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Doc
Doc
00:19
nothing like walking into a hotel and realizing "ohh, i've stayed here before!"
 
1 hour later…
01:24
lol
Doc
Doc
01:44
that's not bad for just over 3 weeks of travel
Jay Hanlon on September 16, 2013

 

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that's some mad travel man. Can I have your miles? :)
Doc
Doc
3 of those legs are mile redemption, so it's not quite as many as it looks :)
Earn 67K miles, spend 16.5k, so still about 50k in front
02:23
@Andra re "people act less nasty if they use their proper name" - totally agree, and I think that's one of the ways Google is trying to combat the infamous youtube comments, by making them linked to people's actual profiles.
The downside of course is we can tell you like dog farting videos ;)
Doc
Doc
British Airways charge a $40 change fee for award tickets
but they take the $40 out of the cash refund you would have otherwise received for taxes/etc
which for flights in australia is like $10
so it's really a $10 cancel fee
03:23
@MarkMayo: i guess you missed my epic dramas. i've been in laos almost two weeks now
there may be evil spirits in the airport but there are good spirits in the trees
Doc
Doc
if a lost card is a drama, you're a bad planner
i'm not a bad planner i'm a non planner. and it's only a drama not a tragedy d-:
and it's not just a lost card, it's a lost card and a cancelled backup card due to bank fucktards
Speaking of cards, I should probably make plans to go home some weekend this month...
my credit card expires on October 1st and the replacement is waiting at home.
oh for a second i thought you handle was "less poop"!
expiring cards is something that can sneak up on you. i only had it happen on a trip once so now i check all the expiry dates and order new cards before leaving if they don't have enough validity
@hippietrail Yeah, I've known it was coming for a while. Fortunately, home is only ~8 hours and a quick border crossing away.
03:33
easy peasy!
apparently the airport is thailand is thanking the evil spirits!
@hippietrail Yeah. Hard part will be getting a hotel sorted for next week; seems like everything is booked up for the music festival.
ah no that was just somebody who didn't know what "appease" meant
festivals - another travel pain d-:
so today i'll pop over to DHL with some ID and see if they are able to give me my tracking number. cards should've been sent yesterday and pins should be sent today
@hippietrail I know you're there, I think you meant @LessPop_MoreFizz :)
argh i'm still wrong - they are going to thank the evil spirit as well as appease it d-:
anybody know the lao word for "bed bugs"? (-:
@hippietrail loud shouting, punctuated by scratching yourself frequently?
03:40
bed bug bites don't itch unless you're allergic
no it was about 2am and i was processing my backlog of photos to upload and i saw a baby cockroach climbing onto the edge of the bed where i was sitting
then i realized it was not a baby cockroach but its evil twin!
oddly more did not appear during the night - i know what to look for
Doc
Doc
festivals are a pain?
i frequently travel specifically to hit festivals
last weekend i went all the way to Austria for a festival
@Doc Agreed mostly, however, they are a pain when you are in the position of 1) having a fairly strict accommodation budget, 2) Being stuck making last minute accommodation reservations, and 3) All the good hotel rooms in town being booked or doubled in price because of demand from the festival.
Especially if it's one you don't have much interest in. (Though in this case, for me, that's not entirely the case.)
festivals you don't want to attend and especially festivals you had no idea were even on are a pain when you can't get any accommodation
or the music festivals that invaded and ruined my favourite beach in romania - they already had their choice of every other beach in romania
Doc
Doc
festival last week included work by a famous australian artist, so i had to go
oh yeah the price hikes!
Doc
Doc
03:51
ie, me
festivals you want to go to and get arranged in time at a good price are awesome of course (-:
Doc
Doc
i found out about this one less than a week in advance, but i happened to be headed to europe anyway, so...
and work was paying for the airfares, which is always nice
the last festival i wittingly attended in europe i had to convince my local friends to take me on the grounds that we needed to see at least one bad australian tourist vomit
after avoiding the festival for years they saw this as a valid reason to attend and took me (-:
Yeah. I mean, to be fair, this is Montreal, so there is basically a festival every single week from Equinox to Equinox.
ok time to scout for a new local coffee shop (that's a shop that sells caffeine based beverages for you silly europeans)
03:55
But the one next week is one of the larger out of town draws.
@LessPop_MoreFizz: from Equinox to Equinox - that phrases sounds great by the way!
@hippietrail It's more or less accurate.
Basically from when it stops snowing, until the first snow hits, there is something going on in a park or a closed off street or several of them at once somewhere in Montreal. I guess they get cabin fever and then need to binge on the outdoors.
Doc
Doc
04:08
hmm.. apparently it's past midnight in this timezone
Another good reason to hop home for a weekend: TripIt still thinks I'm in Ohio, and not having a back to back reservation will make it start a new trip and figure out where I actually am. :)
04:37
failed to find a new cafe so back at the favourite cafe where the wifi signal has nearly disappeared but the coffee and atmosphere are still just right ...
cooking.SE chat room is desserted
04:50
pun intended - wasn't it hilarious? (-:
;)
it was ok, a bit half-baked
groan
he dudes i want to ask a question about fibre in lao cuisine - here or cooking.SE ?
cooking.SE is very anti health and nutrition questions
well no feedback in either chat room - i'm going to ask first in theirs, leave it a while, then ask in ours ...
0
Q: Which foods and ingredients are the main sources of fibre in traditional Lao cuisine?

