#like i think it’s a little more than just japan being a tour hub for asia.

[9w1ft]

oh a little postscript about my floor night, in my section i was actually quite surprised by the number of people over 60 i was seeing on the floor. couples, just older ladies, just older guys, grandparents and grandkids, and i was reminded of way back in 2006 when taylor released her first album, there’s a morning show here in japan that had a longstanding news anchor at the helm for many years named Ogura-san, and he had this music corner every weekday morning where he would share an artist that he likes, and i remember he was a big supporter of taylor from her debut. always had great things to say about her. i’ve been living in japan for essentially the entirety of taylor’s career and my first introduction to her was via this news program. anyway he’s like maybe 75 now and retired from television but, as i was sitting waiting for the show to start and looking around at all these dapper people in their 60s and 70s i was reminded of how there really has been great support for taylor from japan from the very start. she touched on it in one of her speeches, just said a simple “thank you for supporting me from the beginning” but it’s really true and i really think that meant a lot to a lot of people in the audience, some you might not expect. sort of warmed my heart.

[quanticowrites]

Genuine Article Pt. 1 (Ernie Malik x Reader)

•• Aaaa my first NCIS: Hawai'i fic, I'm super stoked for this! As you can see...a multi-part fic :3 Enjoy! ••

Working at the Pearl Harbour Navy Base had seemed like a faraway dream as a kid, but here you were, pulling up to the gate in your car. An Officer came out of the building to greet you, asking for your ID and the purpose of being there. You beamed up at him.

"Special Agent (Y/n), NCIS. I just transferred here." You handed him your badge and ID and watched as he scanned it through the system. He smiled back at you once everything cleared.

"Welcome to Pearl! Guess I'll be seeing you around." He motioned with his head toward the base. "If you ever need a tour around the base, just ask for Officer Gabriel." You tried your best not to look disheveled, forcing your smile to stay on your lips.

"Thank you, but I think my new team will have the task of showing me around." His smile slightly faltered before he pressed the button to open the gate."Don't be a stranger now!" He called after you, a slight southern accent pulling out from his words. He wasn't a local, he must have been a transplant, just like you. You followed the signs for staff parking before heading inside. You were thankful your ID worked on the key fob door. With how quickly you'd transferred here you weren't sure if all of your information and clearance would arrive before you did. You followed the hallway to an elevator and punched the button for the lobby floor. That was as good a place as any to start looking for your new team. It was already a four-person team, making you the fifth member. If you remembered the names from the sheet they'd given you, the Leader's name was Jane Tennant. You wouldn't have trouble remembering that one. Jane was one of the handfuls of legends at NCIS along with Gibbs, Pride, and Hetty. It was an honor to have even been chosen by her as you had. Your name hadn't been in the transfer hub for one day when she snagged you up from the Northeast field office. You'd kind of been hoping for a transfer to New Orleans to be closer to family, but you were certainly not going to complain about being moved to the island state. The door opened, and without looking at which floor you were on, headed out of the elevator. You didn't have much time to react as a man rushed into the elevator, plowing you down to the ground and your briefcase flying open and scattering both documents and personal items throughout the elevator.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I hadn't expected anyone to be inside here! No one ever comes down to the basement." You held your breath as you looked up at your assailant. He was shorter than you, you could tell that from the ground. He crouched down and started gathering up your things. You laughed a little as you went to grab a small Hello Kitty figurine, pulling your hand back quickly as your fingers brushed against his.

“I-It’s fine. I should have noticed this wasn’t the lobby floor.” He handed you the rest of your things and you stuffed them back into your briefcase. You stood back up and saw him eyeing the multitude of stickers you’d adorned it with.

“Wow, you get around. Japan, Norfolk, Great Lakes-!” You blinked as he whacked himself in the face with his palm. “God, I’m an idiot! You’re our new transfer agent, (y/n).” You smiled, holding out your hand.

“And…your…Ernie? Right?” His file had said he was the resident tech master. He straightened and somehow, that smile of his grew larger.

“The one and only!” He hit the button for the Lobby. “Here, I was just heading up to see Tennant and the team myself, I found something relevant to the case they’re working on.”

“What’s the case?” His mood darkened.

“Hannah Freelove, the young daughter of an Admiral, was kidnapped two days ago.” You nodded, but more so for yourself. You might be new but that wasn’t going to stop you from bringing this girl back to her family. You only hoped to god it wouldn’t be in a body bag.

“I’ll help any way I can.” You couldn't tell if it was from the close confines of the elevator, but you could have sworn a dark blush had spread across his face. The Elevator doors beeped, opened, and once again Ernie was out like a flash. Shirttail of his button-up flew behind him.

You followed after him to a group of desks. There were the other agents of Tennant’s team. Jesse, Lucy, and Kai. That empty desk behind Kai’s must be yours. You didn’t put your briefcase down yet, just in case you were wrong. You’d already had one embarrassing moment, you didn’t want to have another.

“Where’s Tennant?” Jesse nodded upstairs.

“She just got pulled into a video call with the director. She said it wasn’t case related.” He crossed his arms and leaned against his desk, eyes flicking to you. “Who’s your friend here, Ernie?” Ernie took a step to the side.

“Meet our new transfer agent, (y/n)!” Lucy turns into a blur as she speeds around her desk and wraps you up into a hug.

“(Y/n)! Welcome!” You let out a laugh before hugging her back.

“Thank you.” Once Lucy let you go you looked over at Ernie. “Didn’t you have something important to say?” Ernie shuffled in place before ultimately tapping his tablet.

“You’re right, I can read Jane in later, this is too important to wait.” He flipped his tablet around to show a picture of a boot print cast and the original undisturbed print in the mud. You deduced it must have been from the scene of Hannah’s abduction. “Looking at this, you probably think this boot print has no major significance, I mean, Navy-issued boots are a dime a dozen on the island-”

“Ernie,” Kai interjected to steer him back on course. “Your point?” Ernie cleared his throat.

“Well, this is a custom-designed boot. Our military boots don’t have this tread pattern at the bottom.” He used his fingers to zoom in on the cast. It looked like a barbed wire with a pair of deer hooves in the middle. That certainly was unique. “And me being me, I already checked with local shops that do this kind of thing.”

“Did you get a hit?” Jesse asked. Ernie didn’t reply at first, as he pulled up half a dozen pictures.

“Within the past year, these men bought boots with this tread. I’m judging that this print is roughly a size 13.”

“Well,” Jesse started, “ let’s go see if any of these dudes have big feet, or better yet, mud on their boots.”

“You don’t think they would've ditched ‘em by now?” Kai questioned.

“These boots had to have cost them a decent chunk of cash, no way they’d just throw them away. Not without attempting to clean them first, at least.” He motioned between himself and Kai. “Kai, you and I take the top 3, Lucy and (Y/n) you take the bottom. Ernie, by chance did you get there-” Ernie flashed a smug smile as he pulled out index cards listing information about each person, including their last registered address. Jesse chuckled as he took his three. “I don’t even know why I ask.”

“I don’t either.” Ernie quipped before waving you all off as you headed out. Before you and Lucy headed anywhere she made sure to grab a spare tactical vest from the equipment room for you, and since she knew the roads, she drove the both of you out to the house of the first person on your list.

“So…” She started, and you waited for her to continue before repeating back to her.

“So…?”

“You and Ernie!” You blinked.

“What about me and Ernie? I’ve barely known him for two hours!” She nodded, excitedly.

“Well, he was acting strange around you! Did something happen before you went to the squad room?”

“He ran into me on the elevator. I mean ran, plowed me straight to the ground.” You were going to keep the finger-touching incident to yourself. You hadn't known Lucy long but you could tell she was the kind of person to try and set her friends up. You’d just had a rather rough breakup back in Illinois, that was part of the reason you transferred. To get as far away from that as you could. It was too early to jump back into the dating game, but Lucy and the others didn’t need to know that. There was a more important matter at hand, finding Hannah. Or at the very least find the person whose boot print was at the scene. Lucy must have found that funny because she started laughing. The rest of the car ride felt like a game of twenty questions. What’s your favorite color? Movie? Ice Cream flavor? She was quite the chatterbox, but you didn’t mind. As long as she didn’t drift into your love life, you were fine with it.

She finally pulled up to the house. When you and Lucy knocked on the door he answered, and was very cooperative. He didn’t mind showing you his boots. They were still in the box. Plus, they were a size eight. Not your guy. When you met with the next man on your list you saw he was currently wearing the pair, but his pair was caked with paint, not mud. He walked you to his living room and showed you the large canvas he had on his floor, covered in the painted boot prints. He was an abstract artist. He was also a size eleven. Closer, but still not your guy. It was drawing nearer to evening, and you were hoping Jesse and Kai were having more luck. If they were, you were certain they would have called Lucy by now.

The last guy on your list had a rap sheet a mile long. Mostly only drug possession and intent to distribute, nothing that would suggest he’d take a darker step into the criminal world by kidnapping a little girl. As Lucy pulled up outside his apartment complex, you felt a churning in your gut. You just had a feeling.

“Lucy!” She was already halfway to the front door. She turned.

“Yeah?”

“Which one is his apartment again?” She pulled out the card from her pocket.

“Uh…203? Why?”

“I just have a feeling he’s gonna run for it. I’ll cover the back.” You state and run to the other side of the building, this side had patios. If he was going to try and run, it’d have to be out this door. Otherwise, he’ll have to try and get past Lucy in the front. You heard Lucy announce herself and kick in his door. You pulled your gun and watched as the patio's sliding glass door flew open and the suspect ran out, grabbing onto the railing and pulling his legs up like he was thinking of jumping. That was an easy fifteen-foot drop. If he didn’t know what he was doing there was a good chance he’d break both ankles and his legs if he was lucky.

“NCIS! Don’t even think about it!” Even from the ground, you could see his face pale. Lucy came up behind him and grabbed him by the wrists and put him in cuffs. She nodded inside.

“Boots are by the front door, and they are definitely caked in mud!” You holstered your gun.

“Buddy, you just became suspect number one.” Your stomach growled as you headed back around to go grab the suspect’s boots while Lucy put him in the back of the car. Another growl and you hoped that with a suspect in custody that someone on the team might know where to get a good bite to eat close to the base. You still had to figure out your whole living situation, but for now, a bunk at Pearl and your car were all you had.

