When a friend raved about good, inexpensive food at a restaurant in Vancouver’s Robson Street — serving Singaporean cuisine, to boot — I couldn’t wait. Delicious Southeast Asian dinner before a movie? Count me in!
Little did I know.
If you’re looking for tasty, permeating flavors, steer away.
» Read the rest of Prima Taste With Little Taste ...
There’s an abundance of advice available when it comes to taking your four-legged friend along with you on road-trips, but what if your friend has two legs and feathers? Not as much information, for sure. Admittedly, a large part of the reason for this is that traveling by car is stressful for most birds. However, if, after doing proper research, you find that hitting the road is your best or only option, here are a few tips that might help.
» Read the rest of Have Wings, Will Travel: Road-tripping with your birds ...
With a major road trip coming up, I know I’m going to need plenty of liquids to keep me going. Something hot and toasty in the morning would especially do the trick. But considering my schedule — a four-day drive all the way across the country — it’s neither feasible for my time nor my wallet to have to stop at multiple coffee shops along the way. Not to mention I don’t even drink coffee, so it can be hit-or-miss finding a coffee shop that provides good tea!
Regular beverage cups only hold so much liquid, and I’ve found they don’t retain their heat that long either. I decided to invest in a thermos bottle, and what better one than the original Thermos? I got myself the Thermos Nissan stainless steel vacuum insulated bottle, and was delighted (and am still enamored) to find out that the raves and reviews are indeed true. Your favorite hot beverage, poured in during the morning, remains boiling hot even through the evening. Or, conversely, your ice-cold drinks remain crisp all along your hot summer journeys. Wonderful!
One might argue that a beverage cup allows you to sip while you’re behind the wheel, but really, when you’re on a road trip, you don’t want to break your budget on little things such as this. Having an effective, easy-to-clean bottle means I just have to fill it up once; I don’t have to spend money on overpriced drinks every few hours, especially when they go lukewarm quick as a snap. Plus, its being stainless steel means it’s environmentally friendly and safe to reuse without risk of leaching!
I would much rather take breaks on the road, unwinding with a hot cuppa before a lovely view, than duck into a rest-stop coffee shop all the time. And, well, who wouldn’t?
Tip: For regular water containers, chose reusable bottles that have “PE” marked in the bottom, such as The Planet Bottle. “PE” stands for “polythylene,” which is the safe non-leaching kind of plastic (certainly safer than Nalgene’s polycarbonate). Another way you can tell if it’s a PE bottle is if it’s slightly soft when you squeeze it. It should give in a little; polycarbonate bottles are rock hard.
Happy hydration!
If you’re visiting Vancouver and the sheer sense of city life starts to wear you down after a while, flee up north for a soothing retreat. That is to say, enjoy a good deal of repose — and green — at the Capilano Suspension Bridge.
It’s not something you can indulge in every day, certainly — admission rates are at least CAD$25, depending on the season — but it’s definitely a must-see, and you should certainly enjoy it at least once while you’re in the area (and if you live within Greater Vancouver, well, you really have no excuse not to go a few more times).
To get there: Take the Seabus from Waterfront Station to get to North Vancouver, that grab the #236 bus to Grouse Mountain (check the Translink website for schedules).
A few tips:
View for the strong. The landscape steals your breath away as you gain a whole new respect for Mother Nature, but keep in mind that the Capilano Suspension Bridge isn’t for the tender-hearted. If you’re afraid of heights, this must-see is a strong mustn’t, and if you’re prone to motion sickness, be warned that the bridge does sway slightly with every step (the more people on it, the more it sways, so going in large groups will definitely not make it feel any better).
Ladies, leave your heels at home. Flats are the only kind of footwear you’d want to venture forth with here, and not just because of the obvious reason of crossing the bridge. If you want to venture down the Cliffhanger Boardwalk — and believe me, you won’t want to miss it — one end consists of a path made up entirely of loose stones, at a slightly steep angle. You’ll want to be able to plant your foot down sturdily.
