It's also a long way home

Yesterday we bade farewell to our IS colleagues and fantastic hosts in Ningbo and took the Bullet Train to Shanghai. We were advised to choose one of the newer (and therefore faster) G category trains, which took us to Shanghai Hongqiao station in less than 2 hours and max’d at 299 km/h. So close! The area we passed through was largely urban with some rice paddies and other fields, and the inevitable poly tunnels.

Then, the metro (underground) system transported us to within half a kilometre of the hotel for less than £1. It’s all very new, modern and efficient. On emerging from the metro station, a very nice lady asked if she could help with directions (she did) before explaining that she also provided ‘other’ services. She told me where to go (turn left) and I (politely) did the same (in response to her second offer). The walk to the hotel along East Nanjing Road, which is the main shopping street and is pedestrianised, involved having to fend off all sorts of offers, from laser pens to ‘sexy massage’. Quite an introduction and not something we experienced in Ningbo.

The rooms we were allocated were on the top (27^th) floor of the hotel and afforded a great view across the city. Or would have done if the smog and resulting haze hadn’t been so ‘impressive’. The poor air quality is the one aspect of the trip I won’t miss.

This morning, I woke to the sound of rain battering my window. Sure enough, when I opened the curtains, it was teeming. Still, the breakfast was excellent and reminiscent of the breakfasts in KL. Also, I recognised most of the dishes on offer.

Despite the rain and as we’re so close, we headed off to The Bund, which is less than 30 minutes to walk but it only took 5 to get soaked. The Bund is an older part of Shanghai and harks back to the 1920s and 30s when it was popular with western visitors such as Noel Coward and Charlie Chaplin. It also lies alongside the river, on the opposite side of which is the high rise and very 21^st Century central financial centre. It provided a great view of the new Shanghai across the river although shrouded in low cloud and was well worth the visit. The older part is reminiscent of The Embankment in London.

I’m now drying off in my room before heading off to the airport via the Maglev, which is unique, uses revolutionary electromagnetic technology and can reach more than 400 km/h. And then, it’s only 28 hours or so of travelling until I’m back in Nottingham. Can’t wait!

At that point I ran out of time to add this post. It’s now approaching 11.00 pm after a very short (less than 10 minutes) and rapid journey to Pudong Airport via the Maglev followed by a very bumpy 5-hour flight to Kuala Lumpur. So bumpy in fact that no hot drinks were served; at all.

Despite the fact it’s so late, it’s still 31 degrees. We now have an hour before the connecting flight to London Heathrow. I’d like to say “almost home” but that would be delusional. I’ve added a few extra pictures below and it only remains for me to say “thank you” for reading the blog. 

They think it's all over

…but it isn't quite yet. The bullet train from Ningbo to Shanghai is booked as is the overnight stay close to the People's Square, which is located in the centre of Shanghai. The experience of both will be a fitting close to a fascinating and (from a work and visitor perspective) successful and hugely rewarding experience.

One of the many features we've noticed is the lack of bars. There are plenty of restaurants but very few bars. It appears that it's not part of the traditional culture and perhaps explains the moth balls beer in the only bar we could locate in the area close to the hotel.

To address this, Harry recommended yesterday that we visit an area called Lauwaitan, but this being a city of several million people, it required a taxi ride. Harry provided a post-it with Lauwaitan written in Chinese without which it would have been very difficult. The journey took almost 30 minutes and cost £2.

The area of Lauwaitan has a wide selection of bars and we managed to pull in Shamrock and a Belgian bar. Apparently, Shamrock was the first and since then, and in only a short period of time (change seems to happen very fast in China but that's hardly news), a number of bars have joined the throng. Talking of throng, the bars became very full as the evening wore on and also provided a glimpse of those strange and alien creatures known as ‘Australians’. But most importantly of all, we were re-acquainted with Tiger beer and also managed to track down Tsingtao.

Today was a day to complete the training during the morning and then setup access to Supportworks this afternoon. All seems well and Daniel (my opposite number in Ningbo) and I worked through the first call before lunch. And talking of lunch (of course),  we tried out one of the student canteens (students at UNNC spend the entire duration of their course living in campus accommodation and none provides self-catering facilities for health and safety reasons). The hot meals ranged from 8 to 12 RMB (80p to £1.20) and were pretty good.