Tag list:

@stanathanxoox , @nikkiwierden , @malindacath , @havlindzk , @countrygal17a , @memyselfandmaddox , @octobersmog , @mizzezm , @diaryofafan17 , @emmitheacefangirl , @a-sad-excuse-of-everything , @marennnx

[yessadirichards]

Anxiety grips companies across the world as virus spreads WASHINGTON Since breaking out of China, the coronavirus has breached the walls of the Vatican. It's struck the Iranian holy city of Qom and contaminated a nursing home in Seattle. And around the world, it's carrying not just sickness and death but also the anxiety and paralysis that can smother economic growth. From Florida, where the CEO of a toy maker who can't get products from Chinese factories is preparing layoffs, to Hong Kong, where the palatial Jumbo Kingdom restaurant is closed, businesses are struggling. The virus has grounded a British airline, and it's sunk a Japanese cruise-ship company. The cumulative damage is mounting. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development this week slashed its forecast for global growth for this year to 2.4% from 2.9%. It warned that Japan and the 19 European countries that share the euro currency are in danger of recession. Italy may already be there. Capital Economics expects the Chinese economy to shrink 2% in the January-March quarter and to grow as little as 2% for the year. That would be a disastrous and humiliating comedown for an economy that delivered a sizzling 9% average annual growth rate from 2000 through last year. The bleak outlook and nagging uncertainties about how severe the damage will be have shaken financial markets. The Dow Jones industrial average, gyrating wildly from day to day, has plummeted nearly 12% over the past month. “The virus is going to go on, and it’s going to impact a lot of countries and economies,’’ said Sondra Mansfield, who owners Chalk of the Town in New York City, which makes T-shirts and tote bags that children can write on with chalk. With global supply chains disrupted by quarantines and travel restrictions, Mansfield worries about maintaining access to the supplies she needs — T shirts from India and Honduras and markers from Japan. “I think it will get worse before it gets better,’’ she said. When COVID-19 emerged in China a few weeks ago, many economists envisioned something like what happened when SARS hit China and Hong Kong in 2003: A short-lived interruption of Chinese economic growth, one that left the global economy largely unscathed. Yet the new virus has spread far faster and more widely than expected. Between November 2002 and early August 2003, SARS infected 7,400 people in 32 countries and territories and killed 916. By contrast, COVID-19 has infected more than 100,000 people and killed more than 3,400 in 90 countries. And the toll is growing. “This is not a China issue anymore,’’ said Jacob Kirkegaard, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Business travel in the United States has slowed sharply in the face of the outbreak. Numerous large companies, including Amazon and Google, are restricting non-essential travel. The result is a dire financial blow for the travel and tourism industries — from airlines and hotels and restaurants to cruise ship companies and conference centers. Some airlines, including United, have cut back on flights both within the United States and internationally. The industry, already reeling from the grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max, stands to be severely damaged by the viral outbreak, especially if travelers stay away for months to come. In Europe, Germany's largest airline, Lufthansa, says it will cut up to 50% of its flights in the next few weeks, having suffered a drastic drop in reservations. The struggling British airline Flybe collapsed last week as the outbreak quashed ticket sales. Air France and Scandinavian Airlines are freezing hiring and offering unpaid leave and shorter work hours as they endure a drop in passengers and cargo. The pullback in air travel has led to the cancellations of high-profile conferences, from the Geneva auto show to a global health conference in Orlando, Florida, to South by Southwest, the annual festival of music, film and technology in Austin, Texas. Those cancellations, in turn, are dealing financial setbacks to the cities that normally host them and count on the financial windfalls they bring. Amusement parks are being hurt by the sudden reluctance of people to travel and mingle with crowds. Disney’s Shanghai Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland remain closed. Other theme park companies, like Six Flags and SeaWorld Entertainment, will likely suffer, too. As more people stay home, some small pockets of the U.S. economy could benefit, including food delivery outfits, video conference companies and entertainment streaming services. Most of corporate America, though, is vulnerable, and earnings growth is likely weakening. Oxford Economics, noting the “darkening outlook," puts the odds of a U.S. recession at 40%. Last week, the Federal Reserve announced a surprise half-point cut in its key interest rate to try to aid the economy in the face of the coronavirus. The Fed is expected to cut rates further in coming weeks, though economists question whether that will do much to bolster investor or consumer confidence. Central banks in Australia, Canada, China and Japan have also acted to support their economies. The European Central Bank is expected to announce its next steps this week. The virus and the measures meant to contain it have choked the supply chains that companies around the world had come to rely on. Chinese authorities locked down Wuhan, the industrial hub at the center of the outbreak, as well as surrounding cities. Stranded by travel restrictions, millions of migrant factory workers who had returned to their home villages for the Lunar New Year couldn’t get back to work. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said last week that a shortage of industrial parts from China, caused by the coronavirus outbreak, has triggered a “ripple effect” that sent exports from other countries tumbling last month. The Yayuan Toy Factory, which makes plastic cars in the southeastern Chinese city of Yiwu, remains shut down. The factory’s 12 workers had gone to Shanxi province in western China and Guizhou in the southeast for the New Year holiday — and haven’t made it back. Executives of Salus Brands, a company in Tempe, Arizona, that sells swimming-pool floats and bottles of slime, fear that deliveries from its Chinese factories won’t arrive in time for summer vacation. "If we can’t get product in stores by Memorial Day week or shortly after, we lose our season,” said Dave Balkaran, the company president. “Sadly, it’s the small and medium-sized enterprise that will get hurt the most and the soonest,’’ said Andrew Shoyer, a former U.S. trade official who is a partner at the law firm Sidley Austin. Larger companies, he noted, are more likely to have other suppliers to draw upon if some factories are disrupted. Jay Foreman, CEO of the toy company Basic Fun in Boca Raton, Florida, said he is being forced to lay off 10% of his 175-person global staff. That's because factories in China can’t deliver enough of his products, which include Tonka Toys and Care Bears. China's factories are allocating most of their reduced production to giant toy companies and squeezing out the little players like him, Foreman said. “I am getting vendors who are actually encouraging me to (make smaller) orders because they’re trying to spread out the capacity,’’ Foreman said. “I don’t want lower orders. I want higher orders.” In Hong Kong, downtown streets that are usually jammed on weekdays are eerily empty and homeowners are unloading property at steep losses. Some hotels say they are 90% empty. The virus is depressing tourism in South Korea and Japan, which have been severely hit by the outbreak. Fujimisou, a traditional Japanese inn in central Japan, had managed to fend off bankruptcy by catering to Chinese tour groups — until they stopped coming. Also filing for bankruptcy was a famous maker of potato croquettes in Hokkaido and the Luminous Cruising Co. It was crushed by cancellations after an outbreak of virus cases aboard the Diamond Princess, a Carnival Corp. ship that was quarantined for weeks offshore from Yokohama.

[biofunmy]

Saudi Arabia Wants Your Next Vacation

AL-UYAYNAH, Saudi Arabia — In a makeshift camp under a starry sky, Ghazi Al-Anazi talked about his experience in the fledgling Saudi tourist business. A decade ago, barely in his 20s, he started taking British business associates of his brother to see the wind-carved hills of the Saudi desert.

Now 31, he has a small fleet of S.U.V.s, nearly a dozen employees and a self-taught ability to cater to the whims of visitors from many nations.

“I know what they want to do, and what I need to do about it,” he said, ladling out a dinner of barbecued chicken and Middle Eastern salads to a couple of dozen tourists from France, Ukraine, Malaysia and the United States.

Mr. Al-Anazi and his business, Ghazi Tours, take up to 900 visitors a month on treks like this one to a dry riverbed dotted with venerable acacia trees north of Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

But he’s confident those numbers are about to multiply, as Saudi Arabia begins to open itself up as a major tourist destination. The government recently began issuing tourist visas for the first time, a remarkable shift for a traditionally shuttered society.

And it goes far beyond that: Billions of dollars are being poured into vast tourism projects throughout the kingdom, from flashy resorts to new airports, in a bid to shift the economy away from its dependence on the petroleum industry and the government jobs it finances.

Visiting Saudi Arabia has long been a difficult proposition for everyone except Muslim pilgrims going on the hajj and business travelers. For decades, historic sites have been largely ignored, and hotels and travel services were scarce outside major cities.

Unemployment among Saudi nationals is stubbornly high, about 12 percent. But the government figures that the travel industry, which employs about 600,000 people, can be expanded to create up to a million more jobs, as the need for everything from drivers, chefs and guides to hotel managers and archaeologists expands.

The move toward tourism was devised by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s 34-year-old chief policymaker, whose Vision 2030 program seeks to diversify the economy, draw in more outside investment and expand the private sector.

The Saudis are hiring international real estate executives and introducing elaborate advertising campaigns to try to put themselves on the map. Already, there are signs the push is paying off: Saudi hotel room sales in the first nine months of 2019 increased 11.8 percent from the same period last year.

But a question hanging over the whole initiative, some travel experts say, is how many people will want to visit an ultraconservative kingdom that’s the subject of intense criticism over its treatment of dissenters and women, that restricts the use of alcohol and until recently barred unmarried couples from sharing rooms.

An effort to overcome those concerns by inviting social media influencers for expense-paid trips this year prompted a backlash by online commenters.

Saudi Arabia is promoting a different image: ultramodern resorts, ruins from ancient civilizations and romantic desert landscapes once crossed by Lawrence of Arabia. And tour guides won’t object if you want to take a selfie with a camel.

Referring the vast golden vistas, “I call it the new yellow oil,” said Amr Al Madani, the chief executive of the Royal Commission for Al-Ula, a region in the northwest part of the kingdom that is roughly the size of New Jersey.

Al-Ula includes the evocative ruins of an ancient city of carved rock tombs, called Mada’in Saleh. Like Petra, a popular tourist draw in southern Jordan, the city was built by the Nabataeans about 2,000 years ago.

The vast region has only 45,000 residents. There are some existing resorts, and France’s Accor chain recently agreed to manage one. Mr. Madani is planning an investment of up to $20 billion, from a mix of public and private sources, to finance airport expansion, hotels and other facilities to accommodate up to two million visitors drawn to archaeological sites as well as food and cultural attractions.

An even more ambitious scheme is under construction on Saudi Arabia’s western coast. The Red Sea project covers a remote area with 120 miles of coastline, more than 90 islands and extensive coral reefs that could one day be a diving and snorkeling paradise.

The Saudis want to put four dozen luxury hotels there, including 14 in a first phase, forecasting that these facilities will eventually contribute around $6 billion a year to the economy. Accor has agreed to participate, and the developers say they are in talks with other international hotel groups.

The Public Investment Fund, Prince Mohammed’s $320 billion vehicle for economic makeover, owns the Red Sea scheme and is providing some of the initial capital. Proceeds from the recent sale of a stake in the national oil company, Saudi Aramco, are likely to flow into the investment fund, and could finance other tourist projects.

Prince Mohammed chairs the Red Sea Development Company as well as the Al-Ula commission. John Pagano, Red Sea’s chief executive, said the prince knew the area “intimately” from excursions on his yacht.

On one occasion, the prince told the developers to think again about putting a resort on a certain island because the water surrounding it is not turquoise enough.

“We never made that mistake again, “ said Mr. Pagano, a former senior executive at London’s Canary Wharf development.

These projects are the size of small countries, and the prince is taking advantage of their scale and sparse populations to plan distinctive communities. The Red Sea development, for instance, will not be connected to the national electric grid and will rely completely on renewable energy like wind and solar, according to Mr. Pagano, who is a Canadian citizen.

Saudi Arabia’s conservative social mores will also be less in evidence, the developers say. The travel industry anticipates that alcoholic beverages, which are prohibited in Saudi Arabia, may eventually be sold in these new areas just as they are in Dubai, the Persian Gulf travel and business hub, whose mix of luxury and modernism appears to influence the prince’s thinking.

Mr. Pagano said he was not counting on the availability of alcohol. He did say that “what you typically see in the West” is likely to be permitted at Red Sea resorts. In other words, alcohol aside, travelers will be able to do as they please — for example, women will be able to sunbathe in bikinis.

