I just returned from a quick 4-day trip to New York City. This was my first visit.
I’ve been wanting to go for years, but the trip kept getting put on the backburner in favor of more important (weddings, holidays with family) or closer (a weekend in Vancouver) adventures.
From the second we entered Manhattan, I was in love with the vibe and rhythm of the place. Everything was buzzing, and the buildings were old monstrosities that loomed high above you. I wanted to set out on foot and explore every corner, but also had to be mindful of my pregnant wife in tow. Ellen is 28 weeks along and not moving the way she used to…
I felt like the city had a paradoxical nature. For example, it’s big and fast and populous, yet it’s all on this relatively small island. (Most) people are gruff and unfriendly, yet we encountered endearing locals in the subway, one of the most crammed, hectic parts of the city. Each time we boarded a train, someone immediately got up to give Ellen his or her seat. Also, it’s one of the most expensive cities in the world, yet you can go to the corner or a tiny restaurant and eat some delicious grub for just a few dollars.
I felt like we were always on the move, checking something out, yet I felt like we barely scratched the surface. But this didn’t disappoint me, because I know each time I come back I will inevitably find something new and different about the place. As I went through the pictures from my trip, I already started to plan my next trip.
Posted: November 30th, 2009
Categories: Travel
Tags:
Comments: No Comments.
My photos from Doe Bay Fest are up on Flickr now. This is the second year of the festival, and the organizers did a great job of making this year’s festival bigger and better. Here are some of my favorite photos:
I love to travel. Seeing new places and experiencing how other people live is something I will do for the rest of my life. But the airport experience is something I loathe. A recent NY Times article got me thinking more about the subject.
I actually enjoy flying, and being on airplanes. It’s the all the auxillary airport nonsense that bothers me. Waiting in lines to check bags, waiting in lines to go through security, taking off your shoes, and so on. Once past security, you are essentially in a prison. I had a 9-hour layover at Incheon once… it was maddening.
Let’s talk about airport security. Last week in Minnesota, my backpack was searched for reasons that were never explained to me. Two weeks ago in Montana, a security agent gave me a snide “Nice try” when they found a can of soda in my bag that I honestly forgot was there. Another time, a small multi-tool was confiscated in Bangkok despite making it through three other airports with no issues.
Everyone will say these security measures are in place for good reasons, but have you ever thought about the statistics behind them? Think about how many innocent people just want to get from point A to point B, compared to those who want to cause trouble. We are enforcing inane rules at the expense of the 99.9999% travelers who just want to visit their grandmothers or take a vacation.
Clearly, a better system is out there, and it’s part of the broader question of how we can make airline travel less annoying.
The NY Times had an article that touched on these frustrations and reached out to some airline experts on their opinions on how to make air travel less annoying. My favorite bit is from a pilot, who sums up my opinion on airport security:
“Let’s begin with an overhaul of airport security. Certainly it’s important to screen for bombs and firearms, but the majority of what goes on at the concourse checkpoint is wasteful, tedious and does nothing to improve security — from the senseless I.D. checking to the three-ounce container rules to the confiscation of butter knives from crew members ( it happened to me). The amount of money and time spent on this absurd theater is stupefying.” –Patrick Smith, commercial airline pilot
Hey! Come see my band on our West Coast tour! I hope to be blogging from the road, so come back for updates.
FRIDAY MILE SPRING 2009 WEST COAST TOUR
March 27 // Portland // Ash St. Saloon
March 28 // Eugene // Lucky’s Club
March 29 // Chico // Empire Coffee
March 31 // San Diego // Bar Pink
April 1 // Santa Cruz // The Crepe Place
April 2 // Stockton // Plea For Peace Center
April 3 // Sacramento // Old Ironsides
April 4 // Mountain View // Red Rock Coffee
Usually, I am an upstanding citizen of the world. But last Saturday, after coming back to our Vancouver hotel after a night out, I felt the need to rebel. I somehow shimmied out our hotel window and out onto the fire escape, where I climbed three stories up to the rooftop. After surveying the situation, I went to retrieve my wife, who was very reluctant to follow my lead. I won out, and we climbed our way up to the roof, where we got a stellar view of the full moon, and heard the noises of people and taxis making their way down the Vancouver streets.
