Made it home

Sorry about the delayed ending to this story. I'm now back in the office and busy catching up on emails and projects and at home I've been busy picking up the mess I left behind and spending time with family and friends and of course Bella, my Lab.

Here are a couple pictures from our last day in the UK. The first is Lynne hanging out with Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn at Hampton Court Palace. The second is Lynne enjoying a pint at a pub in London.

So last Friday we flew from Heathrow to Chicago and then we were to fly from Chicago to Kansas City and arrive about 6:30 p.m. We were all excited about getting home, picking up our dogs and sleeping in our own beds. Unfortunately, it didn't happen that night.

Our flight was only about 10-15 minutes late but customs and immigration killed us. United told us before we got off the plane they would help expedite us through so we'd make our connection. A woman told us to go to lanes 37 and 38. We stood there about 20 minutes and were at the front about to go next to the immigration officer ...

And then a guard told us we couldn't be in that line without a special pass. After some arguing, they put us back of the HUGE long line of U.S. people. It had to be 150-200 people ahead of us. We were so incredibly frustrated. #*$! United! Lynn got put in a faster line and I got trapped with a very thorough officer who asked everyone their life story. So Lynne pulled all of our luggage off the belt and onto carts before I finished. That Lynne is strong! Then she got hassled by customs about her ginormous equipment case and a missing form that no one told us we had to have three weeks ago when we'd left the U.S. Got through that and starting moving again and were told before we could recheck our bags that there was no way we'd make our flight to KC, which was in a different terminal and was supposed to leave in 15 minutes. I almost cried.

There were a couple other flights that would have left after 8 or 10 p.m. but they were overbooked and the agent didn't think we'd get on with standby. So we ended up staying the night in Chicago. United put us up and gave us some food vouchers. It took us a while to calm down and give in that there was nothing we could do about it. I had to call the car service and Bella's vet to reschedule and Bethany to tell her I couldn't get Bella that night (she and her parents had already graciously said they could keep Bella that night if I was too tired to get her). Then called family letting them know we couldn't meet Saturday morning. I fell asleep about 8 p.m. (1 a.m. London time), got up really early and we headed back to the airport. We actually made it in to KC a little early. But ... Lynne's camera equipment didn't make it. Figures. It was delivered later that day.

If you'll recall on one of my first blogs we decided, thanks to Jonathan Mast, that our safe word when we were driving each other crazy was "pickles." We never invoked it on each other (Lynne's a terrific travel buddy), but we did use it with Air France and United. Along with a few other choice words.

4 countries. 6 cities. 17 interviews. 11flights. 70+ hours flying. 2 = times camera equipment didn't make it. 0 cases of bed bugs. 40 = number hours it will take to do my expense report.

It's good to be home.

Time to go home

Finished up our three-week trip with a vacation day in London. Lynne humored me and let me go back in time to 1989 when I lived in London after graduating from college. I remembered the address of 14 Horbury Crescent in Notting Hill but didn't quite remember exactly how to get there from the Tube stop. After a bit of wandering around in the rain, I found it. Looks like a posh street but the place was a dump on the inside. Here's a look:

From there we wandered to Kensington Gardens (saw the Elfin tree) and then toured Kensington Palace, which is where Queen Victoria grew up and was made Queen. It was also where Princess Di and Charles lived when I was there 23 years ago. They had 5 of her dresses on display. We then headed to Hampton Court Palace, which is where Henry VIII and his six wives lived. I'd been there before with friend Carol and my brother Matt but didn't remember much beyond the hedge maze and tennis courts. I have to watch the TV series the Tudors to catch up on all this history. Beautiful gardens there.

We came back to London and found a pub. I think it was called Paxton's head. I enjoyed my last Pimms & Lemonade. Best drink ever.

Really can't believe the trip is over. It was fantastic to meet all of our wonderful professionals and see the cities where they live and work. We should hit Kansas City about 6:30 p.m. tomorrow and I get to see my sweet little Bella again. HUGE thanks to Bethany and her parents for taking care of my puppy!

Time has flown by

Cannot believe it's the day before we head home. It just doesn't feel like it's been three weeks. I got behind on blogging since we've been going morning to night, so here's a quick catch-up.

