Okay, I Suck! Blog Catch-Up

Okay – so I suck!  I am so far behind on my blogs it is unbelievable.  There have been so many trips that I have taken that I have yet to either write about, or I have half written about them, but have never finished them or posted them, and they are just sitting on my computer.  I would like to say I have a good excuse, like I am travelling too much, however, with all of that travel comes A LOT, and I mean A LOT of downtime on the plane.  And truth be told, I have pretty much run out of movies to watch.  So just like now, what I should be doing when I am trying to kill some time in the air, is get caught up on my blog.  In my defense though, I don’t always travel with my personal laptop (usually don’t), only my iPad, so it makes it difficult to post as there won’t be any pictures.  I know, I know, that is really a lame excuse.

I am not going to make any firm commitments to get better, but I am really, really, really going to try.  I am also going to go back and dust off some of my half written posts from earlier in the year, and will post those too.  So for the next little while you might get a whole hodgepodge of posts from really random places – my apologies.  And really, I don’t have that many regular followers anyway, except for maybe John Brown, so by the time most of you will have read this, it could be months after the post anyway and then it won’t really matter.  I guess what I am really trying to say is that there will be no good sequencing to my posts!

To give you an idea of what still need to blog about, they include:

  My trip to the Ukraine in July

·           Some more about Beijing because I have now been there 5 times and now look at it through a very different lens
·      Paris in July
·      London in July
·      Trip to Brunei – a bit more about it, I know I did one post.
·      More about my trip to Honduras in September
·      My trip to Costa Rica in December
 

Oh wow!  It looks like I have a lot to reminisce about about!  I have also decided to start posting a bit information on some of the places that I have been staying, as well as some of the airlines as I am branching out.

Speaking of movies on planes, I sometimes use my flights as opportunities to re-watch those “old classics” or rather my favourites, like Mama Mia.  I LOVE that movie and every time that there is the scene where Pierce Bronsnan sings SOS, I burst out laughing because although he was great for that role, he is a horrid singer and that scene is just painful!  LOL!

Let’s begin the old blogs. . . .and some new ones too!

Thoughts on Flying on the Cheap

Last week or whenever it was, Westjet announced that it was flying to Dublin, Ireland for the low fare of $199 o/w. Now this post isn’t going to be a post about how much I dislike Westjet and how much I like Air Canada, but rather it is going to be my thoughts on Canadians and discount airlines, although I am going to take this opportunity (because this is my blog) to comment on this anyways. Firstly, I need to make the following very clear – last year I got SuperElite or Altitude 100K on Air Canada the hard way – flying 100 segments with about 90% of it in economy, and often on a small CRJ 100/200 – often to Fort McMurray – so no glamour there! The one person who really seemed to benefit from all of my travels was my chiro, Dr. Kim (at Bow Valley Chiropractic – shameless plug I know but he is amazing!) as those seats often did a number on my poor hips and glutes! So for all of you that think that I don’t fly economy – I do and I did and now I am just fortunate to have a job that allows me to fly business.

EasyJet Waiting Area - AMS

But now back to my point. There is no way I would want to ever fly from Calgary to Dublin on a 737 – no matter if it was Air Canada or Westjet – that is just far too long of a journey to be a plane like that. Now here is where the Westjet bashing begins, so if you are a Westjet lover you may just want to skip ahead. #1 - the $199 o/w deal is from St. John’s Nfld. To Dublin – keep that in mind because last time I checked a flight from Calgary to St. John’s was not cheap. So that “cheap trip to Dublin” isn’t so cheap anymore. #2 – I looked into the length of the flight (on Westjet) and it is about 14 hours with no less than 2 stops – one in Toronto and one in St. John’s – did you think about that? Yes – Westjet may have a direct flight to St. John’s from Calgary but direct and non-stop are not the same in the airline world. Now add to that some quality time in the airport in Toronto & St. John’s. #3 – on a flight that long, you still have to buy your movies (I know most people take an iPad but still) and you have to buy your food. At least on Air Canada you get free food & snacks and movies (I am not saying that it is good food– I am just saying it is free!) #4 – on a random search that I did, Air Canada/Air Lingus were cheaper than Westjet by a couple hundred dollars – I am just sayin’. . . .

