Digital travel

At the Sun Yat-sen mausoleum in Nanjing.
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So it's t-minus 52 hours until taking off for San Francisco.  The usual pre-trip buzz is creeping up a few notches.  Plus the pre-trip blahs (tidying up things at work, stopping the mail/newspaper).

I've committed to bringing the old laptop along, which is a bit cumbersome as she's not a super-sleek model but kind of bulky and un-cool.  But the upside is that all my trip photos are already here.  A great way to pass the hours inflight is browsing old photos (especially with some in-seat power so battery life isn't a worry).

Pre-trip buzz is creeping up a few notches

Branding opportunities a-plenty on Air China
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I found some photos I liked from a previous trip to China (April/May '05).  We flew DEN-LAX-NRT-PEK on ANA (UA for NRT-PEK before that route went away), then PEK-NKG (Nanjing) on Air China, then a bus to Shanghai, then PVG-NRT-SFO-DEN on ANA (UA from SFO-DEN).  One of my favorite trips - I love Asia.  Especially being the only American in a crowd of Chinese folks.

Digital photos are also great in that you can zoom in and see details that you missed when you were taking the photo.  Even something mundane like a cup of coffee on that Air China flight reveals a lot - the cup is branded with an advertisement for NanJing beer with a very cool logo that's pure Chinese Communist in style (think crossed palm fronds with a logo and a star) that also shows up on every government agency building in Beijing.  And that elegant font for the name of the brewery is just so cool looking.  As they say, "take a picture, it lasts longer."

Cheers!
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Plus each tray-table had an advetisement for Panasonic TVs - commerce rules in China!  And even economy-class meals make good pictures - it's not all Champagne and flat bed seats.  This trip we're flying Qantas from Sydney to Melbourne.  A new airline for me and a bit of blasphemy since QF isn't in the Star Alliance but it made the most sense for price and time.

But paying for a ticket and not getting UA miles is an alien concept for me.  And no lounge access!  No pre-flight beer!  At 9 a.m.  Beer is always good . . .