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**N_Architect** · 3 February 2009, 10:35 PM

So we continue our rapid ascent from Gimhae, with N_Architect in the window seat taking as many pics as possible of the surrounding area:

Once our Captain had switched off the �fasten seat belt� sign, our crew came along with complementary drinks. The flight to GMP lasts approximately 40 to 45 minutes.

And we arrive in Seoul. While descending, I managed to take these shots of the nearby fields covered in snow. Temperature was about 2 deg. C.

And here we go, one more landing:

Due to the weather conditions, we did not reach the main terminal and had to stop less than a mile away, leaving from the aircraft on a bus:

Next: taking the KAL bus to ICN; leaving Korea, heading to SIN on SQ J.

**N_Architect** · 3 February 2009, 10:37 PM

So we were at GMP, ready to disembark, pick our luggage and head to ICN, a 40 minute bus ride. Weather was cold and snowy.

Heading to baggage claim at GMP; the ‘paradise’ comes in front of me again through an ad; yea, they’re so good (and especially polite) over there… tell me all about it… thank you but it’s just six months to go for me…)

Outside GMP and KAL bus – pics I have in my other camera and which I have not downloaded yet… so more to come here.

I arrive at ICN, time is early as usual, SQ counters open at around 2pm to check-in pax for SFO and SIN, go to a small coffee shop in the departures area and manage to do some work while drinking a warm chamomile.

Check-in opens at the usual time, waiting is about 10 mins for J pax as all went in for check-in at almost the same time. Flight should be almost full, I go through security and immigration (bit if a wait there), then to the duty free area. Head straight to the new airport area where the SQ flight to SIN (SQ609) will depart from (Gate 125). I suddenly stop to put some duty free items inside my carry-all, and in less than 30 seconds a security officer comes by me at a slow speed looking at me and at what I could have been doing. This is obnoxious and I really don’t like it; everywhere you go, officers going by and looking at you as if you are suspicious. In GMP, because it was freezing outside I had stayed inside the terminal until the KAL arrived: two officers on patrol came by looking again at me. Everywhere you go you’re being watched, everywhere. I understand that more or less this is reality now in many airports around the globe, but I just don’t like it, and especially in the way they do it here. Of course it could well be much worse, so perhaps I should not be complaining, but that’s how I feel.

Anyway, board the plane, 9V-SVE it was (I think), service is good as usual, these small ‘devil-type’ chocolates taste great as usual, don’t get much sleep, we arrive in SIN few minutes after 10pm. My connecting flight to DXB leaves at 23:35 from T2, so very little time for shopping, first though I have to meet fellow SQTalker timnh who has a long night layover and could use SKL to get some good rest. All goes well, we meet outside SKL and to my great surprise I receive from him a wonderful Australian cap as thanks for hosting him in SKL. Thank you, timnh, once again, a great gesture from a gentleman. May your future travels be always safe and enjoyable, and certainly we’ll meet in the future, perhaps again in an airport…

So I go for a quick refreshment at SKL, then head straight to T2 as my flight to DXB is about to depart. J cabin of the 773 is quite full, almost only the middle seats (of the 3-seater middle part of the cabin) are not taken, pity I had chosen a window seat. IFS is the ‘SQ icon’ lady, as described by SQ LPP in his A380 inaugural shots. You could tell how experienced she is by the way she handled a PITA female pax in 11C who was blah blah blah whining and complaining about something (the something was that she wanted to be seated in the F cabin, something which she managed to do at the end…)

No pics taken in that flight at all, too tired, managed to get some sleep but the 773 regional J seat is no spacebed by any means, though it’s much better for sitting and reading. For sleep, the spacebed or the ‘new’ business class (77W/A380) are best. We therefore arrived in DXB in the middle of the night, with me not having got enough sleep reserves so the jetlag was ready to make its mark once again. Yes, it was only a 5hr difference with Korea and we were going westwards (which is supposed to make things not that bad), but somewhat I did get affected quite a bit this time.

Next: DXB; DIFC (Dubai International Financial Center); The Jumeirah Emirates Towers hotel; shopping at Dubai Mall (where the 2nd largest Cartier boutique in the world is located).

