Boston

Back in Boston.

Back in the same hotel.

Rooms are a little tired, but history up the wazoo, and the location is excellent.

Just around the corner is a place called Faneuil Hall. I don't know how the locals pronounce it, but I call it Finial Hall. It is the central point of Quincy Market.

Last time we were here, it took us ages to find it. The map on my phone had it located somewhere else, so getting Sarah to trust my directions were a challenge. We were looking for it, because that's where we were to pick up a hop-on-hop-off trolley we had purchased.

Anyway, once we found it, we discovered that it is a cornucopia of goodies. Food stalls, restaurants, souvenir stalls, shoe shops. Everything you could possibly want. If you are a woman who likes shopping, lunch and shoes.


One restaurant here is a cheers bar. Not the 'original' one. That is down the road from our hotel, on Beacon Hill. It's actually called the Bull and Finch Pub, but is the one they copied for the tv show. Can't miss that one either. Branding everywhere, and the obligatory souvenir shop.

Anyway, there is a Cheers bar at Quincy Market. We did dinner here again this trip. Add that to the list.

Also, just beyond Quincy Market is the wharf. Aquarium, boat tours, whale watching, more souvenir stalls. Just a great place to hang around.

JFKBOS

We got picked up from our hotel eventually. He was running late, and still took an hour to get out of the city.

Luckily Sarah has a retentive desire to be early to any airport.

We travelled to Boston on Amrikan Airlines, from terminal 8 at JFK.
Nice terminal. Spacious. No great queues at TSA, and guess what? I am pre-TSA cleared, and Sarah isn't. Again.
When she goes through Sydney airport, almost every time she gets taken aside for a swab for the little machine. I've only been chosen once.

Persecution complex much?

The Russian Tearooms

The third item Sarah pre-bought for New York was lunch at The Russian Tearooms, a very posh restaurant next door to Carnegie Hall, up by Central Park.

Very nice. Very posh. Not very expensive. Well worth the time.
Sarah had couple of flash Russian dishes, and I had the kiev. Now, we've probably all had the kiev. Chicken breast, wrapped around garlic butter, then crumbed. Then frozen. You'll find it in the freezer section of most supermarkets. I wanted to see how it was supposed to taste.

Pretty good actually.



The first thing is that it is huge, at least twice the size of the supermarket model. Next, when the waiter presents it, he offers to make the first cut. I've never had anybody offer to cut my food yet, so why not, right?

He cuts it in half, and it bleeds all over the plate. The butter has melted, and if attacked carelessly, it could spray butter onto the unsuspecting.

The butter has just a hint of garlic, unlike the frozen ones in the supermarket, which hit you in the side of the head. There are other flavours which a philistine like me could not hope to identify. Sufficed to say that the chicken is very moist, and very nice.

Let's go Shopping

The next tour was a visit to the rich and famous of the Hamptons, followed by a couple of hours at an outlet store.

This time we had a young guy as guide. Israeli, I think. He also spoke German, and there was a girl there to speak Spanish, and a guy to speak Italian. All were needed for this trip. We had a mix of nationalities.
This was an early start. We needed to be at the depot at 0630. Once more, confusion reigned, but everybody got onto the right bus eventually.
There were a couple of Aussie women on the bus, across the aisle and in front of us. One I referred to as "Jodhpur woman", for the way she fitted into the seat. More accurately, for the way her thigh found open space between the seat and the armrest on her seat, endangering anybody walking past in the aisle.
This bus stopped at a Panera Bread store on Long Island for breakfast. Then off to peek over hedges and up driveways of the rich and famous, while the guide tried to figure out who owns this house, and who used to own that one.
We stopped at South Hampton for a wander around the posh shops, then to Sag Harbour (or harbour to the Amrikans) for lunch. The diner that was open (getting to the end of the season) was packed, but Sarah and I had got in pretty quickly, and were given a 4-seater table.

As soon as we sat, we noticed a queue of people from our bus waiting for tables. At the head of the queue was Jodhpur woman and her friend, so we invited them over to join us. We knew they at least spoke something resembling English.

Chatted with these two for a while. Nice enough. They are now Kath and Kim. Just because.

Stopped in at the Outlet stood for 2 hrs. Clearly not enough for many of the women.
The outlet is in two halves, and, even moving quickly, Sarah and I only just got through the first half.
Sarah bought a coat. I bought 2 pairs of braces. They call them suspenders here.
Oh well. Seems only fair.

Touring

We are doing tours this trip. Lots of.

In NYC, we have two. The first one is an 8-hr tour of the city.

We meet our co-travellers at the Grey Line office just outside Times Square. One of the reasons we chose Times Square for accommodation, I imagine.

Once again, Sarah could teach these people a thing or two about organisation. This is going to be a theme.
While waiting to be directed to our bus, there are a couple of women nearby who are, well, high maintenance. As we head to the bus, Sarah is dreading spending the day with them. Luckily, they were in a group of 6, and there were only 2 spots left on the bus. Just room for us. The group of 6 and those other unsuspecting souls behind us will be on the next bus, just over there.

