Author: JellyfishKing

Saturday we drove into San Francisco City and spent the day there.

It was a thrill to cross the famous bridge. Pity it was such a lousy day. The bridge had its head in the clouds.

A must-do photo for me was the Painted Ladies. A row of houses featured in many San Francisco movies and TV shows. It was unreal to see them in real life.

I also wanted to see the streets. Were they really as steep as they are made out to be in the movies (and the game “Crazy Taxi”)?  Yes they are.

We took the tourist cable car ride from Powel street to Lombard Street. Lombard street is said to be the “most crooked street” in the world. At the top it offers a great view over the city and bay.

Overall I liked San Francisco. A clean city with great character. Pity the rain made her look a little dull that day. I would love to go back and spend more time there.

Thursday we flew to San Francisco. Our friends Zelle and Dave (and their dog Toby) were there to pick us up and take us to their home in Sacramento.

Before we left San Francisco we went to Pier 39 at Fisherman’s  wharf for a look around and have dinner. This was my first glimpse of the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatraz.

We ate at “Chowders“. Their specialty is clam chowder in a big sour dough bun. It was delicious and just what we needed because it was cold.

Sacramento is the state capital of California and is 2 hours drive from San Francisco. We got back late and went to bed.

The next day we spent the day in Sacramento.

We ate breakfast at Black Bear Diner. Pancakes, bacon and maple syrup of course!

We anticipated a huge serving – and it was. Jane and I shared.

We asked for extra maple syrup and the waiter brought 4 extra glasses. I guess you can’t have too much maple syrup.

We then went to the capital building. Ronald Reagan and Arnie Schwarzenegger’s portraits were on the governor’s wall. There was a whole room and statue dedicated to Ronnie.

The architecture of the building was stunning.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at “Old Sacramento”. A historic section of downtown, with shops and restaurants and things to photograph.

Wednesday we visited Universal Studios in Hollywood.

We were undecided whether to go or not. But I’m glad we did, it was really good.

Everyone told us the Harry Potter ride was great. It was newly opened. We got there early and it was a little cold and drizzly. Good for us because it meant less people – smaller lines. We’d heard we might need to wait 90 minutes or so. Turns out we only waited 15 mins.

It was fantastic. 3D surround. We were strapped in a roller coaster type chair and all of a sudden we’re flying around with Harry through Hogwarts and playing quidditch.

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We did most of the other rides and tours. The King Kong 3D show was brilliant. As was the Waterworld show.

All very good.

One thing I forgot to mention. At the end of the day we bought two souvenir cups. When we paid for the them the checkout girl says we can fill them up will a cool or hot drink for 99c. Then it’s free refills for the rest of the day! So if you’re going – get you souvenir cup first thing.

We went to Santa Monica and Venice beaches Tuesday.

I had to dip my feet in the North Pacific ocean. Part of my “get my feet wet in every ocean” bucket list.

Santa Monica has a Pier with restaurants, a carnival, street performers. It has a great atmosphere. The beach is clean and wide. It was a cool day so there was not many people in the water.

We had lunch a few streets back from the beach in Santa Monica Place. A place where they had foot long hot dogs and shakes. The hot dog wasn’t nice but the peanut butter shake was great.

We then caught Uber to Venice beach.

We immediately walked in on a show “just starting”. Some sort of dance show on the street. We decided to stick around a watch it, since it was “just starting”. They kept staying the show is “about to start”. But they were obviously trying to build the crowd. They even did a count down to “show time”. It wasn’t until 30 minutes after that they started doing warm ups.

They eventually started the show and did one small act each. Combination of dance and acrobatics. They were very talented.

Then they pulled people out of the audience. “The beautiful girls”, “four rich white guys” (their own words), “one Asian guy” and three kids they called “the future”.

I was cringing at this stage. I was petrified that they would pick me. Thank goodness Jane dyed my hair and I didn’t look old (and rich) enough. I was safe. But I felt sorry for the other guys.

As predicted they proceeded to make fun of all these people. The audience laughed and cheered… mostly because they were glad it wasn’t them. I wasn’t laughing (well not much).

They gave the kids $20 each – I guess to prove how nice they were.

They said the grand finale was one guy was going to jump over ALL of them. But before that they asked for “donations” They’re just some young guys trying to make an honest living. blah blah

They made a big deal about people giving money. Some people were giving $50.  Really?

We gave $20 – which in hindsight was $19 too much. Of course they scare people into giving a decent amount or they’ll point you out and embarrass you.

