Top 10 Cities

Now that I've been to Rome, I feel I can put together some sort of a 'top 10' list for cities. There are two lists - Top 10 Cities I Would Visit Again and Top 10 Cities I'll Never Visit Again. Here they are:

Top 10 Cities I Would Visit Again

I'm actually not really a big city person. I prefer nature or activity travel, but visits to major cities are often more convenient. You can get a good cultural experience from most cities also. The rankings below were determined first by pure gut feeling, and then justified afterwards.

1. Sydney - I'm not sure I can really say that I've seen Sydney since I spent most of my 2 weeks there bumming on Manly Beach. I honestly don't remember doing much else. I think I spent a day in the city, visiting the Opera House and Bondi Beach. Oh, a few days were spent up in the Blue Mountains where I hiked all day and swam (at a local pool) in the afternoon, everyday. I could do this all over again.
2. Washington, D.C. - There are tons of nice things to see here - monuments, memorials, museums, zoo, etc. etc. Plus good nightlife and the restaurants are up and coming. There are enough greens (lawns, trees, etc.) to make a nice atmoshphere to stroll around in. A fountain here and there to relax by. Some of the country's best museums are there. The best part of it all? It's all FREE! My last endorsement of the city is here.
3. Tokyo - This is practically my second home. I lived here for two years and have family and friends there. I'm back here at least once every other year. The crowds suck a bit, but if that can be overlooked, you have the craziest place like no other. Food's great, service is great, and everything is just oh-so-cute. Some posts from my recent trip to Tokyo over the holidays are here and here.
4. Paris - There's a lot of nice places to stroll around in Paris. The cafes are charming, and you can get crepes everywhere. Lots of great museum too. Nearby Versailles is also a place I'd like to go again. First time there was a week back in '98. Also had a short trip there back in Oct.
5. London - It's sort of like New York (see #6), but with more history. You won't get bored in this city with all the different sites, parks, and day trips you can do from here. I lived here for four months but I wouldn't complain if I had to go back. The only downside is the strength of the GBP. Post on last trip there is here.
6. New York - Another former residence (for 2.5 years) where you can get and do anything. Museums, broadway shows, night clubs, restaurants, Central Park, karaoke boxes, you name it... you will never be bored. And with such a diverse crowd of people living in the city, you are bound to meet some people with similar interests as you. You can find a club or a social circle for just about everything. The mountains are also only a few hours away for some decent hiking and snowboarding. Post on last trip there is here.
7. Capetown - The best city in South Africa bar none. The beaches are crystal blue (albeit cold) with white sand, table mountain is fun to climb, you can see Penguins, you have a waterfront, and you're in one of the most beautiful countries I've ever visited. Your dollar or euro will go a bit further than the above cities also.
8. Kyoto - A must see in Japan. Been there three times or so but I keep going back to the same stupid temples because I like them. I need to check out some of the other ones though. In spring time when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, it is just absolutely beautiful there.
9. San Francisco - Home of the Ghirardelli chocolate factory. You can go there and get a free sample, and then go back again later when the shifts have changed. Chocolate isn't the only reason it's on the list either. This is a city surrounded by hills and water. Pretty neat. Plus, it's got a lot of Japanese influence being that it's on the West coast. The Golden Gate bridge is also pretty, and the cable cars are just charming.
10. Hong Kong - I had a hard time picking this last one. I chose Hong Kong in the end because I was only there for two days (on a business trip at that) when I was there and I don't think that did it any justice. I like the Chinese culture and would like to spend more time in that part. I hope next year I will get to do the China trip I've been planning for 2 years now!

Top 10 Cities I'll Never Visit Again

As a good friend always reminds me - never is a really long time. So let me put it this way - these were the cities I thought sucked royally (imho). The only way I'd go back is if someone paid me to go.

1. New Delhi - I was only there in passing on my way to Agra, but the 2 or 3 hours I was there was more than enough. The city was just filthy and crowded. I was also there with a group and we ended up getting split up because our taxi drivers took us to different places. Lucky for us we found each other in Agra.
2. Athens - I was there 3 days and it was two too many. There is nothing to see or do there except Acropolis. For all the other frustrations I encountered there, read this post.
3. Los Angeles - A massive sprawling city for the rich and famous. Hollywood is the only tourist site and touristy it is. It's just not worth the traffic to go into L.A. Stick to the surrounding areas like the beaches.
4. Cairo - I had to go for the Pyramids. Aside from that tho, the people there were mostly rude and were always after your money. Check out my post on Egypt for more.
5. Dubai - Three words sum up this place: traffic, construction, and boring. Oh, make that four: expensive. See my Dubai post for more.
6. Durban - Anywhere where they tell you to take a taxi after dark, even though you're in a group, going to a destination that's about a five minute walk, can't be good. Aside from that, there's just nothing to do. (Get eaten by sharks at the beach?) It's just a place where backpackers can stock up on stuff you can only get from cities before trodding off to better places.
7. Naha (Okinawa) - Yet another boring place. I think it would've been a lot nicer tho had I had some company and could rent a car to explore around. I was basically at the mercy of Japanese tours which shuffled you from one stop to another, with a break at a souvenir shop every chance possible.
8. Cancun - Mexico's great, but Cancun isn't Mexico. It's about as touristy as it gets with every kind of American chain restaurants imaginable in existance there. The surrounding areas are great though, just bypass Cancun itself. See my Riviera Maya post for more.
9. Rome - I just had too high of an expectation for this place. The place is overrated. You probably saw my recent post. I'll leave it at that.
10. St. Petersburg - A lot of people say it is nice, but I just didn't see that. There is the Hermitage and few other things to see but not much else. I remember having a hard time finding a place to eat. The streets also seemed dead. Hardly saw anyone walking around. Then again, this was back in '96 when I was less experienced in traveling. Maybe I just didn't know where to look.

