Travel Tip: Australian Visitor Visa

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As you may know, we’re traveling to Australia in a few weeks.  Three weeks out, it finally dawned on us that we still haven’t gotten our travel visa yet and we need to get on it ASAP.  Since we have passports from one of the few countries that are allowed to apply for an electronic visitor visa to Australia, we thought it would be quite simple: fill out the form online, pay the $20AUD fee, and and be on our way.  The whole electronic visa process is supposed to be hassle free with a high acceptance rate of 99.8%.  But nothing is ever easy or hassle free when I travel, and it turns out that I am in that special 0.2% that got rejected – with no explanation and also no refund for the $20AUD fee. So this post is not so much about travel tips as it is things you should not do from my personal experience.

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The Day I Shopped Again

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I fell off the wagon.  On June first of this year I decided to forgo shopping in an attempt to curtail my materialistic urges.  I started out with the good intention as I abstained from buying anything except the bare essentials all throughout summer.  It was especially hard on my trip to Hong Kong, but I continued to hold out and determined to not be distracted by all the shiny things I see. When I finally gave in and bought a pair of shoes last week, I was disappointed in myself.

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Pretty shoes

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Photo of the Week: Frozen

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IMG_2082Thingvellir, Iceland

On our trip to Iceland, we had a car and drove around the Golden Circle.  One of the stops was at Thingvellir National Park in the south west.  This UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to the world’s longest running Parliament, first congregated in 930 AD.   At that time people gathered here from all over Iceland every year during the Commonwealth period. Now, Thingvellir is still considered to be the main meeting place for Icelanders, where they come together and and celebrate the most significant occasion in the history of the nation.

Aside from it’s historical significance, Thingvellir is also the land of many dramatic landscapes. Walking through the park, you can clearly see the rocky cliff of the largest exposed continental rift between the North American and Eurasian plates.   This picture is of the frozen Oxara river in the heart of Thingvellar.  The tundra landscape was as desolate as it was breathtaking. In late November, winter here is well under way, and we had to cover up in many layers just to stay warm.

Every Monday of each week, I’ll share a photo with you from my adventures around the world and at home.  Most of my photos have little or no post processing.  If you would like to see more, please click the ‘Follow’ button.

AA Master Class – Upgrades

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Flying is not glamorous. You usually have to get up at an ungodly hour, drag a week’s worth of belongings with you in a tiny box to a giant airport where you will have (at a minimum) one of your civil rights violated; you’ll then be forced to find your way around a byzantine terminal, before you are finally herded into lines only to be unceremoniously squeezed into a giant metal tube, strapped to a chair, and hurdled through the sky at 500 mph. It is, however, the price we all must pay in order to travel and go on vacation. There are few ways to make the experience better, the main one being an upgrade. When you’ve been upgraded,  you’ll at least spend the last part of the ordeal strapped to a bigger chair, that in some cases even turns into a bed. You’ll certainly be fed, and provided a steady stream of [alcoholic] beverages. You’ll find room for your stuff, and the flight attendants will usually be more pleasant – reminding you that you are, after all, a human being. For the sake of being thorough, an upgrade entitles you to be seated in the next best cabin of service from the one in which you booked your ticket. If you booked coach, you’ll be seated in business; if you book business, you’ll be seated in first; and if you booked first, they will let you fly the plane! (not really) On international and transcontinental flights, upgrades also give you access to lounges, priority boarding, and additional baggage allowances. The goal of this post will be to discuss the main strategies for getting upgraded on flights booked with American Airlines (AA). This will require some level of status, since without it, there should be no expectation of an upgrade barring any extraordinary circumstances.

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Business cabin on flight to Hong Kong

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Toronto: Nuit Blanche

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Every year Toronto closes down streets in the downtown core area and artists from all over the world set up installations. Nuit Blanche is a contemporary public art project that happens one night a year in different cities around the world. From sunset to sunrise, the dark Toronto streets get lit up and transformed into a weird and whimsical world. The theatrical carnival of light, sound, and kept the population entertained. This year, even though the weather was chilly, people still came out in droves and the streets were flooded with pedestrians.