Both the Red Sea and Al-Ula projects aspire to attract wealthy, ecology-minded tourists willing to pay a premium for a novel and relatively unspoiled destination. Some travel analysts say this approach may pay dividends.

“This planet is running out of places to go,” said Philip Wooller, Middle East director for the travel research firm STR.

Aman Resorts, a Swiss-based hotel group that caters to the wealthy and celebrities, is setting up three establishments in Al-Ula, with a plan to open in 2023. “There is a huge amount of culture to be discovered and explored, and that is exactly what our guests want to do,” said Anna Nash, a spokeswoman for the company.

Still, Mr. Wooller said, the Saudis are starting “at the very very beginning.” Although the kingdom accommodates about 15 million international visitors a year, the bulk of them for Muslim pilgrimages, tourism has largely been limited to side trips after business meetings. A huge training and hotel-building exercise is going to be required to meet the government’s goal of 100 million domestic and international visits by 2030, more than double the 41 million of 2018.

That’s a big leap in a kingdom that until recently has had little tourism. “If we had to live off tourists, we would be dead,” said Qamar Ahmed, who runs a combined antique store, art gallery and coffee shop called Desert Designs in Al-Khobar in eastern Saudi Arabia.

Moreover, while the crown prince has given a green light to some reforms, including allowing women to drive, some potential visitors may be alienated by the brutal killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 by Saudi agents, and other repressive measures like jailing critics of the government.

“Saudi Arabia won’t be an easy sell for a lot of tourists,” said Henry Harteveldt, a travel consultant at Atmosphere Research in San Francisco. While Saudi Arabia might appeal to travelers who consider themselves explorers, he said, the kingdom has a “big cloud hanging over” its reputation because of the Khashoggi killing and because women are not treated as fully equal to men.

Still, the Saudis are trying hard to buff up their image. Arriving in Riyadh for business meetings, Carl de Stefanis, a New York venture capitalist, and his son, Erik, visited a welcome kiosk at the airport and were surprised to be treated to a tour of the city, a tasty dinner, and gifts including white Saudi robes and checkered head cloths.

“Just about everyone we met cared earnestly that we were enjoying ourselves,” Mr. de Stefanis said.

And for Saudi tourism entrepreneurs, it seems like a new day. For instance, Madawi Bander Al Saud says her company, The Traveling Panther, is preparing customized tours of the kingdom for clients from Japan, Mexico and Italy.

“For years we have been showing them pictures,” she said. “Now they get to come.”

Alan Rappeport and Tasneem Alsultan contributed reporting from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Sahred From Source link Travel

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[justfollowmyhansel]

Pre-Australia

When I was sitting on the bus coming back from Osaka to Tokyo, I asked myself whether I would do this again if I had the chance. Clearly coming to Japan to see John as Hedwig would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Even if he played Japan again, seeing the show under the extraordinary circumstances that I did would be a once-in-a-lifetime event. And I didn’t regret coming for a single moment.

But I asked myself between attempting to sketch on a moving bus, reading a little more on the book I’d brought, and generally reflecting on what had gone down if I would basically pick up everything and run to see John as Hedwig again. Just seeing him perform as her was everything I had hoped it would be for over two years and more. Hearing him speak her words and sing her songs even within a framework where he didn’t speak the majority of the dialogue was absolutely entrancing. I’d follow him as her anywhere. But would I do the same for him? Out of drag, performing his own songs?

That one I had to sit and think a little bit more on. Despite wanting to see him perform pretty much anything for so long, I found myself questioning whether or not I’d travel any great distance to Korea or Argentina to go see him perform if he wasn’t as Her. Ultimately I compromised with ‘it depends on the place.’

When the shows were announced in February, I found the speed at which I was immediately on board and wanting to go to Australia surprised me. Not anyone in my immediate circle, who once concerns that I could afford it were dismissed, knew even quicker than I had that I would be packing my bags and going to Australia. After all, wasn’t that the entire point of switching from two jobs to one higher paying one? Wasn’t that the point of buying a matching luggage set so that when an opportunity like this arose again I could pack up a small amount of belongings , hop on a plane, and see my favourite performer?

Later that first day, as I stood behind the checkout counter at work, I used on of the little yellow legal pads I had bought to aid in my roleplaying to work out my potential expenses. Much like when I went to Japan, I budgeted the hotel rooms at around a hundred dollars a night, the food at around 200 a week, the plane ticket at two thousand…. I worked out a very high, but surprisingly makeable budget that would allow me to get there and stay, by my estimates for three weeks.

On my lunch break, I corrected/firmed up/adjusted the budget taking the flight cost from Kansas City to Sydney, booking six weeks out and adding $200 for price increases or seasonal changes. I then took a quick survey of hotels generally in Sydney, assessed that a room would cost me about the same per night as it had in Japan – or possibly less depending on where I stayed. I blocked out a potential three weeks of costs, figuring that it’d cost me at least $100 per day to eat, about $20 to do two loads of laundry, and about how much I estimated it would cost to take public transport for that amount of days. Then, after planning out the minutiae of the budget I was expecting, including an eBay budget based on my general spending habits the last few months, I looked at my expected payroll. It would be tight, but it would still be workable. And if I was smart, I could even come home and have some cash left over, like I had from Japan.

The biggest monkey wrench to the trip at that time was staying at the same job. Between starting to plan the Australia trip and my first sojourn to New York, I found myself facing sudden hour reductions which affected all non-managerial positions across the board and a newly intolerable middle manager because of whom I almost quit less than a week after the trip was announced. Seeing John was one thing, but having to be miserable the next four months to be able to do so? Probably not worth it.

Of course, I stayed at the job; the hours reduction was solved by a few members of staff choosing that time to leave for better options, the middle manager problem was solved by being scheduled almost exclusively with my favourite middle manager since I was one of her favourite people to work with too, and any potential money problem were solved by full heartedly jumping on any and all overtime possibilities such as staying late, coming in early, covering shifts, and missing as little time out that I was allowed to be working as possible. Instead of having to get a part time second job like I had considered, I found myself with enough surplus to take the second trip to New York, allowing me to see the David Bowie Is museum a second and final time.

Shortly after the trip itself was announced in an early afternoon Instagram post, the first show location and ticketing info was released to the public. I had signed up for the early sale alert fan page that John had linked to shortly after announcing the shows. I bought tickets for the best seats available at the time, second row,  and then began reconfiguring my trip for going to Brisbane.

Starting and ending in Brisbane was going to be six or seven hundred dollars more expensive than starting in Sydney no matter how it was budgeted. Brisbane wasn’t an international hub with the US and regardless of how I wanted it to be plotted either way, I’d be going through Sydney. The added expense had me second guessing my budget, but not my resolve.

But for only one show, the neither price list seemed worth it. I mentally went back and forth as to whether or not I wanted to spend that much and be on a plane for so long for one show.  The last time I had thought about going to Australia was when I was in high school and deep in the depths of my Hugo Weaving obsession. I had wanted to see him in a stage adaption of what ended up being one of my favourite all time books, Les liaisons dangeouse. But I wasn’t in high school and this wasn’t going to be a case of “this is the only place I’ll ever be able to see this man.” Worst came to worst, I started to prepare myself to give up the Brisbane ticket. No matter how painful not being in that room might be, the amount of money I’d spend on a single ticket and expenses down for Brisbane could get me four or five trips to New York to see him doing something else. And if he was doing a concert series abroad, a concert series at home certainly wasn’t out of the question.

Clearly, there had to be more shows announced, but this one…wasn’t selling well. I thought for sure that the whole thing would end up being cancelled and refunded as I continued to make minor adjustments to my budget and make early morning notes at the gas station across the street from my job to where in Brisbane I wanted to go just in case I was actually able to make it.

A little while later, the next show was announced for the end of June at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. I secured my tickets to that after having emailed the directors to find out when the tickets were due to go on sale to the public. Whoever was in charge of answering emails that day gave me the link to the presale and I got a front row seat. So far, that location one was winning out over Brisbane, if for no other reason than proximity to the performer. I’d seen John from the second row in Japan in a very fortuitous stroke of luck, but I’d never seen him from the front row before…. Still, with more shows promised I was reluctant to make a commitment to one show or the other, and as such, couldn’t buy the plane ticket.

At the end of March, I took my first domestic trip to see Mason Alexander Park, David Bowie Is, and my best friend. While I was waylaid getting back to Kansas City by airport construction and weather events, two more show dates were announced – Sydney on my mother’s birthday and Melbourne four days later on July 10th. As disappointed as I was to be missing my mom’s birthday, I was pleased that I would have a chance to see the Sydney Opera House. If John hadn’t announced a show in Sydney or had it not been at the Opera House, I would have had to have structured a separate time into my schedule to go see it specifically as it was the one thing in Australia I was most looking forward to seeing. Outside of John, of course.

Back in Kansas with an absurd amount of new Bowie merchandise, I reconfigured the trip some more. Adelaide would end up being the earliest date out on June 22nd and Brisbane the last one on July 17th. I had originally budgeted for three full weeks/21 days of being away from home. Extending it to nearly five weeks took me not only to the very edges of my monetary budget, but far beyond the amount of time I had ever spent by myself. The previous record, the now six months prior weeklong trip to Japan where I had the distinct advantage of knowing someone. And as much as I loved the experience, by the end of the week I was definitely ready to spend some time at home.

With the dates I had, there was no way to group it where I’d be spending less than three weeks in Australia to see the shows, but did I want the first three or the last? Based on John’s prior performances on Broadway and during the Japanese tour, I firmly decided that the last three shows would be the better performances to be at, especially for a show that wasn’t Hedwig where he’d have more time to find his rhythm and comfort zones within the material. I still wished I could go to the Adelaide performance ….

Late-April, I booked the flight to Australia now having committed to leaving MCI on the 3rd, arriving in Australia on the 4th and staying until the 19th, two days past when the last show was supposed to go on. I added an extra day past the last show in case something was added last minute to this trip like it had been in Japan. Booking the trip took longer than it should have since I kept typing my credit card number in wrong on United’s website, but I got it booked and somehow still made it to work on time.

Late-May when I was due to go out to see Risa and the Bowie museum again, the final show date was announced for John’s show —  July 4th. Canberra. Tickets already on sale.

I nearly threw up getting tickets, it was so stressful. Neither my laptop nor my phone would let me pay for the seats once I had them selected. They both gave me the error message that since I was coming from overseas, I couldn’t use a credit card, but gave me no other options to pay with. Finally trying my mother’s computer, I was able to get the PayPal screen to pop up. Now the question became how to work Canberra into a schedule that for nearly three months had not included it.

Adjusting the plane ticket would have been the easiest solution. Going through United’s site, it would have cost me somewhere between twice and three times the amount of money I had paid just to get to Sydney to adjust the ticket to now fly into Canberra. Backing out of that reservation completely, it would cost me almost four times as much and with worse air accommodations to book a completely new ticket as so much of my other travel was tied into that reservation. And getting a separate flight just to Canberra from Sydney would be almost a third of the ticket down. Just how important was Canberra in the scheme of the shows? Some thing was telling me it was very important to make it to Canberra.

