5 days in Hong Kong

Cab to airport in Shanghai – including in seat TV with constant advertising …

Flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong was easy. My low cost airline even had a German option on the entertainment system!

And public transport is also great in Hong Kong. Took the airport express to Kowloon Station. From there I had a free shuttle bus to my hotel. Glad I chose the harbor view room: have been staring out of my hotel window a lot. When I arrived in the late afternoon I decided to do a “night in” and opted for an amazing seafood dinner at the hotel. To then stare at the view a bit more  …

My cold is pretty “clingy” thus I took it slow on my first days … and started my days with trips to the local Chinese pharmacy. I have been back to get the same med again and now I keep getting nice tips from the clerk on when to take them and how to get better as well as waves when I walk by.

After the pharmacy I started to explore Hong Kong Island, which involved many means for transport: hotel shuttle bus to ferry terminal, Star Ferry over to Central, the mid level escalator (longest escalator in the world) to Hollywood road, then the tram to Causeway Bay and eventually the ferry back to Kowloon. Visited a famous temple and some shops, but mostly took in the city as it passed by on the various means of transportation.

Mid Level escalator – longest in the world

Temple in the middle of skyscrapers

Random shop window find

Hong Kong is clearly all about shopping. There are lines in front of the many super expensive stores. My only purchase (apart from food in 5 days: two post cards … I must be a very rare exception!)

After a short break at the hotel, I ventured out to see the Temple Street night market and walked back along Nathan Road to make it to the waterfront in time for the nightly light show. A million pictures later, I walked along the Avenue of Stars back to my hotel. Exhausted but also inspired by a lot of new impressions.

Friday – hoping the sun would burn of the haze – I took the ferry to CheungChau Island. Mona and Markus recommended the island. And even though the sun never broke through, I had a great day exploring the island and getting a great work out at the same time. Amazing how often you can go up and down on an island that is only 2.5 square kilometers big.

The ferry had been crowded and I was a bit worried when I first saw the waterfront. Lots of people and one seafood restaurant to the next already serving a lot of customers. But my travel guide was right – most locals do not venture beyond the main drag and come for food only. For the better part of the day, I was alone hiking through hills and walking along beaches. At some point I even worried that if the stray dogs that seemed to own the beach would attack me, no one would ever find me …

colorful boats all sizes

colorful barrels

artwork at temple on island

island cemetary

island impressions

school trip to the island with a random European as attraction

Managed to include some hiking … in Hong Kong of all places!

Back at the hotel I hit the pool for the first time – deciding to beat this cold by working it off. Once in the pool, the sun broke through for the first time since I arrived and I swam looking at the skyline drenched in an amazing sunset.

Hong Kong sunset

Evening ended with Mona and Markus – that came from Shanghai for the weekend – and some of their MBA friends at the famous Sevva Bar in Central. Amazing view – was just too cold on the terrace. But we got seats inside. Fun night – only getting back to Kowloon took over an hour, since cabs do not want to make the trip. Luckily I had local support who at some point just bribed a taxi driver 😉

Next day it was really sunny – but windy. Took it slowly after the long night out. Wrote this by the pool. Needed to get my swimming in before I headed to town again. Mona and Markus took me up to the Peak – and guess what, ever there Hong Kong attractions come with a shopping mall …

the tower on the left is the Ritz where in the highest hotel bar in the world I said my farewell to Hong Kong in style

Later we met with Mona’s family for a seafood dinner at “happy seafood”. Really fortunate to have local company and guiding on this trip! I would have never ventured to this area of Hong Kong – and according to the locals, as a foreigner, I would have been cheated with the food. But as I was with locals … we picked out the seafood which was then taken to the restaurant a few doors down and prepared to our orders. It was AMAZING.

Buying seafood

seafood galore

seafood prepared

yumm

mastering chop sticks

Met with some more friends at a local bar – and while still on the wrong side of town, I had no problem getting a cab back to my hotel.

