A new record for September with my greatest readership yet and a new milestone achieved. Thanks everyone

I started the day with a run along the waterfront near the Embaracdero with the city on one side and the Bay on the other: -outstanding! I ran 5miles (8 kilometres).

This got me ready for breakfast at the Ferry Plaza Farmers market. Held three times a week, it has an amazing range of local, fresh and often organic fruit and vegetables.


I bought the most delicious peach I have had for years, As the juice rolled down my fingers, I marvelled at the difference to the supermarket ones I buy from time to time. No comparison.

I also bought raspberries, strawberries and blackberries (the green bag in the photo is full of berries).

Listening to the music being played by the musicians around the market and watching the buzz i wandered inside the wonderfully restored ferry building. I was tempted to buy fresh buttermilk biscuits (thinks scones for Australians, New Zealanders and British people) or organic steamed pork buns but resisted. My destination was Recchiuti Confections, the best chocolate store in San Francisco according to me and yelp!). I love their Burnt Caramel Almonds. I learnt that they ship all across the United States but was disappointed to learn that their ginger chocolates no longer contain Australian ginger.

I popped across the road to Noah's Bagels on Market Street weaving my way through the outdoor craft market for a bagel with cream cheese!

Cover of Transit Maps of the World

Nearby is the Municipal railway museum which for  a train geek is a must visit every time. It is small, friendly - and free. Best of all they are the nicest place to buy the Muni passes which are essential if you are planning to take  more than one a cable car because they save so much money. A cable car costs $6 and a daily pass is $14, three days is $21 and five days is $27. You can use the pass on every bus, streetcar and subway of the Muni transport system but not on the other systems that also move through San Francisco. For those I have a Clipper card which is the area's multi modal transport system. I bought three books from the Museum:

• Railway Maps of the World by Mark Ovenden - and signed by him 
• Transit Maps of the World by Mark Ovenden - also signed by him
• History of the Muni system

Yeah, I am a geek.

The streetcar (tram) outside the Museum is for the F Streetcar line  to Fishermans' wharf. I always get on there because you are more likely to get a stop as the next stop is always very busy. This line uses historical trams form all over the world. I have even ridden a Melbourne Tram in San Francisco! Today's  tram was originally from Philadelphia.

Confession: I hate Fisherman's wharf and Pier 39 don't understand why every tourist feels they have to go there! I like the sea lions that have been living there for the last 20 years or so but that's about it.

The other feature I love is Ghiradelli  Chocolate Factory. A tradition of mine is that on every trip I have a Cable Car Sundae: Rocky road, chocolate chip and chocolate ice cream with marshmallow topping, home-made hot fudge sauce and  whipped cream. It used to have a chocolate cable car but now they just have a chocolate and a cherry. They also now use corn syrup in the fudge which has spoilt that a bit.

Image via WikipediaI took my sundae out of the noisy crowded store and sat in the Maritime Park opposite gazing at the water and out across to Alcatraz. Its  a very peaceful park. Sadly, I am assuming the sundae  cancelled out my run!

A short stroll to Hyde Street and the line up for the Hyde and Powell Cable Car. This is a very popular ride and if the line is too great, I walk up a couple of stops hoping to sneak on there. Today, was fine. I flashed my Muni pass so the ride was free.  My favourite spot is to stand at the back of the car with the conductor. This is my favourite cable car line with a couple of amazing hill climbs.  I rode to the top of Russian hill and hopped off to gaze at the view across the bay. I never get tired of it. Back for the next cable car - this time grabbing a spot standing holding the handrails at the front- and down the hill to California Street where this cable car line crosses the California Street line. I have now almost got my money's worth for my $21 three day pass with $18 worth of cable car rides! and my $2 streetcar ride).

From here I walked to Grace Cathedral. I got a tourist to take a picture of me but it didn't come out! The Cathedral has an amazing rose window and an indoor and outdoor Labyrinthh that I always try to walk.

Back on the cable car, down to Grant Ave for Chinatown. The sights, smells and noise of Chinatown are great fun. I grabbed a pork bun from one of the amazing noodle shops. After it, I ate the delicious apple bought at the markets earlier.

