Sitting in the business lounge at Amsterdam Schiphol airport right now using the expensive internet that Dutch provider KPN offers here (EUR 6 for 30 min). They should learn from many airports in Asia where internet is available for free. Even Shanghai now offers free wifi in the KLM lounge.
I still cannot retrieve my Spillgroup Asia email, so I checked my RSS feeds instead. And what is the first thing I read online? A China Eastern yet landed at Shanghai’s Hongqiao airport yesterday, and bursted 4 tires while doing this. The whole airport was closed for 5 hours because of their almost crash-landing. Not the first time this happens to China Eastern, in May last year they manage to burst 12 tires on one airplane. China Eastern has a horrible reputation anyway (remember their crash in Baotou two years ago, and I try to avoid it when flying.
I also came across an interesting article by Micah Sittig about the translation of movie titles into English. The latest James Bond (the first to be shown in China) is called Casino Royale. But because gambling is not allowed in China, it was renamed to 007??????, which Micah translates as “007’s War on Casino Royale”!
Marc, i understood you still have the KLM platinum card…so you’re still entitled to receive free usage of the internet in the KLM Lounge…check the ticket vending machines.
Hi Erwin, I indeed have the platinum elite card. I actually looked at the vending machine last time I was in Amsterdam (about a month ago), and then they did not offer free wifi.
If I remember correctly you had to either use their terminals (useless, because I would need to use a webmail application) or by using a cable (so 2002!). So you have to sit in one of their cubicles to connect, find a cable and be lucky to be able to get it to work on an Apple (not always straightforward, I had my share of problems with this over the years and now only use wifi on my Mac). Why they not offer wifi is something I do not understand, probably because they make too much money off it.
He Marc,
Zo nu en dan lees ik je blog, interessant! Wat is je Engels mooi geworden, komt vast niet door het onderwijs op JvA…. Wonen je ouders nog op hezelfde plekje in Ommen? Moet een omschakelig zijn voor jullie, om in twee verschillende werelden te zijn, Ommen of Shanghai. Een goede terugreis gewenst.
Margreet
Hi Margreet,
Leuk om wat van je te horen. Ik zit intussen weer in China, en heb er alweer een halve dag werken opzitten.
Mijn ouders wonen nog steeds in Ommen, een heerlijke plek om tot rust te komen. Maar wel een groot contrast met het hectische 24-uurs leven in Shanghai. Voor werk is Shanghai perfect, en voor vakanties de bossen rond Ommen; ik voel me in beide werelden goed thuis.
Cheers,
Marc