Saturday, June 18, 2005

Back in Shanghai Just got back to China, after an uneventful flight. In Amsterdam I had a good lunch with my dad in the Rosarium restaurant. Great food and good wines. I have a habit of always drinking some glasses of wine or a couple of beers before boarding an overnight flight, to be a able to get some sleep. Also this time the strategy worked well. I listened to my iPod and read my book (Dan Brown [^] Deception Point) until I felt sleepy, then got 5 hours of sleep and woke up when I smelled the coffee for breakfast. Not too bad. We landed at the new runway at Pudong airport, the departing planes were using the normal runway and the arriving planes the new one. It was the first time for me, nothing special of course, but you get a good look at the new terminal they are building. It looks like it is going to be the same size as the current terminal. I counted a total of 34 cranes in use! After the new terminal will be finished the Maglev train station will be exactly in the middle between the two terminals. In Shanghai I was number two in line for customs, and also got my suitcase very quickly, so 25 minutes after landing I was in a cab already. The taxi dispatcher tried to rip me off by putting me into minivan instead of a normal taxi. I asked him why (I was alone and only had one suitcase, so no need for a minivan) and he was surprised that I speak Chinese (he probably thought I was a tourist), and then he apologized for his mistake. I do not like people who try to make money off me, especially not when it is the first thing that happens to me when I arrive back home, but that is unfortunately something you have to live with in China. 11:19:43 AM    comment []