3/21/08 Day 1, Part 3: Air Canada Jazz to Vancouver International Airport, Debit issues with Canada Budget

Friday, 21 March 2008 - Day 1, Part 3 - Vancouver, British Columbia
It’s been an interesting angle the last leg of my journey to Vancouver. I boarded the Air Canada Jass city hopper jet flight … which was only a 1/2 hour long. The plane was too small to dock with the terminal, so you had to walk down the steps out into the cold, meander your way around to the plane out on the runway. The typical roller/duffel bag carry-on wouldn’t fit in the overhead since the plane was too small. But there was a onflight-check cart before you climbed the metal stairs up to the aircraft. Cramped, yet comfortable (somehow), very friendly staff, and great service - it was a 1/2 hour flight, and even included beverages. Before long I was at the Vancouver International Airport which was high-tech in parts and Euro-style in others. Customs wasn’t bad going through, but had the all-too-familiar European style setup and processing into Canada. Staff was friendly and courtious as was the border agents. Luggage was extremely quick and efficient to receive. However, biggest issue I had with the Vancouver terminal, was finding car rentals. Seemed like I walked through quite a maze dragging my luggage up and around when it could have been a cross-the-hall kind of connection. Then my affordably booked reservation with Canada Budget Rent-a-car was blocked as they required Credit Cards. “Real” credit cards as they explained. They would not take American “debit cards with Visa or Mastercard logos” because they weren’t “real” credit cards. The only car rental agency according to them that would, was Alamo. Travellers I suggest you remember that with British Columbia. Apparently they claim, even though an American company, are a franchise and they utilize a different debit system. So I was unable to rent a car. Public transportation was easy however to get on the city bus, $3.75 from Airport to downtown. Quick and efficient. Friendly. In fact, I didn’t have exact Canadian change, and the bus driver gave me a free ride, saying “Merry Xmas”.

Air Canada Jazz Seattle, Washington to Vancouver, British Columbia
Operated by Air Canada, partnered with United Airlines. This plane is a small city-hopper jet and when I emphasize small, I mean small. Too small to dock with the terminal, so as the Air Canada flight arrived, I walked down the catwalk stairs, out onto the runway around the baggage carts and up the stairs to the Air Canada Jet, very small, my carry-on didn’t fit in the overhead, but was able to half-scrunch under the seat. It was tight, friendly, and like an airline out of the past. I haven’t been on one of these city-hoppers for ages. Even though it was only a 1/2 hour flight, they still served beverages. Crazy. Very pleasant staff anyhow. They were on top-of-it with the customs forms and gave them as you boarded the flight. Luggage arrived quickly and efficiently, fastest luggage delivery I’ve experienced in my travels, that was impressive. Even though it was cramped, I enjoyed the flight. Rating 3.75 stars out of 5 (for city-hopper jet experience) .. flown 3/21/08.

Vancouver International Airport (YVR) * http://www.yvr.ca/ * Richmond / Vancouver, British Columbia
YVR is Canada’s second busiest airport, with some 16.9 million passengers (including same plane transit), approximately 222,900 tonnes of cargo and 270,000 take-offs and landings in 2006. It’s also currently being billed as Canada’s portal to the 2010 Olympics. One of the most state-of-the-art airports I’ve been to, its one of my favorites. I don’t care much for the location and handlings of the rental car agencies, and the fact that wifi isn’t free, but its comfortable, speedy, high-tech, and great service. International Customs is a breezeway - especially from Canada into the US. Very professional and making the whole process a smooth transition. Rating 5 stars out of 5. Visited 3/21/08; 3/31/08.