I walked back from Chinatown to the Union Square shops. I popped into Neiman Marcus which is a beautiful store (I have yet to buy anything there!).  I noted that my favourite Borders is gone and felt a little bereft of a rainy day browsing spot. I was looking for jeans but don't find any at Ross or Old Navy that I like. The shopkeepers told me the stores are full of Australians spending their Aussie dollars that are now worth so much more!

I cross Market Street into the SOMA (South of Market). This used to be dodgy but has been revitalized extensively. One of my favourite stores, the Container Store is here and I looked at Kitchen storage items which I cannot carry with me this trip!

A short walk away is SFMOMA, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Great building with very enjoyable exhibits. Right now there is one on about Dieter Rams, the top designer from Braun. Its amazing how art like many of their appliances are and an exhibition full doesn't seem out of place. He developed ten principles for good design which are used by other companies including Apple.

The Contemporary Jewish Musuem is near by. They also have great exhibits but I don't get to visit them today.

From there I caught BART to the Mission District where the City's Central American population are centred. I was in search of Pupusas, my favourite El Salvadorian food.  Its a tortilla stuffed with beans or meats or cheese.

The restaurant that I have been to before for my fix was completely empty. That made me worry: has this restaurant "lost it"? When my corn chips arrive, they are burnt.  Now I was concerned. However, the pupusas I eat are perfect. The accompanying salad is fresh and delicious. The store has none of my favourite Salvadorian drink: Kolashampan but I am still happy!

There are two ice cream shops nearby but I was good. (I will go back tomorrow for some from the Ice Creamery but give Mitchells a miss!).

From there I walked to Mission Dolores Park where there were hundreds of people gathered for an outdoor showing of Top Gun. Amazing atmosphere. After that, it was off to meet some friends for a drink.

A perfect day in an awesome city!

Air New Zealand took its stake in Virgin Blue (owners of V Australia and Virgin Australia) to 19.9% as a result of a fairly low share prices.

The last time they took an interest in an Australian airline, it almost bankrupted Air New Zealand and the end result was that Australia's longest running domestic carrier Ansett ceased to exist.

Image via WikipediaTen years later, Air New Zealand are hopefully wiser and Virgin are a better business. Former chief executive Rod Eddington "described Ansett publicly and internally as a great airline, but a poor business".

It makes huge sense for Air NZ to have a strong relationship with an Australian carrier. The tie ups with V mean passengers can flow into and out of the Australian and New Zealand markets and Air NZ international routes.

It also makes sense for Virgin to join Air NZ in the Star Alliance network just as Ansett was a member. They are clearly out to compete heavily with Qantas domestically.  The question is long term whats the plan for V Australia, their international arm?. They will come in under the Virgin Australia banner in 2012 but what are their plans beyond that. Flights to Phuket and South Africa are halted. Fiji is off the cards and China seems on hold. Qantas is ramping up Asian expansion. Will Virgin focus on middle east  or do the same as Qantas?

In the meantime, an ex Virgin executive has gone to Tiger.

As always, the Australasian airline scene remains interesting.

After 43 years of flying I flew on my 777th flight.

My plane parked at LAX gate

In a previous Blog post, I was trying to decide whether to fly my 777th on an Air New Zealand or V Australia 777. I appreciated the advice from friends to try Air NZ's new 777-300 and was glad I did. I have recently blogged about V's superb business class product on the 777-300. This Air NZ flight gave me lots of opportunity for comparison.

For those who haven't been following: I flew #737 on a Southwest B737, #747 on a Qantas 747, #757 with United and #767 with Qantas. For some the number 777 represents perfection and my 777th flight was indeed close to perfect! I took 78 pictures would you believe?!

Apparently you can see the handover of the 787 from Boeing to ANA (at last) at 0900h US Pacific time Monday 26th- midday US Eastern time, 2am Sydney on the 27th and oddly 1am Tokyo on the 27th.

I would have thought an afternoon time in Seattle would have been better. It would allowed people to watch it live at a civilised hour in the Airline's home country. eg 8am Tokyo time which equals 4pm Seattle time.

