stayed in for the whole time (about 2 hours). A good time was had by all. By 7pm, the next group (whom we didn't know) arrived for their time in the gym for some volleyball. Finally, after another Chinese bathroom stop (think large troughs) in the gym, we were off to dinner.
The restaurant the took us to was close to our hotel, and had a beautiful appearance. It's wide building face had many individual dining rooms overlooking the street. It was probably 20 rooms across by at least 4 stories tall. Very amazing looking indeed (Mike got some pics). Inside, the appearance was no less amazing - beautiful marble grand stairways, marble railings, and marble floors were everywhere. This was accentuated by the massive chandelier that was 4'deep by 50' long over the foyer. We proceeded upstairs to our private room - along the way, we could tell this was a high end restaurant - turns out to be one of the top seafood restaurants in all of Dalian. Mike and I both felt under dressed as we walked by customers all in suits and ties. After getting to our room, we walked downstairs to "help" pick out our dinner. We went with crab, flounder, oysters, sea cucumber (I wanted to try it), and other meats and dishes. Dinner was excellent as usual and the evening had more of a "guy's dinner" feel than any other meal. After all it was 6 of the guys who played basketball with us that evening that took us there). We had a number of Chinese beers. Each one poured into champaign glasses and slammed with a "Cheers" and "Bottoms up". Luckily for me, Chinese beer is very light (similar to miller lite - but even a bit lighter). After a number of drinks, Mike got them to say "Punish it!" instead of "cheers" as that is his famous saying for slamming a drink. By the time dinner was over, I was exhausted and again over-full (Lisa - please buy me some bigger clothes for Christmas!). They walked us back to the hotel and we called it a night around 9:30pm.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Entry #7 - Looks like someone's got a case of the Mundays!
Monday morning had us in our usual morning routine of meeting for breakfast at 7:15am. The cafe in the hotel has a very typical western hotel restaurant feel to it. We are greeted, as usual, by a swarm of attendants who take our rooms numbers and show us to our table. It is a standard breakfast buffet with a 60% Asian selection of food. I usually go with a variety of juices (Orange, Apple, Grapefruit, etc.), some fruit, a pastry. I also mix in some French Toast, Pancakes, bacon, hard boiled eggs, and sometimes a hash brown. It is a good breakfast, and if I was a big breakfast person I could also choose from a variety of Asian dishes - fish cakes, Asian salads, and other various hot vegetable plates. By 7:45 or so, we make our way to the office - a short 5 blocks away or so - however, today we see that it is 40 degrees and raining lightly. I plan to stop at the hotel desk to ask for some umbrellas when we run into Frank - who had run down to the hotel to help us get a taxi to the office. Once outside, Frank learns that there are no taxis to be found because they are very busy today due to the rain. So we make a brisk walk into work...
The office building, if I didn't go into detail previously, is a tall Japanese built building with a Starbucks in the lobby (for you coffee fans out there). Attendants greet us in English at the door in the morning and we head for the elevators to our floor - the 23rd. Rockwell Software has the top 3 floors in the building (22-24). Mike and I were each given our own office adjacent to each other) and Frank brings us a Coke and a bottled water in the morning. The work day here is office typical with occasional light chatter, but mostly quiet. Sometime during the morning, Grace Li - who we met from here visit to Milwaukee earlier in the summer arrived straight from the airport where she had just returned from a week in Cleveland. She greeted us and ended up taking us to the building cafeteria for lunch at 11:15 or so. It was a very busy and very crowded area where we were clearly a curiosity. I went with grace a got a large plate of noodles with a pear. As I sat down I realized that noodles are not a great choice for the chopstick impaired (such as myself). As I struggled through lunch, the lady next to me introduced herself as someone that I email with frequently - always nice to match a face with a name. As we finished lunch, we worked our way through the crowd out of the cafeteria where we say that the line had grown exponentially since we had arrived. Very Very busy place (shared by all the companies in this building).
After a busy afternoon of work, Frank, Cindy, and another coworker took us to a nearby favorite Sushi restaurant about a block or two away. We went upstairs and were lead to a private room. We all removed our shoes and jackets and entered the dining area. There we sat around a table about 1 foot high (underneath was cut out for legroom. A 3foot wide hardwood floor surrounded the 7' long rectangular table and that was our entire room. We sat on small seat cushions with wooden backs (like a seat with back support that you would use at Lambaeu). They went through their usual ordering sequence and soon our food arrived. It was similar to our Sushi restaurant from the hotel, but the food was even better. I got a bit of grief from the attendants for not being good with chopsticks and not eating the hot things right away - I didn't even try to explain my affection for nearly room-temperature food. I should also mention that after they brought us a course and left, they would close a sliding door, leaving us sealed off from the outside world - it was a very enjoyable experience (a bit warm however). Although I may be able to attribute the warmth from the order of Saki that Mike and I split (our companions didn't want any part of it). During dinner, we discussed homes (where here you don't pay taxes on the house and you can keep it for 70 years). Cindy asked us for jokes, but being unprepared, we really couldn't come up with anything good (if you know a good one for us, post it in the comments - thanks!). As we finished dinner and prepared to leave I asked for a practice set of chopsticks which they provided. Frank asked us if we knew our way back from there and we felt pretty confident that we did so we headed back to the hotel.
As we walked in darkness down a small side street and made a few turns, things started to unravel for us. First the rains returned, and then we found ourselves down the wrong street on the wrong side of town. With our phones being useless, we needed to improvise, and quickly. The rainwater soon had the gutters overflowing and up to our knees. The swift cool water threatened to sweep us away when we noticed a fire escape ladder which we took. Mike ascended first, and as the creaks and groans of the old steel reminded us - we were two big fellas on small rusty stairs. As the wind and rain picked up - Mike's backpack was blown off. It's falling mass nearly knocking me clear off the ladder. Since I knew we were a couple of stories up at this point, I used every ounce of energy to keep my grip. At the top of the stairs, we appeared at a balcony of an apartment which we entered after knocking first...