My last day in Hong Kong my hosts took me to dim sum brunch at the restaurant they had their wedding reception at. The food drives by on carts and you can see what you choose. If you pick something your card gets the responding “stamp”. Another delicious meal!

food cart with menue

restaurant tracking system

We then took the train to Hong Kongs big Buddha – and yes, both the cable car station as well as the way to the Buddha itself are … shopping malls.

shopping strip on the way to Buddha

Despite the haze, the cable car ride was great. Lines were long, but we mastered the many stairs up the “largest outside sitting bronze Buddha” in the world. Everything seems to have to be big in Hong Kong … even the incense sticks:

giant smoke

Mona and Markus at big Buddha

cable car in the haze

cable car and budda as sun sets

not alone

At the cable car I had to say farewell to Mona and Markus who were incredible hosts. They went to the airport to head back to Shanghai. While I spent a night in at my hotel packing for a very early departure for Koh Samui in Thailand the next morning.

Shanghai on my own

(This post has been sitting staged on my blog – too busy relaxing to push publish 😉 )

I admit, I was a bit worried if I would be able to manage getting around in Shanghai without my local “tour guides”. After all, my Chinese does not go beyond “Hello”. But Shanghai public transport is easy. Everything is also labeled in English, maps everywhere, and once you learn to move with the flow of people it is fairly stress free. Payment is done with a pre-loaded card – thus also no issue with getting tickets – easy!

And I chose the perfect day. Even the paper said so the next day:

My first stop was Yuan Garden. Once I fended of the scammers that acted like fellow tourists and tried to tell me the place was closed (my cousin had warned me of this …)  … I made it through the shopping mall with to the entrance of the garden. Getting there early enough was good – it was quiet for most of the time I was there. I took A LOT of pictures, some of them below.

I am actually here!

Most fascinating was the contrast between old and new. Beautiful old buildings and gardens and just above them, shiny new skyscrapers.

Shanghai old and new

After the culture portion of the day, I went up on one of the skyscrapers to see the city from above: Oriental Perl Tower. An “interesting” piece of architecture with a lot of pink … Judging from the queueing facilities, it is a lot busier usually. For the few people in line I was clearly the main attraction. I was very politely asked to pose with them for pictures. Which I did.

View from Perl tower

Once up on the tower, I learned that I could not make myself stand on the glass floor at all. 250 something stories above ground – by survival instincts denied me this photo opp.

Oriental Perl Tower selfy

Time for some shopping: I went down the main shopping road: Nanjing. In one of the department stores, the sales assistants seemed to have to wear the latest sales items. Winter coats were on sale … I felt for them in the overheated building. And am wondering if they also have to present swimwear when it is on sale …

Also stopped in a multi level store for food – both local and international specialties. Dried crab snack for the road anyone?

Or rather a smiling doughnut?

There were a number of restaurants at the top floor and I went for some Indian curry.  Felt like being back in East Germany, I have to admit, when in the totally empty restaurant I asked to sit by the window, but was simply told “No” and appointed a table by the entrance. Guess they wanted people to see they had customers … even though this one was not very happy now.

Next on my agenda was people square. Big, impressive buildings … and a Starbucks. They are literally at every corner in Shanghai. Along with KFC – I have never seen so many KFC outlets anywhere. I actually started to take pictures of them 😉

I admit I did take a break at Starbucks. Sometimes the known and used to is relaxing. Then I did the math … a medium Starbucks coffee costs as much as about 10 subway rides in Shanghai or one entry to the Yuan Garden or in fact one curry lunch.  In summary. I should not have been sitting at Starbucks as People Square taking these notes …

The next day, the weather was not as nice … I took a walk in the area cold French Connection, with lots of old colonial villas and  now a lot of design shops. Had lunch in the hip new part of town … I actually had pizza ;). Then headed north for a walk along the water and the Bund.

Behind the main Bund is the “Rockefeller Bund” – named for the Rockerfeller Foundation that is funding the remodelling,

When the rain set in, I had tea at the famous Peace hotel.