Wonder why this timing?

The number of readers to this blog has been rapidly climbing which I am thrilled about. June, July and August were my three biggest months. September is shaping up to beat them. To do that I need 33 more readers every day. Love you to do one of four things please:

1. Keep reading each of my blog posts
2. Comment on them
3. Tell me whats missing-what do you like reading about in my posts?
4. Recommend to others please

Wadi Ramm or Wadi Rum as it is more commonly known,  is a long valley cut into sandstone and granite rock in southern Jordan about km from Amman (see my post about that amazing city).  It is one of the longest inhabited places on the planet with people living there since prehistory (at least 4500BC). The Nabateans who built Petra (see my Report on that amazing place) lived in Wadi Ramm.


T. E. Lawrence known as Lawrence of Arabia based his operations here during the period of the Arab Revolt from the Turkish Empire at the end of World War One. The 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia film was filmed there, a fact the locals are very proud of. In the 1980s one of the rock formations in Wadi Rum was named "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" after Lawrence's book though there is no direct connection between the two.


I took a tourist bus from Petra to Wadi Rum. It was very cheap.
First stop upon arrival  the Wadi Rum Visitor's Centre. There the bus was swarmed by local tour guides looking for clients. 
I had booked my tour in advance online which I think on reflection was a mistake. I could have got a place on a tour when I arrived for cheaper.
The canny tourists bargained down the guides at the Visitor Centre where as I, like most Westerners had assumed the web price was the actual price. The others on my tour paid a quarter of what I paid! Learning for next time. On the other hand, I was happy with my price. In addition, the money was going to a local family. And if you are not a fan of bargaining, then just shrug your shoulders, grit your teeth and pay!


My two day trip included several stops at key points around Wadi Ramm, a dinner under the stars and a sleep at a campfire with a Bedouin family (well the males of the family)
After the Vistors Centre is the small village of Wadi Rum. It has several concrete houses and tents and lots of camels (see right) . There is a boys' school  and a girls' school. I found a few shops selling water. (interestingly my guide included lunch and water into my tour and made the others pay for their own!). The village is also headquarters of the famous Desert Patrol founded by the British and handed over to the Jordanians.


A few minutes walk from the village lies the remains of Allat Temple originally built by the 'Ad tribe. and rebuilt by the Nabataeans (who built Petra) in the first century B.C. 


From the temple, I walked a small part of the way up the hillside of Jebel Rum  (the second highest mountain in Jordan) to "Lawrence Spring" (also known as 'Ain-Shallaleh'). The village seems to still use this water as drinking water. It tasted very pure. 


As I came close to the source of the water, I overheard some women talking. About to round the corner, I noticed over the ridge (I am tall) that they were chatting with their burqas sitting on the ground next to them. I quickly and quietly retraced my steps, then started back up again very noisily. As I came back up to the ridge, I paused on the other side to "take in the view" , dropping my water bottle onto the ground. A few moments later, the women passed me fully dressed with a quiet but polite "salaam". I am sorry that I interrupted their day but I hope I preserved their modesty. 
The Bedouin people are very conservative and tourists need to take this into account. If you are an unmarried couple travelling together, the correct answer when asked "are you married", is "yes". One couple found they could not share a bed for answering that question wrongly, even though they had lived together in Europe for eight years. 


Likewise, I was stunned (and the locals horrified) by what some tourists wear. Despite the climate, the Bedouin (men and women) cover up. Having young women trip past in high heels and tiny shorts with low cut tops will get an urgent request to "cover up" or the silent handing over of a blanket or a hissing through teeth. 
Public displays of affection by men and women got a polite "we don't do that here". 


After lunch in the village, we were away, crammed into a single four wheel drive without seat belts. Our driver who was no more than 18 told us cheerfully he had had three car accidents as he zoomed off bouncing through the sands, rocks and tracks. Thankfully we didn't have a fourth!


