Perplexed Orange Independent Biker

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Originally uploaded by dansteeves68.

First I gotta tell you that I took this photo with my new Sony phone, sent it via MMS to flickr ($1.30 per on Cingular world roaming), then blogged from flickr seconds later ($? don’t know how much boingo is charging for this connection)…

I’m awake at 2am Moscow time, 5am Novosibirsk time which is what my body is on. I’m mostly having fun, but also hoping the all-nighter will help me acclimate back to US time faster when I get home tomorrow night.

Today was another day of “This is Russia, shit happens.” Sam and I took a taxi to the Novosibirsk airport together. We had to stop at a bank in the city for him to pick up a replacement credit card. All went well to that point and the taxi driver and I shared pictures on our phones while Sam was inside. Taxi driver is a student at the military academy (see tank photo) in Akademgorodok.

Then we got lost trying to find the bridge, and not just a little bit. Then we hit serious traffic on the airport side of the river. My stress level is up to 11 worried we’ll miss the flight. Then we get caught in a speed trap at the city limits. The police won’t just take money off the record, they want to actually issue a ticket. 15 minutes later we’re back on the road.

We arrive at the airport with 20 min to spare. 15 of this elapse while Aeroflot attempts to issue Sam a ticket for the flight. We choose and use the “fast” security option which is a machine you stand inside to be scanned like an x-ray. Sam says “you don’t want to do it too often.” Jeez…

Sam checks us in, then we wait over a couple .5 liter bottles of beer. Hey, this is Russia! We board, work on the flight, eat, work, sleep, land. When we land Sam goes to find our arranged taxi and I wait for my bag. Then I have to beg to be let out of baggage claim because Sam must have the ticket for my bag. Very fast taxi ride into Moscow, and here I am… What a night. (Sings “oh what a night…”)

Toppings for bread

Originally uploaded by dansteeves68.

Interesting spreads for bread before lunch. Click the pic through to flickr to see what’s what.

Chinese good luck thingy

Originally uploaded by dansteeves68.

This is about 1 meter tall, and was presented to Top-kniga on its tenth anniversary in business. A traditional chinese good luck charm, you fill in the left eye black when you make a wish, then when it comes true you fill in the right eye. Note that Top-Kniga’s owners haven’t filled in either eye yet.

Alex and Anja

Originally uploaded by dansteeves68.

Alex and Anja took care of me for a night in Novosibirsk. They were exceptionally gracious hosts, and I had a good time. I feel bad that I was pretty tired from being so jetlagged this week. I got to see several sides of Novosibirsk, and I think it is a good city. Not without its own problems, both typical and post-Soviet, but there is life, beauty, and charm here. Click through the photo for more shots of the city.

Haluk

Originally uploaded by dansteeves68.

I had a great overnight stay in Moscow thanks to my old friend Haluk, who works at Credit Europe Bank here. Click through to flickr to see more pictures of Moscow, and Haluk’s lovely wife Yesim. Gotta board my flight to Novosibirsk now, but wow I love Domo airport and *free wifi*! Dan out.

Construction

More new photos today, too

Now that I’ve gotten over the shell-shock, I’m starting to see a little more. Today on the way to the office I saw several buildings under construction and renovation. Like this one which is getting new layers of insulation and skin.
Friends told me that one problem is that so many of the buildings were built by and are still owned by the government. And they can only fix so many at a time. So they don’t have the same incentive that private owners do for keeping the place nice and maintained to keep rents up.
Good day here today, couple of harrowing taxi rides. Lunch at a “Mexican” restaurant but you could have fooled me, I thought we were having another traditional Russian meal.
Dan out.

Office coffee

If you know me you know this is a difficult choice, which instant coffe to use. However, I have already found at least one coffee shop in town serving a very competent double espresso. So all is not lost.

Novosibirsk apartments

Russia is just plain run-down. I’m sure the center of Moscow and St Petersburg are up to snuff with other world captials. But out here where it matters, things just look kinda hard. Old vehicles, old shoddy buildings, that’s all you see. Being in the midst of the dirty spring thaw doesn’t help. On the flip side there are happy, industrious young people here getting on with life and it looks nice. And after work we went out for a great dinner of nouveau-Russian food.

Map

Originally uploaded by dansteeves68.

Late-night surfing google maps to get a sense for where I’m going tomorrow morning. I found the client office, which turns out to be less than a kilometer from a top-secret place that google blurs out. I understood that the Soviets set up Akademgorodok for state-sponsored research, but this is kind of wild. If you click through you can see the notes I added in flickr.

Want a smoke?

Click to see more pictures of Istanbul.

Friday morning I was a tourist in Istanbul. Rode the metro to the funicular to the tram, to Sultanhamet Square. Then paid visits to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia.

Hagia Sofia is pretty cool. I didn’t remember a thing about it from 10 years ago. I was kind of surprised that I hardly recognized anything in Istanbul besides the Kabatas and the Flower Courtyard from my trip 10 years ago. My memory of other cities I visited in 1997 has been much better. Afraid I’m getting old.

Between the man in this picture and the Starbucks nearby, I’m reminded how much Disney-fication is happening to the world’s most meaningful places. Check out this video by Bruce Sterling for more of what I mean.