It sure does feel good to be home. I’m back in Shanghai for the first time in four years and from the initial look of things, nothing has changed.
The airport is still chaotic, the taxi line never-ending, and the people still everywhere. There was no pause in the action despite my departure years ago.
I naively believed that Shanghai and I shared a special chemistry and that she would be lost without me. Yet time has continued to move forward here in spite of my absence. And I haven’t even arrived at the city center yet.
Gold toilets, gold mirrors, gold buttons. Emirates Shower Class suites were catered for Liberace. Elegant or gaudy? That is the question that begs to be asked when it comes to both the airline and the Emirate as a whole. The tallest this, the biggest that, everything is bigger in Texas Dubai. Personally, I prefer the sophisticated simplicity of Cathay Pacific and the unassuming glamour of Asia.
I don’t have time to upload the shower pics just yet as I’m en route to Shanghai but for now enjoy this pic.
You sip your champagne and eat your omelette while savoring the freshly squeezed orange juice. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice someone staring right at you. Emboldened by your first class golden ticket, you make eye contact with the inquisitive stranger. He refocuses his attention back on his printed edition of the Wall Street Journal.
Welcome to the Emirates First Class lounge at JFK or any elite level lounge anywhere in the world. I love lounges for many reasons: escaping the noise and chaos of the terminal, binging on the free champagne, and the false sense of entitlement because I am, for a few hours, VIP.
Obviously, my past antics (see here and here) prove otherwise. Furthermore, redeeming a points ticket for $2.50 instead of paying $14,000 to fly Emirates Shower Class on an A380 only bolsters the stranger’s assumption that I don’t belong here.
Like the stranger, I try to profile guests of the airport lounge trying to figure out who’s here on points and who’s here on privilege. I glance at shoes, watches, suits, and briefcases. Surely, those are indicators of professionals who are waiting to catch their flight to attend an important business conference. But wait, who is this guy wearing pajamas, sporting a Rolex, and in flip flops? Is he another points guru with a false watch trying to carry on the charade of being successful?
Wait, that’s just my reflection in the spotless mirror.
I left my house (not my house anymore!) at 430am on the way to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. I arrived there to find the airline lounge closed, so my requisite need for a Bloody Mary before I fly would not be fulfilled.
From there, I had to go through security again to get to the Southwest terminal, to find my gate had been changed. Then I landed in Houston and as you saw was delayed over and over followed by a gate change. I arrive in Newark to find the cost efficient AirTrain is out of service so I’m taking the bus to Penn Station then onto Grand Central to get to my friends house.I’m not a believer in exisstential forces interfering with my plans but come on already!
All these delays made me overlook how selfish I was being as I hastily exited Newark airport and the state of New jersey as a whole. Maybe this was her way of telling me to slow down. Or maybe this was Chris Christie’s doing.
It’s easy to blog when you are at home, on your not so trusty Lenovo, and have an unreliable Wi-Fi. But when you are writing a travel blog, you can’t just wait till you get home to put together the standard hotel review, the typical pics of an airline lounge (I honestly love those), and the picturesque snapshot of the beach. At the same time, it is hard to write anything thought provoking when your priority is vacation! So to compromise with my faithful following,
I have set up the a-live section where I will post daily, if not more often, quicky quick updates of where I am and what I’m up to. That way you know that Alex is “a-live” and well. It’s better than a Tweet that gets lost in the river of Twitter uselessness and judging by my Facebook likes, I am not reaching enough of my target audience. Oh and I’m trying out my new, lovely BlackBerry Q10 so that should maintain some semblance of quality as the prof writes his best angry emails on this trusty device. Ironically, so does Mitt Romney. So let’s see how this goes! Now to deal with inserting pics and the never-ending hourglass. Lucky for me I’m delayed in Houston en route to New York. What’s that Tripit? Another delay? I guess that means more posts are coming or more beer at HOU airport that doesn’t even have a lounge!
Words made famous by Ray Charles and made infamous by the Cadillac dealership in Phoenix, Arizona today. (Please picket the dealership of Coulter Cadillac on Camelback if you are in the Phoenix area.)
I know I’ve been shifting the focus from traveling to moving back to traveling but unless you are moving down the street, the act of one is intertwined with the act of the other. It is not secret that I have been having a fire sale, and have finally found my BBQ a new home.
