Paul Hammond's Blog

Late last year I got a FlickrMail from the people at schmap.com asking for permission to use a photo I took of the Rogers Centre in Toronto as part of their Schmap Toronto Guide.  Of course I readily gave permission, it was fantastic to have been picked!

You can see the schmap.com guide by clicking this link – my photo appears (albeit very small) in the top right hand corner among a collection of other photos of the Rogers Centre.  Despite the size, I still find its inclusion fulfilling. 

As an aside, the schmap.com site is actually an excellent source of information when you travel.  I had actually discovered it a while before they mailed me, when I was testing an iPhone.  As well as being a great resource for “normal” internet browsers, it works really well as an iPhone site – the information is shown in text format when the phone is held in portrait mode, and it re-orients the page to add mapping when you rotate the phone to landscape mode.  Check it out at http://www.schmap.com/.

A couple of weeks ago, Laura and I took a trip to Las Vegas.  Neither of us had been there before, so we weren't totally sure what to expect.  Turns out, Vegas is a fun city, and I'd definitely like to go back there soon.

We left the kids at home early on a Tuesday morning (thanks to my Dad and Martie for kid/puppy-sitting!), and headed to Heathrow.  I'd cashed in a bunch of air miles, and we were lucky enough to be flying British Airways First Class to Los Angeles where we were going to pick up a car and drive the 280-odd miles across the Mojave desert to Las Vegas.

First Class was a fun experience.  I am fortunate enough to be able to travel Business Class on some of my work trips, so I am a used to the larger seats and better food.  For me, First didn't seem to warrant the large difference in price you would pay over traveling Business.  For Laura, who doesn't regularly travel, I think the experience was a lot more exciting.  Or perhaps that was just the champagne they *insisted* on making her drink, over and over again! 

Our car ended up being a Ford Mustang convertible.  Fun car.  It was the cheapest deal they had for something that wasn't a 2-door compact, would you believe!  The drive from LA to LV took a while - about 6 hours in all I think, with a stop at In and Out Burger and a car refueling break on the way.  It was dark by the time we got out of Los Angeles, so there wasn't a lot to see along the way.

We stayed at the Wynn Hotel.  I was surprised at how cheap the rooms were for a luxury hotel.  I guess they make their money elsewhere - the shopping and gambling were both extravagant and ubiquitous.  The opulent stage was set on first arrival with the Ferrari / Maserati garage at the hotel entrance and the shopping parade that included Dior, Vuitton and Rolex among its tenants.  We had a "regular" room, which measured 640 square feet - that's huge for a hotel room in my experience - for a little over $200 a night.  Having walked through many of the other hotels whilst we were there, I really came to like the vibe of the Wynn - it isn't really themed as such, and just has a mellow, luxurious quality to it.  I highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking of visiting.

We took a helicopter tour to the Grand Canyon which was fantastic.  We used a very professional company called Maverick Helicopters, which again, I recommend highly.  Taking off from the airport, we headed east over suburban Las Vegas, over Lake Mead, a quick view of the Hoover dam, then over to the Canyon.  We landed deep in the Canyon at a spot perhaps 300ft above the Colorado river.  It was a perfect day, visibility over 100 miles.  It is hard to describe (or even capture with a photograph) how awe inspiring the views were.  Wow.

Something else we'd never done before was to visit a shooting range.  We both took turns using a 9mm pistol to shoot holes in paper targets.  You see hand guns used in TV shows all the time, read about them in books.  You can't get a feel for what it is really like until you've actually picked one up and pulled the trigger.  Everyone should try it at least once.  The place we went to was appropriately called The Gun Store.  If you're feeling more adventurous, they offer machine gun rentals too...

Of course we spent time touring the Strip, checking out the various fun things each hotel had to offer.  We rode rides (kudos to Laura for riding all three at the top of the Stratosphere - I only managed one of them), ate great food, watched shows, shopped.  We really liked the steak restaurant Gallagher's at New York New York; the steaks are all dry aged on display in the window of the restaurant.  The Bellagio fountains are very impressive even if their choice of accompanying music is sometimes a little on the lame side.  The LE RÊVE show at the Wynn was incredible; the logistics of presenting a show that is predominantly in or under water fascinate me.