Monday
Shot three interviews in the Redhill office with Water division folks. They were all lovely. One had worked on water reuse, one is a young engineer who is passionate about getting children excited about engineering and science and the last of our 17 interviews was hysterically funny. He described he and his director as the George Clooney and Brad Pitt of water process. He's mad for cricket and threw down a challenge to the Mumbai office cricket team. He had even written a script about what he does using as many Michael Jackson song titles as he could squeeze in. Can't wait to edit that one.

I think this was the night we ran into Paul Miller of Telecom in the hotel restaurant. First I noticed his B&V shirt and then I thought it looked like him, but I thought what is a Telecom guy doing in the UK? It's pretty much a U.S. business, but we made eye contact and it was him, so he joined us for dinner. He's seeing what kind of work can be had for private networks with Water clients. Hoping it works! Very nice guy and found out he went to Mizzou and we graduated the same year. So funny. For my sorority sisters -- he thought he remembered Angie Harrison as he was studying electrical engineering too.

Tuesday
Visited my first water treatment plant. It was in the middle of the English countryside so we got to see some lovely views and sheep that graze right next to the site to keep the grass down. It was raining all morning but by the time we had a 101 on the site and had been walked through safety procedures and dressed for safety (vest, hard hat, boots, glasses, gloves), the rain stopped. However, it was incredibly muddly, so we had to slog through it. Our first stop was the top of high hill that led to a resevoir. Very steep and a little slippery, especially in loaner boots that are too big. And my socks came off my feet and were squished around my toes. I was totally paranoid I'd fall in sheep poo and break B&V's very expensive camera, but I was fine. We had lunch at The Grasshopper Inn with Malcolm Hallsworth from the Redhill office (he also drove us to the site). Had a two-course carvery, which means it was a buffet with two meats being carved by the chef. Tasty. We had a pudding but it was a dry roll. Go figure. They also had a lemon posset for dessert. Lynne ordered it and so did Malcolm but he said posset is what they call baby puke. Not very appetizing but they loved it. I had a banofee. A banana tofee thing.

We took off for London about 3 p.m.. Took a quick bus tour around. It's freezing here. Only in the 40s and rain off and on. I had 4 layers on. Saw a ton of sites and then we went to Les Miserables (got half price tickets at Leiceister Square). I think it's my 5th time seeing it as it's my favorite show. The voices were amazing, and I loved it. Didn't get back to the hotel at Gatwick until almost midnight. We have to walk to the train station here (5-10 minutes), then wait for the Gatwick Express to Victoria Station in London which takes 30-40 minutes, then get on the Underground and sometimes change lines, so travel takes a while.

Wednesday
Our first mostly work-free/travel-free day in 2.5 weeks! We went to the Tower of London. Half gruesome and have awesome. Crown Jewels are there along with Armory. Then we had fish and chips at a pub called the Hung Drawn and Quartered. Very good food. Spent the afternoon walking through St. James' Park in the rain and looked at Buckingham Palace and some shops. Had dinner at a tiny Italian place in Soho. Had decided we wanted Italian so we headed to Oxford Circus, a major shopping area thinking there would be lots of restaurants. We walked and walked and walked before we found one. And of course when we left we saw three on the next street. Got back to the hotel about 10.

Update on bed bugs -- I don't think that's what it is. It faded pretty well by yesterday morning and has never been itchy. But it was back late yesterday, redder and bigger. I sent a pic to my doctor and he said it could be 100 things, possibly eczema, which I think could mean just really dry skin. Who knows but it's still creeping me out having the cooties.

Have to run. We leave in 5 minutes to visit my old stomping grounds from when I lived here -- Notting Hill and Kensington Gardens. Then if we have time we'll run to Hampton Court Palace.

I thought the UK would be easier ...

We're in Redhill, UK now. Will head to office for the afternoon for three interviews with professionals. All sound very interesting and fun so it'll go quickly.

