Filed under: Road trip | Tags: California, China Town, Food, Holiday, Mama's, North Beach, Northern, R&G Lounge, San Francisco, Tadich Grill, Tourism, Travel, Vacation, Wine
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Elena and I spent last weekend in San Francisco. My grandmother has been in Toronto since the end of August–she’s just hanging out around here for about 6 months, and she wanted to visit her family in Sacramento. We took her to SFO so she could get picked up by her sisters. She’s spending the rest of the month in Sacramento, and Elena and I had the rest of the weekend to explore San Francisco together.
Some places you should definitely check out:
- Mama’s: An awesome breakfast place in North Beach. They’re really good and really popular. Get there early if you want to try their food. We waited about 45 minutes but it was worth it. The place closes at 3pm everyday.
- Tadich Grill: The oldest restaurant in California serves awesome seafood. Again, really popular. The staff there is awesome–they’ve probably been working at the restaurant for decades.
- R&G Lounge: A popular Chinese place in China Town. Try their live deep-fried crab with garlic, ginger and hot peppers.
Filed under: the ussh. | Tags: 2009, Florida, Miami, Naples, Summer, Travel, Vacation, Video, Vimeo
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Filed under: the ussh. | Tags: Budget, Buffalo International Airport, Cheap, Coach Canada, Expedia.ca, Florida, Fort Myers, Megabus, Naples, Planning, Tips, Tourism, Travel, Vacation
Haha, what a lame picture.
We all know how much this summer has been a rip off. The weather has been spotty as hell, and up until yesterday, things started to clear up—you know, when it wasn’t pouring buckets outside.
Summer school is clearing up and I wanted to plan a last resort getaway out of the city before things picked up again in September. The month ahead is shaping up to be pretty busy with all these new and exciting projects coming through and I’m transferring schools.
I’m a cheapass and I managed to book a trip to Florida that is probably going to cost me somewhere around $500. Granted there were some advantages, but here’s how I did it:
1. Free Accomodation.
Luckily, Elena’s grandparents have a condo in Florida that is pretty much empty right now. Right off the bat that is a huge chunk of our travel costs gone. Kitchen + free living for the win!
2. Fly out of Buffalo.
This isn’t something new, but I will admit that it needs to be stressed. Direct flights out of Toronto to certain parts of Florida are hella expensive, but a hop across the border to Buffalo will seriously save you somewhere between $200 and $400.
This time I booked with Expedia.ca and the list of cheap flights is just awesome. Granted there are some retarded connecting flights to get to Florida, it is still way cheaper—and in CDN dollars!
I suggest taking either Coach Canada or Megabus. They have direct bus routes to Buffalo International Airport and man are they cheap. If you time it right, you can grab a seat for $1; if not, it’s only about $16-20 one way.
3. If you can, use the kitchen.
If your accomodations allow it, I highly suggest buying groceries and using the kitchen. We all know how cheap food is in the US, so why not take advantage of it?
Filed under: Travel | Tags: Budget, Canada, Cheap, Downtown, Extended Stay Deluxe, Finance, Good, Holiday, Hotels, Ideas, Ottawa, Recession, Tips, Travel, Trip Advisor, Trips, Vacation, Value
Things are about to get busy this week—I’ve got a full work schedule that’s gearing up for some crazy projects, and I start summer school tonight. In between that and my writing, my life is going to be pretty jam packed. Elena and I decided a quick, cheap getaway was in order before things got hectic. We headed to Ottawa to visit some friends and walk about, soaking up the “beauty” of our nation’s capital.
We’re not people who like to spend big. I mean, we do have a tumblr blog that tracks our cheapness. Here are some ways we cut down on costs—and I mean really cut down on costs, but still managed to enjoy a great little holiday:
Book a hotel with a kitchenette.
Hotel rooms can be expensive, and for a two night stay you’re looking at somewhere between $300 to $500 with taxes. Screw that. I did some searching and found the Extended Stay Deluxe, Downtown Ottawa. All rooms have a kitchen and it’s apartment style accomodation. Room was great and had everything we needed for cooking. We managed two nights for around $200.
A room with a kitchen means cheaper eats.
So we got this room with a kitchen. That meant that we wouldn’t have to spend a lot on eating at restaurants. In fact, the only time we ate outside of the hotel was to get a quick dessert after dinner one night. That was probably our biggest splurge…at $20. We bought groceries for the entire weekend; enough for two breakfasts, and fixings for our steak dinner (my dad had steaks he wasn’t going to cook, so we took them along with us). In total we spent around $30 for groceries that lasted all weekend.
We walked everywhere.
This is a given. Our hotel was conveniently located minutes away from all the major spots in downtown Ottawa.
Budget when going out.
We managed to barely spend $40 on drinks when we were out with friends. We bought a case of beer that was good for dinner and hanging about before going out. We still managed to party. Our second day was long and full of walking, so after dinner we opted to stay in and watch a movie I had brought along. We also splurged on a deck of cards. Our last night included drinking wine and playing cards until 2 am.
If you’re driving, make sure parking is decent.
Parking can be a huge drain to your wallet, even for just a weekend stay. I scoured TripAdvisor reviews on the area and hotel to see what other people were saying about parking. The hotel charged $11 a day; the lot around the corner charged $5 a day, but the ticket would run out at 6 am and you’d have to change it; Cooper Street, where the hotel was located, had free parking all weekend. BOOM! Because we left early enough and arrived before any weekend rush, I managed to snag a free spot on Cooper street right in front of the hotel. Take a look at reviews and comments before heading to your destination, especially for little things like this.
Filed under: the ussh. | Tags: 2008, 2009, assignments, Back to school, Chinese, Cuba, Food, Martinis, strike, Vacation, Work, Writing, yorku
Wow, my eyes just speak "trashed".
The shitstorm is over and we’re all back at school now. When one shitstorm ends, another begins; when two shitstorms collide, we have the perfect shitstorm. I’m in the middle of my typical Sunday homework smackdown, and I decided to excuse myself to spruce some things up around here. You might notice the change in theme. Sadly, wordpress doesn’t allow free customizations of their layouts, so I have to stick to what they have. Look at that grass, it’s kind of comforting, no?
I’m also waiting for that burnout. I’m scared I’m going to run into a block; forget what words are and how to use them. It’s mainly because I’m constantly writing. No, I’m not trying to sound like some pained artist, it’s what I have to do all day. I write for my job. I write for pleasure. I write for school. I’m just worried I’ll run out of words to use.
Today marks six months of Elena and I being together. Last night we stuffed our selves to the brim on Chinese food and wine, and then wasted the night away drinking martinis. It was good fun, just the two of us. The best thing in the world is stumbling around in a food coma; every step is so difficult and heavy. Oh, and Elena is the best thing in the world too. Sometimes. JK JK JK JK.
Cuba in two weeks!
Filed under: the ussh. | Tags: Alcohol, Cuba, Drink, February, Fun, Mexico, Party, Prices, Sun, Travel, Vacation, Weather, Work
I’m in dire need of some sun. I spent a good half hour today trying to find deals to trips down south, somewhere warmer. I’ve taken some time off in February, and hopefully Elena and I can get away for a while. It’s so goddamn cold outside, and I really just have this desire to sit. Do nothing. Drink. Eat. Sleep. Prices aren’t too bad, and I’m hoping she can get seven days off. A whole week! I’m still having trouble deciding where to go, but I think it just might be Mexico.
