2008

Why you should never travel on Acela Express

by Jerry Guo on Nov 18, 2008

Last week I took Amtrak‘s high-speed train service, Acela Express, from New Haven to New York. My options were to take Metro-North, a commuter train which takes a little under two hours to get to New Haven, at a cost of $14.

The Acela train saved me about 15 minutes, but guess what, cost $60 more. Totally not worth it. First, the seats were not very big at all. You see, on most commuter trains, unless you’re traveling at peak hours, you’ll get the whole aisle to yourself. But Amtrak has airplane-style seats, uck right?

The Amtrak trains are also usually packed, since they do not run as often, so I had to deal with that. Plus, even though I was in a silent car, the carriage made a sqeaking sound whenever the train turned (I would advise you to sit in the middle of the car because of this).

I guess I’m not being quite fair, since the New Haven to New York stretch of the rail is the slowest in the Northeast Corridor. But I still advise you to save your money, and just book yourself on regular Amtrak. The seats are essentially the same size and you’ll save at least 50%. And so what if you’ll get there 15 minutes later, take the time to read a newspaper.

President Bush acts to minimize Thanksgiving flight delays

by Jeffrey White on Nov 18, 2008

Well, President Bush’s term might be winding down, but don’t think for a second he’s just sitting back and coasting through the next six weeks.

Bush yesterday unveiled a series of measures meant to ease the crowded Thanksgiving holiday rush and cut down on flight delays.

USA Today reports that the president announced he’d ordered the military to open three new flight routes to commercial airlines in Colorado, Arizona and Southern California during the Thanksgiving travel period, and they will open again open additional routes, as they do every year, off the East Coast.

“A lot of our citizens are nervous about travel,” Bush said, as quoted in USA Today. “They are saying, ‘Will traveling home for the holidays be a wonderful life or will it be the nightmare before Christmas?’ “

Bush also wants airlines to file airport-specific plans for how they are going to deal with holiday delays, whatever that means.

Even though he’s a lame duck, critics nevertheless took the opportunity of these announcements by jumping all over him. Labor and consumer groups blasted Bush’s plans as moronic.

“This is a different year, same gift,” said Doug Church, spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. “I don’t think there is any relevance to today’s announcement. It’s all for show.”

I guess we’ll wait and see if this has any impact on our travels.

There’s no one as Irish as Barack Obama

by Jerry Guo on Nov 18, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama is truly multicultural. His heritage list has added up during this year’s electoral race: Kenyan, Indonesian, Hawaiian, and Kansas’ian? Now it turns out that, like any good American mutt, Obama is Irish, too.

According to a search undertaken by Ancestry.co.uk, Obama’s maternal roots can be traced to the village of Monegal in Ireland’s County Offaly. Apparently the future President’s great-grandfather was a shoemaker from the village who eventually emigrated to New York.

A musical group from the village, Hardy Drew and the Nancy Boys, has even written a song for the occasion.

The chorus of the song says: O’Leary, O’Reilly, O’Hare and O’Hara / There’s no one as Irish as Barack O’Bama…
and the lyrics go on to suggest that Obama is as Irish bacon and cabbage and call for the President-elect to get his jig on doing Riverdance.

During the recent election hubbub, the villagers of Monegal have claimed Obama as their own and invited him to come and visit the village, with hopes that the President-elect’s search for his Irish roots will also boost tourism to the quiet town.

Product Review: iHome iP27 Portable Speaker System

by Jerry Guo on Nov 18, 2008

If you’re tired of being reduced to earphones to get your iPod groove on while travelling, Apple has come up with a new solution. The iP27 is the newest version of the iHome speaker line, a docking station that plays music directly from your iPod.

The iP27 has a nifty alarm clock functionality that allows you to wake up to your favorite tunes, along with remote volume and play/pause control. The speakers themselves fold down flat and slide into a carrying case, so all in all, the system is really geared for travelers.

The cons to this system are that the speakers lack a lot of bass, compromising the sound quality; and as well, there is no radio function (for those few times you want to catch up on your foreign news?). I’ve also heard that some older versions of iPod aren’t compatible, but the Nanos and iPhones work just fine.

On the upside, the unit has an AA battery option and a downsized AC cord, so it’s a bit sleeker and less space-consuming than it’s iHome counterpart. Users of the iH27 probably won’t notice too many differences in the two units.

Rationally, I can’t think of any traveler that would actually use this unit, much less want to carry it around all over the place in their luggage. Definitely a geek-ified piece of equipment, but it will probably find its cult following.