Phew! Crisis averted.

So off we go around town, with an odd little man as tour guide. Russian, I think.

We head up north from Times Square to the upper west side. This is the area to the left of Central Park. Famous people live here. And die here. One of the most impressive buildings we saw is called the Dakota Building. This is where John Lennon lived.

We then took a walk through the park to a place called Strawberry Fields, a memorial to him. It is within sight of the Dakota.



There are some beautiful little nooks and hidden crannies in Central Park. We saw just a fraction.

We also saw Riverside Church in Harlam, one of the largest churches in New York. Sarah was surprised to hear that it is also a Baptist Church, because it is a really beautiful building.

Most Baptist churches are usually rather spartan buildings, with none of the pomp and ceremony of the wealthy churches.

The tour is a good way to get an overview. Not a hop-on-hop-off this time, but good none the less.

Had lunch at an Italian restaurant downtown, had a wander around the new buildings replacing the twin towers, a ride on a ferry to drive past the Statue of Liberty, and then a ride to the top of the Rockefeller Centre, to get a look at the city from a long way up.

The 911 monuments are quite remarkable.
First, there are two, sited in the exact locations previously occupied by the two towers.

Next, each is made up from the clever use of a series of waterfalls. The first four waterfalls complete the square footprint, and pour seamlessly over the infinity edge and into the pool below.

In the centre of the pool is a smaller set of four waterfalls, forming another square, allowing the water to tumble further.

This use of edgeless infinity waterfalls adds a sense of tranquility to the solemn location.
Having the name of each victim laser cut into a series of bronze parapets that enclose the waterfalls, completing the memorial with the required gravitas.

There is no avoiding the raw emotion of the structure.

There were a couple of times when we got fought in the New York traffic, so had to take alternate routes.

The worst was over by the UN building. The president is in town tomorrow, and the barricades are here to make sure that inconvenience is maximised.

Times Square

This is a fun part of New York.







Kinda like Fremont Street in 'Vegas, the tone really changes when the sun goes down.

And of course, my favourite Amrikan store...

If you do nothing else in Amrika, if you have no shopping plans, even if you have no kids...

Find an M&M store. Explore it. Find you inner child and let them loose for a while. Everything you could possibly imagine, M&M branded. Cool.

Across the road is the Sarah's favourite store....

Seriously, just entering those stores puts you in danger of going into a diabetic coma.

I love NYC

No. Really. Love it. LOVE it.

This time we decided to stay in Times Square. Good decision.

Sarah found a hotel that probably wasn't there last time.

I certainly hadn't heard of it.













It's called the Chatwel.

Very nice. Very Art Deco.

Nice bathrooms.















Anyway. A hotel is a hotel. Location is what matters.

This location rocks.

If you want to see a show, they are literally outside the door.
Over the road is a show called "Hedwig and the angry inch" Don't ask.
Just over there is Mamma Mia, next door is a new play with Blythe Danner, along the road is Les Miz.
And so it goes on. Theatre after theatre after theatre.

Want dinner? Diners everywhere. Bubba Gump down on the corner, Applebees around the corner, and obviously Starbucks on every corner.

SFO NYC

Flying from San Fran to JFK was uneventful. Ho hum.

This isn't Facebook, so I won't document every breath on the flight.

I will only say this.
United must use the guy that does the voice-overs for new movie previews, to do their recorded onboard Pas.

"Your Attention, ladies and Gentlemen."

What? Hello? Shit! Pardon?

"The captain has illuminated the seatbelt sign..."

Oh is that all? Jeez!

As you were.

Time to Fly

So that was San Fran. Just a flying visit.

Off to the airport to fly to NYC.

Just like many airports in Amrika, the 'kiosk' screen is on the public side of the check-in counter. Do your thing, ask the guy if you need any help, and then the bag tags print out on his side of the counter.

Don't want to pay for the extra bags with credit card, so offer cash. Clearly not the done thing.

As I have heard previously, the airlines encourage passengers to exchange their cash for a debit card at a machine over there, and the guy behind the counter offered to do it for us.

This is a great idea! Imagine if all airlines did the same thing. No cash to balance. No time wasted trying to balance anything. All automatic, all done. Nice.

He comes back, saying the machine is out of cards, so does something on his computer, and we are on our way.

We then have the fun task of getting through TSA. Security screening is such fun, don't you think?

Sarah is getting really pissy.

When you check in, up in the top left hand corner of the boarding pass is a messge that you have been TSA pre cleared. I know this because it is on my boarding pass. Every flight.

And guess what? Correct! It is NEVER on Sarah's boarding pass. Ever!

San Fran airport is quite nice on airside. To be honest, most airports are crappy landslide, and their only hope of redemption is airside. This one is good.

We find a food court, and free wifi.

Before this trip, I was having a debate (with myself) about the need for an Amrikan sim for my phone. On a previous visit, I bought an Amrican sim on trade me (the NZ version of E-bay) for about NZ$25. Seemed a good deal compared to the Amrikan price online.