I'd foolishly decided up front that a 6 day trip to Vegas where the flights were virtually "free" would be a cheap holiday.  Forget that.  The food is fabulous, the shopping is great (especially with the £/$ conversion) and the gambling is a little too much fun.  If you're going to go to Vegas, pack an extra wallet, and make sure it is full of cash.

All in all, a great time in a great city.  I feel like we only scratched the surface of what it has to offer.  What would you recommend we see next time we go?

I went skiing yesterday with my colleagues Elliot and Arran up at Crystal Mountain here in Washington state.  Crystal Mountain is the largest ski area in Washington, and is located about 70 miles south east of Seattle.  It has the base at 4,400ft and a summit at 7,012ft.  In contrast, for those who know the area a little, Mount Rainier's summit is at 14,411ft.

Prior to yesterday, I had only skied once before (for 3 days in the run up to my sister's wedding on top of the mountain at Courchevel in France).  I have also never had any lessons which meant I was relying on the few technique tips I could remember that my sister's husband had given me back in April 2006.  As a result, I was finding the green runs at Crystal pretty hard going at first.  With my fitness at its current low state, my legs were soon screaming at me for the punishment I was giving them!

But perseverance is key I always find, and before too long I was snow ploughing less, getting up some decent speed and cornering more smoothly.  I was still finding the steeper sections hard, and the longer I skied the less power I had in my legs to correct myself when things started to go awry.  I definitely fell over more in the later part of the day as a result.

After a total of 4 days skiing in my life, I have decided that I must take lessons the next time I visit a ski slope - I don't want to end up with bad habits that are too ingrained to change.  In the meantime, I will enjoy the muscle pain from the exertion, and the dull throbbing of the various bruises I gained from wiping out, knowing that I'm marginally better at skiing today than I was on Saturday.

I had a momentarily confusing moment last night when I tried to get money out of the HSBC bank next to my hotel in Shanghai.  In fact, it happens to me every time I come to Shanghai, usually multiple times!  Take a look at the picture below of a Shanghai ATM keypad:

Now, without thinking too hard about it, try and type your PIN number for your ATM card as quickly as you can, using the picture above as a pretend-ATM.  Did it feel odd?

The keypad is upside down - specifically, 1-3 and 7-9 are reversed!  I haven't seen that anywhere else I have traveled.  Very weird.

Well, a few other people I know have done this - so I felt I needed to see what my maps would look like.  Since I invested the time reviewing and ticking the checkboxes, I figured I may as well paste the results into a blog entry!

Probably not all that interesting to anyone but me.  It does tell me that I need to get out more...

Visited Countries: 

Visited States:

On one of the last days in Florida, we took our daughter to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.  This is a small salon located in the back of the World of Disney store at the Downtown Disney Marketplace.  The blurb on the Disney web page says “Feel like a Disney princess in this magical salon, which is owned by the Fairy Godmother and operated by Fairy Godmothers-in-training.”

They offer 3 packages for wannabe Princesses:

Coach Package includes hair style and shimmering make-up -- $35 plus tax.

Crown Package includes hair style, shimmering make-up and nails -- $45 plus tax.

Castle Package includes the Crown Package plus Imaging Package*, and complete costume of your choice with accessories -- starting at $175 plus tax.

We opted for the $45 package.  I have to say it was one of the cutest experiences ever, and Niamh looked fantastic once the Fairy Godmother-in-training has finished.  We bought her a Princess Jasmine outfit afterwards too, to complete the look.  It was such a shame to have to remove it all when we arrived home that evening…

 

When I used to visit Florida years ago, even at the busiest of times there was no option other than queueing for the attractions.  Depending on the time of year you visited, you could be lining up for anything up to 2 hours to ride a 90 second ride.