Cattle class holding pen

Now to what this post is really about - I am not sure that Canadians or North Americans for that matter are ready for truly discount travel – and by that, I mean travel on airlines like EasyJet or RyanAir or the plethora of other discount airlines that none of us has ever heard of that travel around Europe. Why do I say this? Well firstly, we complain about being treated like cattle if we have to cue up too much and these airlines treat you just like that – they put you in pens! The waiting lounge in Amsterdam featured bleacher seating and everyone waited with baited breath for the gate # to pop up on the board (1 hour before flight) and then you saw the stampede to the gate! I am not sure why because EasyJet is assigned seating, maybe it is a Ryanair hangover – there it is survival of the fittest for getting a good seat.

Heading down to the pen

These airlines also nickel and dime you to death. Yes, we whine a little about having to pay for food on Air Canada and Westjet but on EasyJet, you pay for everything, including spending 3 euros or about $4 for a cup of coffee! So next time you scoff at the free beverage that you are getting, remember this. If you want to be treated a little more humanly and not have to be subjected to the cattle pens (that is what I call them) you pay a little extra – it is called “Speedy Boarding”. This also allows you and your 1 bag (will get to this) get on first without everyone pushing at you. And supposedly there is a “speedy check-in” line but if you don’t check in online and print your boarding pass at home, they charge you for that as well.

Now here is where I think North American’s, particularly our friends to the south, will really struggle with discount airlines – luggage. When they say that you get 1 piece of carry-on, you only get 1 piece of carry-on. That doesn’t mean 1 roller board + purse + computer bag. Nor does it mean 1 purse + 1 diaper bag + 1 roller board – it means 1 piece of carry-on of the very specific size of 56cm x 45cm x 25 cm including wheels and handles and they measure each bag to make sure that it fits into those bag sizers at the airports that we all ignore. So that meant, I was shoving my purse into my already small carry-on (North American sized roller boards are likely too big) prior to boarding. If when you arrive at the airport and decide to check in your bag then, you pay more. In Canada, where we have to pay for our bags and don't want to, we can still take on board our carry on even though it doesn’t fit into the sizer,  plus whatever other bags we can seem to physically manage at no additional cost.  You need  keep that in mind when considering how great low cost travel is. ;-) Oh, and lastly, a lot of these discount airlines fly in and out of places or airports that we may or may not have heard about and often the “low cost carrier” terminal is a bit of a hole! They often make the Peace River or Fort McMurray airports look really good!!

 So really, how was my experience, well on our way to Geneva, I had what I called “European Business Class”. In Europe, business class is often just the normal economy seat space but no one sits in the middle seat – that is what we had on our way there. On our way back, we were jammed in there like sardines as the flight was full and I got to experience the full discount airlines experience minus the cattle class ques. Would I fly them again – possibly. I am a points whore so I will always default to my main carriers first but sometimes these discount airlines have better schedules, fly to places the big carriers don’t go to and can be cheaper, and really, the flight was only 1 hour long, so it wasn’t that bad. . . .

The distance between my seat and my knees - tight!

Over thinking Brunei

The title says it all, I over thought Brunei and I will get to that in a minute but first - I am in Brunei.  Where is Brunei you ask?  Well Brunei is on the island of Borneo (bet you thought Borneo was a country - but it's not).  Borneo is an island made up of 3 countries - Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.  Brunei is also ruled by a Sultan and is a very Muslim country, which lead me to over thinking it.  As you know, I have been travelling a fair bit lately to SE Asia and in particular, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which is also a Muslim country.  One think to keep in mind when thinking about Malaysia, it isn't Middle East, wear a burka type of Muslim, but rather wear a pretty floral dress to the floor along with a matching head scarf type of Muslim, so when I am in KL, I tend to dress normally and by normal, I mean normal.  I don't let it all hang out nor do I stay all covered up - I am somewhere in the middle in the range of what I would consider appropriate and I have never had issues with how I have dressed, nor have I ever felt uncomfortable.  Hell, down at the KLCC (big shopping mall in KL), I have seen girls with it all hanging out next to women clad head to toe, face covered, only eyes showing burkas.