If you are familiar with the saying that things can go from bad to worse, then it will come as no surprise that we had entered the apartment of a Chinese guard or soldier of some sort. I hastily produced my passport and Mike's face went pale. His passport was lost with his backpack. We were in trouble (well Mike was, anyway). At that point, I need to end the suspense and tell you that nothing like that really happened - our walk back from the restaurant was largely uneventful (although it was dark, we did nearly get lost, and there was a rather large puddle that we had to walk around). :)
Stay tuned for the next exciting episode...
The office building, if I didn't go into detail previously, is a tall Japanese built building with a Starbucks in the lobby (for you coffee fans out there). Attendants greet us in English at the door in the morning and we head for the elevators to our floor - the 23rd. Rockwell Software has the top 3 floors in the building (22-24). Mike and I were each given our own office adjacent to each other) and Frank brings us a Coke and a bottled water in the morning. The work day here is office typical with occasional light chatter, but mostly quiet. Sometime during the morning, Grace Li - who we met from here visit to Milwaukee earlier in the summer arrived straight from the airport where she had just returned from a week in Cleveland. She greeted us and ended up taking us to the building cafeteria for lunch at 11:15 or so. It was a very busy and very crowded area where we were clearly a curiosity. I went with grace a got a large plate of noodles with a pear. As I sat down I realized that noodles are not a great choice for the chopstick impaired (such as myself). As I struggled through lunch, the lady next to me introduced herself as someone that I email with frequently - always nice to match a face with a name. As we finished lunch, we worked our way through the crowd out of the cafeteria where we say that the line had grown exponentially since we had arrived. Very Very busy place (shared by all the companies in this building).
After a busy afternoon of work, Frank, Cindy, and another coworker took us to a nearby favorite Sushi restaurant about a block or two away. We went upstairs and were lead to a private room. We all removed our shoes and jackets and entered the dining area. There we sat around a table about 1 foot high (underneath was cut out for legroom. A 3foot wide hardwood floor surrounded the 7' long rectangular table and that was our entire room. We sat on small seat cushions with wooden backs (like a seat with back support that you would use at Lambaeu). They went through their usual ordering sequence and soon our food arrived. It was similar to our Sushi restaurant from the hotel, but the food was even better. I got a bit of grief from the attendants for not being good with chopsticks and not eating the hot things right away - I didn't even try to explain my affection for nearly room-temperature food. I should also mention that after they brought us a course and left, they would close a sliding door, leaving us sealed off from the outside world - it was a very enjoyable experience (a bit warm however). Although I may be able to attribute the warmth from the order of Saki that Mike and I split (our companions didn't want any part of it). During dinner, we discussed homes (where here you don't pay taxes on the house and you can keep it for 70 years). Cindy asked us for jokes, but being unprepared, we really couldn't come up with anything good (if you know a good one for us, post it in the comments - thanks!). As we finished dinner and prepared to leave I asked for a practice set of chopsticks which they provided. Frank asked us if we knew our way back from there and we felt pretty confident that we did so we headed back to the hotel.
As we walked in darkness down a small side street and made a few turns, things started to unravel for us. First the rains returned, and then we found ourselves down the wrong street on the wrong side of town. With our phones being useless, we needed to improvise, and quickly. The rainwater soon had the gutters overflowing and up to our knees. The swift cool water threatened to sweep us away when we noticed a fire escape ladder which we took. Mike ascended first, and as the creaks and groans of the old steel reminded us - we were two big fellas on small rusty stairs. As the wind and rain picked up - Mike's backpack was blown off. It's falling mass nearly knocking me clear off the ladder. Since I knew we were a couple of stories up at this point, I used every ounce of energy to keep my grip. At the top of the stairs, we appeared at a balcony of an apartment which we entered after knocking first...
If you are familiar with the saying that things can go from bad to worse, then it will come as no surprise that we had entered the apartment of a Chinese guard or soldier of some sort. I hastily produced my passport and Mike's face went pale. His passport was lost with his backpack. We were in trouble (well Mike was, anyway). At that point, I need to end the suspense and tell you that nothing like that really happened - our walk back from the restaurant was largely uneventful (although it was dark, we did nearly get lost, and there was a rather large puddle that we had to walk around). :)
Stay tuned for the next exciting episode...
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Entry #6 - Sunday pt. deux
In we strolled to the restaurant (I didn't get the name) and they first wanted to seat us on the first floor. Some discussions ensued, and we then proceeded upstairs. The upstairs was a bit nicer with a large waiting staff dressed in navy blue flight-attendant style outfits - really cool. More negotiations as we moved to progressively better seating until we were next to the 4 deluxe window tables (that nobody seemed to be able to sit at). Frank and Cindy navigated the menu and on our suggestion picked out their favorite dishes. Some attendants soon brought us out each a steel bowel over a flame with water and some various seasonings in it. We were told that normally, you would just get one big hot bowl, but Frank said that he wasn't 100% and thought separate ones would be best. As the bowls slowly came to a bowl, the army of workers brought us out many different plates. First a large "greens" plate of spinach, lettuce, and other greens. You pick those up (w/ chopsticks of course) and put them in your bowl to cook. After a 30-second wait, they are ready and you retrieve (using chopsticks) and dip in a fish paste. It was tasty, but Mike and I both went sparingly on the paste for our dipping. Other plates soon followed - prawns, lamb, Chinese dumplings, and a gooey glob of what we were told were small shrimp. Each item was delicious and Mike and I each raved about how nice it is to have fresh EVERYTHING - I will really miss that when I return home. A Chief then came by and delicately, but swiftly, carved up a specialty - Peking Duck. It was fantastic. Later we had a soup and finally, a pineapple-coconut ice cream bar. What a lunch. Again, I ended up eating way too much as was relatively uncomfortable for the next couple of hours.
During dinner, Frank received a call that his one-year-old daughter wasn't feeling well, so he left to go home after our lunch. Cindy would be taking us shopping (which as it turns out is one of her favorite pastimes - go figure). The shopping center was close to the restaurant (and walking distance from our hotel). We first entered a large "Boston Store" style store - very western like with the standard makeup and perfume area greeting it's guests. There were many floors to this store where I could picture Lisa shopping for days - little did I know this was to be the tip of the shopping iceberg.
