New York
The only arguably good thing about a jet-lagged body clock waking you up at 5:30 am is seeing the sunrise. Which, I must add, is the most poetic way to usher in your first perfect day in New York City. Technically though, we were ushering it in in New Jersey as we’re staying in Hoboken – just over the Hudson from Manhattan.
After a chilling walk along the riverside, we popped over to Cake Boss’ own Carlos’ Bakery (there’s no line around the block at 7am) where we got croissants for breakfast and cupcakes for later on. Then, because there is no rest for the wicked, we shuttled ourselves under the river into New York proper and then hugely underestimated the distance up 5th Avenue, through south Central Park, and down Broadway.
Day 2 was less extreme, we had a bowl of pure sugar for breakfast (Capt’n Crunch), and then went down to the Flat Iron district for lunch at the Shake Shack (which is a delight, if you can manage the hour long wait in line). We then walked around in Chelsea for a couple of hours and caught the early evening showing of The Hunger Games (YAY) at the Clearview Cinema in Chelsea – SO GREAT, YOU GUYS!
Read More
Surviving the airport
Surviving the airport
I know that there are people who hate the airplane part of travelling. I get it. You’re 30 000 ft in the air in a flying barrel of tin and plastic. You’re sandwiched in like sardines, breathing the same stale air as the woman three rows down who, from the sounds of her cough, has a super-strain of TB. Fair enough, you’re not having a good time. That’s okay.
I, however, love flying. You’ve checked your luggage. You get to mission around like some kind of airport Bear Grylls, living out of your backpack and finding the best place to nap. You get to sit on your ass being served food and drink while catching up on your reading, TV watching, and general mooching. It’s like a holiday all on its own!
I see you rolling your eyes at me. Bear in mind that my opinion is largely based on the fact that I am an infrequent flyer, and have not yet been tainted by the cynicism of the rest of you. Given that, there are some key points to having a relatively pleasant experience in the airport and the air:
Dressing for the airport
- Be comfortable. Personally I’m all for yoga pants, plimsoles (easy to slip off), a blanket-like jersey, and a scarf. Plus the obvious extra pair of socks, and change of underwear (depending on the length of your flight).
Dealing with security
- Keep your passport and boarding pass really handy – the front pocket of your shirt or backpack is best.
- As mentioned above, wear shoes that don’t need re-lacing, and that are easy to slip off. Last time I flew, I wore boots. Never. Again.
- You know that they are going to make you take off belts, and remove loose change, your wallet and phone from your pockets. So pack this stuff into your bag to begin with, and don’t wear a belt if you can help it.
- Make sure that everything you need to remove from you bag is easy to reach / packed at the top of your carry-on. Avoid scrounging at ALL costs.
- Calculate how many buckets you’ll need for your stuff, put your shoes through first. Once the other side put your shoes on, stack your buckets, and go repack you shit away from the conveyer belt. If you are that person holding up the queue you will get death stares, which is not good just before embarking on the flying tin can.
Stay positive
- Get to airport early. Things usually take longer than you assume.
- Remember to be cheerful and polite. You may have paid for the privilege of flying, but that does not make you better than the person earning a living here.
- Bring enough entertainment. You know how long your flights and layovers will be, so make sure you have something else to entertain you once your laptop battery, Iphone, Ipod, Ipad, or lesser device (sarcasm) has run out of power. I hear in the dark ages people played cards and travel checkers, so bear that in mind when you have earned three gold stars on every level of Angry Birds Space and have nothing else to do. Or you could read. Some people still do that.
- I’ve also heard the wonderful suggestion that once you’re in duty free, you should go to a perfume shop and douse yourself in sweet-smelling nectar before getting on the plane. For the good of the other passengers.
Packing for the great adventure
The apparent secret to light packing, so says the internet, is to “pick a colour palette”. Admittedly this is a very poncey way of saying “make sure all the shit you pack matches”. While this is fantastic advice, I think it is also good to try to make sure that the matching is done with neutral colours. This is purely so that in 20 years you aren’t going to have to explain to your laughing children that those fuchsia-pink pants were “in fashion”. The other secret is to roll your clothes (seriously).
Packing efficiently is also about choosing the right things to take. Obviously what you pack varies depending on the climate you’re going to, so the best general rule is if in doubt, leave it behind.
Carry-on miscellany
Last time I travelled I foolishly used a shoulder bag. My advice to you is: Don’t. Even though it’s less chic, I’m definitely using a backpack this time.
…tech and miscellaneous
- Laptop, ipod, and requisite paraphernalia (apparently a ‘powers splitter’ – what we would call a double adapter – is really useful for working in the airport)
- Travel documents, wallet, keys, phone
- Toiletries (travel sized washing, tooth-brushing, and odour-combatting supplies)
- Camera, plus extra battery and memory card(s)
…sanity pack
- Bandaids, Zambuk, and painkillers (the best basic first-aid kit ever)
- Sleep mask, sleeping pills, motion sickness pills, ear plugs and neck pillow
- Playing cards, notebook/journal and pens (from experience: don’t take gel pens, they explode)
- Book, reading light and travel guide
- Ziplock bags
- Hand sanitizer
- Baby wipes
Clothing
…that I’ll be wearing or carrying on the plane
- A scarf; camisole, long sleeved t-shirt, yoga pants, blanket-like jersey, and slip on shoes
- A heavy rain-jacket
…and then packed in the main bag
- Many of the underwears, socks and tights
- 5 tank tops (white, black x2, grey, colour)
- 4 short sleeve tees (black, white, beige)
- 2 long sleeve tees (white, grey)
- 2 cardigans (black, beige)
- A light jacket
- 2 pairs yoga-pants (black)
- 2 pairs of jeans (black, blue)
- 4 dresses (black, grey)
- Pumps, running shoes, boots.
