I am a fan of zoos. A zoo enthusiast. A large part of the reason I was interested in a graduate degree in physical anthropology was the dream that one day I would be at a zoo and they would page a primatologist. They would say "Doctor, thank God you are here, someone *must* feed this baby monkey with a bottle!" I would acquiesce, don my lab coat, and roll up my sleeves. Sometimes, in the dream, the baby monkey wears a bonnet.
At any rate, I love zoos. Especially foreign zoos. I don't consider them places of cruelty, but places of conservation, of gentle and important research, of fun. I'd like to say that zoos give a view into how a society views and treats animals, a glimpse into the behavior of local school groups, families, and couples (as a zoo may be a tourist attraction, but is rarely touristy). But really, I just love animals. Especially apes and monkeys. And bears. And llamas. And elephants.
Some of my favorite zoos:
Opportunistic gibbons and obscene zebra in Santiago, Chile:
Tomorrow I leave for Berlin and Zurich, both of which have world-class zoos, and even though I hear that Knut the Polar Bear is not so young and cute anymore, I have learned that there is a brand-new baby gorilla at the Berlin Zoo. Maybe someone will need to give her a bottle.
*This is one of my favorite phrases in Italian, primarily for the pronunciation. It means "the zoo" but is pronounced "ts-oh" rather than "zoo." It also uses the lesser-used "lo" article instead of the common "il" or "la," making for a nice combination of halting vowels and affricate consonants. Try it, you'll like it. Andiamo lo zoo!
Yeah, sorry, not really travel-related, but this has consumed my life and thoughts for the past week-and-a-half, so I figured I'd write it out.
I've lived in New York for over 11 years, in 8 apartments, in 7 different neighborhoods. I've lived with all manner of pests: mice, roaches, crazy roommates, ex-boyfriends, weird neighbors. I've bought furniture at thrift and antique stores, even picked up a few pieces off the street. But until recently, I never dreamed of having bedbugs.
My apartment building had recently suffered an infestation on the 7th floor, but on the 2nd floor, I figured I was safe. On June 13, they did an inspection of all the apartments and an adorable beagle came in to sniff around my apartment. I was told to wait in the kitchen so as not to distract him, but after his sniffing, I was allowed to pet and say hello to the bug-sniffing dog. After enjoying the pleasures that only an excited beagle can provide, I assumed all was fine, but the inspector casually mentioned that he found an "alert" in my bedroom and that "the management company will be in touch" on his way out. Silence. Panic. Terror. Super told me I would probably have to wash and bag everything I own. (This is the part of the story where I should admit that I am a Horrible Housekeeper. The women in my family lack the girly clean gene, when we squeal over an untidy bathroom or re-clean a husband's attempts at cleaning. We are sentimental pack rats. The thought of ironing a napkin makes me want to slit my wrists, and I abhor vacuuming.) Husband is still in Tokyo (due back in one week!), but all of his clothes remain in Brooklyn. We have a ridiculous amount of shit. The first weekend, I did ten loads of laundry and took $140 of dry cleaning in. The dry cleaner actually clapped his hands in excitement seeing me come in with several shopping bags.
Monday and Tuesday go by with no word from management company, I start to believe that I have somehow dreamed the whole incident and that perhaps I misheard, perhaps I needed a second beagle opinion. I've had no bites and only vague potential evidence of any bugs in storage. Then Wednesday, I got an email with the subject line: Bed Bugs Positive. I apparently don't have full-blown bedbugs, just tested positive. Management company informs me I have to launder and clear out the ENTIRE APARTMENT. More silence. Greater panic. Heightened terror. I spend a few nights obsessing and feeling overwhelmed, nervous breakdown looming. I imagine having to go through hundreds of books, heaps of clothes and shoes, piles of papers. My mother effing wedding dress!
Finally, I reach the exterminator lady on Friday and she turns out to be a total doll. First she said I only have to worry about the bedroom, as the cute bedbug-sniffing dog would have noticed if they were elsewhere, so I don't have to worry about the living room or other closets. She also said that anything in a storage container that was unopened would be fine, so all the summer clothes I hadn't yet taken out of storage are okay (finally a justification for the crappy June weather!). She also said that all the things I can't wash can be just put in the dryer for 15 minutes, the heat will kill the bugs, so I didn't have to dry clean everything that's already clean! Suddenly all the papers I have yet to file and the shoes left in the living room are a source of vindication. Sometimes procrastination pays off.
