One of my favourite blogs is that of Robert Scoble. However, since he started using WordPress a couple of months ago I could not read it in China anymore without using a proxy. Just now I clicked by mistake on a link to his blog and to my surprise it started to load. Slowly, very very slowly. After about 4 minutes (serious) the page was there. I then checked Dave Winer’s other blog on WordPress, and that also loaded (just as slow). Is China finally unblocking WordPress?

The weekend in Macau was great, but we had some bad luck with the flights. Both the flight to Macau and the flight back were delayed. Especially the flight last night was not a lot of fun. We were supposed to fly at 6:10 PM, but only boarded around 7. Fifteen minutes later the pilot announced that he had some ‘bad news’. We had missed our slot and air traffic control would not let us depart until 10:20 PM… Most people on board did not really react, which I found strange. But then I realized the announcement had been made in English. A few minutes later a stewardess translated it into Mandarin, and suddenly all hell broke lose in the plane. People let out their frustration at the staff, but they could not help it either of course. We had to stay on board, and that certainly did not help to cool tempers! Luckily I had an emergency exit seat, so that made things a little better for me.

After dinner was served people started revolting and around 8:30 PM the captain let us all out of the plane again. We were not the only plane that was delayed, and also in the departure hall people from other flights were loudly discussing with airline personnel. A fight almost broke out between a very angry passenger and the ground staff of Air Macau, and I was surprised that airport security did not intervene (they just looked on, like most other passengers).

Our flight finally departed around 10:30 PM. The captain explained that only one flight per 15 minutes is allowed to cross the border from Hong Kong into mainland China (which was our flight path), so once we missed our slot we had to wait for the next available one (and we had 12 planes that were ahead of us). Around 12:30 AM we arrived in Shanghai Pudong, and by 2 AM we were finally home.

Qi and I are in Macau (or Macao – both spellings are used) for the weekend because one of Qi’s best friends from INSEAD, Josie Zhao, is getting married here. Josie is Chinese, and Mark (her husband-to-be) is Portugese-American and they both live in Hong Kong, so Macau (as a former Portugese colony and now part of China) is an excellent location for the wedding.

I had not been to Macau since 1998 or 1999, and the place has changed completely. Especially the waterfront next to the ferry pier is unrecognizable. Since Macau’s ‘return to China’ in 1999 several new gambling licenses have been issues, and this has had a huge impact on the city. Sands was the first company to set up a Las Vegas style casino here, and its huge USD 240 million building dominates the waterfront. Many other companies will follow soon, making Macau the gambling capital of the world. I was told that gambling revenues are now already higher than Las Vegas.
Luckily the old city has not changed too much, and most tourists to Macau don’t come there anyway (most of them come from Hong Kong or mainland China on a day-trip). It’s still very pleasant to stroll around the narrow streets and look at the mix of European and Chinese buildings. We walked up to the fortress and the Museu de Macau, from where you have a nice view over the city and to Zhuhai (mainland China). It’s only a 10 minute up-hill walk from the city center, but we that seems too much for most people because were almost alone there.
Before dinner we went to the old Casino de Lisboa, which had not changed at all. I seemed to be the only Caucasian in the whole place, every table was filled with chain-smoking Chinese. Most games I did not understand, and we left after half an hour already. First we planned to go to Sands as well, but time was running out. Qi had a wedding preparation meeting at 9:30 PM, and we still needed to have dinner. So we headed back to the hotel, where we met up with Jim Feldkamp and had a great seafood dinner with him (oysters, mussels, salmon, lobster, shrimp and tuna – among others).

This afternoon the wedding will take place in an old church in the city center (we went there already for the rehearsal yesterday), followed by a dinner and party in the hotel. Many of their friends have flown in, so I think it will be a great event today.

Today my flight from Shanghai to Macau was delayed, so instead of waiting at the gate I decided to go to the business lounge. I have a Platinum Elite card from KLM, and that gives you worldwide access to KLM lounges, even if you do not fly KLM. Over the past years I have often used this when I wanted to avoid the crowds, or just to drink a cup of coffee. But it seems that KLM is cutting costs: the lounge at Pudong Airport refused to let me in, because KLM changed its policy. Only by paying RMB 150 per person I could enter the lounge. That seemed a bit steep to me, so I decided to move on to the Air France lounge (the 2 airlines merged last year). But here I got the same message, and again I was shown the door. A nice way to treat you best customers KLM 🙁

Then I realized that I am still a VIP member of China Mobile, and that their card also gives access to selected lounges. I have been carrying the card around for a year already, but never used it. The card runs out next week, so just in time to try it out. At the Air France lounge counter I was told that I could indeed enter with it, and even had access to the First Class lounge instead of the Business Class lounge. Not that there was much of a difference, only the chairs were a bit more comfortable. But at least I could read some French and English newspapers and get some fresh coffee. Finally something positive from China Mobile!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a Chinese commercial for a board game that supplied the players with orange pants. It turns out these pants are so-called Leeuwenhosen from Bavaria beer, for Dutch soccer fans. During a walk through the city I spotted the game (and the pants) at several places already. Thanks for this unexpected support for the Dutch team 🙂

McDonald’s made a very smart deal yesterday: they signed an agreement with Sinopec (China’s leading oil and gas station company) to set up drive-thru restaurants at their gas stations. Drive through restaurants are a novelty in China, I heard there must be one McDonalds drive-thru in Shanghai, but I did not find it yet. Also the other fast food stores in China like KFC or Pizza Hut do not use this concept so far, but with the increase in car ownership they will likely also enter this part of the market soon. Sinopec operates 30,000 gas stations all over China, so this opens a world of opportunities for them. I look forward to getting a Big Mac while an attendant fills up my car!

Last week I wrote about 1Bib.com, a Guangzhou-based car comparison website. The site has gone live a few days ago, so if you live in China and are looking to buy or sell a car check it out.

It is suddenly getting pretty warm in Shanghai, even though it should be the raining season now. When I drove back from a lunch meeting today the temperature was 37 degrees, so luckily our office has a good airconditioning system. The Shanghai government even issued a Orange Weather Alert today because of the high temperature. No idea why they call it Orange, maybe because Holland plays its last group match at the World Cup tonight?