Question of the day

If I haven't reiterated lately... I love getting travel-related questions, so if you have any, please ask!

Today I was asked to recommend a good place to shop in New York City.

Wow!  Where to begin right???  The question was posed by a trendy, relatively well-to-do lady in her 40's who just wanted a little direction, not an entire guide book.  Still, I couldn't resist consulting another NYC expert (my best friend Carrie) and her answer was basically the same as mine.  So I replied:

"West Broadway boutiques in SoHo.  More independent boutiques with unique styles, the major chains are nearby on Broadway, and even more mid-to-upscale stores are on the intersecting streets so lots of options within walking distance."

  Where do you like to shop in New York City?...

The very early stages of planning

So rare for me to blog twice within a 2 week period right?  Hell, it's rare for me to blog twice within a month...

Since I booked my flights I've discovered one thing of note:  ABBA The Museum is opening on May 7th in Stocklhom and advanced tickets are now available.  I'd made that quip about ABBA in my last blog and I guess it turns out I wasn't so far off after all ;)

Had some spare time last week (not so much this week) so I started my online reading, discovering the wonders of Tallinn, the frequency that the ferries from Helsinki ran, some tourist highlights and the bus schedule to Riga.  There appears to be a €6 ticket available (€3 if you're cool with arriving at 3am... which I'm not) that I'd like to take advantage of.  Hopefully still available by the time I book (if you should find yourself in a similar situation, you may choose to book the ticket now and simply eat the cost if it turns out you can't use it later... Riga is near the start of my trip so I think I'll be able to firm up plans soon, therefore I will wait another week or so)

It could be a fluke, or maybe my dates aren't exact (always plan for the worst, or worse at least...) but I saw some recommended hotels on TripAdvisor for about $80-$90/night in Riga.  Pretty affordable for a hotel in my books, and they're described as central.  I will consult a map before I book.  Again, hopefully that's soon before prices go up (May is the start of high season).

Though I don't believe everything I read, I like to get a feel for how many days people like to spend in each city.  TripAdvisor has a great search tool, typing in something like "how many days in Tallinn?" will get you what you're looking for.  Read people's comments carefully, everyone sight-sees at a different pace so just because they suggest 5 or 6 days doesn't mean you need that much time if you're willing to get up early, walk 12 hours, and pack a lunch to eat in a park.  Side tip:  If you're in a city on Monday/Tuesday with plans to go to museums, check their hours as some are closed at the beginning of the week, which may require you to stay an extra day or alter your itinerary.

Take this preliminary approach for every city, you'll inevitably discover more about some cities than others.  That's ok, a little reading will quickly give you a feel for how much time you want to spend in one place.  After reading about Tallinn, I was ready to spend 3 days there, but when I took all the cities into consideration and how much time in total I had, I quickly realized that was unrealistic and that I could easily see the city in a much shorter period of time.

Also when time (or in some cases, money) runs a little short, you can start to make the decision whether you want to do some overnight travel to save time/cash.  For some routes, overnight is the only viable option.  For example, ferries from Tallinn/Riga to Stockholm only sail at night as it's a 15 hour trip.  Even if they were to sail in the mornings it would be a waste to be stuck on a boat all day losing precious sightseeing time.  (The ferry sails around 5:30pm so there's many hours of daylight where you can enjoy the view before it gets dark, and you can get up again at dawn to watch the sunrise over the water if you wish).

I find midday travel a bit of a pain, it cuts your day in half, you can't do too much in the morning because you need to catch your train/plane/bus, and when you arrive it'll take time to get oriented, settled in your hotel etc. and by then it's getting dark so not much is accomplished in your day.  If I have to travel in the day, I try to do it in the early morning (I'm not a morning person so I'm cool with dozing until we arrive).  Evening is also an option, but as a single woman I don't like arriving in new places in the dark trying to find my way to my hotel.  It's ok if I'm already familiar with my destination.

After a while you start to feel ready to draft an itinerary, it's not carved in stone but gives you a feel of how your trip may go....  Here's my preliminary draft:

(A little small but click on it for full sized image)

I've included what I consider to be my essential details in a way that's easy for me to read.  You may choose to organize differently.  I like to look at the date, see my start city and end city (aka do I have to travel on that particular date?), how I'm traveling, and where I'm sleeping that night (if it's on a train, I'll dress in wrinkle-free clothes and make sure I have an extra layer to stay warm.  Secondly if there's something special I've got planned (a show, a concert...), so I can plan that day accordingly.  Then there's the stuff that's good to know, ie. any major costs and other info.

That's about it for now.  Next steps would probably be to keep reading and start booking something.  For those of who do a lot of traveling, this is likely pretty dry for you, but others have expressed an interest in how I plan my vacations.  So I thought I'd detail a little bit of my process.

Cheers.

On the road again...

Ok, not quite on the road again, but on the planning again...

Happy New Year travelers!  I wish you all good health, prosperity, and lots of opportunities to travel in 2013!

My travel year is off to a promising start after finding a $800 deal on Iceland Air for Toronto to Helsinki in May.  I'm very excited to plan another rat race-type trip through Northern Europe this time.  It's not the type of trip that would appeal to everyone, it's hardly relaxing for starters ;) but after taking a leisurely trip to the great cities of Russia last year and looking back on my wacky trip through parts of Italy and Central Europe in 2011, I would have to say that I enjoyed my treks in 2011 much more (even if it did mean stumbling off a train in Salzburg at 4am and showering with no hot water for 2 nights in Prague in October).  It's not the type of trip that's for the faint of heart, nor faint of knee/foot (both of which are slowly degenerating for me) so I gotta do more of this kind of traveling while I still can!

Destinations I've got my eye on are all the capital cities (I don't really know why I favour capital cities, I do understand that they're not always the finest the country has to offer... I mean, I do hail from Canada after all and I do my best to avoid Ottawa), which include: Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga (I guess Latvia isn't Northern Europe but I'm going anyway), Stockholm, Oslo, and Copenhagen.  So if anyone's been and has suggestions, please send them my way.  I'm really not that well-knowledged in any of these countries (though I am expecting lots of Ikea furniture and people singing ABBA and Ace of Base in Sweden ;)), other than the caviar is well-priced and plentiful.