Yet I spent my weekend laundering, sorting, chucking. I find all sorts of odd items: a fighting Amish puppet, silver lamè leggings, a folder of primate genetics journal papers with titles like "X-chromosomal window into the evolutionary history of the guenons" (all thrown out). Other odd items I treasure: my original passport, itinerary and tickets for the 1988 trip to New Zealand my mother took me on (FYI, fare was about $800 from Boston to Auckland over Christmas); a sketch I wrote in improv/comedy writing class called "crack whore fantasy camp" (no idea where that came from, but I apparently played a character named Crystal Vial); a card from my late father for my ten-years-in-the-making college graduation reading "You can now write incomplete sentences w/o embarassment." The experience proved to be nightmarish yet cathartic.
It also reminded me of an unusual but kind of awesome first date I had years ago. I met a guy at a poetry reading (seriously) who was a full-time poet and novelist (yes, really, it was the late '90s) and we hit it off. We exchanged numbers, had several marathon phone conversations, agreed to a proper date on a Saturday night. Due to an usual work situation, I found myself in his neighborhood (East Village, natch) on a Friday afternoon with nothing to do, and invited myself over. The poet was helping out a neighbor, who had recently been moved to a nursing home, but had lived next door for about 40 years. For some reason, I decided it would be fun to help the poet clean out this apartment, which was heaped with junk and 30-year-old appliances. It turned out to be a cool experience, and I came out of it with lots of random items like a NYC taxi manual from the 1970s and novelty vintage ashtrays. The relationship didn't last long (yes, 15 years is too much of an age difference when one of you is 19) but it was a fascinating anthropological/archaelogical view into a different New York and a complete stranger's life.
Awaiting the exterminators in the morning, I'm ready for my bedroom to be torched with chemicals but haven't exactly changed my ways. I still have piles of books, several dozen garbage bags full of assorted Banana Republic and vintage outfits, and an untouched steamer trunk that belonged to my father in his Navy days, full of VHS tapes of my old dance recitals and junior high passed notes. Let alone the file drawers in my living room containing all the ticket stubs, museum brochures, and copious notes from each year's vacations. But my almost-bare bedroom is inspiring me to be a slightly better (or at least cleaner) person, ready to flee the city, or at least not feel sheer horror at the prospect of anyone coming into my apartment and sorting through the last 11.5 years of city living. Don't judge my bad teen angsty poetry lest ye be judged.
I've been back in New York long enough to stop thinking it seems kind of slow in comparison to Tokyo and love the city again, but still fascinated with the culture. H is still there for another month or so, so I just sent him a list of Japanese terms I learned from the outstanding book Tabloid Tokyo, a collection of stories from Japanese weekly and monthly magazines, sort of pulp non-fiction. Not judging, but wow, is there some weird stuff here. I particularly enjoy how such bizarre and complex terms can be summed up so neatly.
panchira: fetish for checking out chick's underpants
burusera: special store for buying chick's underpants and other unmentionables (used, ideally)
kappuru kissa: literally "couples' coffee shop", really a swinger's club, also see "happening bars"
getekyaba: hostess club full of hideous/odd women, kyaba: cabaret, no
English equivalent for gete "think of something both weird and sleazy
but conducted with gusto" is the excellent explanation given
yobai:
literally "night crawling", explained as a common fantasy/plotline "to
steal into a house to see a woman under cover of night" for peeping or
more sinister activities
aribai-ya: alibi service, agency that (for one example) provides fake
actors to play parents of female sex worker so she can appear
respectable to boyfriend and his family
no-pan kissa: coffee shop with mirrored floors and pantyless waitresses
image club: fantasy club were you can pretend to be a naughty schoolboy or whatever
deriheru:
literally "delivery heath", health meaning sex, "if she goes to your
place, it's not prostitution" says amazing Japanese logic
Dutch wives: sex dolls, box will arrive with the stamp kenko kigu (health apparatus)
soapland: massage parlor
Watakano: island of prostitutes, two hours from Nagoya
Loulan: shabu shabu restaraurant in Shinjuku that has "no-pan" (no pants) waitresses. Really, this is a thing.