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The sights were astoundingly beautiful. At times we were alone on the vast plains sitting in complete silence. At other times, another four wheel drive or jeep would join us. We encountered a family camped in the desert and passed herds of goats and camels being driven by young boys.  We saw rocks and oases and sand dunes.
We stopped at several tents and were offerred endless cups of sweetened black tea - very refreshing in the heat. 
There were tables of soap,  perfumes and jewellry for sale at almost every stop (bargaining expected).


Dinner that night was a delicious stew cooked over an open fire accompanied by a seemingly endless supply of pita breads.
A magical end to a magical day came with the setting of the sun in that amazing place, followed by the rising of a stunning moon amidst a star encrusted sky. Sleep came easy followed by an early morning (the Bedouin seem to rise early).

The area is not totally isolated. Cell phone coverage was very good it was amusing to watch young kids on camel back texting. The young Bedouin guys all had cassettes of Arabic music that at times, they would play at full volume.
Leaving Wadi Rum was tough. I could have stayed longer in this timeless place. 
I travelled with Seven Pillars tours run by Audeh Krayem. He was very nice and helpful. You will end up on a  tour run by one of his myriad of nephews. Just make sure you bargain first! Oh and he owes me 20 dinars which we never worked out he could get back to me.  If you claim it back from him, let me know! And say "Salaam" to him for me.

Another Jordan related post is my Trip Report on Royal Jordanian Airlines. 

On Tuesday13th September,  Lufthansa named A380 D-AIMF "Zurich", after the Swiss city which is hub for the Lufthansa owned SWISS airline.  This particular A380 was the sixth in the Lufthansa fleet and has been flying for them since April this year.

While the plane is named Zurich, there is no suggestion of it moving from its Frankfurt base to the Swiss city. Passengers will have to fly from Zurich to Frankfurt to connect with Lufthansa to its A380 destinations  (Beijing, Miami, New York,

Only a couple of weeks for my Lufthansa A380 flight, which will be my fourth A380 carrier (already flown Emirates, Qantas and Singapore)

Picture from The Age is a digitally altered plane.

The fairfax Press (Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers) are suggesting RedQ or RedQ Executive Express is emerging as the most likely name for Qantas Asia ahead of  RedSky and OneAsia.

The new 49% venture will be 49% owned by Qantas and is one part of Qantas restructuring. Alan  Joyce CEO of Qantas said that the move would create a “newer and stronger Qantas,” by tapping into the major growth that is occurring in Asia.

I hate the sound of RedQ. It doesn't sound enticing. It definitely does not sound like a Premium carrier. It sounds cheap and nasty. Perhaps Qantas discount subsidiary Jetstar could be renamed RedQ and the new airline named Jetstar. For Jetstar sounds classier than RedQ even with Executive Express tagged on the end. Will tourists fly an airline named Executive Express?

I can't think of a better name? Perhaps Offshore Airline? or Outsourced Kangaroo? to reflect the shift of Qantas services to the new cheaper version?

I can hardly contain myself as I have a secret!

I have some very exciting news regarding this blog:  "Wild about travel"

Watch this space for more!

In the meantime, thank you for your readership and comments (more comments please!)

Theres a very strange website around which called people to "Stay away from Seattle".

 Apparently September 16 is "Stay Away from Seattle Day. It is meant to  "give 'America's Best Place to Live' city a break from the influx of people moving to the area."

Tourists bring 5.5 billion dollars into Seattle every year but not everyone wants them it seems - at least one day a year.

There have been a few places in the world that I have been to where I have wondered if people actually want tourists. I have never been made to feel really unwelcome but I have wondered.
Many people say Paris is famous for not wanting tourists. My experience has been the opposite. However, I do get the sense that some Parisians get tired of sharing their marvellous city with gawking rude tourists who make no effort to really get into the la vie de Paris.


Have you ever felt unwelcome in a city?

Korean Air now has four Airbus A380s as of last Thursday.

The newest A380 will undergo the usual tests and will start flying from Seoul/Incheon to Paris ( Mon, Wed, Fri) from 26 September until 29 October and to Los Angeles (every Tue, Thu, Sat) from 10 October 2011.

