As Found In Chinese Airports

Over two days I traveled through three Chinese airports. Here is some of the more interesting stuff that caught my eye.

Shanghai Pudong Aiport Terminal 2 primarily handles domestic flights and is architecturally quite stunning. Quite expansive and with a wavy wood-planked roof gracefully supported by steel columns.
At an otherwise typical airport convenience store was this cooler...
...open it up if you'd like a chilled crab snack.
Another shop had tasty bagged duck parts...
...as well as something that wholly unpronounceable. By me at least:
Sure is tempting. As are the rubbery chicken feet.
Linyi has a very modern and seemingly oversize airport.
I was told that it has only been open for a week. And found, fresh on the shelves were items such as Bag o' duck:
Chinese PBR:
A gift box of bottled frog eggs:
Bottled scorpions:
yep, scorpions:
A ¥9800 (US $1471) ginseng root...
...but at least it has a certificate of authenticity. The shopkeeper told the guy that I was traveling with that it takes over 20 years for a specimen such as this to grow and that the serial number and certificate made this a highly sought-after root. Oh, and that it cures all too. But that was nothing compared to the deer parts he was also selling. Like a ¥2320 (US $348) antler:
...and an ¥1896 (US $284) deer penis:
Is that a good price for deer penis? I'm sure I could have talked him down to ¥1500 if pressed.

Finally, I was able to experience the joys of pull-tab beer cans in Linyi.
Mmm... lukewarm Chinese beer. This style of can had long been banished from the States before I was old enough to even think about drinking beer.

Shanhai Pudong Terminal 1 was also massive with soaring architecture.
Geared more towards the international traveler, I found these wares on the shelves. Such as Pocky and Pretz in popular flavors such as duck, panda, crab, green tea, unidentifiable brown stuff and mystery fruit:
A ¥780,000 (US $117,090!!) carving:
And a toy urinating dog:
Fill it up with real pee and laugh at your friends.

At a Taipei high speed rail station 7-11, one can buy disposable nuthuggers:
And finally, a couple of random signs:

结束

Field Trip - Taiwan Avaition Museum

More of a happy accident field trip, as I was staying in Taiwan Taoyouan Novotel Hotel the night before. So I woke to this view:
And since I am a sucker for vintage aircraft and had about an hour to kill before I had to catch the shuttle bus, I grabbed a couple of cameras to stomp around the grounds.

First to catch my eye was a North American T-28, one of the fixed wing aircraft that my dad trained on prior to piloting helicopters:

Since most of the aircraft are positioned close to one another, and with fencing keeping me from getting too close, it was hard to shoot most of these old birds without chopping off parts, like this DC-3's nose:
Still, the right engine still looks cool to my eyes:
North American F-86 Sabre:
Very cool HU-16 Albatross:
What once was the business end of a North American F-100 Super Sabre:
...and its nose:
An all-time favorite of mine since childhood, a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. I built a model of one of these when I was about ten:
Grumman S-2 Tracker:
The Novotel Hotel is in the right half of the office building in the distance. Maybe I'll stay there sometime when the museum is actually open.

Shanghai Surprise

I just returned from a short trip to the other side of the great (fire)wall - China. A short journey to a small village to check out a new vendor.

Since I could not create an itinerary that allowed me to get back to Taiwan without one more night's stay in China, I holed up in a budget hotel near Shanghai's Hongquai airport. Here are some highlights:

state-of-the-art* in-room entertainment system

"vintage", "aged" mini bar booze

technicolor carpeting, I did not dare tread upon it bare-footed

But at least the view was nice:
I didn't dare check the box spring for dismembered hookers. Just popped a couple of Advil PM and drifted off.

Still, I am very happy that I visited China early in my trip. It has made my visit to Taichung seem like the poshest place on earth. My current view from Hotel One:
More to come...

*for 1977

Field Trip - Palm Springs II

Just as we visited Palm Springs last year during the holidays, we took another field trip out to the desert with parental figures - this time my parents.
One big difference this time is that we hit the town just before Thanksgiving, whereas last year we arrived just before Christmas. Even though it was over a month earlier, the temps were still unseasonably cool.

We were greeted by the most intense double rainbow that we had ever seen:

(sorry, by the time that I took this shot, the other rainbow was barely visible)

What does it mean?

Like the last trip, we stayed at a cool, rehabbed boutique hotel. This time it was the quaint Colony Palms Hotel.
Nice and clean rooms - and, best of all, only $64/night on Hotwire. The Hotwire gamble paid off this time. The highlight for Celeste, of course, was the pool. We can't keep that girl dry if there's a place to swim. So she had to hit the hot tub the afternoon and evening of our arrival:
Walking to dinner Sunday night we found the perfect place to get your sushi massaged:
Monday morning saw another fantastic breakfast at the Kings Highway in the Ace Hotel...
...and having another round of photobooth phun...
...Monday was spent exploring nearby Joshua Tree National Park.

Super-cool cholla cacti...
...which look even cooler to me in black and white. To me at least:
The namesake Joshua trees were seen once we made the transition from the Sonora Desert to the Mojave Desert, about midway through the park.

But not until we stopped to scramble on some granite...
...and checked out Skull Rock:
Okay, on to the trees:
More stuff that looks cooler in black and white:
We eventually made our way to an interesting vista point with Mt. San Jacinto (tallest peak in SoCal) in the distance.
Since we spent many hours in the car, we were eager to get back to Palm Springs for a very late lunch and some pool time. One last shot (again, via the annoying-to-some Hipstamatic app):
More hot tubbing ensued after dinner, producing one of my all-time favorite shots of the grrrl:
I love waterproof camera housings.

Tuesday morning saw us taking the Palm Springs Ariel Tramway up to 8,500' so that the grrrl could experience snow for the first time in nearly three years.
It's a super-cool lift, taking fifteen minutes to climb just under 6,000' in elevation. The modern cars, installed in 2000, have a rotating floor to ensure that everyone can experience the magnificent views on the way up (and down).
At 32°, my mom quickly discovered that her sandals were not the appropriate footwear:
Oops.

Celeste's Crocs were not much better...
...so grandma, grandpa and Celeste hung out in the visitor's center while I ventured out in the snow for a quick hike/trail run at ≈8,500'.

All Star slip-ons are not the best choice either, but "run what ya brung"...
...and run I did, enjoying the Desert View trail while avoiding almost-certain disaster even though I was poorly-equipped in slick shoes and jeans.

I spent some time taking artsy-fartsy shots. Or, rather, attempting to take artsy-fartsy shots in the snow, which I will not bore you with here. Aside from this shot:
Having felt like I spent an hour or so in the Colorado mountains, we headed back down the hill...
...pulled back into the über-groovy mid-century modern tram station...
...and headed back to Carlsbad.

Thank you so much Mom and Dad for joining us on this trip.

Mermaid

Celeste + Palm Springs + hot tub + GoPro HD =

Down On The Street

Walking Juno a few weeks ago, I spotted this car just around the corner from the sharp Volvo P1800ES that was previously profiled.
From the front, no big deal, just a ten-plus year-old Mercedes SL-class roadster. But check it out in profile.
Clean, elegant and simple. I approve. Especially when outfitted with these AMG 5-spoke wheels and propelled by a sensationally-smooth V12 engine.
Quite the boulevard cruiser. And while it may not have as much character as the R-107 body style that preceded it (one of the ten cars I'll own before I'm dead), I still wouldn't kick it out of the garage...
...provided someone else is picking up the tab for repair and maintenance.