Anyway the grand finale was not as grand as promised. They dismissed the kids – then the girls, and one of the old guys (cos he paid $50). So that just left 4 guys to jump over. Cheated!!.

As I mentioned earlier (Hollywood) we decided to use Uber to get around LA.

This was a first for Jane and I. We’re on holiday in a strange city, what could go wrong?

I already registered and had the app on my phone, so it was just a matter of searching for the destination. The app knows where you are and most destinations are easily searchable. You just need an internet connection. It’s at good thing to plan ahead if you don’t have access to the internet. We did it from within a coffee shop with free WiFi.

Prices vary quite a lot. Our first trip from from our hotel on Sunset Blvd to Rodeo Drv. Thar cost $6.87 (USD) at 2.30 in the afternoon. The ride back cost $18.32. Its not the time you spend in the car, as with taxis, the fare is calculated before you accept the ride. There are “surge” charges for peak periods.

The drivers are all very friendly and surprisingly the people we’ve “pooled” with are very friendly too. They asked where we’re from and suggested things to do, places to eat in their city.

We’re loving it. We’ve used it 6 times now. We’re about to find a Uber find to Universal Studios.

We spent the day in and around Hollywood yesterday.

Movie stars, rock stars, pavement stars and Starbucks.

There’s a lot of repeating stores on Hollywood Boulevard: Starbucks of course, goes with saying. Lingerie and costume shops. Costume shops maybe, but why so many lingerie shops?

Also “Smoke” shops. Pipes and Shishas etc they say … but they’re bong shops let’s be honest.

The whole street is a bit run down and some of the stars on the pavement are cracked. Surprising, because of the amount of money going around there.

We did the two hour tour. It cost us $30 each, which we found out later we could have bargained it down to $15. Also we felt obliged to tip the driver $20, because he said he doesn’t get paid by the tour company.

We toured the Walk of Fame, Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive. It was quite good. We didn’t see any “stars”.

After the tour we decided to go back to Rodeo Drive. Jane wanted to do some shopping – I immediately cancelled all credit cards.

She has been after a necklace from Tiffany and Co for ages, Just kept changing her mind every time. This time I was determined to not waste time… err I mean make sure she gets her dream. Guess what she got it. whoo hoo!

We got Uber to take us to Rodeo Drive. Another first for me. It’s fantastic! I will post about that experience later (Uber post)

Today is beach day. Santa Monica and Venice beach.

So here we are. I’m sitting in a Hotel (well Motel) in Los Angeles. Feels surreal. Doesn’t feel like I’m really here.

This was my first long haul flight. 12 hours sitting in a packed economy class on Cathay Pacific (CX8882) flight. I must say it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I managed to get a few hours sleep. I thought I’d be a zombie when I got there – but I was remarkbly refreshed.

We arrived yesterday afternoon. The plane touched down early at 1.40 pm,  but 4 hours later we arrived y the hotel. about 2 hours of that time was waiting in the US immigration line. We were finger printed and photographed. I guess they didn’t think we terrorists so they let us through.

When we got to the hotel we realised we had no US currency. I tipped the driver with a AUD $5 note. He seemed ok with that.

But the first thing we needed was a shower. After 26 or so hours it felt so good.

We got changed and headed out to find a money changer.

The guy at reception said there was a 24hr money changer in Hollywood Boulevard so we walked up there.

This is where the “walk of fame” is, with celebrities having the “star” on the pavement.

We got some money changed and immediately just spotted a Zara shop and had to offload some “greenbacks”. She said she wanted a jacket because it was cold (20 deg). But she came out with 2 t-shirts.

Yeah its tacky. But you expect that. So just go with it. There are lots of characters you can have your photo with. They want a tip, but we’re didn’t know how much and we’re stingy too. I have found out since – its $5 tip for the photo.

We’re going back there today. We’ll do the 2 hr tour around Hollywood.

At long last our USA trip is on.

Jane and I are here at Perth airport at 5am.

First flight to Hong Kong – landing at 3.10pm.

Then a 15 hour flight to the city of Angels. We’re arriving 2 hours before we take off. (try explaining that to Jane). We’ll be there 2.50pm (LA time)

Can’r wait (to arrive in US – not the flight itself)

As I said my previous post I stayed in AirBnB accommodation during my weekend trip to Manila.

The condo unit is called CONDO UNIT @ NEWPORT INFRONT NAIA 3 hosted by Lars-Mia.

