Oh my ears!

Having to wait on the station platform for an extra fifteen minutes while there are TVs screaming because the person who set the volume must have been deaf sucks the worst.

And really, it doesn't matter if I understand what the TV is hollering or not.  It's annoying as all hell.

Missed it by this much

Missing the train by 20 seconds and watching doors close as you're entering the station because you were stuck behind some slowpokes - sucks.

Missing the train by less than two seconds and having the doors close on top of your nose - sucks much much worse.

There are still smoking sections in the world?

Only the most idiotic space planner would put a smoking section in a restaurant next to the buffet. 

The fact that there are still smoking sections in eating establishments somewhere in the world is a rant of its own.

The only thing I hate about China

Damn, those locals talk on their cellphones everywhere and they are *loud*!!!

Especially annoying: on a long distance train, and in a nice, otherwise quiet restaurant.

Wow, just wow

I've stayed at some very impressive hotels in the last ten years.  Le Royal Meridien Shanghai room I just checked into is by far the most impressive. 

I was practically speechless for a few minutes.  And if this is what Gold gets you, I can't even imagine the kind of room that Platinium would get.
Pictures will show up on flickr as soon as I gather my wits about.

Whoa, elevator!

In Nanjing Sheraton, you come to a central station in lobby and punch in the floor you want to go to.  It gives you the letter of the elevator to take.  You go to that elevator.  There are no controls inside.  It takes you to your floor. 

Cool.

Getting a Chinese Visa

Seems simple enough - come in person to Chinese Consulate, drop off your application, pay, come up for pick-up 1, 3 or more days later, depending on how much you paid extra.

I get here at 1:25pm and take a number.  It's 306.  They are serving... 195.  But that's not too bad, there are five windows and most people are out of there in less than a minute.  So, 110 numbers, maybe half an hour, right?

Wrong!

First thing I notice is that three of the windows haven't taken a number in a while and in fact there is no one there.  After an hour, one of the two open windows also stops taking new numbers!  This will take hours!  After another half an hour one of the other windows gets a move-on, but still, it's been almost 80 minutes and they've gotten through 45 numbers.

And that's with many people being no-shows given how they look at their number and give up.

Grr. 

So why don't they accept this by mail???