Come out with the sun. Clear, sunny days are the best times to visit, not just because of the bright blue sky and crisp air adds to the view, but also because the bridges and platforms are slippery when wet. Certain paths and walkways may also be closed for safety reasons then, so make sure you don’t go on damp days if you want to make the most of your experience.
After crossing the main suspension bridge, you can engage your inner Ewok by going on the Treetops Adventure. One may feel that after crossing the suspension bridge the first time round, these mini-bridges don’t really feel that high off the ground. But there’s no denying the view as you make your way through. There are signs all over that provide fascinating tidbits about the forest, such as the various types of trees growing. or the fact that the platforms around the trees have to be adjusted every several years to accommodate the trees’ growth.
After walking high above the ground, through a canopy of trees that are many generations older than you, you’ll leave feeling refreshed and content, knowing that there’s not much a city can do to take you down after this. I know I did.
This website, I admit, usually covers travel tips most useful to the single traveler. For those of you traveling as a new family, i.e. with a baby, Maggie Mason has great travel advice on keeping organized while maintaining your sanity.
“I don’t have to do anything, do I?” Tonje wrote. We were going to Brussels for a week, and one couldn’t miss the note of trepidation in her e-mail.
“Nope,” I replied, inserting a little wink, “I’ll take care of it.” The consequent relief on her end was unmistakable.
Traveling to a new destination is exciting and all, but the thought of having to actually plan what to do and when is enough to dissuade most people from forming an itinerary. “We’re just there to have fun,” they protest with an airy wave of the hand. “We don’t want to have schedules.“
True, it doesn’t do to have constricting deadlines — you don’t want to feel you’re on an organized tour bus, after all. However, having even a skeleton-frame outline will save you headache on your trip, be that headache a small twinge (endless back-and-forths on “so what do you want to do?” “I don’t know. What do you want to do?”) or a whopper (winding up on the other side of the city after the last train has left).
You don’t have to make a huge “divide and conquer” battle plan. One quick, easy way that I use to rough out my itinerary is to divide a small piece of paper into two columns: Must See on the left and Good to See on the right. The left column is for places and things that get you excited and you simply can’t miss out on (ergo the title, “Must See”). The right column is for things that sound interesting or places that strike your fancy, but not so high on the priority list.
When you’re reading guidebooks or websites on your intended destination, and happen to come across a description of a sight or location that sparks your interest, note it down in either of the two columns. Obviously, you leave out anything you don’t care about or ranks too low on your priority list.
How do you tell the difference between a Must See and a Good to See? A Must See gets you excited and telling people, “I can’t miss out on that!” A Good to See sets off the mental thought, “That’ll be good to see,” i.e., “Wouldn’t mind missing it if we don’t have time, but still, would be lovely to go.”
I’d mentioned before to list these on a small piece of paper. The reason is so that you can be quite discerning in your choices, and won’t be tempted to overburden your travel with excessive things-to-do.
Once you have your lists done, you can start grouping them by location. That way, it can be a simple walk to get from place to place, and your trips by bus, subway, or the metro are vastly reduced. The main focus of each group should be the Must See’s, so don’t have three Good to See’s to one Must See in any group. When I went to Paris, I arranged my places of interest according to arrondissement, and it was a great deal more relaxing and organized knowing that even if one of those places turned out not to be interesting at all, I can just stroll over to the next item on my list and the afternoon wouldn’t be a total bust.
Happy planning!
To travel is to expect much of the places you visit; to move to one of these places is to expect much of yourself.
— Mark Jenkins, “Leap Year”, The Best American Travel Writing 2005
My whole life, I’ve always been going. Just going. Sometimes it’s a small distance — growing up in an oil palm plantation, the mere act of grocery shopping required a family-planned excursion to town. Sometimes it spans oceans — at age 19, I hopped off a plane onto US soil and stuck around since.
I’ve been traveling since before I can even remember. Literally — my brothers and I were born in three opposite ends of the country. By the time I was in primary school, my family were making regular weekend trips to Singapore. Every year until I departed for college, we joined other families on three-day ventures to various destinations, chattering on tour buses while some brave soul with a microphone in front attempted to keep order.