It stands to reason that if the computer store was enormous, then surely the shopping area for clothing/etc. would be equally large. It was - really large. We entered this area by going down escalators similar to the computer store, but this time, at the bottom, we were confronted by a dizzying maze of hallways with little shops on either side. Cindy told us she got lost the first time there and had to phone a friend for help - we chuckled, but soon realized why - the shopping area had to go on for miles(!) in every direction and Mike and I were at the mercy of Cindy. If we would have become separated, we would have still been lost when our flight leaves in a week (that isn't an exaggeration). The air down there was a bit stale with occasional area of food courts with a strong fried smell permeating ones nose. The mass of customers was relentless as we progressed deeper and deeper into the labyrinth of endless stores. We eventually exited, and after a brief stop in a sporting goods store (Mike forgot shorts - and we were invited to play Basketball on Tuesday night) we called it a day. One quick side note here. I needed to use the restroom in the sporting goods store (which was like a smaller Nike-town). The worker walked me to a back room where a couple of stalls were evident. Out walked a lady from one, and then I went in... I had read about these public toilets, but had yet to experience one. It was a small tiled area (4x4) with a porcelin center area the size of a toilet bowl. But the bowl, was recessed into the floor! There was also a small hose to wash down the area when you were done - kinda weird. Anyhow, just had to document that experience. Cindy stayed to no doubt shop some more, but Mike and I staggered back to the hotel passing a KFC, and a McDonalds (no I didn't stop... this time). Mike and I called it a day around 3:45pm and that was the last I saw him until breakfast at 7:20 this (Monday) morning. I took a nap until around 7pm, watched Shanghai Noon (one of my favorites), and ordered rooms service - California Burger and a Cheesecake. Both were delicious, but I should have trusted my stomach and stopped half way through. I made it until 9:30pm and fell asleep for the night.
During dinner, Frank received a call that his one-year-old daughter wasn't feeling well, so he left to go home after our lunch. Cindy would be taking us shopping (which as it turns out is one of her favorite pastimes - go figure). The shopping center was close to the restaurant (and walking distance from our hotel). We first entered a large "Boston Store" style store - very western like with the standard makeup and perfume area greeting it's guests. There were many floors to this store where I could picture Lisa shopping for days - little did I know this was to be the tip of the shopping iceberg.
It stands to reason that if the computer store was enormous, then surely the shopping area for clothing/etc. would be equally large. It was - really large. We entered this area by going down escalators similar to the computer store, but this time, at the bottom, we were confronted by a dizzying maze of hallways with little shops on either side. Cindy told us she got lost the first time there and had to phone a friend for help - we chuckled, but soon realized why - the shopping area had to go on for miles(!) in every direction and Mike and I were at the mercy of Cindy. If we would have become separated, we would have still been lost when our flight leaves in a week (that isn't an exaggeration). The air down there was a bit stale with occasional area of food courts with a strong fried smell permeating ones nose. The mass of customers was relentless as we progressed deeper and deeper into the labyrinth of endless stores. We eventually exited, and after a brief stop in a sporting goods store (Mike forgot shorts - and we were invited to play Basketball on Tuesday night) we called it a day. One quick side note here. I needed to use the restroom in the sporting goods store (which was like a smaller Nike-town). The worker walked me to a back room where a couple of stalls were evident. Out walked a lady from one, and then I went in... I had read about these public toilets, but had yet to experience one. It was a small tiled area (4x4) with a porcelin center area the size of a toilet bowl. But the bowl, was recessed into the floor! There was also a small hose to wash down the area when you were done - kinda weird. Anyhow, just had to document that experience. Cindy stayed to no doubt shop some more, but Mike and I staggered back to the hotel passing a KFC, and a McDonalds (no I didn't stop... this time). Mike and I called it a day around 3:45pm and that was the last I saw him until breakfast at 7:20 this (Monday) morning. I took a nap until around 7pm, watched Shanghai Noon (one of my favorites), and ordered rooms service - California Burger and a Cheesecake. Both were delicious, but I should have trusted my stomach and stopped half way through. I made it until 9:30pm and fell asleep for the night.
Entry #5: Saturday evening dinner and Sunday (pt. 1)
Picking up where I left off, we spent a nearly full day at the office on Saturday and headed back to the hotel just before 5pm. It was our first solo walk, and other than one busy intersection (remember the traffic signals are merely hints - at best) it was a piece of cake. To my surprise, we haven't appeared to stand out in the crowd as much as I had suspected (that would change a bit on Sunday as you will soon learn). After a 30 min break in our respective rooms, we met up and looked for a place to eat. We opted for a Japanese restaurant in the hotel - Mike assured me that he was an expert in Sushi and would be my guide that evening on a path to culinary enlightenment. The waitresses were dressed in what appeared to be authentic red flowery robes and shuffled their feet with their slippers as the walked us to our table. First thing I noticed, is that the table was shorter than me knees, so I had to sit a bit funny to be up at the table. I recognized almost nothing on the menu but did find, to my delight, a Tempura dinner package - which I ordered along w/ a Sprite. Mike went with the standard Sushimee? dinner package.
An assistant soon arrived with my sprite and proceeded to pour it into a glass for me - an uncomfortable two minutes later, he had filled the small glass and scurried on his way - weird.
Shortly thereafter, our courses began to arrive - we had a shared mini sushi appetizer plate, then Mike got his vegetable and sushi plane and I received my tempura plate. They were both very good and I even convinced Mike to try what we agreed must be clear jellyfish out of his plate. His shriveled face told me that Jellyfish isn't his favorite - but it was very good (although I probably would never order an entire dinner of it). The main course of sushi then arrived, and other than being set with a bit too much wasabi (sp?) for my tastes, it was a nice meal. After we finished that, we received a round of hot tea (yes I had to wait until it was nearly room temperature - this has been a slight problem for those who know me as almost all of the tea here is hot). After finishing our tea, we were expecting our check (or maybe some sort of dessert) when another cup arrived - we both were hoping it was pudding or something similar, but it turned out to be some sort of soup that was unfortunately slightly solidified - much like the pudding that we were hoping for. It had a strong smell to it, and Mike's crumpled face soon returned. But after I toughed it out and ate mine, he was compelled to give it a try for himself - one small spoonful later, Mike was done with his meal.
