JAFDIP

Just another frakkin day in paradise

Travel

Psst hey buddy you know those blog adds won’t click themselves…

A year ago JAFDIP signed up for Google‘s Adsense and so far to date we’ve earned a whopping…

Wait for it…

Are you ready?

$7.42 yes you read that right.

Seven Hundred Forty Two PENNIES

I am presenting this for two reasons. First to demonstrate the absurdity of reliance on Google as your income stream. We’ve watched our Google Analytics statistics page very closely over this time as well as compared our internal web stats systems and there is a HUGE discrepency. I can honestly submit that web stats do not lie. Web servers like Apache, nginx and lighttpd simply record every page request. Sure you could attempt to bloat these but to what purpose it’s not as if you are going to pay yourself based on these hits. In addition we are running an additional algorithmic stats system build into the publishing engine to validate the readings.

The second reason is to explain to the readership of this blog that the free of charge collections of how-tos and other wonderful content you enjoy is presented out of pocket. The same readership which interestingly enough has tripled since March and is still steadily climbing.

Google Analytics Hacks

 

We are not a big blog and have not been able to convince some of the other advertising engines out there to support us. Furthermore we really detest sites with too many advertisements. Have you ever looked at your favorite radio station’s site lately? You probably can not even find the request form because of the advertising bloat. However in the last month several people have actually clicked on ads they saw which is absolutely amazing as there’s slight chance someday we could turn this venture into a self sustaining enterprise. I want to thank each of you who have taken to time to do this besides leaving positive comments this is the best way to show your appreciation for the work that we do.

Consider the possibilities if even 10% of the page viewers took a moment to click an ad. Assuming the ads all paid the same rate of say $0.32 then we would have $7081.60. Which makes the previous seem a little ridiculous. If you did this every time you read an article you enjoyed well I can not even begin to fathom the results mostly because the metric is too subjective. In any event you get the general idea.

This is why I believe that when you read something online you should show your appreciation but leaving a positive comment as well as clicking on an add. It demonstrates you support the content providers effort. Obviously if you read something less enjoyable leave a comment because comment flow engages with the author and helps to better them tune into the readers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mikel King has been a leader in the Information Technology Services field for over 20 years. He is currently the CEO of Olivent Technologies, a professional creative services partnership in NY. Additionally he is currently serving as the Secretary of the BSD Certification group as well as a Senior Editor for the BSD News Network and JAFDIP.

 

 

 

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Royal with cheese

Seriously I just couldn’t resist, because I am traveling in the far east and that is exactly how I feel right now. If you do not understand the reference then you’ve never seen Pulp Fiction which boggles my mind. Honestly Pulp Fiction is the only movie I have gone to see on an opening Friday night and was will to go again the next night and pay full fare. Needless to say it is one of my absolute all time favorite movies. That however is a discussion for an entirely different day.

As many of you who follow my stream on twitter and to a lesser extent facebook (just not a fan), know I have been traveling throughout the Pacific South Rim. Just like in the film, it is funny because it is the little things that really make it interesting. Yes I did go into McDonalds, seriously who could avoid it after watching Pulp Fiction?

The McDonalds in Macau serves some rather interesting meals, such as noodle soups for breakfast and a Ham & Cheese Burger also a breakfast item. I did not indulge in either of these, the coffee is truly an adventure in that the Asian palate seems to have a distinct sweet addiction. They put a heavy sweet cream in the coffee and tea unless you are quick and clear enough to stop it. Think of this stuff as something akin to sweetened condensed milk. I myself drink coffee black so this is a bit unsettling. I can not begin to recount the number of times I’ve had to sip the top of my coffee so as not to disturb the substance stuck to the bottom of the cup. My point of view is that if your cup of coffee needs so many accessories then you probably have no business drinking coffee in the first place.

Now that I am in Malaysia however the westernized options have increased dramatically. There are Burger Kings everywhere, as well as KFC, Subway, Starbucks, Baskin & Robins and yes there even are McDonalds. Ok there seem to be an inordinate amount of Kenny Roger’s Roasters as well as some Popeye’s. To be truthful the only reason I think that last remaining KRR’s in the world are here is because we’ve forgotten about them. There are a few 7 Eleven‘s but there are many 7 7’s yes copyright infringement like so many other things here seems to be a loose suggestion.

While I do apologize for not trying all of the fast food here, or grabbing a snap of the breakfast menu which feature chicken ham and chicken sausage on the McMuffins. Honestly those are quit tame in comparison to some places.Of course Burger King had some unusual oddities like the Beef-a-con burger, which is basically a bacon substitute supposedly made of beef product. I’ve often wondered what would happen to this country if they were allowed to eat real bacon just for one day? However that is a tangent for another day.

Now back to the oddities, they put mayo and butter if you do not stop them quick enough on sandwiches at what could be best described a Malay equivalent to a deli. I have to say this did not sit well with me, as I don’t even use mayo in my tuna salad very often.