There's always much to consider when traveling, and even more so when you're moving around a lot.  The obvious stuff like "how many days should I stay in each city?" to the ridiculous-sounding-until-you've-made-the-wrong-choice... ie. do I bring my smallest 2 wheel wheelie bag or slightly larger (won't fit in cabin) 4 wheel hardcase?  Smaller bag is harder to pack but will save me $$ on checked luggage if I wind up taking a flight on RyanAir or Easy Jet.  Hardcase holds more and 4 wheels are much easier to fly through train stations and other smooth-paved streets but if I have to walk uphill on cobblestone I will be screwed!  I think many of my fellow travelers (and even I) have said before, people "backpack" through Europe for a reason, because so much of it is not luggage friendly.  Sadly my back and knee doesn't let me do that, so I weigh out suitcase options.

First to get acquainted with the cities though.  That's usually the first thing I do.  Gives me a feel for how many days I want to spend in each.  Also once I've seen a few maps, I can determine location of airport/central train station/bus terminal to decide my mode of travel between each.  Cost and timing also play a part, but it gets things rolling.  Travel guides are in my near future, but for some of the stops (ie. Riga) where I only plan to be there for a day or two, I'm going to Tripadvisor for all the basics and as a launchpad for all my online research.  I really do enjoy that site.

With that I'll leave you to your own travel bookings.  Maybe other deals can be had on Iceland Air, for nearby travel Porter's had some good deals for New York City, I'll be dropping in for a few days in March myself.  I got return flights for $200, it was hard to resist.  Plus a reservation at the Seafarer's International House offering lower rates for $140/night for a double private room (as in 2 twin beds, perfect for my needs), I'll let you guys know how the place is.  The location is definitely right though, minutes from Union Square (my home away from home) on the border of Gramercy and the East Village.

Happy trails ;)

Best Airports of 2012 from http://www.sleepinginairports.net

One of my favourite sites for travel reference and general amusement is http://www.sleepinginairports.net/

Whimsical banner from www.sleepinginairports.net

The site isn't just about saving a night or two on hotel fare to sleep on an airport bench, it also provides a wealth of information about airports around the world that you wouldn't necessarily find on their official sites, the things that travelers really want to know... how well does the WiFi really work, do the toilets reek, will you feel safe on a layover there?

Once a year they publish their lists of Best and Worst Airports in the world... the #1 Airport winning their coveted "Golden Pillow" award.  After 16 years, they decided to change up the Worst Airport format, with Bottom 10 lists by region as opposed to a global list.  Best Airports are ranked globally and by region.  I haven't read through everything but did observe a few notable shake-ups.  Methinks I might have to travel back to certain cities or try out some of these top rated airports that I've never been to! ;)

Best Airports of 2012 (Global List)

No surprise Changi of Singapore wins the #1 spot again.  I agree the rest zones are amazing the and washrooms abundant and clean, there does need to be more of these awesome daybed chairs though, last time they were all occupied when I strolled by, so I had nothing to do but photograph the flower/art exhibit that was there (oh, the horror ;))

Hong Kong is in 3rd place (edged out by Seoul... think I said this somewhere previously, but the only times I remember passing through Seoul I was stuck in a crowded airport with delays and people sitting everywhere on the floor.  Granted that was probably 25 years ago, so it's time to go back.) and did have a big of a buggy WiFi from what I remember.  So spacious and comfy though, also city check-in for a number of airlines (just don't fly through the U.S., though some years have passed since 9/11 and the 2006 initial liquid bans, so maybe they will allow city check now?) where you can check in your bag hours before you leave in Central, go do a little shopping, eat one last delicious meal, then take the MTR to the airport and go straight through.  Or, if you do have to spend a few hours at the airport itself, I hear they recently opened an IMAX there!

Was a bit excited to see that our own Pearson made it on the list at number 10!  I still try my best to avoid Pearson whenever I'm flying short distances, but that's more for the commute and wait times.  Shopping remains a snore, but the random sculpture/water art thingy and abundance of seats are good.  God forbid I ever have to sleep there (though I've surely passed out in my chair during delayed flights... you know, face-first into the backpack...)

I was intrigued to see Amsterdam/Munich/Helsinki on the list as well, three European cities that are on my list to visit.  In the top airports of Europe, Coppenhagen is also there. Now I might throw Helsinki/Coppenhagen on my list of possible airports to fly into on my next European trip.  I'd like to get back to Vancouver sometime to see the airport improvements and take the train directly into downtown. 

On the Worst of Europe list, I was surprised by the absence of Paris Charles de Gaulle, which has topped the global worst list for years.  Maybe times have truly changed, maybe it's a sign it's time I returned to Paris (yes, that's it.).  Rome Fumicino was voted worst, which I don't necessarily disagree with, however I recall there being a lot of flat surfaces and sleepers there (more sleepers make me feel safer) even if the chairs do suck.  I've spent a night at Fumicino, I'd just gotten drenched is the worst rainstorm I'd ever experienced in my life, and had planned to stay up anyway so I'd sleep better on the plane.  I made a friend (Sarah from Iran, whom I still keep in touch with through Facebook) and we chatted on and off through the night.

In the top 10 North American airports, I raised an eyebrow at Minneapolis.  Again, it's been a long time but I've never had a good experience there.  In my memory I equate it to O'Hare in terms of chaotic.  Also Calgary at #8, are you sure we're not grasping at straws here?  I haven't gone through Calgary in 10 years but I don't recall there being anything at that airport.  The seats were padded benches though with no arms/backs, so I guess that is good for sleeping.  Not as much for a short middle of the night layover though, nearly nodded off and tipped over onto a strangers lap.

For those who are serious about spending a night in the airport, here is a list of tips from the site. Not sure if I agree with the bit about an inflatable raft/air mattress, unless you require one in your travels outside of airport sleeping. Though it is important to arrive early to airports like Rome Fumicino and London Gatwick if you want to find any spot to sleep (last time I slept at Gatwick, yeah, I've done it more than once, I was forced to shiver under my jacket beneath a drafty vent).  I'm a medium to sound sleeper, less so in an airport obviously but I can usually fall asleep for an hour or two at a time.  My method of protecting my bags is to have the bag strap across my shoulder with the zipper under my arm.  My suitcases all have locks, I will lift the pull handle up halfway and put my leg up on the suitcase through the middle of the handle so I will feel it if the luggage shifts in any way and my foot makes it hard to grab the bag by the handle and make off with it.  The downside is I can't roll over very well and can't make any sudden movements when I wake or I crash to the floor.  I also look like an idiot.