After about 10 minutes, we came to the realization that we had to flag them down - which we did, and soon we were headed to the hotel bar (how could we resist with some female hotel staff dressed in such nice holiday outfits :) ). Two Rum and Coke's later for me (and a whiskey for Mike) we called it a night (must be around 9pm??).
Sunday:
A bright sunny morning had us down in the lobby with Frank and Cindy - our coworkers from Dalian. We went again into 2 taxis (they are small) and headed to what they think is the largest square in China. 10 minutes or so later we arrived at a very large circular roundabout where we got out to see the sights. A large 19.99 meter tower was at it's center signifying the transition of HongKong back to China in (you guessed it) 1999. My limited time now prevents me from describing the square in enough detail to do it justice, but it was very large, beautiful, and over toward the Korean sea, had a huge (300 foot across) cement open book (with the pages facing the sky). On each end, it rose up to about 30 feet in the air, and a scattering of people were walking on all parts. We also climbed up and went to the top edge where I noticed they had planted bushed below to cushion ones fall (as there was no railing at all). The book was apparently created to signify Dalian opening a new page in it's history. In the area there were some small amusement rides for kids, little skateboards with toy ponies on top to ride around and music playing. We fed a group of pigeons and headed off along the shore. Looking back into Dalian, one can't help but be impressed with the incredibly amount of large buildings under construction. Soon, shots ran out (thats right) and we inquired as to what it was (as we heard more the other night). We were told it was fireworks for when a skyscraper is completed. But that sound is quite common. We crossed a pedestrian bridge and came up to a massive castle on a side of a mountain that you will have to see the pictures (hopefully Mike has them posted). Huge. Apparently built just 5 years ago or so. Beautiful.
From there we hopped into a single taxi (I took the front and they squeezed in back) (why not save some money) and went to what they called a "Circuit City". I didn't fully get the pun in the name until got out of the taxi and descended down a subway like entrance...
As we looked across the "store" It seemed to go on for blocks and blocks - then we learned it was something like 4 stories tall - all computers and accessories - UNREAL. The store was, in fact, many many, small shops like at a fair or antique mall (don't ask me how I know that).
I will spare all you non-techies out there the details but we spent an hour an a half walked around in awe. It was then time for lunch where we walked to Cindy's favorite restaurant...
An assistant soon arrived with my sprite and proceeded to pour it into a glass for me - an uncomfortable two minutes later, he had filled the small glass and scurried on his way - weird.
Shortly thereafter, our courses began to arrive - we had a shared mini sushi appetizer plate, then Mike got his vegetable and sushi plane and I received my tempura plate. They were both very good and I even convinced Mike to try what we agreed must be clear jellyfish out of his plate. His shriveled face told me that Jellyfish isn't his favorite - but it was very good (although I probably would never order an entire dinner of it). The main course of sushi then arrived, and other than being set with a bit too much wasabi (sp?) for my tastes, it was a nice meal. After we finished that, we received a round of hot tea (yes I had to wait until it was nearly room temperature - this has been a slight problem for those who know me as almost all of the tea here is hot). After finishing our tea, we were expecting our check (or maybe some sort of dessert) when another cup arrived - we both were hoping it was pudding or something similar, but it turned out to be some sort of soup that was unfortunately slightly solidified - much like the pudding that we were hoping for. It had a strong smell to it, and Mike's crumpled face soon returned. But after I toughed it out and ate mine, he was compelled to give it a try for himself - one small spoonful later, Mike was done with his meal.
After about 10 minutes, we came to the realization that we had to flag them down - which we did, and soon we were headed to the hotel bar (how could we resist with some female hotel staff dressed in such nice holiday outfits :) ). Two Rum and Coke's later for me (and a whiskey for Mike) we called it a night (must be around 9pm??).
Sunday:
A bright sunny morning had us down in the lobby with Frank and Cindy - our coworkers from Dalian. We went again into 2 taxis (they are small) and headed to what they think is the largest square in China. 10 minutes or so later we arrived at a very large circular roundabout where we got out to see the sights. A large 19.99 meter tower was at it's center signifying the transition of HongKong back to China in (you guessed it) 1999. My limited time now prevents me from describing the square in enough detail to do it justice, but it was very large, beautiful, and over toward the Korean sea, had a huge (300 foot across) cement open book (with the pages facing the sky). On each end, it rose up to about 30 feet in the air, and a scattering of people were walking on all parts. We also climbed up and went to the top edge where I noticed they had planted bushed below to cushion ones fall (as there was no railing at all). The book was apparently created to signify Dalian opening a new page in it's history. In the area there were some small amusement rides for kids, little skateboards with toy ponies on top to ride around and music playing. We fed a group of pigeons and headed off along the shore. Looking back into Dalian, one can't help but be impressed with the incredibly amount of large buildings under construction. Soon, shots ran out (thats right) and we inquired as to what it was (as we heard more the other night). We were told it was fireworks for when a skyscraper is completed. But that sound is quite common. We crossed a pedestrian bridge and came up to a massive castle on a side of a mountain that you will have to see the pictures (hopefully Mike has them posted). Huge. Apparently built just 5 years ago or so. Beautiful.
From there we hopped into a single taxi (I took the front and they squeezed in back) (why not save some money) and went to what they called a "Circuit City". I didn't fully get the pun in the name until got out of the taxi and descended down a subway like entrance...
As we looked across the "store" It seemed to go on for blocks and blocks - then we learned it was something like 4 stories tall - all computers and accessories - UNREAL. The store was, in fact, many many, small shops like at a fair or antique mall (don't ask me how I know that).
