Getting to NYC from DC
I’m headed to New York City this weekend, just in time to escape the allegedly two-footer snowstorm that’s coming into DC. I thought I’d share how I usually make the trip.
The best way to get to New York City from D.C. is by train. The Acela Express takes you from Union Station to Penn Station in less than three hours. (The less expensive regional Amtrak train makes more stops so it takes about 45 minutes longer.) You’ve got all the legroom you want, electric outlets for that dying laptop battery and no stress from going through security-check lines at the airport. Your hair doesn’t even have time to get ruffled! This is how I traveled once I got a job after grad school.
“No more Chinatown bus,” I told myself, “I’ve got money!”
Alas, that luxurious lifestyle was short-lived and in an effort to save a ton of money for the future, I’ve had to scale far back and return to the bus. Although Amtrak currently has a $49 one way offer on their regional trains with a 2-week advanced purchase, the usual cost is between $65-$224 each way. (It makes no difference if you get a round trip ticket.) The bus costs between $1-$35 one way but takes about 4 to 5 hours to get from city to city.
Luckily for me, tons of different bus companies have sprung up in the last few years and they don’t just run between the two Chinatowns. Lots of them even include free wifi service.
The most popular bus company these days is BoltBus, which advertises $1 fares (although I’m not quite sure how to get them, the prices listed on their site usually go from $16 to $23 each way). It offers wifi and more leg room and travels between DC’s Chinatown or Union Station and Penn Station. It’s the same thing with Megabus.
There are several other bus companies that also offer wifi and leave from Union Station, Dupont Circle and Chinatown but I think most of them have a fixed price of $20-$25 each way, slightly more expensive than the above two I mentioned.
But sometimes convenience is something you might want to pay for. Vamoose Bus costs $35 each way but it stops at Rosslyn, close to where I live, so I can walk right home after I get off the bus. On a crazy work day, I can rush home, pick up my stuff and run for the bus. The only catch is that on the return trip from New York, it stops in Bethesda, Maryland, before going to Rosslyn, which significantly lengthens the journey. That’s why I’m just going with BoltBus this time. Hopefully I won’t have to sit next to a crazy person. Sigh, I miss the train!
Image courtesy of stock.xchng
Add comment February 4, 2010
Turtle Power
And while we’re on the topic of animals in Kauai, I thought I’d just share a picture of a reptile I saw on the beach too.
Add comment February 2, 2010
Wild Chickens in Kauai
My good friend Leah at Eating With Integrity will be glad to know that there are lots of free range chickens in Kauai. Yes, I’m still talking about Hawaii.
Wild chickens are pretty much everywhere in Kauai. I even saw a bunch in front of a KFC. I guess they get their chicken from somewhere else. Heh heh. The birds were first introduced by the Filipinos who moved to Hawaii a long time ago and the locals attribute the freedom of the chickens to a big hurricane that destroyed many chicken farms and set these fowls free. They have flourished in Kauai because they don’t have too many natural predators. Where chickens on the other islands have to fear mongooses (why isn’t it mongeese?), these don’t because mongooses didn’t get introduced to Kauai.
Add comment February 1, 2010
Mika Needs A New Home!
Dear friends in Singapore,
This is my brother’s dog Mika. She’s been nothing but sweet, affectionate and loyal, but my brother and his family are moving to Chicago for a few years and unfortunately, 9-year-old Mika can’t go along. They’re desperate to find a good home for the energetic girl and if you would like to invite Mika into your family even for just a year or two, or know of someone who would, please, please get in touch! You can email Wen at ngoei.wq@gmail.com.
Thanks so very much!
1 comment January 28, 2010
The People in Your Neighbourhood
I love making friends on my travels but it mostly happens when I’m alone. So this work trip was the perfect setting to get acquainted with some of the people in my temporary neighbourhood. (N.B. The names are made up but the problems are real)
Let’s see…there was Jeff the sushi chef, whose son got into drugs and then cleaned-up and is now taking a year out before going to college, there was Gary the cab driver, who hates kids and likes to go fishing and sees 8-footer tiger sharks in the waters close to my hotel pretty often, there was Malcolm the surf instructor, whose 70-something-year-old mom teaches yoga and is completely “gnarly” (whatever that means), and there was Sheldon the bell boy, who is terrified of the cold, so he wears wet suits during his morning surf sessions, and he thinks I’m incredible just for being able to live through D.C.’s winters.
Besides the friendly chat, Malcolm lent me a board, took me out surfing and pushed me onto waves so I wouldn’t have to kill myself paddling for them, Jeff regularly cut up some fruit, which I didn’t order, for me after my meal, Gary gave me a free ride and Sheldon, well Sheldon noted my travel details after I only casually mentioned it in conversation and made sure I got to the airport on time. All in all, they made my work trip warm and pretty enjoyable.
1 comment January 27, 2010
The Hawaiian Monk Seal
This is not a crime scene. The fella in the picture is not dead (I saw him heave a sigh of irritation at me and other tourists taking pictures of him from afar). He’s in a food coma after the very big meal he had the night before. The poor guy is an endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal who likes to be alone except in mating season. Part of the reason his kind are few is that tourists used to get up close to them when they’d hang out on the beach, causing them to escape back into the water with full bellies and get eaten by sharks.
So, now, whenever security guards or beach front hotel staff spot a seal early in the morning, they cordon off a large area for the seals to relax in the sun until they’re good and ready to go back into the water.
P.S. I’ve updated the trivia post below, if you’d like to see it.
2 comments January 26, 2010
Hawaiian Trivia
From the shuttle bus driver today:
-The tallest mountain from top to bottom is the Big Island in Hawaii. Everest is the highest in elevation.
-The state fish is Humuhumunukunukuapua’a, which is also the longest word in the Hawaiian language.
-Kauai is basically the “movie island.” You’ve seen in it South Pacific, Jurassic Park, Raiders of the Lost Ark, King Kong (the remake) and Six Days and Seven Nights. The town in Lilo & Stitch was modeled after a town called Hanapepe, which is located on the other side of the island from where I am.
2 comments January 18, 2010
Poipu Beach
This is the image of the day for me. I love how the clouds are stacked on one side, looking like a snow-covered mountain far away. Also, I like how the sun’s rays look like a lamp turned on from up above.
I caught a mosquito in one hand this morning. But catching waves on my boogey board? Not so much. :s
1 comment January 17, 2010
Welcome to Kauai
Got to Kauai, one of Hawaii’s less touristy islands, last night. Here are my thoughts so far…
1. Hawaii has such strong associations with the beach in my mind that I forgot about its mountains. And its rainforests.
2. Apart from its incredible waves, the beach here is comparable in appearance to a lot of other less hyped up beaches.
3. The sand is orange like those you’d find in a sandbox in a park. I expected it to be rough but my feet melted right into it.
4. I actually think Kauai’s main beauty is on its inside. Lush foliage. Broad dark green leaves with brightly-coloured flowers bursting forth in between.
5. I was on the beach thinking I’d blog from there but then I felt like an idiot with a laptop on the beach so I put it away. Also, I couldn’t really see the screen from all that glare.
6. I didn’t spend enough time in the water cos’ it made me dizzy bobbing up and down. It’s boogey boarding or surfing from now on.
7. I hope I have at least a little time to play once the meeting gets started up proper.
8. Watch out for my twitness on the top right hand corner.
9. Going to try to stay awake now. okBYE!
Add comment January 15, 2010
Dog Sledding
I promise to do better with videos but for now, in case, like me, you’ve never seen dog sledding, I thought I’d share what I saw every morning in France …
Add comment January 13, 2010