This evening we were treated to what can only be described as a banquet in a shopping mall called InCity which has recently opened and has about 50 places to eat over several floors. Our hosts were Harry, Michael, Baker and Sherrie who were great company and I've dropped in a couple of photos below. We passed on fish heads, bullfrog and chicken feet (real and apparently very crunchy) but the only 'unusual' dish we were prepared to try (duck tongue) was off the menu. Suffice to say, it wasn't expensive! And then back to Lauwaitan for a beer (only the one) in the Shamrock bar before speeding back (and trying not to look) via a taxi to the hotel.

The conversations were just fascinating. From the distance Ningbo is from the home cities of Michael and Baker (up to 3000km), the many Chinese dialects (including Ningbo's own), the Royal Family (sorry Charles but you came in for a bit of stick), football (the World Cup is big in China even though they didn’t qualify and David Beckham is revered here) the clampdown on Google due to the 25-year anniversary of Tiananmen Square (and it’s an offence to mention the square that must not be named in public places – I said it once but I think I got away with it; just a minute, there’s someone at the door).

I now need to pack my bag as we check out in the morning before leaving for Shanghai. The scale of Shanghai is mind boggling: the population is 34 million and the population of Shanghai and Beijing (@ 30 million) combined exceeds that of the entire UK. I’m sure Chris and I can see all there is to see in half a day though.

This time tomorrow: Shanghai. And them homeward.

Double edition

I’m afraid I had no time yesterday evening to update the blog. A significant change to the training I’m providing meant an early morning finish (just in case you think this a jolly!). Also, using Citrix or RDP is just too painful for words! So much so, that you’ll be pleased to hear I won’t be updating daily.

It was the first day of training today. I was fitted out with a microphone and my Ningbo colleagues were very keen that the sessions should be recorded via Echo360 Lecture Capture, which was an interesting experience especially during the afternoon when I paused the recording and forgot to reset it. Oh well, there’s always a repeat performance tomorrow morning. Having to consider each word and phrase before speaking is hard work but is worth the effort to get the message across. Having said that, any language barrier is very slight indeed.

The main change was a request for me to provide an overview of IT Service Management and the entire ITIL Framework hence the late/very early finish yesterday. Which reminds me: I really should attend some ITIL 2011 training!

We received another warm welcome from colleagues yesterday who have been very accommodating. The campus is very attractive and also has a Trent Building which made me wonder if I should rename the blog to ‘Around the World in Trenty Buildings’, however that doesn’t quite work. I’ve included some pics below.

The Ningbo campus has just celebrated 10 years and an inter campus games was held last week in Ningbo. This included students representing all three international campuses in a wide range of sports, which must have been quite a spectacle. The area surrounding the campus was very different 10 years ago – the open spaces have been developed as the city continues to expand outwards.

The rainy season arrived today and I’m reliably informed that it generally lasts for between 2 and 4 weeks. It’s muggy but not uncomfortably so and the rain is hardly monsoonal although I suppose there’s time yet. The mossies seem to be more prevalent. Brollies are always in evidence be it sunny or raining and to have shares in the business must be a bit of a no brainer.

Back at the hotel (Teckon Ciel by the way), my laundry was returned on the same day and every item was individually wrapped. This included my ‘smalls’, and the shirts were presented as if they were new (including a cardboard insert and sealed in a plastic bag).

Each day brings a basket of goodies (presented by the maid). This includes a couple of apples, cartons of drink and some biscuits but also a small key ring torch. This is every day which means I now have 4. Still, it sorts out the present issue. The bonus is that each one is stamped with the name of the hotel.

The search for the gym continues but has been in vain. It appears it hasn’t been built yet. Until recently, I might have made a comment along the lines of Gym’ll fix it but I’m not so sure that’s a good idea any more.

The plans for the return journey have changed. Harry (Deputy IT Director) has recommended that we visit Shanghai, which seems like an eminently sensible suggestion. This means checking out on Friday and then travelling to Shanghai on Friday afternoon via the bullet train, which takes less than 2 hours to get there at up to 300km/hour. This will provide an evening and part of Saturday morning in the city before heading off to the airport. What a way to end the visit.