One thing I did enjoy was some of the local Malay food Nasi Lemak is good especially if your stomach is not well from being exposed to Indian Curry. I’m sorry but that is one thing I just can not consume. I’ll take a double helping of raw octopus over curry any day.

Image via Wikipedia

 

I also enjoyed the spicy phad thai with pork, yes all kidding aside you can find pork here it’s just not very easy. The pork fired rice was also very good and I think savory is a good description. Then there are things like fried noodles with chicken, be warned the chicken may have bit’s of bone so nibble carefully. I still hope to try Malaysian fried catfish as I have been told it is amazing.

All kidding aside Malaysia is a fantastic place to visit, and possible even a place for westerners to live for short periods. It’s very unfortunate that it is so far away from the US. I mean were it not such a long distance to travel more westerners would come here for certain. On the flip side I would imagine that more Malaysians would visit the US as well. Both countries certainly have a lot to offer each other.

 

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A day in Macau (proper)

Well there is not much to write here. Just notice the Portuguese influence left from 454 years of occupation. Of course I am certain the Lisbon’s democratic leadership is kicking themselves for ever returning Macau back to China in 1999.

The amount of money being funneled into this region in support of the casino gaming and hospitality industry is mind bogglingly staggering. What was once a backwater haven for pirates and poverty is fast becoming the Las Vegas of Asia.

In any event here are 14 snap shots from my day on the Macau peninsula also known as Macau proper. It was once an island, but after some aggressive landfill initiatives it is now connected to mainland China.

The following are the are some more pictures of the Grand Lisboa and Spire. The Grand Lisboa is the golden lotus shaped structure.

Another interesting point is that there are three bridges connecting Macau proper and Taipa. One of them is a taxi and bus only bridge. Another was supposed to have a light commuter rail system but the contractor who is currently in jail, did not build it to the specification, a lot less steel than was required. Thus the bridge can not support the weight of the rail system.

Hopefully you are enjoying these reports of my trip. If you have and questions or comment please feel free to drop me a note here over via the link below on twitter.

 

Walking about Macau (proper)

Not far from the our office that I am ‘just’ visiting is a Citibank and of all things nestled quietly between casinos a 7 Eleven. I later learned that they are more numerous than you could imagine especially over on Taipa Macau where the corporate apartment is. In fact on Taipa which is one of the islands that make up Macau there are 7 Elevens on almost as every corner usually next door or across from a McDonalds.

What is striking about the 7 Elevens here is that there are no breakfast sandwiches, burritos, cheese sticks, slurpees, or even the wonderful self serve coffee bar that we have in the US. No in these 7 Elevens they have an assortment of Asian foods, lots of noodles soup packages and other snack food you’d find in the US but they also have…. wait for it liquor! Yes that’s right liquor, Johnny Walker, Hennessy, and various other hard whiskey based alcohols.

I have to say that each day it gets a little more interesting, but I doubt I could stay here for long. I met an Australian couple that has lived here for 4 years. They tell me that is usually the max for any foreigners. I honestly don’t know, most of the people form the company that live here have been here 2 years or less and they are ready to leave.

 

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Flying to China

Ok well to begin with I am no expert in this. In fact quite the opposite and it’s a huge amount of data to process as I learn the ropes of the international traveler. Please bear with me as I walk you through my journeys; I shall attempt to post photos as often as I am able and offer notes about my experiences over the next few weeks.. Also note that I am recording them here in lieu of Facebook (#fb) more for the fact that I am in control of this venue and completely own my content whereas with #fb you just never really know.

Flying to Hong Kong was an interesting process to say the least. From my point of view the jury is still out on what is the best way to facilitate this. Everyone seems to have their own exert opinion on how best to accomplish this. I can with all honesty say that if you must fly fly at least Business Class. Now that being said also know that not all Business Classes are created equal. I ended up flying from JFK to LAX on an economy flight to make a connection to Cathay Pacific (CX). This in itself is not bad other than the fact that I had to depart my house at 4am in order to catch the only flight available as a result of my rather short notice and particular schedule.

Once at LAX I had to collect my luggage and walk (left) out of American Airlines to the Thomas Bradley International terminal, which fortunately was covered and really took less than 5 minutes. I missed the requirement about going upstairs to departures and in my case it took a few extra minutes. This was not such a huge impact considering as I soon learned that I could not check-in for my 0140 until much later when the ticket window opens. This may not sound like a big problem however I had the fortunate distinction of arriving in LAX an approximately 45 minutes earlier than planned as a result of generous tail winds. Why is it the the pilots always act surprised when some event like this happens.

Captain of AA Flight “Good morning passengers well it looks like we caught ourselves a tail wind and will be landing in LAX approximately 45-50 minutes ahead of schedule. The time now is 0840 please remain in your seat with your seat belts securely fastened as we taxi to our…”

It’s not that I am ungrateful about arriving early, and I am quite certain that there are many who were on the plane happy to be in LA earlier than planned I’m just concerned. I mean where was the pilot for the last 5+ hours of the flight? Why does he sound so surprised we’ve arrived early?