Both Disney and Universal have tried to combat this problem with a “speedy pass” concept.  However, they are operated in very different ways.

Disney’s FastPass

With the Disney system, each attraction that is part of the FastPass system has 3 different areas near the entrance to the attraction.  There is the regular “stand-by” line, the FastPass line and the FastPass distribution area.  To use the system, you make your way to the attraction’s FastPass distribution area, put your park ticket into one of the machines and it gives you a ticket with a printed time range on it.  Then you simply return to the ride some time in the range on your printed ticket and enter the FastPass line.  You will generally be able to ride the ride within 5 or 10 minutes.  You can only hold one FastPass at a time.  You cannot get a new FastPass until the start time of the one you currently hold has passed.

WDWInfo.com has more information on FastPass, including a list of attractions that are currently using the system.

Universal’s Express Plus Pass

Universal charge for their Express Plus pass – $35 per person for a single park, $50 for both parks (and it is the same price for adults and children alike).  This is on top of the cost of a regular park ticket.  This pass lets you ride every Express Plus pass attraction once and once only, and they guarantee a wait time of less than 15 minutes at each.

More details on the Express Plus Pass can be found at the Universal website.

Comparison

The Disney system is OK – for the most part it works.  It has a few drawbacks though.  First, you need to visit the actual attraction to get the FastPass tickets.  This means you potentially have to trek to a completely different part of the park, just to pick up a ticket that might not be valid for a while.  The biggest issue is the way in which FastPass tickets are distributed.  When the park opens, the time window is 9am until 10am.  As people begin getting tickets, and the quota of FastPass tickets for the current time window is met, the time window advances forward to 9.05–10.05.  It then moves in 5 minute increments as more and more people show up.  This is fine for most rides, but for very popular rides this could be a problem.  Today, we went to ride Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom – we arrived at the ride at 9.20am (20 minutes after park opening) and the line for the ride was already 70 minutes, and the current FastPass window was 12.55pm to 1.55pm – almost 3.5 hours later.

When I first found out the cost of the Universal pass, I was pretty horrified.  For a family of four, this amounted to a cost of $140 plus tax, and that was on top of the price I had already paid for the entrance tickets.  When we toured the original Universal Studios park, the crowds were not too bad, and we just bypassed a couple of the rides that had longer wait times.  However, when we went to Islands of Adventure, within about 45 minutes of park opening most rides were at least a 45 minute wait, a lot of them over an hour.  It was a really hot day, and the kids were already starting to moan, so I relented and purchased the tickets I had previously written off as a rip-off.  We then proceeded around the park, entering each ride and riding within an average of 10 minutes.  Almost every ride is Express Plus enabled.  It made touring the park a complete joy, and I felt kind of sorry for the people lining up for well over an hour to ride the amazing roller coasters etc.  The main drawback with this system was hearing “cool! can we ride again Daddy, please!” as soon as a ride was over (since the ticket is good for one ride only on each attraction).

Universal’s system is very expensive (IMHO), but an excellent way of touring with smaller kids and hitting every single ride.  Universal limit the available tickets for any given day, which guarantees the 15–minute maximum wait time.  I give it 4 out of 5 (with the cost disallowing a 5 out of 5 rating). 

Disney’s system works, as you can always find things with short lines to fill the gap between FastPass attractions.  The Expedition Everest example seems to be an extreme case.  However it can cause a lot of extra walking and requires extra planning to decide which order to get your FastPasses in.  I give it a 3.5 out of 5. 

So, neither are perfect.  I wonder if there is a hybrid that is possible.  Maybe Disney could allow you to hold a couple of FastPasses at once.  Or maybe they could allow you to get a FastPass for any ride in the park from every single FastPass station (hence cutting down on the walking aspect).  Perhaps Universal could allow you to get priority access to 3 or 4 rides for free, before making the expensive charge.

Whichever system you prefer, it is better than the system that was in place when I last visited in 1996 – the “wait in line regardless” system.

