Morning Shopping

I slept about 2 hours. Before going to bed, I had sent my blog entries through the mobile phone, with GPRS roaming. I hope to stay below 1 MB...


Student Dormitories

The sun was bright already at 7am, so I decided to get up. Since there would be no breakfast served at this hostel, I would have to get some on my own. The guard was asleep in his cabin, as I passed by. I walked about 1/2 mile into side streets, but no shops in the neighborhood. When I returned, the guard was awake and told me about that mini supermarket 1 mile down the main road. So I walked again, along the dusty road. Reached the "convenience store", got some drinks, a sandwich.

Then walking back to the hostel. Most of the students were up now, had breakfast with things they had bought yesterday. Most had arived earlier than 3 am.


Road towards Nicosia Centre

In Beijing

On the bicycle in Beijing.

I decide that it would be a great idea to rent a bicycle and drive through the inner city of Beijing. When searching the web, I come across the web site of the "Bicycle Kingdom". If I had found out about it earlier, I could even have reserved a bicycle per web form on that site.

On Sunday morning, 8am, I call the store to find out about the rental possibilities. Yes, they have bikes available. But they would not be able to bring them to the hotel, as they only do this for hotels within the 2nd ring road. Our hotel is just outside of the 4th ring road. Ok, I could go directly to the rental location and pick it up. The person to whom I talk speaks English very well. He recommends to print out the directions from the web page. Since I do not have a printer with me (mote to myself: next time bring also a portable printer.), I just take a picture screenshot of the address in Chinese Characters, which I would show to the taxi driver.

So I take a taxi to the Oriental Plaza, a large Western-style shopping mall near one of the main shopping streets. The Bicycle Kingdom is a bit hidden and can only be found by someone specifically knowing it: The entrance is through the lobby of the North Garden Hotel. Down with an elevator into the 4th basement floor. There along a dark corridor, a sign on the wall indicates "Bicycle Kingdom". The owner welcomes me, remembering that I called. The bicycle is ready: a nice city bike with a basket in the front. Costs 100 RMB for the day, and I leave my ID card as a deposit. A lock is also included, so I could park the bike when I would want to walk.

As I want to turn north into the pedestrian zone of the Wangfujing Dong street, a policeman waves that I cannot go there. No bicycles, not even pushing. Ok, then I will go south. Visit the Temple of Heavens. Then ride further along those wide alleys with their wide bike lanes. As I finally want to go to the Tian an Men Square, where a lot of people seemed to gather, policemen again wave me away: no bicycles are allowed. Ok, then not.

A Gate in the park of the Temple of Heavens.

South of the Tien an Men Square.

Later I return the bicycle and walk along the Wangfujing Dong Street. There are large shopping malls, but also markets. I decide to buy a few souvenirs and try to haggle. This works quite interestingly: the seller types the price into a calculator and shows it to me. I take the calculator, erase the amount, and type in my own amount that I offer. Then it is the sellers turn to type again their amount, now reduced by 10 RMB. And then I type my amount, going up slightly. In the end, when we both arrive at the same number, the sale is done.
Somehow I still feel that I have been ripped off, when I carry my purchases away...

In the Wangfujing Dong Street - contemporary shopping.

On a side street there is a large food market, with freshly prepared food items. I am not hungry, and also I am quite sceptical, after all the warnings and scandals regarding food in China. But many things look quite appetising, and many people buy and eat them - so it may not be that bad as recently frequently reported in the news. I see a stand with very interesting items: Scorpions and a variety of strange bugs, grilled on skewers. Maybe I try one of those when I am in Beijing next time...

Only for the very courageous: traditional snacks.

As I walk through the tree-shaded allees, I feel getting tired. One of those motorized Rikshas passes by, the driver waving friendly at me. I friendly refuse. But then I think that it might now be a bad idea to get a little rest and go with one of those. So as the next one passes by, I make eye contact and indicate that I would like to go with him. As he slows down looking at me and waving, he gives a demonstration of his driving skills: while slowing down, his motor ricksha bumps into a parked moped which he had overlooked. Not any damage seemed to have been done, but the woman driver of the moped starts argueing with him, and the engage in a lenghty and loud dispute about this incident. I keep on walking... Another riksha comes up, and after a brief negotiation ("five", and he shows five fingers on his hand) I get in the back. That is nice, although the enclosed cabin feels a bit too tight in this sweltering humid heat. As we arrive at the destination after a few minutes, I get out my 5 RMB note, but he angrily shakes his head and shows the five fingers of his hand. I confirm, "five", show also 5 fingers on my hand, point to the 5 RMB note. He keeps waving his hand, and I guess that he meant 50 RMB. Well, I cannot much argue here, 5 RMB would have been quite cheap indeed. 50 seems a bit high... I guess these details should be negotiated at the beginning of the ride, with a clear understanding of both parties. Maybe it would be better if I had paid directly in the beginning?

