IRELAND
Awake and fly! 24 hours from now I will be in Shanghai, China in a country for the next 13 days where the language is unfamiliar to me, the culture is to be discovered and I feel excited like a kid on Christmas morning!
08.16 (GMT+0) Ramada Hotel Bus Stop for the AirCoach (http://www.aircoach.ie/). The bus driver has hit a bad day and do not know the terminal for my flight :) I checked on the internet and Turkish Airlines (http://www.turkishairlines.com/) fly out of Terminal 1, Dublin (http://www.dublinairport.com/). The bus driver has cheered up and made some classic Irish complaining comments about the planners of the airport. We will enter the airport by arriving at Terminal 2 first. I offered to move my bag at the next stop and he counter offered :) I do really like that the aircoach now has Free WiFi.
09.40 (GMT+0) Arrive at Dublin airport with plenty preconceptions about what will happen, who will be with me. I imagine that there could be Chinese Immigration like we get when we go to the US and maybe I should have come much earlier to handle all of that and that I am about to be surrounded by a mix of Turkish and Chinese people on the plane! So off to the Check-In section and it was all too simple. I even had to point out that I had a Chinese Visa. All of the staff for Turkish airlines appeared to be from Eastern Europe, no Turkish personnel. It appears that any immigration will happen in Istanbul (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul) :) Ok, so Dublin will be a walk through. The long walk to the Gate in Terminal 1. Expecting now to meet with Turkish and Chinese at the gate but I don't see even one Chinese person and it is hard to identify Turkish people. So I feel a little disorientated! Now before I get on the plane I think about my expectations for Turkish Airlines. I have no idea...
11.15 (GMT+0) On board we get and Turkish Airlines has been voted the best European Airline for the last three years. What does that mean? Maybe the next 4 hours will unveil that to me. At least I get to sit in row of three seats with one other Irish guy on the way to Vietnam, a bit of space to maneuver during the next few hours. It was great to hear that are other people prepared to live around the world. Now we receive a menu in both English and Turkish of the upcoming refreshment during the flight.
I remember that we had several choices when asked about food while booking on the website and I was in a particularly healthy mood when I chose. "Raw Menu" was what I had selected and I got notified that I was on a special meal. As the air hostesses are passing through the aisles with food, I received an all-fresh-fruit plate. Fabulous.
And then the drinks include Turkish red wine which I had never contemplated before. Italian normally being top of my list in that department. Have to give it a go and to be honest, not bad!
There is a USB Electric socket in the panel in front of me so phones and tablets can keep charged during the journey. Four hours flew and I look at the screen to see that Dublin and Istanbul are exactly 3,000 Kilometers apart! I know that I will have a 7 hours wait in Ataturk Airport Istanbul (20 kilometers west of the city http://goo.gl/maps/as8ww) but I have already decided that I will not risk the airport exit for a visit of one of the cities that is on the top of my list to see. I prepared for a 7 hour tour of the airport and good read of my current book Flourishing by Maureen Gaffney.
17.25 (GMT+2) Istanbul begins the separation by not just distance but also timezone, now 2 hours ahead of Dublin. To keep in contact with home we use an innovative tool called Voxer which has the amazing facility of recording voice messages, pictures and text messages offline and sends on the next connection to the Net, love it.
As we enter the Transit part of the airport, the Food court is the first site. Had a little walk around spotting the Kebab Shop and then thinking to myself, an original kebab in Turkey, that will have to be my choice even thought there were choices of pizza, asia fusion, KFC etc
A simple slip of mind made me realise that I had not a Turkish Lira (approx. conversion 2,5 lira to 1 euro http://bit.ly/WwIClO) to my name and will they accept the famous credit cards, not a problem. Up I went to get a turkish kebab and a local beer "Efes". The beer was good but the kebab was ver disappointing. I have had my best kebabs in Germany and Switzerland from Turkish Kebab Houses and they were far superior to my first on ground soil. Watching people in the food court area, this is really a crossroads for the world, asian, south american, european, african peoples all together enjoying some grub!
Next for a wander around the waiting area Duty Free and bookshops of the Airport. The D&R Bookshop (http://www.dr.com.tr/) was a well stocked bookshop for English and Turkish books. My resistance is low when I get into places like this and I begin to scan the books both their covers and full boks when one catches my interest. I know I am mid-reading Flourishing but... "ReWork" by the founders of 37Signals after a scan intrigues me. I put it down trying to resist temptation and another man picks it up directly afterwards. I know now that I want to and will walk around the airport for a while pretending to myself that I have discarded it and come back and buy it.
Wandering down in the direction of my gate there is a massage machine but a water massage machine (http://www.aquamassage.com/) claiming to give you a water massage in 7 minutes that would be the equivalent of a 40 minute massage. Nah, I'm ok but interested to keep that in mind for another time. Never saw one of those machines before.
