I eat ice cream because I'm not on a hunger strike (STUTTGART)

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It took me forever to finally reach Stuttgart. Certainly felt that way. I was a day behind in my thinking. What, today's Tuesday not Monday? Lack of sleep will do that to you.

I just secured an apartment and saw an ice cream truck and thought to myself, Why not? Dammit I've earned this! I was going to buy irrespective of my personal favorites offered but, as it turned out, they were on the menu. Of late I'm inclined towards the blue ice cream which goes by several names but is best marketed as "Smurf". (Like Gargamel I've always been curious to eat those little things.) Instead of a measly cone I went big time and bought a wundertute, which clumsily translates as "wonder bag" (as a bag is a container). Doesn't it just look, well, wonderful!

  wundertute ist wunderbar!

 

In sharp contrast was a hunger strike nearby. How near? Close enough you could hold a spitting contest -- and probably win. According to the banner they're going two days strong. I don't know the agenda of these starving people but I'd make for a mighty poor disciple had my group pitched tent near an ice cream stand (or pancake house/burger stand/pretzel vendor, etc). As I had no pangs of guilt I happily devoured my three scoops of ice cream  (two of "engleblau" and one of cookies) topped with whipped cream under a drizzle of chocolate syrup. And took pictures of them. 

refugee hunger strike beside ice cream stand

 

 but no one appears to give a damn 

how can you rise when you don't have energy?



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Cooling off at public pool in Stuttgart

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While in Stuttgart I went to the public pool. Unlike the earlier post about the lake in Berlin, we had to pay an entrance fee of 4.50euros. It's sort of like a water park...just without all the slides and pool toys and unnecessary animation. And, unlike American water parks, the prices at the concession stands were very, very reasonable. The cost of French fries or Fanta (Germans love the stuff!) or hot dogs or ice creams were not jacked up at all. On the street an order of fries might cost 1.50 and at the pool it cost 2.50. Reasonable.

I think the pool was longer than Olympic size and, oh yeah, the views were gorgeous too!

 cakes from the side

  cakes from behind 

 

plenty of visions to leave a man blind

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Hollywood, California (PICS)

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...Because there is also a Hollywood, Florida (so if you didn't know, then now you know).

 ain't all what it's

cracked up to be, folks

 the famous museum of incredible stuff!

and under the Pacific in...2018?

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A pleasant day at Schlachtensee (BERLIN)

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Pools and lakes are nice places to partake
when it's hot outside and you need a break.

I am apprehensive of the public pools here in Berlin. The reason is loud and clear: too many rowdy Turkish boys. Their uncouth antics and selfishness only molest the otherwise tranquility and would, undoubtedly, piss me off, besides. Some people just can't be let out of the house.

apprehensive of the public pools...too many rowdy Turkish boys

At a loss of where to go - and feeling hot, hot, hot - a couple of the hostel's staff recommended I travel down towards Wannsee and get off at 'Schlachtensee' (see is German for lake). "You'll like it," they said. "It's quiet...it's green...it's easy to find." Well, I grew up along the lakes and I do like bodies of natural water.

Why not?

It was no problem remembering the train stop -- because nearly the entire train emptied there. Sometimes following the crowd is helpful.  Sure enough, it was pleasant and plenty green and, yes, easy to find. Right out of the train station and - baam! - there you are: at the lake. It was a little hard, though, finding a free spot to lay my towel but that proved to be a minor detail. Plus I got to break out my new bathing suit.

a quiet read under the trees

a natural repose, so at ease

a thumbs-up for Schlachtensee

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Muscle building a la Rube Goldberg?

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I see this and I think, Wouldn't it just be easier and more practical to go to the gym?

This is Crossfit Mean Streets of Downtown L.A.
Guess some folks simply like bearing crosses....

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USA Hostels (San Francisco)

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Now here's a spot to choose when staying in San Francisco! USA Hostel San Francisco is a super clean hostel with a good amount of bath facilities (some are separated e.g., showers from toilets), social space and friendly and organized staff. No attitudes did I encounter. During my stay the lobby and corridors were getting a minor make-over so it should look even nicer now.

It is obvious that care went into structuring the basement to accommodate people traffic as well as encourage socializing. Certainly folks were on their laptops (FREE wifi) - myself included - but a majority were not at any given point. Guests were actually talking and laughing with one another -- like in the olden days when man rode horses and carried six-shooters and women, dresses.

The hostel has a quiet corner for reading...that is so thoughtful!

There is a nice pool table on one side of the room and foosball on the other; a general eating area on one half of the room and the bar, opposite; a movie room with cinema-esque seating, laundry room and, get this, a reading room. The hostel has a quiet corner for reading...that is so thoughtful!