I will spare all you non-techies out there the details but we spent an hour an a half walked around in awe. It was then time for lunch where we walked to Cindy's favorite restaurant...
Friday, December 7, 2007
Entry #4 - The first day in the office
Now that our first day in the office is nearly over, I thought I would get another blog entry posted...
At 11am Frank stopped by to say we are going out for lunch. We got out side and they split us up into two groups. My group arrived at a very nice looking seafood restaurant. We walked upstairs in a grand stairway lined with marble and glass. Many friendly Chinese waitresses - some in a oriental red outfit, and others in more contemporary waitress clothing greeted us at every turn. We proceeded down a fancy hallway with an attendant outside of every one. Inside each room was a single table that seats about 12 people. We turned into our room and they presented me a special seat and they all politely sat down after me. They turned on the large flat screen to watch a live Milwaukee Bucks game (see Lisa - it was good practice for me to always be watching TV while we eat). They talked to our attendants and 3 of us got up to go downstairs and pick out our seafood lunch. We went into a room where an amazing variety of live seafood was available in separate tanks - crab, flounder, shrimp, lobster, oysters, gooey ducts, and many others. another part of the room had many prebuilt fancy dishes of vegetables, fish, etc all covered individually but sitting ina large open cooler display. The variety was simply amazing. They asked me what I like and I told them that I like everything and they could pick whatever they would like. They picked out our meal (Dalian Crab) and we returned upstairs to our table.
Very soon the food started to arrive, one plate after another - placed in the large central lazy susan. Meats, bamboo shoots, spicy cabbage, and more soon filled up the center area. It was all very delicious - I can see that my small food fears are not warranted, as an adventurous eater like myself absolutely cherishes this opportunity to try new food. I cannot speak enough as to the quality and flavor of the no doubt very fresh food - it is really making me want to abandon all of the processed American food - there is simply no comparison. I suppose that it the tradeoff for time and convenience - so I better enjoy this week here.
We talked about many subjects including computer games (they like Counter-Strike), basketball, and American TV shows - it turns out that they really like "Prison Break" - when I returned from lunch, Mike told me his group talked about that show as well. They also stated that they watch "24" but seemed confused when I demanded to know the whereabouts of Jack Bauer's imprisonment - oh well. At about 1pm we returned to the office where our work day continues. I am feeling suprizingly good, but wondering if the bottom will fall out later in the day (it is 2:40pm right now). We took a brief walk to the break room where I got a free can of Chinese Coke - tastes just the same. Anyway, back to work...
Brief final note: Looks like they are organizing a city tour of sightseeing and shopping for Mike and I tomorrow - can't wait!
At 11am Frank stopped by to say we are going out for lunch. We got out side and they split us up into two groups. My group arrived at a very nice looking seafood restaurant. We walked upstairs in a grand stairway lined with marble and glass. Many friendly Chinese waitresses - some in a oriental red outfit, and others in more contemporary waitress clothing greeted us at every turn. We proceeded down a fancy hallway with an attendant outside of every one. Inside each room was a single table that seats about 12 people. We turned into our room and they presented me a special seat and they all politely sat down after me. They turned on the large flat screen to watch a live Milwaukee Bucks game (see Lisa - it was good practice for me to always be watching TV while we eat). They talked to our attendants and 3 of us got up to go downstairs and pick out our seafood lunch. We went into a room where an amazing variety of live seafood was available in separate tanks - crab, flounder, shrimp, lobster, oysters, gooey ducts, and many others. another part of the room had many prebuilt fancy dishes of vegetables, fish, etc all covered individually but sitting ina large open cooler display. The variety was simply amazing. They asked me what I like and I told them that I like everything and they could pick whatever they would like. They picked out our meal (Dalian Crab) and we returned upstairs to our table.
Very soon the food started to arrive, one plate after another - placed in the large central lazy susan. Meats, bamboo shoots, spicy cabbage, and more soon filled up the center area. It was all very delicious - I can see that my small food fears are not warranted, as an adventurous eater like myself absolutely cherishes this opportunity to try new food. I cannot speak enough as to the quality and flavor of the no doubt very fresh food - it is really making me want to abandon all of the processed American food - there is simply no comparison. I suppose that it the tradeoff for time and convenience - so I better enjoy this week here.
We talked about many subjects including computer games (they like Counter-Strike), basketball, and American TV shows - it turns out that they really like "Prison Break" - when I returned from lunch, Mike told me his group talked about that show as well. They also stated that they watch "24" but seemed confused when I demanded to know the whereabouts of Jack Bauer's imprisonment - oh well. At about 1pm we returned to the office where our work day continues. I am feeling suprizingly good, but wondering if the bottom will fall out later in the day (it is 2:40pm right now). We took a brief walk to the break room where I got a free can of Chinese Coke - tastes just the same. Anyway, back to work...
Brief final note: Looks like they are organizing a city tour of sightseeing and shopping for Mike and I tomorrow - can't wait!
Entry #3 - Korea to China and First Day thoughts...
Exiting the plane in Korea, we had a hard time figuring out where to go, but we eventually made it to the Asiana Airlines Business Class lounge. It was spectacular with seating for probably 250 people on comfortable couches, chairs, and tables to work on. The nicely finished area was at least 12,000 sq. ft. and had showers, pc's, flat screens, and even sleeping rooms. The food/drink bar was much bigger than the one at O'Hare as Inchon airport is the hub for Asiana Air. The three hour layover went quickly and it was nice to see the sun again after 20 hours of continuous darkness. Around 9am local time, we boarded what we hoped was our flight to China (there was no announcement in English, but we just went with the flow). Seating was comparable to domestic coach and the short 1.5 hour flight even had a small hot Koren meal (meat/veggies) it was good. The flight took us over the Yellow Sea and Korea Bay. Near Korea, it looked like tidal flats, but closer to China, over the Korea Bay, it looked like ocean, with many cargo ships and fishing boats as we got closer to the port city of Dalian. Dalian has a very large port, and many, many industrial rust colored buildings that we flew over. The skies were sunny as we touched down at the Dalian Airport - It was interesting to see the old Russian Mig's and a couple of newer ones (SU-29 / 31?) at the military section of the airport. After deplaning, the airport was nice and after going through immigration (many Chinese soldiers in green uniforms) we were in! The baggage claim was right there and our luggage was waiting for us - that is a nice relief! After leaving the baggage area, we saw Frank and his co-worker Cindy. We split up into separate cabs - Frank taking me in the lead vehicle...