In an unrelated topic... I've just begun reading a new book:  The Packing Book, 4th Edition by Judith Gilford.  I've written blogs about how to pack, what to pack, but despite my best efforts I'd still like to garner more info on how to pack even lighter.  Hopefully I'll return with a bit of a book report and a list of new packing practices that I'd like to adopt.

Sadly, in the meantime, the only thing I have to look foward to packing... is my summer clothes away :(  Safe travels to those of you who are on the road!  Hope to be among you again soon!

NYC October 2012 - Trip Notes

No matter how many days I spend in NYC, I will always run out of time to do everything on my list.

First up, mad props (hey, is that saying starting to sound dated to anyone else?  I'm getting old so I can't tell...) to Porter Airlines who made this like the smoothest trip imaginable back & forth from T.O. to NYC.  My flight out departed at 9:55am and at 8:36am I was still lining up for caffeine in my hood, was I cutting it close for my flight?  Not even! (Ok, fine, I would've been if I'd missed the shuttle and had luggage to check - so, bit of luck and planning)  Coming home, I'd been dragging my bag around for a couple of hours so I decided to head for the airport a little earlier than I normally would (arrived at Newark 2 hours before my flight... pretty unheard of for me when flying USA/Canada)... where upon check-in they offered me seats on an earlier flight. This was great as I had work the next day, and could use that extra time at home.  Breezed through security and chilled in the new Porter Lounge at EWR for half an hour before getting on the plane (that even arrived home a few mins early!)  For those of you who are wondering, the lounge is a sectioned-off space near Terminal B's gate 51.  It includes the standard Porter seating with a number of electrical outlets to recharge your devices while you wait (the airport also has a number of these nearby if you can't access an outlet in the lounge for any reason), and an adorable self-serve beverage bar.  This includes a espresso machine, pre-brewed coffees, and a selection of Starbucks Teas, along with mini-bar fridges fully-stocked with an assortment of pop, juices, and water.  There are also some individually packaged biscuits available.  Pretty much everything you'd get in the Toronto Island Airport lounge.  Plus Porter provides dedicated wi-fi (complete with password) so you don't have to deal with all the other so-called free wi-fi signals in the airport (that don't work half the time or require account set-up).

Back to the city itself though... I arrived on a super-warm Saturday (think the high was 26C), as I had the foresight to keep my liquid containers smaller than 100ml, I didn't have to check my bag (note:  Porter planes are too small for you to stow your average carry-on wheelie, however they will tag them and store for you as gate-side baggage, to be retrieved as soon as you step off the plane, so no need to wait around.  I usually keep the items I actually need on the plane, ie. tablet and magazine, in my suitcase's front compartment and pull it out just before I give the bag to the attendant.) and breezed through the baggage claim area.  I'm starting to get accustomed to taking local New Jersey Transit into Manhattan, plus it's $6 less than the bus, so I headed to the Skytrain that takes you to the rail station.  It's a good idea to buy your NJ train ticket while still at the airport so you don't accidentally miss a train while stuck in line at the rail station (where more people tend to buy their tix), look for the orange machines enroute to the Skytrain, and be careful to select NY Penn Station - as opposed to NJ Penn Station.  I stepped onto the NJ train platform just as my train was pulling in, so that saved me up to 30mins wait time.  As such, I arrived at Penn Station by 12:30 instead of my original ETA of 1pm.

I stepped out onto 7th Av. and instantly felt at home.  I love the familiarity of NYC, sometimes it feels more like home than my actual home.  Usually within the first day I fall into the New Yorker habit of crossing streets (ie. look both ways and cross if it's clear, regardless of the lights.  This is also typical of many other cities like Hong Kong, London, and Montreal),  took me all of 2 blocks to adapt this time.  I had some time to kill before meeting my AirBnB host (his assistant actually because Casper was out of town), and since my bag was half-empty (even after I stuff my coat into it...as I said, 26C and sunny!) I decided to stroll through eastern edge of Chelsea, and eventually down to Union Square.  Saturday is a busy day in the square, plus Columbus Day weekend probably made it busier.  There was the usual farmer's market (which I can never resist) plus a couple streets closed off for a street market.

My apartment was on the north end of the East Village... 15th Street between 1st & 2nd Av. on the 4th floor of a walk-up.  A spacious (esp for NY) one bedroom apartment.  Ellis met me there and showed me the place, every time I stay somewhere with a fire escape, it makes me wish I had one at home.  After dumping my bags, I went back out to do more wandering.  Circled around Alphabet City, as I haven't spent much time anywhere past A.  Stopped at a couple of my favourite knick-knack/gift shops then realized I was kinda hungry.  My theory is, when in doubt and hungry in EV, go to St Mark's Place!  It was a wise decision as the new Japadog store caught my eye.  I would also make a stop at Ramen Setagaya, on the same street, later that trip.

By late afternoon, I'd received a text from my mother and went to go let her into the apartment.  She's a Whole Foods junkie (understandably so) hence we stopped there before heading to the Metropolitan Opera House to see Carmen.  It was actually my first time inside any of the performance spaces at the Lincoln Centre, every other time I've tried to see shows there it's never worked out.  Opera set designs and productions always blow me away, though I have to admit I liked the music a lot better before I learned what all the lyrics meant.  (Most are about love, lamenting about love, and whining about love).  Very impressed by Yonghoon Lee, the Korean male lead. Yes, Korean performer in a French opera about a gypsy...lol.  Carmen is a four act opera with a 35min intermission between Acts 2 & 3, so no surprise we got home closer to 1am.