I plan to fly the Seoul-Lax route in November. Anyone want to join me?

Melbourne, Australia is very excited that it scored 97.5 out of 100 in the Economist's annual most liveable cites survey knocking Vancouver out of top place.

The Economist designs the rankings for  employers to use when assigning hardship allowances as part of job relocation but they have developed a life of their own with the rankings capturing the attention of people in the street and politicians.

The indexes also ignore other issues like the cost of living in those cities, sustainability, and equity and other factors. For example housing costs in Melbourne are now some of the highest in the world when then Australian dollar's strength is accounted for.

Having said that I agree with the Economist's ranking of Melbourne. It is for me the most livable city in the world taking into account its Cultural aspects, Safety, Public Transport and aesthetically pleasing street layout, buildings, parks, river and bay. I have listed my top ten cities below.

The Economist 2011 list:

1.  Melbourne 97.5 
2.  Vienna 97.4 
3. Vancouver 97.3
4. Toronto 97.2  
5. Calgary 96.6
6.  Sydney 96.1
7. Helsinki 96
8. Perth 95.9 
9. Adelaide 95.9 
10. Auckland 95.7

My Top Ten Liveable Cities:

Wellington

1. Melbourne, Vic, Australia - see above
2. Adelaide, SA, Australia - a city where you are ten minutes from anything: shops, beaches, forests. A good arts scene with amazing food. The Economist said 9th place, I say second.
3. Portland, OR, USA-  ticks all the boxes of big city facilities with small city fee; 
4. San Francisco, CA, USA -one of the most stunning and interesting cities on the planet
5. Reykjavik, Iceland - an unusual contendor- cool, fun and safe!
6. Seattle, WA, USA- Scenery, culture, jobs and transport all combine to create this delight
7. Washington, DC, USA  an amazing city apart from its astonishing crime rate
8. Paris, France- many Parisians would disagree but there is a lot to attract one to living in the capital of France. 
9. Wellington, New Zealand- I prefer New Zealand's capital over the Economist's choice (Auckland). A more compact and navigable city straddling stunning harbour and  hillsides with a great cultural scene
10. New Orleans, Louisana- seriously. Like nowhere else in the world, I could easily live here- tomorrow!

Where would you most think would be a great city to live in? 

Yesterday's Trip Report covered my recent V Australia's Business Class trip between Brisbane, Australia and Los Angeles, USA. Today, I compare the various Business Class offerings of all the trans Pacific carriers. I chose a travel date of of 12th October from Sydney to LAX and travel back 19th October to find pricing. Hawaiian had the cheapest business class fares for those dates.

I have ranked the airlines from Best Business Class on the Australian -US route (V Australia) through to the worst on this sector (United). This is based on  both my experience and reviews by others. Happy to be challenged! Or have comments. What have been your long haul Business Class experiences?

Rank	Airline	Fare*	Plane	Stops	Flight time	Layout	No of seats	Seat Pitch	Seat width	Bed Length
1	V Australia	$8,696.00	777-300	Non Stop	13:35	2-3-2	33	77”	23.5”	74”
2	Air New Zealand	$8,227.00	777-300	Auckland	17:15	1-2-1	44	79.5”	22	79.5”
3	Qantas	$9,099.00	A380	Non Stop	13:30	2-2-2	72	80”	21.5:	80”
4	Air Tahiti Nui	$11,723.00	A340	Auckland & Tahiti	21:45	2-2-2	24	53”	21”	Not lie flat
5	Air Canada	$15,371.44	777-200	Vancouver	19:57	1-2-1	42	32”	20.4”	lie flat
5	Air Pacific	$8,191.42	747-400	Fiji	17:10	2-2	28	57”	21”	Not lie flat
5	Delta	$8,418.00	777-200	Non Stop	13:55	1-2-1	43	44”	20-26”	76”
5	Hawaiian	$5,115.24	767	Honolulu	19:00	2-2-2	18	42”	18.5”	Not lie flat
9	United	$8,426.00	747-400	Non Stop	13:28	2-4-2 & 2-2	52	77”	23.5”	78” or 74”