The feedback from that Craigslist ad has been remarkable, not because everyone coveted the Weber Genesis Silver but because of the outpouring of support for my struggle against the HOA and for the hilarity of the post itself.
Here is an email I received:
My Dear Soul,
The communist must be in control of your HOA. It is so un American to ban the God given rights of a Griller unless you are in say a gas refinery or maybe a fireworks distributor. I feel Mel is an evil person in disguise of a protector. I recently lost a dear dear friend of my and know the pain you are suffering. My poor Charbroil grill lost its life in a fiery death. I would be proud to shelter your Genesis from the likes of MEL and his communist supporter. Please contact me as soon as you can to protect the safe survival of the Flame of light ,smoke from meat and that beautiful scent that every fellow griller knows as Heaven.
My condolence for your lost.
Fellow Griller unite !!!
P.S. please give me Mel’s address so I can dispose of the burnt shell of my Charbriol!!
And this one:
I think over the years I have visited craigslist I have never been moved by any listing as much as yours. I thank you for making my day better and was going to offer visitation right to you over July 4th. You are a true item in this world and please do not let Mel or anyone like him diminish your spirit!!!!! I know their must be a fiery flame in your heart.
This is why I blog!
Anyhow, the last piece of business before leaving was to find someone to take over the lease for my car. I posted an ad on LeaseTrader and am basically giving the car away for free. Buyer after buyer has shown interest in taking over the lease and today I was supposed to start the process to get rid of this beautiful liability. For some inexplicable reason, Ally Financial won’t help Arizona customers transfer their lease leaving their own customers at the mercy of the dealership for assistance. Over the last two weeks, I have been communicating with the dealership and they assured me that they would help.
Ain’t she a beauty?
Then today I received a call from the manager who said, “This has taken too many hours of our time. We are not helping you.”
Flabbergasted, I rushed over to the dealership to figure out why. Not only was I confused at their sudden change of heart but also I felt sick knowing that I still had thousands upon thousands of dollars left on my lease that I would have to honor.
I arrived at the dealership and found myself dealing with the nincompoops at Coulter who were adamant in not helping me.
The manager said, “You didn’t buy the car from us and we don’t make any money helping you with this. You are on your own with this deal. We are not helping you.”
He then asked me to wait elsewhere for the finance person and made a gesture with his hands, shooing me away. I exclaimed, “You’re dealership is empty, it’s July (it’s June but I was outraged) and there’s nobody in here, why won’t you help me!”
No apologies, no nothing, he sat their obstinate. Again, I queried, “Why won’t you help me!” and firmly said, “I’m not going anywhere.”
That’s when he asked me to leave and I said some choice words about the viability of his business (no expletives) and walked out.
It was November 2011 and I was watching one of my favorite news programs (besides 60 Minutes), Nightline, when I first learned about my original mentor in the points game- The Frugal Travel Guy. He talked about traveling for free just by applying for a couple of credit cards. After watching that segment my life changed forever.
My first credit card churn (a process for racking up points described here) was reserved to one credit card, the SPG card from American Express. The spend requirement was $5000 in 3 months for 30,000 points so naturally I had to book an inaugural trip to start meeting that requirement. My first trip as a points churner was to New Orleans to see Michigan play Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. I used a companion ticket, a perk from my only major points earning credit card, the Delta SkyMiles Platinum Card from American Express.
My how times have changed. I no longer fly Delta and I cancelled that card years ago.
Fast forward to spring break and I quickly spent part of my SPG points staying at the Sheraton in Nassau, Bahamas utilizing the cash and points option, whereby I provided the points and my friend Brent provided the cash. Add in a Delta voucher with a free flight back to Vegas, and that was a grand redemption.
My how times have changed.
Bahamas in coach?
After getting my feet wet, I started to read more blogs for points redemption and studied their every post from top to bottom. Each blogger has a unique style and unique insight that made the whole process fun and understandable.
1. ThePointsGuy: “Alex, there’s some other guy doing the same thing you are doing.” I hear this from friends who only read the headline of my blog posts and only read the word points in my handle and his. That is where the similarities between me and ThePointsGuy end. ThePointsGuy is the guru of crunching the numbers of points programs, showing the most efficient ways to redeem points, and is the ultimate authority on credit card offerings.
An easy way to break the cycle of monotony is to use the points you earned from following ThePointsGuy by taking a trip!