chikan: men who enjoy groping women in public places, article in book details particular challenges and attractions for said activity in winter
ore-ore: means "It's me," type of fraud where criminals extort money pretending to be their child
Zamancho: nickname for a man who "clones" people (basically commits
identity theft), name is a contraction for "slovenly company president"
atari-ya: professional accident victim who jumps in front of cars and shakes the drivers down for money
mikoroshi: book defines it as "a delightful Japanese word meaning 'to stand idly by while another dies.'"
yonige-ya:
literally "a fly-by-nighter," service that help people disappear in the
middle of the night, say, to flee debts or leave an abusive spouse
parasite couple/singles: people still living with, and off of, their parents, well after they should have left home
tsuchinkoko: Japanese mythical creature, like snake but thicker
yamanba: literally "mountain hag," bizarre street fashion trend in Shibuya characterized by bleached hair, panda faced makeup
eropuri: contraction of erotic and print, phenomenon of young teen
girls taking naked pictures of themselves in photobooths (purikura).
Ideal is to look erokawaku (erotic cute), which could be said for a lot of Japanese street fashion
yamesaseya:
professionals who specialized in making people quit by putting workers
in a "restructure box" so that you leave your job and the company can
restructure. Basically the "box" has nothing in it: no phones, no
computers, no work; a corporate "solitary confinement." Sounds like
Milton in Office Space.
saboru: goofing off on company time, derived from sabotage.
That is just a taste of this wonderous book. You can probably find a lot of these articles (they all come from English-language Japanese newspapers) by Googling the terms, but it should really be read in its entierty.
Haven't yet unpacked my suitcase (nearly breaking my rule of unpacking no later than 48 hours after returning from a trip) or uploaded all my pix, but thought I'd share some initial thoughts on Japan, adapted from a note to a friend visiting in a few weeks.
Got back Sunday night from Tokyo, jet lag has abated (why was it a good idea to come home before a long work week?!). I absolutely loved Tokyo, and totally get why Husband loves it and doesn't want to leave (he's currently there until July 1st at a minimum). There is such an amazing energy there, everyone is polite and helpful when they can, and the bizarre and beautiful exists even in the most mundane of things. A couple things you should be aware of if you aren't already:
1. Get a rail pass if you are planning on doing much train traveling. I went to Kyoto and back on the bullet train and used the JR trains a lot in Tokyo, the rail pass was not a huge savings for me but if I had taken any more side trips, they would have essentially been free. You have to buy it before you leave for Japan, and for me going to the All Nippon office in Rockefeller Center was my first amusing Lost in Translation episode, spelling my last name for security was pretty hopeless. Thought about reverting to maiden name, but apparently there is no word for lamb in Japanese, and might be Meg Little Sheep or something.
2. Japan is obscenely, shockingly expensive. Seriously, it makes NYC and London look like chump change. It is really easy to go through several hundred a day even without going to high-end restaurants. Only two things are cheap: cigarettes and umbrellas, since it rains a lot. Cabs are particularly pricey and should be taken sparingly. On the plus side: tipping is pretty non existent, so the bill is the bill. Some bars will charge a cover, but they'll put it on the menu. We spent an impressive sum at the Park Hyatt bar one night, totally worth it for the Sakura martinis and views, but FYI, not very well-located, a long hike from the subway.
3. Most important thing to know: Japan is largely cash-based, and you can only use ATMs at Citibank (which you will hear pronounced "shitty bank," try not to snicker), post offices, and 7-Elevens. Again, due to expensiveness, you'll probably need to carry a lot of cash at a time. The ATM tip should really be on the cover of every guidebook, it's absolutely crucial.
4. Women are immaculately made up and polished. I never wear make up
other than lipstick but felt like I had to go out fully done or I might scare people. Also,
women (especially in Tokyo) tend to fall into two categories: very
ladylike and demure in designer twinsets and pleated skirts, or tarted
up in miniskirts, thigh highs, and high heels. After a few days, I was
no longer phased by the scandalous outfits everywhere: at the zoo, at a
Buddhist temple, you name it. H refers to the outre fashions of
Japan as Adult Swim (referring to resemblance to anime characters on
Cartoon Network), but its fascinating to see that completely turn off
during the work day when it is replaced with a sea of suits. I was
amazed in general by the fashion there, so cutting edge, it makes New
York look boring and mainstream.