There is a lot of time to still pass and wandering around there was a bar where everyone appeared to be plugged in with their laptops and tablets. I thought that will be perfect for me BUT what type of electric socket do they have in Turkey? Hell, if I know. I'll have to wander in a get down to have a good look. I do not have a super duper Universal adaptor on me. Down I get and it is the same as an Italian socket, yes sir, I have that covered. Always have a socket of that nature in my bag so I can sit down, enjoy another Efes, and get online. The strange thing was the price of the beers at the bar
250 ml 18 lira
330 ml 19 lira
500 ml 20 lira
The quantity difference was not reflected in the price! I commented to my neighbour that really we are just renting the seat not paying for the quantity of beer we are drinking. I asked for a beer without mentioning the quantity and of course the waiter came back with a 500 ml as I hoped after examining the prices.
After these hours in Istanbul airport, I am ready for a 10 hour flight across the Asian continent and sleep. This time as we wait for boarding, there are more Chinese and Turkish people in the queue which makes me feel that I am on the right track after dublin having being so disorientating.
00.40 (GMT+2) Flight ready to take off for Shanghai!
09.40 (GMT+0) Arrive at Dublin airport with plenty preconceptions about what will happen, who will be with me. I imagine that there could be Chinese Immigration like we get when we go to the US and maybe I should have come much earlier to handle all of that and that I am about to be surrounded by a mix of Turkish and Chinese people on the plane! So off to the Check-In section and it was all too simple. I even had to point out that I had a Chinese Visa. All of the staff for Turkish airlines appeared to be from Eastern Europe, no Turkish personnel. It appears that any immigration will happen in Istanbul (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul) :) Ok, so Dublin will be a walk through. The long walk to the Gate in Terminal 1. Expecting now to meet with Turkish and Chinese at the gate but I don't see even one Chinese person and it is hard to identify Turkish people. So I feel a little disorientated! Now before I get on the plane I think about my expectations for Turkish Airlines. I have no idea...
11.15 (GMT+0) On board we get and Turkish Airlines has been voted the best European Airline for the last three years. What does that mean? Maybe the next 4 hours will unveil that to me. At least I get to sit in row of three seats with one other Irish guy on the way to Vietnam, a bit of space to maneuver during the next few hours. It was great to hear that are other people prepared to live around the world. Now we receive a menu in both English and Turkish of the upcoming refreshment during the flight.
17.25 (GMT+2) Istanbul begins the separation by not just distance but also timezone, now 2 hours ahead of Dublin. To keep in contact with home we use an innovative tool called Voxer which has the amazing facility of recording voice messages, pictures and text messages offline and sends on the next connection to the Net, love it.
As we enter the Transit part of the airport, the Food court is the first site. Had a little walk around spotting the Kebab Shop and then thinking to myself, an original kebab in Turkey, that will have to be my choice even thought there were choices of pizza, asia fusion, KFC etc
Next for a wander around the waiting area Duty Free and bookshops of the Airport. The D&R Bookshop (http://www.dr.com.tr/) was a well stocked bookshop for English and Turkish books. My resistance is low when I get into places like this and I begin to scan the books both their covers and full boks when one catches my interest. I know I am mid-reading Flourishing but... "ReWork" by the founders of 37Signals after a scan intrigues me. I put it down trying to resist temptation and another man picks it up directly afterwards. I know now that I want to and will walk around the airport for a while pretending to myself that I have discarded it and come back and buy it.
Wandering down in the direction of my gate there is a massage machine but a water massage machine (http://www.aquamassage.com/) claiming to give you a water massage in 7 minutes that would be the equivalent of a 40 minute massage. Nah, I'm ok but interested to keep that in mind for another time. Never saw one of those machines before.
There is a lot of time to still pass and wandering around there was a bar where everyone appeared to be plugged in with their laptops and tablets. I thought that will be perfect for me BUT what type of electric socket do they have in Turkey? Hell, if I know. I'll have to wander in a get down to have a good look. I do not have a super duper Universal adaptor on me. Down I get and it is the same as an Italian socket, yes sir, I have that covered. Always have a socket of that nature in my bag so I can sit down, enjoy another Efes, and get online. The strange thing was the price of the beers at the bar
250 ml 18 lira
330 ml 19 lira
500 ml 20 lira
The quantity difference was not reflected in the price! I commented to my neighbour that really we are just renting the seat not paying for the quantity of beer we are drinking. I asked for a beer without mentioning the quantity and of course the waiter came back with a 500 ml as I hoped after examining the prices.
After these hours in Istanbul airport, I am ready for a 10 hour flight across the Asian continent and sleep. This time as we wait for boarding, there are more Chinese and Turkish people in the queue which makes me feel that I am on the right track after dublin having being so disorientating.
00.40 (GMT+2) Flight ready to take off for Shanghai!
