Text 8409, 156 rader
Skriven 2011-03-15 13:39:00 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Michael Loo
Ärende: FLYING HIGH 72  10315
=============================
 -=> Quoting Michael Loo to Glen Jamieson <=-

 SL> Finnish. 
 GJ> I will take care to avoid Helsinki.  :)

 ML> Helsinki itself was rather nice. The airport wasn't so hot,
 ML> but it was easy to get around.

So far I have generally avoided countries which I perceive to be
excessively cold, even in Summer.  At about 60 degrees of latitude,
Helsinki is nearly as far North as young Jim's igloo.  Fear of cold
has so far put me off visiting Scotland and Tasmania, but having
recently survived Invercargill at mid-Summer, I might be brave and try
Tasmania later this year if the re-furbishment of my undercarriage
works as well as I hope.
 
 SL> Apropos airport hotels - the Hilton in Helsinki kicks ass. Amazing
 SL> restaurant, the higher end rooms come with a private Sauna. Amazing.
 ML> I [i]will[/i] have to check it out. In Helsinki I stayed at the
 ML> Radisson SAS (now I believe Blu), which was quite nice: a lot of
 ML> blonde wood. Also blonde staffers.

The private sauna would make the climate more bearable.  Rushing out
of the sauna to roll in the snow would not be my idea of fun.
 
 GJ> I was very impressed by the airport Hilton in Copenhagen, only 5

 GJ> voucher for the hotel, which unusually included a truly excellent
 GJ> dinner of smoked salmon, fish pate, salad and sardine fillets in wine
 GJ> and herb sauce, with drinks, and breakfast of slabs of red salmon,
 GJ> cheese and grilled sliced mushrooms on toast.  All very Scandinavian!

 ML> I'm hardly certain that they would do that in these
 ML> penny-pinching new days.

Admittedly that was in 2003.  I had been booked on a Scandinavian
A340, which I was looking forward to, as being my first experience of
that model, but was re-booked the next day on a Singapore 777.
 
 -=> Glen Jamieson said to Bill Swisher <=-
 
 GJ> Why do you have magnetic staples in your chest?  There is a procedure
 GJ> used on ships to arrange magnets beneath the compass to neutralise the
 GJ> ship's magnetism, and allow the compass to read true.  Perhaps you
 GJ> could wear small magnetic implants to do that.  :)

 ML> They don't neutralize the magnetism, just counteract. So they
 ML> would double the trouble.

Picky, picky!  Same difference.
 
 GJ> Carrying a compass to help orientation in strange places is helpful,
 GJ> but caution has to be exercised.  In particular, I have noticed trams
 GJ> (streetcars) in some cities in Europe are surrounded by a magnetic
 GJ> field, strong enough to spin the compass as they pass.

 ML> I found that with tall steel buildings sometimes.

The steel buildings can have a fixed magnetic field which will affect
the compass to some extent, but the moving field surrounding the trams
can be very strong, as most of them still run on direct current, and
it can actually spin the compass for several revolutions.
 
 -=> Glen Jamieson said to Sampsa Laine <=-
 
 GJ> I didn't know the British airport train was so fast.  Does it connect
 GJ> into the Underground?  When I was visiting London, I stayed in Acton

 ML> There's a fast train, which takes 15-20 min, and a slow train,
 ML> which takes about double. The former is L15, the latter about
 ML> half. So cost-effectiveness is about equivalent.

That is expensive, and roughly equivalent to the Japanese Narita to
Tokyo train service, (which I admit I haven't used, being taken to and
from the airport by company taxi) but there seems to be an assumption
world-wide that if you can afford to fly in an aeroplane, you will be
prepared to pay more for ground transport.

 GJ> I have found airport food generally to be over-priced, Singapore being
 GJ> an exception - but Singapore is exceptional in a number of respects.
 GJ> It has been rated by backpackers as the best airport in the world for
 GJ> sleeping at.  Like most airports these days, it has a good rail system

 ML> The Singaporeans, not missing much, have decided that the
 ML> volume of scruffy backpackers produce as much revenue as
 ML> the rich asshats and have accommodated them with special
 ML> quiet areas, some equipped with business-class-like

And TV screens to watch for entertainment.  Those lounge chairs and
sofas are really comfortable to sleep on, if you can beat the scruffy
backpackers to them.

The first time I visited Singapore, in 1970, most of the populace
viewed visitors either as rich victims to be parted from as much of
their money as possible, or as long-haired, pot smoking hippies, to be
kept out if possible.  Then came Lee Kwan Yew, and ordered everyone to
clean up the city and smile at visitors, with the hope they would
return again and again.  And so it came to pass.  That was a
resounding success, even if some of the cleanliness measures are a
little extreme.  I think you can still be fined for failing to flush a
public toilet after use.

 ML> recliners. For those of means, such as myself (ha), there
 ML> is the transit hotel, which is clean and almost luxurious,
 ML> for S68 per block of 6 hours. For the true nobs, there's
 ML> a Crowne Plaza just outside security, attached to Terminal 3.

I have dragged my luggage past those places.  What I found on my last
visit to Singapore was that the airport now has 2 luggage
depositories.  Unaware of this, we left our bags in one and
overnighted in the city.  On our return we followed the signs and
finished up at the other depository.  Great confusion!

 ML> As you know, crossing immigration and security take about
 ML> 10 minutes each on a bad day.

And that area is the most attractive of any airport.  And there are
free phones there that the public can use to call hotels.
 
 SL> Helsinki airport is pretty decent for everything else except food.
 SL> It's  actually very well organised, fast and pleasant. The food isn't
 SL> BAD per se, you're not going to die from it, it's just overpriced and
 SL> bland. 

 ML> I agree with all of this except the pleasant part.

But you admit it is cold.  (Refer line 6 above.)  (G)

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: Original Raffles Singapore Sling
 Categories: Alcohol, Beverages
      Yield: 1 Serving
 
      1 oz Gin
    1/2 oz Cherry brandy
      4 oz Pineapple juice
      1 tb Lime juice
    1/4 oz Cointreau
    1/4 oz Benedictine, opt'l
      2 ts Grenadine
      2 ds Angostura bitters
 
  Shake, strain into a Collins glass, garnish with a cherry and
  pineapple wedge.
  
  Reconstructed, to approximate the Long Bar's secret recipe at the
  Raffles Hotel, Singapore
 
MMMMM
 

___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR]

--- FLAME v2.0/b
 * Origin: Braintap BBS Adelaide Australia (3:800/449)