- Zipper tote
Preparing for the great adventure
Preparing for the great adventure
I am not what we could a yoda of travel call. I have definitely not mastered the art of traversing continents. What I have mastered, however, is research, planning, and obsessive list making. I’m not going to apologise for it.
So, for the next two days, while I’m getting ready to go, I leave with you my current pre-travel schedule. It is based on the many tips and suggestions of the interwebz, and tailored for my personal quirkitudes, but it may nevertheless bless you with sanity if you’re travelling. I mean, it probably won’t work for me, but then maybe I’m too far gone already.
One week before
- Make sure all your bills are paid. Because I’m just guessing that it’s gonna be pretty crap coming home to no hot water. Or worse – No internet. *shudder*
- Call the bank to let them know you will be spending dollah dollah bills in the great wide yonder. So they don’t think you are being robbed and send bank ninjas to get you.
- Tell everyone who is not already sick of hearing you talk incessantly about New York that you are going to New York. Keep telling them even when they try to change the subject and put their fingers in their ears. Alternatively, tell strangers you see in the street.
- It’s probably also a good idea to confirm your ticket bookings. Also, print out all your travel documents, like those tickets. And the map from the airport to the place you are staying.
- Also, research travel arrangements in the place that you’re staying. You want to be a little familiar with bus and subway/train routes and procedures before you need to use them to get to places on time. Because otherwise you won’t. Get there on time, I mean.
The weekend before
- Make sure you have luggage. That it isn’t falling to pieces, and that it is clearly identifiable. Ribbons. Lots of ribbons. Maybe glitter. All I’m saying.
- Make a copy of your passport, print out e-tickets, and exchange money (also remember to take the exchange receipt to the airport).
- Wash / launder the clothes you’re taking.
- Do any travel-related shopping for tiny toiletry, weather appropriate clothing and reading / listening material. Refill any prescriptions for antibiotics or contraceptives that you need while you’re away.
The day before
- Put all your travel info (incl. ticket info, bookings, itinerates, directions etc.) into an email, and send it to yourself. This makes finding travel-related info on your phone / laptop really easy.
- Print out relevant travel info as well as doing the above.
- Clean the house. Change the linen, do the washing (make sure you have a fresh change of pyjamas and clothes to leave behind). The basic idea is that once you have travelled for 2 days to get home, an untidy house is not ideal.
- Get rid of food that will go off.
The morning of
- Take out the trash. Water the plants (otherwise they too will be trash by the time you return).
- Unplug ALL THE THINGS.
- Do a double check.
- Try not to panic. Breathing exercises probably work. Probably.
Via here and here, and also via my own brain.
Read MoreThe Week That Was
Death and Taxes
This week I learnt about Tax, so that I don’t get arrested – which is always a good thing, right? Why do they not teach you these things at school? Why do they not teach you these things at varsity? How are you supposed to just know these magical adult things? How did you learn them? Did you learn them?
TechBash
Friday night was filled with schmoozing and cocktail drinking at TechBash. When I say ‘schmoozing’ I make myself sound more suave than I really am. In actual fact I spilled all the crushed ice in my pink mojito on the floor before the speeches began, despite trying really hard to be a Grown Up. Sigh.
I am not a Queen. I am a Khaleesi!
I love Game of Thrones as much as the next person, but trying to pretend that you are Dothraki does not make you any better at horse-riding than yelling “I AM THE SWAN QUEEN” makes you at ballet. In any case, this is what was going through my head as I desperately tried not to fall off. Let me tell you a thing I learnt about horses. They can sense your fear.
Read
Made my way through One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It was wonderfully weird, but I found it quite dense. So dense in fact that reading Murakami afterwards feels quite light and easy. Here is a Haiku: Family curses / Desolation and hearses / Then time disperses.
Lunched
Have you been to Massimo’s in Hout Bay? Go there. It was delish.
Watched
Many Episodes of Game of Thrones Season One, some supernatural teenage drama (you know which shows I’m talking about), and the Tree of Life. On the latter I just have to say, beautiful cinematography, but WTAF. Why can you not even tell me how he dies? My working theory is that it was the dinosaurs that did it. Also, apparently all Sean Penn got paid to do was go up and down in lifts while looking forlorn, and to walk miserably down glass corridors.
Read MoreOrdinary Batman Adventures
Welcome to the best thing I have seen all of this week, and last week. And I saw 5 girls trip down stairs in their matric dance (aka prom) dresses last week, so this is huge. The Adventures of Ordinary Batman by Sarah Johnson. I love his facial expressions. Too much of win.
via Illuminations and Other Stuff
Read MoreThe Week That Was
You know it’s been a rough week when you can’t remember anything that happened before Thursday. I know I went to work. I know I slept… I can’t remember much more than that. What I do know is that post Thursday I:
Planned obsessively
I have a curated Google places map with the locations of all big name and recommended sights in New York, which I have amassed through reading a bajillion thousand blogs. I will probably throw this out the window once I get there, but I have to have something to do now to curtail my excitement. Also I really, really like planning.
Ate Zoku pops
Have you guys heard about Zoku pop makers? They are amazing. You can make ice-pop’s in 7 minutes – and they are delicious! We made banana, milo and peanut butter ones, and watched movies with friends. I am now pop-obsessed, and am very sad that the weather changed about two days ago, and all at once it there seems to be a chill in the air. Not exactly pop weather.
Family braai times
Saw my little cousin go off to his matric dance and felt very old, and very under dressed. Then ate amazing braai food and watched Idols.
Wrote a guest post
It’s a collection of cool links, you can check it out here.
My musical obsession this week: We Are Young, Fun. ft. Janelle Monae
Read More
