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Travel Tips to Beijing

I arrived in Beijing for Sun Tech Days earlier this week. Here are some travel tips:

1. The Beijing city has Tina'anmen Square and Forbidden City at it's center. Rest of the city is structured in multiple ring roads around the center. Each tourist place can be located as between X and Y ring road easily.
2. If you are a Wells Fargo banker, take the Access Code from Customer Service before boarding the flight. This code allows you to talk to a Wells Fargo banker in USA from anywhere in China. There are separate codes for North and South China. Dial the access code, get the operator, mention the 800-869-TO-WELLS and voila you are connected to the network.
3. Nichole & Renita were gracious to let me share the ride from airport to the hotel so I missed that part of the experience. But it's recommended to walk out of the airport and get a Taxi from the Taxi Stand instead of getting lost in rooks within the airport. It's also recommended to have your hotel name written in Mandarin because the Taxi Drivers may not be able to read/speak English. Once you checked into the hotel you can use your hotel key to show the address (which has the address written in Chinese) to move around the city.
4. Took a guided tour from the hotel to Forbidden City and Great Wall of China. It covered Transportation, Lunch, Parking tickets and Tolls and an English-speaking guide. You can do the same using a private taxi but it may turn out to be slightly costly and most likely you will not get an Mandarin-speaking driver and therefore no guide :) As part of the standard tour, they may take you to a Silk Emporium and Jade Factory, they are fun places just to learn how they are all manufactured.
5. Shopping is a LOT of fun in Beijing. There is a great variety of clothes, toys, gadgets, etc. at local shops. And no shopping is complete without bargaining and that too HARD bargaining. For example when shopping at touristy places, such as street-side shops near Great Wall, bargain HARD. The rule that I followed was to quote the price to 10% of the original. Here are some examples:
    

   Item	Quoted	Paid
   Tee-shirts	1 for 130 RMB	3 for 50 RMB
   Cashmere Scarf (can't be original ;)	1 for 160 RMB	5 for 80 RMB
   Great Wall Memento	350 RMB	20 RMB
   Refrigerator Magnet	20 RMB	5 RMB

   Generally the shopkeepers will give a counter offer but be straight-faced and maintain your price. To keep it easy, just stick to your price and pretend walk away. In all the cases, I was approached with my quoted price :)

6. If you plan to visit Great Wall during November, make sure to carry good warm clothing including gloves and an ear-long cap and a good hiking/walking shoe. It is extremely windy and certain portions of the Wall are really steep.

7. There is no tipping in restaurants and taxi. Don't be surprised if you see a confused look on the person serving if you leave the tip.

And here are the pictures so far:

Sun Tech Days Beijing kick started this morning and a subsequent entry will talk about that.

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Posted by Arun Gupta in Finance  |  Comments[1]

Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare - Thumbs Up

I arrived Chicago yesterday for Sun Mid West Java Tech Days.

The stay at The Crowne Plaza Hotel Chicago O'Hare, although just one night, but was just the way I like it. Everything from checking into the hotel to checking out this morning was great. There were minor things which made the stay a pleasant one:

• The hotel is approx 10 minutes ride from the airport and they have a courtesy shuttle running from 6am to midnight.
• The checking-in experience was seamless. I was called 30 minutes after the check-in to make sure everything in the room is correct. I've stayed at multiple hotels around the world but in this case the hotel desk went an extra step to ensure I was comfortable in the room.
• They offered the Priority Club member ship which provided me free wi-fi access in the hotel and free water. Even though offering a water bottle is a minor detail but staying in a hotel is all about convenience and adds to the overall experience.
• The temperature in the hotel room was pre-set and there was no need to alter it.
• The restaurant in the hotel had a good variety of cuisines. A flat-screen TV was mounted all over the restaurant and I enjoyed TV and my meal together. And the subtitles were turned on to provide a choice.
• The wi-fi connection speed was very good and allowed me to catch up on email (with my travel schedule) at a high speed.
• The machines in the Fitness Center were of high quality with good pre-defined fitness programs. The defaults are just exactly what I use most of the time.

