Monday, July 25, 2005
Cont'd From Below
So far behind in my postings, I may have to skip so things but I haven't so far:
Kept thinking about what movies would be on the flight back. Then I kept having to remind myself that I wasn’t coming back in the first place!
Arrived at Tokyo Narita International ahead of schedule and off that damned plane of hell. Piece of cake. Can’t say this airport is anything special, some duty free, your typical airport fare. There is this little shuttle that takes you from one part of Terminal 1 to another and is nearly completely useless as it takes you all of 100 yards. The walk would have been quicker, not to mention a more desirable option given the 13 hours of confinement I just endured. I’m now sitting at gate B72, watching some sort of frantic activity preceding a flight to Tehran via Beijing.
On a side note, I’ve only seen one surgical mask being warn so far and that was by some airport security dude. I was kinda hoping to see hordes of them.
And less than an hour before boarding, there are about 3 people including me in the B72 waiting area. Not sure if that is a good or bad sign. Perhaps we’ll be on one of those turbo props but I seriously hope not. I am, however, seated in seat B9, and I only paid for economy so that’s not the best sign as far as plane size goes.
So, this one poor guy just rolled in with like 20 pre-teen boys. So much for the one-child rule! I didn’t take long for me to have 20 Chinese kids surrounding me and looking at what I was doing on my laptop, brief pleasantries were exchanged but that’s about it. Anyway, board the flight and talked to a Chinese guy who had studied in the states and he was impressed that I was going to CEIBS, he said it was a very well known school and a great choice. Pretty much just slipped in and out of consciousness the whole flight but woke up enough for the food. Main course was some sort of steamed beef and vegetables and white rice alongside some unidentifiable Chinese vegetables and managed to save face by used my chopsticks left handed.
Finally, SHANGHAI! I passed out so I didn’t fill out any of the forms that were sitting next to me. Deplaned right onto the tarmac and then filed onto a bus, not quite what I was expecting from the brand new and modern Pudong International Airport. Then passed by some menacing looking cameras which I can only assume are some sort of facial recognition software or just a video record. Not sure which one would be the more likely use.
Cruised through customs and got some porter to help me with my bags and into a taxi. Whipped out my map that I had printed out that showed where my hotel, the Ramada Pudong Shanghai Hotel was. The cab was in really bad shape. Driver never revved it above 2k. Right out of the airport I got to see the highway interchanges that are all lit up underneath. The maglev high speed train followed the 4 lane very straight highway towards Shanghai and I noticed most of the cabs are VW Santanas, some sort of newer Chinese version of the VW Fox we have in the states.
Check into the hotel which I find out is a 4-star hotel, and I’m paying around US$70 for one night. Really nice room and the people are quite accommodating. Get into the room, hook up the computer send some emails and then crash at 9PM shortly after getting in.
Wake up Friday morning too early but am excited for the free continental breakfast but I expect to be fully disappointed as I always am at free hotel breakfasts since they generally consist of little more than some bagels, coffee, and cereal. Not here. There are two huge buffet tables with chefs taking orders for eggs and omlettes. Finally, get my things together, call my fellow classmate Julio and arrange to meet at 10:30. I decide to walk to Ceibs rather than take a taxi since it’s supposed to be close and I don’t want to see my first glimpse of Pudong through a window. Construction everywhere and I quickly identify the source of Shanghai’s smog problem; the diesel construction trucks just SPEW fumes as they roll down the road. But on the other hand, there seem to be tons of electric scooters around. As I walk I try and keep a low profile since my blue eyes and blond hair really stick out like a sore thumb, not to mention my shiny sling. I get quite a few stares. Get to CEIBS and meet Julio. He is from Spain (Madrid and Barcelona or something like that) and been in Shanghai for the past month with his Chinese wife. Lucky guy didn’t have to deal with any of the language barrier problems I was about to encounter. We go up to the MBA admissions office and try to get my affairs settled. However, there seems to be no set procedure for doing all this. One of the directors who people keep telling me to talk to is out today so I’m pretty much on my own. Attempt to check into the dorm, but unwittingly go to hotel reception instead and they are no help, they call Sunna lu, who says the dorms are full!! Um. OK. Julio also informs me that his Spanish classmates have had to buy mattresses for the dorms which I was not expecting. I’m told to come back at 3pm and one of the admissions directors will take myself and another new student to the Police Station to officially register.
