I recently came back to Los Angeles after a few weeks away, and in my first 2 hours, I realized afresh that this is the rudest, least civilized place on the planet. I got yelled at twice by bratty random people as I trudged on and off the public transportation. Such a nice welcome. When… Continue reading How rude are the people in Los Angeles?
Tag: travel stories
Is the Los Angeles metro safe? Part 1
This all happened in a single day. It starts in the morning with a guy smoking inside the train. It used to be that I thought this was the worst thing that could possibly happen -- how dare you think that it was okay for you to smoke in a train or bus? A bit… Continue reading Is the Los Angeles metro safe? Part 1
What’s it like in Los Angeles?
It's a summer's evening. At a train platform. One lady is pacing back and forth and muttering to herself. A man is having an argument with someone invisible. He suddenly jumps to his feet sassily and snaps his finger at his phantom rival. One person with unwashed long hair is crouched right at the entrance… Continue reading What’s it like in Los Angeles?
The central library in Los Angeles
The entire city of Loserville, I mean, Los Angeles, is a giant trashy dump. So imagine my surprise when I went to the main branch of the library and found it to be a very nice place. Los Angeles putting money and resources into something that you don't have to be rich to access??? How… Continue reading The central library in Los Angeles
Entry into New York’s JFK airport, post-pandemic
In case anyone is planning to travel overseas and pass through New York's JFK airport: ever since the pandemic, the entry back into the USA, with the passport control and the customs forms, has been very, very easy. It used to be that the officers might want to bark at you a bit as you… Continue reading Entry into New York’s JFK airport, post-pandemic
Medical care in Baghdad
I think the best piece of advice is, don't get sick in Baghdad. They have public hospitals and they have private hospitals. The public ones are apparently dirty on top of everything else, so if you have money, you'd prefer treatment in the private ones. I never experienced the public hospitals myself first-hand, though, so… Continue reading Medical care in Baghdad
Up the coast of Saudi Arabia from the sky at night
I did not go to Saudi Arabia, just saw it from the sky. It was approximately like this that we flew: So it wasn't just Saudi, it was also Qatar and Bahrain and Kuwait. And we hugged the coast all the way up. These cities are very very rich (at least, some people there are… Continue reading Up the coast of Saudi Arabia from the sky at night
Flying out of Baghdad
So it's time to leave Iraq and you're flying back to wherever. You're going to need to get from the city to the airport, and there are about 7 security checkpoints you have to clear. So buckle up, here we go: First, I believe that no passenger is able to drive to the airport for… Continue reading Flying out of Baghdad
Passport control when flying into Baghdad
A year or two ago, Iraq changed its rules so that citizens of many countries can get a visa-on-arrival at the airport. This is always the easiest procedure. One time, I went to Syria. This was before the war. We could not get visas on arrival at the airport in Damascus. We had to be… Continue reading Passport control when flying into Baghdad
Driving through Baghdad
Here is a series of five videos that show what Baghdad looks like during midday. The route is roughly as follows: Going from the Mansour neighborhood, to the Royal Private Hospital It's a very simple route, and though the streets were sometimes choked with cars, it wasn't so bad and we got back and forth… Continue reading Driving through Baghdad
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