Okay, so this post is to serve three purposes.
1. To brag about how I'm off on holiday for two and a half glorious weeks on Saturday.
2. To ask you for your recommendations of things to do in New York/San Francisco and perhaps LAX as well. I'm not talking about "Empire State Building/ride a cable car" level of duh here, but rather cool bars, cafes, shops, or quirky sight-seeing things that you've done and think are awesome.
3. If you can't do that, then share a travelling annecdote with us instead.
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Going with option 3 In a supermarket ...
Going with option 3
In a supermarket in Amsterdam, and bought some fruit
Got to the checkout and the girl seemed really frustrated with me and said 'Je moet het wegen' (You must weigh it) and kept telling me over and over until I clicked maybe I had to weigh it myself.. I told my dutch friend later and she said maybe what they were saying was 'Je moet weg gaan' or 'You must go away!'
The last 3 times I've been on a plane ...
The last 3 times I've been on a plane they've lost my luggage, so I say that if you get people presents - try and take them on as hand luggage! I say that, coz the first time my stuff got lost, I saw someone I had something for right after I got back, while it was still lost, then once I had everything back, not for another months afterwards. By which time she had forgotten I had even gone overseas.
I had the opposite problem: I had no ...
I had the opposite problem: I had no bags with me at all (carry-on or stowed) and customs took a dim view of it. I was stuck in that bloody customs office for ages.
Nice brag .. :-) enjoy the trip Joanna, ...
Nice brag .. :-) enjoy the trip Joanna, I can't give you any tips on where to go or what to do unfortunately as I've only ever stopped over in LA on my way to and from London, hence I've never spent any real time there. However most of the people I know who have been have enjoyed themselves and the shoppings so much cheaper there for clothes etc. As for travel stories, for all the traveling I've done I think I've been lucky for the most part can't think of anything off hand ..
Sweet gig! One recommendation would ...
Sweet gig!
One recommendation would be to carry some form of photo ID around with you when you go bar hopping as the Yanks are notoriously Nazi like when it comes to checking for age. I had to carry my passport around (back in the days when NZ didn't have photo drivers licenses) which was the proverbial pain in the arse.
NY - hang around Greenwich Village, there are plenty of cool bars/cafes around that area (can't think of any specifically), you might even be able to celeb spot as well.
LA - central LA is a dive (again only my opinion), only good for Chinese Manns Theatre and Walk for Fame. Hang around Santa Monica would be my advice, even take a bike and you can bike from Marina Del Ray down to Malibu (I think from memory), its all flat and you can check out how the rich people live and be like on the OC.
Can't think of too many stories in San Fran, apart from it being a very cool city. Although avoiding the Tenderloin district at night (I think that's what it is called) is recommended, loads of sifty people hanging around acting very Slim Shady....
My best advice for NY would be to take ...
My best advice for NY would be to take some good walking shoes
I think the the old meatpacking district is the place to go for all the trendy bars, . . . . and really the empire state building is a must, it's a really good way to get your bearings of the city, just don't waste you time and money going up to the top floor obsevertory, the open air deck is all you need.
Hope you like pickels
Don't waste your time going to LA, go to Las Vegas that place is insane for all the wrong reasons, everything that is wrong with the USA is in Vegas, it's awesome haha !!
I'm not going to LA, just passing ...
I'm not going to LA, just passing through LAX. If I wasn't going to New York I'd get my friends in San Fran to roadtrip me to Vegas, but unfortunately I have another friend who moved to the Big Apple that I gotta visit. Oh the pain!
LAX - take a good book :)...
LAX - take a good book :)
In San Fran I'd recommend going to ...
In San Fran I'd recommend going to Foreign Cinema for dinner.
And if you get the ferry across to Sausalito, there is a bar on the main drag (I think it's the No Name Bar) which has a beer garden out the back and is a good place for a beer and a sandwich when the sun is shining.
[ http://www.foreigncinema.com ]
Go to Puerto Alegre in the Mission ...
Go to Puerto Alegre in the Mission district of San Fran. 546 Valencia St (between 16th and 17th).
415 255 8201.
11 til 10 on Mondays, 5 til 11 Tues, 11 til 11 Wed-Sun.
I still have the flyer on my wall ;)
I stayed at a wicked hostel in the 'the 'loin', don't worry about it. Can't recommend anything truly amazing in NYC... I just did the tourist stuff mainly. Although hostelling in Harlem was a different experience, but I imagine you're staying with your friend.
//I stayed at a wicked hostel in the ...
//I stayed at a wicked hostel in the 'the 'loin', don't worry about it.
On second thoughts, this happened:
"decided to walk the 20 mins into town to a cheap restaurant we'd heard about. it was here things started to heat up a little bit. noticed cars blocking all of the exits to a parking lot with their lights on pointing inwards. noticed guys standing outside the cars on their cellphones. seriously wondering what was going on, we then were very nervous once we saw two black guys in the middle of the park, in a very 'animated' discussion, of which 'fuck you, nigga!' was the general gist. one was brandishing a 2by4 plank and waving it around while screaming 'you played me, you a con man, you played me fool!' suffice to say we scuttled away with our heads down by the ground."
And we were a group of five, so it wasn't as dangerous as, perhaps, a lone female tourist might find it.
that reminds me of the motel I stayed ...
that reminds me of the motel I stayed at in Nashville, it was about 20 minutes walk across the river from the city (although we seemed to be the only people dumb enough to be walking), we were there for 4 nights and every night there were fights, people yelling & screaming and police arresting people right outside in the motels car park, wasn't too much better during daylight either, . . . I guess places are cheap for a reason :)
hell, even the housekeeping lady was ...
hell, even the housekeeping lady was trying to pick fights . . . .
LAX- try and fill out all your ...
LAX- try and fill out all your immigration documentation on the plane. If you don't have it all ready for them, they'll send you down to the far end of customs to some obscure booth where the correct forms are kept. When it's filled out you'll have to walk back, and re-cue. Not very nice when you're jetlagged at 3.30am.
For the record, New York is like woah. ...
For the record, New York is like woah. And oh how pretty the hipsters are, and what tiny little apartments they live in.
UPDATE FROM BEIJING: having a fantastic ...
UPDATE FROM BEIJING: having a fantastic time, saw the summer palace (gorgeous), the great wall at huanghua (steep, vertigo-inducing) and tiananmen square (tourist trap, lots of chinese people trying to sell me stuff, never felt so conspicuous in all my life, best forgotten). The trip has been way better than I imagined. Don't really want to come home.
sfunny- just the other day joanna was ...
sfunny- just the other day joanna was sying she hopes you dont come back
buzz said that to you?...
buzz said that to you?