Sunday in Ningbo

We treated ourselves to a later breakfast today (it being the day of rest although I'm not sure that applies here) and so braved it at 8.30. We were greeted by smiles and I reciprocated with my only Mandarin phrase (ni hao), which I don't think they understood judging by the puzzled expressions. Of course, intonation is critical with Mandarin and Cantonese (no, I don't really know what I'm talking about) and I could have been using a Monty Pythonesque phrase, such as 'there are eels in my hovercraft', which you have to be of a certain age to understand.

They did have croissants on offer but other than noodles and fried rice, I'm not sure I recognised anything else (apples and melon aside). Still, when in Rome. And everything has to be eaten with chopsticks, which provided the morning's entertainment for the staff and our fellow breakfast diners. The smoking (no restrictions here) and hawking of a fellow diner was a little off putting but otherwise it was pretty good and, of course, an experience.

I decided to send some washing to the hotel laundry today. It all seemed quite straight forward. You complete a form (in triplicate) which details the items you need washing or dry cleaning (and what you want doing with them), you place them in a laundry bag and then....? I collared a member of staff who was passing and tried to explain in mime what I wanted to do, which she seemed to understand. She then got on to her walkie talkie because she didn't seem to know how it worked either. Eventually she took the bag with all three copies of the forms (apparently, I didn't need a copy). It should come back later today but if it doesn't re-emerge, that could be the last I see of it because I have no idea how to mime 'the laundry you took this morning is missing'.

One of the great mysteries of this visit is likely to be the location of the hotel gym. It's publicised on the signage in the hotel but can we find it - no! We've opened every closed door, visited the underground car park, even asked the hotel staff, which is quite a challenge (what is the Mandarin for 'gym' by the way?). This morning, one member of staff tried to provide directions to the gym (hand signals is the only way) and then, when we couldn't find it, the young lady at reception said there was "no gym, solly". I'm confused!

After the not so Lucky Gym episode, Chris and I set off to explore the local area, which is very built up but still has a park and canal on offer. We visited the local mall, which has many recognisable outlets including McDs (I can't bring myself to type the full name) and Starbucks (I wonder if they pay their full taxes here), and a number of premium brands (including Adidas, Nike, Longines, Converse).

It was quite a relief to be in the shopping centre because today is hot and sunny. I might have to take back what I said yesterday about the smog because, although hazy, there's no sign of murk today. Maybe it has Sunday off? In fact, the weather is very pleasant because of a cooling breeze. Everybody seemed to be out for the day and the atmosphere was very relaxed and convivial. We are a bit of a novelty and we came across only one other non-Chinese person during the 5-hour walkabout. The language thing again: try ordering a multi fruit smoothie in China. I've no idea what the fruit was but it was extremely good. Language is a problem but then those of you who know Chris Nottage will be aware of his propensity for excessive swearing.

And then there's the things you need to be aware of when walking the streets. The first is the electric bikes which are like scooters and speed up and down the pavements in complete silence and are, potentially at least, deadly. Then there's crossing the roads, which tend to be three lane highways. There are pedestrian crossings (no subways) but you have to have your wits about you and cars will turn right (as in the US) even if their light is on red if they think they can get away with it.

I'm now back in my hotel room with a pleasant breeze drifting through the window. The downside is the incessant sound of car horns, which provides a backdrop throughout the day and night. I'm  now using the ethernet connection which has helped response times but every now and again I have to restart my Citrix session. It's slow but usable and, I hope, secure. RDP is also better via ethernet but Citrix is slightly quicker.

I'll finish with electricity. My laptop has just finished charging after about 8 hours - they must have a watered down variety here. A bit like some of the beer. Talking of which, the search for a decent beer will continue in an hour from now. Happy Father's Day by the way. And if any of my kids are reading this - the time difference is no excuse!

Selection of pics as follows....

No breakfast!

Up at 5.15 this morning to catch a 9 am departure from KL International Airport, which is not something that appeals to me on a Saturday. It also meant missing breakfast because we were too early, and hopefully you know by now how much those breakfasts mean to me.