**N_Architect** · 3 February 2009, 10:39 PM

So we arrive in DXB at around 3 plus in the morning. Hotel concierge had been advised for hotel car pickup, so a gentleman of Arab origin was waiting for me before security, immigration and baggage claim at DXB T1. Long walk to that point, though, from the arrival gate (the first time I thought about getting a briefcase/carry-all combo with wheels, something which I finally did few days later in the TUMI store at Dubai Mall). We go through security, fast track immigration line, baggage claim, all very fast, we go outside, temperature is ok (16 deg C, perfect), a black BMW 730iL waiting, let’s go. Cost of pick-up is 325 AED (approx USD88), ride to the hotel is at the most 15 minutes (no traffic at that time of the hour). Arrival at the hotel, location is in Dubai’s ‘Wall Street’ area, my room overlooks the DIFC (Dubai International Financial Center). Hotel design and decoration is modern and impressive, one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed in. Heard the people who worked there (locals, Indians, etc.) were getting 3,000 AED per month (!), hotel was charging about AED 1,100 – 1,500 for the standard room I had. Room was very spacious, something which I loved. Cosmetics in the bathroom were by Aigner (a std practice in the Middle East? Few weeks later I found out QR has their J amenity kit provided by Aigner as well).

My hotel, Jumeirah Emirates Towers (left), and Office Towers (right):

Same view, this time from the DIFC:

View from the window of my room. 22nd floor, overlooking the DIFC:

I stayed in Dubai almost a week, but did not take many pictures. Spent most of my time in between meetings, seminars, lunches, breakfasts, work, and sleep (in order to overcome the jetlag) all the time. Not much apetite to go out at night, and yes, the wonderful hotel bar at the 44th (if I’m not wrong) did have ‘ladies’, but no thanks, better get some rest, we’ll be in Shanghai next week, anyway, plenty of opportunities to get some ‘company’. All that though is virtually meaningless. I want somebody who can come in my life and stay, not someone who will come for a few hours and/or days and then leave. Sentiments are not for sale, this is not business, so I can barely have any meaningful relationship any more with people who view this as a business transaction. It’s good to be able to see and live this part of life, but not for long. Once you’ve seen it and experienced it, that’s it, you don’t need to see more in order to understand more.

Jumeirah Emirates Towers hotel lobby:

Room pictures to come when I download them from my 40D... (see page 4 of this TR).

The hotel had these spectacular elevators that enabled you to see outside while taking you up or down. Here are some shots of the arrangement.

Looking up from the hotel lobby:

Looking down from the 22nd floor (the ‘floor’ we see down there is not the lobby, it is just an intermediate floor):

Looking outside (while inside the hotel elevator):

Next: More Jumeirah Emirates Towers; DIFC; desert safari.

**N_Architect** · 3 February 2009, 10:54 PM

As said earlier, did not go round and about much, so sorry folks, no city pictures. Only shots I manage to take were in or around DIFC, where we hang around those few days.

Some shots of the DIFC area:

The weather was marvelous those days, temperature was an average of 16-18 deg. C (couldn’t be better, actually) and I admit it was little bit chilly at night. For the Dubai area, I think this is a gift, as it is a place that gets heavily hammered by the sun all year long…

Next: Desert safari; more DIFC.

**Paint Horse** · 4 February 2009, 12:16 AM

Nice report. Very interesting. I look forward to the rest as I have just been finishing up the arrangements for a stop in Dubai for the fall. Dubai is a very expensive place I must say.

**N_Architect** · 4 February 2009, 04:54 AM

I have to say I don’t actually write much (for Painthorse, thank you for your kind words). To me, a good TR would have a variety of pictures from the whole place, from the market, from everyday life, combined with historical references. That is something I would like to do, but with all this work there it is not so easy. When you travel for business or other work, you have to have pretty high energy reserves to spend your few free hours out taking pictures and then some of the flight time hours in reading about the place and making comments on the history of the place when writing your TR.

Anyway, we’re still in Dubai, getting ready to go for a desert safari experience (for ‘teambuilding’). Next to DIFC they had set up a center for helping the neighboring people of Gaza, who were at the time suffering from the Israeli attack. All the humanitarian aid was collected here and then prepared for sending it to Gaza.