One of things I love most about travel is eating food from different parts of the world. I like seeing how other people live. Vancouver is only three hours north of Seattle, but many parts of my recent trip there made me feel like I was far from the comforts of home.
This dense urban oasis, surrounded by mountains to the north and water everywhere else, seems to be thriving with good things — from public transportation and a pedestrian-friendly downtown core, to a diversity of dining and recreational options.
Upon recommendation by a friend, I found myself at Guu, a Japanese tapas/izakaya restaurant just off bustling Robson Street. The experience was worldly. I was an American in Canada, but once seated, I could have been in Japan.
The waitstaff hurried by with plates of food for other tables, and then quickly took our order. Our young waiter shouted our order in Japanese to the chefs, who were working diligently in front of us, and they shouted back. Minutes later, I was handed my first dish by a young female chef. Grilled pork short ribs.
Next came chicken wings, and then some delicious kimchee fried rice.
After seeing a nearby couple munching on squid tenticles, I decided I wanted to try them as well. They had a tasty grilled exterior and a firm, chewy consistency. They came with Japanese mayo, a sweet tangy sauce that offset the sharper edge of the grilled squid.
This was a fine way to start our evening in Vancouver.
Right now, I’m working on a book of those pictures and words using Blurb, a site that helps you become a bookmaker.
I learned about Blurb through Flickr, the photo-sharing site that I’m somewhat addicted to. I love posting photos on Flickr and sharing those photos with friends, but part of me still wants something physical that I can hold in my hands.
A survey of the box of photos I keep in storage will reveal that all those photos stop in 2005. Why? That’s when I started using Flickr. That’s why I’m making this book.
You download their software, and use templates to assemble your masterpiece. I was hesitant to use their software, given my experience with a wide range of publishing tools — MS Publisher (awful), QuarkXPress (good). My main concern is that the software would be too limiting. I decided to give it a test run.
It worked great. Their software is flexible, offers many layout options, and allows you to pull photos from third-party sites (like Flickr). I actually just finished laying out the photos for the book. All that’s left is the words.
When you are finished, you send them the files and they print it and mail it you.
Part VII – Last days on the island On our last night, we walked down to the village to have dinner and ran into Bill, Tim and Margaret, who invited us to have some drinks after dinner. Many drinks and hours later, we were back at the hotel, where most people had gone to sleep except the lone front desk worker.
The hotel’s policy about the bar was that it only closed after the last guest went to sleep. The five of us took advantage of this policy and spread out to different places in the pool area. Tim and Margaret sat in lounge chairs surrounding the pool, while Ellen waded in it. I jumped in. Bill took his usual position at the bar, one foot resting on the adjacent stool. We extended our conversations from the bar. I learned more about what Bill did for a living before retirement, and Tim would rib me about being from Montana (only because he saw I was so passionate about it).
Ellen sat on the edge of the pool with her feet in the water, looking at the water introspecively. I had a suspicion she was ready to go home.
I missed home, but did not want to leave. I felt like I was just getting into the rhythm of Thailand. But like it or not, this was our last night, and we were happy with how it ended. I just wish it had been our first night.
The next day, we began our very long journey back to Seattle. While the actual plane rides are not short, our layovers were equally unshort. In fact, for each flight we had (three total), we had an equally long layover in the preceding airport. By the time we got back to Seattle, we had been traveling for nearly 48 hours.
I would love to go back to Thailand someday. BUT… I would do two things differently: 1) book a flight with shorter layovers; and 2) stay longer.
Part VI – The best food we had was the food we made ourselves
One of the activities we looked forward to the most was the cooking class we booked before arriving. We knew it’d be fun, but just getting there was an adventure in itself.
We wanted to rent a scooter to get to our class, which was in Chaweng Beach, a 15-minute drive away. Our hotel was out of scooters, but advised us to just walk down the road, where we’d find plenty of places willing to rent us a bike.
The hotel next to ours rented scooters, and it only took a couple minutes before we were handed keys to a vehicle of our choice. We were never asked to sign papers, and had to ask for helmets. Only as we were driving away did they ask where we were staying, and what my name was.