The last couple days have been the toughest of the trip. We were supposed to leave Singpore at 11 p.m. on Friday night and arrive in London early in the morning (via Paris). But our flight left 3 hours late for some reason. We were sitting on that plane for 18 or 19 hours. It's torture sitting that long and in the dark the whole time since it was an overnight flight. Suprised my neck isn't sore from all the head bobbing. We missed our flight to London and after about 45 minutes of computer clicking by the clueless Air France guy, we were rerouted to Amsterdam and then to London on KLM Airlines (even the KLM guy complained about the Air France guy for ticketing us wrong). After two more flights, we arrived in London about 30 hours after we began. That's a lot of time in the same clothes and shoes and we looked skanky! We took quick showers and went to the hotel for dinner. We were both dizzy with exhaustion and got through as soon as we could so we could pass out. Lynne couldn't even sit up at that point.

The bad news is our huge case with camera equipment didn't make it to London when we did. It finally arrived at our hotel at 9 p.m. Saturday, thank goodness.

We spent Sunday exploring London. Had to take a train from Gatwick to Victoria Station and then jump on the tube. I'm a little rusty at public transportation but we figured it out. It's freezing here. Only in the 40s. We had on jackets and I had a scarf but we were shaking with the cold. We visited the British Museum for hours. Saw Mummies from Egypt, which were amazing. It was so cold we didn't want to be outside, so we jumped on a double decker tour bus for several hours and got a great tour of the city. Saw Trafalgar Square with Lord Nelson's monument (it was all being refurbished and was under scaffolding when I was last here in 1989 -- dating myself), the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster, Hyde Park, Marble Arch, St. Paul's Cathedral, etc. Headed back to the hotel at Gatwick about 8 p.m.

My room key wasn't working then. Got it fixed. Then I changed my clothes and found that I have red marks all round my legs/ankles. I have cooties! I think it's bed bugs. So gross! A colleague had them in India so bad she had to go to the hospital. And that was at a 5-star hotel. This is no 5-star. Maybe a 3. Mine aren't as bad and so far aren't itchy. But I looked it up on the Internet and it talked about getting blood poisoning from them and anaphalactic shock, so my hypochrondriacism went into overdrive.

I called the front desk and they sent up the hotel manager. He took a picture of my legs and said they have never had an issue and asked where else have I been. I told him we've been all over but hadn't been in a hotel since Thursday night. He gave me a new room on a different floor since he said they can move from room to room. Hope they don't migrate to Lynne's room. I'm so grossed out by it.

Service here isn't great. Nothing is compared to India, which had a million people on staff. I tried to order room service then and no one answered the phone (tried several times). Couldn't choke down one more protein bar so went to bed a little hungry. The wake-up call feature didn't work either. And then I figured out I'd left my PJs in my previous room but again they weren't picking up the phone at the front desk. Sigh.

During the night I got a text saying I was over on my corporate phone data plan. Great. Now I can't get or send texts, which have been the best way to communicate here. Send a note to KC asking for them to fix that.

Hope today goes better. I'm tired.

It's 11:15 p.m. in Singapore (10:15 a.m. in KC). I have a great view of the Singapore River and all the lit-up highrises from my hotel room. We just saw "Wicked" the musical so now I'm listening to it on my iPod. I've had the soundtrack for a while but just by listening to it you can't get what really happens in the show. I'm still processing how it changes what I think about the Wizard of Oz. I won't give away any secrets here though.

Today we shot more b roll at the office and went to Chinatown to shoot as well. Might have bought a few more souvenirs there ... Cheryl Chan was once again a very fun guide and a good negotiator. We had dumplings for lunch. I can't figure out how they get the broth in the dumplings. Delicious though.

A little more shooting tomorrow and some final editing of the Pune video and then we head to London tomorrow night on a redeye flight.

Bethany sent me a picture of Bella. She's taken over Bethany's dog Max's kennel! Poor Max. Bella hated the kennel at my house, the stinker.

We're safe in Singapore

So there were a couple large earthquakes (8.6 and 82.) that hit in Indonesia a couple hours ago. We're safe in Singapore according to our new friend Cheryl Chan and our cab driver. We are fairly close to where the earthquakes hit but didn't feel it (I think we were on the top of the Marina Bay Sands, a 50-some story hotel, when it hit), and we're in the tsunami alert area, but they say Singapore is protected in its location tucked just under Malaysia. No hills or mountains that I've seen in Singpore but lots of highrises. I'm on the 19th floor and feeling good about that. Called my Mom the news junkie to ensure she wasn't worried and texted my sister. And sent B&V security back in KC a note letting them know where we are and and that we're aware of what's happening. We're staying in tonight so I'll be watching a lot of CNN. We're 13 hours ahead of KC in Singapore.