We were picked up at 6 not by Mr Mok or his pal but another friend with no name who drove like the wind in a battered and ageing Proton (but then most of the taxis in KL are). Just to give you some sort of idea as to how quickly, it’s supposed to take an hour to reach the airport but he got us there in less than 40 minutes. Still, the roads were clear as it was very early on a Saturday morning.

The check-in with Malaysian Airlines was easy and straightforward but we had to pass through 3 security checks before we got to the departure lounge. This is perhaps understandable until we know what happened to MH370 (and much of our flight, which was MH388, followed the same route or, at least, the intended flight path).

The flight took 5 hours, which seemed like a short hop after the outward journey from the UK, but the entertainment (films etc..) was exactly the same. What am I going to do for the 18 hour return flights?! I may have to take up knitting or the playing the lute.

It was a good flight (with chicken and noodles or prawns and rice for brunch, if you’re interested) but as we approached Shanghai, a thick haze seemed to develop beneath the flight path. We descended through the haze to land at Pudong Airport, which seemed to be enveloped in a murky smog - fairly standard at this time of the year I gather.

We were met by one Mr Wu’s drivers at arrivals and he whisked us off for the 3 (not 2) hour drive from Shanghai to Ningbo. The drive took us through the coastal plain, which consists of a curious mix of rice paddies, poly tunnels (thousands of them), 3 storey dwellings, canals and tower blocks on the edge of the cities. The first hour of the journey involved a game of pot hole dodging (or not on occasions) but this improved when we reached the newer road. Incidentally, there doesn’t seem to be a concept of slow and fast lanes here – you just use whichever one is the clearest.

The most interesting part of the journey was Hangzhou Bay Bridge which crosses the bay between Shanghai and Ningbo. This stretches for 22 miles and has shortened the distance between Shanghai and Ningbo by 75 miles. This seems to be typical of the types of ambitious and large-scale engineering projects with which China has become associated in recent years. To put this into context, the Humber Bridge extends for 1.38 miles.

We finally arrived in Ningbo (population 1.8 million) and were deposited at the hotel. Then came our first experience of the fact that very few people seem to speak English but then why should they. Chris and I checked in successfully and made our way to what can only be described as lavishly decorated rooms (pic below).

After 15 minutes, it was time to head off and explore the local area. The bar opposite was showing the Holland vs Spain match on a big screen so we called in and, lo and behold, they had (a) Tiger beer on draught. It wasn’t the same however and, to be frank, had an after taste that resembled moth balls, which took me back to my childhood!

After a couple of pints of moth balls, we went in search of food, which is quite challenging when little or no English is spoken. After much deliberation, we settled on a nice looking bar/restaurant located next door to the hotel because it had a menu with pictures. The equivalent of less than £7 each secured us a huge dish of beef and vegetables with rice and a Budweiser, which tasted of beer.

We finished the day by joining the locals who had gathered to watch a repeat of the Cameroon vs Mexico match in front of an open air screen. A beer called Harpin was on offer at 60p per large bottle – well, it would have been rude not to. I’ll be honest, I haven’t found a Tiger equivalent yet but will keep looking.

As expected, I cannot access the blog directly now I’m in China and am having to use Citrix to access via the UK. This is proving to be painfully slow I’m afraid and Remote Desktop is a non-starter.

A fond farewell

After a thoroughly enjoyable time at Semenyih and opportunity to work more closely with our wonderful colleagues in Malaysia, it was time to say "au revoir" (as they say in Malaysia) but not before..... a spot of lunch. And this time Chris and I paid, which seemed only fair.

On this occasion, we visited Fish Valley, a delightful restaurant which specialises (not unsurprisingly) in fish and where you can also catch your own lunch. That seemed too much like hard work therefore we settled for pre-caught steamed fish, a venison curry and battered squid, all washed down with coconut juice or, in my case, a water melon juice.

These lunches don't half eat in to work time, which left a limited amount of time to finish off in the afternoon before being picked up by our regular taxi driver (Mr Mok or his mate with no name) at 5 and ferried back to KL.

