Getting Ready for New Years – Rotterdam

New Year’s is rapidly approaching and so, this being Holland, yesterday we picked up a load of fireworks to let off on the eve of the 31st. New Year’s in The Netherlands is really an impressive fireworks spectacle starting on the dot pretty much at midnight, and continuing on for roughly two hours. As I sit here writing this, the run-up to New Years has already begun, as all round the neighborhood I can hear teenagers and younger kids tossing fire crackers and bangers around. As a precaution, the postal service either removes or seals up the post boxes to avoid having them blown up by the little darlings. Having been denied that source of amusement, they have to settle for throwing them at each other, and at passing cars as well as putting them up exhaust pipes etc. of cars parked at the side of the road. Its no surprise that injuries do happen, but interestingly for the most part no one seems much to be bothered by their behaviour

In Canada (and most other places these days) fireworks of any size have been banned for many years, but here you can buy incredible variaties of different devices ! Rockets, mortars, bangers, star shells, fire crackers, and meshes – you name it. For an idea of what’s on offer see the catalogue we ordered from at http://www.cafferata.nl/Cafferata2/Folder20052006deel2.pdf . The laws here were changed after about 100 tons of fireworks went off by accident in 2000 at a fireworks factory in the north of The Netherlands at Enschede, and now fireworks sales are limited to just a few days prior to New Years. This of course encourages people to drive to Belgium where the fireworks are sold year round, and also are reputed to be more powerful than those sold locally. Smuggling of illegal Belgium fireworks into The Netherlands is big business and in the first week of December roughly 23,000 kilos of smuggled fireworks were intercepted by the Dutch authorities.

Once the Netherlands New Years gets started, it is most impressive with the sky fully lit up with star shells and dazzlers starting right at midnight, with the accompanying roar of literally hundreds and hundreds of explosions. Mesh fireworks of several hundred firecrackers get set off in street intersections and seem to continue firing away for ever, and for days afterwards the red chaff covers the streets and sidewalks. It must sound and possibly look like a rolling artillery barrage as it gets under way over each city in The Netherlands, and if the night is clear and still, then the gun powder haze gets thick and can be seen blanketing the houses amidst the flashes. And possibly most impressive is that people are usually firing off all this stuff from their little row house front or rear yard of just a few square meters ! Amazing.

New years and The Netherlands – if you get a chance, try to see one before fireworks are banned here as well – its an unforgettable experience !

Rotterdam

I arrived back safely in The Netherlands from Malaysia the other day – not totally without incident. Standing by the luggage carousel there are possibly only three ‘bad’ things that can happen: your luggage never shows up, your luggage does show up, but the case or zipper has broken and all your goods and unmentionables arrive scattered about the down ramp on display for all to see, or your luggage arrives and you find it has been broken into by persons unknown and your goods have been pawed through by faceless strangers who have thoughtfully closed up the luggage again, but with everything inside in a jumble. I’d mention that although you may have a priority sticker or tag on the luggage, if flying with most airlines and KLM in particular, you can be assured that your bag will be treated in the most democratic fashion and the Priority tag the counter agent so carefully attaches actually doesn’t mean a thing – just be thankful if it arrives at all ! Some years ago when I often flew with Air Canada, they actually had a separate luggage belt for priority tagged luggage in some of the Canadian airports – I’d be surprised if they still did this given all the cost cutting and dropping of service level they have been doing to try and save money but am prepared to be pleasantly surprised.

Getting back the arrival yesterday, what had happened was the third bad thing – my luggage had been broken into, the case damaged and the zipper broken by people or person unknown. When they do this to you in the USA, the staff working for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at least generally has the courtesy to put in a little note saying what they did and why, and also who to complain to if your valuables are missing. They have a web site at http://www.tsa.gov/public/that has all sorts of information. Till very recently, you were advised to not lock your bags at all when travelling to the USA as they would cut the locks off, but recently luggage manufacturers have managed to get agreement on special locks, that TSA baggage screeners have a key for which allows you once again to have at least a small sense of security when travelling – at least to and from the USA.

