For so many times, I hated to fly over Heathrow. But now, with all BA flights arriving and departing from Terminal 5, I actually enjoy making a transfer on Heathrow. Especially if I can enjoy some time in the British Airways lounge. They have the best food I’ve eaten in any of the lounges where I’ve been.
The Chicken Tike Marsala is just amazing, which made me come back for more twice today.
And the traditional English Sandwiches are perfect if you would like another bite after the rice with chicken.
I’m about to fly out from San Francisco International Airport, SFO, where there is currently a strong wind and heavy rain. Sometimes it makes me a little nervous, especially with the take off.
Wind comes from SSE, which means the planes will take off with the wind in the back. Winds at 48km/h, gusting to 58km/h.
On my way to SFO, a large tree fell over the 280 South bound, which made an ugly traffic jam for the people going south. Lucky me I had no delays.
Update: after rain comes the sunshine. Just one hour later, the sky is clearing, sun pops through the clouds and rain has stopped.
After the rain, comes the sunshine - SFO feb 26 2010
Too bad the crew arrived late at SFO because of the weather and traffic. Now so much for the planning of coming early!
After a couple of days hard work in Shanghai, there was time for some good restaurants, bars and clubbing. The Thursday night we started for cocktails in Glamour bar, which is located next to the river with a great view.
Glamour Bar itself is definitely worth visiting. Stylish interior where antique furniture is combined with futuristic color schemes for the lightning. The cocktails are well worth it, especially as they serve the Martini James Bond. The special mix from Casino Royal, where James took a Martini mixed with Gin, Vodka, sweet Vermouth and a slice of lemon. Off course shaken, not stirred! From the movie script:
Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?
The Glamour Bar is definitely a place worth visiting when you are in Shanghai. From the website:
With stunning views as a backdrop and gorgeous lounging inside, the sexy Glamour Bar on the Shanghai Bund -- one of the hottest bars in the world, according to Conde Nast Traveller, and voted Shanghai's Best Bar twice in two years by the readers of City Weekend-- is a glamorous setting that makes for memorable evenings, every night.
And while you are there, get diner at the restaurant at the top of the same building: M on The Bund. The restaurant has an amazing view over the river and Shanghai’s skyline. A perfect picture opportunity.
We ended in a nightclub after a short visit in Bar Rouge, which is one of the hottest night clubs in Shanghai, and also worth a visit. This night it was a little quite, maybe it was because it was a Thursday.
Shanghai is definitely a good city to go out in. The clubs and bars are trendy, play good music and there are plenty of people who are in for a party. I was lucky I had people with me who speak Chinese, as that can really help. But I bet you can get around the city only with English too.
In Shanghai, stands the current highest building of the world. The Shanghai World Financial Center is the tallest with 492 meters. This is 1614 feet high! Although there is one tower in Taipei higher, this is because of the long TV antenna on the roof!
On the 100th floor, there is the Skywalk, where you can walk from one side to the other over a floor of glass. This is a wonderful way to see the skyline of Shanghai. Last night we went to the tower to see the skyline at night, and especially to see if we can make some nice night shots from Shanghai, from 474 meters high!
The night shots were very difficult, as the windows were dirty from all the hands pressed against the window for the whole day, the light shining upwards were distorting the pictures. I managed to get some fun shots with the fisheye lens. For the rest, not all of the other pictures are really worth it to publish. Just a few are ok.
The rest of the pictures can be found on my flickr account.
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Karaoke is an important and serious deal for the Chinese. They love it, and where we, as Europeans just joke around in the Karaoke box, these guys are really good in singing with a passion.
You sit in a rather big room with each other and enjoy yourself with performances of your group [...]
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On our trip to Shanghai, we have hardly any time to go sightseeing. Although there is some time later reserved in the agenda to go visit some of the obvious tourist traps, I have to do it right now with our daily trip to the office and the diners with our hosts.
However, [...]