And then you had these huge ants… I think they symbolize the tireless efforts of the local community to build up the place and make it a true metropolis, with a very good financial center, real estate development, etc. While in Dubai, we attended a speech by the DIFC director. Very nice gentleman, truly enjoyed his speech. He did, of course, paint an optimistic picture for the Gulf area in general (with the upcoming introduction of a single currency for example), but one cannot argue that the people there have made a considerable effort in the last couple of decades. The current crisis has indeed affected the area considerably, but who hasn’t been affected anyway? One strong (and valid, in my opinion) argument however is that small economies (e.g. U.A.E.) are price-takers while large ones are price-setters (e.g. U.S.) Based on that, only large economies can become ones that can imply a reserve currency (e.g. the ‘new’ Dirham to take the place of the U.S. dollar in the world’s markets); and for the Middle East or Gulf area to achieve this happening is very difficult, at least in the short run, as their economies are indeed developing fast, but size-wise (and structure-wise) they are still at infancy stage compared to the U.S. economy.

The ants in full swing:

The DIFC director talked about four things that constitute the current crisis: (a) a financial crisis (i.e. the failure of the U.S. equity system), (b) the failure of U.S. government controls, (c) the housing crisis, and (d) a recession. He argued that if we only had the fourth one, the reasonable time for recovery we should expect would be from two to three quarters. The difficulty now is that all the above have occurred at just about the same time, and this means that the time for recovery goes up to 15-20 quarters. He also mentioned that the main milestones in modern economic history were (i) 1956 – Suez Canal, opened up the Asian economies trade and signified the ‘end’ of the British Empire; (ii) 1988 – Berlin Wall demolition; (iii) 2008 – current conditions. While the causes of the current crisis have been analyzed extensively by a variety of sources (and for this reason I do not intend to drag this more here), we are indeed going through historic (economic) times, so let’s see how this whole thing unfolds.

Next: Desert safari in Dubai.

**Paint Horse** · 4 February 2009, 10:31 AM

Not to deviate too much from this excellent trip report, but as the author is an N_Architect writing on a board dedicated to a Singapore airline I would have to disagree with the speaker mentioned above. The fall of the British Empire occurred within the first few months of WWII, especially with the loss of Malaysia. In particular the loss of Singapore by the way. When the "Main fleet to Singapore" policy was abandoned, there was no longer any hope of holding Singapore, as a navy base without a navy is somewhat useless. Once the local populace throughout that part of the world noticed how easily the occupier was de-occupied, the end was set. The Suez Canal was merely the last flicker of a flame extinguished by the waters surrounding Malaysia.

**N_Architect** · 4 February 2009, 05:08 PM

Good, PaintHorse’s comments on the views expressed by the DIFC Director are well noted. I just thought it would be interesting to post these views as expressed by a leading Chief Economist (who happened to be Minister of Finance in Lebanon for a period). We have a thread here on this anyway (“Global Financial Distress”), so I guess we can take it from there if we need to discuss the matter further.

Now, time to go for desert safari, for teambuilding activities (desert treasure hunt, etc.) and for a desert Arabic night.

Ready to go, the Land Cruisers are the most suitable and trustworthy tools for this job:

Here is a Chinese products mall or very large shopping area, and from the top the building looks like a dragon’s back, was told anyway.

Yes, we are in trouble. Indeed. This is spreading out too quickly and something has to be done about it. Similar type of revenue-generating ‘enforcements’ are being adopted in many countries. Not good news. We have it in Korea, I also see it here in Dubai. In Dubai, where they have plenty of space, plenty of money, and they can let the people take their nice car out (whatever that may be) and enjoy driving. Why are you doing this? Why are you forbidding people’s right to enjoy a nice ride out? Why is every country (more or less) adopting such suffocating and freedom-restricting measures? Who gives you the right to do this? Enough with all this and also all the ‘environmentalists’ who go after the car manufacturers on emissions and speed limits. High speed commuting are our right to freedom and it has nothing to do with emissions. We really had enough. More on this in future upcoming TRs. Fixed speed camera shown in the picture.

Getting closer to the desert safari location…

Here we go…

Next: More desert safari.

**SQflyergirl** · 4 February 2009, 05:10 PM

Loove the quality pics!

**N_Architect** · 4 February 2009, 05:21 PM

Tyre pressure was dropped to 12-15psi (from 35-40psi) in order for the Land Cruisers to enter the desert. Drivers were restricted to the �tricks� they could. Our driver told me �what we do now is 20% of what we can do� �but when we do it, it is without the tourists, of course, and with God�s help��

A stop for some teambuilding activities:

Sunset in the Dubai desert:

Next: An Arabic night in the desert (with belly dancing).