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Photos of the Week: Grotto

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IMG_0919Tangier, Morocco

Tangier is a city located on the North African coast near the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic.  About a 15 minute drive from this northern city of Morocco is the popular Caves of Hercules.  The grotto has two openings, one on land and one out to the sea. Entering from the land opening, you descend into a cavernous area with multiple rooms and alcoves. The caves were expanded considerably over the years by Berber tribes. The opening facing out to the ocean looks like the head of a man.  When that same opening is viewed from the sea, it looks like a map of Africa. It is part of the local legend that Hercules stayed here and slept in this cave.

This sleepy seaside town is a great pit stop to grab lunch and admire the grotto. Inside, locals have set up stalls and are selling souvenirs. Outside by the waterfront, there are multiple shops and restaurants.  Make sure you don’t plan your trip around Ramadan, when the attraction is shut down for a few weeks.

Every Monday of each week, I’ll share a photo with you from my adventures around the world and at home.  Most of my photos have little or no post processing.  If you would like to see more, please click the ‘Follow’ button.

Toronto: Graffiti

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Graffiti Alley in Toronto

If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile (thanks for following!), you’ll see me periodically post pictures of graffiti art.  I’ve always liked art, but my love affair with street art didn’t start until I moved to New York.  To me, urban art is unexpected and sometimes quite beautiful.  On my short trip to Toronto, I made it a point to visit the widely known Graffiti Alley in the hip Queens Street West neighborhood.   In Toronto, programs such as Street ART Toronto encourage and promote street arts as a way to add character and pizzazz to the neighborhood. Continue reading →

Photo of the Week: Grooming

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IMG_0836Gibraltar

A few years ago on our trip to Morocco, we made a little side trip to Gibraltar, an oversea British territory. This rocky peninsula is located at the South of Spain where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic.  One of the main attractions was the Rock of Gibraltar, a giant rocky citadel. This fortress was once considered one of the Pillars of Hercules in ancient times.  

This picture captured an intimate moment between these monkeys as they groomed each other.  Climbing up the rock, one of the things you’ll notice is the abundance of wild monkeys lounging around the side of the road.  These Barbary macaques were descended from a North African breed and brought to Gibraltar over a thousand years ago. They continued to thrive in their new environment and have become a major tourist attraction.  They are extremely sociable and will fearlessly approach people for food.  It’s important to keep a safe distance (and a tight grip on your stuff) from the macaques because they are wild and can become quite aggressive if they perceive that you’re withholding food.  

Every Monday of each week, I’ll share a photo with you from my adventures around the world and at home.  Most of my photos have little or no post processing.  If you would like to see more, please click the ‘Follow’ button.

Eating in Toronto

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As you all know, I am from Canada and a few times a year I come home for a few weeks to visit friends and family. Usually my visit to Canada consists of me being whisked off to Brantford straight from the airport, where I spent a blissful week in my childhood home stuffing my face with my mom’s homemade noodle soup.  My recent visit up North a few weeks ago was a little different because this time we came back for our good friends Ahmed and Jihan’s wedding (Yay, SUPER happy for them!) and we stayed in Toronto for 3 days.  The longer stay in the city was the perfect opportunity to try all the food Toronto has to offer.  Here are highlights of the food we ate:

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Hiking Delaware Water Gap

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This past weekend when my aunt in New Jersey asked if we wanted to go hiking, we jumped at the opportunity.  Even though it’s Fall, in the city the leaves are still green from the warmer weather, so I couldn’t wait to see the changing foliage in the mountains.  Since we don’t have a car, this is also a chance for us to explore other hiking trails further away from the city.  We are definitely making the most out of our hiking shoes! Continue reading →