I spent last week in the French Alps with my family – my sister was getting married so we all travelled over there to be with her and her new husband, and to celebrate the big day.

Twelve of us stayed in a chalet together – my parents and their partners, my sister and her family (husband and two kids), and my family (4 of us).  Many of you may be shuddering with dread at the thought of spending 5 days with your entire immediate family, but it actually went OK – almost NO tension at all.  Almost!

The wedding itself happened at the top of the mountain, right there in the snow.  It was a pretty amazing scene – the sun shone, the champagne was on ice (well, dug into the snow!) and a ton of people made the trip up the mountain to witness the event.  Great times.

I have never ski-ed before last week.  I spent Tuesday and Wednesday practicing and seemed to pick it up quite quickly.  I was able to ski down the mountain with the happy couple and all their friends after the event.  I was very proud of myself for making it all the way down – there were some pretty steep bits!  I only landed on my backside 4 or 5 times too…

What surprised me was how good the kids were.  All four of them (my two and my niece and nephew) really picked it up quickly.  I wonder how good they could become with a couple of weeks in a ski school.  Probably as good as all the other 6 year olds who were zipping past me on the way down from the wedding…

All in all, it was a good time, despite only being 5 days.

   

 

I am in Seattle on business at the moment.  In fact, in the last couple of months, I have been travelling for either work or pleasure quite a lot.  One thing that has always frustrated me a little is the lack of good wireless facilities in the hotels where I stay.  Sure there is almost always an excellent wired broadband offering, but I always feel it would be great to be able to work wherever I felt comfortable.  In the one hotel I stayed at that did have wireless, I got a lousy connection that barely stayed alive long enough to read an email…

Anyway, I am on business right now with my friend John.  For a while now, his laptop has been slowly dying.  Yesterday morning at 5am local time the inevitable jetlag had him awake and trying to get some work done.  However, his network card had finally given up, and he was not able to get a connection to the internet, which in our business is not great news.  Finally I got a text from him at about 6.45 saying “can we leave yet, I am bored”, and we duly headed off for an enormous IHOP breakfast. 

On the drive over the 520 bridge, John started talking about “some Apple thing that might do wireless” that we eventually decided was an AirPort product.  On arrival at the office, we checked out the Apple site and sure enough, the AirPort Express seemed to be the gadget to solve his problems.  It essentially plugs into the wall, you plug in an ethernet cable, and it creates a mini wireless network.  It also allows streaming of audio from a machine running iTunes somewhere else in the vicinity.  It sounded good, but the price was a little steep – $129.

Once work was done for the day, we took an executive decision and drove to Fry’s Electronics in Renton.  This is a Geek Superstore, selling everything from PC components and games machines to TVs and in-car audio – the average geek could spend hours in there.  The average geek with a credit card could spend thousands in there.

The plan was to buy some sort of cheap PCMCIA wired network card so that his connectivity issues were solved at least, and then take a look at the AirPort.  Sure enough, it still looked like a nugget of well-designed and useful Apple goodness.  However, we stumbled across something else that was even better; something that you would have sworn had a market, but that I had surprisingly never seen before.  A Wireless Travel Router.

The NetGear WGR101 54mpbs Wireless Travel Router to be precise.  The box says:

• Pocket-sized – ideal for taking with you when you travel.
• Dual use – external switch for selecting between individual and group use.
• “Creates a wireless network from an internet connection in a hotel room or conference room”.

The deal-maker was the price – $49.90.  Way less than half the price of the AirPort.  John and I both bought one!!

And this thing rocks.  It is completely configurable, so you can set up the SSID the network uses, includes security (WEP and WPA, as well as MAC address filtering), NAT routing, and an SPI firewall.  You can even turn off SSID broadcast so that others cannot even see it.  I tweaked my settings with the included network cable, plugged in the hotel broadband cable and I was off and running – simple as that.  And it really is pocket sized – just tiny! – and it comes with a small case to keep it protected in transit.