When we got to Seattle, we went in to an AT&T store to activate it, and the guy laughed at me.
It seems that buying the data package I wanted, would have given me a free sim. Bugger.
To be honest, pretty much any package would get a free sim. Double bugger.

When I'm travelling, I am not a social animal, and don't use any talk time. I will also have bugger all texts, too. It's the data for me, thanks. Online. There is so much that I need to keep up with.
And, no, not the Twit. Nor the Book. Can't stand those things, won't have a bar of them.
No, I need to keep things like maps running, and of course, Uncle Google.

We need to know where shops are, and how to get there.

Anyway.

Things are now different. Wifi is now everywhere. And it's mostly free.

Sometimes a pain, but I can usually get online with my phone and/or laptop online, most places I need to. So on this trip, no local sim, and so far it hasn't bitten me on the bum.

Mour Tour

Set the day aside for a city and rock tour.

Picked up from the hotel at 09:30, and taken to the Grey Line tour office at Fisherman's Wharf to check-in. We were told that the Alcatraz tour would happen first, and the bus would take us over there  at 10:00.
Slightly disorganised, considering their demographic is non-english speaking and Amrikans. Sarah would whip them into shape pretty damn quickly.

So we make it on a bus to the actual wharf, and queue up to board the ferry.

It only takes about 12 minutes to get across.

I'm not sure what the sign graffiti on the wharf means, and I doubt Sarah felt relaxed by it.





What did appear to be very welcome on the island were the flies. The little buggers were everywhere.

Bastards.





As you enter, you need to queue up to get issued with a personal guide thingy. It's your standard issue digital player with headphones.

This is issued in quite a large room. We form a queue around the wall. Once upon a time, this room was the showers for the prison. The new entrants would get their first shower here. Cosy.

Notice the shower heads are set out from the central pillars, and are all facing down and in.
Down and in.
The lower rail at ,um, waist-level, has soap trays scattered along it, accessible from both sides. Efficient.

I'm guessing that's about enough on that subject. Yup. 'Nuf said.

It's an interesting tour. Worth doing.

One interesting tidbit, though.

The official consensus is that the prisoners who escaped and were not recaptured, perished in the waters. Tides, temperature, sharks. The Alcatraz trifecta.

The reality seems a little different.

There are many sharks in the bay, but they are all small, and not the slightest bit interested in people-sized meals. The impressive sharks usually don't come into the bay.

There has been an annual  public "Sharkfest Swim" from Alcatraz to the mainland since 1993.
In 2006, a 7-year-old boy did the swim in 47 minutes.

Alrighty then.

If you're going to San Francisco

You're gonna meet some gentle people there

For those who come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there

Yeah Yeah whatever.

Seriously, it's a lovely place.

Starts with a nice new terminal.

Staying in the middle of town, and took the cable car down to Fisherman's Wharf. This is an experience definitely worth doing. Here's a hint for new players: The cable car costs USD6 per person per sector. Our journey will take us across California Street from our hotel, to the corner of Powell, where we catch the car down to the wharf. That adds up to $12 per person each way, $24 each person return.



The waiter at breakfast suggested we buy the Muni card from the hotel concierge at $15 per person, for unlimited Municipal transport travel all day. Apparently, you can also buy them from Walgreens.
The one we got is like a scratchy. Scratch off the month and the date, and you must use it on the scratched day. No mistakes, no mulligans.

Apparently, these are the only cable cars of this type left in the world. Under the street, a cable runs the length of the track, constantly moving. The car driver manipulates levers to grip the moving cables. It is the skill of the driver, that allows the car to stop and start, go up and down very steep hills in perfect safety. Clever design. Clever drivers.

We spent the day at Fisherman's Wharf, and it is so much different to last time we were here about 12 years ago. 

Pier 39 is great. Again, much more to see and do than last time.

Couldn't get in to Bubba Gumps, so went to another seafood restaurant. We both had chowder. It's probably the only way that I can eat the critters Sarah devours.

Some people are vegetarians.

Some are fruitarians.

I must be an invisibilitarian. I won't eat anything that still resembles how it looked when it was alive. It must be completely disguised from its original form, otherwise I won't go near it.

I wonder how many of us there are, all hiding from our true selves. All avoiding looking our food in the eye. How many will eat a fish curry with the eyeballs staring up at you.

Blech!!

Also had a meal at Applebees.

We seem to have a mission to tick off all of the family restaurant chains in Amrika.

We've done Denny's, Olive Garden, Cheesecake Factory, Applebees, Bubba Gump, P K Chang's, The Old Spaghetti Factory so far.

Working through the list.

The great thing about many of these chains, is that they have free refills for the common drinks. Coffee, Lemonade, Coke. It's not a reason to go there, but it's a nice bonus, especially if you insist on spoiling your holiday by taking children with you. 

Especially in a hot climate, when they fill the glasses with ice. 

Mmmm. Refreshing.

Getting back to the hotel was more challenging than it needed to be. We intentionally wandered the piers with the intention of working our way back towards the cable car stop. This is next to a nouveau trendy complex called The Cannery. Sarah was looking for a large yellow bird.