5. Children are insanely cute and really well behaved. There were
several Japanese kids on my flight and not a peep was heard on the 14
hour flight, when even I was ready to start crying and kicking seats.
They are so cute and good, we should just give up, we can't
compete.
6. Smoking is everywhere, but it's thoughtful. It's allowed in pretty much all restaurants and bars, but not a lot on the street. This is not to restrict people's behavior, it's just because there are so many people and lit cigarettes can cause accidents and tons of litter. So instead you see ashtray stands and smoking areas all over the city. Same with drinking, you never see people drinking even a bottle of water on the street, it's all done standing by a vending machine.
7. When H first arrived, he kept referring to taking a debit on
the gaijin card or wondering how to refill the gaijin card. Gaijin means
foreigner, not really derogatory but sometimes used like gringo. The
gaijin card is a real thing, for extended visitors, but he's referring
to it like playing the gaijin card whenever doing something wrong.
Japan is a very rule-based society, but you will generally be forgiven
for your offenses if you're a foreigner and maybe not know better. So
anytime we walked down the street with a coffee in hand or crossed
against the light or did something wrong at a restaurant, we referred
to it as taking a debit.
8. The food is fantastic and fresh, don't know why Tokyo is not
thought of as more of a foodie destination. Like New York, it has
something for everyone, and I only ate sushi once, also having great
Chinese, Korean, French and Italian food. Even prepared
noodles at a conveni (how they call convenience stores like 7-Eleven) are yummy. I'm generally a wine drinker, somewhere in between a connoisseur and the less socially acceptable wino, but wine is generally overpriced and not that great. Love sake (have to resist urge to say "sake it to me!" and grinning like a goon everytime I have it) but found shochu to be the most cost effective drink: stronger than sake but weaker than vodka, good for sipping with water and ice.
9. We went to Kyoto on the recommendation of everyone, and while it's full of important and interesting temples, I was underwhelmed. Maybe I was expecting the whole city to be more magical and charming, but it just seemed like a smaller city without the edge and energy of Tokyo, and a lot more gaijin tourists than the typical gaijin expats in Tokyo. I'm glad I went there, it's certainly worth the time, but I don't think I'd go back. Biggest letdowns: Silver and Golden Pavillions. Most awesome: views from Kiyomizu Temple and the statues at Sanjusangendo Hall. The bullet train is hella cool, though, and I'd be interested in seeing Osaka, Nara, and Kobe in the future.
10. As I mentioned often on Facebook and Twitter, the toilets are amazing, nearly all are
outfitted with the electronic washets that can make music, spray you
with water, auto open and shut the lids, and heat your seat. I can't
believe these haven't caught on in the US, and now regular toilets seem
so dull. On the flipside, I used a squat toilet for the first time there, and
got sort of used to them too. Generally, if there are multiple stalls
in a public bathroom, there will be a western option. Also, I loved how
public restrooms were abundant, free, and clean, though many don't have
paper towels/hand dryers, so you may want to carry a little towel or
hankie.
Bonus fascinating fact learned from H's business: when golfing in Japan, it is customary to go all out if you get a
hole-in-one, meaning you not only buy everyone a drink, you get your
wife a new piece of jewelry, your buddy a car, etc. Because of this
chance of a major expense, most Japanese insurance carriers will have a
hole-in-one rider covering you for the loss.
More to come after I have photos uploaded.
Husband has been away for the last three weeks on business in Japan and will be gone for another two months (I'll be visiting him in May, expect a recap sometime around December, at this rate). Rather than writing blog posts (like a boss. Sorry, can't get that out of my head) about recent trips to Istanbul and Cartagena as I planned, I've been furthering my Twitter obsession and enjoying a bit of fame as a travel publicist, writer/blogger, er, the Notorious M.E.G.