I noticed right away that our scooter was not handling well. We needed gas, so I figured I would check out the bike when we pulled over to fill up. Before that happened, a man drove up next to us on another scooter and pointed at our rear tire. It was noticeably deflated. He sped ahead of us and motioned for us to follow him. He lead us to a small motorcycle repair shop, where we did our best to explain the situation. We were told it would take an hour to get the bike fixed up, and we needed to be at our class in 20 minutes. We declined the help and decided to limp back to the hotel where we rented the scooter.
Again, we did our best to explain the situation to the workers there, and I think our message got through. They seemed confused and maybe even a little suspicious that we might be responsible for the flat tire, but they gave us a new bike quickly, and we were off.
I only had a mental map of where the class was, and since we were already running late, I was hoping my mental map would prove to be accurate. This gets me into trouble sometimes, but this time, I was right on the money.
We walked in the door and saw that we had stepped RIGHT into the classroom. Seven people were already sitting around a large table, wearing aprons, with cutting boards and piles of ingredients in front of them. Everyone was looking at us.
I thought about explaining the scooter situation, but opted for the easier-to-explain, more understandable “We got lost.”
Our instructor decided that our punishment for being late was to eat a pepper, but only I had to eat it. I think she favored Ellen more than I, but ultimately she was a very fun teacher, and we learned a lot.
The food we made at the class was probably the best food we had on the trip. We got to smell, taste, and chop all of the ingredients that we used. By the end of the night, we had made four dishes (Panang curry, shrimp-fried rice, tom yum soup with fish, and steamed chicken with mixed herbs). Just between Ellen and I, we probably had enough food for 10 people, and we didn’t even come close to finishing it.
Later that night, we went out for some post-cooking-class drinks with some of our classmates.
Part V – Bo Phut, the charm of Koh Samui Bo Phut started as a quiet fishing village, and much like other parts of the island, transformed into a bustling tourist beach area over the course of the past two decades.
It had more charm than Chaweng or Lamai, and consisted of a small road leading through modern restaurants and bars, as well as family-run vendor booths and shops. It had a mix of new and old, from the Australian-themed beach bar to the meal we ate inside of an old woman’s garage. We ate at a colorful plastic table while she watched a news broadcast on her TV. Most of the beachfront hotels, resorts and bungalows could be found on the outer edges of the main commercial part of the road.
We walked up and down the road, dodging delivery trucks and turning down many requests to get fitted for a suit or buy touristy knick-knacks. We were looking for a hotel to stay in for the last few days of our trip.
It didn’t take long to find one that Ellen was enamored with. We inquired with the owner, a friendly Brit, about availability over the next few days. He had a standard room available for the exact length of time we needed. He let us take a look at the room, and after we saw it, it was a done deal. Ellen put down a deposit and we told the owner, Robin, that we’d see him the following day.
We made our way back to Coral Cove on the scooter, happy to have the rest of the trip plotted out.
The following day we had breakfast and packed, then caught a songtaew to Bo Phut. A songtaew is an open-air truck that you have to flag down and ride in the back, which has seats and a canopy. You share it with anyone else who flags it down and hops on. They fit about 5-6 people. Prices are typically negotiated before travel. They are cheaper than taxis, and give you a taste of adventure, since there are no seat belts.
We liked our second hotel a lot better than the first. It was set up with all the rooms surrounding a courtyard, where there was a pool, bar, and plenty of lounge chairs. All the rooms had ocean views.
We were also a short walk from food, knick-knacks, and anything else we would need, eliminating the need for taxis and songtaews.
This hotel provided a friendlier atmosphere than our previous one. We saw the owner nearly every day, and he always had good things to say, and offered advice about what we should be checking out on the island. The hotel had other friendly characters, in their staff and guests.
There were the two Thai sisters that worked the front desk and the bar.
The breakfast cook that often brought her grandbaby to work.
There was Bill, the retired Brit who lived at the hotel four months out of the year. He could always be found with a coffee or drink at the hotel bar, depending on the time of day.
Two more Brits, Tim and Margaret, hailed from Brighton and were really fun to chat with.
One of the activities we looked forward to the most was the cooking class we booked before arriving. We knew it’d be fun, but just getting there was an adventure in itself…