From the back fo a motorized ricksha.

In the evening, I get slightly hungry. Should finally try the famous Beijing Duck, but when I go to the hotel restaurant, they do not have it on their menu. What a pity! I am too lazy to go out, and rather prepare for the departure in the next morning.

Excursions to Sights in Beijing

At this conference, also a series of tours had been organized for the participants, providing excellent opportunities for informal networking among the conference participants and at the same time to learn more about the Chinese culture. Several groups left in a couple of busses, and Andreas Holzinger recommended one particular tour guide because he was very entertaining. Andreas had not promised too little - Yiang Lee was very entertaining and upbeat indeed.

The busses stopped somewhere near the city centre, then we walked to the south entrance of the "Forbidden City", the old emperors' residence. It was hot and humid, and I bought a bottle of cold tea at every possible opportunity, of which there were plenty. A vast area is covered by the squares and buildings of this palace area, and the many visitors distributed themselves in the huge empty places.






After the end of the tour, our bus already approached the hotel, but then turned back one block to stop at a silk factory. There, we could see the various steps of silk production, from the cocoons to final silk bed blankets. Another guide explained this process, and afterwards every participant could buy some things, either bed sheets, blankets, or other silk products. Since I do know nothing about silk of fashion in general, this was all lost on me. I could not judge the prices, but they seemed a bit expensive to me: somewhat cheaper than in Europe, but much more expensive than appropriate for the average salary here in Beijing ($200 per month).



Another tour led to the "Summer Palace" at the Western outskirts of Beijing, where the Chinese emperors had build a large garden estate. Again similar temples, palaces, in the same style as the Forbidden City. A nice lake in the centre, with boats cruising on it.






The finish of this your ended in a pearl factory, where explanations about different types of pearls were given, together with the opportunity to purchase pearl products and other souvenirs.

Shopping for Electronics - in Vain

The time was quite limited - I only had a few days in Germany, but I still was looking for a nice camera. But I encountered a severe obstacle: large media superstores like the Media Markt do not accept credit cards. And since I do not have a German EC card which would be the only one they accept, it was out of the question for me to buy anything there. I briefly argued with the cashier about this - they defended it by saying that it would make things slightly more expensive. Well, if so, then they just will not get my money. They could have earned something, I was willing to spend around 1000 Euro, but now they got nothing. Typical bean-counter attitude of some suits in the upper management, who have no idea about real world economy and globalisation of trade. The credit card is the universal tool for buying worldwide, but Media Markt is obviously not interested in selling goods to international customers.

Looking at electronics at the Frankfurt airport is another pathetic experience: I did not want to stay outside the secured area but wanted to get over with the controls - but behind the secured area there is only one store - and they are quite overpriced. The same stuff that costs in Amsterdam's Schipol airport 1500 Euro, is here 2000 Euro. No way that I would overpay so much.

Well, then I guess I will just save the money for a future purchase some time.

Flying Again

Yes, I know, it is nowadays not considered to be politically correct to fly or to like flying, because of its (assumed) effect on climate change... which is probably true and justified. But I still love to fly, to peek out of the window, see the landscape below changing, get a few sun rays into my face.

At the Leeds-Bradford airport (LBA) when boarding the plane to Amsterdam, I met Marc from my faculty. He is on the same plane as myself, but in Amsterdam he will continue towards Beijing, to spend a few days before the HCI conference on sightseeing.

In Amsterdam I have the choice to stay at the airport or to go into the city. Marc decides to take a train into town, but for me it would be a bit tight. Also, I feel an upcoming cold - already since a few days I had a slight headache and a sore throat, but so far it has not evolved into anything. I keep eating those Vitamin C chewables and those throat tablets, and they have yet prevented any further worsening. But I do not feel so well, and I decide to take it easy and stay at the airport. Checking out prices of electronics equipment: there is a nice Sony harddisk video camera on sale for 429 Euro, but it is not HiDef. I am looking for a replacement of the broken Archos HD recorder, on which I recorded so many of my car-mounted camera videos in the past 3 years. And if that HD recorder would have its own lens and record preferably in high-definition at 1080i, with 16:9 ratio, this would be quite useful. But these devices are still at the high end of what I would want to spend: starting at around 900 Euro, up to 1600 Euro. One camcorder has even a 5.1 audio recording, with microphones capturing the back noise - very nice! But what I am looking for is a simple stereo mic input so I can plug in my in-ear microphones. And also an external video-input for attaching the recorder to my car-mounted camera. Well, I will wait a bit until these things get cheaper.

