David's Blog

One of my gripes about navigating european cities is the lack of street signs. If there is a sign at all it's on the corner of a building which you won't see until passing the intersection. And if it's at night, you definitely won't see anything. Tel Aviv represents the opposite. Every intersection does have street signs and they light up at night. Even in LA you can't see street signs well at night.

Labels: israel, tel aviv

Posted by David at 5:26 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

What's this big inflatable yellow duck doing on top of Tel Aviv's City Hall?
A man by the name of Dudu Geva, who was an artist and illustrator thought that Tel Aviv was ugly. To make it prettier he wanted to decorate the city with statues of ducks and other animals. While I don't agree that Tel Aviv is ugly, I do agree that this a great way to bring art and humor into peoples' lives. You can't see a duck on the city hall roof and not smile.

Labels: israel, tel aviv

Posted by David at 5:16 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I made a similar post in July 2006, about a gas station on the ground floor of an apartment building in Paris. This is probably equally as bad. A gas station right next to a residential building. I hope no one there is drinking the tap. A real environmental issue and Al Gore is nowhere to be found. He's still on the trail of Manbearpig. This is also a good time to point out that what we call "gas" others call "gasoline", and what others call "gas" we call "natural gas". For further complication, "diesel" in Hebrew is pronounced "solar" which had me wondering where the taxi's solar panels were.

Labels: haifa, israel

Posted by David at 4:57 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

A McDonald's in Haifa would have a hard time installing a Drive-Thru. Cars can barely drive thru the narrow streets of the city. Customers on the go aren't driving by, they're walking by. So how do you cater to their needs? The McWalk of course. It's the walking version of a drive thru. Why bother walking inside, when you can place your order from the sidewalk? On one hand, it's genius, if lots of people walk by, let them order that impulse cheeseburger with kosher meat. On the other hand, is it so much more difficult to walk inside? Further investigation is needed. But don't be surprised when a McWalk opens up near you.

Labels: haifa, israel

Posted by David at 4:44 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

The wiki says that Haifa has the world's shortest subway. But really it's just an underground funicular. Called "The Carmelit", it goes from the bottom of the hill to the top and has 5 stops. I had a hard time finding it. There's no big signs for the station and locals didn't know where it was either. From the train station, walk a couple blocks inland, then go north (left) to Paris Square. The subway station is a small stone building with yellow trim.
It's interesting to have a city on the side of a hill. There's great views everywhere, but there's no main streets through the city. Roads just wind their way up the hill.

Labels: haifa, israel, transport

Posted by David at 4:30 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Did you know you can get unlimited internet access anywhere in the UK using your laptop for £1 per day?

One of the UK networks, Orange, offers unlimited GPRS data on it's prepaid sim cards for £1 per day or £5 per week (cheaper and you don't have to renew it everyday). The speed is the same as dialup but works pretty well if you don't need to watch YouTube videos.

How do you do it:
1. You need an unlocked tri-band GSM phone with modem capabilites. Bluetooth or cable. I have a Sony Ericsson W800i that worked great.
2. Install the modem drivers for your phone on your laptop. Use a cable unless your laptop also has bluetooth.
3. Go to an Orange shop or any general mobile phone store and buy a prepaid Orange sim card. You can buy a sim card with £10 credit for £10. You shouldn't be paying extra for the card.
4. Insert the sim card and call 450 to order the extra data package. The charge will be debited from your call credit. Visit this page on the Orange UK site for more info.
5. Go to Control Panel – Modem, select the phone's modem, Properties, Advanced, for initialization string enter: +cgdcont=1,"IP","orangeinternet"
6. In Network Connections, create a new dialup modem connection. Choose the phone's modem. Dial number: *99#, username: user, password: pass

Voila! Unlimited internet from your laptop anywhere in the UK. Kiss the internet cafes and their hourly fees goodbye.

Labels: england, london, mobile

Posted by David at 4:15 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Vodafone has a nice ad campaign publicizing their new lower rates for using mobile data while roaming abroad. They say, "Relax with your laptop abroad".

Labels: ads, airports, england, london, mobile

Posted by David at 4:10 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

A snow covered morning was the perfect backdrop for the Olympic Torch relay which happend to be going right by my hotel. First I woke up to snow, then I found Tibetan protesters outside. Where am I? In spite of what was shown on TV, I saw a very orderly group of protesters who were passing out Tibetan flags so passer byers like me could join the fun.

Take a look at the "Torture Relay" sign. The IOC probably would prefer they not use the 5 ring logo, but this is clever. Torture Relay sounds like Torch Relay, and the guy isn't holding a torch, he's holding a club and chasing someone.

Labels: england, london

Posted by David at 3:46 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I knew London can be wet and cold, but I didn't pack for snow. It had been cold for a couple days but at least it was sunny. I opened the curtains on an April Sunday morning, looked out the window, and for the first time in my life did a real double take. Everything was covered in snow! In April in London? What?

Labels: england, london

Posted by David at 3:38 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

It's official. Gameboy, Super Nintendo, and Windows are now in a museum.

