Rainy Monday in Berlin

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Last Monday it was grey and misty - and, naturally, chilly - as I walked across the Warshauer Strasse bridge to the East Side Gallery. Actually, I was just walking aimlessly when I saw the stretch of artistically painted preserved Berlin Wall and realized I had been here before -- a decade ago on my first trip to Europe.


I got my passport stamped with a Checkpoint Charlie (West) stamp. Can't wait to see the German officials' reactions to that one in the airports!


Since I wasn't in the tourist mood - and am not a big fan of walking in the rain - I hopped a train to visit a familiar in Charlottenburg and eat some hot tea and apfeltasche (homemade apple pie).

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Greyhound wi-fi buses are busted

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The new fleet of Greyhound buses are sleek black and have more comfortable seating. I rode on one from Indiana to New Jersey earlier this week. It was my second time being on a new bus. In lieu of those damn monitors blasting movies at you the entire way - there are no TV monitors! - the buses have outlets for plugging in your laptop or mobile phone (or whatever), obnoxiously bright reading lights (but, hey, at least they work for a change), roomy seats with a nice leather texture and free wi-fi. 


Supposedly, there's wi-fi. 


Keyword: supposedly. I couldn't get a signal during the entire 16hr trip. Didn't appear the Asian girl across the aisle or the tall Russian kid did either. The Greyhound.com web page came up. But that's it. It just keep reloading itself ad nauseam. Click on the permission button and around and around spun the loading button. It was so vexing! I tried using Internet Explorer and Google Chrome. Still nothing doing. On top of that the bus drivers - both were women - were useless to do anything about it. Useless because they were 1) too lazy to even try to fix the glitch and 2) had they listened to the simple instructions to press the re-set button or momentarily switch off the router I am sure they would have effed that up, too. So the whole "free wi-fi" is bull. A gimmick. A pipe dream that this lazy American company, who already outsourced Customer Service hotline to the Caribe which is an accent even harder to understand than the Indian ones, can make work. Wi-fi in moving vehicles or public places like airports and parks does function -- just not on Greyhound Bus.


But our travel was on time. And that's saying a lot for the company.

NOT a Greyhound Bus...but the name is befitting

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Tired of Firefox updates

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I stopped using Firefox and FINALLY uninstalled it from my laptop. I got tired of their damn near daily updates. Update these...!

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Muscle Pit (Venice Beach)

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Thee one and only - legendary - Muscle Pit in Venice Beach, California. Where young bodybuilders from back in the day (Frank Zane, Franco Columbo, Arnold Schwarzeneggar) trained regularly. Seeing Muscle Beach was one of my first stops when I first visited L.A. a couple of years back. Venice Beach looks just like it does in the movies: packed with streaming threads of tourists and street performers; lots of fit torsos and bikinis; weird, pitiful vagabonds; roller-bladers.

I even saw the late Jack LaLanne receive a lifetime award at a Labor Day bodybuilding contest. But I never went to the gym. I just stopped by it. Just one of those things where you ask yourself, Damn what took me so long?

The facility is run by the city parks and recreation department so user costs are super, super low ($10 day pass). It's outdoors so one gets plenty of natural sunshine and air -- and curious gawkers who don't hesitate to whip out the trusty old phone cameras. Immediate fans! Easy to see why Arnold thrived here! Like the other young cat there that afternoon, an amateur bodybuilder, no less, I worked out in a posing suit. Felt a little naked at first but gave a proverbial shrug of the shoulders and got down to business. Easy breezy. The equipment is standard bodybuilding fare and far from posh or shiny, and that's the way I like it. Want to use chalk? Use it. No pooh-pooh rules about chalk or gym attire (one guy was even dressed as Satan! Seriously. The Jesus freak was resplendent in red from head to shoe with a Devil mask covering his face and religious axiom across the front of his shirt. Seemed woefully overdressed to me) and  spraying down every piece of equipment after usage; no ubiquitous television screens or electronic dance music; no pretty people/Mr Big Shots gabbing on their phones or Bluetooth or with each other.  