I took a mental step back and put that as something to worry about once I got back to Kansas from visiting Risa. Hopefully, no other show dates would be announced after Canberra. Or if they were, hopefully they would slot into the times I’d at least already be in Australia.

Getting back to the matter at hand, I ruled that taking public transport was right out as it would take almost ten hours and cost nearly as much as the plane ticket. Plus since I couldn’t reasonably expect to get out of the airport before eight because of customs and baggage, I couldn’t guarantee that I could make it to the theatre in time. In a moment of inspiration, I remembered what Miya had recommended when I went from Tokyo to Osaka. Maybe there was a coach bus that could take me there….

And for $80AUS both ways, there was. Overall, it was the cheapest solution and by far the easiest given the options. They even had a stop at the airport that I could take that would go directly from there to Canberra. But now I had the problem of intending to bring two pieces of luggage that would have to be checked for the bus and another fee. Or I could book the Sydney hotel room, pay no fee, rid myself of my literal baggage for a day while I went to Canberra, but…. I’d have to worry about my stuff being in a completely different city for a night as well as the hotel expense for an additional night that would be about the same both ways to bring the luggage along.

Eventually, a much simpler solution presented itself – just nest the fucking luggage since the large one was going to be mostly empty by that point anyway!

By the time, I had already started to have the dreams. I’d never been away from home this long and I knew no one in Australia. If something happened that I needed help with, the majority of my support system was half a world away and the sole person in the general time zone I could contact would be potentially unreachable as I wouldn’t reasonably be able to give her the heads up for three weeks straight. What if my debit card never worked in Australia like it never worked in Japan and this time we couldn’t get it worked around? I should have signed up for a second credit card through a different provider….. I should take out more in cash-cash than relying on my cards…. What if I took out enough cash, but my money belt was stolen or accidentally left on a bus somewhere? What if my phone was stolen or dropped? What if I got lost somewhere overnight and nothing was open? Like nearly happened my last night in Tokyo because of an unforeseen curfew at the hotel. I had dreams of wandering a deserted, but otherwise oddly accurate dream depiction of Australia without one or more resources.

I had dreams of walking the Michaels stockroom talking to my former store manager Tina while she was on her way to a meeting and suddenly I was also in the meeting but our store was now an hour away in Independence and it wasn’t laid out like a Michaels, it was laid out like a warehouse version of Toys R Us where she had worked before Michaels and we were attending a seminar that was being held in an area of the store that was at once a cross between a Greek open air oratorium and a modern theatre like the one at NHK Broadcasting in Osaka all the while talking to her regional boss about whatever the upcoming meeting was going to be about.

The most interesting of these dreams was that I was back in Japan, about to ride the train system with Miya. We had gone to Mos Burger, like on my real first night in Tokyo, and now were getting ready to go see a performance of the original cast of If/Then, which was likely inspired by Miya’s If/Then t-shirt that she was wearing when we first met. In the dream, we got on the train at Tabata, which was looking more like a blend of a bunch of stations that were decidedly Not Tabata, but other parts of Tokyo or Osaka. Almost immediately in the nearly empty car, we spot Anthony Rapp.

I went over to talk to Anthony since I’d already met him when If/Then came to KC on its tour (in reality, I was too nervous to say anything beyond hi.) He greeted me with a friendly surprise at seeing me so far away from home and asked why I had come over and what my friend and I were doing that evening. I said something about having come over to see John performing as Hedwig and that it had been a lovely coincidence that he was going to be playing in If/Then in Japan since I had enjoyed seeing him a couple of years previous and Miya was a big fan and…. He stopped me there and asked if he had heard correctly that we were seeing JCM. I confirmed and he offered to introduce both of us as he and John were friends from way back. I was so excited I woke myself up, unable to recapture the dream when I lay back down to see what happened next.

Around June the dreams calmed down and I stopped waking up panicked and worrying that I was making the right choice in spending so much time and energy doing this. What was done was done.

I booked the rest of the hotels and the coach buses and the cross country train. I added a trip to the Australia Zoo where I would have the chance to meet three different types of animals up close. I fully finished one of the three cosplays I had started with the intention of dressing up at the shows, gave up on the custom Hedwig Funko figure for the time being, and packed my bags for the trip of a lifetime.

[annoyingcherryblossomnight-blog1]

The Portuguese Language

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An attention-grabbing function of the preliminary contract in Portugal is the fact that if the customer decides to walk away from the contract, the client is obliged to pay to the vendor a penalty in the quantity of twice the deposit positioned by the client in the first occasion.

[thecaptainsdesk]

The Philippines is often overlooked by foreign travellers in favour of other Asian destinations, but there’s no better time to get to know this tropical archipelago.

With 7461* islands (at low tide!) and a feast of screensaver-perfect backdrops – from dreamy tropical beaches and smouldering volcanoes to mesmerising rice terraces and crumbling Spanish relics – the Philippines is one of south-east Asia’s most exotic getaways.

(*Yes, according to the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA), following a report from the Philippine Islands Measurement Project, the number of islands recognized as Philippine property is actually larger than the 7,107 islands people were taught in school for decades. Some had just been missed due to a lack of technology, and others are relatively new islands that are the result of changing landforms.)

Yet to many travellers, this lush archipelago – anchored between the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean – remains an under-appreciated mystery; usually ignored in favour of its near-neighbours Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia (Bali), despite the efforts of Filipino tourism chiefs, whose slogan, “It’s More Fun in the Philippines”, and the new ad with world-famous travel blogger, Jack Ellis, “When you’re with Filipinos, you’re with family” graces billboards everywhere.

Palawan

So why take a punt on the Philippines? Aside from the fact that low-cost Filipino carrier Cebu Airlines has launched flights between the Philippines and other international destinations, taking on the national carrier Philippine Airlines, and the fact that you’re dealing with bargain, Bali-esque prices, what is there that appeals here?

How about gorgeous landscapes, a spellbinding cast of wildlife (both on land and under water), exuberant festivals, romantic hideaways and thrilling adventures, sumptuous seafood and rum-fuelled parties and the chance to mingle with some of the cheeriest people on earth.

And you’ll have no worries communicating with them. Alongside Tagalog (Filipino), English is the Philippines’ unofficial language (a legacy of the country’s strong American influence).

Compiling a maiden Filipino travel itinerary can be tricky (did I mention there were 7461 islands?).

So here are some ideas to get you started.

MANIC MANILA

Most travellers fly into Metro Manila, which, with its Bangkok-style traffic jams and its glaring chasms between the ostentatiously rich and the heart-wrenchingly poor, provides an in-your-face introduction to the Philippines. However, the Filipino capital is an absorbing and enthralling place to explore.

To familiarise yourself, join a walking tour with Carlos Celdran, an acclaimed guide who uses street theatre to trace Manila’s topsy-turvy history. His signature tour covers Intramuros – the photogenic, and fairly placid, old walled quarter founded by the Spanish colonialists in the early 16th century. (celdrantours.blogspot.com)

It was partially rebuilt after being flattened during World War II when the US and Japan fought for control of the city, then known as the pearl of the Orient. Another Celdran tour (Livin’ La Vida Imelda) explores the controversial life of Imelda Marcos, the shoe-loving wife of former President, Ferdinand Marcos. She was said to have owned 3000 pairs of shoes when she was the first lady.

Manila skyline at dusk

You can shop for nifty footwear, and other goodies, in the sleek airconditioned malls beloved by Manileños across the social spectrum (the fanciest are in Makati, a modern American-tinged enclave strewn with cosmopolitan hotels and restaurants). Don’t miss the sunset over Manila Bay; it’s the city’s traffic pollution that contributes to the startling orangey-red spectacle.

After dark, kick back with drinks on a trendy rooftop bar such as Skye (skye.ph) or try your luck at Manila’s new $1.3 billion Solaire casino (solaireresort.com). You could also partake in the national obsession: singing. Karaoke bars are everywhere; some are family-friendly, others not so, dripping in neon and sleaze, rife with sex tourists and ladies, and lady-boys, of the night.

THE BIG ISLAND – LUZON

Classic Filipino Jeepney

Manila sprawls at the centre of the Philippines’ largest island.

A touch smaller than Cuba, Luzon could easily eat up the visa-free allowance that many passport holders are given upon entering the country.

After the smog, heat and bustle of Manila, it’s bliss to ascend into the cooler Cordillera, a pine-forested chain of mountains sheltering laid-back towns like Sagada, a faintly mystical, hippy hideaway, and Baguio, a hill station established by the American military, who forced Spain out of the Philippines in 1898.

Baguio Botanical Gardens

The Cordillera hides waterfalls, sacred caves with entombed mummies and museums that depict the customs of ancient headhunters.

But the main pull is the UNESCO World Heritage-listed rice terraces skirting the small towns of Banaue and Batad.

Banaue Rice Terraces

Dating back to the days before Christ, these magnificent amphitheatres — hewn with hand, mud and stone by the Ifugao people (one of several tribes still living in the region) — are edged by invigorating hiking trails. Travellers can do bamboo and nipa hut home-stays in Batad, where the worst of the noise pollution comes from crowing roosters and playful children.

A little sister gets a lift

Further north, the Philippines’ best-preserved Spanish town, Vigan, has cobblestone streets, Mediterranean mansions, sturdy Catholic churches that were built to withstand earthquakes; one form of disastrous natural phenomena that the Philippines is vulnerable to and vibrant festivals like January’s Vigan Town Fiesta – it’s a blaze of colour, music and processions.

Horse-drawn carriage in Vigan

You can tour Vigan in a calesa, a two-wheeled horse carriage that is just one of the country’s eye-catching (and often hair-raising) modes of transport. Most prevalent is the jeepney. A Philippines classic, the ex-US Army jeeps-cum-minibuses daubed in technicolour graffiti spawning messages of love, politics and religion. Similar designs cover tricycles, the Filipino rickshaws that are basically motorbikes with bolted-on sidecars.

Swimming with the Butanding

In South Luzon, you can swim with giant butanding (whale sharks) off the coast of Donsol, and see smoking Mount Mayon (a perfect cone volcano blooming from rice fields). Volcanoes loom either side of Manila. Day-trippers scale Mount Pinatubo, which last erupted in 1991, and Taal, which emerges, rather magically, out of a lake.

Left: Taal, Right: Mt. Pinatubo(top) Mt. Mayon(bottom)

BORACAY BLISS

Choosing the Philippines’ most beautiful beach is nigh-on impossible; there are so many. The most hyped is Boracay Island’s White Beach, a luscious, four-kilometre lick of powdery sand, edged by giant, lurching coconut palms and stroked by gentle azure waters crawling with paraws (traditional sailing boats).

Boracay's white sand beaches

Though Boracay is paradise to many Filipinos (and Americans, South Koreans, Taiwanese and Chinese, who comprise the bulk of the international tourists), some complain that it’s become too developed.

Compared to Thailand’s Patong and Bali’s Kuta, however, Boracay is still pretty laidback. And as you enjoy a seafood platter — grilled squid, octopus, shrimps and snapper – with a chilled San Miguel beer, while watching the sun melt into the sea, sending the sky into a frenzy of pinks and oranges, White Beach doesn’t seem such a bad place to linger.