As for the dorm rooms, a private reading lamp (honestly, it doesn't disturb the other people in the room) is installed above the headrest along with a tiny shelf and two working power outlets. I slept wonderfully. When the room became a bit stuffy, as is wont to happen, we cracked open the window, which led to a shaft and the brick wall of the building next door...so no view (but also no noise), or turned on the wall fan. Right outside my room was a bathroom but inside the room we had a sink and mirror, and a closet in addition to the individual lockers (which come equipped with two working power outlets in each).
 
Like its sister hostel in Hollywood, an immense kitchen is stocked for public use. Unlike other places with cute but inadequate space these kitchens are made for commercial use, including more than one huge refrigerator. How professional is it? Think "Gordon Ramsey" without the asshole divo. The FREE pancake breakfast is the best spread I've ever had a hostel offer. Guests (try to) cook the pancakes themselves - I'm surprised at how many girls are downright clueless & clumsy in the kitchen! - from the loads of batter prepared by a hostel employee.

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McDonald's has class abroad

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Here's a classy McDonald's.  The restaurant chains outside of America are unbelievably sleek and stylish. Most are decorated like adult restaurants - often with the atmospere of a mid-range cafe - but this one in Schoneberg near Zoologischer Garten looks rather upscale with its chandeliers, wood floors, leather sofas and faux bookcase.

Definitely makes for a more pleasant and digestive eating experience. And you don't feel fast-food cheap! 

The ones in America are, plainly, too kid-oriented and, I suppose, family-friendly.

thank goodness there's more than currywurt in Berlin!

yes this is an actual McDonald's eating room

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Housing scam on Craigslist?

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I lucked out on renting a shared apt in Berlin because the renter was too cheap to confirm over the phone.

I answered the ad on Craigslist for a nice-looking room priced at 12euros/night. This is equal to or less than the rates of hostel dorms...but private! The first text msg from him informed that he was using another phone since his had no credit. No biggie. I figured he quickly borrowed a friend's cell phone. Then I kept getting replies from a different number -- each time. Hmmm.

On Friday I caught the early bus from Stuttgart to Berlin and sent an SMS of my approximate arrival time. Eight and a half hours on the road and I heard nothing back. Hmmm. My suspicion and doubts mounted. My means to peace of mind was to 'cut my losses' and settle on a Plan B. So that's what I did. By the time we pulled into Berlin I had already decided to book a bed in a hostel for the weekend. Still, I spent an hour at the bus station fiddling around with my luggage and checking room rates online.

And still there came no confirmation.

this smack of the trappings of a scam

So. I checked into the hostel and grabbed a kebab to eat then went to visit a friend. At 9pm the mysterious man sends me a text. It was a very thoughtful msg but, you guessed it, originated from another number. In fact, I recognized this last number as being local to Stuttgart region!

My friend convinced me to check it out all the same...especially since we were nearby the listed address. Long story, short: homeboy was using an online service to send SMS's for free - sort of like a Tor for phone calls - and each time resulted in a very different number on my caller ID. But fuck that. Just pick up the damn phone and call. It was a huge miscommunication, yes, but one fostered by his strange behavior. Had I spoken to the man over the phone it wouldn't have made much difference since his follow-up text msg would show up differently on my caller ID. Does this not smack of the trappings of a scam?
My imagination thought so.

My means to peace of mind was to 'cut my losses' and settle on a Plan B

High-technology has its place; unfortunately, it is encroaching on the otherwise ease of low-tech communication. I'm old fashion that way.

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Thrifty ice cream in Mexico

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Now there's Thrifty ice cream in Guadalajara. I saw a sign for it back in May when I rode through Tepic but it was faded and I figured it was an old signage that the store owner never bothered to take down. Guess I was wrong.
In Guadalajara, though, there's this shop smack in Centro on Ave Juarez (see pic) and, at least, one other in the mall, La Gran Plaza. Dairy Queen's Blizzards had some competition for my money while I was in town!

I had my first taste of Thrifty ice cream in Los Angeles where it's sold in Rite-Aid pharmacies. Back then it cost 99cents. Now I believe it's a $1.98. Besides being tasty I like the signature big block shape scoops of Thrifty ice creams.

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4th of July B-B-Q in Hollywood

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Fourth of July bar-b-que at USA Hostels Hollywood was no token picnic. The owners pulled out all the stops. There were plenty of burgers, hot dogs, and chicken kebabs on the grill; watermelon and plums, salads, pop, potato chips, and - oh yeah - apple pies! Plural. I went out and bought some vanilla ice cream to make mine a la mode. Hello!
After a tiring day of experiencing hot sunshine, fake tans, and bodybuilding at Muscle Beach I made sure to fill my belly. Had seconds. Had thirds. I loves to eat! 

This was, hands down, the BEST spread I ever enjoyed at a hostel. It was bigger and better than I imagined it would be. Big ups to the entire staff for showing (foreign)guests how we party like its 4th of July! 