Needless to say, this big brick monstrosity was built in 1907 to be a commercial peach-canning plant. After being converted into warehouses in 1937, and then abandoned in the 60's, the building was purchased in 1963 to be refurbished. It was fitted out for a series of shops and restaurants.

There is also a hotel, The Argonaut, in the building next door. If you didn't know better, you'd think it was all the same building, as they were both built at the same time.

Anyway, we rock up to the cable car stop. This is actually the end of the line for these cars. There is a little turntable next to where we queue to board, and it's entertaining to watch the guys manhandle a car onto the turntable, and push it around to face up the hill. We had time to watch this happen a couple of time. Boy did we have time!


Pretty simple process, right? Queue up, load up, off we go. Not so much.


We wait. We wait. We wait some more. Eventually they let some people get on the car that has been sitting ready for quite some time now.

Then it's full. We have moved up  a ways now, surely we will be boarding the next one soon. Yeah right!

But it's not quite full. Got a couple of spaces over here, standing on the step.
Does Sarah want to stand on the side? What do you think?

So we wait while some people come from further back in the queue.

Waiting. A couple more spots over here. Standing only, come on through.

Then it leaves. Half of the people cheer. The other half are obviously used to this nonsense.

Then we wait. After another eternity (can you get two eternities? Back to back? Doesn't that just become a bigger eternity? Do eternities come in sizes? European sizes or US? I guess these must be US eternities, so a size 6 eternity then), our car is pushed down, spun around and brought into loading position.

You guessed it, another wait. These guys are clearly in no hurry. The only reasonable explanation is that they are working to a timetable. One every half hour, perhaps. Maybe the mechanism has a limit of how many can be hanging off the cable. If Sarah was running the boarding process, she would have them in and out in a flash. Four minutes apart. Bang, bang, bang. Imagine all the cars on the one line, scattered about 10m apart, all the way up the hill. Yikes!

So we got onto our car, sitting inside, just like Sarah wanted.
Then the seats filled up.
Then the aisle filled up.
Ready? Not yet.

"OK, everybody in the aisle, stand on this side of the aisle and turn to face the window. Now you people, move up beside them, facing the other windows."

Sardines, much?

Maybe these guys worked in the cannery in a previous life. Or maybe they're on commision. Or maybe just a sweepstake.

Whatever the reason, I was stuck, unable to turn and look at the views. Well, that's not strictly true. There were a couple of guys planted in my face. They got the view outside the window over my shoulder, I got their... um ... belt buckles. Nice.

Note to new entrants: Despite the inherent danger (or perhaps because of it), the outside pole position is really the best place to be. But, having been on a less sardiney ride down the hill, I support the suggestions of the operators. Wear your backpack on the front, and as you pass another cable car going the other way, Suck it in, Princess! They get pretty close.

Hawaiian Airlines

We had a nice flight from HNL to SFO. An Airbus A330.

Domestically, Hawaiian charge for each bag, which is a little different from their international allowance. Never mind. Same as pretty much all other airlines.

The check-in was probably no more organised than those back in NZ.

All kiosk. A couple of guys hovering around that can't answer more than the simplest questions.

Any hard questions, or to pay for you bags with cash, join that ticketing queue.
















A couple of funny things onboard.

First, the business class (they call it first over here), is just in front of economy, and there is nothing but a mesh curtain to separate the two zones.













Next, I was watching the cleaners out the window.
They had come back in from an aircraft, and needed to dump the rubbish.
They drove their truck up to a dumpster. Somebody flicked open the dumpster lid, and the girls tossed the bags straight off the truck into the dumpster. Very efficient.







What isn't the same as other airlines, is that they are probably the only Amrikan airline to give meals to everybody. EVERYBODY.  Even us back in cattle class. And very nice, it was, too.
Also, free TV and a bunch of movies. What they don't tell you is that you need to bring your own headphones, if you don't want to buy some onboard. So remember to take with.

Aloha Hawai'i

We have moved on to San Francisco.

But I have to say, we really enjoyed Hawaii. Like I have said earlier, it's like a holiday in Asia, but with more Japanese. It's great! We will definitely be back, more than once.
The hotel was in a perfect location. Waikiki is a perfect location.
Beautiful place. Have I mentioned that?

Touristy Stuff

We did a bit of touristy stuff as well.

As mentioned, we have been big fans of the hop-on-hop-off buses since discovering them in Dubai.

Too often, you come back from somewhere and a friend says "Oh, did you go to ...?" No.
"Did you see ...?" No
"How about ..." No
"Did you leave your hotel room?" Not really.

We did a tour around most of Honolulu, saw some familiar spots from both Five-0 series, and stopped at a couple of Malls.
We also did a tour along the coast. Nice views.

It really is a beautiful place, with beautiful views.
Even at night.

This was from the beach outside our hotel.
We stayed at the Outrigger Reef in Waikiki. From the restaurant at the back of the hotel you literally step onto the beach.

You'll be pleased to know I decided not to pop into my Speedos and sit on the beach.
We don't need those guys from Greenpeace throwing buckets of water on me and trying to roll me into the waves.