SEE CEBU

Less frenetic than Manila, Cebu is the Philippines’ second major gateway. Its international airport is on Mactan Island, where Iberian explorer Ferdinand Magellan met his end at the hands of tribal leader Lapu-Lapu in 1521.

Magellan Shrine (back), Lapu-Lapu Shrine (front)

A 20-minute taxi ride away, Cebu City boasts the country’s oldest street and church, a ruined Spanish fort, and renowned eateries, like Zubuchon, where globetrotting celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain feasted on lechon (spit-roasted suckling pig). His verdict? “Best pig ever!”

Pinoy lechon, roasting over hot coals

While not as famous as Thai or Vietnamese food, Filipino cuisine is extremely varied and flavoursome.

Touted as the national dish, adobo is a vinegary, garlicky dish that comes in beef, pork and chicken variations, with rice. It’s served everywhere, from upscale bistros to boisterous street markets where families and friends munch and socialise around plastic tables and chairs.

Adobong Manok chaka kanin

Balut (half-developed duck embryo) is among the more offbeat culinary options. A favourite Filipino dessert is halo-halo, a revitalising concoction of milky crushed ice, fresh fruit (like mango, banana and papaya) and ice-cream.

Balut (left),  Halo-Halo (right)

I could go on and on about the delights of Filipino cuisine, but I think I’ll leave that for another time…

The hub of the Visayan archipelago, Cebu is the launchpad for ferries and catamarans to myriad tempting islands, best explored on a motorbike or bicycle. Gems include Siquijor which is famed for its witches and shamans and the bucolic Bohol, which is on the road to recovery after suffering back-to-back jolts in late 2013. A devastating 7.2 earthquake was followed three weeks later by Typhoon Haiyan (or Yolanda, as it was known in the Philippines).

Although some of Bohol’s centuries-old churches were reduced to rubble, its iconic, tubby Chocolate Hills are still largely intact.

Chocolate Hills, Bohol

These 100-metre high mounds turn brown in the dry season between March and May (but are a luxuriant green for most of the year).

Another Bohol highlight is the tarsier. You can glimpse these cute, wide-eyed creatures — some of the planet’s tiniest primates — in the trees of Bohol’s Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary.

Bohol Tarsiers

BEST OF THE REST

Like Borneo, Palawan conjures up a sense of the far-flung and unexplored. Its languid provincial capital, Puerto Princesa, is just an hour’s flight from Manila, but oozes Eden-esque qualities.

One of the few pockets of civilisation, El Nido is a traveller-friendly town surrounded by hulking limestone cliffs, pristine beaches and sparkling emerald lagoons. Hop in a bangka (an outrigger vessel) or kayak and imbibe scenery that resembles Phi Phi in Thailand, only with a fraction of the tourists. North of Palawan, the Calamian Islands are believed to have inspired Alex Garland to write The Beach.

Strolling along the beach in El Nido, Palawan

Calamian includes the hallowed wreck-dive spot of Coron, where more than a dozen Japanese ships were sunk during World War II. Coral-rich reefs teeming with tropical fish, turtles, sharks and dugongs, pepper Filipino waters, with world-class dive sites off Panglao Island, south of Bohol, Apo Island, off Negros, and Puerto Galera, Mindoro.

In the Philippines’ deep south, hardcore surfers tackle the “Cloud Nine” break off Siargao Island, while adventure-seekers are drawn to Camiguin, a pear-shaped island with seven volcanoes. Both are near Mindanao, the country’s second largest island.

Currently, Mindanao is out-of-bounds to tourists due to a proclamation of Martial Law by Philippine President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte, initiated to counter the pro-ISIS Maute terrorist group, who recently took a hold in Marawi City. Troops are currently active in the region, although the rest of the country is as safe as ever.

MORE INFORMATION

It’s More Fun In The Philippines

Department of Tourism, Philippines

TEN ESSENTIAL PHILIPPINES EXPERIENCES

Sip Tanduay rum and coke, a San Miguel or a fresh fruit juice while soaking up a Boracay sunset.

Filipinos are rarely more gleeful than during karaoke sessions. Go on, join in.

3. Hike through and marvel at the ancient rice terraces lording over Banaue and Batad.

Rub shoulders with a cocktail of humanity in a jeepney.

Ogle awe-inspiring wildlife, whether it be tarsiers on land or butanding under water.

Indulge your inner mall rat and relax the purse strings in Manila’s glut of shopping centres.

Navigate turquoise Filipino seas in a ferry, kayak or bangka (outrigger boat).

Enjoy a taste of the local street foods, including barbecued isaw, kwek-kwek, and fish balls.

You’ll be offered hundreds of massages on your Filipino holiday. Accept one (at least).

Stumble across your own empty, postcard-perfect tropical beach.

Fish balls, squid balls, kwek-kwek, and kikiam, favoured street foods of Filipinos

Secret’s out: Asia’s most overlooked paradise The Philippines is often overlooked by foreign travellers in favour of other Asian destinations, but there's no better time to get to know this tropical archipelago.

[rollinbrigittenv8]

CEO Interview: How Finnair Plans to Crack the Potentially Lucrative Chinese market

Finnair CEO Pekka Vauramo is betting his company's future on Asia, especially the Chinese market. With a fleet of new Airbus A350s, it has the right plane for the routes. Finnair

Skift Take: Not every airline can be a global behemoth. Finnair mostly focuses on its niche — connecting Europe with Asia, including secondary Chinese cities.

— Brian Sumers

Editor’s Note: Following our previous CEO interview series in online travel, hospitality, and destinations, as well as our CMO series across verticals, we’ve launched another series, this time focused on the CEOs of leading airlines outside of the United States. To better understand the challenges facing airlines in an age of fluctuating oil prices, rapid growth, and changing passenger expectations, our Future of Passenger Experience series enables airline leaders to explain their best practices and insights. Read the rest of the series here.

This is the latest interview in the series.

While many of its European competitors, like Lufthansa Group, fly to most major global cities, Finnair tries to focus on what it does best — connecting Europe with Asia.

It’s a strategy that allows the airline to take advantage of the location of its Helsinki hub. For most of Europe, Finland is on the way to Asia, and Finnair, which flies the newest and most fuel-efficient widebody Airbus jet, the A350, has the right fleet for the routes.

But travelers in major European capitals generally can reach larger Asian cities, like Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing, nonstop on their home-country carriers. So while Finnair flies to those larger markets, it also connects European cities with secondary cities in Asia, sometimes flying to airports with little, or no, European competition.

Finnair might not be the perfect airline for a Londoner headed to Tokyo, but it’s well-positioned to attract someone from London, Paris, Madrid or Brussels seeking fast, one-stop flights to Chongqing and X’ian in China, Krabi and Phuket in Thailand, and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

We met recently with Finnair CEO Pekka Vauramo in Cancun at the IATA Annual General Meeting, an annual conference for airline executives. We asked him about the airline’s Asia strategy, and whether it needs to tweak its onboard product to cater to Chinese travelers. We also asked about cabin interiors, including problems with the carrier’s new business class seats, manufactured by Zodiac.

Skift: You’ve had quality issues with A350 cabins and seats. Your interiors are manufactured by Zodiac, a company Cathay Pacific, United Airlines and American Airlines have also had problems with. What’s happening?

Vauramo: Yes, that is correct. The seat itself is not the issue, but what’s around the seat and all the panels relating to that module have been a big, big problem. The panels are not fitting. They have to be individually fitted in each place, and then of course if they are individually fitted in each place, there’s no spare parts available and things like that.

Skift: I know Cathay Pacific had a similar problem, but it said it was only on some planes. Is this on all nine of your A350s?

Vauramo:.Things are better with the latest deliveries. There are some things to re-work with them as well, but not to the same extent.

Skift: Is it frustrating?

Vauramo: Certainly, it’s frustrating when we buy a new aircraft that costs more than hundred million and the first thing we find out is that it’s not up to the standard. And they are things that are very visible to customers — they are the cabin interiors, they are the lavatories, and some of the kitchen, the galley issues.

We’re buying a new aircraft and the quality is not there.

Skift: Let’s talk about China, an important destination for Finnair. Why is it such a priority?

Vauramo: Look at our geographical position between Europe and China. We are on sort of great circle from there. The shortest route from most of Europe goes right above Helsinki. It’s a natural place to fly into, and then from there we have built our connectivity to Europe. [We fly to] 70 cities in Europe. We can collect people from 70 cities in Europe, fly them to Helsinki, and [take them] from there to about 18 destinations in Asia. And vice versa.

Skift: Many European and North American airlines don’t fly beyond Shanghai and Beijing because they say the secondary cities are not yet profitable. Is this a long-term play for Finnair? Perhaps you hope China will make money in the future?

Vauramo: It already has been a long term [strategy]. We started with Beijing direct flights from Helsinki in 1988. And then we’ve expanded. Shanghai, Hong Kong, Chongqing, Xi’an, Guangzhou. That’s the network we have there. It’s very much ongoing business, but of course the secondary cities like Xi’an and Chongqing, they are more long term. They are what Beijing used to be back in 1988 — in a development phase at this moment. But we see steady demand. The middle class is growing in those secondary cities rapidly as well, and they are the ones who really travel.

Skift: Is it tough to sell tickets in China?

Vauramo: It’s not easy. It’s different. The ones that travel far away for the first time, they prefer to go as a member of a group. Therefore, a tour operator is very important, and the agent is a very important point of contact. They book these groups together, and they book the seats. And then, this agent business, the tour operator business, is still — as far as airline is concerned — a fairly manual sort of business.

But more and more, people are traveling individually. When it comes to individuals that book directly, they use mobile devices to book their travel. They plan their travels and you need to be reachable through [the devices].

Skift: Do the Chinese want to go to the same European cities as everyone else? Do they come to Europe to visit London, Paris, Rome and Barcelona?

Vauramo: Yes, probably. They are of course the big cities. But things are changing. Right now, we’re seeing a lot of interest in Northern Europe — Finland specifically. First quarter this year, we saw 75 percent increase in Chinese passengers in Finland alone.

Skift: If you’re successful in the secondary Chinese markets, do you fear more airlines will follow you?

Vauramo: We will see the competition over time. We’re already seeing Chinese competition. We’ve started to see Chinese airlines flying from Xi’an to Paris.

Our opportunity is that [with connecting flights] … we don’t have to sell just one destination in Europe. We can sell multiple destinations. If you have a direct flight, you’re more or less selling that one destination.

Skift: Asian passengers can connect in Helsinki to reach 70 other cities. But you don’t have that same connectivity in China. You do not have a Chinese airline partner. And OneWorld, your alliance, does not have an airline in mainland China. Does this need to change?

Vauramo: Well, OneWorld has had a few attempts, but not succeeded. Currently, OneWorld companies have free hands in China to go into bilateral agreements [with Chinese airlines belonging to other alliances], but we don’t have anything to announce. But the President of China visited Finland on his way to meet President Trump, and he saw how many Chinese tourists are in Finland. And he’s very much encouraging it — encouraging the airlines to talk to each other and find partners. We’ve seen a lot of interest, but nothing to announce right now.

Skift: You recently started accepting Alipay on board. Are you selling more items?

