In Thailand I use 3G CDMA service from CAT (Communications Authority of Thailand) and I have become spoiled by the flexibility in movement and speed it provides. There were a couple of days in my hotel apartment in China the hotel’s internet stopped working. Somehow it was apparently acceptable that the internet in a business hotel could be down for a week without any other methods of connection being provided. My 3G connection in Thailand almost never goes down. I love my 3G.
Archive for January, 2010
I Need 3G
Thursday, January 14th, 2010The Prettiest New Years Ever
Monday, January 4th, 2010I spent the last month in Beijing, China. It was an interesting experience. I arrived in early December and within 2 days I had already decided I hated the city. In hindsight it was probably mostly due to the fact the city is freezing in the winter and only 2 weeks prior I had been enjoying the hot and humid weather of Thailand. My first few days in Beijing reminded me of my first days in Mumbai. I think it was the remnants of a closed economy, the culture shock, and the sheer size and number of people who live in both metropolises that made me draw the comparison. Or maybe it was just loneliness.
After a while though, like India, Beijing grew on me. The food tasted better, the landscape changed, and I meet some cool friends. I think you need to stay in a place long enough to truly understand the people and culture–it is just not possible traveling thru for a day or a week. New Year’s countdown was fun, and on the night of the second we awoke to a city blanketed in snow and all of a sudden the freezing temperatures of Beijing were all worth it. The storm continued through the 3rd and apparently it was the most snow Beijing had received in several days.
Oh, I also had time to visit the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xian–so I guess I can cross that off my places I wanted to see list–although I have to say that I was actually more impressed with the Great Wall than the warriors.