If you travel a lot, or perhaps even arrange conferences and need multiple connectivity from a single internet source, this thing is a “must have” gadget.  If you are travelling with colleagues and your rooms are fairly close, you can share one internet connection and save yourself $9.95 per night on the broadband charges.

[Post written wirelessly whilst tucked up in bed…  ]

UPDATE: I just found out that this thing costs £49.99 on Amazon.co.uk!  That makes it a cool gadget AND a bargain at $49.90…

I just returned from a long weekend in Boston with my wife.  Before returning to work for Microsoft back in October 2001, I spent about 15 months working for a company based in Boston and travelled to the city many times on business.

Boston is one of my favourite cities in the world.  Comparatively speaking it is quite a small city, and it has a great community feel to it.  Unlike in London, where people keep themselves to themselves, you will often find conversations in the most unlikely places, and the people of Boston are very friendly and welcoming.

This time around, we managed to actually take in some of the more “tourist-y” things the city has to offer.  We spent an hour touring the city and the river Charles on a Boston Duck Tour.  If you are not familiar with Duck Tours (a lot of cities are now doing them) this involves riding around the streets of town in an amphibious vehicle before plunging in the river and taking a cruise in a local body of water – all narrated as you guy by an eclectic driver.  The name “Duck Tours” comes from the military code for the vehicle – the DUKW.  As well as being great fun, it also filled in some of the knowledge gaps I had in my head about Boston’s heritage.

We visited the Museum of Fine Arts, which was excellent.  I was most impressed with the display of art owned by collector William I. Koch.  This is a man who buys art and antiques based purely on his love of the piece.  There is no specific “genre”, or “era” or partiucular artist that he favours – it simply has to be art that triggers some emotion in him.  In a small collection I saw works by artists such as Dalí, Picasso, Matisse, Monet and Renoir, sculpture by Degas, as well as a collection of historic firearms.  Not being *hugely* educated in matters of art, it was fantastic to spend a small time viewing many different pieces of art, by very famous artists, that were both thought provoking and emotive in nature.

The highlight of the trip was an impromptu tour of Fenway Park.  I am a big Red Sox fan, having been converted to a baseball lover after my first couple of live games at Fenway.  We went over to visit the merchandise store to buy some typically tourist oriented souvenirs and luckily timed it just right to join the end of a tour.  We sat in the “old” seats for a while, listening to stories about the park and it’s current renovations before moving up to the monster seats on the top of the Green Monster for a great view of the park.  In a weird twist of climate, it was snowing pretty hard, but no-one seemed to care – not even the few Yankees fans that had come along for the view.  My friend John is a Mets fan.  For the first time in quite a while, the Mets are playing at Fenway next June in a 3 game series.  I am going to have to talk to him some more about a possible field trip!  My feeling is that we should be looking to get some seats close to left field…

I found a new drink in Starbucks.  Sadly they are only available in New England right now.  Maple Lattes.  A regular Latte, with maple syrup and whipped cream.  It is like drinking a pancake.  BRING IT OVER TO ENGLAND PLEASE STARBUCKS!

We stayed in a hotel called the Charlesmark Hotel, on Boylston Street right opposite the Public Library.  The location is excellent, really convenient for all of Back Bay, as well as being right by Copley T station on the Green Line.  The hotel was refurbished a couple of years ago, and the new bar area was being prepared for a November 1st opening.  As a “boutique” hotel, the rooms were a little smaller than some I have stayed in, but the personal service and room quality was worth the money I think.  I would definitely look at staying there next time I visit. 

Here is a picture of me at Fenway, atop the Green Monster.  In the snow.

I am back in Shanghai, and this evening, by pure chance, I went to dinner at Zapata's Mexican Cantina.  As far as I could tell, there were very few prostitutes.  The security guards are obviously doing a great job at "sorting things out".

I have actually been back a week, but have not had a chance to post since then.

