Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Novotel Guangzhou Airport Hotel is supposedly a five star hotel, and on arrival we were pleased to receive a free upgrade to a deluxe room. Located just a short walk from the airport, the airport is conveniently located for anyone needing to take a connecting flight the next day.
On the other hand, we quickly realized that the staff in the hotel speaks little English. While we requested a wake-up call at 7:30 AM, we were woken up at 6:30 AM. Also, when calling the reception the hotel was unable to provide any advice on how many hours early you have to be at the airport in China to catch a domestic flight.
The breakfast buffet is quite good, though the dining area is very chilly. Even worse, smoking is allowed on the premises. The smell of cheap Chinese tobacco can ruin even the most luxurious meal, so I would suggest that the Novotel changes its smoking policy. When checking out from the hotel, I got a chance to comment on the smoking policy, and I was then told that the hotel actually does have a non-smoking section in the restaurant. However, I was not asked about my smoking preference before being seated in the morning.
On the other hand, we quickly realized that the staff in the hotel speaks little English. While we requested a wake-up call at 7:30 AM, we were woken up at 6:30 AM. Also, when calling the reception the hotel was unable to provide any advice on how many hours early you have to be at the airport in China to catch a domestic flight.
The breakfast buffet is quite good, though the dining area is very chilly. Even worse, smoking is allowed on the premises. The smell of cheap Chinese tobacco can ruin even the most luxurious meal, so I would suggest that the Novotel changes its smoking policy. When checking out from the hotel, I got a chance to comment on the smoking policy, and I was then told that the hotel actually does have a non-smoking section in the restaurant. However, I was not asked about my smoking preference before being seated in the morning.
Congo groups: 400 massacred on Christmas day - CNN.com
Where are the protests and condemnations of the massacres in Africa? It seems like thousands of innocents die or get raped every month in places like Darfur and Congo, but no one seems to care. Then Israel attacks a terrorist organization in Gaza with utmost precision, killing almost no civilians but still draw hundreds of extreme left wing protesters out on the street in Europe. Something is wrong.
Where are the protests and condemnations of the massacres in Africa? It seems like thousands of innocents die or get raped every month in places like Darfur and Congo, but no one seems to care. Then Israel attacks a terrorist organization in Gaza with utmost precision, killing almost no civilians but still draw hundreds of extreme left wing protesters out on the street in Europe. Something is wrong.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Frykter flyplasskonkurs etter Rygge-nei - VG Nett om Reiseliv
The Norwegian parliament yesterday refused Moose Airport Rygge to increase its passenger capacity. While it sounds hard to believe, the private airport is by law not allowed to serve more than 774,000 passengers per year. The official reasoning for the limit is that a higher passenger number would damage the environment, but in reality the government is worried that the airport will pose a threat to the publicly run Oslo Airport, Gardermoen.
The decision to construct an airport at Gardermoen was made in 1992 as a result of pork barrel politics. While Gardermoen is located 48 km (30 mi) northeast of Oslo, falsified weather surveys were used to disqualify locations situated much closer to Oslo. For more information about this, do a quick Google search for Jan Fredrik Wiborg and read about how the civil engineer mysteriously "fell" out from a window in Copenhagen in 1994. And you thought Scandinavian politics were boring?
Being a relative large country compared with its small population of just over 4 million people, Norwegian politicians have traditionally favored building infrastructure in obscure locations with the hope that people will move there as a result (this never works). While private enterprises have sought to build private airports in the vicinity of where people actually live (a concept politicians would not think of), Norway's socialist establishment won't allow these efforts to be successful. As a result, Moose Airport Rygge is about to go bankrupt, and the mystery surrounding Jan Fredrik Wiborg's death is no closer to being resolved.
The Norwegian parliament yesterday refused Moose Airport Rygge to increase its passenger capacity. While it sounds hard to believe, the private airport is by law not allowed to serve more than 774,000 passengers per year. The official reasoning for the limit is that a higher passenger number would damage the environment, but in reality the government is worried that the airport will pose a threat to the publicly run Oslo Airport, Gardermoen.
The decision to construct an airport at Gardermoen was made in 1992 as a result of pork barrel politics. While Gardermoen is located 48 km (30 mi) northeast of Oslo, falsified weather surveys were used to disqualify locations situated much closer to Oslo. For more information about this, do a quick Google search for Jan Fredrik Wiborg and read about how the civil engineer mysteriously "fell" out from a window in Copenhagen in 1994. And you thought Scandinavian politics were boring?
Being a relative large country compared with its small population of just over 4 million people, Norwegian politicians have traditionally favored building infrastructure in obscure locations with the hope that people will move there as a result (this never works). While private enterprises have sought to build private airports in the vicinity of where people actually live (a concept politicians would not think of), Norway's socialist establishment won't allow these efforts to be successful. As a result, Moose Airport Rygge is about to go bankrupt, and the mystery surrounding Jan Fredrik Wiborg's death is no closer to being resolved.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
We took this picture a few days ago in front of the Krispy Kreme Doughnuts shop in Kawasaki. As the sign shows, the expected waiting time is 1 hour. While admittedly a new store, people in Japan are crazy about Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, though it is unlikely to last long. Malcolm Gladwell could easily find some new material in Japan to expand his book on "The Tipping Point".
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