That evening we had my farewell dinner at a very hip restaurant – so hip, it did not allow pictures. Even though I would have loved one of the huge geisha paintings – geishas with Mickey Mouse ears!

Many Posts in One

Welcome to China – but no access to Facebook or WordPress for me.  Guess I knew this, but it did not really register until I tried to access my blog. But I am writing my posts anyhow and my cousin will show me a way to post them later –more updates will then follow when I am in Hong Kong and Thailand.

Only been away for 3 days, but – as you will see – I already saw a lot and thus time flies. Feels more like a week or more. And already only one more full day in Shanghai before I fly to Hong Kong. The plan is to spend tomorrow strolling through the old French quarter, the hip shopping area and maybe I will take some more photos of the Bund at night and I guess I have to go on the Transrapid.

 But here they are – my different posts, all in one:

 TRAVELING OBSERVATIONS

       Traveling with a cold, not much fun. Only upside, once your ears are blocked on the plane, you hardly hear the children around you screaming …

2.      Jan 3^rd was travel day for (what felt like) all ex-pads returning to Shanghai from their Christmas break at home. I have never been on a flight with that many children.

3.      I guess my annoyed look is pretty scary. At least the little boy next to me convinced his mom to swop seats with him after I glared at him when he kept kicking me – I ignored it the first 50 times … but there is a limit.

4.      Warnings were given to me about Chinese being very pushy (and a little rude) when in line … no one told me the German ex-pads at immigrations are worse!

5.      Someone wise – you know who you are – gave me the great advice to look at things that might look like a challenge in a more playful way. In short: I am having great fun playing my very own “scavenger hunt” (only in my head) and rewarding myself points for achievements:

Actually finding ATM at airport would have been 100 points, but I granted myself 50 for exchanging cash before even collecting my luggage

Maneuvering around unofficial taxi drivers: 10 bonus points

Noticing scammers that try to lure you away from tourist attractions, telling you they are closed, only to direct you into their stores: 100 points (I had been well trained for this one by my cousin Markus!

      Not many tall red heads in China. I had my picture taken countless times today.  A few times I was even asked to pose with people. Slightly feeling like a celeb, but the effect is wearing off quickly!

AMAZING FOOD

Staying with my cousin Markus and his wife Mona has many advantages – free housing, local tour guides, great company and as an extra bonus, they are foodies, and have taken me to some amazing places for meals.

Within three hours of arriving in Shanghai I was at Din Tai Fung the dumpling place I had read so many great reviews about. So good!!! And since really close to where I am staying, I might go back for more before leaving. But day 1 got even better: My hosts had made reservations for us at Lost Heaven a traditional Chinese restaurant with great design and great food.

My highlight so far was dinner at Mr. and Mrs. Bund – right on the famous street Bund. What a place: charming name, great design, amazing view and good service and delicious food. A bit hard to describe, but a bit like French cuisine meets tapas meets China. Am so glad, Mona and Markus know the manager of the place, she got us a table (hard to get) and even one with an amazing view. And then she treated us to desert: tarte tatin and strawberries with coca-cola sorbet. Life can be pretty good.  Someday I will come back without a cold … when I can appreciate the full flavor of every dish!

Tonight we have reservations for a Korean place. For lunch I had Indian. Culinary tour through Asia in Shanghai!

Had my Indian curry at a foodhall – more like a huge department store for food. Many levels of local and international food. Including shrimp in snack size packages …

crab snack

When we shopped for breakfast, I was surprised by the choice of bread (fresh whole grain rolls!) as well as all the international brands at the shop just across the street from my cousins flat. Literally – a shelf full of German jam (all imported with German labels), various types of regional German bratwurst 😉 and a larger German beer selection than in my local supermarket at home! The explanation I got: More and more people here think that foreign products will not have been tempered with … a lot of people lost trust in local products after the baby milk powder scandal a few years ago.