Schipol Airport is nice to get an overview on those latest gadgets.

I have a hering roll and a DeKoninck beer (in my opinion it is a bit better than the ubiquitous Heineken). Then the next flight leg to Frankfurt. It seems that the service in planes gets worse every year. Last year, KLM still served those rolls - ok, they were cold and mushy, but at least they had a little substance. Now the passengers only get a box of crackers. Flying has gone downhill in the past 15 years, since I started to be a frequent flyer. Gone are the times of free champagne and constant attention... now all that is here is hazzle at the check-in, endless controls, restrictions...

The flight is short. Great view over Koblenz, the Rhine valley, Wiesbaden, the river Main, then touch-down in Frankfurt. The luggage arrived well, and I head to the car rental desk. Turns out that I had not given them my arrival flight details - so my car is waiting at the other terminal. In FRA there are two main terminals, with separate car rental facilities. So it is always advisable when reserving a car to specify the flight number, and then they figure out where you would pick up the car.

But this turns out to be no problem - AVIS has the car which I wanted available at both terminals. And so I sign the formalities and head to the car pickup, then drive on to my hometown Iphofen, where I have a reunion with my family. We have a nice dinner at the restaurant Zehntkeller.

Big News: A new car!

It was about time. The Ford Granada was no longer attainable: as a consequence of the burnt relais in the fuse box, the front lights stopped working. No low beam, no high beam, not even the stand / parking light, nothing. The rear lights were ok, also the interior illumination. But somehow the electric wiring to the front lights must have gotten damaged. Maybe the whole fuse box would have to be changed...

And another problem popped up briefly: when putting the gear into "Drive", usually the engine gets a slight boost, to idle smoothly. A few days ago, this boost was gone - the engine just idled at low RPM while in D, but not high enough, so that on a hill the car started rolling backward. This would not be good... the MOT is due soon, and I would have to pay a lot to get everything fixed and make the car safe again.

So I decided that it might be better to get another car, and probably sell this one. Autotrader was again the web site of choice for searching. I wanted again an estate (station wagon, "Kombi"), and this time I wanted a Diesel, to get a better economy. Automatic transmission would be nice to have, but not mandatory. I am now more confident driving in the UK, and I think I can manage switching gears and driving "on the wrong side". I had my mind set on a Citroen - I wanted to try how this active hydro-pneumatic suspension. I would have liked to get one of the old DS from the 1960s/70s, maybe as a station wagon. But these cars are very rare. More realistic seemed the XM, or the Xantia. The C5 is too new, which means too expensive. I did again not want to spend much money, but I was willing to go up to 2500 Pounds.

It was hard to find the combination Estate/Diesel/Automatic... the closest one would be 150 miles away near London, and I would not drive so far just for a car. So I searched for a non-automatic, and yesterday there was one for sale, 17 miles from here, a 1997 Xantia, with 179k miles. So I called, then drove to Harrogate. A test ride, and then I had to make decision: buy the car, or wait for a better opportunity. I decided to go for it. The dealer offered me still something for the Granada, meaning he reduced the purchase price of the Citroen Xantia from 595 to 450 pound, and to me that sounded reasonable. The high mileage was a bit of a turn-off, but the car really drove well. No rust, no oil leaks, a quite good condition. A hadshake sealed the deal.

And so I drove today again to Harrogate, with 350 pound in cash in my pocket (to pay the rest after the 100 pound deposit). The last ride of the Ford Granada, at 144k miles. Then back with the "new" car. It drives nicely. Was a bit dusty, so the first thing I did was to clean it a bit inside and take it to a car wash. Now it looks ok, after I vacuumed the floor and brought the dashboard to a shine. Amazing how one can bring back that "new car look" so easily, with just a few wipes of some "shiny armor" liquid. If car dealers would do that, they immediately could charge more for their used vehicles, as the pure look would impress potential customers.

Now the car has to prove itself in the daily drive. The suspension is great: I put it on a high level when entering the steep driveway of the cottage. The lowering is nice too - allows better access to the motor. A few things do not work: the rear wiper does not move - might be a cable or the fuse. The left rear door lock does not operate with the remote, needs to be opened and closed manually. And at one point the warning light for the airbag began to blink - not sure what this means, it stopped now and seems fine.

Car Problem

Saturday late afternoon, getting into the Ford Granada after a short hike in Harewood. The weather had briefly shown its pleasant side - the rain had stopped on Saturday afteroon, and sun came out on a cloudy sky.

As I turn into the main road between Harrogate and Leeds, I notice a slight smell of burnt plastic. I do not see any smoke outside. Sometimes people burn here weeds or agricultural waste, but I do not see where the fire could be. I drive on, the smell gets stronger. Then I see from the car ventilation light smoke coming into the car passenger compartment.