The 15 minute drive to our hotel (the Swiss) was quite chaotic - traffic lanes and traffic lights are basically just a suggestion - right of way seems to be just one big game of chicken. Our driver must have thought I was in a hurry because we he fast, making up lanes as he went. I didn't get to really speak in the cab (an old subcompact of unknown manufacturer) as the taxi driver had his Chinese talk-radio quite loud. Even if that had been turned down, I couldn't have gotten in a word over his non-stop honking - seriously he honked 90% of the journey!
We arrived at the hotel about 10 minutes ahead of Mike and Cindy, due to their driver being a bit more sane. The hotel is very nice and large. We checked in, dropped off our bags in Mike's room (mine wasn't ready yet) and went to lunch in the hotel. Frank and Cindy treated us to a Chinese restaurant (which afterwards, they said was kind of westernized - but to us it seems quite Chinese). I was getting nervous as they ordered a ton of food! We were still full from our travel meals, not to mention that our stomachs thought it was in the middle of the night.
I forgot to mention, the restaurant had literally an Army of workers all adorn in Christmas hats, with American Christmas music playing in the background. We were the only customers and soon the food was arriving at our table (some of it was cooked table side). I can't name much of what we had, other than a salad and a Dove - thats right - Dove.
The varied foods were all tasty and I only received a few chuckles for my poor chopstick skills - although I really enjoy trying. By the end of lunch, Mike and I were really in a daze and we canceled our original plans of meeting them back at the office around 4pm. Instead they headed back to work (it's then about 1:30pm Friday). We went back up to our rooms on the 31st floor. I started to unpack but just collapsed on the bed exhausted. I awoke to my alarm for 6pm as Mike and I wanted to do something in the evening to help adjust our time to local. Mike however, was very groggy on the phone and I let him return to his sleep (the big baby - he slept 9 hours on the plane). I forced myself to get up and finish unpacking. The room is a typical nice hotel room with the only difference being that you put your room key in a slot on the wall to enable power in the room. The lighting controls themselves are all from a bedside touch panel alarm clock. Kind of neat, except, the keys are not backlit, and in the dark its hard to find the buttons for the lights (or to shut off a blaring alarm). I setup the computer and got online - kind of slow - and worse yet - this blog site is BLOCKED from the hotel - so I have to do my updates from the Rockwell office (about 4 blocks away). I took a tour of the hotel, noting the restaurants, and found the fitness center, were a friendly attendant gave me a tour - ping-pong room, a typical hotel fitness center, locker rooms, and an indoor pool. All looked very nice.
I walked through the two gift shops and returned to my room. It was now about 8pm Friday and I saw that "Me and Dupree" (not sure the name was right) was starting - I got through about half of that, called Lisa (my time 9pm, her time 7am) and even got to say hello to my little Isabelle - who apparently got to sleep in my spot in bed!
I then proceeded to fall asleep as well as I have ever slept in a hotel. The alarm woke me at 6:45am and felt much much better than the day before. I reviewed my notes on some basic Mandrian Chinese (Hello, Yes, No, Thanks, etc) but cannot seem to recall it in time to use it - and just end up saying the words in English - will work on that!
Anyhow, Mike and I went to the Cafe for buffet breakfast - very nice spread. Then Frank met us in the lobby at 8am and we walked in to work - yup - Saturday morning :(
NOTE: We were holding out hope for maybe a flight over to Beijing for some sightseeing, but I guess everyone was going in to work today - oh well - Rockwell will get their money's worth out of us on this trip.
The office is quite nice, comprising of three floors of Rockwell Software and many many friendly people. Mike and I each have our own office to work, and I am blasting out this blog from my desk (10:30am Saturday).
Well, I am now caught up, and will get back to work. Hope to add another entry on Monday, December 9th (we won't be in the office on Sunday - getting a tour of Dalian from a guide here at work).
Take care everyone...
The 15 minute drive to our hotel (the Swiss) was quite chaotic - traffic lanes and traffic lights are basically just a suggestion - right of way seems to be just one big game of chicken. Our driver must have thought I was in a hurry because we he fast, making up lanes as he went. I didn't get to really speak in the cab (an old subcompact of unknown manufacturer) as the taxi driver had his Chinese talk-radio quite loud. Even if that had been turned down, I couldn't have gotten in a word over his non-stop honking - seriously he honked 90% of the journey!
We arrived at the hotel about 10 minutes ahead of Mike and Cindy, due to their driver being a bit more sane. The hotel is very nice and large. We checked in, dropped off our bags in Mike's room (mine wasn't ready yet) and went to lunch in the hotel. Frank and Cindy treated us to a Chinese restaurant (which afterwards, they said was kind of westernized - but to us it seems quite Chinese). I was getting nervous as they ordered a ton of food! We were still full from our travel meals, not to mention that our stomachs thought it was in the middle of the night.
I forgot to mention, the restaurant had literally an Army of workers all adorn in Christmas hats, with American Christmas music playing in the background. We were the only customers and soon the food was arriving at our table (some of it was cooked table side). I can't name much of what we had, other than a salad and a Dove - thats right - Dove.