People have asked if I ever get homesick for Malaysia. No, not really. I may get a really intense hankering for mutton soup, spicy rendang, mihun goreng, and especially roti canai with some good chicken curry — hey, what can I say? Food is key — but the truth is, I’m so accustomed to traveling that I couldn’t imagine anything else. In fact, “anything else” would equal cabin fever. One of the most agonizing years of my life was when I was not able to travel at all. Now that drove me stark raving mad.
Of course, that doesn’t mean it was any less of an enterprise for this Malaysian girl to get used to brutal Midwestern winters. We’re talking born and bred in the tropics, after all.
But now it’s time to move on again, and this time, it’s even further north. Yes, the irony of that strikes me too. I will be pulling up stakes, packing all my worldly belongings, and moving to Vancouver, Canada.
The last time I made such a major life move was ten years ago. I’ve accumulated quite a whole lot since then, both in terms of physical belongings and actual experiences. As time goes by, I’ll be sharing my adventures, tips on the process, and learned lessons on such a move. Watch for ‘em.
Because traveling isn’t always something short-term and limited; sometimes it’s a way of life.
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| Le Port du Salut 163 bis, rue Saint-Jacques 75005 Paris Telephone: 01 46 33 63 21 |
If, after enjoying the looming pillars and ceiling of the Pantheon, you’re in the mood for scrumptious sustenance, you’re in luck. Barely a hop and a skip away from the Pantheon is Le Port du Salut, a restaurant serving gourmet French cuisine at an affordable price.
I have to give major props to Abby for telling me about Le Port du salut. For around €17, you get a three-course menu, including choices in appetizer, main dish, and dessert — not to mention a refuge from the hubbub of the world outside. I savored the quiet as I sank into my seat, grateful for the waitress’s stealth as she went about the place. There was nary a clink of plates or a raised voice within the restaurant; in fact, it was as if everybody else had the same goal of seeking respite as well, and had found it here. The old-fashioned decor leaves the tables so close to each other that one can eavesdrop on one’s neighbors, but even the two men next to me merely murmured as they discussed business over their very long and leisurely lunch break.
And the food? Satisfying and certainly more than I was able to finish. By the time I left, I was refreshed and all ready for a new round with this fair city, though a bit sorry to have to leave my sanctuary. Le Port du Salut definitely gets a thumb’s up!
Directions, from the Pantheon: Walk away from the Place du Pantheon, up rue Soufflot. Turn left at rue Saint-Jacques. The restaurant will be on your left.
Air Asia (previously reviewed here) is under fire for poor service—indeed, lack of service—offered to disabled travelers. The low-cost airline offers open-air boarding only, requiring passengers to leave the terminal building and climb up a flight of boarding stairs in order to get to their plane. There are no alternatives for those who are infirm, or, as reported in this newspaper article, those who are disabled:
“Passengers are instead required to walk up a flight of boarding stairs – a daunting task when one is disabled from the waist down,” she said.
Lee said that when booking AirAsia tickets online, a separate icon would appear on the website asking if the ticket purchaser would require “special assistance”.
“If you clicked ‘yes’, then you won’t be able to proceed with your booking.
“That’s when I called AirAsia’s call centre, and was told that they were unable to accept passengers who are completely immobile.
“This is even stipulated in AirAsia’s terms and conditions!” she added.
Budget airlines have their drawbacks, true, but disabled passengers have just as much a right to low-cost travel.
A year ago, I ran through some basic methods of surviving Comic-Con. If you’re heading down to San Diego for Comic-Con this July, Tom Spurgeon’s super-comprehensive list of things to do, places to see, and what to do about money is a definite must-read. The tips are wise, the links are handy, and the sense of humor in his list is wonderfully apropros:
“It’s a gathering of tribes. Strange, nerdy tribes.” (from “Five Things to Tell People On the Airplane”
Knowing that somewhere on the floor is a company that’s lost an intern over the weekend. Just lost them somewhere. (from “Six Small Joys to be Had Late in the Weekend”)
Don’t be shy about asking people who are dressed up in costumes to pose for pictures; the attention is frequently what they’re there for. Plus you may get the honor of addressing a grown man as “Lord Vader.” (from “Four Random Tips On Going To The Show”)