Neil will probably criticise me for not including pictures with this entry, but sometimes you have to let your imagination do the work.  My bag was stuffed full, and I was too lazy to pull out my camera.

I’m currently on my way from Switzerland to Taipei, by way of Bangkok, where the “red shirt” protests are in full swing. I’m delighted to report that I made it in-and-out of Bangkok with no problem.  I managed to have a couple of massages at the airport, part of the pleasure of flying through Asia.  It’s never a burden to have a few hours to kill at Bangkok Airport.  Between the massages, the great lounges, the good food, and the excellent shopping, there’s plenty to pass a few hours without too much pain.  I know everyone raves about Singapore Airport, but for me, BKK takes the cake.

There are so many things about Asia I enjoy.  Little things, things I forget about until I’m reminded of them again.  Delicious minced pork buns at the Thai lounge, washed down with a Meh Kong and soda.  Rose apples, something I’ve never seen outside of Asia, being served for dessert.  The wonderfully warm, welcoming smile of the Thais.  It’s not by accident that I ended up with Asia as my responsibility.

I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks.  A week in Taiwan, a country I’ve never visited, should be a great excuse to explore.  And then I’m back to China, to Beijing and Dalian, with a colleague who knows both cities well, so I’ll have a guide of sorts.

Matthew relaxing after a day at work

Posing together with the team in China

Proof that I do a little work from time-to-time.  Here I am with the team in our China office after our five-day workshop.

Note the size of my colleague, standing behind me on the left.  Then imagine how well he blends in when we’re in China.

He’s actually been approached a few times for an autograph.  😉

Time for a few more pictures from my walk around the city the other day, mostly from Tiananmen Square and the immediate surrounding area.

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square

A soldier stands guard in Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square

Flag flying in Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square

Soldier standing in Tiananmen Square in front of the famous portrait of Mao Zedong

Chinese dragon in Tiananmen Square

Exquisite Garden in Beijing

I’m continuing my journey through the “parts of the animal we don’t eat at home” and have confirmed that my approach of not asking what I’m eating is usually the safest.  I just follow my Chinese hosts and figure that whatever we’re eating hasn’t killed them yet, so it probably won’t kill me either.  The food here is more unfamiliar to me than the Cantonese cuisine in Hong Kong, so there aren’t the standard favourites to fall back upon.

I went out the other night for a massage – a reflexology foot massage at a nearby place that I found recommended on the web.

The first thing than strikes you about China is the scale of things.  Compared to Bangkok, where there are hundreds of small, Mom-and-Pop massage shops with a few seats in each, the massage place here in Beijing was on an industrial scale.  Four floors, each with twenty massage rooms (each of which had five chairs inside – so a capacity of 400 customers an hour).  Add in the masseuses, the cleaners, the receptionists, and all the other staff, and suddenly you probably have 600-700 employees per shift, and with opening hours from 8am until 11pm, you probably have two shifts.  Everything here is big.

The menu of services offered was entirely in Chinese.  Feeling adventurous, I let the receptionist talk me into the “superior” foot massage.  This is something of a cross between Eastern medicine, medieval witchery, and physical torture.

I was escorted to one of the massage rooms and offered a seat and a cup of tea.  The receptionist switched on the TV in the room to blare out news in Chinese – I don’t know quite why they thought that this was relaxing, or that I could follow along, but it seemed to be standard-operating-procedure, so I did as I was told. 

Someone arrived with a big wooden vat of scalding, foul-smelling brown liquid – the legendary blend of herbs and spices more secret than the Colonel’s chicken recipe – that was going to work magic on my feet. 

Finally, the masseuse arrived and began her work.  She was small and freakishly strong.  Freakishly strong.

There was rubbing, poking, prodding, stimulating of pressure points.  There was pounding and soaking and twisting of arms, legs, feet and hands.  There was popping of joints.

And then she started to get medieval on my ass.  A variety of tools were produced from a wooden box, and the next thing I knew, I smelled burning.  Yes, she was cupping my feet and legs.

90 minutes later, with another foot bath, I was ready to go.  I wouldn’t describe the treatment as relaxing, but you get the sense that it’s at least doing you some good.  And to be fair, I slept well – although I woke up the next morning feeling like I’d gone six rounds with Mike Tyson.