The varied foods were all tasty and I only received a few chuckles for my poor chopstick skills - although I really enjoy trying. By the end of lunch, Mike and I were really in a daze and we canceled our original plans of meeting them back at the office around 4pm. Instead they headed back to work (it's then about 1:30pm Friday). We went back up to our rooms on the 31st floor. I started to unpack but just collapsed on the bed exhausted. I awoke to my alarm for 6pm as Mike and I wanted to do something in the evening to help adjust our time to local. Mike however, was very groggy on the phone and I let him return to his sleep (the big baby - he slept 9 hours on the plane). I forced myself to get up and finish unpacking. The room is a typical nice hotel room with the only difference being that you put your room key in a slot on the wall to enable power in the room. The lighting controls themselves are all from a bedside touch panel alarm clock. Kind of neat, except, the keys are not backlit, and in the dark its hard to find the buttons for the lights (or to shut off a blaring alarm). I setup the computer and got online - kind of slow - and worse yet - this blog site is BLOCKED from the hotel - so I have to do my updates from the Rockwell office (about 4 blocks away). I took a tour of the hotel, noting the restaurants, and found the fitness center, were a friendly attendant gave me a tour - ping-pong room, a typical hotel fitness center, locker rooms, and an indoor pool. All looked very nice.
I walked through the two gift shops and returned to my room. It was now about 8pm Friday and I saw that "Me and Dupree" (not sure the name was right) was starting - I got through about half of that, called Lisa (my time 9pm, her time 7am) and even got to say hello to my little Isabelle - who apparently got to sleep in my spot in bed!
I then proceeded to fall asleep as well as I have ever slept in a hotel. The alarm woke me at 6:45am and felt much much better than the day before. I reviewed my notes on some basic Mandrian Chinese (Hello, Yes, No, Thanks, etc) but cannot seem to recall it in time to use it - and just end up saying the words in English - will work on that!
Anyhow, Mike and I went to the Cafe for buffet breakfast - very nice spread. Then Frank met us in the lobby at 8am and we walked in to work - yup - Saturday morning :(
NOTE: We were holding out hope for maybe a flight over to Beijing for some sightseeing, but I guess everyone was going in to work today - oh well - Rockwell will get their money's worth out of us on this trip.
The office is quite nice, comprising of three floors of Rockwell Software and many many friendly people. Mike and I each have our own office to work, and I am blasting out this blog from my desk (10:30am Saturday).
Well, I am now caught up, and will get back to work. Hope to add another entry on Monday, December 9th (we won't be in the office on Sunday - getting a tour of Dalian from a guide here at work).
Take care everyone...
Entry #2 - The flight...
Settling into my seat in 8A I noticed two things right away: 1) Plenty of legroom (you have no idea what a big deal that is) and secondly, 3 large bins next to my seat under the window large enough to hold my huge laptop backpack. That means I don't have to climb over the person next to me (a Korean with a cold) every time I needed something.
Anyway, looking out the window, you get a sense on how large the 747 is - from the upper deck what I was sitting, it is over 20' down to the tarmac. Pretty cool. Browsing through the seat pocket ahead of me had a number of things I am not use to seeing on a plane- slippers (never tried them - looked too small), a zipper pouch full of goodies (lotions, toothbrush, toothpaste, chap stick, and I don't know what all else). Reclining the seat all the way back came to about 135deg. some of the newer planes are doing full flat (180 degrees), but this was ok - I knew sleeping wouldn't be that easy so I trained for a long time by sleeping on our couch recliner at home (see Lisa - I told you I wasn't just being lazy!). Each seat had it's own portable tv but not too many channels in English to choose from.
As they prepped the plane for departure we were treated to drinks (I just had an OJ), and a warm moist towel (which wasn't all that tasty at all - I gave up half way through it). I spent a good 20 minutes carefully organizing all of my reading material and computer equipment for optimal usage on the plane (of which, I used approximately none of it). After a short delay for deicing, we left O'Hare and headed north. Our flight path took us over my hometown of Waukesha as I waved bye to my family below no doubt sleeping (it was about 2am at that point) I returned my attention to the GPS display to view our flight path and progress. It was a bit daunting to read that it was going to be 12 hours and 29 minutes to arrival, so I settled in to get comfy. It was late, and I was still quite full from dinner, when one our stewardesses came by with a menu for what was called a "Heavy Snack". The menu had a Western side and a Korean side, I had read that the Western is good, but the Korean is excellent - so I went with the Korean side (BiBimBop or something like that). It was a large bowl filled with meats and vegetables all spread out). On the side were numerous little cups of different things (Red Pepper paste, seaweed thingies?, and others). There was also a large bowel of some sort of seafood tasting watery soup. It was all very good and the metal chopsticks took some getting used to (since it was silverware, it was slippery compared to wood chop stick that I am used to (well not used to - I am not very good - just that I have used wooden ones before). I read the little manual on how to eat that meal (it came w/ the plate) and to my recollection, numerous courses were served until I "couldn't eat another bite" (that one is for you Laurie) and skipped dessert altogether. About an hour later they turned off the lights and everyone went to sleep. I managed to doze off, but woke up w/in about an hour or so with that feeling of wondering if I was snoring out loud.
To be honest, the rest of the flight was a daze where a couple of times I got up and walked the isle for about 30mins at a time. Had a discussion with an Asiana airlines pilot and we talked of course about flight simulator and flying in general. Throughout the flight the staff kept the bathrooms spotless, constantly asked me if I needed fruit, juice, or anything. They truly made a difficult flight as pleasant as possible (have I mentioned the service?).
2 hours before arrival (just northwest of Japan) we had breakfast - I again went with the Korean menu and Mushroom crepes - which again was crazy good. As we approached Korea I was hoping we would get a hint of a sunrise (since I hadn't seen the sun since Wed afternoon in the office). No luck, we landed in Inchon Airport near Seoul Korea at about 5:30am (local time).
- stay tuned for article #3 - Korea to China and the first day
Anyway, looking out the window, you get a sense on how large the 747 is - from the upper deck what I was sitting, it is over 20' down to the tarmac. Pretty cool. Browsing through the seat pocket ahead of me had a number of things I am not use to seeing on a plane- slippers (never tried them - looked too small), a zipper pouch full of goodies (lotions, toothbrush, toothpaste, chap stick, and I don't know what all else). Reclining the seat all the way back came to about 135deg. some of the newer planes are doing full flat (180 degrees), but this was ok - I knew sleeping wouldn't be that easy so I trained for a long time by sleeping on our couch recliner at home (see Lisa - I told you I wasn't just being lazy!). Each seat had it's own portable tv but not too many channels in English to choose from.