Immediately I stop the car at the side, turn the engine off, take the ingition key out. Must be a short circuit somewhere. When I open the hood and remove the cover of the fuse box, I see the culprit: smoke comes from one of the relais. Not much that I can do - I start the engine again, and it seems to run fine. All electrical devices seem to work ok, at least the ones I need for driving. So I continue to drive home, window open to let the burnt smell go out. It still seems to create those fumes, but I do not see any smoke coming anymore. Made it home safely.

Then I removed the faulty relais: it was the one for the interval wishes/wiper. The bottom is completely melted, I had a hard time getting it out of its socket. Not sure if I can just plug in a replacement... so for now I drive without interval wiper. That had been not working anywaw since I bought the car, so nothing is lost.

I think it is time to consider getting a new car, before something else breaks.

Anyone wants to buy a 1993 Ford Granada with a few issues? I offer it for just
250 Pounds (ono = or nearest offer).

Getting life organised - buying a car

An important issue for settling in to a new place is transportation, how to get around to places. In Leeds there is a very extensive inner-urban bus network and a nice commuter train connection to the outer towns, but for going shopping or exploring the countryside, one needs a car. Since I had 4 suitcases + a box when I arrived at Leeds-Bradford airport (LBA), I already had reserved a rental car - no way that I would be able to deal with these luggage pieces on a regular bus.

But car rental is expensive, and although I planned on using the rental car for the first days, I intended quickly to get a car, so that I could return the rental car as soon as possible. Also, this rental car has a stick shift transmission - which is a bit of a problem for me. Not that I cannot use it - I learned to drive on a stick shift, and one can drive much more sporty with it. But here in the UK driving with a stick shift is one additional hazzle: driving on the left side, after I had driven the past 24 years on the right side, is a bit difficult. This also means that the gear shifter is on the left instead of on the right - and my have to swap my complete behavior pattern in terms of what each hand is doing while I stear the car. And third, I am not yet familiar with the Leeds traffic and road network - so I am constantly looking at traffic signs and directions. This all adds up to making driving quite difficult, and I could not wait to return the rental car and get a car with an automatic transmission, which made cruising so enjoyable while I was in the US.

Thanks to the global connection through the internet, I already had explored the possibilities of a car purchase on the web. The site Auto Trader offered a nice overview on used cars, from private owners and from dealers (trade). My price rance was not yet determined, but to save valuable cash which I would need before my first salary arrived, I intended to set a quite low limit.

I had a few criteria that I would like to be fulfilled:
- the car should be British. This is because I want to "dive in" and get the full experience of living in Britain. In the US, I had my monster US classics, and was very happy with them. I thought that I would be able to apply all my acquired mechanical knowledge in dealing with possible unreliabilities...
- the car should be a Diesel. Gas prices in Europe and the UK are more than double as what they are in the US, where now everyone is complaining about 3$ per gallon. In the UK, gas prices approach 1 British Pound per litre, which is about $6.50 per gallon at the current US conversion rate. Diesel engines have a very good mileage of usually around 50 mpg, so that would keep the operating cost down.
- it should be an automatic. Although I am able to drive stick, it bothers me to take constantly the hand of the wheel, take that stick, and move it forward or backward. And this with the left hand which never had to do anything before (when I was driving in cars with steering wheel at the left side).
- it should be a station wagon or hatchback (or estate, as they call them here), because I often carry a lot of stuff with me.
- it should have a sun roof. A convertible does not seem feasible because of the climate here.
- it should be cheap.

When looking on the web for cars that would fulfill these conditions, I realized that it would be hard to find one that satisfies all of them. Especially the combination Diesel-automatic was hard to find, so I decided that I would have to be a little less discriminative.

I finally found one that would satisfy 5 of these 6 conditions: a 1996 Rover 820 Fastback. Automatic, a hatchback, British, with sun roof and a few other luxury extras, and a reasonable price of 575 GDP. Yes, I really aimed at quite a low price.

When I called, I hardly understood the heavy Yorkshire dialect of the seller. But I managed to arrange for a meeting. Calling the next day, however, I learned that in this particular car the gear box had broken. What a shame. But the same dealer offered a few other cars, and so I decided to stop by. I test drove another Rover, but that was not a hatchback. Then they also had a 1993 Ford Granada stationwagon. I drove it, and it felt ok. 350 cash. I decided to take this, although this would not be the unique British car experience that I had sought. So on Sunday afternoon, 5 days after my arrival in the UK, I became proud owner of my first car in the UK.

A bit rust around the wheels, but the engine seemed ok. I immediately started cleaning the interior from the dust.