Recently, serious travel journo Rolf Potts started a debate about whether or not to tweet* while traveling. I felt the need to contribute my two cents:
"I’m a recent but devout Twitter fan, mostly because it allows me to keep up some sort of blog in just a few minutes at a time. But it’s the community aspect or watercooler factor that is so fantastic, I was talking to some people last night about how it’s like passing notes all day with a group that feels intimate yet is open to the whole world.
When I travel, I tend to hit the ground running and spend all day exploring and experiencing, no matter the weather or how jet-lagged/tired/sick I might be. Even so, there comes a time once a day or every few days when I sit down with my laptop and find free Wi-Fi connection so I can finally upload photos, look up all the odd/funny/mysterious things I’ve noticed that day and written down in a notebook, logistics I need to look up for the next day, plus maybe check my email/bank account/etc. This is a time to check in with Twitter/Facebook without detracting from the travel experience. There is a difference between spending all your time traveling with your nose buried in your notebook or iPhone or guidebook or whatever, and taking a few minutes to share a part of your experience with your friends at home or on their own adventure. There are certainly Twitter users as well as bloggers who spend so much time documenting their trip I wonder when they find time to be present on it, but they would probably spend there time absorbed in something else no matter what.
On my last trip before I joined Twitter, I was without internet for
awhile (with computer but not about to pay extortionate hotel WiFi
rates) and found myself composing Facebook status updates in my head
for the first few days. Though I imagine that even if I’d had a fancy
smart phone for keeping in touch, you wouldn’t have seen me tweeting
about how amazing the Blue Mosque was or how sick I was of kebaps, at
least, not in real-time. ;)"
One of the wonderful World Hum editors emailed me and asked me, along with some illustrious travel writers, for a tip on tweeting while traveling. Here is my (unedited) comment, clearly ignoring my own advice on brevity:
"Twitter when traveling should be used in the spirit of the site's origin: sparingly. Ideally, Twitter can be a tool to quickly source logistical information or recommendations, or better yet, add a quick observation or comment that doesn't warrant its own blog post or postcard. In Colombia, I tweeted about the random 80s videos I saw in a local bar and the candy pig I got made out of dulce de leche. Best thing about Twitter is the brevity and frequency of the updates, so if you don't find my likening of Bogota Airport to the Dawn of the Dead 1970s mall set but with less zombies and more security, you don't have to read a whole blog post about it."
This little mention brought my number of Twitter followers to over 350 and still growing. This discussion continues to rage on, well articulated by eloquent ladies like Jessica Spiegel and Valerie Conners. I've also argued with friends and colleagues about Twitter, but ultimately, I'm not interested in converting the haters. If you have nothing clever to say, don't say anything at all.
Following this Twitter blitz, I was featured on Jauntsetter.com by the lovely Dorothy McGivney. I did the photoshoot in March and a lengthy email interview and the finished product is here. Now you know my name, please don't stalk, and yes, I roll out of bed looking like that. ;) I will finish my Jauntsetter reign with a guest blog post tomorrow, look out for it. I will try to use this newfound fame for good and not evil, or at least some new blog posts.
*Yeah, sorry, I hate the whole Tw-word trend too, but tweeting is just easier to say than "twittering" or "posting to Twitter."
ETA: My blog post went up on Wednesday, I'm called an insider (blush). Read it here. Excitement continued when my I Heart Brooklyn post went up on NGT's site. Braced myself for the Brooklynites telling me I know nothing, but so far, so good. Hmm, better work on putting some new content up...
National Geographic Traveler's excellent Intelligent Travel blog is doing an awesome series on "I Heart My City" with residents from all over the world filling out a questionnaire on their city faves. Inspired by some excellent entries on Minneapolis, Baltimore, Santiago, here is my city.
Brooklyn is My City
The first place I take a visitor from out of town is for a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge (into Brooklyn, of course!).
When I crave french fries I always go Farm on Adderley in Ditmas Park.
To escape the flood of hipsters I head to Bensonhurst or Bay Ridge, which are (and have always been) just plain great Brooklyn neighborhoods.
If I want to enjoy a drink outside in the summer I go to Soda Bar on Vanderbilt for beers and kasha and bacon pierogies (bonus: it's near the Brooklyn Museum of Art and Botanical Gardens for pre-drinking culture).
For complete quiet, I can hide away in the Brooklyn Public Library at Grand Army Plaza.