As they prepped the plane for departure we were treated to drinks (I just had an OJ), and a warm moist towel (which wasn't all that tasty at all - I gave up half way through it). I spent a good 20 minutes carefully organizing all of my reading material and computer equipment for optimal usage on the plane (of which, I used approximately none of it). After a short delay for deicing, we left O'Hare and headed north. Our flight path took us over my hometown of Waukesha as I waved bye to my family below no doubt sleeping (it was about 2am at that point) I returned my attention to the GPS display to view our flight path and progress. It was a bit daunting to read that it was going to be 12 hours and 29 minutes to arrival, so I settled in to get comfy. It was late, and I was still quite full from dinner, when one our stewardesses came by with a menu for what was called a "Heavy Snack". The menu had a Western side and a Korean side, I had read that the Western is good, but the Korean is excellent - so I went with the Korean side (BiBimBop or something like that). It was a large bowl filled with meats and vegetables all spread out). On the side were numerous little cups of different things (Red Pepper paste, seaweed thingies?, and others). There was also a large bowel of some sort of seafood tasting watery soup. It was all very good and the metal chopsticks took some getting used to (since it was silverware, it was slippery compared to wood chop stick that I am used to (well not used to - I am not very good - just that I have used wooden ones before). I read the little manual on how to eat that meal (it came w/ the plate) and to my recollection, numerous courses were served until I "couldn't eat another bite" (that one is for you Laurie) and skipped dessert altogether. About an hour later they turned off the lights and everyone went to sleep. I managed to doze off, but woke up w/in about an hour or so with that feeling of wondering if I was snoring out loud.
To be honest, the rest of the flight was a daze where a couple of times I got up and walked the isle for about 30mins at a time. Had a discussion with an Asiana airlines pilot and we talked of course about flight simulator and flying in general. Throughout the flight the staff kept the bathrooms spotless, constantly asked me if I needed fruit, juice, or anything. They truly made a difficult flight as pleasant as possible (have I mentioned the service?).
2 hours before arrival (just northwest of Japan) we had breakfast - I again went with the Korean menu and Mushroom crepes - which again was crazy good. As we approached Korea I was hoping we would get a hint of a sunrise (since I hadn't seen the sun since Wed afternoon in the office). No luck, we landed in Inchon Airport near Seoul Korea at about 5:30am (local time).
- stay tuned for article #3 - Korea to China and the first day
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Entry #1 - Milwaukee to Chicago to Korea
As we sit at the Asiana lounge in Korea awaiting our flight on to China, I have created my first blog - which your are no doubt enthralled by already.
Coming off of our 13 hour flight in total darkness, I thought I would recollect the trip so far:
5:00pm - Thurs Dec. 6 - leave Rockwell - Milwaukee to get Mike's laptop batteries which were supposedly Fed-Ex'd - half we there he learned from a friend that no delivery was made. We turned around in my rented Impala and headed south to O'Hare for our 1am scheduled flight to Korea (and then on to China).
While playing with the Hertz Neverlost system, we proceeded to accidentally exit 94 and ended up on 41 in IL. We straggled further on that for awhile before returning to the tollway as Neverlost instructed to work our way to Bob Chin's Crab House for dinner. At our exit we realized we didn't have change and had to blow that toll (my first blown toll ever).
Dinner was tasty, but uneventful - I had a nice sea bass in a Sweet Potato/Cranberry sauce. Mike had the Ahi tuna - but he though it was previously frozen and nothing special.
After dinner (Mike's treat) the waiter returned to inform Mike of a addition error where he gave the waiter a 40% tip. The Key Lime pie was good - but not that good.
We recovered from that and worked our way to O hare where we again encountered an unmanned toll for 80cents which we promptly blew (that makes my second if you were scoring from home).
Upon dropping off the car, we took a long Hertz bus ride to the International terminal where we checked in without incident and headed for the Asiana Business Class lounge.
There we enjoyed some drinks (open bar of course), snacks, and even a game of Carcassone.
Before too long it was 12:30am and time to board the plane. Swiftly moving thru the business line, we made our way on to the plane - a beautiful 747-400 - business class is the upper deck - so up the stairs we went.
Nice large seats and the best service I have ever had (topping domestic First Class) awaited us!
Stay tuned for entry #2 the long flight to Korea...
Coming off of our 13 hour flight in total darkness, I thought I would recollect the trip so far:
5:00pm - Thurs Dec. 6 - leave Rockwell - Milwaukee to get Mike's laptop batteries which were supposedly Fed-Ex'd - half we there he learned from a friend that no delivery was made. We turned around in my rented Impala and headed south to O'Hare for our 1am scheduled flight to Korea (and then on to China).
While playing with the Hertz Neverlost system, we proceeded to accidentally exit 94 and ended up on 41 in IL. We straggled further on that for awhile before returning to the tollway as Neverlost instructed to work our way to Bob Chin's Crab House for dinner. At our exit we realized we didn't have change and had to blow that toll (my first blown toll ever).
Dinner was tasty, but uneventful - I had a nice sea bass in a Sweet Potato/Cranberry sauce. Mike had the Ahi tuna - but he though it was previously frozen and nothing special.
After dinner (Mike's treat) the waiter returned to inform Mike of a addition error where he gave the waiter a 40% tip. The Key Lime pie was good - but not that good.
We recovered from that and worked our way to O hare where we again encountered an unmanned toll for 80cents which we promptly blew (that makes my second if you were scoring from home).
Upon dropping off the car, we took a long Hertz bus ride to the International terminal where we checked in without incident and headed for the Asiana Business Class lounge.
There we enjoyed some drinks (open bar of course), snacks, and even a game of Carcassone.
Before too long it was 12:30am and time to board the plane. Swiftly moving thru the business line, we made our way on to the plane - a beautiful 747-400 - business class is the upper deck - so up the stairs we went.
Nice large seats and the best service I have ever had (topping domestic First Class) awaited us!
Stay tuned for entry #2 the long flight to Korea...
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