When I found out I was coming to Brunei (this particular trip has been cancelled and rescheduled 3 times) I did a little research and asking around the office of what is appropriate to wear and this is where my over thinking came in.  I fretted last week about what to bring b/c Brunei is a tropical country, much like Malaysia and when I am in Malaysia I often wear a cardigan, tank top and a skirt to work with a nice little wedge sandal - something generally nice a cool.  But I couldn't wear that in Brunei!  I mean it is a very Muslim country.  My knees need to be covered, as do my shoulders and surely cleavage is a no-no. (unless I want to be in Prince Jeffrey's harem but that is another story!)  Or so I thought. . . until I got to the gate at the airport in Kuala Lumpur and I saw local girls sitting there in their short skirts and bare arms.

Really, at the end the day, I think that dressing in foreign countries comes down to a few common sense things (which I didn't really use :-( )

1. Think, "would I wear this out to dinner with my parents, boss, in-laws, etc" or "could I wear this to the office and feel comfortable".  If so, it is probably safe
2. Don't wear anything with slogans or logos that may offend people.  Personally, not the biggest fan of being a walking advertisement
3. Don't always trust what you read on the internet - talk to locals about what is appropriate
4. Lastly, don't over think it!

And when it comes to the beach in places like this, you will see everything - including the lovely skirted, 2 piece burkini!

Holiday from Heaven

As mentioned, I am very behind on my travel blog,  so I am hoping to use the next little while to catch up.

Back in May when I was in China, I got a BBM (blackberry message) from my friend Janet in Houston (Janet and I used to work together in Calgary at Shell) asking if I wanted to go on a SCUBA diving holiday to Honduras in September.  Now those of you who know me well, I am not very good at committing to anything that is too far out i.e. more than 1 month, but I thought – hell why not, so I quickly said yes.  By the next day, much to Janet’s surprise, I had my flights to Houston and on to Roatan booked!  A colleague of ours, who is uber picky had recommended the resort – Anthony’s Key Resort and we both figured that it was good enough for her, it would be more than good enough for us – and boy was it ever!  This was our holiday from heaven!

Anthony’s Key Resort or AKR as those familiar with it affectionately call it, is located on the southwest side of Roatan (an island off the east coast of Honduras in the Caribbean).  It is essentially an all-inclusive diving resort however they do cater to non-divers as well. 

So what made this the holiday from heaven – we did not have to think – AT ALL!  Both Janet and I have very busy jobs that often require a lot of brain power and to be able to go on a holiday where you don’t have to make any decisions beyond do I want soup or salad at lunch and dinner and do I want entrée A or entrée B at lunch and supper is so relaxing.  Every part of our day was planned for us but not in a suffocating type of way.  We would get up most mornings around 6:30am, go have breakfast and then would have to be at the dock for about 7:45am to go for our first dive.  We would then go out for our first dive, which was usually only a 5-10 minute boat ride away.  We would then come back to the dock for a break for generally 45 minutes and hang out, then go for our 2^nd dive.  Come back, go for lunch.  We didn’t do our 3^rd dive of the day until 2:30pm, so we would usually just go and float in the pool and soak up more vitamin D.  Just before 2:30 we would head back to the dock, get on the boat, go do our 3^rd dive and then come back.  From there, we would head back to the pool, have our daily margarita or two in the pool.  Got to our room around 6pm to shower and change and then supper at 7pm.  Most nights we were in bed by 9pm and asleep by 9:30pm.  We were told what to do and when and it was great!  We both commented repeatedly how relaxing it was to not have to think!