As I do travel to the USA, I had dutifully bought a few of these locks and think they are a great idea – I’ve uploaded a photo which should be around here somewhere. They are clearly marked with a red diamond on the side, and on the bottom is the TSA key code required to open them. The thing I hadn’t thought of was that outside the USA, these clever locks and the simplicity they offer for legal luggage searchers hadn’t quite made it onto the radar of non-USA security staff. I really have no idea if my luggage was ‘legitimately’ broken into in KLIA before being loaded onto the plane, or quickly checked over for possible valuables by a luggage handler here in The Netherlands as no note was left inside. While the most valuable thing in the luggage was my laundry and that was still all there, it was more than a bit annoying.

The KLM baggage claims person was very understanding and dutifully took down all the information, which he then printed out for me to do something with myself – once again, I’m struck by how little value there is in being a frequent flyer as really it’s becoming a self service

Kuala Lumpur

I’m just finishing up a four day trip to Malaysia, and am getting ready to pack and head for the airport. This is the fourth time here this year and again I stayed at the Marriott Putrajaya (see http://www.marriottputrajaya.com ), mainly because it is very close to where I work when I visit. The staff are very friendly, the service is very good and generally the rooms are very nice (although see the note further down the page). The slight down side is that it is some distance outside of Kuala Lumpur itself, so in the evening it is not generally all that convenient to head into town. Interestingly, evenings during the week here in the hotel usually are very quiet. In fact last night was really quiet – picture an area suitable for two or three hundred people almost totally empty (I could only see one person sitting at the bar), but the band hired for the evening was just playing away as if the place was packed, and sounding pretty good as well ! Finally – the only caution I’d offer to people planning to book here (or probably elsewhere in the area as well given the humid climate) is to check your room for mould – twice I’ve checked into a room and found mould growing on the ceiling around the air-conditioning vent or elsewhere in the room – this time the wall covering was hanging off the wall by the desk in the room, and a section of the wall was green with fuzz ! There is never any debate about being able to change rooms or get things cleaned up – its just something to be aware of.

While in KL during the daytime, there is lots to see and do, plenty of shopping and really great places to eat, but inevitably you will be drawn to the Petronas Towers which were were featured in the film ‘Entrapment’ and are genuinely spectacular as they dominate the skyline of the city. See this link for some detail on the building – photos do not do it justice, you really do need to actually see it. From the sky bridge joining the two towers, and if the weather cooperates, the view is really good and its well worth a visit – you’ll be glad you did. The other tall attraction is the Menara Kuala Lumpur, which is very similar in appearance to Toronto’s CN tower, and which also offers great views of KL, as well as dining (the world’s highest McDonalds !) and gifts etc. – more detail can be found at http://www.kiat.net/malaysia/KL/kltower.html. The city is an interesting mix of Asian and European architecture – and at this time of year there are even Christmas decorations, advertisements and shopping sales which seems a bit out of place considering its a predominantly Islamic country, but is consistent with the fairly relaxed and tolerant style you encounter.

If you do want to spend time in Kuala Lumpur (and I highly recommend it), and if you also elect to commute from an outlying hotel then you are possibly in for some excitement – the traffic can be quite heavy going into the city, and it seems everyone thinks they are in a formula one race with some really questionable lane position, high speeds and debatable overtaking ! Of course, the Petronas Malaysian F1 Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) is held here every year just south of KL so possibly that explains it – people are just practicing ! For more info on the Grand Prix see www.malaysiangp.com.my. I think the hotel web site claims that its about 30 minutes into the city from the hotel, but early in the evening the traffic is often quite heavy, and when returning from the city frequently the drivers get lost trying to find the hotel at night, so I’ve yet to make the trip in much less than 45 minutes and sometimes longer.