As you can see, there is a funky fan system on the ceiling, one driving the next, driving the next. Kinda cool.

The Cheesecake Factory

Sarah has a dirty little secret.

One of the reasons she chose a hotel in the Waikiki area, was because there is a Cheesecake Factory here. Ever since watching Big Bang Theory, she has been interested in trying it.

We went to a Cheesecake Factory in Vegas, but the meals are so substantial that there was no room for desert.
What's the point of eating at The Cheesecake Factory if you don't get to try the cheesecake, right?

So here we are in Honolulu, and here we are, going to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.

In Vegas, the place was full. There was even a small queue outside.

If you were walking past The Cheesecake Factory in Waikiki, you could be forgiven for thinking that it was the only restaurant serving food in the area. There is always a massive queue down the sidewalk, any time of the day.

We decided to brave the queue last night, and made our way to the front. We were told the wait would be 1 hour for a table for 2. We said sure, it's worth the wait.
They gave us a numbered voucher, and told us to come back in 30 minutes to pick up a buzzer, one of those things that flash when your table is ready.

We asked if we could wait at the bar. Sure. Luckily there were a couple of stools at the end of the bar.

So we sat down and ordered a drink, to while away the hour.

Others at the bar had napkins and cutlery, so we asked the obvious question.

"Sure, you can eat here, what would you like?"

We had a couple of light meals, so there was room to share a slice of lemon meringue cheesecake.

Needless to say, it was very nice.

We left the restaurant exactly one hour after we were told the wait would be an hour.

Score.

My advice? Find the bar.

Pearl Harbour

The odd thing about Hawaii, is that it is a very Japanese place. They are everywhere. As we all know,  there were a good number of Japanese living in Hawaii long before Pearl Harbour.
As some of us know, those from Japanese heritage were interned in camps after the attack, both here and on the mainland. Even those born here, still Japanese, still locked up. Trust issues much? Bugger.

Anyway, there are Japanese everywhere today. This is clearly a major tourist destination for them. I would actually go so far sat to call it the Tokyo of the Tropics. It's like having a holiday in Asia, but with US dollars. I enjoy holidays in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, so it's all good.

There are tour buses and trolley buses everywhere. Everywhere! And at least a third of them are on private charter to Japanese groups. So despite a shaky history on the trust front, the Japanese are obviously happy to be here. A lot!

One of the bus companies dedicated to the Japanese tours have a really cool looking fleet of buses.

Have a look at the whale tail coming out of the roof at the back.

Very cool, huh?

But wait!

Japanese?

Whales?

But don't they...?

I wonder what the tourist call this vehicle...
Sushi-bus?


And then I started to wonder how these guys dress when they go out on a whale-watching cruise.

Sorry. Too easy.











But seriously.

We took a tour of the USS Arizona at Pearl
Harbour today. Interesting place, and a strange balance of emotions there too.

After a 30 minute documentary in a theatre at the visitor centre, we all hop on a boat  and cross over to the memorial next to Ford Island.






The memorial is a strange building, draped across the sunken ship like a solemn and gentle restraint, pinning it delicately to the bottom of the bay.









The reason I mentioned the Japanese is this...

The attack at Pearl Harbour was a defining moment for both WW2, and for America itself. As a result, there has been a distinct anti-Japanese sentiment in the USA  from those who lived through the war.

You would expect that sentiment to not only have persevered, but to be at fever pitch in Hawaii. After all, right on this spot was the first time when the US was not only publically caught with it's pants down, but also bent spread-eagled across the table.

And yet the whole time we were at Pearl, there was not a hint of racism, hatred, or even blame.

In fact, there were a number of Japanese tourists on the tours around us. Nobody made them feel anything but welcome.

Perhaps it's somehow cathartic, probably for all.

Good to see.

Daisy Duke

How many remember the Dukes of Hazzard? More specifically, how many remember Daisy Duke, played in the tv show by Catherine Bach?

Now for the really tricky one. Who remembers her shorts? I know, right?

They were the fashion for far too short a time (no pun intended). I guess there weren't enough legs around that could carry them. Certainly not where I grew up. 

Unfortunately, that era was replaced in popularity by what I call the "if it fits me it suits me" era. What everybody else calls Lycra. Stretch jeans, stretch tights, stretch everything. Yuck, yuck, yuck!

The guys at DuPont must be spinning in their graves. 

Anyway. 

Did anybody wonder where all those tiny shorts went to die? And those cut-off, frayed jeans as well?

I have the answer, people. 

Honolulu. 

They're everywhere, and it's AWESOME!!!!!!

Hondalooloo

Well, we made it.

Quite a comfortable flight, left Auckland about 15 minutes late. we are 2 hours ahead in Hawaii (and a day behind), so no real danger of jet lag, which is a bonus.

I know a couple of the crew. Amanda used to work with us on the ground, before she went flying for Zeal, and then on to mid-haul with the 767s. She was in charge of the economy cabin. Rudy used to fly for Zeal, before he came to mid-haul. He told me that he is coming back to Christchurch to fly the A320s again. He doesn't like Auckland. I get it.