On top on the not thinking, our room/cabin was located on a small quay across from the main island and on the quay, although there was a small bar, pool and spa, there was no Wi-Fi connectivity and the rooms had no TVs J which added to another level of relaxation.  The first couple of days it did feel awkward to be so disconnected from the world but at the same time, it was nice to have the electronic break.  I did have my blackberry with me, but I couldn’t get any work email J and I posted on Facebook a few times but since roaming is so expensive, I limited my time to about 2-3 minutes.  Had we wanted WiFi, we could have gotten it in the main part of the resort but that would have meant lugging around my iPad, which I didn’t want to do.

 One thing that made this holiday so awesome was the people that we met and the people who work at AKR.  On our first day, we met a bunch of people in the shuttle from the airport to the resort and they had all been to AKR multiple times before (one couple – it was their 20^th time).  We then got to know them later in the day when we were all hanging in the pool.  They had tried to get us on their dive boat, however it was full, but that was okay, because we all fell into a little pattern and Janet and I would eat supper with their group every night.

When you hang out with people who share the same interests as you for a week, you pick up little tricks of the trade, you get ideas of equipment to buy and you learn about different dive resorts/live aboards, etc.    We both walked away we a few more friends and look forward to seeing them again in the water.

Big Ol' Beijing

Beautiful blue sky Beijing day!  Never thought that I would ever hear those words come out of my mouth.  As I have previously mentioned, the air quality in Beijing is generally hazardous to your health at best - I am not over exaggerating here.  According to the air quality people, anything over 300 ppm of pm2.5 (some particulate matter thing) is hazardous to the health of a healthy person - imagine being young, old, ill, etc - it can be down right deadly.  But today, it was nice and clear and from the office you could see for miles and all I can say is WOW is Beijing ever dense.  I don't know that I had ever really gotten a good sense of how big Beijing truly is.  I mean it is one of the largest cities in the world, with over 20 million people, but with the exception of the subway during rush hour, it never seems that way.  So today I took some time to just stare out the window to get a good sense of how big Beijing really is and then is when I got a good feeling of the density and the sheer volume of high rises - I guess I never had that great of an appreciation for just how many of them there are.  Mind you, this 20 million plus people have to live somewhere. . .

I made the picture extra big so you could start to see how the density.

I also had this realization today, well actually earlier in the week but it was amplified today when I could see how big Beijing is, I really don't know Beijing at all.  Sure, I am becoming quite adept at finding my around in the 5km radius of my hotel and work.  Beyond that, I have really had very little exposure to Beijing and I am not sure that that will change a whole lot. Beijing isn't one of those places where you can just hope on a bus and see where it takes you - mainly b/c bus transit is very slow.  Plus, there is this little thing called a language barrier - at least in The Netherlands, I can kinda make out what words mean and make sense of sign, in China, not so much.  As previously mentioned, my Mandarin skills are non-existent!  I think for now, I will keep to my little radius and continue to explore it and appreciate it - it is filled with quite a lot of parks and green spaces and continue to become more comfortable with it.

Don't Look Them In The Eye

This isn't even busy!

Some of the best advice I have received so far whilst being in China has been "don't look them in the eye".  Who might you be asking?  Cabs, cars, other pedestrians, etc.  I have started to implement this approach as I get off the subway, as I am trying to cross a crazy Beijing intersection or I am walking thru a throng of people.  As soon as you look them in the eye - you are dead as it means that you have acknowledged them, you know that they are there and then you have to get out of the way!  However, if you continue to look down or down and ahead, all while paying attention to what is in your peripheral vision, like a bus which will not stop for anyone, and the odd cab who doesn't care, you can pretty much move safely around Beijing.