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4th of July in Los Angeles

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For the 4th of July I went to Venice Beach to check out the bodybuilding contest down on Muscle Beach. Place was packed with spectators, tourists, and fake tanned physiques. (You know a place cannot be that chill when, despite being sunny all year round, folks still can't find the time to actually sun bathe.) I've toyed with the idea of competing at Venice 7Beach ever since seeing the event on my first real visit to L.A. in, oh, '07, but I can never justify paying $80 participant fee for a cheap ass plastic trophy that looks like it is a cheap ass plastic trophy. The mirror and people's stares are enough validation. Hello!

I took the bus to Santa Monica and bumped into a friend from couchsurfing (incidentally neither he nor I bother with the site anymore) who I hadn't seen in two years. He and his girlfriend were exercising on the beach. We recognized one another straight away - it's great when you don't age! - and chatted for a bit. THEN I hoofed it down to Venice Beach. The walk was longer than I remembered...but it was a sunny, nice day so lalalalala. 
In the evening there was a super great B-B-Q at the USA Hostel in Hollywood.

Here are snapshots from the day at the beach.

 Santa Monica...you don't have to go to 

Venice Beach to see fitness under the Sun

 Santa Monica Beach

the crowd at Muscle Beach bodybuilding show

competitors pumping manly muscle inside the muscle pit

...and also some muscly tits

 "real people"...?

 non-bodybuilders in the sand pit

...doing some muscly tricks

 teenage bodybuilder...believe it or not!

 one helluva joke!

 finalists in teenage category. 
can you guess who placed where?

hint: check out the body language

2nd place winner greeting fans

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Delayed flight from GDL to LAX

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Delta flight from Guadalajara was delayed -- by four hours!
This I learn whilst already in the cab en route to the airport. The company called my Mexican mobile to inform about the flight's delay; it just wound up actually being twice the estimated time. I guess it was due to the sudden intense downpour that hit the city minutes after I got into the cab.

Seriously Delta?! I am sure you can afford to spend more than $8usd per customer

As a token, Delta issued a meal voucher to Wings. Great! I was starving like Marvin but didn't want to exchange any more currency. Its value was $100mxp.
Check-in was hassle-free. (Actually, check-in in most terminals outside of the US and UK are hassle-free and, thankfully, TSA-free...Western powers still suffer with that paranoid white superiority chip on their shoulders. Who knew?) Turns out the one-hundred pesos was just that: a token. Not even enough to buy an order of oh, say, wings! Seriously Delta?! I am sure you can afford to spend more than $8usd per customer. I certainly spent far more than that for the plane ticket -- and, maybe, six to eight different tax fees. In case you are wondering, I ordered a soup. Big fukin' whoop.

Once the plane did take off the flying was easy breezy and we landed in LAX well after midnight. The flight was fine, by the way. I think I remember getting a coffee on board. Since it was the wee hours of the next morning - but still hours before check-in time - I 'slept' in the terminal and went to my hostel in the morning proper. Am not one for sleeping whilst sitting up but I probably dozed off for a good twenty minutes throughout the night. Hello Independence Day (from Great Britain)!  

(Still I give Delta big marks for remembering that antiquated ideal of customer service. They phoned to give me an update on the status of the flight - in second-language English - and a token meal voucher and the counter reps were friendly as well as professional.) 

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Go back to your country!

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This is old hat but I share it because it is one of the principals of this web log: to relay persistent, 'every day' racism that occurs to me (especially in places where racism doesn't exist).

I boarded a city bus in Guadalajara and waited for my change.
"What change?" the driver wondered.
I thought I gave him $7 pesos. The fare is six.
"No, you gave me six pesos," he said with a touch of attitude.
Did I? Maybe I did.
"Oh okay. Fine," I said. "It was a mistake -- an honest mistake."
He was an old man and I wanted to punch him in his cigarette wrinkled face.
As I made my way to a seat he had the gall to quip, "Vas a tu pais!"
Go back to your country!

And which country would that be?

It kills me when Mexicans let this fly as easy as their phony "amigo" salutation.
Especially when they are the ones constantly jumping the border into a foreign country to give birth and to attain a "better life" and a "real chance to make a living." 

Vas a tu pais! And which country would that be? America? Canada? Jamaica? Indonesia? Or, like many Mexicans honestly assume, Africa? (Yes, I know Africa is a continent but let's not miss the forest for the trees here.)
I kept the inconsequential ticket from the ride and, upon returning to the hostel, called the customer service number listed to report what that old bastard told me. The ticket has the number of the bus route and driver on it so, hopefully, he got called into the office when he returned to the garage. I doubt anything in the form of punishment is possible but maybe now he'll think (twice) before opening his big arrogant, ignorant mouth next time.

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Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.

- George S. Patton

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