Travel

INVOL RER DUE TO OVERSOLD LX40

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I'm not sure where to start this story. I could tell you how I've been flying around the world on a business trip, or I could tell you what I think about Swiss Air business class. Instead I'm left thinking I should mention carbon. You see, I was sitting in first class on a Swiss Air flight to New York City yesterday, and I was surrounded by tree. Big centimeter thick panels of it are all over the place. When other airlines are doing things like using lighter foam for seat cushions or asking passengers to go potty before boarding to reduce the weight of their aircraft (and therefore carbon emissions), Swiss has chosen to find a forest and cut it down to put in their brand new plane. This forest will be flying around for a couple of decades I would think. Sure, its only in first class (business class gets veneer), and I'm a bastard for being in first class at all. There's a story to that too though. I booked an ultra cheap around the world business ticket through Swiss Air. It was in fact cheaper than the same flights in economy with Qantas. This is despite…

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Don’t use Jetbus Sydney if you want to catch your flight

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I had to take a flight a few weeks ago, and I thought I'd do the financially (and environmentally) sensible thing and use an airport shuttle service. Especially because the airport train in Sydney is so expensive and slow. I found Jetbus online, and paid with PayPal. The first time I used them they were just fine, but the second time was extremely frustrating. So frustrating that I wont be using their service again, as I value actually getting on my plane. Interestingly, Jetbus' Sydney office is across the road from my pickup location, so how badly can it go? I had a 4pm booking. I arrived at the pickup location 15 minutes early. The bus drove past me at the speed limit approximately on time. It did not slow down or stop. I rang the dispatch number to inform them of the error. The bus drove past about 10 minutes later, again without slowing down or stopping. I rang again. The bus didn't reappear. In total, I rang dispatch 5 times in an attempt to be collected. After the bus was 45 minutes late, I took a taxi to the airport instead, which cost $47, and arrived with only…

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The Wild Palms Hotel

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When leaving the US, I stayed in the Wild Palms Hotel. I selected it for three reasons: I'd stayed there before; it is part of the Joie De Vivre chain which I have had good experiences with before; and it was very cheap on Expedia ($77 compared to an average rate in the area of about $150). I learnt some interesting things I thought I'd share: The hotel is ok, just make sure you get an upstairs room. I was woken by mating elephants at 5am two days running because the floors are so thin. Be the mating elephant, not the victim of it! Once I moved to an upstairs room this probably went away. The executive rooms aren't worth it. I got moved into one of these because of the noise problems. Its advantages was it was away form the road, had a bathrobe (really), and a LCD TV. I don't watch TV much, so the extra cost if I was paying isn't worth it. The cleaning service kept "short sheeting" the bed. By short sheeting I mean pulled the sheets up to make the top of the bed look impressive, but leaving the bottom couple of inches of…

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Hotel Max

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When I was looking for a hotel to stay at for SIGCOMM 2008, I had trouble finding one in downtown Seattle which wasn't insanely expensive. In the end I picked Hotel Max because it was only moderately expensive, instead of insane like the Grant Hyatt. The hotel is interesting because apparently it was quite run down until a few years ago when it was done up. Now every room has its own unique art, and the halls and lobby are filled with different bits of art as well. Very hip. The room itself is quite small by American standards, which means its about the same size as the room that I stayed in while staying in London a few years ago. The shower and bathroom are literally cupboards off a corridor, but the bed is a full size queen. I'm not surprised about that given the yelp.com reviews. Given all I do in hotels is sleep and work on my laptop, I like this place. If I had the kids with me I would go insane however. Also be careful to get a room that faces Stewart Street. Mine faces an alley and I can hear the binging noise from…

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Shibuya, Tokyo

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Panos (a dude I work with) and I got to Tokyo ok last night. The flight left SFO at about 1pm and got into Narita airport at about 4pm. By the time we'd done immigration and collected our bags we only had about a ten minute wait for the limousine bus to the hotel. We're staying in Shibuya, which seems to be a bit of a shopping district. We managed to do the pointing a menu food ordering thing for dinner last night, and then I went to bed. Initial impressions of Tokyo: Its very clean and amazingly well organised. People naturally line up, and customer service is much better than it is in the US. Its not as crowded as I expected. English is very common, but don't expect people on the streets to actually speak it.

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Tokyo tomorrow

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Tomorrow I'm jumping on a JAL flight to Tokyo. I will be in Tokyo for a week, mostly for work meetings. I'm hoping to fit some sightseeing in on the weekend. Let me know if you have any recommendations.

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In Australia, alive

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So, after a somewhat traumatic 30 hour journey from America, I am now in Australia happy and well. I'm surprised by how not-jetlagged I feel, which is nice as well. Qantas in Melbourne were actually much better than Qantas in LAX about the missing bag. They were friendly, sympathetic, efficient and gave me $100 AUD cash to buy new clothes. So, I'm here and I'm alive.

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More nuclear bunkers

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Its clear from my past posts that I am interested in cold war bunkers. I just watched "Lost Worlds: US Nuclear Bunkers". That's re-ignited my interest in US nuclear bunkers (as well as cold war history in general). I like the idea of the Lorton Bunker (under a correctional facility 20 miles form Washington DC, and abandoned in only 2001), and I've talked about the Greenbrier bunker before. It's a pity its four hours drive from Arlington, VA: View Larger Map The Greenbrier was secret for 30 years, and kept constantly stocked will all the supplies needed for three weeks of sealed living for 1,100 people. Finally it was leaked by one article in the Washington Post. After the article, the site had to be decommissioned. Next, they talked about the Palm Beach Florida bunker built for JFK. Tours of that bunker are cheap too -- only $10 each. This bunker is only a decontamination shower, and a single room, but I guess you wouldn't complain if you'd just been nuked. Finally, there is Cheyenne Mountainwhich used to offer tours, but apparently doesn't any more.

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Mental note: don’t become a US permanent resident just in case

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To quote from this blog post (its a bit odd that its a PDF, but whatever): ... the new expatriate regime (Exit Tax Provision) requires expatriates to recognise gain on their assets, and imposes a new tax on gifts and bequests by expatriates to Americans, This new provision (styled Section 877A) is an addition to (and not a replacement of) the current expatriation tax rules of Section 877. Under the Exit Tax Provision, certain individuals who renounce their U.S. citizenship or U.S. long-term residents who relinquish their U.S. residence status (collectively covered expatriates) must recognise gain, or otherwise be taxed, on all their assets on the date they expatriate. In addition, gifts or bequests they make to U.S. citizens or residents after expatriation will be subject to tax at onerous estate/gift tax rates. In other words, if you're a US resident and you leave the US permanently, then they deem all of your world wide assets sold, and then tax you on the gain. This includes retirement funds, as well as savings. Congress is proposing this as a way of funding tax relief for serving members of the US military. Its not law yet, but still something I should pay…

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