Saturday, March 14, 2009

Hot Long Should You Use A Chapstick?

1 year later

Almost a year after the Olypischen Summer Games 2008 in Beijing, I've actually even made it into the Olympic Park. Was on my last visit to the stadium or a gigantic construction site, this time I could enjoy the beauty at night. Previously known I Bird's Nest or Water Cube's only pictures and because it is a difficult to estimate how large a building or the area around is. And even in passing, one would hardly think, that were housed in the Olympic Tower, the studios and offices for the global media coverage. If you stand in front, however, you feel at one time but somehow very small before (which is at a size of about 1.90 m is saying what) ...
What amazes me was very, was the fact that were seen that night hardly foreign tourists here. And despite the relatively late hour, but still quite a few people were there on the road. And those were also my last time being Pictures from Beijing, because the day after my flight was already called back to Germany :-(

the Olympic swimming stadium and Water Cube

The Olympic stadium in Beijing and also known as the Bird's Nest

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Tissue Tags On The Lips Of Dogs

Beijing

Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China, impressed only by its sheer size. Nearly 18 million people live in the city. When I was in 2007 pose a flight to Shanghai in the morning the view from 12 km altitude on Beijing, I was of the dimensions of the city a bit surprised. The first time I came to Beijing in April 2007 and have next to my hotel, the My client's office, the Forbidden City, a part of the Great Wall and the Summer Palace seen little of the city itself. This time I am not one of the major hotels in the city center but came under privately with friends. Between the fifth and sixth city ring relative to even the image of modern office towers or 30stöckigen residential units in buildings of manageable height and less wide streets. There still has the one-or two-story building, in which of the garage to the confectioners each Workshop seems to be at home, where repairs are still on the square in front of the garage, the cars outside. Along small gardens, the more likely pass for a small plantations, the modern Peking appears suddenly with his Western glossy facades, all to be far away. However, there is nothing of the more traditional hutongs remained. Who wants to see the old, typical property again, the Shichahai was down to my heart.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Culinary Field Cover Letter

Timing is everything

I had visited last time in Beijing, the three main points of interest in already, I was able to give me a visit to the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the Great Wall. Since I had done but the last time in the Forbidden City tourist-only snapshots, I wanted this time, at least this time the input from the view of Tiananmen Square more beautiful . Catch So off to Tiananmen Square. The safety checks at every subway stop I had got used to me pretty quickly, but that was something introduced himself to places, I was taken aback but then. Where it really seems logical, since around the Tiananmen Square are the centers of power in China. And I look at the worst of all possible time had chosen for my trip to the Forbidden City: the National People's Congress held in Beijing, was thus in the vicinity of an increased alert level, a large contingent of military and police secured from everything, the whole place was fenced and on the surface and underground access control of persons found instead.

Shortly after sunset I was finally on target and so I took on all the pictures that I had done this before then. And at the entrance to the Forbidden City was it all right night, so fast my bright 50mm prime lens mounted. While changing lenses asks me a friendly Chinese to English, if I was working as a photographer for a magazine or a newspaper. I replied that I am here as a tourist and do professionally as a systems engineer with photography was rather less. What he then immediately led to his next question, where I would come to. To which I replied, then Germany. From there it was for the young man no stopping it, in German, he told me half his life that he had lived for years in Germany and worked at Bosch in Feuerbach, where he had studied and how much he liked but Germany would find, that he had chosen his first name to Wolfgang, because it the Goethe's poems have impressed so deep, how deep he would still miss the German order, and how much he wants to live and work in Germany. Meanwhile, even then the first announcements were in Chinese, which I translated my new acquaintance conveniently forgotten that it was 19 clock, the place would be closed and you should go immediately to the exit. Two minutes later, then made several policemen on to clear the square.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Bob Kelly Orchard Park

No better way to fly?

It's now been some time ago that I was anywhere with any of these airlines fly. My bonus miles currently carried no interest, but Lufthansa gave me the day an offer in which it was difficult to say no. For 45,000 bonus miles for a free flight to Beijing, Shanghai or Hong Kong. Shanghai I knew already quite well, Hong Kong pull out due to the hotel rates and so the choice fell on Beijing, as I have some friends there that I would also like to see again. Once the destination was clear it was all about how when I get there. By happy coincidence, it turned out that my flight on a Friday I afternoon had to put as the Saturday plane was already full. So it was still on the air route, or via Frankfurt via Munich. Since both flights were flown on different machines, I opted for the flight with a stopover on the Franz-Josef-Strauss Airport because the flight from there to Beijing was an Airbus A340-300 to use. And the Boeing 747-400 (and their cramped seats), I already knew from my LH flight to Hong Kong in October 2006. I had 2007 times the pleasure to fly with Thai Airways from Munich via Bangkok and Hong Kong to Taipei and then was pleasantly surprised by the space available in Economy Class. I promised myself and the same is also on flight LH 722 to Beijing. But the disillusionment was not long in coming. The distances between the rows of seats had to probably still have been designed according to the average German post-war years. Ok, with my 1,93 m size I fit into any standard grid anyway, that I know. Were it but at times Lufthansa busy that even the standard dummy has grown to 1.78 m in height, it would possibly a row of seats was less obstructed. And then I might have just given two inches more legroom, which would let me say that there is no better way to fly. So I can only quote the slogan of Finnair: There are better ways to Asia. I guess after my Frequent Traveller status next year, not my will I earn miles for Miles & More more, but for the Kris Flyer of Singapore Airlines or Thai Airways Royal Orchid by ...