Reading Time: 2 minutes 十几年前我回国在上海一般就住一个如家或锦江之星，挑一个离地铁比较近的酒店，这样上班办事都比较方便。那时候没有小孩，旅馆主要就是睡个觉，干净清爽就可以了。快进几年，有了两个小孩，住的酒店要求也稍有提高。托酒店信用卡促销的福，攒了些点数或是free nights, 我也升级了住的旅馆。在上海常住的旅馆有，徐家汇的万丽酒店（courtyard Shanghai xujiahui), 她家所在的楼叫西藏大厦，出租车司机如不清楚可提这个名字。另一家是浦东的喜来登福朋酒店（four points by Sheraton, Shanghai pudong, 又叫由由酒店，楼的名字），注意她家旁边有喜来登酒店（Sheraton Shanghai pudong, 5 star vs four points 4 star), 不要搞错。这两家的房间起价大概是800人民币左右。 最近一次有幸住了回陆家嘴的柏悦酒店（park hyatt），这个标价是大概300多美金，我用的是hyatt卡的开卡free nights. 看了下用chase ultimate rewards points 的话是2万点一晚。小孩很喜欢，因为有一些没见过的features. 我的头被淋浴喷头砸了一下。Uncle Major 进大观园。:-) 在美国最近住Hampton inn 比较多。还是觉得Hampton inn 接地气一些。这家Hilton 系列的中档酒店设计简单，实用，且包早餐。一般我这样小兵级别的人出差就住它家。对有小孩的家庭包早餐是一个挺有用的feature. Other hotels have similar feature include Hilton garden inn, holiday inn express and clarion. Last but
Reading Time: < 1 minute 上面这个照片是我在最近一次的去中国的航班上照的。来美国有快二十年，坐过很多次飞跃太平洋的航班，坐的最多可能是美联航的航班。从芝加哥到上海的直航也就13，14个小时，加上从圣村到芝城的一个小时再加上几个小时的lay over, 总共的旅行时间比我当年从宁波到武汉上学的时间（大概是37，38小时，包括两次中转的时间）还短些。当然还比当年的火车舒服些。飞机坐多了，难免会有这样那样的事。最吓人的一回是2004年夏天从旧金山走，说是飞机起飞时发现翅膀发动机有火花。飞机在海上把满箱的油放掉后返航。当时乘务员给大家出了一个题，多少油，多少钱一加仑航空油。我算了一下大概是30多万美元。随着航空公司这两年越来越追求利润，不知道现在还会不会这样做？ 还有一次是冬天，圣村到凤城的航班因雪晚点。等我赶到去上海的登机口，飞机已起飞。求工作人员能否让我standby 还没走的北京航班。也许是被我的诚意打动，工作人员给我改签了到北京的standby。飞北京的航班也已快结束登机，这一次还有一个空位。工作人员把已关闭的登机口再打开（我是第一回碰到这种情况），登机不久，飞机就离开登机口了。 这几年回国免不了坐动车高铁，速度快，不拥挤。还有味道不错的快餐。 我在大学时的火车可没这么好：慢，在春运时非常拥挤。第一年春节回校，在杭州转车。记得那天天气很好，中午到杭州后晚上再坐车，就跑到西湖边来晃晃。印象中杭州的女孩身材不错，穿着也比内地女孩稍时髦些，很有特点（妩媚又很得体）。有一次在南昌转车，好像是南昌到北京的车（经过武汉）。不光没位置，而且连站的地方都没有。火车还在株洲还是武昌附近弄了很长时间的临时停车。记得当时一个武大还是华工科英的88级的女生给削了一个苹果，印象很深。在火车上基本上不想吃东西，也不怎么喝水。当时火车挤到什么程度？不知道80后，90后的同学有否体会？一个厕所里站了7个人，有个女孩想用洗手间，叫里面的男生出来一下，女生背对。结果没人响应，只能再挤一节车厢。另一次我记得我的一个宁波老乡在火车上说到家洗个热水澡，再抽根烟那是最美的事了。还有一个老乡，他家的条件好一些，就坐飞机去武汉，是运七飞机，螺旋桨的。我相信这些都是过去式了。 还有一些旅行的轶事和碰到的好心人，下回再说吧
Reading Time: 1 minute Courtyard in Xujiahui (formerly Tibet hotel, as you can see the rooftop design, tripAdvisor, marriott website). Good location and friendly people. I recall the first time I visited (2011), I used my Marriott rewards and silver status, the front desk especially got the leader over and greet. I suspect at that time, perhaps there were
Reading Time: < 1 minute I’d read this one first, because it explains the technology and the players. Gizmodo (Adam Clark Estes 5/04/15 3:41pm): Every Major Airline’s Wifi Service, Explained and Ranked Some background why Gogo is the dominant player at this time. Bloomberg (Sam Grobart | August 26, 2015): Why Gogo’s Infuriatingly Expensive, Slow Internet Still Owns the Skies
Reading Time: < 1 minute I came across a good discussion on the topic here at Baidu. Interesting discussions. Btw, I thought about it before reading that, and decided to give most of my earnings to OCEF. Today I saw my name on the report. Good: really I don’t care too much about my name there, and I know my
Reading Time: 3 minutes (Update 02-23-2016) Got the refund from Uncle Sam. From filing to receive refund only takes 7 days via turbo tax web version. Now I am waiting till 4/15 for the state because I owe money to show me state 🙂 (Update 02-16-2016) I filed the tax last night, since I got almost all the forms
Reading Time: 2 minutes I purchased a $100 Circle K gas gift card via eBay a few weeks ago, a few days ago I started to use it, and I found the initial balance is $75 instead of the $100 as advertised. See below, I spent $12.xx on the gas (imagine that a few years ago), and I saw
Reading Time: 2 minutes Last wed. morning, temperature was below freeze point, there were some leftover snow. When I start my car, windshield wiper blade broke. So early afternoon I bought a new set and tried to replace the wiper. Those were worn out before last wed. The problem for me is, I don’t know how to take the
Reading Time: 2 minutes I have covered sleep, walk (exercise), today I am going to talk about the good we eat. As I came to the US about 18 years ago, I recall a friend and a fellow Chinese graduate student once said: food, sleep and exercise are 3 key elements of being healthy. This was very relevant as
Reading Time: 3 minutes I think it’s important to get some breaks during the work. There are a lot of studies and real world examples that people sit before computer or desk all the day, and damage being done to their backs, necks, shoulders, elbows and hands. Thus the popularity of adjustable height desk so that people can choose
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