Staying connected

I just read of a user's experience using the internet in a San Francisco Hotel. She said that the hotel charged for internet use by the IP of the device. So if you used all 3 of your mobile devices, say an iPhone, an iPad and your MacBook, you end up paying internet access for all 3 devices. If the charge is $15 per IP, that's going to be $45 if you switch on all 3 devices' wifi. That's expensive and, as the user wrote, ignores the reality of today's pervasive use of mobile technologies.

At the Novotel Platinum Bangkok where I stayed last week, each room was given an internet access account and password. Each occupant in the room could use the same account concurrently up to a maximum of 2 devices each. So each one could log in to the internet access on his PC Notebook and smartphone, or any combination of whatever mobile device you have. If you attempt to use that same account on more devices, you will be denied. The good thing is that it informs you that you have exceeded the number of connections allowed and to switch off the connection that another device might still have connected to the IP that you are not using. No additional charges, just a friendly reminder, which is better than what the user in the San Francisco Hotel got. That said, sometimes the system miscounts the connections, so you would want to shut down the device instead of just switching off the wifi. I had this problem one evening - denied access because too many devices were already connected. This in spite of my turning off the wifi on all my devices and then reconnecting with just one of them. I was too tired that evening anyway, so I left it alone and went to bed, believing that the problem will sort itself out in the morning.  And it did.

This is not a perfect system, but I think a fair one. I would have preferred a wired connection in the room, for the speed. But hotels would realise that guests can use a mifi device and begin gobbling up bandwidth. Technology has certainly become  more complex since I last travel overseas 2 years ago. If you are going to be dependent on internet access when you travel, it is a good idea to understand how the hotel makes available its internet access, free or paid.

Heavenly Heights

The world is in recession now. Overseas travelling traffic has been hit. Airlines are scaling back on their flight services. Even premier airlines like SIA are reducing the number of flights to some destinations to save on costs. Many, who just cannot do without the travelling, are going to destinations nearer home.

Well, why not take that logic one step closer - closer to home, that is. Many would forget that, in the rush to get out of the country, there are interesting places in Singapore that are new and probably remains unexplored. Take for example, the relatively new Alexandra Arch and Henderson Waves, which stretches from Mount Faber at the southern tip of Singapore to Kent Ridge on the west. These names themselves already evokes excitement and hints of adventures to come. These are a number of footpath and bridges that connects several hills in the south of Singapore right up to the western coastal area in Kent Ridge, the home of the National University of Singapore and Haw Par Villa.

I took a walk, well, not the entire stretch, but have seen enough to wonder at the ingenuity of our National Parks Board in creating these heavenly heights of greenery, which have become part of the Southern Ridges. The Henderson Waves boast the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore. It is also, as the National Parks Board boasts, "one of the best spots in Singapore to catch panoramic views of the city, harbour and the Southern Islands".

Take a miss of Chiang Mai. There's the Souther Ridges in Singapore.

First into Beijing

Finally, after a journey that began this morning at 8am at Changi Airport, I arrived at Beijing Capital Airport. Beijing is a busy city. It is also, unfortunately, a hazy city. The air quality leaves much to be desired. The number of people from foreign lands must have increased an order of magnitude since Beijing and China in general, opened up to the world.

Even so, going through customs at Beijing was a breeze. There was a whole row of customs booths available - maybe 50 or so of them - all manned - to get the hordes of travelers through. One interesting feature at every booth is a voting panel. Commuters can express their rating of the customs officer serving them as they wait to have their documents checked and verified. And the customs officers are very efficient and fast. I didn't have enough time to figure out what the panel was about before I was cleared - it was that efficient and fast.

In some other airports, for example, those in Malaysia, the customs officers seem to take pleasure in making commuters wait in line and wait in front of them as they check the travel documents - at least that has always been my impression for one or two times I have used KL International Airport (KLIA). And even when multiple booths are available, not all of them are manned even when the crowds come in.

But back to Beijing. I didn't lose a single luggage and was well out of the airport in a jiffy. Taking a taxi is very much like that in Changi Airport. You line up for the constant stream of taxis coming into the pickup/waiting area. In some airports, you have to fight for one. I had no problem communicating my destination and was off and out of the airport in double quick time - just like in Changi.

The journey was also quite smooth and fast. We only encountered heavy traffic as we moved into the city proper. The one thing of concern in Beijing is the air quality. It is bad, really bad. That's when you start to make comparisons with Singapore. Whenever travelers remarked that Singapore is sooo... clean, we take it for granted. But these visitors are not being patronising - just being honest. Compared to Singapore, Beijing has this pall of dust all over the city, starting even from the airport. I was getting worried for the two kids who are traveling with me. Both of them have a history of asthma.

We arrived at our hotel - the Howard Johnson Paragon Hotel, just across from the Beijing Railway station - in slightly under an hour.