Okay so I am living on borrowed time on this free internet terminal before someone wants it. Gotta be quick.
My plane ride was hell on a stick. Next to old people on both flights. The antique New Zullanders I was next to Auckland - SF were the worst: the guy kept going "A-whoo!" like a geriatric werewolf. He was all over red with some rash too. I switched off by reading George Lucas' biography (great prep for going to California!) and playing chess on the Air NZ inflight entertainment system. Nice idea but the computer player was dumb as two planks. On its highest setting, even after I sacrificed my queen, a rook and a bishop to even the odds it still couldn't beat me. I cleaned its entire force up using a single knight.
So San Fran is really great, but I only saw the Golden Gate from a distance - when I went closer it was covered in mist. It is hot in the day, then every afternoon the sea mist rolls in and it turns cold. The Mosser was interesting - seeming to exist only to route profits toward its studio and various environmentally sustainable farming initiatives. The shower had only one tap because water came at one temperature - freeze-your-butt-off cold.
The people are really friendly. It's like TV, you can just go and sit in a bar and start talking to people. Which is why my beer budget blew out early. Every day I meet someone interesting. What's odd is that a whole lot of people "recognise" me like I've got doppelgangers all down the west coast. I've had a homey girl call out to me in the street, thinking I was "Joey", a hippy in Haight ask me where my blue puppy was and a guy on the train going "I keep thinking this guy is Chris. Hello Chris. Hello!"
So anyway got into Seattle one day too early , at midnight, had to book in someplace over budget (where I could see the Space Needle from my window) and after the 25 hour train ride I just slept and kept having hot showers. About time I checked out the birthplace of grunge. Some things, like all my gadgets (phone, camera etc) not working are getting frustrating but otherwise I love it here even if I totally can't afford it. Travelling alone can be lonely but it's easier being able to talk to people you meet and hey, if one knight can win a chess game, surely one Aussie can survive anywhere...
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3 comments:
Hey baby, glad to hear you're ok and enjoying yourself :) and if you blow all your money on beer, come home- I'll be there in a month tomorrow.
Travelling alone is a good way to speak to people- if you speak the language, or at least more than a tokenistic few phrases. Otherwise it's really lonely. Blow this, next time I travel I'm going to NZ or somewhere they speak my damn language! Love you... x
That's so cool Nick, you should write short descriptions about all the people that you're meeting and turn it into a zine. I'm actually loving being here in Paris by myself - if you and Naomi come visit me, you won't feel lonely...
In Indonesian homes, there's only one tap, and it directs into a mandi, and the water's cold. If you're lucky, you can connect a shower head to the tap. My shower head is broken.
I went to Bukittinggi and stayed in a hotel. Hot water worked until 9am, so I made sure I was in my blissfully hot shower at 8.30. What luxury.
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