Monday, September 29, 2008
Here are some pictures from Kamakura:
Jan Visits Japan's Former Capital Kamakura - Home of the Great Buddha
Jan Visits Japan's Former Capital Kamakura - Home of the Great Buddha
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Here is a quick review of my recent stay at the Fess Parker's DoubleTree Resort in Santa Barbara. I will post this review on Tripadvisor as well just to warn other potential travellers.
While I probably was unfortunate with my stay at this hotel, I would still like to comment on my travel experience:
Positives:
1. The location is fantastic
2. The hotel staff are generally pleasant
3. The breakfast is pretty ok, though not particularly memorable
Negatives:
1. While my room had a brand new TV that had only been installed the previous week, the picture quality was very snowy. After three separate requests to the hotel, the problem was finally looked at, though the hotel was not able to fix the problem prior to my departure (I stayed there four nights). While they replaced both the TV and all its cables, the problem seemed to be in the wall.
2. I stayed at the hotel to attend an internet conference, but the internet connection at the hotel is dismal. While I paid the premium fee for internet access in my room, two separate bandwith tests that I did showed an average connection of around 140 kbs (the service promised is 1,000 kbs). The slow connection made it virtually impossible to work from my room, and other hotel guests made similar complaints. After showing the bandwidth results to the hotel, my internet fee was waived, but I am sure the hotel is aware that they are not able to deliver the internet connection that they promise. The hotel should either make the necessary investment to improve its internet connectivity, alternatively they should stop charging for their crappy service.
On a related note, the following day I was not able to use the internet at all, but by this time I was too exhausted to raise yet another problem with the hotel.
3. The "mountain view" rooms actually face a parking lot and the train line, though it is possible to see a couple of hills in the background. However, it would be more accurate to call the rooms "Parking Lot Rooms" or "Train Line Rooms". Since the older rooms are very dark, I recommend bringing a flashlight. If your TV is broken and your internet does not work, it helps to have a flashlight so that you can read at night.
In summary, I talked with other convention participants that had stayed at nearby hotels. Not only had they paid a lower price, but they also enjoyed a tolerable internet connection. Instead of staying at a massive Hilton resort while in Santa Barbara, I would recommend visitors to this beautiful city to seek out other alternatives.
While I probably was unfortunate with my stay at this hotel, I would still like to comment on my travel experience:
Positives:
1. The location is fantastic
2. The hotel staff are generally pleasant
3. The breakfast is pretty ok, though not particularly memorable
Negatives:
1. While my room had a brand new TV that had only been installed the previous week, the picture quality was very snowy. After three separate requests to the hotel, the problem was finally looked at, though the hotel was not able to fix the problem prior to my departure (I stayed there four nights). While they replaced both the TV and all its cables, the problem seemed to be in the wall.
2. I stayed at the hotel to attend an internet conference, but the internet connection at the hotel is dismal. While I paid the premium fee for internet access in my room, two separate bandwith tests that I did showed an average connection of around 140 kbs (the service promised is 1,000 kbs). The slow connection made it virtually impossible to work from my room, and other hotel guests made similar complaints. After showing the bandwidth results to the hotel, my internet fee was waived, but I am sure the hotel is aware that they are not able to deliver the internet connection that they promise. The hotel should either make the necessary investment to improve its internet connectivity, alternatively they should stop charging for their crappy service.
On a related note, the following day I was not able to use the internet at all, but by this time I was too exhausted to raise yet another problem with the hotel.
3. The "mountain view" rooms actually face a parking lot and the train line, though it is possible to see a couple of hills in the background. However, it would be more accurate to call the rooms "Parking Lot Rooms" or "Train Line Rooms". Since the older rooms are very dark, I recommend bringing a flashlight. If your TV is broken and your internet does not work, it helps to have a flashlight so that you can read at night.
In summary, I talked with other convention participants that had stayed at nearby hotels. Not only had they paid a lower price, but they also enjoyed a tolerable internet connection. Instead of staying at a massive Hilton resort while in Santa Barbara, I would recommend visitors to this beautiful city to seek out other alternatives.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Santa Barbara is a remarkably beautiful city, this is actually a place where I think I could enjoy living. There are bicycle paths throughout the city, and big parts of the shoreline have been preserved as parks and are accessible to the general public. There is a wide variety of restaurants in the city, and my impression is that Santa Barbara also is a safe place to live. Now, the problem is of course that Santa Barbara also is a very expensive town, thus I do not think moving here is particularly realistic.
Today, I borrowed a bicycle at my hotel and visited areas around the city. I definitely would not mind having a couple of more days to explore the area.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Travelling from Tokyo to Los Angeles, I have basically gone back 16 hours in time. Unfortunately the world does not stop during the 10 hours you spend in the air, thus it is not such a great deal. However, if I were told that I only have one more day left to live, taking a short flight across the international dateline would not be a bad idea.
Yet again I got stuck on an old Korean Air plane, and there were no attractive stewardesses around to steal my attention away from the ugly brown seats. Wine is served in glass cups (you don't get the small fancy bottles), and today I also realized that the airline is practising racial profiling. Just because I am Caucasian in appearance, the stewardesses automatically addressed me in English. While you may argue that this is a reasonable assumption to make, the airlines are not allowed to apply similar profiling in the airport security checks (thereby having to frisk old Chinese grandmothers as carefully as young males). In order to have consistency in logic, I suggest that Korean Airlines starts addressing passengers in completely random languages until the passenger has stated a preferred language. By following such a procedure, the airline will avoid the risk of offending for example black or white passengers by assuming that they are not Korean simply because their appearance is somewhat atypical for a Korean. This idea is so stupid I kind of like it.
Yet again I got stuck on an old Korean Air plane, and there were no attractive stewardesses around to steal my attention away from the ugly brown seats. Wine is served in glass cups (you don't get the small fancy bottles), and today I also realized that the airline is practising racial profiling. Just because I am Caucasian in appearance, the stewardesses automatically addressed me in English. While you may argue that this is a reasonable assumption to make, the airlines are not allowed to apply similar profiling in the airport security checks (thereby having to frisk old Chinese grandmothers as carefully as young males). In order to have consistency in logic, I suggest that Korean Airlines starts addressing passengers in completely random languages until the passenger has stated a preferred language. By following such a procedure, the airline will avoid the risk of offending for example black or white passengers by assuming that they are not Korean simply because their appearance is somewhat atypical for a Korean. This idea is so stupid I kind of like it.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Wanted (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This movie just opened in Japan and I unfortunately sat through it this evening. While the action scenes are impressive, the story is insultingly stupid and ruins the entire movie experience. Add in some horrendous acting and lines, and you've got yourself a real turkey. It is a mystery to me how this movie managed to receive mainly positive reviews, and I will think twice of believing the Rotten Tomatoes consensus ever again.
This movie just opened in Japan and I unfortunately sat through it this evening. While the action scenes are impressive, the story is insultingly stupid and ruins the entire movie experience. Add in some horrendous acting and lines, and you've got yourself a real turkey. It is a mystery to me how this movie managed to receive mainly positive reviews, and I will think twice of believing the Rotten Tomatoes consensus ever again.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
I finally got around to posting some pictures from my August trip to Las Vegas. Unfortunately the pictures are not very interesting, but neither is Las Vegas.
Jan Visits Las Vegas - Pictures of Casinos & Hotels
Jan Visits Las Vegas - Pictures of Casinos & Hotels
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