Another cultural/tourist site that I've never been to in all my visits to New York is the Frick Collection, so I hightailed it up to... well, not quite Museum Mile (The Frick is only 70th St) mid-day Sunday where it's pay what you wish between 11am and 1pm.  Stood in rain for a short while before getting in to see the art collection, which is housed in a New York mansion circa the 1910's.  Much of the original home and furnishings are preserved, with few ropes and cases to guard fragile items, therefore children under 10 are not admitted (bonus!).

A shame the same no-kids rule couldn't be applied to FAO Schwarz, but being a gigantic toy store and all, I suppose some children are required.  I spent way too long in there, especially at the Muppet Whatnot Factory watching in wide-eyed fascination as they created custom muppets on the spot.  (You can take home your own Muppet for a mere $100, I'm saving up for my next trip!)  I also found a Fraggle almost as big as me, and bought a few gifts for some of my favourite little ones and not-so-little ones.  It took some effort to extract me from the store to continue my 5th Avenue (window) shopping.

Monday was jam packed starting with a brunch meet-up with one of the sexiest ladies and most talented-writers I know.  Chris and I have known each other for 10 years now!  Despite many life-changing events, travels, and everything else that life has thrown at us, we've managed to keep tabs on each other.  This was my last opportunity (last day literally) to see her before her extended trip to Asia and Europe, we were both so delighted that it could happen on the road, in one of our favourite cities!  We met up at Union Square and wandered down to the East Village, eventually stopping in Vaselka, a cute cafe that featured Ukrainian home cooking (of which we had none ironically).  So lovely to catch up, especially with like-minded people, it's proof that you don't have to be with someone 24/7 to be on the same page.

After a quick wander through the NYU campus, it wasn't really planned but it was interesting, it was time for some dim sum with mom at one of our favs - Jing Fong in Chinatown, which is like a 80's Hong Kong timewarp complete with push carts!  The prices are good and they have a wide variety of retro-desserts, but admittedly, I've had better for some of the savoury items.  My best friend Carrie likes to make fun of me for being easily lured by street fruit vendors, she says it's the Asian in me.  Well, this time she would be correct as I had to stop for a bunch of baby plantains (harder to find here in Toronto for some reason) on my way to SoHo.

While heading from the row of independent boutiques on West Broadway back over to the chain-stored line Broadway, I happened upon an art sale of some limited editions by John Lenon, in rememberance of his 72nd birthday.  While it was nothing I could hope to afford, I was still happy to have the opportunity to take a look at some of his delightful line drawings. I'd thought to revisit Strawberry Fields during this visit, but the damp weather discouraged me from going into Central Park (beyond peeking at the animals at the little zoo on the east side), so I was glad to have happened upon this instead.

Around dinner time, I found myself still full from the day's eating, so after checking out the particularly cool decor of the United Colours of Benetton pop-up store on Crosby, I went across the street to the Housingworks Bookstore.  I figured I had some time to kill before heading to a 9pm film screening (where an old classmate was screening his latest short film), only I completely lost track of time!  My phone's 15 min reminder went off and I realized I wasn't going to make it in time. :(  Plan B turned out to be:  race to Jamba Juice before they closed.  I did get a most delicious pumpkin smoothie there.

While at the Lincoln Center on the first night, I'd noticed some posters advertising the New York Film Festival.  I've been to the Tribeca Film Festival a few times but never NYFF.  Upon checking their schedule online, I discovered there was a repeat screening of Berberian Sound Studio, a film that I'd very much wanted to see at TIFF but couldn't due to scheduling conflicts and nabbed tix for Tuesday.  The screening was at 1pm, which gave me just enough time to get off the 1 train a stop early at Columbus Circle to grab a snack.  I'd tweeted about food trucks (in planning for this trip, I started following many NYC food trucks, but admittedly did not have much luck crossing paths with them at the appropriate times.) earlier and my friend Rita responded with a recommendation for Wafels & Dinges, a waffle cart just outside the Time Warner Building.  Their now-dubbed "Throwdown Waffle" beat out Bobby Flay on his show "Throwdown with Bobby Flay", making it was a must-try!  It was well worth the detour, very delicious.

Though they've been around longer (50 years now), boast some big films, celebrity appearances, and interesting year round programing, the New York Film Festival is much smaller than my beloved Toronto International Film Festival.  Berberian Sound Studio was part of their Midnight Movies program (as was Barry Levinson's The Bay, from the Midnight Madness program, which was well-received at TIFF), and this was the repeat screening I was attending.  The film stars Tobey Jones as Gilderoy, a mild-mannered, soft spoken sound engineer hired over from England to work in an Italian Studio on a horror film.  The movie also doubles as a homage to the 70's Italian Horror genre, and the age of analog sound recording with close up shots of film fed through a projector, Nagra tape recorders, and reels of winding mag stock.  Cinema tends to be a focus on the visual image, but here we never see the film which they work on, we discover purely through sound.  Those not familiar with the workings of ADR (Additional Dialogue Recording) or foley might not understand at first what is happening, for those who've done foley work, the chuckles begin almost immediately.  As the recording booth screams grow shriller, and pressures of finding just the right melon to replicate the sound of a skull smashing starts to blur with Gilderoy's reality, we begin to delve into Lynch-ian dream-sequences of mounting psychological horror.  You'll likely find yourself quaking, despite not seeing a single drop of blood spilled.

That evening (the day before I was leaving!) I finally had the chance to make use of one of my restaurant Groupons, this one for appetizers and entrees at Masak in the East Village (almost bordering Alphabet City).  The service was good and the waitress answered our questions and made recommendations, though the cuisine was Singaporean, it was not your typical hawker fare.  The menu had some westernized-sounding dishes but also many flavours of Singapore/Malaysia (I'll be the first to admit I can't really tell the difference).  We had  a couple starters including the seared chicken hearts with kale, radish, medjool dates, pistachios and beet salad with pickles, cashews, coconut, crispy shallots.  Both were astonishingly delicious!  Chicken hearts are really good when made well, I've been a fan all my life.  I also like kale, so it wasn't that surprising that this was the appetizer for me.  Beets are another story, same with eating onions that aren't caramelized or hidden in another food, so to have the beet salad bowl me over speaks volumes.  For my main, I had the Babi Assam, which was chunks of pork tenderloin served with black fried rice and sweet potato.  It was tangy and savoury but not spicy, which is what I prefer.  If you're ever in the area and want to try a slightly different kind of Asian food, I would recommend checking out Masak.  It's an intimate space with an open kitchen, polite servers, and reasonable prices for most items, even without the Groupon.