Btw, for your reference, here are the list of places I've been to. Perhaps next time I will do a top 10 list of places to see in general.

Vatican City (The Holy See)

Forgive me father, for I have sinned. In the Vatican, I did three bad things that will send me to hell, but since I am not religous, I couldn't bring myself to go into the confession booth. So instead, I'll confess to the world:

Sin #1: Cutting the line into the basilica (saved perhaps an hour or so)
Sin #2: Cutting the line to get into the basilica again (saved 30 min or so)
Sin #3: Kicking a guy whilst in the basilica and almost starting a fight

I'm just so ashamed at myself I'm not even going to go into details here. However, if you want to know how to do Sin #1 & 2 so you get right up to the security checkpoint without standing in line, let me know and I'll give you details. If you insist on standing in line though, they seemed to be much shorter in the afternoons (Tip #1).

My poor, unexcusable behavior aside, I must say that the day we spent in the Vatican was the favorite part of my trip this weekend. The basilica was just beautiful inside. The view from the top of the cupola was also nice. The walk up was interesting too. (Tip #2: don't pay the 3 extra euros for the lift - it only takes you half way up.) The Vatican Museum, most of which you are forced to go through to get to the Sistine Chapel, also houses some really nice art work. Thumbs up to the Vatican.

The pictures are with the Rome ones.

Rome, Italy

Finally... I made it to Rome. First time I tried to go to Rome was in 1998. I was living in London and had a weekend trip planned with couple of friends. Unfortunately, I had submitted my passport to the Japanese Embassy for a visa and forgot to pick it up that Friday before leaving. I could admit I was just plain stupid, but I will use the hot date I had that night as an excuse for being distracted. Anyways, I kicked myself for the mistake and put Rome back on my list of places I must see before I die. Now that I live in Europe, there was no way I was going to leave without seeing Rome. So finally I did, and I can't remember why I had wanted to see it so much. I can't say Rome is one of my favorite cities. I much prefer the likes of Paris, London, New York, or Tokyo. But more on that later....

We had three full days there and saw just about every major tourist site: Colosseum, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, museums, yada yada yada. The first day was spent mostly in the part of the city where all the ruins were. I had just spent half of April seeing ruins, some even Roman, in Egypt and Jordan. You could imagine my excitement over seeing more ruins. That's just one of the downsides of traveling a lot. You get jaded. The other sites were quite nice though, particularly the fountains, and the museums housed a nice collection of statues and paintings. We also had an interesting bike ride through a park. We were on those 4-wheeled pedal bikes. The boys kept wanting to take the bike off-road, downhill, down stairs, etc. Seriously, I didn't expect this from smart, intelligent, 30 yr old men... but of course, boys will always be boys.

The food was great and the sites were ok, but overall, I think I like other parts of Italy better. Compound that with blistering and sore feet from bad shoes and lots of walking, and the unexpected heat the first couple of days, the trip turned out to be a bit more work than pleasure.

Pictures are here.

Black Forest (Schwarzwald)

Last Thursday was a holiday so we took off Friday to make a long weekend in Germany's Black Forest, or Schwarzwald. As the name would suggest, it's an area heavily forested, offering lots of natural beauty. The trip there started with an 8 hour drive through pouring rain, my irritability still intact, and my boyfriend making comments about my driving that annoyed me. By end of the day though, my irritability subsided, the rain cleared, and everyone was happy. After checking into our hotel, we strolled around Freiburg. I was a bit concerned that perhaps I made a mistake by deciding to stay in the city when I hate being surrounded by concrete. However, Freiburg was a typical charming Germany city with colorful buildings and cobblestone streets. Most places in Schwarzwald were no more than an hour's drive from the city, so it worked out pretty well.

The second day was spent mostly around Triberg. Germany's heighest waterfall was there, so we had to check it out. It is a pretty nice waterfall that is cascading waterfall so you see only bits at a time. The entrance to the waterfall is right smack in the middle of town center though, and is accessed by many tourists, so it wasn't a place you would hang out for long. We went from there then to the World's Second Largest Cuckoo Clock House in the town next to Triberg. It was a cute little house we saw coming into Triberg. It was still advertised as the World's Largest though, and we found out only after going in that a bigger clock house had been constructed in Triberg. We saw one clock house though, and that was enough. I preferred to spend the rest of the day hiking instead of chasing clock houses.