Vauramo: We have such a big percentage of Chinese passengers on many of our China flights. And it’s something they are familiar with. They don’t have to play with the currencies. We have the wi-fi on board on all our wide-body aircraft so that’s what you need to use the Alipay. What we’ve seen is up to 200 percent sales increases on board.

Skift: This is for duty-free?

Vauramo: Yes. Duty-free, or things that they might buy and consume on board the plane. They are buying drinks [and food]. They are buying whatever we have, like cosmetics.

I think there’s a lot more potential to develop [the duty free] part of the business. With our Asian traffic in particular, they want to shop luxury goods.

Skift: On Asia flights, do you need special catering? Or are you merely a transportation provider, less worried about whether you have the right regional cuisine?

Vauramo: No, no. We have to impress the passenger. Not only that, we want to stay away from the transportation business. We need to adapt to, for example, Asian or Chinese taste. There are certain Japanese elements on our Japan flights, certain China elements on our China flights. We need to have the big rice bowl available. We need to have hot water available. Fairly simple things.

And then we can have the Finnish specialties as well. Nordic specialties. But certain basic things need to be what they are comfortable with.

Skift: For many Europe-Asia flights, you need permission from Russia to fly over Siberia. Other airlines have complained they have trouble securing rights. Are you pleased with the rights you have?

Vauramo: So far, yes. Of course, Russia keeps on saying that the air traffic control is not that well-developed over Siberia, so that’s why they restrict the airline flights over Siberia. But we are happy where we stand currently.

Skift: You’re expanding in the United States, with a new seasonal route to San Francisco. What opportunity do you see? Might you add more flights?

Vauramo: I’m sure there are more things out there, but of course we’ve increased recently quite a bit. We’ve added Chicago a few years back. We’ve added frequencies to Chicago. New York we’ve had for many, many years. We have Miami, and now San Francisco. For the time being, I think we will just digest these ones and try to make them year-round. That should be the next phase.

Skift: Last year, we interviewed International Airlines Group CEO Willie Walsh for this series. He said he believes there should be more airline consolidation in Europe. You’re a smaller independent airline. Do you agree?

Vauramo: Of course, things are moving that way. That is for sure. It’s clearly visible. We do have restrictions on our ownership by law — the government needs to hold more than 50 percent of shares and so as long as that is in place, there’s not much we can do. At the end of the day, it’s up to our owners, not us, to make decisions on who owns us. But a bigger home sometimes feels a bit safer than a small airline.

Skift: How does being government-owned affect the way you operate the airline?

Vauramo: Not much. We’ve had tough times in the past and the government is seen as a very stable owner in those circumstances. It has been a good owner. But of course, [we might have] some more flexibility without majority ownership.

Skift: Scandinavia is home to discount airline Norwegian Air. Has competing with Norwegian affected your business?

Vauramo: Not really because Norwegian is going to concentrate on the Atlantic and for us, only 10 percent of our capacity is on the North Atlantic. We are exposed, but it’s not a major exposure. We are 50 percent Asia, 40 percent Europe and 10 percent North Atlantic traffic. But we are of course following how they are doing.

Skift: Norwegian is expanding in Asia, and will start London-Singapore flights in September. Do you fear they will add more Asia flights?

Vauramo: I’m sure they will, over time, find themselves in the same places where we are. Of course, low-cost carriers, they require Open Skies. Otherwise they won’t be able to do that. Currently, we fly to the part [of Asia] where the skies are not open. You need the overflight rights, you need the rights to fly to China.

You can use Open Skies to fly to Singapore. And from Gatwick, you don’t have to go across the northern route to Singapore, so therefore [that’s why] they are possibly opening it.

Skift: Do you think flying low-cost carriers has changed what passengers expect? When travelers fly Finnair instead of Norwegian, they must be amazed at what they get for free.

Vauramo: Of course. The line between a low-cost and legacy carrier is somewhat fading. Some of the legacies can be fairly close, with the same service quantity. Many of the legacies have unbundled the product, especially the short-haul. I’m quite sure that we will see some legacies unbundling the long-haul product very soon as well. Whatever you [want] in addition to the seat, you’ll end up paying for.

Skift: What about product segmentation? On short-haul flights, most European airlines have two products — business class and economy class. In the United States., we often see four segments — first class, economy class with extra legroom, economy class, and Basic Economy. Do you see Europe following? Or is this a uniquely American phenomenon?

Vauramo: No, I think that’s the way it’s going. I do hear that there are even more segments that some people are considering. Of course, we are very close to the point when we will start seeing people having a really a low-cost configuration in the back-end of the aircraft. And then [there will be] something else in front of that. It’ll still be economy class, but not quite low cost.

Skift: You have a lot of leisure-oriented routes — you’ll even send an A350 to Puerto Vallarta in Mexico once a week next winter — and yet you have large business class cabins on long-haul planes. Why?

Vauramo:  We have almost 50 business class seats on a 300-seat aircraft. The business occupancy rates are pretty good.

We have a lot of tourists that we carry, not so much business people on many our routes. It looks like there’s a segment where the tourists want to be in business. There’s a trend where people are [taking] shorter holidays rather than one- or two-week holidays. They go for a few days. And if you fly 10 hours, in the economy or in business, it’s different how you arrive and how much you can get then out of your holiday.

[touristguidebuzz]

CEO Interview: How Finnair Plans to Crack the Potentially Lucrative Chinese market

Finnair CEO Pekka Vauramo is betting his company's future on Asia, especially the Chinese market. With a fleet of new Airbus A350s, it has the right plane for the routes. Finnair

Skift Take: Not every airline can be a global behemoth. Finnair mostly focuses on its niche — connecting Europe with Asia, including secondary Chinese cities.

— Brian Sumers

Editor’s Note: Following our previous CEO interview series in online travel, hospitality, and destinations, as well as our CMO series across verticals, we’ve launched another series, this time focused on the CEOs of leading airlines outside of the United States. To better understand the challenges facing airlines in an age of fluctuating oil prices, rapid growth, and changing passenger expectations, our Future of Passenger Experience series enables airline leaders to explain their best practices and insights. Read the rest of the series here.

This is the latest interview in the series.

While many of its European competitors, like Lufthansa Group, fly to most major global cities, Finnair tries to focus on what it does best — connecting Europe with Asia.

It’s a strategy that allows the airline to take advantage of the location of its Helsinki hub. For most of Europe, Finland is on the way to Asia, and Finnair, which flies the newest and most fuel-efficient widebody Airbus jet, the A350, has the right fleet for the routes.

But travelers in major European capitals generally can reach larger Asian cities, like Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing, nonstop on their home-country carriers. So while Finnair flies to those larger markets, it also connects European cities with secondary cities in Asia, sometimes flying to airports with little, or no, European competition.

Finnair might not be the perfect airline for a Londoner headed to Tokyo, but it’s well-positioned to attract someone from London, Paris, Madrid or Brussels seeking fast, one-stop flights to Chongqing and X’ian in China, Krabi and Phuket in Thailand, and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

We met recently with Finnair CEO Pekka Vauramo in Cancun at the IATA Annual General Meeting, an annual conference for airline executives. We asked him about the airline’s Asia strategy, and whether it needs to tweak its onboard product to cater to Chinese travelers. We also asked about cabin interiors, including problems with the carrier’s new business class seats, manufactured by Zodiac.

Skift: You’ve had quality issues with A350 cabins and seats. Your interiors are manufactured by Zodiac, a company Cathay Pacific, United Airlines and American Airlines have also had problems with. What’s happening?

Vauramo: Yes, that is correct. The seat itself is not the issue, but what’s around the seat and all the panels relating to that module have been a big, big problem. The panels are not fitting. They have to be individually fitted in each place, and then of course if they are individually fitted in each place, there’s no spare parts available and things like that.

Skift: I know Cathay Pacific had a similar problem, but it said it was only on some planes. Is this on all nine of your A350s?

Vauramo:.Things are better with the latest deliveries. There are some things to re-work with them as well, but not to the same extent.

Skift: Is it frustrating?

Vauramo: Certainly, it’s frustrating when we buy a new aircraft that costs more than hundred million and the first thing we find out is that it’s not up to the standard. And they are things that are very visible to customers — they are the cabin interiors, they are the lavatories, and some of the kitchen, the galley issues.

We’re buying a new aircraft and the quality is not there.

Skift: Let’s talk about China, an important destination for Finnair. Why is it such a priority?

Vauramo: Look at our geographical position between Europe and China. We are on sort of great circle from there. The shortest route from most of Europe goes right above Helsinki. It’s a natural place to fly into, and then from there we have built our connectivity to Europe. [We fly to] 70 cities in Europe. We can collect people from 70 cities in Europe, fly them to Helsinki, and [take them] from there to about 18 destinations in Asia. And vice versa.

Skift: Many European and North American airlines don’t fly beyond Shanghai and Beijing because they say the secondary cities are not yet profitable. Is this a long-term play for Finnair? Perhaps you hope China will make money in the future?

Vauramo: It already has been a long term [strategy]. We started with Beijing direct flights from Helsinki in 1988. And then we’ve expanded. Shanghai, Hong Kong, Chongqing, Xi’an, Guangzhou. That’s the network we have there. It’s very much ongoing business, but of course the secondary cities like Xi’an and Chongqing, they are more long term. They are what Beijing used to be back in 1988 — in a development phase at this moment. But we see steady demand. The middle class is growing in those secondary cities rapidly as well, and they are the ones who really travel.

Skift: Is it tough to sell tickets in China?

Vauramo: It’s not easy. It’s different. The ones that travel far away for the first time, they prefer to go as a member of a group. Therefore, a tour operator is very important, and the agent is a very important point of contact. They book these groups together, and they book the seats. And then, this agent business, the tour operator business, is still — as far as airline is concerned — a fairly manual sort of business.

But more and more, people are traveling individually. When it comes to individuals that book directly, they use mobile devices to book their travel. They plan their travels and you need to be reachable through [the devices].

Skift: Do the Chinese want to go to the same European cities as everyone else? Do they come to Europe to visit London, Paris, Rome and Barcelona?

Vauramo: Yes, probably. They are of course the big cities. But things are changing. Right now, we’re seeing a lot of interest in Northern Europe — Finland specifically. First quarter this year, we saw 75 percent increase in Chinese passengers in Finland alone.

Skift: If you’re successful in the secondary Chinese markets, do you fear more airlines will follow you?

Vauramo: We will see the competition over time. We’re already seeing Chinese competition. We’ve started to see Chinese airlines flying from Xi’an to Paris.

Our opportunity is that [with connecting flights] … we don’t have to sell just one destination in Europe. We can sell multiple destinations. If you have a direct flight, you’re more or less selling that one destination.

Skift: Asian passengers can connect in Helsinki to reach 70 other cities. But you don’t have that same connectivity in China. You do not have a Chinese airline partner. And OneWorld, your alliance, does not have an airline in mainland China. Does this need to change?

Vauramo: Well, OneWorld has had a few attempts, but not succeeded. Currently, OneWorld companies have free hands in China to go into bilateral agreements [with Chinese airlines belonging to other alliances], but we don’t have anything to announce. But the President of China visited Finland on his way to meet President Trump, and he saw how many Chinese tourists are in Finland. And he’s very much encouraging it — encouraging the airlines to talk to each other and find partners. We’ve seen a lot of interest, but nothing to announce right now.