3/21/08 Day 1, Part 2 - SEA-TAC (SEA) Seattle/Tacoma International Airport

It was on Friday, 21 March 2008 that I revisited a popular annual stop-off in Seattle, Washington that at times I could have called home … this was the Seattle/Tacoma International Airport often called “SEA-TAC”. As I am now writing various travel blogs on my worldly travels, I take you on an introduction of this digital North American hub of transportation and technology that many business travellers enjoy as a pitstop and Gateway location. On this day, I quite enjoyed my trip from Denver on United Airlines though I was welcomed with a several hour lay-over I for some reason wasn’t expecting, but had I paid more close attention to my itinerary would have realized, planning accordingly, could have taken a few hour jolt into Seattle, Washington to have coffee with some friends. But 11 am until 3 pm wasn’t too bad a space to spend in this high-tech and comfortable airport. Plenty of shops, restaurants and services to entertain me, the time flew by.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA-TAC)
www.portseattle.org/seatac/ * Sea-Tac (Tacoma/Seattle, Washington) * the intersections of State Route 518, State Route 99 and State Route 509 in the heart of Washington State.
Conveniently located 1.5 miles from Interstate 5 - Sea-TAC (SEA) is abbreviated by a acronym-like name based off of Sea(ttle) and Tac(oma) as the two main hubs it represents. A urban transportation city or suburb called “Seatac” is home to the international airport and gateway to the Pacific world. Its the main hub for Alaska and Northwest Airlines and serves as a international gateway for North America, Europe, and East Asia. In 2007 Sea-Tac served nearly 31.3 million passengers, making it the 17th busiest airport in the United States. According to Wikipedia, The top five carriers at Sea-Tac in number of passengers carried in 2007 were Alaska Airlines (35.0%), Horizon Air (13.1%), Southwest Airlines (8.7%), United Airlines (8.6%), and Northwest Airlines (6.7%). In 1944 the Airport was constructed by the Port of Seattle to serve the citizens of Washington State since Boeing Field was taken over by the military during World War II. The first scheduled flights took place in 1947. It became an International airport shortly after with its first direct service to Tokyo. Today it’s a hub of activity serving Seattle’s very busy economic and business sector - especially after Seattle took over as a digital hub with Microsoft and Adobe setting up shop in the area. My visits to Sea-Tac have been numerous through the course of my life, and each and every visit has been a pleasant and efficient experience. Wifi, services, restaurants, and shops. Since 911, however, the security and check-through with the authority can get piled up and is not as efficient as alot of other airports. Getting to the car rentals for the most part are very efficient, and while public transportation can be tricky at SEA-TAC, it is efficient (but very costly) especially if trying to get to Seattle or Tacoma. Cabs can charge higher than a daily car rental. Be prepared for the additional expense. Enroute to Vancouver, British Columbia I didn’t have to worry about ground transportation on this visit, but didn’t particularly enjoy the out-onto-the-runway hopping onto a small jet trip on Canada air jazz, mainly because i don’t like small planes, it was however a good flight. Rating : 4 stars out of 5. Last Visited 3/21/08. Sources: Wikipedia and Seattle Airport.

Beijing McDonalds

“When we first started dating, did you ever think we’d go on a special date to McDonalds?” My boyfriend asked me. We were in line at the Kan Dan Qiao 24-hour McDonalds, getting milkshakes in what is likely to become a usual Saturday-morning activity for us. (I also got a Happy Meal so I could get the Hello Kitty doll in the posters but I got a Nini Olympics cup instead. So sad! Now we have to go back!)

“Did you ever think you’d take me to McDonalds by bus?” I asked him.

“Did you ever think we’d need a fifty to pay for it?”

Greetings! 3-21-08 Travelogue: Denver to Vancouver, Day 1, Part 1 - United, DIA

Friday, 21 March 2008
Manitou Springs - Denver Colorado

Travelogue: Day 1 - Part I: Manitou Springs - Denver, Colorado

Greetings … I am the new Editor for Wanderwords as well as a frequent poster to this column from ages past. Every now and then, when I take trips, I’ll be posting a installment piece on my adventures to various places. This time, for the next 12 days, from Colorado to Vancouver, British Columbia; as I am enroute to the SAA’s Annual Conference (Society of American Archaeology) being held in Vancouver, B.C. from March 26-30th.

What a fast pace world we live in. Speeding from point to point, destination to destination. I enter the bee swarm today in the millions of travellers today who are escaping for what common man would call “Easter Weekend”, and others call “Equinox Weekend”. The differences is simply religious and astrological focus, and seldom do the holidays collide and fall on the exact same weekend. I usually get to mix mine with early Spring Breakers but today the holidays mix, which quite reasonably, share exact roots in origin and commonality, but have differences of focus in belief.

It’s a beautiful day today … skies are clear and the moon was full. I awoke at 4 am, last minute packing of my frame backback, travel bag, and laptop bag - and out into the chilly and desolate streets of Manitou Springs, Colorado. I work full time as an Archaeologist for the Government and on the side, I have a little gift boutique in Manitou Springs. I travel alot. This is one of the reasons I was offered editorship for this blog.