Definitely would recommend to stay there on your next visit to Chicago.

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ATA Quark Hotels, Milan - Thumbs Down

We stayed at the ATA Quark Hotel (Via Lamepdusa 11/A) for Sun Tech Days, Milan. This hotel completely defied "the first impression lasts for ever" philosophy. We were promptly checked-in at the service desk and were given a really nice room (with a separate office room and a walk-in closet) and that impressed us. But there after it was all down hill. Here are my experiences in the hotel and with it's staff. Other colleagues had similar experience as well:

• Basic Office Room - The office room was nice and spacious with a separate TV but there was no phone. In fact the only phone in the "suite" was near the bed. And even though the hotel claimed that wireless network is expected to work in the room but they just could not debug why it was not working for me. It worked very well in all the conference rooms though.

• Non-smiling Staff - We decided to have dinner in the hotel restaurant on the first night of stay. None (really none) of the waiters had any smile on their face. They barely knew any English so we had to show them the number in the menu to place our order. I always feel that a big smile on your face is the first language all humans should know. That certainly was not visible in most of the staff at the hotel, although some knew the English language to be able to communicate. Although I was quite surprised to see a smiling staff member at the reception desk.

• Mysterious Fitness Center - The first morning I inquired about the fitness center and told it's on the 5th floor. The 5th floor is like a regular floor with directions to other rooms, no mention of Fitness Center at all. On further asking for explicit directions and I was told it's between room # 513 & 514. I thought may be this hotel uses fraction for room numbers but on the 5th there were directions to room 500-515 and 513 was the last room in that segment. There were two rooms right after #513. Initially I was skeptical to swipe my card on those rooms but because of the information received from the front desk I tried to swipe my card to no effect. These rooms were of course locked as well so even the door was not open. I got slightly irritated spending my first 15 minutes in the morning running up & down and dealing with the front desk instead of running on the tread mill but decided to call them again. I was told somebody is coming over right away which happened good 6 minutes later and this person was quite surprised when I approached him. So it seems like he was just wandering through the halls and I happen to approach him. Anyway, upon explaining (forget about apologies) he said let me find out where is the Fitness Center. It seems the hotel staff is not aware of the facilities within. Finally he opened one of the hotel rooms converted in the Fitness Center.
  
  And it's a true conversion because the room barely had workout machines (of course all the instructions in Italian only) with no workout towels. Anyway, I was glad that the treadmill worked :)

• Disappearing Shower Towels - Room Service every morning did the expected job but then always took all the shower towels with them. This has never happened with me during all my travels. But anyway we asked for the shower towels for on the first morning and the Room Service came back with just one thin cotton towel. We mentioned that we need towels for all of us and this guy comes back with 2 more cotton towels. These towels become with the first touch of water and in no way can be used effectively after a shower. On further explaining, this guy finally comes back with the real shower towels and a weird frown on his face.

• Expired Room Key - The hotel room key expired the night before itself and it had to renewed at the Front Desk late in the night. Although this is not very uncommon (never happened with me) but lot of other colleagues were complaining the same issue in this hotel.

• Shower Tub Wall - This is probably a more Italy thing but both the hotels we stayed at (in Rome and Milan) barely cover the shower stream. In this particular hotel just turning the shower (that had a big shower head) was spilling the water out of the the tub. The bathroom used to be flooded after anybody takes a shower. Strangely there was a glass wall on the other end of the tub where there is no water or nobody could possibly take a shower because of the fixed shower head.

• City Knowledge - The amount of knowledge the reception desk (there was no Concierge) had about the City was pretty "amazing". They only knew about the nearest Metro station and City Center. Everything else was left for the hotel guests to explore themselves. And they did not have any resources on how to gather further information. I sometimes really wondered the hotel staff was probably from some other city.