Same problem as any Amrikan Cusoms hall. Shortage of officers to process you, and the staff keep rearranging the queues, so that the first 25 people off the plane will always be last out. It's just a game they play.

Same as before, "right hand 4 fingers, right hand thumb" and so on. I must be in their database, 'cos I only needed to do the first fingers, and she said that's enough. My chubby fingers barely fit on the scanner, so maybe it reads big fingers better than the weedy little talons.

The one bonus here, is that while the customs officers are armed, they are quite cheerful and chatty. So probably less likely to shoot you for getting the arrivals card wrong, than those in LAX. Small mercies.

Once we got through customs, it was down the escalator to the baggage claim. Sarah's choice of luggage made them easy to spot.

Racing this time...

Well, we are off again.

We flew up from Christchurch to Auckland last night, just to make sure we don't have a weather delay, and miss our flight to Hondalooloo.
Lucky we did, really. I'm sitting in the AKLI Koru Lounge, and it's either foggy outside, or they have installed frosted glass to the windows. There may have been landing issues.

Met up with a friend last night, and went to a very busy Indian restaurant on Sandringham Rd, called Paradise. It gets Sarah's seal of approval. She says its the only biryani she has tasted in NZ that deserves to be called biryani. Praise indeed. The only other place I've heard her compliment outside Bangladesh is a Bangladeshi restaurant in Sydney. Actually, its a branch of the same restaurant in Dhaka that she has set as her benchmark.

Benchmarks are an interesting thing. I know I've said this before, but the sort of people who read this have an attention span about the same as mine, so they will have forgotten it.

Being from a very sheltered white buy family in a very sheltered white boy part of New Zealand, I never tried Indian food till I met Sarah. All I remember is that my intestinal structure moved it on fairly quickly and fairly thoroughly. Actually, I never tasted Thai food till I met Sarah either. I warned you that I had a sheltered upbringing!!

Anyway, once my body had adjusted to the new sensations, I progressed slowly from Butter Chicken (the white man's training wheels) to Chicken Korma, to Tikka Masala. That's where I am now, after 15 years, and I have no desire to deviate if I don't need to.
The thing about benchmarks, is the thing you try first is the thing you measure all others against. I'm sure this is true of many things, but I'm only talking about food, thanks.
So, whenever we go to a new Indian restaurant (and we go to many), I will normally order the Chicken Tikka Masala, to see if it's better than my first. Oddly, it never has been.

Also oddly, curries at other restaurants usually bear no resemblance whatsoever to the benchmark. Being from the aforementioned sheltered upbringing, I expect everything to be as advertised. This also goes for the taste of food. You can be pretty sure that steak, eggs and chips are going to taste like steak, eggs and chips wherever you buy them. Anywhere in the world, actually.
But with Indian, or even with Thai food? Not so much.
The only similarity is the name, and hopefully what the meat is. Otherwise, they might as well just call it "curry number 42".

Bubba

I once saw a Bubba Gump store on Santa Monica Pier. They sold cool stuff themed to the Forrest Gump movie. I think there was also a restaurant out back, but we didn't bother.

Well, we did in Vegas. I must say, the Amrikans can certainly do themed restaurants well. This is such a cool place to come. One of the hilights, certainly.

They have this flip device on the table, with two number plates. The one you can see says "Run Forrest Run". When you want a waitress to come see you, you flip it over to show "Stop Forrest Stop". Excellent.

Lots of clever theming.

Lots of nice food.

'Nuf said

No serviettes on the table. A tin bucket with a roll of brown paper towels.

Sarah says they look wholemeal. Alrighty then..

Celine

The next night was the Celine Dion concert.

At the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. Our seats were last minute cheap ones, so we were up in the gods. It took three escalator rides to get up there. Seriously! Three!

Having said that, they were great seats. In the old proscenium theatres, the further up you went, the steeper the rake of the seats. The top tier seats, the gods, were so steep that if you tripped you feel as though you wouldn't touch anything till you went through the stage.

Not here. The rake was the same as the 2 tiers below is. Actually, we were close to the stage than the people in the back row downstairs.

I will admit it. I am a fan. I don't go to meetings yet, but that may come.

I remember the first time I heard Celine Dion on the radio. I had never heard of her, and I actually thought I was listening to Cher. Not many women with strong, powerful voices back then.

It didn't hurt that she did the odd song by Jim Steinman, the guy behind all of the Meatloaf power ballads, and some of Bonnie Tyler's better known ones.

The concert was impressive.

She's been at it for a while now, but the power was all there, and it appeared simply effortless. She's good. Better than ever.

Cirque

Went to the Michael Jackson ONE show at Mandalay Bay. As you know, this was the reason for our trip.

To be honest, it was a little wackadoodle for my taste. Clever. But wackadoodle. No obvious storyline, but they tried to create one that seemed a little forced.

Glad I went, but yeah nah.

Fremont Street Experience

I can't believe I never came here before. It's nuts!

Lots of weird shit going on.

It's almost boring during daylight, but once the lights go on, the neon zombies come out to play.