One of my own more memorable taxi rides was on a trip back to the hotel from the city – it was only after we’d negotiated down the price and got in, that I realised that at one time the car must have been in an accident on the passenger side and the doors had been replaced, but the frame and floor pan not straightened. This was obvious as from the outside all looked well, but once in the car with the door closed and the driver barrelling down the highway, I became very aware of the one to two inch gap between the inside of the door and the edge of the floor pan, together with the fact I had to hold the door closed as we careened along the highway at 100+KM, getting lost in the dark – but it was a very good price and we did get back to the hotel in one piece !

Brussels

I attended a Microsoft workshop in Brussels last week, at a place called the ‘Concert Noble’ which was built in 1873 and is a grand old building near to the centre of town. For some background on the property and a description please see this link. While showing its age, and starting to possibly look a little bit down at heel, the Concert Noble none the less retains a sense of its former grandeur with beautiful inlaid wood floors, high vaulted ceilings with lots of filigree in the corners, the tops of the walls and over the high big double doorways. To get there, I travelled down to Brussels from Rotterdam on the NS train service (the regular train rather than the high speed link), which takes about 1 ¾ hours for the trip each way, and took me right to the central train station in Brussels. Compared to other European train stations, this is not an impressive building to look at (check out the ceiling in the central section of the Amsterdam central station if you want to see something impressive), but it is conveniently located to the main attractions in central Brussels. Having got there, I was a bit disappointed to find there is no tourist information available at all in the station, but the taxi rank was easy to find.

The workshop was held to showcase an announcement by Microsoft of the opening of an ‘innovations’ centre in Brussels, and as such several members of the EU parliament were in attendance as it also provided an opportunity to discuss the level of success within the EU at meeting their agreed commitments on spend levels for basic and applied research. Normally it seems that with politicians the availability of microphones, video and still photographers is usually a bad thing, as it is like giving candy to already hyperactive children! In this instance, with the possible exception of the representative from Ireland, most of the speakers successfully kept to the allotted times for their speeches. In truth there were two people who did stand out, and were worth hearing: Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister of Sweden, and current UN special envoy was crisp and to the point, and also the discussion moderator (Ann Mettler) similarly was quite focused. You can read more about her at http://www.lisboncouncil.net .

Generally it can be said the member states of the EU are not meeting their agreed spending targets for research and this is probably not an isolated issue. As an example, and speaking as an outsider, I would have thought the introduction of the Euro and its benefits was a no-brainer, but its interesting to see recent surveys that call this into question and where only 53% of respondents indicate they are comfortable using the Euro after 4 years. See http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/flash/fl175_en.pdf . None the less, I admit that I continue to be struck by how amazing a place the EU already is and how much more amazing it could be if they continue to be successful in their political journey. Sitting in that hall was another of those times where the incredibly diverse nature of the EU shone through – it may seem a trite example, but if I were to close my eyes for a moment, it was like spinning the dial on a radio with different stations popping into tune, each playing different music. On my right was a group of Germans, behind me several Italians, a few seats over some French, in front a few Dutch, of course there were many Belgians plus English and Irish, and further away just out of earshot were other nationalities whose speech I couldn’t identify. All of these folks meeting in a room to discuss a shared challenge (although I suspect many of the press were there for the free sandwiches and champagne when it was over !). It will be interesting to see if the EU states can continue to be successful in balancing their national imperatives with their shared interests. Time will tell I suppose.

Back From Washington DC

Freshly returned from Washington DC and the TTI/Vanguard Conference on NextGens technologies ! The conference (see http://www.ttivanguard.com/ ) was quite interesting, as was the field trip to George Washington University We had a good walk around the capital, and while Donna and I were not invited in to see George, we did manage to get a few photos of his place which you can see at www.sandyfamily.com. It was a bit on the cold side – ranging from about 0C through to about 10C – but that was not a problem. Had a very over priced (versus quality) meal at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse. I rate it as being barely a single rating, and would suggest avoiding it. A better value was the Hard Rock Cafe which was comparable quality, far cleaner washrooms and much less cost – plus the music was much better !