Going to America
I’m reminded of that horrible movie with Eddie Murphy where the royal 'African' goes to America to find a ‘wife’!
As always I was in a rush before flying out i.e. receiving the visa 8 hrs before, going to the office briefly to download emails, changing money at my bank 5hrs before, picking up my bag at home 3hrs before and finally hoping on the Gautrain (first African speed train) 1,5 hrs before, only to meet with Morena who happened to be going for a joy ride with colleagues – doesn’t &%* just have money to waist, you need to spill some in order make some…neh! :)
Let me say South Africa, I was impressed by the way you project managed the world cup, the English media was certainly not impressed that you could pull that one off…they just need some sunshine in their lives. As I hoped on the Gautrain I could have shed a tear of joy imagining if the world cup critics were pissed off to exit the country on a 15min Gautrain ride in European style…instead I opened my bottle of Bonaqua water to drink only to have it splash all over me and my seat. I was warned by some attendant that I need to clean that up or I’ll get a 600 ZAR fine…luckily a lady gave me her tissues to clean up my mess – I must say it was actually embarrassing because the wall behind me had all the rules…one of which is do not drink inside!
Lors de mon voyage vers les Etats-Unis avec Air France…you can imagine my ‘excitement’ of having to go through the ‘lovely-people skilled’ Paris Ch.De Gaulle (CDG) airport, after stripping a couple of times for anything metal and heading to the gate - my hand luggage was stopped because I had Amarula Cream, so I naively asked why do you stop me cause I bought it at duty free…with her arrogant look & broken English she said; ‘ where did you buy it’ and I replied; ‘ Johannesburg’ …then she said; ‘ ahh, well you didn’t buy it here, Johannesburg is not in Europe’ . Stunned with eyes wide open, I asked; ‘so if I bought it in Europe, it would have gone through’? trying to collect her words together to make a sensible English word/sentence I told her to keep it and enjoy!
Sorry William that was your present as my host for the first days!
After 25hrs of flight and gaining time…I prefer to call it ‘going backwards in time’, I arrived. Ohh yes it looks exactly like in the movies, some preconceived ideas were confirmed - I had heard about food coming in huge packs/bulks and so it did (I was full on the 3rd bite of a burger at a barbecue), but the space needle seemed smaller from the balcony window. Saw a 1,5litre mouth wash & a 500g roll-on deodorant for just one guy, the beer bottle was 1litre with 8% alcohol content (drunkards:)).
I was pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of people straight from the airport (beats the Paris airport twice as much), I found Seattle very chilled (I thought It’d be mad rushing town) and learned that Starbucks Headquarters is here also (told….they have a huge market in Istanbul). Life seemed easy i.e there is plenty of choice for consumables, transportation, entertainment, life-style, etc. Everything is sooo explicitly-simply written e.g. in the bus, they tell you where the escape route is, how to escape & graphics drawn on how to scape…thought that was hilarious.
I was was asked for an ID everywhere I went to consume alcohol, the drinking age is 21, I mean I have a body of 16y.o. but certainly not the face..lol! Since it’s uncommon for me to be asked for such I hardly carried my passport around – had to bride a bouncer $10 at one club…now that I think about it he was expensive!!
I was was asked for an ID everywhere I went to consume alcohol, the drinking age is 21, I mean I have a body of 16y.o. but certainly not the face..lol! Since it’s uncommon for me to be asked for such I hardly carried my passport around – had to bride a bouncer $10 at one club…now that I think about it he was expensive!!
Microsoft headquarters aka Microsoft campus is in Redmond, about 20min bus ride away – a beautiful bus ride over the lake. The Ms campus is a ‘real’ campus with about 120-something buildings, the good thing is that you can take a shuttle all over the place. Spent 10 days with colleagues – real pleasant people and appreciated the time they took out of their family schedule to hang-out after work hours.
I loved my time in Seattle…i gave US a break,next destination for US is NY!!!
Istanbul
Was excited to be back and knowing my way around the airport to get to customs – felt like a slap in the face when the freaking guy made me wait 15-20min while he helped other people then decided to finally stamp my passport, when I asked what the problem was, he said: ‘ no problem’. I got really upset…asked some girl sitting at a desk if she understood English and she said yes, I explained my ‘customs experience’ and asked who should I talk to – to understand procedure because I’ve just been stopped for 20min for no reason. She looked at me and said ‘do u have a problem’…my eyes went wide open with shock and I told her to forget it!
Slept in Bebek (beautiful view when i woke up - pic attached), spent day-time in Levent, and nights of drinks + dinners in Taksim…slept roughly 4hrs each day. The heat was too much though – 30 degrees & 90% humidity – sleeping with a fan but still waking up sweating and walking around with handkerchief was a little overboard…either way I had missed Istanbul’s beauty and I loved the 5 days I spent reconnecting with friends.
When I connected in Paris, I boarded Airbus A380 – this plane is huge i.e. it’s a double story with 5 engines on just one wing…I need to understand the physics of how this big steel bird stays in the air.
Since Istanbul was so hot, I landed in Joburg with shirts and a light shirt - it was freezing cold & I looked odd in the train to Sandton.
After 17 days, 58 hrs of flight in 3 countries & cities - where i experienced winter + summer, wish the guy on this link would have been on all my flights to make them bearable...
After 17 days, 58 hrs of flight in 3 countries & cities - where i experienced winter + summer, wish the guy on this link would have been on all my flights to make them bearable...