I do like leaving this early as the work traffic is not yet on the roads and traffic is next to non-existent. A smooth drive to Denver awaited me. Of course just as I started to enter Denver, i was met with commuters, so I took the Toll road to the airport - $6 sucks in toll fees, but it cut out traffic and the roads were bare again. Parked and boarded the parking shuttle to the terminal. It was jam-packed with sleepy-headed yet eager tourists. Dropped off at the DIA terminal that looks like a series of white teepees inter-connected, i made my way up to the United Airlines check-in kiosks. There was a humongous line, but only lasted 15 - 20 minutes for check-in. For some reason, I couldn’t e-check last night on my computer, as there was some issue with the ticket. Same thing happened at the kiosk - it had me call a representative, and that rep was clue-less, everything seemed fine. Still had to track down an agent for a manual check-in. Goddess knows, I hope my luggage gets to Canada. Making my way to the gate, I had a little time to chill for breakfast and a quick internet check. I’m on my way to Vancouver! A city I adore, that I consider home, and is the heart of where my friends and family reside on this planet. It’s been too long since my last visit.

It dawned on me how many people lug-around big bulky suitcases. You rarely see backpacks. What’s up with that. If you really want hands free travel, get a frame-backpack and use that for your check-in. Have a small roller duffel bag that converts from Duffel to roller for your carry-on. With how often there is luggage delays and lost luggage these days, especially with the fact that they take the time to inspect everyone’s luggage, there is always delays. I couldn’t advise more to travellers to carry at least 2 changes of clothes in your carry-on just in case.

Read more

Teaching In China

Yesterday Stick made a bulletin board for his class, showing the kids’ vocab words “morning”, “afternoon” and “evening” with the sun in the obvious positions for each time of day.

“It looks okay,” his TA said when she saw it. “But why did you make the sun yellow?”

“Uh… what color should the sun be?”

“Red, the sun is red.”

So he took down the yellow circles and made red ones.

When he told me this story, and after I stopped giggling, I asked Stick to take a picture of his illustrations of Krypton. Sadly, before he could, the school decided to renovate the corkboard on the classroom walls, so his artwork was pulled down. We’ll have to take his word that it was awesome for the 30-odd hours it lasted… isn’t that a day on Tatooine?

Chinese Visas

Hilarious post from Beijing Visitors’ Blog. There’s a crazy black magic that goes into the visa length and fees paid in China, basically the only thing I can be sure of is that I won’t be paying the original price quoted. Usually the extra fees are quite small but zany. When I got my last extention, I was told that the rules have changed, now you must pay 15 RMB (just under $2) to take a photo in front of a blue background. I warned an expat friend, who came armed with blue-backdrop pics, only to be told that they no longer accepted 2-by-2 photos.

But Soccerphile had worse luck:

For a business trip last March, I needed a visa to get into China. For Americans the fee was 6,000 yen (about $60). For a British colleague, it was 4,000 yen. Different fees paid, we were on our way to Beijing.

Well, business and China beckon once again. At the consulate in Osaka the other day, other than a broken copy machine–we all had to run across the street to a Chinese travel agency to have our passport and Japanese identity cards copied–things went smoothly.

The woman at the Visa window was even the same young woman as the previous year. After several minutes spent stapling, clipping, and writing up a pink receipt, she told me in heavily accented Japanese, “You can pick up your visa between the dates written here. The fee is 15,000 yen.”

After a nano-second, I said “Huh?! 11 months ago it was 6,000. Are you sure about that?”

She didn’t require a nano-second: “Yes. The fees have been changed.”

Grandview State Park (West Virginia)

Grandview State Park is located in Raleigh County, only a short distance from Beckley, West Virginia and is appropriately named for the many grand and spectacular views. The scenery is some of the best you’ll ever see!

The park offers hiking trails, picnic areas, playgrounds and game courts. There are overlooks, such as Turkey Spur, Main Overlook and North Overlook, which provide breath-taking views of mountains and the New River. A view 1400 feet down, you can see the town of Quinnimont, which holds history of where coal first shipped out of the gorge in the 1800’s.

An array of Rhododendrons, which is the state flower of West Virginia, can be seen blossoming brilliant pink in May and white in the deep woods on the gorge’s rim, in June. Many visitors flock to the park just to see this beauty of nature.