2. Millionmilesecrets: This is the primer for anyone that anyone that wants to start earning points but finds the process a bit intimidating.
A special thanks to Daraius for featuring me on his interview series and for explaining the points process so that anyone can understand.
3. One Mile At a Time: Lucky, and the whole family at Boarding Area cover every topic you want to know about ranging from travel reviews, best safety videos, and all the groundbreaking points devaluations that occur in the middle of the night.
4. Milevalue: Can I go Antartica, route through Dubai, while getting an on board massage with a stopover on the moon? If you’re looking for how to pull off a points heist, then look no further than this site.
By putting it all together and you too can plan a masterpiece like I did last December: 50,000 miles in business class, 16 stops, 5 continents all for $275.
All of that wouldn’t be possible had I tried to do it on my own. So, to the points bloggers listed here, I say thank you, and to you, the reader, I also say thank you for helping me grow my blog and support the publication of my book.
Did I mention that it should be out by early July?
Picture a city where it is sunny 296 days out of the year, it never snows, there are no hurricanes, and no earthquakes. Add in a moderate cost of living, good looking people, and great pho and you have arrived in Scottsdale. In 2005, I moved to Arizona to attend law school and as you will read in my soon to be released book (I’d say early July at the latest) Everyone’s Advice Is Wrong . . . Including Mine, I have always returned to the desert as a refuge from the unexpected curve balls of life.
Somewhere along the way refuge turned me into refugee forcing me to reanalyze why I am here in this 120 degree desert. While Arizona is a great state for the reasons I have mentioned, it is also preferred by the retirement community for the same reasons. (The elderly love pho too). This country club, complacent lifestyle is too sure-footed and would not get me moving forward with my plans for international domination. The only risks that come with living in Arizona are not going to the gym everyday so you can’t be at your best at the W pool party where only the finest douches spend their Saturday afternoons.
The state is so cut off from international commerce that the only flights out of here take you to another hip destination, Cabo San Lucas, where you can encounter even more douches at the pool-their origins being from Los Angeles and Orange County.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a great time in my many years as a citizen in this encampment known as Scottsdale but am ready to move on to a place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock likethe salmon of Capistrano.
That place is the polar opposite of Arizona and is better known as Mongolia.
But, before I get there, I have a few more pointsaffairs to settle, a book to publish, and a promotionplan to reveal.
The World Cup starts tomorrow in Brazil and the paint on the stadiums is unlikely to be dry. At least, that’s is what we are being told. Whether it be the Olympics or the World Cup, questions always arise as to whether a country is ready to host the games. Four years ago in South Africa the world questioned if the tournament would be a success.
The result was a memorable World Cup and we barely heard anything about unfinished stadiums, lack of security, or any other negative media attention meant to undermine the host country.
This time, there are serious doubts about the preparedness of Brazil that are not unjustified. There have been multiple deaths in the construction of stadiums that may or may not be ready for play according to FIFA. Meanwhile, in the streets there has been social unrest due to the outlandish spending on football stadiums while the country’s infrastructure is in shambles.
In CNN Money, there is an article analyzing the expected economic impact of South Africa hosting the World Cup and the resulting reality: millions upon millions spent with a feeble spike in the economy. The question is whether the externalities of hosting such games including country pride and promotion of tourism are worth the cost of forgoing investments in public works projects that arguably are more impactful than the few weeks of euphoria while hosting an international tournament. This naturally elicits the next question: should emerging economies be granted these games with many examples of venues from Olympics past that have now been abandoned?
Last New Years, I visited South Africa making the usual circuit from the Western Cape through Cape Town, Knysna, to Port Elizabeth, to Durban, then onto Johannesburg. In Cape Town, there is a beautiful stadium that hosted the World Cup semi finals. Today, apart from some sporting matches and concerts, the stadium sits idle, apart from gracing the adjoining golf course.
Upon arriving in Durban, I asked the taxi driver about the immaculate stadium that is right in the heart of the city. He told me that unlike the other stadiums in South Africa, this one was actually making money. I was laughing when he told me how.
This June and July the futbol elites are back at it again, ready to battle for my favorite trophy in all of sports, the FIFA World Cup Trophy. For the next two months, the world will be focused on Brazil, anxiously waiting to see if the tournaments goes off without a hitch.
I, on the other hand, am more curious as to what amusement ride will be placed in the Arena Amazonia, a stadium built right in the heart of the jungle.