If you come to my city, get your picture taken with Marty Markowitz, our Borough President and greatest cheerleader.
If you have to order one thing off the menu from the dinner tapas menu at Beast it has to be fried manchego cheese bites.
Net Cost Market is my one-stop shop for great dumplings, smoked meats, and any and everything pickled.
Locals know to skip the lines at Grimaldi's Pizza and check out DiFara's on Avenue J instead (though the lines might be longer).
When I'm feeling cash-strapped I go for brunch at Sette in Park Slope: $18 for two courses, homemade foccacia, and unlimited Champagne drinks, followed by a cruise through the flea market at P.S. 321 down the street.
For a huge splurge I go to Peter Luger's. It might be cliche, but they don't give away Michelin stars for nothing.
Photo ops in my city include the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline, and the Statue of Liberty and the best vantage points are the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.
If my city were a celebrity it'd be Christopher Walken (even though he's from Queens): intense, underrated, brilliant and often totally bewildering.
The most random thing about my city is subway tunnel tours under Atlantic Avenue.
My city has the most men still nostalgic for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
My city has the most women you could describe as fierce, even if you aren't Tyra Banks.
In my city, an active day outdoors involves Prospect Park: a soccer game, a jog, or just a picnic.
My city's best museum is the New York City Transit Museum.
My favorite walking route is down Flatbush Avenue, though its not quiet or uncrowded, the people-watching can't be beat.
For live music, check out Bargemusic in the summer, moored in the East River.
Bar Tabac on Smith Street is the spot for late-night eats, great French food.
To find out what's going on at night and on the weekends, read Time Out New York and ManhattanUsersGuide.com (not just for Manhattan!).
You can tell a lot about my city from the amazing diversity, we have a neighborhood for pretty much every nationality on earth.
You can tell if someone is from my city if they are fiercely proud and loyal to their borough, their neighborhood, and even their subway line.
In the spring you should be late to work one morning and go see the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden (the crowds are horrible on weekends).
In the summer you should hit the beach and the boardwalks at Brighton Beach and Coney Island.
In the fall you should go to the West Indian American Day Parade on Labor Day. Millions come out for the crazy and colorful costumes, and there are said to be more West Indians in Brooklyn than in the Caribbean nations!
In the winter you should go see the Christmas lights in Dyker Heights.
A hidden gem in my city is Vinegar Hill near the Manhattan Bridge, wonderful neighborhood of cobble stoned streets, weird storefront houses, and a cool old Admiral's mansion.
For a great breakfast joint try Tom's Restaurant in Prospect Heights, they'll bring you coffee and orange slices while you wait in line.
Don't miss the Mermaid Parade in June at Coney Island.
Just outside my city, you can visit Staten Island, home to a surprising amount of nature, including wetlands and a wildlife refuge. There's also a little town called Manhattan nearby that might have a few attractions.
The best way to see my city is by foot and by subway.
If my city were a pet it would be a scrappy mutt.
If I didn't live in a city, I'd live in an old New England town on the Maine coast.
The best book about my city is Paul Auster's Brooklyn Follies.
When I think about my city, the song that comes to mind is the Beastie Boys' "No Sleep 'til Brooklyn."
If you have kids, you won't want to miss Prospect Park Zoo.
The annual Nathan's hot dog eating contest could only happen in my city.
My city should be featured on your cover or website because we have the best highway signs in the country. The best sign reads "Leaving Brooklyn: Fuhgeddaboudit"
Okay, so I'm a little late to this, but feel I can't go forward without reviewing last week's Twitter posts (notice I've added a feed to the side of this page):
March 9:
Can't wait to hear more about this, crazy! RT @davidfarley: Karosta Prison hotel: http://tinyurl.com/dxrwxa
Just in time for my Cartagena trip in 2 weeks! RT @CNTraveler: Colombia vacation tips: http://tinyurl.com/cgbbxx
March 10: a day of awesome discoveries.
New website from my favorite lawyer/gourmet: http://savour-fare.com/
Love this umbrella shop! http://tinyurl.com/c9hmou
A.Maz.Ing! RT @slapclap: To drive home our obesity problem please refer to this fat monkey in Tennessee. http://tinyurl.com/bmdcm2
Word, I must travel soon to replenish my stock RT @evanrail: Realizing that I haven't purchased a bar of soap in years. Too many hotels.