I really enjoyed my trip to Shanghai.  Apart from a 10 day visit to Ko Samui in Thailand back in 1998, I haven't visited anywhere east of Copenhagen before.  Shanghai was very much how I imagined it to be; a noisy bustling city with neon signs and large adverts and a city syline crammed with skyscrapers.  Interspersed with that were the touches of traditionality that you would expect to see in China.

I haven't spent long enough there to really give you a deep and meaningful write up, so I will just stick with some bulletted and random observations!

Some things I liked/enjoyed:

• The metro journeys were 20p each (bargain!), and more importantly the carriages are air-conditioned.  Now, why can't London just buy some of the Shanghai tube trains for the Underground?!
• Some of the English translations of signs were very funny.  You can see an example here.  Other favourites include "Jumping off the platform is not a way into the tunnel" and the taxi sign that tells you "drunkards and schizophrenics must be accompanied by an adult".
• The food was excellent and cheap.  Although, to be honest, I did steer clear of the Sparrow Gizzards.
• The DVDs were cheap too.  They *seemed* legal enough... 
• The apparent attitude to risk of the people who live in Shanghai; i.e. they don't seem to care too much.  People just casually walk wherever they want to, without looking, and bikes and cars and taxis just avoid them.  It is fun to try it, although a little scary on your first try!
• The store in the mall next to the Microsoft office that sold mostly Disney branded merchandise - called "I Love Trendyland".
• Learning simple phrases, such as "hello" and "goodbye", "thank you" and the obligatory "can I have a receipt please".  I had no desire to learn Mandarin before, but being in a country where I was almost powerless to communicate made it seem so much more important than for other countries I have visited.

Some things that are not so good:

• Being literally soaked with sweat within 10 yards of leaving any air-conditioned space.  Gross.
• Despite the above and the fantastically warm temperatures, there is a haze the whole time.  I think we saw the sun briefly once.
• PSVs (or Personal Space Violations), particularly on the metro and in the Xiang Yang market (which deals in fake watches, DVDs, bags etc).  The guy I was travelling with got virtually pulled over by one chap in the market trying to get him to change direction and see his stall!
• Having said I liked the attitude to risk above, as a vaguely nervous passenger, actually getting IN to one of the taxis can be a scary experience.  Amazingly you do get used to it quite quickly.

Some general observations:

• If you go to France or Germany, when you see a sign you can often infer roughly what it means.  Is it a street sign, directions, an advert?  In Shanghai, you have no chance at all - there are no letters or words, just Chinese characters.  It is all just a blur, and can really contribute to a feeling of being "a bit lost".  Many important signs do have English on them also so you can generally find your way around, but it is the trivial things that do not have translations that can make you feel more "home-sick". 
• Surprisingly the cost of electronics was much higher than I thought it might be.  I could actually buy certain things cheaper in the US than in Shanghai.  I suspect I could get a better deal if I didn't look like a tourist...
• There were plenty of Western companies - Starbucks, KFC, MacDonald's and Pizza Hut - for those of you who don't feel adventurous enough to try the Sparrow Gizzards.

I *may* have to go over there again to continue with the work I was doing this time around.  If so, then I am thoroughly looking forward to going and learning more about the culture and customs.

There's a story in the Shanghai News today about prostitutes not being welcome at Zapata's Mexican Cantina.  In an attempt to discourage the ladies from working at the bar, the management posted a notice.  The English translation made me smile:

"If you are a prostitute, please refrain from entering our garden or restaurant.  If you are unsure whether or not you are a prostitute, please ask one of our friendly security guards to sort it out for you."

Helpful guys...

I just arrived in Shanghai, here for a week on business.  I have only travelled East once before (to Thailand) so this is quite exciting!  Not much to report as yet, except that the taxi drivers are completely insane.  I am staying in the "world's highest hotel" which is pretty impressive.  Outside my room is the internal atrium that stretches 33 storeys below.  Looking over the bannister is NOT for the faint of heart!

Sorry about the quality of the picture - taken with my Smartphone.