Another restaurant that I ate at with a daily deal (Living Social this time) was La Paella, also in the East Village.  As the name alludes to, this is a Spanish restaurant serving typical fare such as a variety of tapas and signature Spanish rice dish - Paella.  My voucher entitled me to $50 worth of food (for the price of $25 I believe), with which we selected a couple of forgettable tapas dishes and a yummy pan of seafood paella.  The paella included prawns, shrimp, calamari, mussels, clams mixed in a bed of saffron rice.  I have to say, when made well, paella is one of my favourite foods and this was a most delicious lunch, the total for all that food was just over $50.  For all that seafood, I would say it was a fair price.  I will have to go back again sometime, good Spanish food is hard to find.

I was in New York a total of 5 days (almost) and would say that I did a fair amount.  I think it's important to experience different things in your travels, attend an opera, eat a street waffle, befriend the impatient lady in line with you at Trader Joe's.  Friends and acquaintances are always impressed with the variety of films that I watch, it's my hopes that readers of this blog will feel similarly about the way I travel.  New York City is truly one of the most eclectic, vibrant, and accepting cities that I've ever been to, I can never get enough of her, and I hope to be back soon.

NYC is the place to be

Been a long while since I've (b)logged a post... hopefully any quasi-faithful readers I may have are entertaining themselves by perusing my flickr images from Russia.  If you have me on Facebook, the full collection of Moscow and St Petersburg photos are there.  I've had a Russia blog 'in the works' for about 2 months now, but those who know me are also aware that every September my other obsession - the Toronto International Film Festival - pretty much takes over my life.

With that behind us, NYC seems to be the place to be.  Many friends appeared to be down in the big apple last weekend, including the biggest Broadway enthusiast I know - my co-worker Hellen, whom I hope to grill (er, interview) one day for some tips and tricks on how to score cheap theatre tickets.  If time permits I'll try to put some of the helpful info Hellen has given me to use and catch a show while I'm in NYC myself this weekend.  Earlier in the week I sort of went off the deep-end on the NY Groupon site, so look out for some mini-reviews as I set out for various meals and a Kips Bay Mani-Pedi!

One of my favourite bloggers, Christine Estima, has touched down in Queens this evening.  Hope to grab brekkie or a coffee with her this weekend before she escapes the continent for the remainder of the year!  Eeither way, pretty sure we can all look forward to some great NYC street art on her blog soon.

Another event I've just been made aware of is a film festival going on in New York City this weekend called the Gotham Screen International Film Festival, where an old classmate of mine, filmmaker Michael Penney, is screening his latest short film.  Something different to check out if you happen to be in the city, his film is screening on Monday, October 8th at 9pm.

Aside from that, this is pretty much my usual jaunt down to the Big Apple.  Wish I had more time to elaborate on my plans, but packing should take priority since my flight is in the morning!  Look out for my tweets and updates!

This is me...not quite packed.

Girly Family Fun On A Budget in NYC

This blog is for my friend Chantale, who's taking two teenage girls down to NYC this weekend and asked me if I had any tips.  I hate to admit, the first thing that popped into my mind after hearing "two teenage girls" was... hide your wallet!  I can't exactly speak from experience, having never gone to New York City with a teenage girl, but if it's any consolation I often have similar tastes as teenage girls (just not for Abercrombie clothes and Justin Bieber).

First and foremost, this is a family trip, so while you're trying to save a buck, you still want to make sure you're traveling safe and staying somewhere safe.  Luckily, pretty much all forms of public transportation in New York City are safe and kid friendly.  In addition, you might enjoy a ride in a doubledecker bus for a hop on/hop off tour, which doubles as your mode of transportation when traveling from one tourist site to another.  The New York City Pass is a good value if you're aiming to hit a bunch of tourist destinations, and it's always cheaper for a kids pass, further savings can be had if you buy a New York Pass and Bus Tour together.  Empire State Building, Madame Tussaud's, River Cruise... you will quickly get your money's worth.

Teens are definitely old enough to enjoy a wide variety of shows on (and off) Broadway.  I haven't quite mastered the technique of getting cheap theatre tickets yet, but for starters you could sign up at playbill.com for discount codes to various shows.  There is the booth for same day discount tickets at Times Square, but I find the lines too daunting.  I had some luck during my last trip getting same day tickets right at the box office for a show that was still in previews (Nice Work If You Can Get It), where there were still a number of sections available.  The trick is to buy the cheapest seats, keep an eye out for empty seats in a section further up, and swoop in on them once the lights go down, or during intermission.  I managed to get from the second last row to front mezzanine.

Regardless of who you're traveling with or how old they are, it's always a good idea to check out a park or two.  Central Park is the obvious destination, you can rent bikes, or have a picnic, or both!  It's an economical and fun way to spend the afternoon.  Don't forget the famous F.A.O. Schwarz toy store is just south of the park.  If you want to stay closer to Midtown there's Bryant Park with its beautiful carousel.  The High Line Park has also been recommended to me, a former elevated railway now reclaimed and rebuilt into a public park above the streets of Manhattan’s West Side.

When it comes to food, it's harder to make recommendations as everyone has different tastes.  New York is known for its pizza and street food though, I don't think having a pretzel for lunch one day ever hurt anyone.  And what is one type of food almost everyone can agree on?  Candy!  Ok, it's not cheap, but Dylan's Candy Bar is worth a visit.  From the bulk bins to the nostalgia chocolate bars (plus the occasional free sample!), there will something for everyone regardless of their age.