March 11: I finish Do all Travel Writers Go to Hell?, badbanana continues his reign of hilarity.
Finding it ironic that I'm reading Thomas Kohnstamm's travel tell-all and taking the LP Colombia guide on vacation soon. http://bit.ly/1rmK
Great link! RT @SETinNYC: Loving The New Yorker's Cocktail Recipes for the Recession! My fave is the "Broke and Tan" http://tiny.cc/n9i8r
Hats off to you sir RT @badbanana: Sesame Workshop is laying off 1/5 of its workforce.Sadly, I saw this coming months ago: http://is.gd/mZrS
March 12: I begin the hateful Eat, Pray, Love
Yay, my fave Kennebunkport, Maine shop is on Daily Candy today! www.daytripsociety.com
Really hating Eat, Pray, Love. Found Thomas Kohnstamm far more sympathetic, if a bit scandalous.
You had me at "1 million jobs...$16 billion in revenue" RT @MarriottIntl: Washington Post op-ed by Bill Marriott. http://budurl.com/va94
Exl EPL article @ableimes! I'm only on p. 55, so maybe I should reserve judgment?! @evaholland @davidfarley @italylogue http://bit.ly/iADan
March 13: Friday randomness
Still hating Eat, Pray, Love but like the language stuff. I miss studying Italian. Dante is my homeboy.
Just saw a guy on the street drinking from a teeny jug of milk. It was one of the oddest sights I've seen in NYC in a long time.
Totally fascinating but I wouldn't call them elaborate. RT @SophiaDembling: Hand signals at the Stork Club. http://tinyurl.com/azalng
March 14:
I have no words: http://www.sexypeople-blog.com
Saturday Brooklyn discoveries: chocolate-banana pancakes at Building on Bond, eponymous cocktail at Cornelius on Vanderbilt.
March 15:
Why so hard to find a camera bag that doesnt make you look like a tool?
Most amazing shoes ever RT @functionfoo: Dah Bklyn Timbahland http://twitpic.com/251uw! Too bad they didn't have them in my size.
More on amazing shoes RT @functionfoo: They gots the WTC http://twitpic.com/251xh and plenty of bling http://twitpic.com/251z9
Thought you go me, huh?! Still a few minutes left in the week! Best of the Tweets this week:
February 27:
@badbanana Can't tell a hero by his size, he's just a teeny little super guy: http://tinyurl.com/6q8czb
February 28:
Insanely excited that one of the zoos in Colombia has a liger, bred for its skills in magic! www.zoobaq.org
March 1:
Cool maps from 29travels.com http://tinyurl.com/beg4f6
March 2:
From @worldhum am links, Canadians feeling travel guilt: http://bit.ly/CiXWt
Seeing the fare
wars to Australia and wondering what's the least amount of days you
could spend there to make the travel/jetlag worthwhile?
My two inexplicable obsessions! RT @travelchannel Anthony Bourdain is in Sri Lanka on tonight's No Reservations. http://tinyurl.com/cxdc5o
March 3:
RT @SocialMedia411: Jon Stewart explains Twitter - "because it's AWESOME": http://bit.ly/Cc9oV
Ooh, bus parts! Sure sign of recession RT @NewYorkology: rt@funwithiago The MTA has found stuff, wants to give to you http://tiny.cc/Qc4Yd
Great quote about how living in NYC feels "unreasonably far from the place where real life is carried on": http://bit.ly/qHQp
March 4:
Best of Barbados deal is back! I did this last year, stayed at Silver Point Villas, awesome deal. http://bit.ly/TcQXX
All great stuff RT @worldhum: from @myessis: just posted a heaping dose morning links: http://tinyurl.com/dc9cb9
March 5:
"We're looking for Joe the Bellman." Travel industry campaigns bailout backlash http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123620554538133281.html
@HotelChatter Sean Paul shows another awesome side of himself! http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/3/2/104322/3958/hotels/Sean_Paul_Tells_Us_His_Own_Hotel_Room_Confessions
March 6:
@laurably Well put. Also loved this piece on how travel is important from the HuffPost: http://bit.ly/QgLD5
Good news from Arthur Frommer here: http://bit.ly/3gUav and here: http://bit.ly/DleZ
March 7:
Having my photo taken for jauntsetter.com!
