Lost in China.... sorta

Well, I got lost trying to find the Lomostore here in Guangzhou.

I got a cab to drop me off in the right neighborhood, but then Googlemaps and my GPS program (Motion X) completely failed to put me in the right place. After hitting my mark on the map and looking around, I realized I was on the wrong street. Guessing my approximate location, I headed in what I thought was the right direction. Stopping by a phone store, I asked some young guys if they spoke English, which they sort of did. After some discussion, they sent me off in a direction, which sadly, did not end up at the Lomostore.

After wandering around a bit, it was after closing time for the store, so I decided to head back to the hotel. I thought by heading in the right direction, I'd find some familiar landmarks. Nope. I then fell back on plan B, find a taxi to take me back to the hotel. Of course, when I decided this, I was deep in some local neighborhood. Interesting, but not getting me where I wanted to be. I turned around and went back to a main street, where I managed to flag a taxi down.

Taking a taxi in China is another interesting experience, which I'll comment on in another post.

Sent from Kai's iPhone :)

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It's ironic that...

It's ironic that one of the best Italian meals I've had in awhile has been in China.

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Chongqing - Plaza overlooking the Jialing and Yangtze Rivers

This is a panorama of the plaza made using Autostitch on the iPhone

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Temple of Heaven,Beijing

iPhone photo, processed with TiltGen

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iPhone for the China trip - keeping it charged.

Keeping the iPhone powered while traveling

When I was at home or at work, it was simple enough to plug the iPhone
in somewhere to quickly top off the battery, but when traveling or
running around all day, it’s too easy to run the battery down. What do
you do when the phone doesn’t have a removable battery?

Part 1 - Mophie Air case
http://mophie.com/

This is a 1200mAh battery, built into a case. It adds a bit of bulk to
the phone, but I have found the advantage of having a charged phone
all day is worth it.  It is sufficient to keep the phone going all day
without running the battery down all the way. The battery in the
Mophie case is enough to charge the iPhone %60 of charge. I turn the
case battery on when I’ve run the battery down to 40%.

The only downside is the cover piece that fits over the volume
buttons. There is a very thin and narrow piece of plastic which seems
to be prone to cracking. I read online that this is a very common
problem. I “fixed” my case by cutting off the broken piece, and then
gently sanding around the edges to smooth them out. I tried gluing the
pieces together with some super glue, but the broken bit refused to be
glued. I was afraid if I left it broken and loose, it might crack the
piece in a more even inconvenient place.

Part 2 - The Just Mobile Gum Pro 4400mAh external battery
http://www.amazon.com/Macsense-Mobile-Battery-4400mAh-High-Power/dp/B0026NB4UE

This is an external battery that will charge your iPhone 2.4 times.
I’m not sure how many times it can charge the Mophie Case plus iPhone
combo, but it is enough to give many more hours of extra use. The
battery has a mini-USB plug to charge it, and a standard USB plug to
plug the phone or Mophie case into. The added benefit is that if you
have any other devices that charge off a USB plug, you can use the
battery with it as well.

Part 3 - Plug Adapters
I got a China power plug adapter so that I can plug my regular iPhone
USB charger into the Chinese wall outlets. This adapter is also common
with the Australian-New Zealand plugs. It looks like a U.S. plug with
the prongs rotated slightly to form a V. I have been fortunate to find
that the hotels we’ve been staying at have universal wall outlets. I
have only needed to use the adapter in one hotel. Some people will
tell you that you need a voltage converter. You only need a voltage
converter for devices that aren’t euro-asia friendly and will only run
on U.S. voltage (110-120v). Many chargers, like the iPhone USB
charger, is rated for 100-240v, so it can be used with a plug adapter.

I also made a modified extension cord, so that I could use more than
one US device with the adapters.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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