• Taxi Fare - The taxi fare from Malpensa airport to anywhere in the city is fixed at 70 Euros. I asked the front desk about this and was told that it would be approximately 95 Euros (which is typically what the meter would show). Fortunately the taxi driver who dropped us at the airport was a great guy and charged us 70 Euros even though the meter showed 95 Euros. I really wonder how much the hotel staff really know about moving around the city.

The ATA Hotels website has disabled right-click, gosh such a cheap trick. So even though you can click on Business, Hotels & Resorts and see the list of hotels available but right-clicking (in order to Copy The Link Location) shows following:
 

If you are planning a travel to Milan, I'd certainly recommend to look for an alternate hotel. At least I'll stay in a different hotel if I happen to visit the city again.

Milan by itself is a great city though. Read my travel tips to Milan here. All my travel tips to Europe are aggregated here.

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Posted by Arun Gupta in General  |  Comments[77]

Travel Tips to Milan

1. Milan : Milano :: Rome : Roma :: English :: Italiano. In simple terms, Milan and Rome are English names for Milano and Roma in Italian (called as Italiano in Italian). Everybody will understand if you say Milan or Rome but When in Rome, live like Romans and so pretend-like-a-local.
2. Airports: Milan has two airports - Linate and Malpensa. Linate mostly caters to the domestic traffic and Malpensa to both domestic and international. Malpensa airport is out of Milan and Linate is in the city. Make sure to check which airport is closer to the hotel (especially if you are planning a domestic and international trip out of Milan) and book your flights accordingly.
   
   The airport in Rome is Leonardo DaVinci and is located in Fiumicino city. But all the locals call it as Fiumicino airport and even all the directions mention Fiumicino.
3. The taxi fare from Malpensa airport to anywhere in the city is fixed at 70 Euros irrespective of what comes in the taxi meter. The driver who dropped us from airport to the hotel of course did not convey that to us because the meter in his taxi showed 95 Euros and he happily took the money we gave him. The taxi driver who dropped us at airport told us about this so make sure to not pay more than 70 Euros if you going to/from Malpensa.
4. In all my experience so far, Taxi drivers take only cash. So make sure you know the approximate distance/time/cost from the airport to your hotel and have sufficient cash. All the airports have an ATM machine which is very convenient.
5. Keep a jacket handy depending upon the city and time of the year. Make sure to check the weather before packing your clothes. In winter times, it's good to carry an Umbrella. We checked the weather online before starting our trip but it turned out to be complete reverse of what we expected.
6. "Grazie" is "Thanks" and "Ciao" is "Hello" or "Bye" in Italiano.
7. If you are traveling with kids, it helps to mentally prepare them by sharing the itinerary, giving them an estimate of the flight time, amount of walking/waiting required (especially in Rome which needs lot of walking) for any tourist spots and of course carrying some handy snacks for them if the wait is too long or if the meal is delayed. In Rome, Gelato was easily accessible through out the city and worked as a great incentive for my son :)
8. Having breakfast included in the hotel package turned out to be a big boon as it gives a good head start for the day. You can always have breakfast in the hotel anyway but it might be more cost effective to be included in the package.
9. Avoid flights during peak office hours. We spent an extra 45 minutes because our flight arrived at Malpensa airport at 5:30pm and then got stuck in traffic going to the hotel.
10. Both the hotels in Italy (Melia Roma Aurelia Antica and ATA Quark Hotels) did not have Iron boards for some inexplicable safety reasons. This might be a trend in Italy hotels so make sure to carry clothes that need no ironing, or wear them without iron or use the laundry service to get them iron. The later option requires you to give the clothes a day in advance and pay an exorbitant amount for getting a simple tee-shirt ironed.
11. Most of the tourist spots in Milan are accessible using public transport. We bought a day pass (for 3 Euros and available from most of the kiosks near Metro stations or Light rails) that is valid in Metro, Tram/Light Rails and other public transport. This keeps you mobile and provides option to move around.
12. McDonalds are available at most of the places in case you care.
13. In terms of places to visit, Duomo of course is the main destination in Milan. There is a Fashion Galleria right next to Duomo and a significant part of the day can be spent there. The Last Supper painting has a 2 month wait but you can always talk to one of the local travel agency who typically buy the tickets in advance and can take you inside.