I can dig training in this environment on a regular basis.

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Computer glasses = snake oil

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I bought a pair of Magnivision Computer Readers (strength +1.00) to combat the eye strain of working in front of a computer monitor for long bouts of time. The lens are orange (I've also seen them tinted yellow) and they seem to work -- but that's all in the head. They don't work. In fact, my eyes felt more irritated by wearing them. I finally tore up the piece of crap and threw it in the garbage.

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Brazilian Day & Chinatown Summer Nights (L.A.)

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Yesterday I went to L.A.'s Brazilian Day Party at the La Brea Tar Pits. Loads of loud music and dancing and everybody shaking their booties to the Samba grooves. There was a square of dance floor near the stage and plenty of dancing got done. There were also mini parades and, of course, capoeira. It was a lot of fun! The Brazilian community (and Brazilian Consulate) really organized and staged one helluva FREE celebration. (Two lucky so-and-so's won round-trip flights to Sao Paulo courtesy of Korean Air. I wasn't one of them.)

Then I followed other CouchSurfers (CSers) on to a house party  where we mingled and talked and drank and ate in a more decimal-friendly environment. It was a pot luck gathering - totally impromptu - and a really good time. I think I met more people in L.A. yesterday then all my time here put together. I don't get out much. 

Then we followed that up with a visit to Chinatown. Holy ching-chong! This was my first trip to L.A.'s Chinatown. The DJ was smoking! With an even bigger dance floor than the one at Brazil Day there was lots of people dancing and bopping around. Some actually looked Chinese but most did not. I bought a souvenir T-Shirt because the price wasn't a rip-off -- and I was feeling good. 2011 is the year of the rabbit. 

 

Although both outdoor functions were FREE and freely publicized I learned of them via couchsurfing.com so I gots to give propers to the other website members who post information about happening events. Otherwise I wouldn't have had such the hopping Saturday evening!

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Tripup LA

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Last month's Tripup LA, organized by Triptrotting.com, was a new one on me and I had a really good time. Thanks to the explosion of Internet social sites I've been put off by the automation of "networking" and, more deservedly of quotation marks, "friends" and I just don't dig these meet-and-greet functions. My impression is that everyone is a walking CV and none too subtle about it. Grace, dear one: Never leave home without it (and enough bus fare to get back).

The finger food spread of gourmet fries and burgers and cheese plates was cool - and spot on! - and who can complain about free wine?

Heard about Tripup LA via a post on Couchsurfing.com. It sounded too awesome to be real and I quickly clicked my RSVP. The social was held the same Sunday evening as the MTV VMA Awards Show (also in Hollywood) and at the very swank W Hotel on Hollywood Blvd. Niiiice. I wore my new double-breasted suit and cuff links and met some other engaging young people. Many foreigners and exchange students were present. The finger food spread of gourmet fries and burgers and cheese plates was cool - and spot on! - and who can complain about free wine? (Well I did; but that was only because the first glass was 80% vinegar - just my luck to start the evening off with the one bad bottle in the crate - but the rest - and I had many more glasses - were crisp delicious!)   


I also got to meet the two young ladies who started Triptrotting.com. I tip my hat to them. The party was so organized and professional and upscale you wouldn't imagine it was all brought off by two co-eds...one half expected to see a banner with a slew of sponsorships. Paid for by Pepsi, Motorola, Nike, Dell, Powerade, Axe, Diesel jeans....

I like jazz. I like Michael Jackson. This was a perfect combination!

After our outdoor wine social we headed inside the lobby, with its plush deep red carpeted stage, to enjoy a live jazz tribute to Michael Jackson. I like jazz. I like Michael Jackson. This was a perfect combination! The music wasn't all that jazz but it was good. Live musicians and dancers are always an entertaining treat. The one celebrity I spotted in attendance was Spike Lee. He really is very short...and, true to image, wore a sport jersey instead of a suit.

triptrotting.com

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