It really has been an enjoyable visit. Also productive because the IS (including libraries) staff are now able to use Supportworks for passing issues and requests between campuses.

This evening finally consisted of a visit to Chinatown (via taxi - walking would be a big ask) for a couple of Tiger beers (much cheaper than Malones and other haunts on the tourist trail) and, in my case, a venison curry with fried rice. Finally, a bit of shopping/haggling, which was fun although I think Lotus would have been disappointed with the discount I managed to achieve. Rolex watches and Gucci bags my aunt.

Tomorrow starts with a very early start because the mere 5-hour flight departs at 9.00, which means a taxi pick-up at 6.00. We then have a 2-hour drive from Shanghai to Ningbo with Mr Wu's taxis. So, farewell Mr Mok and hello Mr Wu. I better get packing. I'm hoping that I can access the blog from within the Great Firewall of China but we'll find out tomorrow.

A few extra pics below to complete the Malaysia half of the blog, starting naturally with lunch (or what was left of it)....

Almost time to break camp

The end of the visit is fast approaching and all too soon. As interesting and vibrant as KL is, as with any trip, what makes or breaks it is the people. Kuala Lumpur is a major world city yet the people are friendly and generous of spirit. It's an easy place to be and the colleagues at Semenyih are delightful.

Yet again, Khan and Lotus whisked us off for lunch but this time drove us the 30/40 minute journey to a village renowned for its satay and museum dedicated to satay. The journey also provided a great opportunity to discuss the political and ethnic makeup (and tensions) in Malaysia. The Malay people receive, for example, a 7% discount on property purchases on the strength of their ethnicity alone and some radical elements and political groups in Malaysian society use very anti-Chinese rhetoric. Fascinating and concerning. Also, the same coalition has been in power since 1957 - dream on Clegg.

The lunch consisted (are you fed up of hearing about the food?!) of beef, chicken, fish and rabbit satay, with a peanut and chilli sauce, all washed down with the juice from real (actually, literally Lou) coconuts. I've included a couple of photos below. And then we had the 30 or 40 minute drive back to the campus.

Just when I thought I'd finished the training, I met with staff from the library team during the afternoon and will be providing Supportworks training for them tomorrow morning. Just to add that the IT team is now setup on the live system and (if you're interested) an issue with the AD authentication is resolved (top tip: use the full domain name - duh!). The AD trust relationship is working.

So, off to the centre of KL (beneath the Petronas Towers) this evening for something to eat. However, having visited Malone's for a swift Tiger (for a change - it was Carlsburg last night by the way) and then being stung for the second (beware!), Chris and I decided to cut our losses and visit the M&S Food Court to stock up on a few UK snacks. Not so exciting or adventurous I'm afraid. Still, there's always breakfast tomorrow, which I may have mentioned before and I'm looking forward to already.

I've added a few photos below which sum up the day.

Hospitality that knows no bounds

Khan and Lotus treated us yet again to lunch today; this time in Semenyih village. This is in addition to the outstanding buffet breakfast served at the hotel, which provides for every taste and, it seems, culinary style. This includes some of the best croissants I've tasted, and I've stayed in France many times. The coffee's pretty good too as are the omelettes, fresh fruit, daal, chocolate cake, roast potatoes, curry etc....

Anyway, enough about breakfast. Lunch consisted of fish noodles and a glass of green tea (this time without ice). I did my best to eat it with chopsticks and did ok but my shirt suffered. The use of a spoon and slurping seemed to compensate for my poor chopstick control but it did mean that I was the last to finish. I've added a few photos below of the lunch, our kind hosts and of Semenyih.

Unfortunately, we returned late and after I was due to start the final training session, to find a group of people patiently waiting for me to turn up. Fortunately, we had plenty of time due to their familiarity with Supportworks and we'll start to roll out access to the live system tomorrow.