It's like a slightly sanitised recreation of old Vegas. Given the police presence, it certainly feels a lot safer than Fremont Street would have been in its heyday.

Performers everywhere, from impersonators of Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro mingling with the crowd for photos, to rock bands on stage, to 4 guys dressed in nothing but KISS makeup, and unfortunately sized little packages. Must have been a cold night. NOT!!

At one point, we walked past a very good sax player jazzing up the crowd. Parked right against the stage was a 300lb woman and her 350lb electric wheelchair. She was standing in front of her chair, dancing. Boogying. Jiving to the music. As the music continued, she danced lower and lower, until when he finished, she was on her knees. I will admit that I didn't help her back into her chair. I was too busy laughing as I walked away.

I would definitely not try to walk back to our hotel at this time of night. Outside the Fremont light show, old Vegas is a dark and scary place.

We caught the SDX bus that had taken us to the Outlet mall behind the airport.

Can't miss it really, can you? There's one going past every 15 minutes most hours of the day, covering the strip and both outlet malls, one at the south end and one at the north.

Las Vegas

Doesn't take long to fly to Vegas.

Then we are waiting at the carousel for our bags. This year, we are taking two bags, both very colourful. There is a cartoon drawing of Paris, with the points of interest all there. We have a set of 3 of them. The first 2, the biggest and the hand luggage, came as a set from Briscoes (Think a really really really small Walmarts). The big one was on sale, and the little one came free inside it. Sarah then found the midsize one at another bag shop. Couldn't walk past it. Sarah, right?

Anyway, CIA satellites can spot our luggage, so we had no trouble.

Out into the Vegas heat to buy our shuttle tickets.The first of many streeeetch limos glide past.

Last time we did this, they give us these cool casino chips as your tickets. One per person, one each way. This time, we got a little book full of deals around town, with a "one way" or "return" stamp on the front. Bah Humbug!

Waiting on the pavement for the shuttle to arrive is a little painful. Some resort to standing in the shadow of street lights for shade. Clearly that would not work for me. Why are those people standing in my shadow? Piss off!!! Bastards!

We get into the A/C of our shuttle just in time, and we are off on a tiki tour to our hotel. A little disorienting, winding around. I lose my bearings a couple of times.

Suddenly there it is. The Vdara Hotel. Very nice. A strange giant palm tree sculpture out the front. On closer inspection, the fronds are canoes. I have no idea!

We are on the 51th floor, overlooking the city and beyond. Nice.

Where the rubber meets the road

There's an interesting process at the boarding gates.


 A series of poles leading away from the gate, at about 10 foot intervals. They are labeled something like 1-5, 6-10, 11-15 etc.

Our boarding passes gave us sequence numbers B40 and B41.

When it's time to board, they call for Group A numbers 1-30. Those people line up in order down one side of the line of poles.Group A 31-60 line up on the other side. So while one group is boarding, the next group is assembling. Quite efficient.

Once onboard, passengers sit wherever they want. First in best dressed.







The crew is very friendly and very relaxed. I sat a couple of rows behind our exit rows, and watched the attendant do the safety briefing. Most airlines have the attendant brief the ABC side, and then repeat everything to the DEFs. And they ask if the passengers are ok with sitting there, given what they have just been told about egress. No protests, move on.

Not Southwest. She got the attention of both sides of the aisle, and told them she would require a yes or no from each of them. She did her talk, and then pointed to each passenger in turn. Yes, yes, yes, yes...Were you not listening, sir?...yes, yes, yes... It's fast, it's fun, and everybody knows that everybody in the exit row heard what they were told.

The safety PA is good too. I remember the last bit, where she was talking about the life-raft (not much need in the desert to Vegas!). She said if it doesn't inflate, then it's just not your day. Succinct.

They give out free drinks (coffee, coke, sprite etc) and sell heavier ones. They make a point of announcing that there are 3 hostess, each with 50-something passengers to serve, and only 46 minutes to do it. Then they come down with pad and eftpos machine to take our orders. No surprises, it's fast and efficient. Then they come back with a tray holding maybe 6-8 drinks, and they know exactly who they're for. The paid drinks first, then us. In no time, everybody had their drink, and then 2 hostess walked the length of the cabin carrying a large tray between then, handing out bags of nuts.

The whole service was done easily within the time-frame, and some even bought a second drink.
By the way, all of that was without those massive trolleys we are used to seeing rolling up and down the aisle, taking out wayward toes and ankles on the way. Impressive service.

Southwest

We got into LAX about noon, and waiting for the shuttle is always the longest part of the journey to the hotel. About 3 minutes on a good day with a following wind.

Because we were up and at 'em, we wanted to go for a wander. The downside to LAX is nowhere to go near the airport.
Last time we took the trolley from the hotels to Manhattan Beach mall, so decided to do it again.
Just for a change, we decided to get off at the beach itself, and had a wander around the shopping precinct and down to the pier.
I have previously gone on about Santa Monica. The pier is great, the suburb is crap.
Actually, it would be fair to say that I think most of LA is crap. Definitely a transit stop only, and only if you have to. This is a fairly universal opinion, not just mine.
But I have to say it. Despite my dislike of LA, I LOVE Manhatten Beach! I really do. I could live here tomorrow. It's just so what LA SHOULD be like. Just beautiful.