I gave it a 5 star review:

I stayed at Lars and Mia’s apartment for 3 nights last weekend. I enjoyed the apartment and location very much. The caretaker, Jocelyn was there to meet me and hand over the keys and show me to the apartment. Jocelyn was very friendly and efficient. The pictures are accurate, although a little smaller than I imagined. The apartment was very clean and neat with all the necessary facilities. Towels and bed linen was clean and smelled fresh. I arrived at NAIA Terminal 3 and walked to the apartment complex. There was a lot of road works going on, so the walk was a little difficult especially crossing Andrews Ave. I believe a pedestrian overpass is being constructed. This would make this area very accessible and convenient. Overall I had a great weekend. Thank you to Lars, Mia and Jocelyn.

Getting there is another thing

The attraction of this unit was the proximity to Manila Airport Terminal 3. When you arrive and exit the terminal you can see the condo complex right in front of you – about 300m. But! how do you get there? Good question. you can’t simply walk straight there. There’s a wall to climb. I asked one the guards and said I’d have to walk around on the roads (where the vehicles exit). Another guard suggested I take the airport loop bus and asked to be dropped off across the road. This didn’t fill me with confidence. I decided to walk.

The walk took me through several construction zones and through a tunnel emerging onto Andrews Ave. This appeared to be a make shift Jeepney stop. Crossing the road was daunting. Six lanes of traffic. When I say lanes, there’s really no concept of lanes to Manila drivers. There was a few other people waiting to cross at this point, so I joined them. Safety in numbers!

I negotiated the road crossing without incident. Then it was a relativity short walk to the condo unit complex. On arrival I told the guard where I was staying and he let me through to find cluster B. Another guard called Jocelyn and she took me up to the room.

When I was in Manila last weekend I tried AirBnB for the first time.

I must say, I was impressed.

I have been to Philippines many times over the last 10 years. I worked in Leyte for 18 months in 2006/7. I have also stayed in Manila many times, mostly in the  Ortigas Center in Pasig City. Ortigas Center has many benefits for foreign travellers and business people. It’s safe, close to many restaurants and shopping facilities. Mega Mall is one of the biggest shopping centres in the world. The area was many mid-priced hotels. When I say mid-priced I mean around the $100-150 / night range. The Linden Suites, Richmonde Hotel and the Discovery Suites fall into this category. I have stayed in all three, and are excellent hotels.

But the problem with Ortigas Center is that it was far from the airport…. well that’s not strictly true. It’s not that far – it just feels that far when travelling by car in the horrendous Manila traffic. The 16km can take around one hour.

These mid-range hotels don’t appear to exists in other locations around Manila. For example, Makati seems to have only budget hotels or luxury hotels. Nothing in between.

For this trip last weekend, I didn’t want the traffic hassles going to Ortigas for only 3 days. So I looked into AirBnB. There were lots (and lots) of options. Just a simple search around Manila Airport yielded over 300 results ranging from $13 to $200/night – average $77/night. These also range from a single room to an entire house or apartment. Hotels in this area are usually high end, charging around $300/night.

This seems incredible at first sight. How could there be such a large difference? Of course hotels offer top class service. Daily room cleaning, fresh towels and bed linen, a greater level or security. Of course you have to pay for that. But still its 3 to 4 times the prices of most of these AirBnB accommodations. I was very suspicious. There has to be a catch.

I did some web research. I asked my friends and colleagues about their experiences. Surprisingly I found very little negatives about AirBnB. All the advice said read the reviews and contact the host. Reading through the reviews almost all are positive. Again I was suspicious – maybe they got their friends to write reviews – maybe AirBnB themselves only publish the good reviews.

My thoughts then shifted from Manila to New York – I huge lead I know. Maybe I was just getting a Manila Flavour. For my up coming USA trip I have sorted all the accommodation – except for 5 days in New York. New York hotels are expensive. Lets see what AirBnB can offer in New York.

Again a quick search offers hundreds of options. Naturally more expensive than Manila – but still around half the price of hotels in the same area. There were numerous apartments in Brooklyn for around $100/night. Again all quite good reviews.

I decided to bite the bullet and book the Manila weekender. In a condominium complex across the road from NAIA Terminal 3. $177 for 3 nights.  Staying in AirBnb in Manila

I just got back yesterday – and it was great. Everything was as the web site said.

The place was clean and tidy. The caretaker met me and showed my to the apartment. The pictures in the website were exactly what it was. The location was perfect and the price sensational.

I’ll definitely stay there again when I return to Manila.

I have booked the Brooklyn apartment too! I’ll be in the big apple May 16.