Did you know? Sunset in KL varies by no more than 27 minutes during the entire year. The earliest is 19.01 in December and the latest is 19.28 in late July. Also, the average temperature varies by no more than 1.2 degrees C throughout the year and there are only two seasons, 'wet' and 'dry' although it's never completely dry. Fortunately, June is the driest month at 144mm. Quite a contrast to the UK and I had an interesting conversation with some of our Malaysian colleagues this morning about seasons, which we take for granted,

Tonight consisted of a return visit to Lot 10 Huton. Both Chris and I pulled the boat in this evening, spending only 10RM (£2) on a local specialty (or so we're told): Beef Noodles complete with Beef Balls. I've just looked up 'Beef Balls' having feared that they might be what they said on the tin however it turns out they consist of 'pulverised' beef. So, much like a beefburger. The minced beef with the noodles was tasty but I was less enthused by the balls, which I found were a bit tasteless and had a springy texture (hence my suspicion).

I've also included some pics of Huton, the local area and a bowl of floating balls below. Enjoy.

Training is a washout

Perhaps I should explain the post title! The training started today and very soon after beginning the first session, the heavens opened. I was beginning to wonder if we'd get to see more than a few drops of rain during the visit but this was a proper tropical downpour. The metal roof certainly helped to enhance the effect (as it does at King's Meadow) and it was that warm rain, wets you right through (to misquote Peter Kay).

As the Malaysia campus already has its own instance of  Supportworks, I was able to skate over the basics and the staff were very patient as I droned on about IT Service Management, the ITIL Framework 2011, Service Lifecycle stages and processes. However, they were certainly engaged and asked a number of searching questions. Tomorrow is the final day of training and then we deploy (but without parachutes, armoured vehicles and landing craft) on Thursday.

Random fact number whatever it is: road users in Malaysia drive on the left (mostly) just as they do in a small number of other countries (including Wales). And another thing: why do the air con units have to be set so high? The weather hasn't been nearly as uncomfortable as I'd expected and my blood's getting thinner as I get older - I need the heat. I've switched it off in my hotel room.

Finally, if you do ever visit Kuala Lumpur, I can heartility and stomachily recommend Lot 10 Hutong, which is located in the basement beneath the Lot 10 Shopping Centre on Jin Sultan Ismail (yep, I've just copied all of that). It's populated by numerous street food style outlets. Little Wok benefited from our custom tonight. I had a........ well actually, I've no idea.  I pointed at the photograph and it could have been anything for all I know. However, it was very tasty, spicy, came on a bed of rice and cost 11.50 RM, which is about £2.30. So, that's the meals for the rest of the week sorted. And it has a supermarket that sells Tiger beer (habit well and truly established).

I've included a few more photos of the campus below. Thanks for reading.

Postscript - sunset over KL

and, did you know that the electrical power sockets in Malaysia (at least, those I've come across so far) are UK-style 3-pin therefore don't require an adapter? No word of a lie.

Anyway, back to that sunset...

A warm welcome

Today was our first day on campus, which requires a 45 to 60 minute taxi journey to get to from KL. This can take longer and judging by the huge queues of traffic heading into the city, I can well believe it. Fortunately, we were going in the opposite direction,

The campus is in a wonderful location well away from the city (although it creeps closer every day), and, nestled in the foothills, is slightly higher. The surrounding area consists largely of palm plantations and forest, which, for me, makes it feel more authentically Malaysian and tropical.

And then, as we approach, we see standard University of Nottingham signage before pulling up outside the Trent Building. All quite surreal but also welcoming.

We also received a fantastic welcome from Lotus and his staff and felt very much at home. We were introduced to everyone individually and all seemed pleased to see us (as we were them).

Then the realisation dawned: we're here to work! So we cracked on until lunchtime when Khan (Director, IS) and Lotus drove us to the nearest village for a meal, which was unpretentious and very tasty although I think Chris and I were a little overoptimistic with the raw chilli. This was washed down with copious amounts of very nice green tea.

I had a wander for 15 minutes after we returned, the result of which is the selection of photos below all of which were taken on the campus. The campus is small and compact, and is very pleasant. It's also very quiet at the moment because last Friday was the end of term.

We're now back at the hotel and Chris and I will rendezvous shortly to take advantage (again) of the 2 for 1 happy hour (I'm starting to get a taste for the Tiger beer) before heading off to find a Malaysian restaurant that was recommended to us. Hopefully, we won't get lost this time!