Finally let's get girly, you can't go to New York City in August without a little back to school clothing and accessory shopping, right?  So while you're in the Empire State Building area, on the ground level look for the entrance to Strawberry, which is like a Winners for young ladies (and once in a while you'll find me in there too, usually buying one of pair of every shoe).  Not far away on 34th Street is Forever 21, with a selection that puts its Toronto branches to shame.  Keep walking west on 34th Street and you'll walk right into Macy's, which needs no introduction -- remember to show your passport at the customer service desk for your visitor discount card.  While in Soho, be sure to check out Yellow Rat Bastard for the best t-shirt selection including Paul Frank, Toki-doki, and more.  You won't find anything like em here at home.  If you're near the Flatiron building, head north on Broadway or swing over to Avenue of the Americas or 7th Avenue and you'll see a lot of beauty supply stores, nail polish in every colour of the rainbow and walls of hair and beauty supplies await you in those stores.  It is the city of $10 manicures after all (oh yeah, maybe get one of those too!)

Chantale, I hope you and the girls have a terrific time in the Big Apple.  It's cool to be a little fiesty, New Yorkers like to see that in their women.  Make sure to have a red velvet cupcake and a black & white cookie, and get yourselves to the top of the Rock(efeller) or Empire State Building.  Have fun! xo

What Guides You?

If you're a wannabe world traveller, you obviously follow your heart to the destinations it desires.  But hopefully you have a little more to go on once you get there... like a map or guidebook per se?  The options are endless when it comes to getting travel advice on where to go, what to do, and how to do it.  My three main sources are the internet, guidebooks, and recommendations from friends.  In this blog though, I will focus on the second -- Guidebooks.

Though there are options a-plenty, I would estimate there are about 10-15 really reliable travel guide series out there covering most marjor cities and countries of the world.  They range from in-depth trade-paperback volumes to little pocket guides thinner than your wallet.  And like reading any other type of books, everyone will have a different preference.  When you first flip through a guidebook, there should be photos, passages, descriptions etc. that immediately grab you, if you don't know anything about your destination and you're already disinterested in the book, it might be a sign to try another.  Different series also have different formats and target different interests, sometimes it's useful to have more than one guidebook for each destination.  You may choose a more traditional sight-seeing series of books but then supplement with another series that highlights modern architecture for instance (or get your supplementary info online, which is what I do more and more).

I have a few favourite series that I always turn to first, and they rarely fail me.  For the most info crammed into the smallest volume, get yourself a Mini Rough Guide.  Rough Guides provide extensive travel information but not exclusively so, they also provide many different types of reference guides (ie. Cult Films, Football, and my favourite out-of-print volumes on House and Jungle Music!)  Mini Rough Guides will fit easily into your average purse or jacket pocket and are packed with info for every destination, typically broken down by geographic area (cities/neighborhoods/etc).  The first couple chapters will include the essentials - how to get there, transportation, languages, important things to know, then subsequent chapters cover the tourist highlights.  Each chapter will begin with an intro including the lay of the land, then provide details of the major attractions moving into the lesser known spots.  I find Rough Guides most useful when I'm in a country/city for an extended period (ie. one week or more) and really want to get into the thick of things.  When I'm blowing through a city in 2-3 days, I'm only looking for the best of the best and this is when I find too much of the info goes to waste.  The only other complaint I have about the Rough Guide series is that it lacks colour photos, and photos in general compared to other series.  Trust me, when you're in a foreign land eyeing a non-English sign hesitantly, wondering if this is the building you're looking for or not... a photo really comes in handy!

About 4 years ago I was in a bookstore perusing guidebooks for New York City, it was my second visit and I was taking someone on their first visit so I wanted to get things right.  The sales associate I chatted with recommended the Frommer's Day by Day series to me.  The layout is unique in that it provides suggested all-day itineraries.  In other words, they've done a lot of the thinking and planning for you when it comes to grouping things together geographically, picking the best stuff, and maximizing you time.  For example, they provide an itinerary for best of NYC in one day, three days, etc.  So if you have one day in NYC, this is what you need to see, if you have more time, then you can add these things, and so on...  They also have itineraries grouped by interests, ie. Best art museums in a day.  I think this is really as close to having a tour guide (without actually having a tour guide) as you can get.  I did buy this guidebook, but admittedly I don't think I really stuck to any of the itinerarys, logical as they were.  I would definitely consider purchasing this type of guide for another city sometime, I figure if there is a destination in the recommended itinerary that I'm not interested in, I can always pick an alternative spot or use that as shopping time!

In recent years, I've started taking trips that involve more cities, but fewer days at each.  At first I was still using the Mini Rough Guide, but that's a lot to read just for a 2-day stop.  Then I met up with my friend Stephen in London for a pint one night, and he brought me his copy of Top 10 Barcelona from the Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guide series.  Turns out it was exactly what I needed.  It's concise, has photos, lists just the facts, a pull-out map, all in one slim volume.  Perfect for any trip under 5 days (note: there's usually enough in the books for a solid 4 days of sightseeing, but it was borderline for my recent trip to Russia.  On the last day in each city I was a little low on high/medium priority destinations, perhaps I should've taken the time to read a Rough Guide for more alternatives).  Maybe it has to do with me being a sucker for lists, but the format  is great for my needs.  Each book begins with the Top 10 things to see/do, then gives a 2 page run-down of each of those destinations (I find I'm typically interested in about 8 of the 10 highlighted).  After that every category is broken down in list of 10's, ie. Top 10 Churches to See, Top 10 Places to Shop, 10 Things to Avoid, and so it continues with sights, suggestions, info, and tips.  In later lists you will also find breakdowns by neighborhood and suggested itineraries within these areas.  It's worth noting how the way information is presented can make a huge difference, these lists are right up my alley, but I find the regular DK Eyewitness guides largely dull and unreadable. 

Though I stick to the website, a lot of people seem to find the Lonely Planet series of guide books pretty helpful.  I've been given one or two but have yet to read them.  I also own a Style City guide for London, as the series title alludes, the imagery is chic, and some of the places they describe are cool.  Overall though, I find the book impractical as it's missing all the essentials, this is a prime example of a supplementary guide book.  Of course I would also consider Douglas Coupland's City of Glass a good supplementary guide book for Vancouver :)  The other series I've experimented with but never got hooked on was the City Walks decks, each is like a deck of oversized flash cards with a map and description of the things you will see along the way.  A great idea, but the lack of landmark photos and relatively short distance of each walk (before having to rummage for the next card in the deck in order to continue on) made it all a little cumbersome and confusing.