**N_Architect** · 4 February 2009, 05:30 PM

Belly dancing:

She was very nice, and she looked like Lebanese. I asked our Land Cruiser driver, and he said “no way, a Lebanese girl would ask for at least 1,500 Euros for half an hour of belly dancing… …she’s probably Russian…”

Russian or not, she was quite sexy I must admit.

This place had drinks, barbecue, henna tattoo, place where you could go and put a traditional Arabic costume and get your pictures, traditional Arabic smoking, etc. I don't really like these 'tourist' places (you know, put the arabic cistume on and have a picture taken, etc.) but it was a nice experience after few hours in the desert.

Next: Back to Dubai’s DIFC.

**N_Architect** · 4 February 2009, 05:36 PM

Few more shots (interesting, I believe) from the DIFC area:

Next: Leaving DXB, heading to PVG on SQ J.

**N_Architect** · 4 February 2009, 06:58 PM

I did not go about much, but I liked Dubai. It’s close to home (Greece, that is), I met interesting people (mostly Lebanese, who are very nice indeed), food was great and much closer to my taste, women are beautiful (the Lebanese especially are really gorgeous, and it’s not an accident that even in the ‘escort girl’ category in Dubai the most expensive ones are those of Lebanese origin), and of course shopping was great.

I went to two Cartier boutiques, one is new and the 2nd (or 4th, can’t remember well) largest in the world. Was shown the latest ‘classified’ pdf document on the 2009 Cartier marketing & positioning strategy for the Middle East & Gulf area. New models (especially wrist watches) and their intended placement in the market upon their planned release, in relation to their competition, with pictures and rankings of the Cartier products and the competition (Audemars, Chopard, etc.) Was informed on a new limited edition Santos wristwatch that will come out mid-summer, and will consider placing an order. In Dubai you can certainly lose any sense of reasonable spending and pricing. Was told by a senior salesman in the other, smaller, Cartier boutique that “the commission we have from this is pretty insignificant” (I had just bought five pens/rollers/fountain pens). Was told that the things people buy here are unbelievable. Well, the privileges of living on top of the most important oil reserves in the world, I guess.

So the time came to leave Dubai. SQ flight ex DXB was on a Friday night (on the weekend of welcoming the Chinese New Year of the Ox). Ok, we take the hotel’s 740iL to the airport. Weather is rainy, Indian driver has the BMW aircon off. I say nothing but find the humidity fairly obnoxious. Windows of the limo get foggy. A mile before reaching the airport the driver uses his hand to clean the window in front of him so that he can see clearly. My colleague Heinz says “if the air con was switched on we wouldn’t have this mess.” Driver immediately presses the a/c button, we are already 200m before the drop off point… Heinz is on a round the world *A J ticket, and that’s the reason he’s going to PVG thru SIN. He mostly flies LH or LX, this was his first take on SQ. I am, of course, a special case. I paid 8 million Korean won to fly ex-ICN SQ J class to DXB thru SIN and then back to PVG thru SIN... Make your life difficult and increase your travel budget just to maintain PPS and enjoy the SQ service. Most of the others in our group take the direct EK flight to PVG.

Flight ex DXB is at the most 1/4 full in J, I manage to get few hours of good sleep which is not bad at all. Oh, I forgot to mention that in the SIN-PVG leg I had BTC’d the papardelles with chicken, which was great, by the way. So, we’re on our way to SIN, in order to get the Sat 24th of Jan connecting flight to PVG (773). When I booked the ticket I thought this flight (SIN-PVG) would be dead busy, with the Lunar New Year coming up in two days. Originally it was a 77W, then with the Boeing workers strike and the equipment delivery delays it got downgraded to a 773. We arrive in SIN on time, I rush off to SKL to make a change in one of my upcoming bookings and to ask something about saver awards, my colleague Heinz is off to the gate for the PVG flight.

I clear through SKL, get a couple of Montecristo Cigarritos Mini packs, check at the T3 tiny Cartier boutique if they happen to have that blue lacquer Diabolo fountain pen I did not get in Dubai (but no luck, of course, as in contrary to the black lacquer ones the blue ones are more difficult to find), and off to the departure gate.