Local farmers mostly used this area for picnics until 1950 when it was developed into the West Virginia Park System. Grandview is also the name of the near-by community.

Cliffside Ampitheatre is located within the park and well-known for its outdoor musical dramas in the summer months, including “The Hatfields and McCoys”.  Another drama is “Honey in the Rock”, which is a picturesque story of the creation of West Virginia during the Civil War.

Grandview State Park has a visitor’s center that is open seasonally, with park rangers available. The park has something for everyone and is a perfect place to find a spot of tranquility or to test your hiking skills along the trails of forests and unique rock formations.

Trying To Talk The Talk

I’ve hit a frustrating plateau with my Chinese-speaking. When I speak, I give the tones a good shot, and hope for the best. If I can’t get the tone of “glass” right, hopefully the rest of the sentence, usually “I’d like one of beer” will make my meaning clear. Unfortunately, my vocab’s hitting a point where I really need to get a handle on the tones. I’m hearing word combinations that sound just like homonyms of other word combos, and I’m left wondering if the waitress has just offered us eggplants or forks.

I truly appreciate it when speakers go out of their way to make their pronunciation clear (the waitress at Muslim noodles, the couple at my favorite vegetable stall, etc.) because I can’t always understand regular-speed, slurred Beijing-hua. This is compounded because the presence of a foreigner often makes shop assistants mumble the beginning, look at their feet, and then trail off so the end of the sentence is inaudible. It’s possible that “Where are the lightbulbs?” happens to be an almost-homonym of “Would you be my girlfriend?” because I seem to remember answering high-school boys with the same tones and body language.

Anyway, the cool thing about written and spoken Mandarin being completely unrelated to each other, is that when spoken Chinese gets rough, there are tens of thousands of characters to learn! I have a textbook with tracing and copying exercises for the most common radicals, and am slowly pounding through it. The book gives a short explanation next to each new character, telling a little story about how it’s made, which is an unbelievably helpful mnemonic. If you remember the bits (”bits” being my highly technical term for simple symbols that become parts of complicated words) that make up the character, it’s easier to recognize the character. Sometimes the parts that make up the whole are like amazing minimalist poetry. Other times, I think Chinese is just screwing with me, and by “screwing,” I really mean another word that pastors’ daughters shouldn’t say.

My language work is already starting to pay off. I’ve stopped making Stick insane by reading “big” and “east” aloud over and over (those are popular words in Beijing signage), and I have started to read the odd phrase. Usually off the back of a package, which means I’ll proudly proclaim something like “Pocky no stop, good no stop!”

Well, it’s a slow process.

Guiyou Silk Street, Again

Today Stick and I went down to the embassy so he could take the foreign service exam!

I’m really excited that Stick is doing this, I think he’ll be a great consular officer. Actually I think he would make a great rock star or nuclear physicist or deep-sea fishermen, but that’s because I’m his girlfriend. A bit more objectively, it’s a perfect situation for his personality, his skills and his goals, especially those two competing goals of continuing to travel and live abroad while maintaining a steady income.

While Stick was taking his test, I walked down to Guiyou silk market, just a few blocks away. I’ve been there before but hadn’t fully explored the endless stalls. I went downstairs to the shoes and bag universe, and had a good time shopping. I also discovered a new-to-me bargaining tactic. Basically, the vendor starts at, say, 600 for a pair of sneakers, and when we get down to a reasonable price, like 45, and are about to agree on it, she says “How about 2 pairs for 60?”

Now, I don’t need a second pair of Converse sneakers. (One might argue that with 4 other pairs of shoes, I don’t need the first pair, either.) But… it’s works. It’s enough of a bargain that I’m now the owner of my desired black hi-tops, and a pair of bright green ones. “How about two?” worked really well for quite a few vendors today, making two sales instead of one, but it also tipped me off that my bargaining is not going as low as it could be.

I also bought 2 shirts when one would have done just as well., based on the same “how about two?” tactic. Then I found a less pleasant new tactic. We agreed on a price, and I handed the vendor a pinkie. She took my 100RMB note, game me my purchases and became quite chatty, asking me how long I’d studied Chinese and where I was going to shop next. When I held out my hand, she “remembered” that she owed me change. I suppose it could have been an honest mistake, but appearances are against her.

It turns out that Stick’s capacity for exam-taking exceeds my capacity for shopping, so I went to drink coffee and read my book until he finished.