New guides, travel websites, and even travel apps are popping up daily and making it much easier to get info on the fly.  But sometimes when the wifi's spotty and your roaming bill is almost as much as your plane ticket, there's nothing like a good old-fashioned, realiable, offline, printed book.  So make sure to bring a good one with you!

Music Soothes the Savage Beast... On the Road

If only they'd thought to give King Kong a giant pair of headphones playing a soundtrack of calming jungle noises, maybe he wouldn't have lost his temper, escaped captivity, and trampled New York City.  How many of you would never survive your commute to work without iTunes and feel this is doubly true for traveling?

One of my travel essentials is music.  As a child I'd get yelled at for having a Walkman, a Discman, and a backpack heavier than me because it was stuffed full of cassettes and CDs.  There was a whole lot of thought and time put into selecting which albums to bring, and then to make mix tapes for the songs you couldn't do without from the CDs you were leaving behind.  With the advent of MP3 players, my back pain subsided -- er, I mean, it became easier to take your music collection with you.  I currently have a 16Gig iPhone and have no want for more day to day music storage.

I think many will agree one of the greatest things about music in the digital age is the ability to create playlists.  However, great as I think playlists are, I will confess that I rarely utilize them nowadyas.  What with capabilities to play songs by artist, album, genre, the shuffle features etc.  I find little need in coming up with my own "mixes" day to day.

A notable exception is when I travel -- where I like to break down my music into "sleeping" music and "waking" music.  I have issues with white noise/dull roars like plane engines, so on a long haul flight, if we're in the air for 9 hours, I will have earphones in for 9 hours (be it music, movie audio, or whatever).  So it gets pretty important to have the right musical atmosphere when you're trying to fall asleep in a cramped economy seat.  There's nothing more annoying (though it is mildly comical) than finally falling asleep only to startle yourself silly when your iTunes shuffles from Radiohead to The Offspring.  On the flipside, when you're trying to rouse yourself from a lot of self-medication, a steady stream of Coldplay is not going to help you wake up, you're gonna need some techno.

Perhaps that's a very simplified use of the playlists features, but it works for me.  Music and comfort have always been tied together in my world, and this is how I adapt it to travel.

NYC April 2012 - Trip Notes

It's been a while on the blog front, but sadly not because I've been on the road all this time.  I did make it down to NYC for what seems like my annual Easter pilgrimage (to appease the shopping gods of course, I can't deal with the crowds to attend the Easter Day Parade)

As I mentioned in previous posts, I decided to try flying via Buffalo this year and even spent half a day in Cheektowaga hunting for bargains at the Walden Galleria mall.

The trip began early Wednesday morning, the Greyhound bus from Toronto to Buffalo Airport was a reasonable $14 each way.  Delays at the border got us there a bit late, but since I wasn't actually flying anywhere until the next day I wasn't too concerned that I had to each lunch an hour later.  First lesson learned was that Buffalo isn't a pedestrian-friendly place. Though Google Maps showed that my hotel was only a 20 min walk away, I had to choose my path wisely to ensure I had a sidewalk to walk on and pedestrian traffic signals only changed when you physically pressed the button to cross.  At first I attributed this to the airport proximity, our own Pearson International is not situated in a neighborhood that favours crosswalks over highways either.  I soon learned that it wasn't a localized issue.  Also Cabs aren't readily available to flag down in the streets at all.  While at the Galleria mall, I asked which way (meaning which exit doors) to the Olive Garden, the guy told me "it's just across the street" followed by "where are you parked?" implying that I should drive from one parking lot to another.  This horrified me on both a physical and environmental level.  How can it not occur to them to walk across a street?  Perhaps if they didn't build roads that people feel like they are risking their lives just to get across safely.  Despite my best efforts, I'm never going back to Buffalo without a car, it is simply too hard to get around.

That is not to say I had a bad time in Buffalo, on the contrary, I really enjoy shopping at the Galleria Mall. Macy's had coloured denim jeggings on sale and I chatted a long while with the guy at Teavana, who not only sold tea but has also lived in Ontario/Quebec and brought up the topic of TIFF and the Lightbox building (if he hadn't just reached legal drinking age I would say I'd found my soulmate).

The hotel we stayed in was the Best Western Inn at Buffalo Airport, it's a very basic 3-star with comfy beds, spacious room, CRT TV, good showerhead and complimentary continental breakfast.  For $80/night I considered it a bargain, next time I come back (with a car!) I'd stay there again.

Buffalo Airport is a pretty small operation, but still enough traffic on an early Thursday morning that we had to queue up (sorry, we're in US...line up...) to get scanned and x-rayed.  Regretfully the coach stop does not have a shelter or enclosed waiting area, not a problem arriving at the airport but it was pretty brutal waiting in the cold for the bus home at the end of the trip.

The flight was short and blissfully free of children.  Though I originally booked Continental Airline flights, their recent merger with United meant a few changes and in the end it became a UA flight.  Your carry on baggage size allowance is the same as with all other flights, but beware that the overhead compartments will not actually fit a standard carry-on sized wheelie.  They will tag your luggage at the gate and stow your wheelie during the flight, so be ready to pull out the items essential to your flight.  Luckily I've been thru this song and dance before and was ready to pluck my tablet and magazine out at a moment's notice.

I usually take Coach USA from Newark Liberty Airport into Manhattan, but this time I thought I would try taking the train.  On other travel sites & blogs it's described as a train that goes from the airport to Penn Station New York in approximately the same amount of time as the bus (less if the bus gets stuck in traffic), for a few dollars less.  All of which was true, but what they neglected to mention was that it's actually New Jersey Transit - aka a local train.  I was a little surprised to set foot on the train to find a bunch of Mets fans heading into NYC is all.  Going from Penn Station back to the airport was a little more problematic with a broken train that couldn't leave the station.  We had to get up en masse to switch trains, it was a nightmare where I almost left my ticket behind if not for a very respectable young thug (perhaps I'm getting older but it was some pretty cliched hip hop gear he was wearing) who called me "m'am" and handed me the ticket I'd left behind.  It was unfortunate, but it could happen to any train service.  Luckily I'd given myself some extra time so I was not late for my flight.