The best hiking we did was on our last day there, in Feldberg. We went up to the top of the highest peak in Schwarzwald, and then hiked down and around Feldsee, a lake in the valley. The hike to the lake was absolutely beautiful, as was the area surrounding the lake. There was no one around us on the trail either, so it was great. Before going to Feldberg though, we stopped in Titisee, a lake town. We... or mostly he... spent time rowing around the lake. Ahh... there's nothing like watching your man flex his muscles while you sit back and enjoy the view. I did give rowing a try, just to feel like I contributed some, but I didn't last more than 5 minutes each time. Darn ores were too big :P

The drive back ended up being quite long because of traffic and bad weather. I did get to stop in Ramstein though to do some shopping and offset the weekend calorie loss with Taco Bell, Cinnabon and a large cup of Dr. Pepper. I also bought the American Idol version of the Karaoke Revolution so looking forward to trying it out. Yep, this weekend couldn't have been better :)

Pictures are here.

ps. Schwarzwald has the cleanest public toilets I've ever been in in Europe - and they are all free!!!

PMS

I am irritable today... very irritable. (As a matter of fact, my blogger recently decided it's going to display to me only the Dutch versions with no means of switching back to English and that irritates me.) I've started to notice in the last year or so that there are periods when I am quite irritable and moody, and other times when hardly anything bothers me. Then after paying attention to my mood swings last few months, I've concluded that I am victim to PMS. (Or maybe it's more correct to say others around me are victims to my PMS.)

I think European men seem less aware of what PMS is (based on blank looks I get when I mention PMS as an excuse), so let me define it here. PMS stands for premenstrual syndrome. It is a group of symptoms that typically start one to two weeks before your period. These symptoms may include breast swelling and tenderness, acne, bloating and weight gain, headache, joint pain, food cravings (i.e. chocolate), irritability, mood swings, crying spells, and depression. Supposedly they tend to affect women between their late 20's to early 40's the most, and recur in predictable patterns. Mine is starting to get very predictable. Practically two weeks out of the month I am showing symptoms of PMS. If I am fat, it's PMS. If I am irritable, it's PMS. If you say otherwise, you better have a death wish.

It is quite a concern for me now though, as my level of irritability seems to be getting higher recently. I can't imaging anyone would actually want to discuss this, but how do you (men and women) deal with PMS? I'm especially curious to know if the men actually notice in their women this monthly mood swing, and how they deal with it.

Egypt & Jordan

After Dubai, I flew straight to Cairo to join a 17 day tour through Egypt and Jordan with GAP Adventures. The quality of the tour itself was disappointing and the difficulties of just plain being in the Middle East made it a bit of a rough trip. Most of the locals, especially in Egypt, weren't friendly, and can be down right rude at times. They also try to scam you out of every pound or dollar they can so you were constantly having to be on the guard (e.g. making sure you're not over charged, counting changes, etc.). Nothing they do is out of courtesy, and you worry about having to tip everyone for every little thing they do. Food is awful, and I got sick of eating the same thing day in and day out. Most of us had at least one bout of stomach problems. One of us on the trip had an incident that lasted 4 days, which only ended after buying some antibiotics from the pharmacy. A bit of advice for future travellers to the area: don't go budget! Fork out the few extra dollars for comfort and quality. This is not the place where you want to be cheap. Also, do a Nile cruise from Cairo to Aswan instead the train/bus thing. This way you don't have to keep checking out of your hotel to be somewhere new each day.

Despite all the discomforts encountered, there were lots of great things to see in these countries. You can see the itinerary in the link above. The highlights for me were the Pyramids of Giza, Petra, and Jaresh. Little needs to be said about the pyramids - they were one of the original 7 wonders of the world, and the only one that still exists. (Btw, you can vote for the new 7 wonders here.) Petra was probably my favorite place. It's a city pretty much carved into rocks. Aside from the impressive ruins, Petra has great views and is wonderful for walking/hiking around. We saw most of it in one long day that included lots of walking, but it's definitely worth staying couple days for. Jaresh is the ruins of an old Roman city about 40km North of Amman. The ruins here may actually be more spectacular than Petra. The site is also huge.

There were many other impressive sites besides those mentioned above. Yep, lots of history in these countries. I wonder what will be remembered from our times? Certainly nothing we build these days will last long enough to be remembered. I'm surprised Richard Branson hasn't forked out the millions to hire out tons of pseudo-slaves to build something. I suppose Dubai's Palm & World Islands, if ever completely finished and doesn't sink with rising sea levels, could be a candidate.

Anyways, if you could imagine the places we went to as they were when first built, it's an amazing thing. I'm glad to have done this trip. Egypt especially has been on my 'must go' places for a long time. Finally it's been done... and hell if I ever go back to the Middle East again.

My pictures of Egypt are here, and Jordan's are here. My camera lens was dirty, esp in Petra, so some photos came out blurred a bit... sorry. Jax has some quality pics from the trip here tho. And Dubai pictures are here if you haven't found them already.