Here is my travel album:

All my travel tips to Europe are aggregated here.

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Posted by Arun Gupta in General  |  Comments[6]

Rome to Pisa - A Day Trip

Here is a complete itinerary of our day trip from Rome to Pisa:

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the main attraction of this city. The streets were pretty deserted (may be because of Sunday) and it almost felt that the majority of people moving around were tourists. You can always spend extra time in the city or at the festive environment around the monuments. This allows you to take the 5:00pm Inter City Plus to reach back Rome around 8:15pm. As always, it's recommended to check the train schedule at Trenitalia.com.

And here is the photo album:

All my travel tips to Europe are aggregated here.

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Posted by Arun Gupta in General  |  Comments[17]

Travel Tips to Rome

Arrived Rome 4 days ago and seen a good part of the city so far. Based upon our experience, here are some tips for travel to Rome:

1. There are no "easily accessible" public bathrooms, even in the tourist spots. However consider eating at a restaurant, not a side-street shop, and there is a higher likelihood of finding a bathroom there.
2. There are free flowing drinking water fountains through out the city. Some of them gives a feeling that the water may not be for drinking but I was told the water is clean and we survived :)
3. IMHO the side-street shops sell really authentic food as opposed to big restaurants, and it's really cheap. You can NOT miss eating pizzas (which is sold by the weight as opposed to S, M, L or XL) in this city. And they are just fantastic. A Medium size pizza can range from 6-10 Euros.
4. The best option to roam around the city is taking a City Tour using the numerous available options. Most of them stop at the main destinations and allow to hop-on and hop-off any where in the route. The following questions will help you decide amongst the available options of buses:
   • How many buses in the fleet ? (Typically 35-45)
   • Frequency of buses - how frequently they come ? (Typically 20 minutes)
   • Does it cover all the major spots or at least the ones you want ? (Most of them do)
   • Do they have English language guide ? (All of them generally have)
   • Do they have alternate routes ? This allows you to visit different parts of the city in the same day.
   • Do they have any 2-day tickets available ? This allows you to cover all the venues at an easy pace.
   • Do NOT purchase the City Tour tickets from the hotel as they are easily available from the different bus stops. Roma Cristiana ORP (we took this one) or Bus #110 are two popular ones and have great coverage of the city.
5. Here are some good spots in Rome that should not be missed (in no particular order):
   • piazza Navona (1/2 day of fun & shopping)
   • San Pietro in Vaticano (approx 2-4 hrs)
   • Fontana di Trevi (2 hours)
   • Vatican Museum (Timings differ on each day so check the schedule and plan for 1-1.5 hour long wait in the queue and a 4 hour trip in the museum, it's definitely worth it)
   • Colosseo and Roman Forum (1/2 day)
   • Pantheon (2 hours)

   Each of these location is covered by all the City Tour buses.

6. Do NOT miss the variety of ice creams here, known as Gelato in the local language. And you can mix-and-match different flavors in the same cone and really colorful ones. Just look for Gelateria banner on the shop and that's your destination for gelatos. Of course, you can also find Spagetteria, Birreria, Pizzeria, Cafetteria and Trattoria.
7. If you buy any memorabilia from the side street shops, make sure to haggle. At certain instances we were able to cut the price down by 50%. This may not be true every time though :)
8. You see a more authentic part of Rome when traveling through the city streets. The stone streets and houses, accordion play by local artists, water fountains, and many other "Roamy" artifacts. Most of the tourist destinations are approachable through the streets so it's recommended to take a city map from the hotel and walk around.
9. I already talked about walking in the previous point, but remember it's LOT of walking so make sure to carry a really comfortable shoe.
10. The price of eating in and taking out is different. If you plan to sit in the restaurant then go sit and somebody will come and serve you. Otherwise in self service mode you are expected to go out of the restaurant. We were actually told at one instance to move out of Gelateria.
11. Tipping is not expected in the restaurants.
12. Don't forget to charge your camera batteries and carry an extra memory card, Rome is a beautiful city.
13. Most of the people wait for the "Walk" symbol to cross a major road. At small streets, with no Walk symbol, just cross the street like that. It's hard the first time but then you get used to it. For me, it felt so much like Delhi so no issues in that ;-)