hippietrailI'm taking an interest lately in Lao cuisine (I'm in the country). But I haven't noticed where they get their fibre from. Which traditional dishes or ingredients should I investigate?

05:23
sorry, was being offered a job. back
Personally I'd say cooking
but as you say, they're whingey about that stuff
05:40
0
Q: Where is "Zaouiate Oued Ifrane"?

Nicolas RaoulThere is a Wikivoyage article about Zaouiate Oued Ifrane that says: Better known as Zaouia d'Ifrane, or even Ifrane if you are within the village limits, this Berber village is often confused for another town in the mid-Atlas with the name Zaouia d'Ifrane, and many times it is even confused f...

I love questions like this
06:15
well i boldly asked on cooking but it's dormant right now
@MarkMayo: were you still intending to do our blog? or should we start looking for somebody?
06:30
0
Q: Are there any guest houses close to the Buddha Park in Vientiane, Laos?

hippietrailIn a recent question I was looking for day trips or weekend trips near Vientiane. One of the very good answers was the Buddha Park (Wat Xieng Khuan), which is about 25 km from Vientiane. Now one of the reasons for a day or weekend trip is to get away from the "big" city and relax somewhere qu...

@hippietrail nah I'm trying to reduce my commitments. If I do any blogging, it'd be to start up my planned agile software tester blog idea ;)
so we should start up a new meta topic and see if anyone wants to do it
I'd edit your cooking one to say something like "I'd like to cook some lao recipes which are high in fibre, which ingredients or recipes are best suited for this" or something - focus on the cooking aspect
one good topic for it would be the idea of crossover questions with other SE sites
yeah i thought i could fluff it up with some white lies but then i thought a "just the facts" also ought to work
also no recipes on cooking.SE! that's an even bigger no-no than health and nutrition
i guess to avoid subjectivity and listiness
cooking without recipes. Nice.
06:37
can you imagine all the "what is the correct recipe for X" questions they would get
you could think of them like itineraries
yeah, just reading their faq, makes sense
1
CrossFit

Proposed Q&A site for information regarding CrossFit, including movements, the community itself, athletes, injuries, etc.

Closed before being launched.

we are a travel site without reviews or reservations after all (-:
indeed!
As a recent adopter of crossfit, I'm mildly upset to see this one closed, but then realise there's a fitness.SE anyway
i'm not cross and as for my fitness, the hitchhiking is good but the lack of other exercise is bad - i did find a park with exercise machines yesterday though
yep i've used fitness.SE before
we've had nice crossover questions suitable for them too
yeah, I asked this one 6 weeks ago:
7
Q: Converting times from treadmill to outdoor running?

Mark MayoI have found a few websites that claim the oxygen usage is countered by increasing a treadmill to a 1 degree incline, however, what I'm looking for is a way to convert treadmill running times into outdoor running times (average, of course). Hopefully a simple multiplier, but a more complex funct...