But that was just for one night, and the next day it's back to the airport for our flight to Las Vegas.

We arrive at terminal 1, and enter from the far end. That's where the shuttle parks. I eventually figured out that there are 2 queues for Southwest. One for those checking in bags WITH a boarding pass, and those without. We belong with the withouts.
When you get to the front, there is a kiosk screen on your side, and the agent on the other side of their counter. You check yourself in, and the bag tags print out on their side. The boarding passes print out on your side. You put your bags on the scale for them to tag and enter the weights, and then you take the bags back. Say what!?? This is Amrika, and the bags have to go to those TSA guys over there for scanning, before they go on the belt running behind the check-in counters. Mmmm!

Now, a little background on Southwest.
They are a VBA. A Value Based Airline. And a very successful one, at that.
One of the things they do is free-seating. First on gets any seat they damn-well want.

Rather than have a stampede at gates, you get to board in sequence. The sequence you checked in. So those who check-in first, get to board first. That's all very well, but in reality that creates issues. The building can't deal with hundreds of passengers who got there hours early, just to be first to board. Worse, it can't hold all of their luggage, either.
A cunning plan. Check-in online, and you don't have to be there so soon.
You can check in up to 24 hrs before departure time, and you get your boarding pass to print out if you want.

When you arrive, and you have a boarding pass in your hot little hand, then you join the queue on the left.
If, like us, you checked in and didn't have the ability to print, you got to the queue on the right, with those who didn't check in at all.

So back to my check-in. The kiosk asks if you want to get a boarding pass, just check in bags, or both. I chose both, and we are all set. I get the same sequence number I got online last night. So there is no disadvantage to not printing your boarding pass. In fact, the guys in the left-hand queue still had to do exactly what I did, but without printing a pass. Due to human nature's desire to get one up on the other passengers, most people print their own, so that queue is a bit longer than the 'full service' one. Go figure.

AKLLAX

You know, NZ6 from Auckland to Los Angeles is a bloody perfect flight.
It leaves early evening, so you get dinner after take-off, get a decent sleep, and wake up in time for breakfast before landing. Very civilised.
Not sure if I mentioned on our return from the dentist in Bangkok, but we did it via Singapore. And SINSYD is just a little short to get more than 4-5 hours sleep after dinner. You've got to go full coma as soon as you get onboard to have any chance of a decent sleep.

But NZ6 was great. It may be 12ish hours long, but so is 7pm to 7am. Dinner, sleep, breakfast, no jet lag, no problem. LA has actually moved on to 12 noon, so once you land, the locals are doing lunch.
Being 5 hours ahead is pretty easy to deal with, you don't even care that they are a whole day behind as well.

We are staying at the Crowne Plaza again. Nice and handy to the airport. We booked it on Hotwire.com. I'm sure I have mentioned it before, but here it is again for the members of Alzheimer's-are-us.

• Dial into Hotwire, 
• put in the destination and dates you want a room, 
• select the area you want off the map or a list
• pick the star rating you want
• they will give you a price
• pay for it
• they then tell you the name of the hotel.

This trip it's the Crown Plaza at LAX, and the Vdara in Las Vegas. We wanted sour strip because the show is on at The Mandalay Bay, and it's at the bottom of the strip.

I can heartily recommend Hotwire.com, and I can heartily recommend staying at the south end of the strip. Everything worth doing in Vegas is on the strip, and the living part of the strip starts at The Wynn, and goes down to MGM.

You should always be within walking or staggering distance from your hotel, and being able to pop in, drop your shopping and head out again is a huge bonus.

Back to Amrika

Haven't written anything for a while.
That's because I haven't been anywhere that inspires me to write.

I may have mentioned in the past that I am not a Facebook fan, someone who documents for mankind every bowel movement and fleeting thought.

Imagine if Thomas Edison had a Facebook page.
"Attempt 9234 for creating a lightbulb failed today. A sunny day outside."
"Attempt 9235 for creating a lightbulb failed today. A little cloudy outside."
"Attempt 9236 for creating a lightbulb failed today. Raining."

The last of his dedicated followers would have de-friended him long before the successful attempt ever happened.

anyway...

We decided to come back to the States. There is a bigger trip planned in a few months, but this one turned up as a bit of a surprise. We had booked the leave, but weren't sure where to go.
Then Sarah decided that she really wanted to see the Cirque du Soleil show about Michael Jackson in Auckland. Unfortunately she was busy the weekend that it was on.
The only other show is in Las Vegas, so went online to see if that show would be on when we are in the states in Sep-Oct. Probably not.
There's nothing for it, then. A trip to Vegas!

A friend decided to come with, so flights are organised and show tickets bought.

The day before we leave, a colleague who is also heading to LAX on the same flight, says he's off to see Celine Dion the Sunday before we leave. So online we go, and tickets are bought.

And so it begins again...