Now for the fun update. Monday night we went to a restaurant called Cabbages & Condoms (sorry, Mom) with my friend Kelly's relative Jamie McDermott who is married to B&V professional Mark McDermott. Mark couldn't join us. The restaurant is all about safe sex and has lamps and statues made of colorful condoms, and they give them away instead of mints when you leave. Here's a shot of me and Jamie with Tiger Woods and one of his lady friends. The sign says "Do you use them, Tiger?" Jamie was totally fun and I feel like she's one of my buddies now. I didn't each much due to stomach turbulence (Delhi belly they call it in India) but the dim sum was good.

Tuesday we left the hotel about 5:45 a.m. to head to the Bangkok Airport. We sailed right through and waited around for a couple hours for our flight. We had some Bangkok Bhat still to spend so I got my great nephew Dre a little stuffed elephant at a gift shop. The flight was smooth and not full so I got to stretch out, and we got in on time again. No issues with customs and the camera equipment in Singapore. We have letters now from office managers so of course now we're not getting hassled. Murphy's law.

Each country is incredibly different. Singapore, which was called Overland Park with Palm Trees by the McDermotts, is quiet and incredibly clean and modern compared to India and Thailand. Tons of high rises and great architecture. We went to the Marina Bay Sands for dinner last night. I thought it was a hotel but it's so much more -- a casino, convention center, shopping mall. It's huge and really cool. It has a ship on the top of it! Ate at Mario Batali's pizza place.

Today we went to the office, which is next door to our hotel. We met Cheryl Chan and Keith Morrison, part of the Global Marketing & Communications team. They helped us set up in a conference room and then we did two fun interviews, and then had a yummy Japanese noodle lunch with Cheryl and Keith, talked about video ideas for Singapore International Water Week, and then Cheryl showed us a beautiful water project at Jurong Lake where we saw dragon boat racing practice. Then we walked around the marina to shoot more and headed to the top of Marina Bay Sands to shoot the city from the birds-eye view. Cheryl was an excellent, fun guide and we're excited she'll be coming to visit KC this summer. Here's a look of the hotel with what I'll call Noah's Ark on top:

Tomorrow we'll shoot B roll of professionals and then probably also catch Chinatown, Little India and more markets here. As a treat to ourselves we're going to see the musical "Wicked" at Marina Bay Sands in the evening. Very excited as I've not seen it yet. I think this is Lynne's 4th time to see it.

Thanks to Bethany and Jonathan for immediately sending us texts after the earthquake/tsunami to check on us!

Yesterday the blog instructions were in Thai. Today they're in English. Go figure. And today I could upload photos, so here are the Buddhas, elephant and gals from yesterday.

Had two successful, interesting interviews today. One professional talked about how the floods in Bangkok affected his life about six months ago. He and his wife had just had their first baby and their house flooded, so they had to relocate outside the city for a while. Can't imagine. Adorable baby picture with hair sticking straight up "like a tomahawk" he said. :-)

I jinxed myself yesterday by saying we'd been feeling fine. Today, not so fine. No idea what got me. After the interviews we came back to the hotel. Lynne worked like a good girl and I laid around. But still going out tonight to meet Jamie McDermott (relative of Kelly Holmes'). She's taking us to a place called Cabbages & Condoms. I am not making that up. I don't think I'll eat but we'll see how I feel in a few more hours. They have a gift shop of hand-crafted items so more shopping for us!

Hoping we don't have any issues getting there. The King's sister's funeral is today and about 15 streets are closed down and it's a holiday for most people (not B&V professionals unless they took a vacation day). She was cremated several months back but the ceremony is today. They plan to burn the ashes. The king and his wife will be there but rumor is they don't get along. He's in he's 90s. Big ceremonial parade today, including  a royal chariot on an hour and half procession. Took 216 men to pull the chariot. Wish we could have seen it.

Big, big thanks to Bethany and her family for taking care of Bella while I'm gone. She's told me Bella and her dog Max (90 pounder) are getting along and like to play tetherball. Hopefully Bethany's telling the truth and Bella is behaving! I owe you BIG!!