Skift: You recently started accepting Alipay on board. Are you selling more items?

Vauramo: We have such a big percentage of Chinese passengers on many of our China flights. And it’s something they are familiar with. They don’t have to play with the currencies. We have the wi-fi on board on all our wide-body aircraft so that’s what you need to use the Alipay. What we’ve seen is up to 200 percent sales increases on board.

Skift: This is for duty-free?

Vauramo: Yes. Duty-free, or things that they might buy and consume on board the plane. They are buying drinks [and food]. They are buying whatever we have, like cosmetics.

I think there’s a lot more potential to develop [the duty free] part of the business. With our Asian traffic in particular, they want to shop luxury goods.

Skift: On Asia flights, do you need special catering? Or are you merely a transportation provider, less worried about whether you have the right regional cuisine?

Vauramo: No, no. We have to impress the passenger. Not only that, we want to stay away from the transportation business. We need to adapt to, for example, Asian or Chinese taste. There are certain Japanese elements on our Japan flights, certain China elements on our China flights. We need to have the big rice bowl available. We need to have hot water available. Fairly simple things.

And then we can have the Finnish specialties as well. Nordic specialties. But certain basic things need to be what they are comfortable with.

Skift: For many Europe-Asia flights, you need permission from Russia to fly over Siberia. Other airlines have complained they have trouble securing rights. Are you pleased with the rights you have?

Vauramo: So far, yes. Of course, Russia keeps on saying that the air traffic control is not that well-developed over Siberia, so that’s why they restrict the airline flights over Siberia. But we are happy where we stand currently.

Skift: You’re expanding in the United States, with a new seasonal route to San Francisco. What opportunity do you see? Might you add more flights?

Vauramo: I’m sure there are more things out there, but of course we’ve increased recently quite a bit. We’ve added Chicago a few years back. We’ve added frequencies to Chicago. New York we’ve had for many, many years. We have Miami, and now San Francisco. For the time being, I think we will just digest these ones and try to make them year-round. That should be the next phase.

Skift: Last year, we interviewed International Airlines Group CEO Willie Walsh for this series. He said he believes there should be more airline consolidation in Europe. You’re a smaller independent airline. Do you agree?

Vauramo: Of course, things are moving that way. That is for sure. It’s clearly visible. We do have restrictions on our ownership by law — the government needs to hold more than 50 percent of shares and so as long as that is in place, there’s not much we can do. At the end of the day, it’s up to our owners, not us, to make decisions on who owns us. But a bigger home sometimes feels a bit safer than a small airline.

Skift: How does being government-owned affect the way you operate the airline?

Vauramo: Not much. We’ve had tough times in the past and the government is seen as a very stable owner in those circumstances. It has been a good owner. But of course, [we might have] some more flexibility without majority ownership.

Skift: Scandinavia is home to discount airline Norwegian Air. Has competing with Norwegian affected your business?

Vauramo: Not really because Norwegian is going to concentrate on the Atlantic and for us, only 10 percent of our capacity is on the North Atlantic. We are exposed, but it’s not a major exposure. We are 50 percent Asia, 40 percent Europe and 10 percent North Atlantic traffic. But we are of course following how they are doing.

Skift: Norwegian is expanding in Asia, and will start London-Singapore flights in September. Do you fear they will add more Asia flights?

Vauramo: I’m sure they will, over time, find themselves in the same places where we are. Of course, low-cost carriers, they require Open Skies. Otherwise they won’t be able to do that. Currently, we fly to the part [of Asia] where the skies are not open. You need the overflight rights, you need the rights to fly to China.

You can use Open Skies to fly to Singapore. And from Gatwick, you don’t have to go across the northern route to Singapore, so therefore [that’s why] they are possibly opening it.

Skift: Do you think flying low-cost carriers has changed what passengers expect? When travelers fly Finnair instead of Norwegian, they must be amazed at what they get for free.

Vauramo: Of course. The line between a low-cost and legacy carrier is somewhat fading. Some of the legacies can be fairly close, with the same service quantity. Many of the legacies have unbundled the product, especially the short-haul. I’m quite sure that we will see some legacies unbundling the long-haul product very soon as well. Whatever you [want] in addition to the seat, you’ll end up paying for.

Skift: What about product segmentation? On short-haul flights, most European airlines have two products — business class and economy class. In the United States., we often see four segments — first class, economy class with extra legroom, economy class, and Basic Economy. Do you see Europe following? Or is this a uniquely American phenomenon?

Vauramo: No, I think that’s the way it’s going. I do hear that there are even more segments that some people are considering. Of course, we are very close to the point when we will start seeing people having a really a low-cost configuration in the back-end of the aircraft. And then [there will be] something else in front of that. It’ll still be economy class, but not quite low cost.

Skift: You have a lot of leisure-oriented routes — you’ll even send an A350 to Puerto Vallarta in Mexico once a week next winter — and yet you have large business class cabins on long-haul planes. Why?

Vauramo:  We have almost 50 business class seats on a 300-seat aircraft. The business occupancy rates are pretty good.

We have a lot of tourists that we carry, not so much business people on many our routes. It looks like there’s a segment where the tourists want to be in business. There’s a trend where people are [taking] shorter holidays rather than one- or two-week holidays. They go for a few days. And if you fly 10 hours, in the economy or in business, it’s different how you arrive and how much you can get then out of your holiday.

[thecloudlight-blog]

New Post has been published on Cloudlight

New Post has been published on https://cloudlight.biz/bikes-buses-and-automobiles/

Bikes, buses, and automobiles

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG-TV9) — It turned into photograph end with a message behind it. Iowa City’s annual vehicle, bicycle, and metropolis bus race came about today from the Coralville public library to the Iowa City public library. Mayor Jim Throgmorton and city council members from Coralville and University Heights took part in the race.

The mayor took the bicycle course and completed simply seconds in the back of the bus proving it does not take longer to experience the bus all through the town. It turned into the primary yr the bus gained the race. Mayor Throgmorton says having distinctive types of transportation which can be dependable transportation is essential for the town.

“I think all three modes are beneficial and fruitful of their personal methods. I was the motorbike rider so I didn’t have any problem using the route. Made it pretty fast, just narrowly misplaced” stated Jim Throgmorton, mayor of Iowa City.

The mayor says he is looking forward to the town’s Master Bike plan in a couple months.

Street Bikes, Speed, and the Visual Rush

Nothing plenty compares to the adrenaline rush of a street bike ‘crotch rocket’ bike. It’s such as you personal the world at your wrist and sense the whole strength of your will – you believe you studied, it is going, it will become an extension of your ‘want for speed’ and in case you’ve never attempted it, this could sound a chunk corny, however once you have you will agree. The different day I turned into discussing my love for bikes with a member of our suppose tank. Turned out he had enjoyed with raced out road motorcycles himself.

The fellow supposes tanker stated; “I actually have a keen hobby in bikes. Currently, I have a Yamaha R6. My previous motorcycles have all been Honda’s with my first coming on the age of 5 years vintage. I even have had one knee surgery because of a dust motorcycle racing accident. At the moment I am desperately trying to talk my spouse into a brand new Ducati Diavel or Monster… Best time will inform.”

His Yamaha R6 appears like a lot amusing.

A six hundred is the best size for me, and we have some fun little canyon roads around here, as I live out via Malibu, CA. I’ve usually had Honda bikes too, CBR 600s normally, although loved my GSXR slingshot (750) aluminum body, holy crap became that a laugh motorbike to trip. But a 600 is wherein I’d as a substitute be, clean to throw around and simply the proper quantity of acceleration no longer to kill me. I do not forget my dad flew A-4 Skyhawk’s in the US Navy and me continually idea the Honda Hurricane 600 become that form of the maneuverable system. A Ducati Diavel – oh hell yes!

I agree there’s nothing like a raced-out road motorbike! Just look ahead to 4-wheelers making left-hand turns in front of you, visitors can kill you in case you do not pay attention. I do not know if everybody who races or has raced motorcycles has the same opinion, however, racing motorcycles around absolutely make your mind sharper, you need to live in advance of it, think, and react without wondering.

It helps the mind in ways a Video Game, simulator or something else ever should. That has been me enjoy, and I actually have participated in sports, flying, enterprise, politics, and so forth. There is something about it, you have the world at your wrist and each choice is real, severe, and you can’t take it lower back – simply the manner I adore it too. I marvel if it is like that for others. Maybe some people get extra out of it than others? Hard to mention, I just recognize what I get out of it. I like the visible stimulation rush.

What’s an aggressive highbrow with high testosterone degrees to do? It’s a male component.

Online Booking For Buses From Bangalore To Goa

Bangalore is one of the quickest growing towns in Asia and is often called the ‘Silicon Valley of India”. It has earned the moniker “Garden City” attributable to the lovely parks, gardens and luxurious green avenues that cover the cityscape. The pinnacle sightseeing spots in Bangalore are Vidhana Soudha, Bull Temple, Bangalore Palace, Ragi Gudda, Holy Trinity Church and ISKCON Hare Krishna Temple. Being a first-rate commercial and vacationer hub, the metropolis is nicely connected to the relaxation of us of a by using the road, rail, and air.

About Goa

Often hailed because of the ‘Party Capital of the World’, Goa is a tiny country located on the west coast of India, along with the Konkan coast. The beautiful seashores, fascinating countryside and outstanding churches and forts have made Goa one of the maxima visited visitor locations in India. The top sightseeing spots in Goa are Arambol seaside, Calangute seashore, Colva seaside, Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Bom Jesus Basilica and Fort Aguada. Being a chief vacationer destination, Goa is nicely linked to the relaxation of u. S . A . By means of an excellent road, rail and air network.

Top Operators

The Bangalore to Goa bus route sees high passenger quantity at some stage in the yr, as an end result, there are more than 10 operators serving this course. With the arrival of several online tour portals, it’s miles less complicated than ever before to e-book bus tickets on-line. Apart from the benefit of booking bus tickets from your house, those tour websites provide several benefits like zero booking fees, 24/7 customer service and on the spot affirmation. Most bus operators in this path accept mTicket, which allows passengers to verify their reserving through showing the eTicket on their cell phone.

The pinnacle rated bus operators for Bangalore – Goa route is VRL Travels, Kadamba Transports, SRS Travels, Sugama Transport and Manish Travels. Passengers traveling from Bangalore to Goa with the aid of bus can pick out from Mercedes Multi axle, Volvo Multi-axle Sleeper, Volvo Semisleeper, Deluxe Non AC Sleeper, Deluxe AC Sleeper and Non AC Deluxe Semisleeper coaches.

Distance from Bangalore and Goa

Bangalore is around 550 km from Goa and the full adventure time ranges from 10 to 15 hours, depending on the bus kind and site visitors conditions. The first bus from Bangalore to Goa departs at 3.30 pm even as the ultimate bus departs at 10.Forty five pm.

The maximum famous route for buses is via AH forty-seven & NH 4 and passes thru places like Tumkur, Chitradurga, Devangere, Haveri, & Hubli.