Rows of German beer

SIGHTS

 My travel theme this year seems to be: go to a city for a few days but spend the first day there traveling someplace else. Helsinki for 2 days – first day in Tallinn. Shanghai for 4 days – first day in Hangzhou. Mona and Markus came with me to visit the famous Westlake. And while the train station in Shanghai was super modern and run like an airport, I was glad I had my personal guides that speak the language! (And I will likely continue the trend by spending my first day in Hong Kong … in Macao).

Foogy Westlake

Back to Hangyhou: The modern highspeed train only takes a little over an hour for the 200km trip. And along the ride it got more and more foggy – I thought. I soon learn the fog was smog. With air pollution levels at over 300 in Hangzhou. Thanks to my cold, I could hardly breeze anyhow, so I did not notice much difference.

Boat on Westlake – ours was slightly bigger

We took a boat on the Westlake – fog / smog can be very mystical! Then went to see famous stone carvings – I just love the budda’s smile! We visited one of the largest temples in China and took a stroll through an old Chinese village that has been turned into a luxury hotel.

Temple moment

budda

Mona and Markus exploring the caves

Today I ventured out on my own. Subway system is great here. I will not understand why only backpacks need to be ex-rayed before entering the subway – but since there has never been a wait, I don’t mind being checked.  Some random pics below. It got late and I need to go sleep. Will add and update when in Hong Kong.

Westlake zigzag bridge

Shanghai old and new

I am actually here!

Colorful Shanghai at night

View from Perl tower

Things I set out to do …

… and get to do now at Mozilla.

When recent construction work forced me to go through my office “stuff”, I came across career goals I had written down about 10 years ago. The exercise asked for the things I would be looking for in a job.

Just checked my job at Mozilla against this old list:

– work on strategy: check

– build networks / connect people: check

– contribute to public debate / drive change: check

– use languages and travel: check

– continue to learn: check

– teach and consult: check

Not all things in life work as planned, but some do!

Re-Reading the Mozilla Manifesto

When I worked at eBay, every employee had a copy of the believes the eBay founder had defined on their badge. It sometimes looked a bit odd – like you were part of a cult running around with a piece of plastic saying: People are basically good. It might only be in my memory, but I do think having those principles visible made a difference in decision-making and interacting with community.

Why am I mentioning this? Because sometimes it is inspiring to look back to those basic principles that were powerful enough to inspire a hand full of people to create something amazing. Something that changed an industry and more. Thus,  time to re-read the Mozilla Manifesto. Working on some new projects, I was looking for that one phrase to help me define my goals.

And I found it: “We invite others to join Mozilla and make the Internet an even better place for everyone”. Add a bit of influencing to the equation and this is my mantra for the next few months.

Not the shortest vision statement. Maybe has a bit too much pathos for some. (Author is a very rational German after all). But I warned you. This blog is personal and bias. And this is how I feel right now. This is how I want to make a difference in 2012.

And, I just put a flag in my calender for July – will be interesting to see if my goals and vision have changed.

The small things shape memories

Then kinds of things people displayed at the Mozilla Summit World Expo

It has been a little over a week since I left Whistler after the Mozilla Summit 2010. A week that was filled with a lot of meetings and conversations and international travel that kept me busy – too busy to blog about my first Mozilla Summit. But maybe that was good. Had I written about the summit earlier, this blog might have been more generally about the impressive group of people, the professional organization or the fun party on the last evening. A week later – and I am sure this process will continue – the small things and the personal moments that made this gathering of 600 Mozillian’s so special for me are starting to dominate my memories. Moments like these:

Feeling the energy in the room rise during the keynotes with their impressive demos. And at the same time,  being taught, once more, the impact of technology on the individual. When watching my blind colleague Marco follow the demo that made the browser “speak”, all the possibilities this piece of software might entail were visible in his huge smile.

Connecting with a contributor from Jordan while holding up a sign for the “dine about”.  We had a ton of fun without speaking a word –  and created a memory we shared though out the summit.

Seeing the same long row of monitors and tables showcasing impressive demos and the widths of the Mozilla project transformed only hours later into a world expo that made the international impact of Mozilla very tangible (and palatable!).

