This terminal has been opened for a month already, and since all my flights were to Japan using ANA (they move to the new terminal end of April 2008), this is the first time I’m using the new terminal. The layout is fresher, but probably not as thought out as other airports. Anyway, not the purpose of my current post. Wifi points with the SSID “spia-guests” are available everywhere in the terminal (at least the check in and waiting lounge). Wifi using that point is free and all you have to do is to bring up the browser and click on the button in
the centre. Don’t worry if the page is all in Chinese, there’s only one button to click.
Here I am listening to a tune on the iPod touch, typing out an entry to this site to be sent when I land, while my flight circles over the pacific ocean just outside the bay of Tokyo. We have made two loops so far and slowly descending, definitely the sign of being put on hold, whatever the terminology for that is. Funnel?
Flew over some nice geographical features over west japan, including a potshot of kansai airport island, some volcanic looking features, but Tokyo is very cloudy today. Mount fuji cannot be seen although I know it should be roughly there. Watched An Inconvenient Truth last night and the view from the skies takes ok a different meaning sometimes. Is that town going to be under the water in 50 years? How are all these urban features affecting the weather in ever little ways? Ok no time to think about this. Time to land, and the stewardess is already wondering why I’m typing out an email during the landing procedures.
Its not always I’m in a modern city that’s both one and old at the same time. I’m not talking about the infrastructure and all that, but more about the people and their quirkiness. Which was the reason I arm myself with rangefinder cameras while living here, with the quiet shutter and the old looking camera lets me get away from snapping photos of people on the street without them posing or changing their behaviours, like people usually do when you hold a SLR camera.
Continue reading 'Life in Shanghai…'»
Took these photos at least a month ago when I carried my D2H and 70-180mm macro lens over to Tokyo. Woke up at 5am and walked from my hotel to a canal which didn’t have any name, but a google seems to say its in a place called Naka-Meguro (maybe that’s the canal itself?). Ok its near Meguro JR station, downhill from there. I have to check the EXIF but I believe these pictures were taken either on March 31st or April 1 2008, at the height of the 2008 Sakura season.
Ok, no words, just pictures…
Continue reading 'Travels: Sakura Blossoms at Meguro, Tokyo'»
Travelling along a highway right now en route to Xian and just some observations and some do’s and dont’s.
- Don’t reverse your car on the highway once you missed your exit. Pretty common sense but any trip along the chinese highway and you’re bound to meet with one guy doing just that. Ok, the emergency lane will do but its plain bad habit.
- Don’t spit out of the windows. When in the bus don’t spit in the bus either. If you need to regurgitate your phlegm, swallow it. Else wait till you get to a rest stop.
- Do car car pool. This has to be the funniest thing on the road. A small truck stacked on the bed of a medium truck and in turn on a larger truck. I have seen two so far today, 3 trucks in one. If it saves petrol or diesel, why not?
- Don’t sleep while driving. Ok this one is quite serious, saw a car flipped over a couple of times. Not really sure what happened, but I guess sleeping at the wheel brings something similar.
Brought back from Tokyo an Epson X970, basically a Japanese rebadged V700 film and document scanners. Firstly kudos to ANA airlines for handling it properly. I know that they put duties on scanners and many other items in China but there’s nothing on the web that specifies how much except I know its 20%.
Declared it and was charged 20% or a maximum value of 1000 rmb. Basically whatever your stuff costs its 200 rmb. Of course the maximum value for every type of item is different. So go on, buy your high end stuff and bring them into China.
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