06:43
my one looking for somewhere to do chin ups in KL
oh yours is not a crossover question though
i can't remember if i asked any questions over there or just found my answers already exisiting over there. about muscle pains and headaches when i was just starting with chin ups
Yeah, if you don't have a bar in your house, it's really hard to find a place to do stuff like that
my new goal is I'd like to do handstand pushups by Christmas, but I have no idea if that's achievable yet :)
I can barely do regular pushups ;)
oh the cooking.SE guys are talking to me in the chat room now
i can do regular push ups but when i was a kid i couldn't do a single one
especially if you're tall and in a short person country (-:
 
1 hour later…
08:15
What should handstand push ups be good for?
The handstand push-up (press-up) - also called the vertical push-up (press-up) or the inverted push-up (press-up) - is a type of push-up exercise where the body is positioned in a handstand. For a true handstand, the exercise is performed free-standing, held in the air. To prepare the strength until one has built adequate balance, the feet are often placed against a wall, held by a partner, or secured in some other way from falling. Handstand pushups require significant strength, and also balance and control if performed free-standing. Similar exercises The movement can be considered a b...
showing of
08:27
hola
hey there
come stai?
@Geeo do u have an ipad with u now?
@HaLaBi no I'm not gay!
lol
I want to test something in ipad.. and I don't have one.. and when u need one, no one u know has it!
08:39
@Dirty-flow доста добре благодарение
@Geeo almost perfect
@RoflcoptrException good for? Nothing really. Just the knowledge that it'd mean my core, balance and upper body strength has reached a level far beyond that which it's capable of now :)
 
3 hours later…
11:47
where did this silly word core com from? used to those were things apples had. humans used to have a torso or trunk. now get off my lawn.
like wellness and spinning d-:
12:04
Morning.
12:14
yo @Karlson
13:08
Hey @hippietrail
hey @both
13:26
hey @Geeo
1
A: Can I see Lebanon from Cyprus?

ZackIf you're in Lebanon, go to Cedars skiing slopes, located at 2,850 m in altitude above sea level -> there it's obvious if the wind is from the West and the sky is clear. You will be able to see the Cypriot coast nice and easy.

hm.. the OP asked if it's possible to see Lebanon from Cyprus, and the answer is about seeing Cyprus from Lebanon
"the game is the same, wherever you play"
we also have another 3 answers saying it's not possible
13:45
@hipp
@hippietrail: Your comment "I don't know which subset of tourists would in fact. " sounds like you think I gave a stupid answer. If you think so, please tell me.
@uncovery hi there
how are you uncovery
14:08
hey @Vince you're doing a great job, a lot of reviews, edits and comments in the last days
14:29
@Dirty-flow thanks! I'm still very far from the 672 first post reviews, but I'm close to my next badge, yay!
I don't mean only the reviews, you write much more comments to help new users
lol yeah, I guess I spend much time here these days, and I try to warn new users before their questions get closed :)
you have 4 comments with score of 5 or more, and another 8 with score of 4
travel.SE is better than sex
4
you're close to the pundit badge
14:40
oh nice
yeah I checked, I'm in the top 10 of commenters
@Geeo oh, you have had sex already? :)
@Dirty-flow never, but so I heard!
but the problem with comments is that usually "fights" start with a misinterpreted comment
that's the risk when you try to help
yeah, but it's better than a close vote usually, and I guess I improved my diplomat skills on travel.SE
who knew
14:47
@Geeo better not to have sex, the people are screaming, so it probably hurts
Actually he is having UK visa issued from Austria. The query is weather can he board from Hungry to UK ,as tickets from vienna to london are not available for that day.He is having Schengen visa so he can go to Hungry. — dheeraj 1 hour ago
we have a new European country - Hungry
:D
there is actually one more and only @Geeo knows where it's - Bulgary
I think your logic is Italia = Italy => Bulgaria = Bulgary
do you think that guy boarding depends on the weather?
@Dirty-flow hahahaha that's exactly how we italian work
@Vince sure! :)
if it's sunny, he is not allowed to go to UK
and if the Queen is hungry, nobody is allowed to enter UK
0
A: Why do you need to take out your laptop from your bag during airport security checks?