Finding a different card on my pillow every evening that made me smile, think or dream big!

And then the countless small moments, that are only important to me, but make all the difference in turning an interesting event into a great experience: being asked to sit down and share a meal at a table full of stangers people I had not met yet, laughing with folks I see a few times a year at Mozilla events, dancing foolishly at 6000 feet with friends I get to see too rarely, and endless short but memorable conversations in elevators, the food line or at the bar.

Writing this, I start suffering from post-summit-blues again. Beware! Mozilla events are addictive.

short Auckland visit

Seems like the North Island does not agree with my travel focus on the South … While it was beautiful and sunny when I left Queenstown this morning, it is pouring rain since I landed in Auckland. Luckily my hotel is nice, I have a great view of the harbor, just had really nice room service food and will continue to play with my pictures. Such a difference seeing the pics on a big screen and not just on the small camera display!

Did pick up my laptop at the Auckland office today and downloaded a bit over 1000 emails. I will definitely not get bored on the flight to San Fransisco tomorrow. So far I have mostly looked at the coverage around 5 years of Firefox. Am a bit in awe how great it was and really proud of my PR agencies in Europe! But back to this trip …

Doubtful Sound view

The weather gods where on my side when I took the tour to Doubtful Sound yesterday. The ocean was calm, the sky was blue and we got to see rare penguins, seals and a group of dolphins put on a show for us that made me wonder if I had ended up at Sea World.

school of penguins

dolphin show in the wild

The view from the plane was also great. Definitely a view that make me want to come back and climb a few more mountains!

Queenstown to Christchurch

Note: nice hotel BUT in the party area of Auckland … and it is Friday night. Might be first time I will need my earplugs on this trip!

tramping over – and my feet are happy about it!

Tramping is nothing else but hiking – but they have their own word for it here in New Zealand. And I am done with tramping now. My last hike, one of the Great Hikes in New Zealand was the Routeburn Track – and it was great. Ok, the weather could have been a bit nicer, but we did not get soaking wet … The views were great, the group nice enough to hang out with for meals and in the evenings. The group was also small enough for me to manage to walk alone most of the time. It is so much easier to enjoy nature and its sounds if no one is talking next to you!

mountain views

lake + red jacket

And since I was walking alone no one saw me falling … This last hike was an assortment of “firsts”: my first fall (I saved the camera, but my knee is pretty blue), my first blisters (after 3 weeks in the hiking boots my feet seem to go on strike) and my first kiwi guides (was glad to find out that now only Germans and British work in this country!).

But it is also good when someone is around to take your picture!

Another first: catch your desert. Last night we had pancakes for desert – but you had to catch yours with a plate. The guides threw them. When Neil landed my pancake on the ceiling they had mercy and I got mine with any further throwing activity …

It was definately a delux version of a hike. Three guides for 17 hikers. Hot tea and toilets (!) along the way. And the “huts” we stayed in are full grown lodges, but build well into nature. This was my bed last night:

lodge bed with a view

We got a three course meal every night. We could buy wine and beer, had hot showers and a drying room for wet clothes. The generator went off at 10 pm and on again at 7:30 am. If you did not want to read with your torch light … you got a lot of sleep!

And this was not a bushfire but the sunset two nights ago. Guess you only see lights like this when you are miles away from the next city!

sunset kiwi style (always a little bigger!)

And now I am back in civilization. They even warn you at the end of the track:

back in the real world

Am a bit worried that I will hate the very touristy bus / boat trip to Doubtful Sound tomorrow. Hope my ipod will save the day for me!

just one of the many waterfalls

Met a Kiwi today

Today was the one day I could have slept in on this long vacation – and then the fire alarm goes off at 8 am in the bed &breakfast … so much for sleeping in! Had a leisurely breakfast, handed over my laundry to the B&B for washing, strolled through a park into Queenstown – supposedly the adrenalin capitol of the world. I did not opt for bungee jumping, jet boating or the likes though, but went and got a massage. What a treat after three weeks of walking with a backpack! Then I had the pre-hike briefing for my last hike: the Routeburn Track. Looks like I will be walking it with a group of about 20 – all couples … No Russians as far as I could tell.