Posted by David at 3:34 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Lots of things to see at the V&A museum. Here's the strangest time keeping device I've ever seen. A metal ball rolls along the zig zag groove, side to side as it makes its way down. It gets to one end, hits a lever and the plate tilts the other way and the ball rolls back. An endless cycle. Each one exactly 30 seconds. The device is remarkably clever, but I question how precise it is, especially if the ball were to fall off.

Labels: england, london

Posted by David at 3:30 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I like seeing people do tricks like bmx bikers or break dancers, but had never seen tricks involving a soccer ball before. There was a Korean guy doing some impressive things with a soccer ball in Trafalgar Square. It's called Freestyle Soccer.

Labels: england, london

Posted by David at 3:24 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Gotta love those foreign signs:

All the things to worry about in the world, and now I also have to beware the leaning tree trunk? I'm still busy minding the gap.


No parking, no feeding pigeons. How not related can things be on 1 sign?


Don't feed pigeons, they are a nuisance and damage the square. Ya I get it, no one in London likes pigeons. Thanks for the strike thru the picture, I wasn't sure what feeding a pigeon looked like.


Do not climb, deep drop behind wall. Ok this one is legit, that wall does like fun enough and low enough to climb on, and there is a seriously big drop behind the wall. But that is a great image of the guy falling over the wall.


Now the warning is to not climb on the lion. Which would be really funny if I didn't show you the lion statue next to the sign, because everyone knows the real danger in climbing lions is the drop behind them.


This is my favorite sign, I have no clue what it means. It just says pedestrians and is in front of a gated driveway. Maybe that sticker is covering the word "no". But look at the picture. It looks like a man giving a girl a yo-yo or a pocket watch. What else can it be?

Labels: england, london, signs

Posted by David at 2:52 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Have you ever noticed that kids with British accents sound like adults but with kids voices? How does a 10 year old have such good grammar and vocabulary? British kids just sound smarter I guess.

Labels: england, london

Posted by David at 2:49 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

London is the cctv capital of the world. There are cameras everywhere and they are also watching you everywhere in public. This sign at the Science Museum says you're seen 300 times per day.

Labels: england, london

Posted by David at 2:43 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

At £4 per ride, the Underground has to be the most expensive regular fare metro in the world, by a lot. With an unlimited day pass costing £7 including busses, why offer such a high regular fare? A day pass is less than one round trip! The same marketing geniuses that came up with that one are probably also responsible for giving every line a name instead of number. Take the Picadilly line and transfer to the Jubilee line? That means nothing to me. At least they each have a color. One line whose name I don’t mind is the Circle line. Goes in a circle, that makes perfect sense. The main benefit is that you can’t get lost. To quote myself, “you can go the long way, but not the wrong way”

A slight annoyance was that each train car, regardless of the line had all the lines displayed inside. Sure, the metro stations are well marked, and I can follow arrows, but when I get on, I like that one last reassurance that I’m on the right train. I think the reason they do this is so that any train car can be used on any line. Keeps it simpler maintenance-wise. And it does seem like the do a lot of maintenance. The system is old and on any given day there are announcements about which lines aren’t working or are delayed. My first day in London, I decided not to take the metro and just so happened hundreds of people were stuck underground in the dark for hours. That was a good enough reason for me to use buses mostly. It’s a lot easier to get out of a stuck bus.

I have very good things to say about the London bus system. It’s very well marked. Each stop has a complete map of every bus that comes through it and nearby stops, the routes of those buses, all their stops, time estimates, and a directory of popular destinations and which line gets you there. See pics below. It was all laid out like a metro system map. The buses came very often and the 2nd story gives you a nice view. Many stops also showed when the next bus was coming.

Labels: england, london, transport

Posted by David at 2:41 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Staying on the theme of expensive, there are a few options to get from the airport to the city. The Heathrow Express train is the most well known. It costs $30 each way for the 15 minute ride. According to the wiki, that makes it the most expensive train in the world. At $2/minute, Amsterdam to Paris would be $480 each way. Fortunately there is a very good alternative. For half the price there is the Heathrow Connect train (www.heathrowconnect.com). It takes the exact same route, but takes 25 minutes instead of 15. 50% off for 10 minutes of my time, that’s a deal I’ll take. However, a deal I won’t take is £4 to take the Underground. A 45 minute ride with 20 stops and no room for luggage, is no bargain.

Labels: england, london, transport

Posted by David at 2:14 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

At $2 per British pound, I thought I wouldn’t be going to England anytime soon. But that was when a euro was $1.20 or even $1.40. At $1.60 per euro, continental Europe now seems very expensive and $2 per pound doesn’t sound so bad anymore. Either way, it’s obviously an expensive city. $10 for a footlong Subway sandwich is a good indicator of that. Hotels in central London come at a price as well. Here’s what $150 buys you. Not much space at all.

I had a favorable opinion of this hotel: www.queensparkhotel.com

Labels: england, hotel, london

Posted by David at 1:47 AM | Share this post on:   facebook   del.icio.us   digg   StumbleUpon     | Permalink | Comments | links to this post