Paranoid PeteBECAUSE THIS WAY THE SUPER SCANNER CAN GET ALL YOUR INFORMATION EASIER. BIG BROTHER/SISTER IS ALWAYS WATCHING °° CHECK YOUR AIRLINE TICKET NUMBER....IT CONTAINS YOUR SHOE SIZE MATHEMATICALLY.

lol
15:05
:)
Paranoid Pete
hahaha
booooooooo
@Geeo these words only come from some desperate
no dates mate?
yes I'm dating, that's why I said so! :D
lol
read Kama sutra
@HaLaBi I wouldn't say from a desperate but from someone who's not satisfied with his love life. :)
Then of course knowing @Geeo he seems to need 3-4 times a day. :)
3
15:16
3-4 time a day...
I am not happy saying this.. but the best is always the unexpected one, unexpected person and unexpected time..
or fornication :D
whatever
my reputation precedes me... seriously, I can barely deal with one a day, I'm so out of shape lately :D
out of shape...
lay down and let her/him do the rest ;
hahahaha @her/him
i know a lot of people using Viagra and the like
so that day i decided to use it
god, i almost went to hospital.. i thought i am having stroke.. it made this strong headache.. i almost passed out..
there's an obvious joke here, but I'll refrain to tell!
15:21
ROFL
say it
i actually do not need it.. but greed...
it's about all the blood that went to your head... what does that mean? :D
lol
;)
15:22
LOL
actually it is the opposite.. no blood left to reach my brain.. causing this headache ;)
don't know about ur case :D
@Geeo come with me to Casablanca after tomorrow..
:o
in Arabic we call the three Ks country...
3 Ks?
15:24
Koss=Pu$$y, Kas=Alcohol,
forgot the third one
Kaif=Weed
So that's where that comes from! :)
yes.. it just happened that these three words starts with the letter ك which is K
I get it but I was referring to Kaif
kaif actually means high or something like this..
in russian: Кайф means high or extreme pleasure.
15:25
so same here ;_
:)
so now two words are the same, Kaif and Kaka...
the world is uniting in shit and weed... nice!
ROFL!!!!
hahaha
kaka = cacca in italian
we don't have the k
but double c sounds like k
i told u...
shit is the ultimate connection between humans..
15:28
I'm pretty sure cops will come pretty soon
someone will flag something etc etc
Not really
no, i don't see anyone from these "someones"
in Russian: Мусор or Мент
First is same as "Garbage" or "Trash"
Meht ?
@Geeo I was also wondering how long would it take before someone flags a message
15:30
means garbage?
Ment
Musor
means Trash or Garbage
collector means what?
Collector?
just in case i read a c# book in Russian
Garbage Collector
I don't even know what it would be called in Russian
VMAtm might know
15:32
i once read a programming book in Arabic.. bad experience.. translation was difficult.. didn't understand it.. do you guys face the same thing when reading programming book in ur native languages?
if u ever done it
if they are translation from english, yes
I only read programming books in Russian I was still in 10th grade
So I don't remember.
anyway, see u later guys.. heading to the mall..
bye
@Karlson spotify:album:3pzeurUsHJK1ueinchI4MB
15:41
good grief, this new guy is writing lots of unhelpful answers
dago seed
a couple seem a bit like spam...
Yes
But it is not always easy to tell
yeah
I checked, his name comes up under travel hacking questions on quora
so it's possible he's actually here to answer
he just deleted that trabber link
strange. I just wanted to know more about it
15:57
11
Q: Why is the train between Barcelona and Madrid so expensive?

S4MA one way ticket from Barcelona to Madrid is more than 100 euros, which is much more expensive than in the rest of Western Europe. It is even more expensive than the Eurostar, which required to dig a massive tunnel under the sea. I am wondering if somebody knows the economical reason for this.

what do you guys think about this question?
11 upvotes...
he's removed his account now :/
Old and bad question
@uncovery hi glad you managed to get into chat! i meant that totally literally actually. i really don't know which countries' citizens can trivially cross between Laos and Thailand. I do not Australia isn't the only country for whose citizens it is not trivial.
16:52
32
Q: Why do people on airplanes often have tomato juice as a drink?

graupTomato juice seems to be a favorite drink for many travelers to have on board an airplane. I've seen this on almost every flight I've been on, but I have never noticed this same trend at ground-level. What are the reasons for that? Is there an origin of this trend?

800+ new views in 40 min. It was only an experiment to submit it on hackernews at 2.30am, wasn't expecting this result...
 
6 hours later…
23:27
Publicist badge for that, w00 :)

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