The day in Queenstown was sunny and really warm. But we were warned that there is plenty of snow up where we will be hiking. Only last week were the first hikers able do the full length of the trip – before people had to be helicoptered over the snowed-in areas (for fear of avalanches). Am really hoping for some clear weather. The views are supposed to be spectacular. So stay tuned for pictures of either stunning alpine views or … fog. Will be back in civilization on Wednesday night. Off to Doubtful Sound for a day cruise on Thursday and then back to Auckland on Friday. I had a great time … but why did it go by so fast?

My Russian friends filmed most of our tours and promised me a DVD. They are actually planing to show part of their material on Russian television – too bad I did not have a Firefox jacket or backpack! Will be fun to see it though. They will dub my version with music only though – they are afraid I might find someone that will do the translation for me.

Ahh – almost forgot: Crossed one more item off the to do list today. I went to see a Kiwi. They are really rare, shy and only out at night … thus I had to go to a bird house. I got a deal because it was late in the day and only half an hour until they closed. The good thing about it:  I was the only person in the Kiwi house. No pictures though – they did not allow that. My summary: Kiwi’s are pretty big and look really … funny. Most of the time their long beak is in the ground looking for food and to me they look like a feathery soccer ball on two legs … the size is about right.  The Kiwi lady I was watching lay and egg four days a ago. The egg is huge! Compared to a human it would be like giving birth to a two year old!!!

Will hike back up the hill to my B&B now, pack for the track and go to bed early. Need to be at the meeting point at 7 am. More soon …

sleet, sandflies, scenery and speed

New Zealand weather in the spring is about as changeable as you can imagine. We flew into the Siberia Valley via helicopter yesterday morning in great sunshine. After claiming a bed in the hut with throwing a sleeping bag on it we headed out to Lake Crucible. After an hour nice walk along the valley … with only a few river crossings and thus wet boots (once more!) we started to go up. Our guide had not told me that we were up for a 600 to 700 meter hike up hill (and down again). It was really steep and slippery since it had started to rain. Luckily my Russian co-travelers are real gentlemen and offered to take my backpack – s0 nice!

giant buttercup - with hikeing pole to give a perspective!

We saw some giant buttercups on the way – the largest in the world. (Taking pics is always a nice excuse for a break).Well we went up for about 4 hours with a short lunch stop in the rain to finally reach a lake of snow.

snowy lake crucible

I guess we all had expected a bit of impressive blue clear water and not a mass of avalanche dirty snow – and not the sleet that was blowing with force into our faces once we started the decend …

 

Inspired by what I call the “Putin”-pose by the Russians, I managed a little peak pose though.

We had a fun evening in the hut and woke up to sunshine and a visit of the biggest New Zealand pest of all: Sandflies. This little back flies bite and those bites itch and hurt like hell. And they like my blood! The tale is that the Maori had such a good and easy life in New Zealand that God introduced the sandfly to prevent them from getting lazy and sitting around all day. If you move, they supposedly do not bite. Does not work for me though! Neither do the various types of insect repellent that I have tried …

view from Siberia hut in the morning

Over breakfast the Russians told me that they have a very good influence on peoples lives and that I should expect to soon find a husband. (Guess they can”t cope with a single woman not in desperate search for a man that provides for them 🙂

jet boat fun

After a two hour hike we reached the jet boat pick up point. It was fun – even though I got really wet again.

jet boat view

But I just learned to accept that being wet (or at least  to have wet boots) is part of my New Zealand adventure! The day continues to be beautiful.

lunch spot (not pictured, the sandflies!)

We had lunch at a great view point on lake Wanaka. Drove along a few other lakes (where I had a short stunt as photo model for the Russians) and finally made it to Queenstown. We had a farewell beer and the Russians are a bit disappointed I do not plan to go bungee jumping with them tomorrow … No worries! I will not!

model for a minute

along the road ... impressive scenery