I only ask because we really are running out of topics and I am leaving tomorrow for the Carolinas.  I’ll be gone almost two weeks.  It’s getting real hot here in South Florida…...so I’m not sure if my grass will survive 10 days.  I have been fertilizing and flooding it all week. :wink:

yep, me going to Mumbai (India) for 80 days. Am leaving on Tuesday.

Cruise to Canada, booked today, leaving in 2 weeks.

Erik

I leave for Tokyo in 2 weeks. After 10 days there, I will be flying to Sydney via Perth and Ayers rock! This will be a good test for the TR I have fantasies about editing video on my laptop in my Tokyo hotel room, but it prob wont happen…

i’m in Thailand for a month right now.
the weather isn’t that hot. but the internet and traffic are so jam. :D

[quote author=“jtu100”]I leave for Tokyo in 2 weeks. After 10 days there, I will be flying to Sydney via Perth and Ayers rock! This will be a good test for the TR I have fantasies about editing video on my laptop in my Tokyo hotel room, but it prob wont happen…

Videos?  In Japan?  The land of used panties (amongst other things) from vending machihes?  What kind of movies are you shooting, exactly? 

Most likely just the kind with me filming myself, running around Tokyo shouting “oh my god!! im in Tokyo!!” :D

Of course, being a tourist, I have to buy everything possible from vending machines that I can…!

Now in Philippines and will be here for another month or so. Just want to share some of my experiences here.

Encounter One - Taxi Drivers
I would not say taxi drivers here are honest, especially those drivers in a stormy night. They won’t charge by the meter and they will be asking for charges that are 2 or 3 times higher than the normal fare. They would rather go empty car than to pick up passengers. I have seen so many taxis entering and leaving the shopping malls empty, even though there are tons of people waiting for taxis.

Encounter Two - Tour Guides
I went to one of their ancient spanish cities (Intramuros) yesterday and a horse carriage came along and asked if we need him to guide us around. As we are prepared to go on foot, we said no. He was very polite and sincere and we finally asked for the charges. He quote us 300 Peso (abt USD$5; which is actually very expensive for the standard of living here) and we said no. He then lowered it to 200 Peso and said the tour takes abt 30 min in the horse carriage. We finally agreed and he tour us round the city and even waited for us while we were in the fort, gardens, etc. He also went that extra mile to bring us to the shooting range that is outside Intramuros. We thought he was a very good guide when he “reminded” us that we agreed on the charges that it’s 200 Peso for every 30 minutes!!!  This is so much more expensive than the taxi ride (it took us only 110 Peso for abt 50 min taxi drive!) We were very pissed off paid him for the 1.5hours and got off.

The initial agreement (which we assume) is that the ride is 200 Peso and it takes abt 30 min, but he “changed” it to become 200 Peso for every 30 min. We are just not careful enough.  :?

General experience
I won’t say it is dangerous for tourist to be here. But definitely it’s not very tourist friendly country. We paid “school fees” to learn the culture.  :|

Off to Tampa and Montreal for conferences - mainly spending the summer in the Shuswap area of BC (we have a small cabin there). I don’t know whether internet access through bluetooth (TR/T616) at the lake is a good thing or bad thing… it’s either highly efficient to be able to stay connected to the office or the ultimate in geekdom.

[quote author=“deathstar”]General experience
I won’t say it is dangerous for tourist to be here. But definitely it’s not very tourist friendly country. We paid “school fees” to learn the culture.  :|

I’m originally from the Philippines (last visited: 15 years) and I’m sorry to hear that you had a bad experience there.  Don’t worry it does not happen only to tourists ... and in the Philippines.  I used to leave in Italy and Germany and same things happen there too.
Horse/Taxi drivers are definitely the same everywhere   :?
I hope you enjoyed everything else though.

Not sure yet where to go - I might go to Austria but nothing sure yet.
I’d like to go back to NY City though ... a bit closer from where I live but I love that city!

Gonna visit my brother in DC and then my family in Ga this summer before school starts.

Neuro

Back to the motherland….the Philippines, right after final exams in 2 weeks. :evil:  Might be there for about a month or too, and then move down to San Diego for college in the fall. 

~nox

When you do go to whatever tourist trap you end up in, do the natives a favor and don’t just stop in the middle of the sidewalk to gawk at something. Thanks.

LOL, Drachen, why? Speaking from experience? Killed a few tourists!!?!?

~nox

Going to the Philippines for 3 weeks. I’m leaving on Tuesday :wink: