The Travel Thread

Blaxter · Post by **Blaxter** » Tue Feb 16, 2010 2:47 pm

Lizkins wrote:i can't believe they did that too you, saw it on FB and thought it was well fucked. being stranded o/s is huge fear aye. you feel like you can't do anything and have little control

Especially finding out 2 hours before depature on a Saturday night and being referred back to my travel Agent who couldn't be contacted until Monday morning.
Lucky I had a place to stay for free, but it was a scary thought when I might have to buy a one way ticket back.
QANTAS rocks and BB can go fuck themsleves.

deviant · Post by **deviant** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 4:50 pm

ghetto kitty wrote:
deviant wrote:Oh hai I'm on koh phanang
aw im jealous!

are you going on the snoop dawg boat trip that leaves from Haad rin? DO IT!

haha, nah, it's now called the "munchies tour". We did the phangan safari instead, which was OK... partied a bit on Haad Rin (Mushie Shakes OMG

) then spent a week at the amazing Bottle Beach (Haad Khaut), went night fishing the the locals, which was AWESOME. Relaxed, etc... good place, Thanks for the tip Bo!!!!

Koh Tao (I'm there now).... not as good imo, vibe is not the same as Phangan, too much western food, too much english/irish pubs, still.... totally beautiful place... we stayed at that the place Dboy posted... jamahkiri, mega awesome views, great pool, and room was LUSH AS.. food was SHITHOUSE and too Exxy LOL... but the resort is too far away from everything to just duck out for dinner... Oh well... hard to find good simple and cheap Thai food on Koh Tao, which is weird. If I came here again, probably try the diving thing and stuff.

Back to Bangers tonight, going to a Mauy Thai match tomorrow night

front row seats.. Then shopping, then KL on wednesday and then home on Friday.

Post by **huge** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 11:59 am

i need to get out of here

Lizkins · Post by **Lizkins** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 12:46 pm

huge wrote:i need to get out of here

Blaxter · Post by **Blaxter** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 12:54 pm

Even though I just returned form UK, I reckon I could just about get back on another plane and head straight back there. Trying to balance work relocating to Broadmeadows, possible shift of house and keeping within budget whilst still being sociable (ie not living too far out in the suburbs).

ghetto kitty · Post by **ghetto kitty** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 1:19 pm

glad you liked bottle beach Dan - knew you and Indi would love it.

and I need to get away too. Bad.

nic · Post by **nic** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:42 pm

huge wrote:i need to get out of here

tasmania imo, bogan activities likely.

RK · Post by RK » Mon Feb 22, 2010 7:32 pm

deviant wrote:
Oh well... hard to find good simple and cheap Thai food on Koh Tao, which is weird.

Man, ya can't have been lookin too hard!! About 5 places on the road to the Muay Thai stadium that I rate as some of the best I had in my 6 months in Thailand - epic Massaman and red curries for 35-40bht, and so so so tasty. Proper mama homecooked styles FTW. Know what ya mean though, place is definitely over its quota of cheesy tourist spots now, doubt I'll be returning.

apophenian · Post by **apophenian** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 8:39 pm

Just booked our tickets to go to the states at the end of the year - with a short stay in Singapore.

Going to San Francisco, Miami and New York. Any tips on places to stay/visit over there?

almax · Post by **almax** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 9:50 am

planning on a trip around Spain and Portugal in mid July through to Sept, and my gf found a cheap flight online which she then took to flight centre who will "match or beat the price or you fly free" turns out they could only get within about $700 of the price, but then they pulled out the 'ol clause that it has to be from an Australian website.
So we went home had a bit more of a look and found an even cheaper price from an australian website!
emailed them this a.m. with the details.

so heres to hoping we get free flights!

gnat · Post by **gnat** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 9:54 am

ah nice one al. interesting to see how it goes

portugal!

Post by **JAMESSSS** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:07 am

RK wrote:
deviant wrote:
Oh well... hard to find good simple and cheap Thai food on Koh Tao, which is weird.
Man, ya can't have been lookin too hard!! About 5 places on the road to the Muay Thai stadium that I rate as some of the best I had in my 6 months in Thailand - epic Massaman and red curries for 35-40bht, and so so so tasty. Proper mama homecooked styles FTW. Know what ya mean though, place is definitely over its quota of cheesy tourist spots now, doubt I'll be returning.

Agree!

nic · Post by **nic** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:13 am

nyone want to go to sonar this year?

quick · Post by **quick** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 2:49 pm

nic wrote:nyone want to go to sonar this year?

I'll be there bro, fo sure

quick · Post by **quick** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:59 am

lots of new photos up on facebook, finally updated it

Blaxter · Post by **Blaxter** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 9:00 am

Hey Quickster.

quick · Post by **quick** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 9:04 am

hey J-Dogg... make sure you're around when I come back for a couple of weeks in May for my birthday, 17th may

Blaxter · Post by **Blaxter** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 9:12 am

Will do bro.
I'll be here.
I've got to save up some more annual leave and coins before I head overseas again.

gnat · Post by **gnat** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 10:52 am

so no one liked koh tao? i expect it to be quieter than kon phangan...

we're going to some secluded spot that's not near the main hurrah. hope teh foodz is good there

Lizkins · Post by **Lizkins** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 11:00 am

off to Malaysia at the end of April fricken WOOHOOOOO hang about in KL for a bit with the boys parents who live there and then off to Langkawi YIPPEE!!!! My boy's mum keeps calling getting all excited about shopping and taking us out for dinner. Hells yeah!

Blaxter · Post by **Blaxter** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 11:08 am

Nice one Liz.
I've got to get my save on again.
Travel bug has bitten hard.

Lizkins · Post by **Lizkins** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 11:20 am

yeah for sure, its good aye. Its been about 4 or so years since i last went o/s, so i cannot wait! Little trips help with the travel bug, and Victoria has def got lots to see!

Hatsudai · Post by **Hatsudai** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 11:34 am

Lizkins wrote:off to Malaysia at the end of April fricken WOOHOOOOO hang about in KL for a bit with the boys parents who live there and then off to Langkawi YIPPEE!!!! My boy's mum keeps calling getting all excited about shopping and taking us out for dinner. Hells yeah!

Langkawi=best!

Which part of the island are you staying on?

Blaxter · Post by **Blaxter** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 11:37 am

I hardly venture outside the confines of Public Transport north of the Yarra.
I love Melbourne City, I'm here for the concrete and culture.
Looking forward to seeing more of Asia and Europe and maybe a sneak peek at Cuba.
It's all about the dollars thoug, so I'm trying really hard to get a promotion to make saving easier.

Lizkins · Post by **Lizkins** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 11:41 am

Hatsudai wrote:
Lizkins wrote:off to Malaysia at the end of April fricken WOOHOOOOO hang about in KL for a bit with the boys parents who live there and then off to Langkawi YIPPEE!!!! My boy's mum keeps calling getting all excited about shopping and taking us out for dinner. Hells yeah!
Langkawi=best!

Which part of the island are you staying on?

hey Hatsudai

not sure, my boy has been before so i am just going to be a follower. i am just working out stuff i want to do like kayaking through caves etc. cool stuff like that

witty_pseudonym · Post by **witty_pseudonym** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 11:44 am

awesome liz! so glad it's all locked in...at last!

i'm still trying to get my head around the idea that my 3 weeks in vietnam might turn into 12 months+ in india and maybe a few years in the UK after that.

Hatsudai · Post by **Hatsudai** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 11:45 am

Lizkins wrote:
hey Hatsudai
not sure, my boy has been before so i am just going to be a follower. i am just working out stuff i want to do like kayaking through caves etc. cool stuff like that

Don't forget the duty free booze! That place is like a beer lovers paradise.

Food was good away from the beaches and the markets were pretty interesting aswell- although I guess if your lad has been before he probably has it sorted in terms of stuff to do

Lizkins · Post by **Lizkins** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 11:52 am

ohhh nice thanks for the tip! dunno what he has planned or remembers (was about five or so years ago now), i keep making suggestions and he keeps saying "just wait til we get there cos how it looks in brochures is not what it looks like there". but i am making lists anyways lol

Lizkins · Post by **Lizkins** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 11:53 am

witty_pseudonym wrote:awesome liz! so glad it's all locked in...at last!

i'm still trying to get my head around the idea that my 3 weeks in vietnam might turn into 12 months+ in india and maybe a few years in the UK after that.

citing tash! way exciting!!!

Blaxter · Post by **Blaxter** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 12:59 pm

witty_pseudonym wrote: !

i'm still trying to get my head around the idea that my 3 weeks in vietnam might turn into 12 months+ in india and maybe a few years in the UK after that.

Wow! That's a head fuck but I'm sure you'll love it.

deviant · Post by **deviant** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 3:35 pm

JAMESSSS wrote:
RK wrote:
deviant wrote:
Oh well... hard to find good simple and cheap Thai food on Koh Tao, which is weird.
Man, ya can't have been lookin too hard!! About 5 places on the road to the Muay Thai stadium that I rate as some of the best I had in my 6 months in Thailand - epic Massaman and red curries for 35-40bht, and so so so tasty. Proper mama homecooked styles FTW. Know what ya mean though, place is definitely over its quota of cheesy tourist spots now, doubt I'll be returning.
Agree!

I didn't go to the Mauy Thai stadium on Koh Tao.....

Gnat - Koh Tao is heaps busier than Koh Phangan... BUT (that's a big but), we we're not there during Full Moon, which is apparently insanely busy.

The resort you are staying is pretty far (like 15-20 mins drive) from the main town, just prey the food is good, coz jamahkiri's food was rubbish, if you hire a quad bike you'll be able to get around much easier.... the road to get there is

do NOT attempt on motorcycle, you'll find out what I mean when you get there

the best food in the whole of Thailand (IMHO) is here... http://www.maykaidee.com

their red curry is the best thing I've ever eaten...

Blaxter · Post by **Blaxter** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 3:40 pm

Maykaidee was good (especially for vegan) but there was a better cooking school/ resort in Chiang Mai that I strayed at and their smorgasboard was to die for.

retzie · Post by **retzie** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 4:06 pm

apophenian wrote:Going to San Francisco, Miami and New York. Any tips on places to stay/visit over there?

Find places to stay here. I can highly recommend you an AirBnB'er in SF if you're wanting a cheap(ish) airbed option. Also, if you are staying somewhere for a little while, hit up the relevant Craigslist for sublets (esp. NYC). Watch for scams though!

Erm, most of my top destinations are sneaker shops and shit-hot cocktail bars

. My other travel recommendations are things like "Don't walk across Brooklyn Bridge - it's full of tourists" and "The NYC subway is a perfectly reasonable way to transport a vacuum cleaner." If you think I will be of any use, feel free to hit me up with specific questions - spent a reasonable amount of time in both NYC and the Bay Area; haven't been to Miami (although probably will have by the time you go).

Oh, and you should go to Austin too

gnat · Post by **gnat** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 4:09 pm

to deviant: hmm ok. i have been to koh phangan before. think it depends on the part of the island because we went far north near bottle beach and it was deserted but area near jetty was insanity

reports on trip advisor say the food wher we're going is mint and also recs a few places nearby to eat so fingers crossed. will be so pumped not to have to cook dinner after a shattering day at work for a few weeks

happy to do quad bike- good tip

retzie · Post by **retzie** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 4:18 pm

Also, in the US, Yelp is a kinda okay way to get an idea of good places to eat/drink/shop. However, before you take anything you see on it too seriously, walk down a busy city street and ask yourself how many of those people's opinions you'd believe

ghetto kitty · Post by **ghetto kitty** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 4:47 pm

Blaxter wrote:Maykaidee was good (especially for vegan) but there was a better cooking school/ resort in Chiang Mai that I strayed at and their smorgasboard was to die for.

Maykaidee!!!!!!!

i has the cookboook and we ate there almost every day in bangers...

quick · Post by **quick** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 7:54 pm

deviant wrote:
JAMESSSS wrote:
RK wrote: Man, ya can't have been lookin too hard!! About 5 places on the road to the Muay Thai stadium that I rate as some of the best I had in my 6 months in Thailand - epic Massaman and red curries for 35-40bht, and so so so tasty. Proper mama homecooked styles FTW. Know what ya mean though, place is definitely over its quota of cheesy tourist spots now, doubt I'll be returning.
Agree!
I didn't go to the Mauy Thai stadium on Koh Tao.....

Gnat - Koh Tao is heaps busier than Koh Phangan... BUT (that's a big but), we we're not there during Full Moon, which is apparently insanely busy.

The resort you are staying is pretty far (like 15-20 mins drive) from the main town, just prey the food is good, coz jamahkiri's food was rubbish, if you hire a quad bike you'll be able to get around much easier.... the road to get there is do NOT attempt on motorcycle, you'll find out what I mean when you get there

the best food in the whole of Thailand (IMHO) is here... http://www.maykaidee.com

their red curry is the best thing I've ever eaten...

WTF!?!?!? Tao busier than Phangan could not believe it, Tao was beautiful, phangan was slutty fun... (in a manner of speaking) (and even days before and after full moon)

shepherd · Post by **shepherd** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 10:45 pm

apophenian wrote:Just booked our tickets to go to the states at the end of the year - with a short stay in Singapore.

Going to San Francisco, Miami and New York. Any tips on places to stay/visit over there?

W Hotel or Huntington Hotel in San Fran are good.

The Standard in NY

shepherd · Post by **shepherd** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 10:52 pm

So am in LA for 2 days pre SXSW in a few weeks. Staying at the Roosevelt which is pretty much bang in Hollywood.

Need advice if anyone has any on places to shop - ideally shoes/clothes etc ... that aren't the obvious ones (Robinson, Beverly Centre, Grove, Supreme etc)

Anyone anyone?

retzie · Post by **retzie** » Thu Feb 25, 2010 8:12 am

^^ What sort of kit are you in the market for? What sort of shopping experience are you after? If you want exxy and schmick, I haven't the slightest - I would imagine Rodeo Drive. For a more normal-person option, I like Melrose Avenue. You get to wander around outside and there is a reasonable mix of nice, outlet and odd. If you're after a mall that isn't too heavy on the full air-conditioned, corporate American nightmare experience, the promenade shopping strip in Santa Monica is pretty nice (although it is a bit of a trek, there is a bus straight there.)

If you are interested in finding something a bit different, I recommend you look up some of you favourite brands and see where they have LA stockists (and they will have LA stockists.) eg. There's a Superdry stockist in West Hollywood (somewhere off Sunset?) that had some other cool stuff.

shepherd wrote:shoes

Sneakers?? Soooo many options...

Hatsudai · Post by **Hatsudai** » Thu Feb 25, 2010 11:56 am

shepherd wrote:
Anyone anyone?

Sporties on Melrose was pretty good for Kicks, as was Undefeated (I think on La brea)

http://www.sportiela.com/
http://www.undftd.com/

apophenian · Post by **apophenian** » Thu Feb 25, 2010 3:37 pm

retzie wrote:Also, in the US, Yelp is a kinda okay way to get an idea of good places to eat/drink/shop. However, before you take anything you see on it too seriously, walk down a busy city street and ask yourself how many of those people's opinions you'd believe

Thanks!

We were hoping to hire out apartments in both NYC and San Francisco, and have spotted some decent ones on a couple of sites that look fairly trustworthy. Have been told that the mission district would be a cool place to stay...

My girlfriend is looking forward to checking out the vegan restaurants over there too!

nic · Post by **nic** » Thu Feb 25, 2010 4:01 pm

i rented apartment(fuck expensive but shit hotels tbh) off craigslist in chinatown NYC was fine, though 2 other people tried to scam us. huge scams on craiglist. was a good area, close enough to walk to lower east side for shops / food or subway further up manhattan. also stayed in harlem which was allright as well. spend a day in brooklyn imo, foods are good everywhere tbh, same with drinks. went to a dubwar party which is good if there is one one on.

if you have time take a halfday trip up hudson river on train from grandcentral and visit DiaBeacon art gallery (http://diabeacon.org/sites/exhibitions/1/current) - 1 hr north, best biggest quietest gallery i have ever been too and amazing huge collection of contemporary US sculpture - best thing in NYC imo. also in brooklyn is http://www.ps1.org/ gallery well worth the short trip.

i have bare SF/Berkeley tips i will pm's u dun know. or tell u tomorrow nights

west hollywood has some decent interspersed shops and bars (loads of gheybars as well if you and fiancee fancy that kind of thing) sunset boulvevard has some average bars and melrose has some average shops. buses are really fucking ghetto in la tbh, and slllooowww.

ghetto kitty · Post by **ghetto kitty** » Thu Feb 25, 2010 4:22 pm

nic wrote: really fucking ghetto

i know im from San Fran....but i havent been a tourist nor done much shopping when im in the states...

bai!!!

C.I.A. · Post by **C.I.A.** » Thu Feb 25, 2010 4:31 pm

nic wrote:i rented apartment(fuck expensive but shit hotels tbh) off craigslist in chinatown NYC was fine, though 2 other people tried to scam us. huge scams on craiglist. was a good area, close enough to walk to lower east side for shops / food or subway further up manhattan. also stayed in harlem which was allright as well. spend a day in brooklyn imo, foods are good everywhere tbh, same with drinks. went to a dubwar party which is good if there is one one on.

if you have time take a halfday trip up hudson river on train from grandcentral and visit DiaBeacon art gallery (http://diabeacon.org/sites/exhibitions/1/current) - 1 hr north, best biggest quietest gallery i have ever been too and amazing huge collection of contemporary US sculpture - best thing in NYC imo. also in brooklyn is http://www.ps1.org/ gallery well worth the short trip.

i have bare SF/Berkeley tips i will pm's u dun know. or tell u tomorrow nights

west hollywood has some decent interspersed shops and bars (loads of gheybars as well if you and fiancee fancy that kind of thing) sunset boulvevard has some average bars and melrose has some average shops. buses are really fucking ghetto in la tbh, and slllooowww.

The whole of LA is ghetto. Failingest shitty in the world with the possible exception of the city on the border of China and Cambodia where children are sold into slavery and are chained to their machines for 20 hours a day to make fake gucci handbag or any city on the continent of Africa.

apophenian · Post by **apophenian** » Thu Feb 25, 2010 4:31 pm

Cool - thanks nic! I don't think we will bother with LA, 'cept for the fact that we fly through there on the way back...

ghetto kitty · Post by **ghetto kitty** » Thu Feb 25, 2010 4:37 pm

C.I.A. wrote: The whole of LA is ghetto. Failingest shitty in the world with the possible exception of the city on the border of China and Cambodia where children are sold into slavery and are chained to their machines for 20 hours a day to make fake gucci handbag or any city on the continent of Africa.

well said cia!

and a 1000000 worlds apart from San Fran

shepherd · Post by **shepherd** » Thu Feb 25, 2010 4:41 pm

Yeah LA is kind of shit and ghetto but it's like LA music - overstated, badly dressed, loud, obnoxious, artless etc ... but you still listen to it sometimes.

I thought LA was kind of average 2 years ago but here I am ... about to return

retzie · Post by **retzie** » Thu Feb 25, 2010 7:57 pm

Woah, so much hate for LA. Admittedly, I used to hate it too, but that was when I had only been in/around Pasadena (for Caltech things - not by choice!) Once I spent some time around Santa Monica, Venice and West Hollywood, things changed a lot. Not ghetto at all (unless I am ghetto myself?), not scary polluted and zomg best sneaker shops in the world (combined with hottest boys working at sneaker shops, who remember me and give me discounts for no reason

) Chuck in good sushi and gigs and will definitely go again. I do find it funny that no-one seems to dance in LA (at least, not at breaks gigs). Yet somehow my impulse to punch strangers there is significantly lower than SF. Horses, courses

nic wrote:i rented apartment(fuck expensive but shit hotels tbh) off craigslist in chinatown NYC was fine, though 2 other people tried to scam us. huge scams on craiglist.

I reckon apartment rentals are the way to go if you want to really see a city (but then, I'm big on feeling like I live there and would prefer to spend my money on sneakers. And cocktails. Can anyone see a trend emerging?) Just posted this elsewhere:

retzie wrote:There are definitely Craigslist scams out there! Any listing that doesn't have a linked map is out (usually not exact address, but at least cross-streets). Try to go for the ones that are clearly a real person subletting a room, rather than a side-business of weekly apartment rentals. ONLY pay with Paypal (and when you do, use a credit card, so you have the double protection of charge back if it is a scam.) If you think that something is a bit dodge, ask for better photos of specific things - they will often just pull photo sets off property websites. Be aware that it is standard for real people to ask for half deposit then the rest on arrival though.

In NYC, I suggest staying in Brooklyn. I like Park Slope, which has cool stuff locally, but is also a short subway ride away from the lower East side. Should save you a bucket of cash over staying on Manhattan.

shepherd · Post by **shepherd** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 1:54 pm

I do find it funny that no-one seems to dance in LA

heh i found that too. when nick and i went in 2008 we ended up at cobrasnake's night in Hollywood as the people we were with had some LA douchebag connections (this night had a password to get in lol) ... very hipster doofus but everyone just sat around looking like they were in a video clip and it was actually kind of boring.