Category: Good Travel Advice

OK, I GET it!
LA has crap traffic. Otherwise, why would it take 7 hours to get back to San Francisco instead of the usual 5?
Got on the 405 yesterday at 1600 at the 190th Street entrance. Sat in weekday rush hour grade traffic.
WTF?
Had to get outta there. So took the 105E to the 110N via the carpool lanes. So far, so good. Traffic is flowing like crap through a goose.
Then the carpool lane ends and BAM, back in congestion so awful that only a San Francisco traffic planner with its head full of traffic calming ideas could love.
Creep creep creep through downtown and get to the 5N. It moves for 1/4 of a mile and then BAM, more congestion. Remember, this is “weekday grade” traffic, which means in english, traffic just like the weekday commute. That means bad, folks.
The 5 is not moving. So I decide to try to bypass the entire San Fernando Valley. I take the 2N to the 210W which connects to the 5N right before Magic Mountain. Or somewhere out there in the Santa Clarita valley.
Gettting out of LA yesterday took over 2 hours! Bleagh!
On the other hand, we made it to Pea Soup Andersen’s before they closed. Strangely filling.
Got back to SF after midnight. That was a drive that was much too long…

If you have friends in Singapore and you ever hang out with them and listen to their spoken english…
and wonder, “WTF did they say???”
And your British and HK and Ozzie and American friends also have the same confused look on their faces…
You may be hearing Singlish! And here’s a dictionary. It’s pretty good, can?
Here’s a site that uses a lot of Singlish so you can read it in action.
Good luck.

Many of us imbibe from time to time.
More often than not for others. When the conversation (in any bar or watering hole across the english speaking nations in the world) goes like this:
“What’s your nationality?”
“I’m a drunkard.”
“That makes Rick a citizen of the world.”
And as an aspiring world citizen, you’ve got to know the lingo.
So learn before you drink tonight!

I returned from LA tonight.
It was not without mishap though. Follow.
First, got to LAX an hour before my flight was to leave. That’s what you’re supposed to do, right?
There was no one in the terminal except for the people who were on my flight. They filled up 1/3 of the plane when we finally got boarded.
This fact is important because it was a VERY unbusy day at LAX today. And despite that, my flight was STILL delayed.
Yes, the idiots who run UA have found another way to be late, even if there’s no reason to be.
“they’re bringing the plane from the hangar”.
That’s it. I mean, it’s not busy, it’s not crowded and the plane is not broken. Gotta love Union workers! They friggin’ suck. This is why UA is going down the toilet. That and the overpaid executive board. And since they’re “union owned”, this explains why they suck so badly.
Then, there’s more!
We finally get into SFO and to the Airport BART station (another Union racket, errr operation). We wait for 15 minutes for the train and get on board. Then we wait while the train’s doors open and close.
And open
and close
and open
and close.
This kept on for at least 5 minutes. Then the announcement that all San Francisco transit victims dread:
“This train is going out of service”.
Once we disembark, the muffled PA (who sounds like she’s making the announcement with a Midas muffler in her mouth) creaks that the replacement train is on the third track. So everyone who’s been waiting to get on the train hauls ass up and down the stairs to get to the train who makes the announcements SEVEN times that he’s closing the doors.
And then does it five more times.
Finally get to South City and my car. Hungry. Go to In n Out.
At In n Out, I’m rendered invisible as the girl who is supposed to be taking orders uses her laservision to look through me to acknowledge one of her “peeps” and takes my order only after I use the LAPD “growl of death” to inquire if she is taking orders for food.
Sheesh. A bad day for customer service…

Just got back into town last night from LA. Despite it being the end of Memorial Day weekend, the drive was pretty quick.
It wasn’t congested any more than usual on the 5, but approaching Casa De Fruita, BAM! Gridlocked traffic, took an hour to go 2 miles.
No shit.
There were a lot of tourists and holiday drivers on the road (both who need to be on buses). How can I tell? Well, regular drivers dun usually do this, which I saw in quantity.
Got home over an hour late. Annoying…

Well, here I am in the SFO Domestic Red Carpet Club waiting for my flight to JFK where I will connect to LHR.
It’s exciting. I packed for most of last night because on this trip, I had to bring a sleeping bag (crashing in friend’s studio in London) and because of the awful exchange rate, I thought it prudent to bring what I need. Unlike my trips to Asia, I can’t just buy what I forgot out of forgetfulness because, unlike Asia, stuff in Europe is hella pricey.
And that exchange rate thingie too.
Some of my friends have asked why I’m obsessive with mileage points. One of the perks of Premier Exec is that you can use any Star Alliance lounge if you have an international ticket.
That means mediocre coffee, snacks and sodas free, a place to set up the PowerBook and wi-fi. Some people may not agree, but this helps me relax. The international Red Carpet Clubs also have showers, a godsend after flying overseas.
Well, next entry comes when I’m on the other side of the pond…

What do you get when you combine a Nuclear Scientist, a fast motorcycle and the remains of a nuclear power plant?
World’s scariest road trip!

The traffic has really gotten bad in LA. Almost as bad as San Francisco, except on a larger scale. How you ask? Well…
The traffic crawls or just doesn’t move on major east/west arteries. Ever try to drive on Geary during the PM commute? It’s like the 10 except the 10 is much bigger.
The commute begins earlier in the day for both morning and evening (again, why do they call it “rush” hour?). People trying to leave earlier to beat the rush, along with everyone else.
From 1997-2001, I made regular trips to LA to stay with friends and to hang out. I did a LOT of driving. It wasn’t THIS bad back then.
Did all of this congestion increase just in the past three years?
On the other hand, my friend in South Pasadena lives three blocks from a Gold Line stop. Very convenient if you destination is also near a Metro station.

Mission Station, South Pasadena on the Gold line
I wanted to take a blurry late night pic like I did with the Yamanote when I was in Japan, but they don’t go that fast when they pull in.

Gold Line light rail
They go walking speed. The cars were nice and shiny and clean though.

I’m in South Pasadena right now, blogging away at a Starbucks. Their only redeeming trait (besides mocha malt frappaccinos) is that they have wi-fi hotspots. So that’s why I’m at a Starbucks, in case you care…
I flew SWA outta OAK this AM. It took far too long. It was 20 minutes from the Outer Richmond to 6th and Market. Then it took 25 minutes to get on the bridge.
Yes you read that right. 25 minutes sitting in traffic calming, I mean gridlock.
Then it took another 20 minutes to get to the parking lot I park at near OAK.
Out of these three times, which one looks to be the most unreasonable? I’ll give you a clue: it’s not getting across town or going to the parking lot.
Thank goodness I left the house 30 minutes early.
Also thank goodness I packed shorts. It’s fricking hot here. It’s Singapore-like at USC and it’s dry heat in South Pas. Sheesh.