So I am no at LAX in the terminal at roughly 0900 (that’s 9 AM)  awaiting CX to open which I learn isn’t for approximately another 10 hours. Are you beginning to feel me? It was a long day of sitting and walking and awkwardness. I mean I had my luggage w/ me and it’s difficult to squeeze everything you might need to accomplish during a 10 hour span while ensuring that your baggage is not left unattended. Al I wanted was to be able to check my one ‘big’ suitcase and head up to the lounge. I had an invitation after all, which is to say I paid $6K for the privilege of flying BC on this particular airline that I was told is the only way to go. A lounge as it turned out that is shared with numerous other airlines at this particular airport.

What I am saying here is that it would have been really nice to have AmericanAirlines which owns or partners or something with Cathay offer to transfer my checked bag from their terminal to my connecting flight in lieu of me schlepping it myself. Had I been free of this baggage I could have breezed through security right up to the lounge and proceeded to imbibe copious amounts of complimentary Ashani. This latter step I made up for with great vigor after spending 10 hours on the other side. Yes in a lounge that made it rather effortless to conduct ones personal business while guarding their carry on luggage. Not to mention the free WiFI and ample outlets for recharging iPods, crackberries, and of course laptops. Yes the aforementioned beer helped immensely.

Finally at 0040 It was go time and I was off to the gate. Once on the plane I located my pod which if you’ve never traveled internationally (i.e., on a really long flight that takes say 14+ hrs where you really need one). If you are a seasoned international traveler you can just go back to searching for porn or whatever it is you pretend to do all day at your office. The pod is like a sleeping cubicle sans the square cornered walls and they are packed in rather tightly in a chevron arrangement on the aircraft.

Cathay Pacific pod (a.k.a chevron)In these pods there is just about everything you could possibly need save a toilet and shower, but that because adding that would really annoy your fellow pod mates. Besides it’s a 14+ hour flight you NEED to get you ass up and move around once in a while. Of course the plane didn’t have a shower at all which really would have been nice considering that some of the other passengers on my earlier flight really could have used one but that is an entirely different story. So the following is a picture of the screen from my pod.

Flying above the cloudsI happen to be listening, ironically enough to Pink Floyd Blue Skies while watching the onflight cam. You can see the underbelly of the plane in the top quarter of the screen image and the telephone-esq remote control/game controller/hail the attendant/turn on blowers & lights/I honestly don’t know what else controller. Suffice to say if your pod had a built-in toilet you’d flush it from this handy little device. Although the chair controls are on a different portion of the console.

touchdown 07:05 am in HKGThis is another view of the pod console and you can see that I am once again watching the onflight cam, in fact this is approximately 30 minutes after the previous as we have just touched down in Hong Kong. Quite ironically I was listening to  Welcome to the Machine by none other than Pink Floyd when we landed here in China. In any event you can see the chair control I mentioned previously in the lower right corner.

Off the plane I headed to the CotaiJet counter to book passage on the ferry that takes you from Hong Kong to Macau. This turned our to be great advice as it eliminated the necessity to wait on the extremely long line at immigration as well as pick up my checked luggage. At the CotaiJet counter you present you baggage claim check and they arrange to transfer the bags to the ferry for you.

CotaiJetI ended up booking passage on the 0915 ferry to Macua (Tapia) which was actually very convenient. I learned later that if your arrive after 2100 you are basically screwed and will likely have to process you immigration here a HKG claim your bags and grab a taxi into Hong Kong to a different ferry service. Consider that you have now extended your travel by several hours. If you enjoy that sort of punishment then by all means have a go at it. I personally had had quite enough and was happy to be catching the shuttle train to the ferry terminal.

CotaiJet SheduleThis last photo is of the actual vessel and honestly it is quite impressive. Well worth the Executive class fare, as they offer complimentary beverages and noodles, which I know contrary to American belief are quite good at 0915. Believe me you will be hungry after all the previous traveling. Oh and there’s also the benefit of departing the vessel first upon docking. Of course this does not eliminate the lengthy trek down the pier to immigration, but unlike Hong Kong Airport there was no line. Seriously there were at least 10 agents in booth waiting not so happily for our arrival.

CotaiJet FerryOnce through immigration it was a short walk like less than 10 steps to the baggage claim where I fortunately met up with my checked luggage. All in all it was an easy voyage but an extremely long one. I honestly have no idea what’s in store for me on the next leg of the journey but I leave for Malaysia in a few days and will try to note the exit of Macau & Hong Kong as I do.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mikel King has been a leader in the Information Technology Services field for over 20 years. He is currently the CEO of Olivent Technologies, a professional creative services partnership in NY. Additionally he is currently serving as the Secretary of the BSD Certification group as well as a Senior Editor for the BSD News Network.