Boarding & Drop Points

Travelers booking Bangalore to Goa bus tickets can select from more than 10 boarding and drop points. The popular boarding factor in Bangalore for buses heading to Goa are Rajajinagar, Yeshwantpur, Madiwala, Jayanagar, and Jalahalli. Once the bus reaches Goa, passengers can alight at Ponda, Panjim, Porvorim and Mapusa. All the boarding and drop points in both the towns are well linked by means of bus, taxis, and automobile-rickshaws.

Krish is a Digital Marketing Manager with a Passion for Photography and Travelling. He gives the free session on Cheap Flight Booking, Holiday Packages, Hotels in Goa and Bus Booking.

The Growth and Development of the Automobile Industry – A Deeper Insight

The word “Automobile” has its origins in Greek and Latin and it has grown to be a quintessential a part of every man’s lifestyles. It has ended up so critical that on a median, a person spends at the least 3 hours in his car every day. The automobile was as soon as the thought of as a luxurious and only a pick few could take pleasure in. Now, the instances have changed and cars have come to be a means of transportation catering to the full-size majority.

The transformation from luxury to inevitability

Automobiles, in widespread, check with the common-or-garden car and the estimates suggest that there’s an automobile for each 11 persons on earth amounting as much as 590 million passenger automobiles. There are numerous editions of vehicles that cater to each cross segment of the populace. There are variations that might set you returned through a couple of million bucks and other models that price you a few thousand bucks.

The technological advances inside the vehicle zone had been amazing in the final a hundred years. The century’s finest invention or development need to honestly belong to the automobile enterprise. One of the earliest pioneers of the automobile Industry become Ransom Olds from the Oldsmobile factory. In the early 1900’s, he added the Production Line idea, for this reason churning out cars each few minutes. This concept turned into significantly revolutionized and carried out by means of Henry Ford, who improved car industry to the next level. Ford quickly grew in the first half of 20th century and slowly but regularly unfold globally.

Growing in conjunction with time

With the development of age, the automobile industry step by step grew in continental Europe and England. Japan introduced best initiatives that in addition enhanced the enterprise. Toyota from Japan were the pioneers of Total Quality Management and Six Sigma, which have been the guiding standards of the automobile enterprise for the final 50 years. Today, Toyota are the sector’s largest vehicle enterprise in step with recent marketplace estimates.

[dustinwmooney]

Asia's Dilemma: China's Butter, or America's Guns?

by Rodger Baker

Flying into Singapore's Changi Airport, one is struck by the fleet of ships lined up off shore, the tendrils of a global trade network squeezing through the narrow Malacca Strait. Singapore is the hub, the connector between the Indian Ocean, South China Sea and Pacific. Since the late 1970s, with little exception, trade has amounted to some 300 percent of Singapore's total gross domestic product, with exports making up between 150 and 230 percent of GDP. Singapore is the product of global trade, and the thriving multiethnic city-state can trace its trade role back centuries.

Having arrived in Singapore from Auckland, the contrast was stunning. It's not that New Zealand isn't heavily integrated into global trade networks — some 50 percent of its GDP is based on trade, and since its early days as a British colony it has been heavily dependent on distant trade partners. But whereas Singapore sits at the center of trade flows, New Zealand is at the far fringes, a remote outpost that has come to represent the leading edge of free trade agreements and calls for globally agreed-upon trade rules.

Given the significance of trade to the two, it is perhaps no wonder that New Zealand and Singapore were both part of the P3 countries (alongside Chile) that initiated Pacific trade talks in 2002, which emerged three years later as the first iteration of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), adding Brunei as the fourth founding signatory. Only a decade earlier, in the 1990s, trans-Pacific trade had exceeded trans-Atlantic trade, marking a shift in global patterns established for several centuries. Trade is the lifeblood of the Asia-Pacific, and even with rising examples of nationalism, the globalized world is still seen here as a greater benefit than risk. Whereas colonialism was exploitative, globalism is seen as the provision of opportunity for growth and national strength.

It is interesting that the theme of the "easternization" of the global system — the assertion that China is set to usurp the leadership role of an inward-turning United States — is not nearly as pronounced in the region as it is in the West. With regard to Singapore and New Zealand, one could argue that British heritage and history may play some role, but discussions with businessmen and policymakers from countries around the region seem less focused on the so-called Asian Century than on ensuring that global multilateral trade pacts remain the norm. Asia may trade primarily within Asia, but that doesn't mean it has any interest in being isolated from the rest of the world. And aside from assertions in some sectors in China (perhaps reminiscent of similar ideas espoused in Japan in the 1980s and early 1990s), there is little expectation that Asia is ready to take the lead, except perhaps in the promotion of open trade.

Growing Angst in the Asia-Pacific

Perhaps the most common theme I encountered in discussions in New Zealand and Singapore, and with individuals from around the region, was the future of the global trade environment — specifically, the implications of a potential trade war (or even a minor spat) between the United States and China. Like many countries in the Asia-Pacific, both Singapore and New Zealand have adapted to a basic post-Cold War regional status quo, one where economics center on China and regional security centers on the United States. But with the Brexit underway, the TPP gone, the United States flirting with a more nationalist rather than globalist trade policy, and China expanding its military activity throughout the region, there is growing angst that this unofficial balance will no longer be sustainable.

This is particularly pronounced among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the 10 Southeast Asian countries (nearly all post-colonial entities) that have for decades sought to strengthen their hand internationally through cooperation and shared negotiations. Nearly a quarter of ASEAN trade is within the bloc, but better than 19 percent is with China and Hong Kong. Overall, Asia and the West Pacific account for more than 66 percent of ASEAN's total trade. Just 10 percent is with the European Union and 9.4 percent with the United States. While economics is regional, security looks abroad. Two ASEAN members, Thailand and the Philippines, are formal treaty alliance partners with the United States, and several others have established or developing defense relations. There is little real complaint from the ASEAN states (or from countries including South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand) of the United States' unofficial role as guarantor of freedom of navigation in the seas in the region. But there are growing challenges with China's expanding military activity and evolving assertion of its own role as the rightful regional security hegemon.

So long as China was largely seen as a beneficial trading partner and a source of investment, but fairly innocuous when it came to involvement in local politics or security, the dualistic approach toward Washington and Beijing was seen as not only acceptable, but preferential. China's economic heft balanced the United States' military heft, and vice versa. A slight sense of competition for regional friends between Beijing and Washington could be exploited to ASEAN's benefit, and even South Korea, Australia and New Zealand — close U.S. partners — saw merit to the system. China would increase its offer of preferential investments or trade access, Washington would counter with offers of more trade but also keep China's broader regional ambitions in check. This semi-equilibrium has been breaking down over the past several years, with two apparent case studies being the Philippines and South Korea.

When Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte took office last year, he challenged the country's defense relationship with the United States, arguing that close ties with Washington had undermined Philippine relations with Beijing without providing security against China's occupation and construction on disputed islets. Essentially, the Philippines lost economic opportunities with China yet failed to benefit from security guarantees by the United States. It was the worst of both worlds. Duterte has since pursued a policy far different from that of his predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, who doubled down on the relationship with the United States and took a largely confrontational attitude toward China. This is not to say that Manila has simply accepted the dual economic and security role for China in the region. It continues to assert its own rights, is expanding economic and security ties with Japan, and continues to engage with U.S. military forces in the region — and in the Philippines itself.

South Korea is another case study in the dualistic policy of tying the economy to China and security to the United States, perhaps more overtly than most other countries in the region. South Korea has free trade agreements with both the United States and China. A quarter of South Korean exports go to China, a number that nears 30 percent when adding in Hong Kong. This compared with 14 percent to the United States. Meanwhile, China accounts for 21 percent of South Korean imports, while the United States accounts for just 10 percent. And China's role in the overall Korean supply chain, particularly with electronics, is masked in these baseline numbers. But when it comes to defense, the balance is entirely one-sided. The United States maintains 28,500 troops on the Korean Peninsula and retains operational control of South Korean forces in the Combined Forces Command, should hostilities with the North break out.

South Korea's decision to host the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system triggered a strong outcry from China. Beijing began complaining even before Seoul and Washington entered formal discussions about the deployment, and since a decision was made it has used unofficial measures to strike at the South Korean economy. Tourism flows to South Korea have slowed, Korean cultural and entertainment exports and tours in China have been curtailed, and Korean businesses are facing boycotts, spools of red tape and bureaucratic sluggishness. Washington, in return, has accelerated the pace of THAAD deployment, hoping to complete the placement of the systems before early South Korean elections, which are likely to bring a progressive candidate to power — one who could revisit the THAAD agreement.

A Broken Consensus

With U.S. participation in the TPP off the table, and U.S. defense seen as either insufficient to address regional concerns or, going to the other extreme, exacerbating economic challenges with China, there is a growing sense throughout Asia that the United States is simply not able to be counted on as a counterweight to China, at least not for the next several years. China's expanded military capability and activity is only reinforcing these views. The consensus forming is that the status quo balance between Chinese economy and U.S. security has already broken down. China's expansion was not effectively countered, whether by the so-called U.S. pivot (or re-balance) to Asia or by U.S. engagement with ASEAN and regional trade initiatives. For many in the region, it is not a question of what they prefer, but rather an acknowledgement of the shifting regional realities. When a country the size of China begins to assert its own interests, changes to the existing regional structure are inevitable.

The discussion now is about options. Simply accepting that China will be a regional hegemon is unlikely for most countries in the region. Even the Philippines, which has seen such a dramatic shift in its public policy, is looking for a balancer to China's regional power and influence, possibly in Japan. And South Korea is re-thinking its overreliance on the Chinese economy. Some countries that were in the expanded TPP are looking to maintain momentum even without the United States, hoping that together they can either shape China's economic behavior or perhaps lure the United States back into at least a modified version of the trade agreement down the road. ASEAN is pressing for the long-delayed Code of Conduct with China to try to curtail China's apparent expansionist tendencies. But few individually or together have the overall heft of the United States.

In Singapore and New Zealand, two countries that have successfully navigated their dual relations with Washington and Beijing for some time, there is a fear that they may be forced to choose. If a trade war breaks out between the United States and China, it will not be only about trade; it will be about regional relationships, about interpretations of the rights of passage through the South China Sea, about the options for dealing with North Korea — in short, about the whole of Asia-Pacific stability. China is facing deep structural challenges as it undertakes the painful transition from an export-based economy to a consumption-based one, and it will consider any strong U.S. economic action to be a clear attempt to disrupt the transition and contain China. The United States sees each further step by China to assert its military capability through the South China Sea as a clear challenge to a core interest of freedom of navigation and control of the seas.

Stuck between these two powers lie the Asia-Pacific countries, adapting to the changing balance of power and fearing a dramatic break in the pattern. Their ability to play both sides, to use the bookend powers of the Pacific Ocean as counterweights, may prove untenable if the there is a substantial slide in U.S.-China relations toward the negative. Few in the region are eager to choose sides, all are assessing their limited options, and the pervading hope is that somehow Washington and Beijing will continue their uneasy dance, leaving Asia-Pacific countries space enough to cheer both on.

Asia's Dilemma: China's Butter, or America's Guns is republished with permission of Stratfor.