My accommodations in NYC were booked through AirBnB.com, my second time using the site.  I don't think I could've picked a better location if I tried, I am utterly in love with life in the East Village and my host, Jordan, was on E 12th St. and 3rd Ave.  That's right on the northern edge of the East Village and 3 blocks from Union Square (which I can never stay away from either).  Jordan's pretty nice and responds quickly via text, he met us at the apartment but unfortunately his last guests were late checking out.  So he took our bags and we were *forced* to go to Whole Foods Union Square, Forever 21, Strawberry, Forbidden Planet, Best Buy, and the DVD Funhouse for a couple of hours (oh, the horror! ;)) For the record I only bought 8 movies (6 Blu-ray, 2 DVDs) this year, which is actually one less than last year.  When we finally did get into the apartment, what we got was a decent-sized ground floor studio.  It had all the essentials, nice living/bedroom decor, good mattress, basic kitchen, but older bathroom (I wasn't in love with the tub but I've definitely had to deal with much worse).  It's a little thing, but Jordan had the foresight to plug a powerbar into one of the outlets, which made it much easier to plug in my devices without having to crawl under a table/unplug other things.  More renters/guesthouses around the world should do this.

Next was the quest for theatre tickets.  I had my eye on 2 shows, including Death of a Salesman starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman and directed by Mike Nichols, but there had been no discounts online (prob thanks to the great reviews), plus a $15 online booking fee.  So I decided just to head to midtown and go up to the box offices (I did walk by Times Square to see how long the line for discount tickets were, one glimpse and I said forget it!)  Death of a Salesman was playing at the Ethel Barrymore where they informed me the only available show was the Saturday matinee, with either single seats in the Orchestra or partial views, with prices starting at $140.  I decided that wasn't worth it and moved onto the Imperial for Nice Work If You Can Get It, which was in previews.  They had much better options there so I bought a pair of rear mezzanines, going straight to the box office also meant no additional service fees.  Turned out the show wasn't anywhere near sold out, our entire row shuffled up in the dark/during intermission and I wound up in the front mezzanine with an excellent view.  Matthew Broderick, Kelli O'Hara and Judy Kaye were terrific, plus Estelle Parsons makes an appearance.  The show is fun and the laughs are genuine, even if the story is a little contrived (hey, it's a musical).  I wanted all the chorus girls' dresses (the story takes places in the 20's).

Can't be in NYC without eating some really good food, sometimes this doesn't align with my wallet's plans, but luckily Gordon Ramsey isn't the only person/place to turn to for delicious food in the city.  We celebrated my friend Carrie's birthday with tapas and sangria at Boqueria in Soho, I recommend the Espinacas a la Catalana, Croquetas Cremosas, and the churros with chocolate dipping sauce.

Another afternoon I cut through Little Italy, Chinatown and veered off until I found myself in the Two Bridges neighborhood.  Don't think I'll be photographing that area extensively but I did find a hand-pulled noodle shop just off East Broadway that served a delicious bowl of noodles and steamed dumplings for dirt cheap.

My favourite discovery had to be Jing Fong Restaurant in Chinatown, which is on many food critic/blog lists for best dim sum in NYC.  They serve it up the old-fashioned way with pushcarts and featured desserts and decor that I haven't seen since the 80's in Hong Kong (think red decor and neon lighting). It brought back fond memories of living in Hong Kong in 1986, when my grandparents took my cousin and I to dim sum almost every day.  A large selection of dim sum and delightfully kitschy atmosphere all for a very low price.  I am never going to NYC without stopping at Jing Fong again!

One of my New Years' resolutions for 2012 was to venture into one of the boroughs for a change and I did just that on this trip by subwaying to Queens to visit the Museum of the Moving Image.  On this trip I learned (re-learned perhaps) the hard way that while the MTA has extensive routes, should you miss a stop or go the wrong way even one stop, it can take you a lot of time and effort to turn yourself around.  I hopped on a downtown train by mistake, got off one stop later but it so happened the stop did not have access to the other (uptown) platform unless I went out onto the street and paid my fare again.  So I went one stop further where I was able to get to the uptown platform, however they had switched the tracks for the local/express trains and I didn't notice the service sign right away, therefore let a couple trains go by without realizing there would be no express.  Finally got on a local train...making every stop to Astoria, so you can imagine what that was like.  Luckily MOVI was worth the effort, I spent a few hours geeking out amidst endless rows of antique films cameras and film-making equipment (some of which I was actually taught to use in school - a sure sign that my education is dangerously outdated!)

As usual, I packed as much into every day as I could while in NYC, here is a quick run-down of some of the places I hit, a blend of favourites and new finds:

• Macy's - go to guest services to get your discount card first thing, then be prepared to lose hours of your life
• Desigual - is Desigual.  I prefer the midtown store but I will go into any one that I walk past.
• Uniqlo - my first time at the midtown store, they were featuring a line of Andy Warhol t-shirts and $20 capris that are perfect for the office.
• SuperDry Store - another Japanese innovation, found a great biker jacket on sale but my credit card wouldn't cooperate.
• Canal St. - isn't what it used to be, I've lost the desire to seek out back alley sweatshops and the stores right on Canal have lousy knock-offs.
• Custo - did not have any sales this year and the sales people seemed less friendly, guess they're established and can be snooty too, like they are in Barcelona.
• Yellow Rat Bastard - is still the best place in the world to buy t-shirts.
• Top Shop - you can't always be in London, this is a fine consolation.
• Eataly - is a hard place to find a seat!  For a market eatery it's a little pricey but the quality is good.
• Random Accessories - a tiny little space packed with some pretty awesome knick-knacks.
• DVD Funhouse - has moved across the street from it's former location but still packed with marked down blockbusters and B movies.
• Best Buy Union Square - it's a Best Buy...but with US-priced blu-rays!
• Chelsea Market - remains one of my favourites, The Filling Station is the cheapest place to get truffle salt.

I didn't even get through half the stores I'd marked down to visit in the East Village, but on the flipside stopped in at some independent coffee shops, Chinese fast food joints, and Asian movie/music stores that I'd recommend but failed to record their names.  All I know is that I'll never tire of New York, I'm already trying to figure out when I'll have an opportunity to go back.