Here is the travel album so far:

The Sun Tech Days in Rome start later today. Read all about them here.

All my travel tips to Europe are aggregated here.

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Posted by Arun Gupta in web2.0  |  Comments[11]

Rails Conf Europe 2007 - Day 1

Arrived in Berlin 2 days ago for Rails Conf Europe. Sun Microsystems is a diamond sponsor and you can meet me at the "Rails powered by jMaki and GlassFish" booth in the Exhibit Hall. You can read about overall Sun's presence here.

I realized in the morning that my Full Conference pass did not account for any of the tutorials. And all of them were completely sold out with approx 750 attendees flooding all the rooms. So there was no chance to even sneak in :( I decided to spend the time taking the city tour and visiting other places. Here are some tips for travelers to Europe (Berlin in particular):

1. Before you start on the trip, it's a good idea to inform your Credit Card company and ATM provider about your upcoming trip. This will ensure that they do not unnecessarily block your card suspecting a fraudulent usage.
2. The taxi driver was very excited knowing that we came from California. The reason for his excitement was Arnold Schwarzenegger - that a former European national became "Mr Masculine", then a movie super star and now the Governor of California :) I'll probably carry a cutting of Arnold from a local newspaper in my next visit.
3. So far in my 2-days experience, European shopkeepers prefer (read "accept only") cash as opposed to the US where credit card is accepted everywhere, even in Kinko's for a one-pager :) So make sure to carry sufficient cash with you. Nobody has agreed to accept the credit card so far (Taxi Driver, City Tour, Grocery and even good restaurants).
4. Some ATM machines in the US can accommodate a pin number greater than 4 digit numbers. ATM machines in Europe cannot handle that and my banker specifically confirmed that with me. It's recommended to reduce your pin number to 4 digits.
5. How to convert $$ to Euros ? There are multiple ways but the best bet is to use the ATM machine at the airport. They provide a good conversion rate, most reliable and easily accessible. Check with your ATM card provider if they charge any fees for the international usage. For example, Wells Fargo charges $5 flat fee for international usage of their ATM card. Bank of America is a good alternative as it does not charge any transaction fees if you use any Deutsche Bank machine (which is prevalent) and of course BoA by itself is a much bigger network.
6. Bathrooms/Restrooms are called as "Water Closet", typically marked with "WC", and that was a new learning for me right at the airport.
7. The Berlin City runs "Berlin City Tour" hop-on-hop-off buses starting at 10:30am at an interval of 30 minutes and the last leaving at 4pm. In an approx 2 hour tour (without any hop off) they cover 11 touristy spots in the city. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed the ride as the first thing in Berlin. The guide particularly made it interesting by sharing stories around the spots.
8. The communication with locals is bit of an issue. Most of the people in public dealing can understand English somewhat but the likelihood of asking somebody on the roadside for directions and not able to communicate is very high. Be prepared to ask more than once and it'll work.
9. Everybody in this city (Berlin) seems to smoke - quite a few actively and rest of them passively. Public smoking is quite prevalent and that was quite a change from back home.
10. I did not find any water fountains in public places, not even outside the bathrooms. So carry your own water bottle.

And here is Berlin in pictures

Thanks to Joyent for hosting the beer bust. That's all for today! See you tomorrow at the booth :)

All my travel tips to Europe are aggregated here.

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