March 8:
"Dayton under $900 a day" haha, I love Paul Rudd RT @juliabainbridge: Love this: http://is.gd/ivLd
Until next week...
Open ANY guidebook or ask ANYONE who's ever been to Istanbul and you will hear about the wondrous Four Seasons, which was once a prison. While I am as interested in former-prisons-turned-luxury-hotels as the next gal, every person who gives you this sage advice thinks they are the very first person to think of it, and that you will happily fork over the 400 euro a night to stay there.
Despite still holding a large cache of Marriott points, we didn't use any last year, as the Marriott properties in Portugal and Istanbul weren't well located for our purposes and rarely cost-effective, so we had to look elsewhere in the 'Bul. We shot nearly all of our Starwood points wad on 3 nights at the W Istanbul, which I was really excited about in the weeks leading up to our trip. Perhaps because it was the holiday season (and even if Turks don't celebrate Christmas, there are many Europeans who take holidays then), we didn't find much in the way of great deals, and ended up booked our first 4 nights at the InterContinental at an advance purchase rate of a little under $100 USD per night, not including breakfast or Wifi. Some notes on the hotels:
InterContinental
- Awesome location near Taksim Square. A lot of tourists want to stay in the Sultanahmet district in the Old City (including all those 4 Seasons peeps), since most of the major attractions are there, but I can't understand why. While it is convenient to the Blue Mosque and all, there are hardly any good restaurants, cafes, or bars there. Istanbul is pretty easy to get around and the new district where we stayed is an easy walk or tram ride from the OC attractions, so best to stay in new district and travel to museums than vice versa.
- Amenities that seem basic for 4-star hotel feel more valuable when you don't have them. As previously stated, our rate did not include breakfast (which was something crazy like 30 euro per person) or WiFi (ditto) but we had a bathtub and an electric kettle. In late December when you come back from a day of sight seeing soaked and freezing to the bone, a (FREE!) hot bath and a cup of tea are worth their weight in gold, and not often experienced at other hotesl
- Service was excellent and I rarely test the bounds of this. Example: we continually got refills of bath gel and shampoo, but H likes his bar soap. In fact, in the last 4 years, we've almost never bought soap or shampoo due to our many hotel stays (NOTE: at press time, we are dangerously low on soap and may have to stoop to purchasing some). Anyway, needed bar soap. I call the "service" button and state my request, they act confused and transfer me to Room Service (?!), and finally back to concierge. Each call goes as follows:
"Soap?!"
"Yes, bathroom soap."
"Soap?!"
"Yes, bar soap."
(Sound of being transferred)
Finally, a man knocks on my door. I open it to find him holding a bevvy of soap: bath gel, shampoo, multiple types of soap. I grab the soap and grin: "Yes, thank you, bar soap!" Fifteen minutes later I get a call: "Hell...o! This..is...concierge. Did you get your...bathroom...bar soap?!" This is service. And this cracks me up:
The lovely room:
W Istanbul:
- Location is also good, but only good for a second + visit to Istanbul or day 5 of a week-long trip. The immediate area around the hotel is super, super luxe: Marc Jacobs, Chanel, etc. At check in, you get a "discount" card to use at the "neighborhood" shops, which I struggled not to laugh at. I guess some peeps staying there will be there for the shopping, but I was more into the multiple supermarkets nearby for cheap Turkish wine and chocolates, and easy access to the waterside and market. The neighborhoods around the W are not for Istanbul beginners, they are complex and multi-layered, and not so close the the major attractions. But you look out of the bar and see:
And a few blocks away you explore:
- Rooms are gorge. Massively impractical, but gorge. H and I started a list of grievances upon check-in, none major, but mostly to do with the fact that the W is not made for practicality. Our issues included such problems as: no coffee maker, no couch, no bathtub, no ironing board, etc. On the plus side, we were upgraded to a gorgeous room (as a lowly Gold member) with a skylight and balcony, here's a peak:
Next: the day-by-day in the 'Bul.
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