Arrived in Berlin yesterday, my annual pilgrimage to this city to attend the world's largest travel trade fair and thinking, it's amazing how everything's changed yet nothing has.
 
As usual, I meet fellow travel colleagues on the flight. And as usual, the same conversations are struck up.
 
"How are you?" (The answer is obvious from the red eyes and crumpled look after a long flight but no, we hardened road warriors say, "I am good. You?")
 
"How's business?" (I asked that of a hotelier from Bangkok and he, the hardened general manager that he is, replies, "It's okay, considering …")
 
I am always proud of my Bangkok hotelier friends – they have had to go through such ups and downs and they take everything in their stride. It must be the chillies in their food although I learnt recently that Thais are not the biggest consumers of chillies – apparently, India consumes and produces 90% of the world's chillies.
 
"Where are you staying?" (This is an interesting question provided you ask that of someone who's always trying out new properties and not someone who sticks to one hotel all the time.

I have to confess that after two decades of staying in different hotels every year, I have now settled for the Scandic at Potsdamer Platz the last three years because I am tired of figuring out each time how the wifi works or where the plugs are. In old hotels, you often have to crawl under the bed to find the electrical outlets.)

Full story