Kept thinking about what movies would be on the flight back. Then I kept having to remind myself that I wasn’t coming back in the first place!
Arrived at Tokyo Narita International ahead of schedule and off that damned plane of hell. Piece of cake. Can’t say this airport is anything special, some duty free, your typical airport fare. There is this little shuttle that takes you from one part of Terminal 1 to another and is nearly completely useless as it takes you all of 100 yards. The walk would have been quicker, not to mention a more desirable option given the 13 hours of confinement I just endured. I’m now sitting at gate B72, watching some sort of frantic activity preceding a flight to Tehran via Beijing.
On a side note, I’ve only seen one surgical mask being warn so far and that was by some airport security dude. I was kinda hoping to see hordes of them.
And less than an hour before boarding, there are about 3 people including me in the B72 waiting area. Not sure if that is a good or bad sign. Perhaps we’ll be on one of those turbo props but I seriously hope not. I am, however, seated in seat B9, and I only paid for economy so that’s not the best sign as far as plane size goes.
So, this one poor guy just rolled in with like 20 pre-teen boys. So much for the one-child rule! I didn’t take long for me to have 20 Chinese kids surrounding me and looking at what I was doing on my laptop, brief pleasantries were exchanged but that’s about it. Anyway, board the flight and talked to a Chinese guy who had studied in the states and he was impressed that I was going to CEIBS, he said it was a very well known school and a great choice. Pretty much just slipped in and out of consciousness the whole flight but woke up enough for the food. Main course was some sort of steamed beef and vegetables and white rice alongside some unidentifiable Chinese vegetables and managed to save face by used my chopsticks left handed.
Finally, SHANGHAI! I passed out so I didn’t fill out any of the forms that were sitting next to me. Deplaned right onto the tarmac and then filed onto a bus, not quite what I was expecting from the brand new and modern Pudong International Airport. Then passed by some menacing looking cameras which I can only assume are some sort of facial recognition software or just a video record. Not sure which one would be the more likely use.
Cruised through customs and got some porter to help me with my bags and into a taxi. Whipped out my map that I had printed out that showed where my hotel, the Ramada Pudong Shanghai Hotel was. The cab was in really bad shape. Driver never revved it above 2k. Right out of the airport I got to see the highway interchanges that are all lit up underneath. The maglev high speed train followed the 4 lane very straight highway towards Shanghai and I noticed most of the cabs are VW Santanas, some sort of newer Chinese version of the VW Fox we have in the states.
Check into the hotel which I find out is a 4-star hotel, and I’m paying around US$70 for one night. Really nice room and the people are quite accommodating. Get into the room, hook up the computer send some emails and then crash at 9PM shortly after getting in.
Wake up Friday morning too early but am excited for the free continental breakfast but I expect to be fully disappointed as I always am at free hotel breakfasts since they generally consist of little more than some bagels, coffee, and cereal. Not here. There are two huge buffet tables with chefs taking orders for eggs and omlettes. Finally, get my things together, call my fellow classmate Julio and arrange to meet at 10:30. I decide to walk to Ceibs rather than take a taxi since it’s supposed to be close and I don’t want to see my first glimpse of Pudong through a window. Construction everywhere and I quickly identify the source of Shanghai’s smog problem; the diesel construction trucks just SPEW fumes as they roll down the road. But on the other hand, there seem to be tons of electric scooters around. As I walk I try and keep a low profile since my blue eyes and blond hair really stick out like a sore thumb, not to mention my shiny sling. I get quite a few stares. Get to CEIBS and meet Julio. He is from Spain (Madrid and Barcelona or something like that) and been in Shanghai for the past month with his Chinese wife. Lucky guy didn’t have to deal with any of the language barrier problems I was about to encounter. We go up to the MBA admissions office and try to get my affairs settled. However, there seems to be no set procedure for doing all this. One of the directors who people keep telling me to talk to is out today so I’m pretty much on my own. Attempt to check into the dorm, but unwittingly go to hotel reception instead and they are no help, they call Sunna lu, who says the dorms are full!! Um. OK. Julio also informs me that his Spanish classmates have had to buy mattresses for the dorms which I was not expecting. I’m told to come back at 3pm and one of the admissions directors will take myself and another new student to the Police Station to officially register.
