Headed west this time. I am sitting in LAX awaiting my 13:20 departure to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific Airways where I will pick up DragonAir to Taiwan. I am flying there to deliver a total of 5 hours training, 2.5 on Wednesday and 2.5 on Thursday. Other than a dinner meeting on Tuesday night, the rest of the time, I will have to find somebody... make that something to do. :wink: 8) I am flying back through Santa Clara next week to do the exact same thing there. Home on 19-June. I am starting a wager pool to guess how many trips my office can schedule before I get back home. Any takers???
I like the service I am getting this trip. I land in Taiwan at 11:20 p.m. to be met by the hotel limo that will drive me one hour trip to the Shangri-La hotel in Chinese Taipei. Beats the taxi rides I had in Shanghai.
Damn Tom your making me travel weary just reading about your schedule. It sure would make it a tad easier if you could somehow teach via a video hookup...I would imagine that it gets interesting changing your culinary menus as you leap frog from location to location. Take care and good luck, Ralph
I'm presently in Chicago having arrived from San Fran through Minny thurs. I thought I was travelin' but this is nothing compared to your travels. Flew cathy Pacific years ago and really liked thier service. Hope you enjoy that long. long flight across the Pacific.
I am the one that championed the video conference function for delivering training within our company. I just can't convince this group I am working with these two weeks that it would be more cost efficient to do it my way. I actually went to work with this group about 2 years ago. I lasted 3 weeks. Their inefficiencies and the fact that they can't spell the word "Plan" caused me to request re-entry back into training department... which my present manager approved in record time.
Hey Gip, I am now sitting in the Hong Kong airport. It is 8:20 p.m. here and my flight to Taipei leaves at 9:55 p.m.. I actually found a Burger King in this massive structure they call an airport. It is difficult to find a news stand to buy a bottle of water... but high price shopping from Hugo Boss, Giorgio Armani, Versace, etc., ir available at every step you make.
Terry Every time we talk about the amount of travel he is doin, we both say "at least you still have a job". Beleive me, we are always thankful for that. Especially after the unpaid time off last year. But I starting to fell frequently single. Tom Remember that it is SOMETHING and not SOMEBODY to do. That last can get you in trouble fast. :wink: :lol:
Well, I'm on the 20th floor of the Shangri-La hotel in beautiful downtown Tainan City, Taiwan. Everything unpacked and watching Nascar racing on Slingbox. Life is good! A little trivia for you guys... and gals: The hotel sends its Mercedes Limo on a 120 mile round trip from Tainan City to Kaohsiung Airport and I sign the charge slip for the trip. What do you think I, make that Applied Materials was charged for this pick-up?
The room I am staying in is actually a nicer room than I had at the King David in Jerusalem. The King David is where US presidents stay when visiting Israel. However, with out present president and his relations with Israel, he would be lucky to be given a dry rock on the West Bank. This hotel room has a sitting area with a big screen TV, working desk with a data hub with up to 5 ethernet computer connections, couch, and lazyboy style recliner, a bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub and separate six foot by six foot walk in shower, and a bedroom suite that is 400 sq ft by itself. This room has more sq footage than the apartment I had when Cindy and I met. It has so many conveniences, I am looking for the switch that opens the door where the geisha girl is stored... er, uh... so I can lock it where she can't get to me... yea, that's it... Now, for the kicker: This room is costing 3100.00 TWD (Taiwan Dollars) per night. Divide that by 32.3 and you can see that AMAT is paying $95.98 per night in US Dollars. The exchange rate shocks you even when you expect it. The Burger King in the Hong Kong Airport was charging 22 HKD for a chicken sandwich value meal. There are 7.79 HKDs to a single USD. So, it is actually less expensive than in the States. That works out to $2.82. But just the thought of paying 22 dollars of any kind for a Burger King value meal of any kind sounds so wrong.
Good guesses by both. If Terry had just said 1500, he would have been technically correct. They charged 1500 TWD. Divide that by 32.3 and we were charged $46.44 USD. $1500 would have been right for a NYC cab though.
... and bye the way, I gave the man a 600 TWD tip and you would have thought that I had given him a million dollars. This man stood for I don't know how long with a sign from the hotel with "Mr. McCord, Tommy McCord" written on it. He would not think of allowing me to touch a bag once he found me. He had sparkling water, mints, and hot wash cloths in the back seat, did the full "Arthor treatment" by opening and holding the door as I entered and exited. If it were not for the everlasting flight to get here, I wouldn't mind spending 50% of each and every month working here! I'm wired and can't get to sleep... can you tell? Breakfast served in 3 hours.
You got nothing on us. I traveled to Kissimmee Florida last weekend, by car, and have a trip to Asheville, about 90 miles, on the docket and Raleigh in Sept. All that in addition to a few trips to Gainesville Florida for a few Gator games. Not to count camping in Elkmont in the Smoky Mountains, Tennessee side. So there! Seriously, you put some serious flight time and miles, I hope you get frequent flyer miles. Be safe.
I do when American Express Business Travel doesn't screw me out of them. For example, the three Ireland trips... 2 out of the three were booked through Air France operated by Delta on the Atlanta to Dublin segment and on the return leg from Dublin to Atlanta. That is 3900 miles each way. Even though it was on a Delta plane with Delta people flying it, I did not get the frequent flyer miles. 15,600 miles down the tubes. :? I am doing this enough now that I can tell when this is happening and chose other options. :wink:
Up and finishing packing now. My agenda today is to arrive safely in San Jose. I have an 8 a.m. flight out of Kaohsiung airport which means I have to leave the hotel by 4:30 a.m.. It takes 1.5 hours to get to Hong Kong where I have a 3 hour and 40 minute layover. Here's the fun part: I leave Hong Kong at 13:10 and arrive in Los Angeles at 11:20 (1 hour and 50 minutes before I left) :wink: Then I have almost a 4 hour layover flying to San Jose departing at 15:15 arriving at 16:25. Jet lag didn't hit me too hard on the way over here. On the way back may be quite another story.