In November 2024, one of my relatives travelled from the United States to Asia and encountered a long delay. The first leg of the flight was delayed by an hour and a half after two changes. This left a layover of a 45 minutes, which is difficult to consider smooth in SFO, the layover airport. Although the traveler initially worried while at SFO, because time was ticking and no deboarding had happened yet, we soon discovered that the second leg— the final leg— of the flight was delayed. First, it was for a mechanical issue. Then, a new crew had…
-
-
I will probably not be back at Salamander DC for afternoon tea after the ridiculous experience I had, but I might still book the hotel for its excellent location. It happened like this: I noticed that Salamander DC, my scheduled hotel in Washington, D. C., offers Afternoon Tea in their lounge. I would be in time for the very last day of Fall Afternoon Tea in 2024. The cost was US$95.00 per guest excluding tax and gratuity. I immediately ran into a potential problem: I wanted to possibly apply $100 of hotel experience credit (which I received for booking through…
-
I decided to try the Gryph & Ivyrose Seal the Deal(TM) Moisturizing Balm after I had been experiencing a wrist rash for about half a year. It was suspected to be a metal allergy, but the rash unfortunately persisted months after I stopped wearing the suspected bracelet. The rash was annoying, a little embarrassing, and I was willing to spend more to try make the allergy rash go away sooner. I found this balm in the Saks Fifth Avenue online store for US$49 before tax. Gryph & Ivyrose is based in Miami, Florida, United States. The Seal the Deal (TM)…
-
When I decided I wanted to try the Bétta Carry me! baby carrier, I had been looking into baby equipment marketed in Asia. Many of the baby carriers marketed in the US were just were not comfortable for me. Problems included carriers being too long, too heavy, excessive leftover tail length after tightening, straps lying in uncomfortable places, waist-based types set too high if secure and just better positioning my infant to scream in my ear, etc. Being a shorter torso-ed Asian woman, I hoped that a baby carrier from Asia would suit my Asian body better. (A similar concept…
-
I was using VLC media player recently. It kept pausing playback. It was on a Lenovo laptop, and this potential fix for this VLC issue on specifically Lenovo computers solved my problem: This “Zero touch video playback” is supposed to stop things from playing when your computer thinks you are not presently using your computer. I am glad the setting is easy to disable.
-
The Hakone Open-Air Museum, first opened in 1969, allows for a nice walk and has a very comfortable hot foot bath. One of the main highlights is supposed to be the Picasso Pavilion, but my favourite part of this attraction was the foot bath. The museum is open from 9 AM to 5 PM daily. Adult tickets are JP¥2000 (~US$13.51 in 2023) each. As I already mentioned, my favorite part of the visit was sitting with my feet in a hot foot bath while gazing out at the enjoyable scenery of grass and sculptures. You sit on a wooden bench…
-
In 2023, one of travel companions in Japan was a transgender woman. She was a little worried about how she might be perceived and treated, so we all did a little research to figure out if there were any precautions to take or if a trans person in the group would limit us in any way. The main potential things that came up online were that public hot springs would be difficult, that rural areas would be less welcoming, and that you might occasionally get a brief stare/glare for going in the bathroom you think you belong in but someone…
-
The Taiwan High Speed Rail was a very exciting thing back when I first rode it in 2007, which was also the year it opened. It cut the travel time between the two major cities of Taiwan, Taipei and Kaohsiung, from ~4 1/2 hours to ~1 1/2 hours. It is usually roughly US$50 to travel one-way from one end to the other, so many older people thought and still think it is an unnecessary expense and would rather take a much slower (and cheaper) train or a bus. Tickets can conveniently be purchased online, at the station, or at a…
-
If you see a description starting with COT*PCH on your Capital One bill, it is probably a Capital One Travel Premium Choice Hotel. Since this is rather nondescript if one books multiple hotels of this type through the portal, I noted what hotel this was on the side. Now that I know what to expect when using the Capital One travel portal (especially after COTHTL844-422-6922MA), the abbreviated item is less suspicious.
-
The Noon-Collins Inn, originally built in 1834 as a judge’s residence, was also a YMCA, a small library before it became the bed and breakfast it is today. In 2024, it cost US$122.10 for a night. I called to make the booking, but they requested that I just do it online through Expedia. When I booked, they asked us to call ahead to let them know when we would arrive. I told them in a note that it would be 7 or 8 and called on the day of to let them know 7:30. The parking lot belonging the inn…