I’m a little slow in posting this…but better late than never.
In 2003, Alev and I took our first vacation to Cali-forn-i-a. We flew into San Francisco and immediately drove to Los Angeles. The plan was too spend 3-4 days in L.A., then drive back to San Francisco to spend the rest of our time. I learned many things (in typical Rob fashion, some were expensive lessons) on this little trip of ours, and I want to share them with you.
1. Don’t travel without a credit card…
During the planning (by planning, I mean 10 minutes of web searches) of our trip, I found renting a car would be expensive for us. We were both under 25 years old, so we would need to pay a $50 a day on top of the normal rental fees. This would run us about $500+ just for a freaking car. Screw that!
Being the smart person I am, I booked a rental car using my work’s corporate channels. Going this route would eliminate the underage fees. Sweet! Being the dumbass I can be (at the time I thought I was being smart), I decided to leave all of my credit cards at home. I was trying to pay them down and didn’t want to rack up more charges.
We get to San Francisco and head to the Hertz desk(…or enterprise, I can’t remember). After all the normal BS, they ask for a credit card, so I handed them my Check Card. The conversation went a little something like this.
Hertz douche*: We don’t accept Check Cards to put a hold against.
SRR: What the hell you talking about Willis?
Hertz douche: Sorry Sir. We can’t put a hold against this. There is no telling if you have available funds or not.
SRR: Do I need to jump over this counter and pistol whip you!?!?
Hertz dooouuchhe: *crapping pants*
SRR: Ok, What can we do to get around this?
Hertz douche: Well, sir, Do you have your Employer’s badge on you?
SRR: Uh no. Why would I have this on me?
Hertz: This is a business reservation. You’re traveling for business purposes, right?
SRR: ohhhh yeah! *pat pockets for badge* I think I left my badge at home.
*Referring to the employee as a douche is just me projecting my douche-ness onto him
This went on for awhile. I even tried to convince them Alev was a employee of the company. They wanted to see her badge…dammit! They could smell the BS I was throwing their way. So, we ended up having to go to Enterprise and rent a Lancer, paying the underage fees.
2. I love California
California is beautiful! In the 5 years since our vacation, I still dream of it. If I could afford it, I would be there in a heartbeat.
Is it so expensive to keep people from moving there? If so, it’s working.
3. Don’t trust pictures on a Hotel’s website…or get sucked in with packages
We found our hotel in L.A. from a web search. They were offering a room with a king sized bed and a Universal Studios package for a really good price. The place looked nice and they had a clean looking pool, so we booked it. After driving for a few hours, we get in the vicinity of our hotel and the neighborhood is looking a little sketchy. The hotel itself looked like a crack den you would see in the movies. People were in drunken stupors sitting in front of their room doors, rooms looked like they haven’t been cleaned since the 40’s, and the pool was dirty…brown water and all. I would say I was pissed but I was more scared of getting shived. We went to check in and it turns out they didn’t have a king bed available. Without hesitating, I used that opportunity to throw a fit, luckily getting out of the booking. We drove around and ended up finding the Radisson off of Ventura.
On a side note, another young couple walked into the sleaze hotel right behind us. They had the “Oh Shit!” look on their face. I wonder if they found a way to get out of it.
4. Don’t waste time on something you can do back home
On one of our days in L.A., because we were no longer tied to going to Universal Studios, decided to visit Six Flags Magic Mountain.
What’s wrong with this?
We live in Austin, Texas. At the time, we had 3 Six Flags (Over Texas, Fiesta Texas, and AstroWorld) within a 3 hour drive. For the most part, one Six Flags is really no different than another one. We realized this a couple hours into our time at Magic Mountain. We gave up the chance to go to Universal Studios…for Six Flags. Something we can’t do back at home versus something we can.
Great choice!
5. I love me some dim sum!
Finally, we get to the point of this blog entry.
One of my personal to-dos in San Francisco was to visit Chinatown and eat! We weren’t really picky about which place, all of them had to be good and authentic. The entrance to the place we picked had a narrow staircase to the second floor. I could swear this is how some muggings started in movies. Once we got to the hostess, it looked like I expected, a ton of Asian decor and dim lighting. Looking around, we were the only people in this place. From watching the Food Network, I’ve learned you can spot the good places by how busy they are. So I sat down already thinking about running for the door. But before I could, they roll this cart over to us, and ask us if we would like some steamed somethings. I was kind of taken off guard because I thought “Wow, this is the coolest complementary thing ever, much better than fortune cookies”. We found some dishes on the menu we thought looked good and ordered. Meanwhile, they are still coming by and asking us if we wanted these steamed dumplings, chicken foot, etc. Hell yeah! By the time our meals came we were full…of tasty steamed (I passed on the chicken feet…that time) deliciousness. We got our bill and it was $60!! I knew it was too good to be true, those things weren’t free. On our way out, I noticed their sign saying they serve dim sum. Prior to this, I don’t think I had even heard of dim sum before. If I had, it must have gone in one ear and out the other.
When we got back to Austin, we searched around for places that serve dim sum. We found one called T&S. The place looked like it should have been condemned and their dim sum tasted like it came out of Swamp Thing’s ass. It left me craving, even more, for good dim sum. By the time we did find another place, I guess I had forgotten what good dim sum was. We ate mediocre dim sum, thinking it was good, for the next few years. It wasn’t until last year, I think, that we came across Shanghai Chinese and Dim Sum. Their dim sum gave me flashbacks to the freshness and greatness of the one in San Fran. I think their dim sum comes directly from the hands of the dim sum gods. Actually I’m pretty sure of it.
We have been going there pretty regularly ever since and that’s why it’s on our to-do list. From my research of Raleigh, the best dim sum place is the best of the worst.
I needed to get my fill and I did.
Here are some, bad, pictures of the good times.
I’m going to miss you! I’ll write you!
Shrimp Rice Noodle
I kid you not, when I say these were nearly empty seconds after they were on the table.
Sharon, Eric, and a friend of a friend
Good Times!!
Man, this turned into a long post that ultimately was about dim sum. This is bound to happen when you’re in a DB2 class and bored out of your mind.
I do have one more lesson learned from our California trip. It is retarded to have a rental car in San Fran when you’re staying downtown. Aside from the outrageous price we’re paying for the rental, we had to pay the outrageous parking fees of $25 a day. The car sat in the garage for 3 days while we walked around downtown.
Even with all of the mistakes we made, it was a fun trip and I can’t wait to go back.