So this is my 3rd trip to China in less than 2 months (I wasn't anticipating being here this much - my 2nd trip was unanticipated) and I am definitely feeling much more comfortable and much more sure of myself.  Now I know that shocks some of you, as you see me as this travelling warriorette, but this warriorette does get scared and isn't always comfortable when she travels.  For my past 2 visits I have opted to stay at the Grand Hyatt Beijing, partly b/c I am a Hyatt Passport holder and know that I am going to have enough stays this year to move up the ol' frequent stayer food chain, but also because the Hyatt has a better room service menu than Trader's did, and in a place like China, having some N. American comfort food at easy disposal is important!

The trade off with staying at the Hyatt is that I am about a 10 minute cab ride to work (which costs about $3 CDN) or a 4 stop subway ride.  Normally what I have been doing is taking a cab in the morning and then the subway home - mainly because I am lazy, but today I took the subway both ways.  A one-way trip on the subway costs me about 50 cents and I even went so far as to buy a subway card last week, once again using my famous pointing and nodding skills as well as presenting money.  Hell - the lady at the ticket counter was able to figure out what I wanted.  If I catch the subway around 8am and around 5:30pm, it isn't usually that busy - give it 30 minutes more on each and then it is me and 1000 of my closest Chinese friends making our way to work.

One of my subway stations

Beijing is DEFINITELY getting easier and I am starting to venture out just a little bit more.  I am feeling fairly confident when taking a cab and I always have my hotel taxi card with - it says where I am staying in Mandarin characters and I know which main road I am staying on and can point in the general direction.  I have also learned that tapping, pointing, and nodding are effective communication tools, particularly when my Mandarin is non-existent and their English is the same - most times we can figure it out.  Most taxis in Beijing are metered, except for the ones outside of the Silk Market and I know how much it should cost me to get back to my hotel 20 RMB not 150 RMB and have been able to practice my "screw off" in English there :-)

I am not to the point where I  LOVE Beijing yet and I am not sure that I will ever get there, but I am definitely finding my own here.  By nature I am not the most patient person - I know - shocking, but I have had to be patient with Beijing because it has pushed me far outside of my comfort zone and in order to get back to my comfort zone, I have had to be patient, and it is now starting to pay off.

Maison Boulud Beijing

Those who know me, know that I LOVE good food and don't have an issue spending good money for an amazing meal, as those types of meals are not just about the food but also about the experience.  So for as much as I have commented on the food here in China, truth be told, I have yet to have a bad meal. Yes, there have been some crazy (and nasty) things on the menu, and yes we did order donkey once (which I DID NOT eat), I have generally had good food and brunch today was no exception.

When I was in Beijing a few weeks back, I discovered a few high end restaurants and decided that on this trip that I would see if I could try one or two of them out, so today I went to Maison Boulud for brunch.  Daniel Boulud, for those who don't know, is an award winning French Chef with a 3 Michelin Star restaurant in NYC called Daniel.

Keeping my fingers crossed, I sent off an email yesterday afternoon to see if it would be possible to get a reservation for 1 for brunch for today - late, I know.  Brian Reimer, the executive chef quickly responded saying that they would have a place for me at noon.  The restaurant is located in Chi'en Men 23 which is where the old American Embassy used to be and is about a 5 minute taxi from my hotel.  When I arrived, they quickly acknowledged me and it was almost as though they were waiting for this solo diner.  I was quickly escorted to my table, which btw was not tucked away in the corner by the kitchen, but rather near the front of the restaurant where I could see everything.

Below is a photo montage of what I had for my 3 course brunch.  Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of the wine but I started with a 2012 Chateau d'Esclans Whispering Angel Rose Cotes de Provence and then for my burger, asked the sommelier to pair something to go with the burger.  He chose a 2006 Chateau Baret - which was lovely.

Bread basket with Cherry & Apple Preserves & Whipped Cream - there was also a muffins tray

Soup of Five Peas and Lettuce, Savory Cream Smoked Bacon, Brioche Croutons 

The db Burger

Sirloin Burger Filled with Braised Short Ribs & Foie Gras Served with Pomme Frites 

White Peach Sorbet

Hot Madeleines

"Just because" treats - home made caramel, macaroons & nougat - yummy!

To finish it all off