Tonight’s our big celebratory dinner, marking the end of a long week of work with our Chinese colleagues.  Apparently we’re going to the best restaurant in the city for Peking Duck.  I’m hungry already.

Just as long as they don’t try to serve me the tongue.

Tiananmen Square, with Mao Zedong looking on from the background

Less than 24 hours after arriving at home, I’m off again.  Barely time to kiss the cats, do the laundry, and repack my bag.

Took off on a short hop from Basel to Munich, then onwards to Beijing.  I managed to get nearly nine hours of sleep on the plane, so arrived in Beijing feeling reasonably fresh.  Someone at the office had arranged a VIP meeting, so we were met at the gate and escorted through the airport and into a car from the hotel.

After a bite of lunch and a quick shower, jumped into a taxi to head to Tiananmen Square to do a little sight-seeing.  Tip: this sort of activity is more enjoyable when it’s not -3C outside.  I made the same mistake in Berlin.

Beijing actually feels a lot like Berlin, with wide open vistas and monuments dotted throughout the city.  For all the population density in China, the city feels relatively empty.  And it’s definitely the most modern, cleanest city I’ve been to in Asia, besides Singapore.  I was expecting something more along the lines of the infrastructure in Bangkok, but was pleasantly surprised.

Off tonight for a quiet dinner someplace closeby, then probably straight to bed.  Which means that I’ll almost certainly be awake by 4am.  No matter how many times I travel, the jetlag always gets me…

Signs that you’re staying in a five-star hotel: “Deluxe” sanitary bag and “Luxury” shower cap. Before you ask, no I didn’t figure out what makes it “deluxe.” Maybe it’s lined with silk, but even in the name of photojournalism, I’m not investigating.

Well, it’s been a pretty full 24 hours.  After a very full day in Mumbai, I finished my workshop and headed out to the airport to catch my flight to Bangkok, then onwards to Sydney.  Mumbai traffic is legendary – the roads are normally jammed in the small hours of the morning when most international flights come and go.  But my flight last night left earlier, so we fought our way out to the airport at the peak of rush-hour.  Driving in India is not for the faint-hearted.  I always end up with a few more gray hairs.

It was a good trip – both professionally, as I got a lot accomplished, but also personally.  My Indian colleagues have discovered that I like to eat, and are showing me some of Mumbai’s best restaurants.  We went out last night for super seafood, including delicious garlic crab – whole crab sautéed with loads of butter and garlic.  It’s the second time I’ve had it in Mumbai – and both times, I’ve made myself sick by overdoing it with the rich, spicy concoction.  The pleasure’s worth the pain in this case.

I made my way through the throngs of people outside the airport, through check-in, customs, and security.  The airport in Mumbai really is the pits – I’ve been through plenty of unpleasant, grotty airports in my time – but it’s the inefficiency, the crowds, the dirt, and the hassle that make Mumbai top my list.

Finally through to the departure lounge, I had a few hours to kill.  After four days of curry, I decided to treat myself to a KFC for dinner (never let it be said I’ve lost touch with the common man).  Across from the fast food court there is a massage hall – where the massage is performed by blind masseuses.  So I treated myself to a foot massage.

I flew Thai to Bangkok.  The flight to Bangkok was uneventful, but the service was such a contrast the Swiss service I had the other day.  Friendly, attentive, and constantly trying to please.  The seat was rubbish, uncomfortable for sleeping – when I finally find the airline that combines the flat seat with the great service and convenient routes, I’ll be a convert for life.  (BA would win my business if it didn’t mean constant backtracking, and sadly my travel budget doesn’t stretch to Singapore on regular basis.)

Not the sign you want to see at 4:30am when you've just arrived from Mumbai, desperate for a shower

My flight arrived in Bangkok on schedule at 4:30am.  I went straight through customs and security, only to be turned away at the lounge because it didn’t open until 5:15am.  After a few fitful hours of sleep on the flight from Mumbai, this was not a pleasant surprise.  I made a quick phone call home, then hit the lounge for a shower as soon as it opened.

The spa opened at 6am, so I headed over to have a shoulder massage before I boarded my flight to Sydney.  Two massages in a day might be a little indulgent, but they were in different countries, so I chalk it up to one of the benefits of being a global traveler.

Time to jump onto my next flight to Sydney.  Next update from down under!

My plane awaits: flight TG451 to Sydney