We board the plane, I had 12A and my colleague Heinz had 12C. Ok. Stewardess comes by and she says “no reason to worry, there are only five people in the J cabin today” (!). And here is the evidence:

Low loads indeed, the effects of the recession are clearly visible, just a day before the three-day Lunar New Year of the Ox celebrations.

Taking off from Changi:

A nice shot en route to PVG:

Service was excellent. We were advised we would have a-la-carte meal service, and were asked at what time during the flight we would like to have our lunch. I had BTC’d the pan-seared Chilean bass with bouillabaisse sauce, capsicum confit, and kalamata olive potato but it was not good (I did not like it, anyway). I have found that some BTC choices are clearly worse than some of the standard menu choices, but may be that’s just my perception. The flight really felt as if it was done on a private jet, it is luck when you can get any cabin with such low load. I was waiting and waiting (as usual) for the end of the meal and for the little devil chocolates to appear. I ask the stewardess. They had left them out because of the low load… IFS comes straight away. “We sincerely apologize. They are in the menu but they were left out probably because of the low load. We apologize. Could we offer you something else, sir? Some ice cream cubes from the Y menu, perhaps?” In less than a minute, a stewardess brings two ice cream cubes packs from the Y cabin, while at the same time the J cabin stewardess is bringing a small plate with about a dozen of those little cubes for me. They’re great, it’s not what they do but how they do it, that’s what sets them apart service-wise.

And yes, LionCity, we could be twins. Noted your comment on the 5 pax J load to PVG, but did not have time to comment back then. Hope you had a pleasant trip in Shanghai...

Next: Arrival in Shanghai.

**N_Architect** · 4 February 2009, 07:45 PM

We arrive in PVG. This airport is really huge. Get out of the plane, walk a little bit, queue for immigration control. My very first time in China. You begin to feel that they are billions and zillions here. They’re just so many (nothing wrong with that, of course). My turn comes. I hand my passport over to the immigrations officer. He takes a serious pose, opens the right page in the passport, looks at me in ‘investigating’ style, looks back at the passport photo. Looks up at me again, then back at the passport photo. Two seconds later, same thing again, looking at me seriously and then back at the photo. You wanna play games, right? It’s all psychology. With them it’s ok, I’m clean, it’s the other b******s I never liked, at customs (worldwide, of course). They really need someone to teach them a good lesson, especially those in PUS. I haven’t told you about my latest (early Jan ’09) return-from-HKG experience, have I? Well, let’s just say that another reason has been added and the need to leave ‘dynamic’ Korea is even more imminent…

So clear with all these things, go out, in the queue for a taxi (had not ordered a hotel car). My colleague Heinz has been here before, about ten times in the last two years. He told me that a couple of times he came just for a day, to conduct interviews for a regional GM for his company, and that was a real killer (Chicago – Shanghai and back).

So we get a taxi, we didn’t have on us the hotel address/directions in Chinese, of course (forgot to print it). Driver cannot understand where we’re going. Luggage barely fits the car (of course, with me and my Cartier purchases, what did you expect? Same old story… Mountains change, people never, Chinese proverb… hahaha) Taxi driver tries to open the back left door for Heinz to get in, door refuses to open, oh, what’s going on. Yea, of course, after getting used to the 740iLs, what did you expect, Mr. N_Architect? Three-four minutes wait/delay, talking to the taxi supervisor, trying to tell them “JW Marriott”, taxi driver looks he’s got it (hopefully), ok, ok, let’s go. We were lucky, he was only doing 120-130 km/h, some other U.S. colleagues who arrived on the EK flight from DXB got taxi and he was doing 180km/h (they freaked out completely).

The roads full of radars, same story again. It’s a problem, but we can’t do much about it. Germany is the last frontier, I guess. Anyway, we arrive at the JW Marriott Shanghai.

JW Marriott Shanghai (the Audi A6 is the hotel car, transportation to Pu Dong airport costs 690RMB one way, S350 is also available at 950RMB I think):

View from my room, at the 54th floor:

Hotel room (std room):

Hotel reception (38th floor):

Next: Shanghai welcomes the Year of the Ox, with all the fireworks literally under my feet.

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From Asia to Europe: 7 cities in 7 weeks

From Asia to Europe: 7 cities in 7 weeks

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