The difference between a good restaurant and a bad one

December 24, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Restaurants

Restaurants can be good, bad or fabulous. In order to find the fabulous, one must look to a city of diners who refuse to settle for less than a perfect meal.

Paris, New York,Montreal, San Francisco come to mind. Most who live and dine in these cities are extremely critical and demanding. This makes the competition huge and in order for a restaurant to survive they must strive for satisfaction from their customers.

The next time you are served a meal with rudeness, or served inferior food, be sure to voice your disapproval. No, don’t make a scene, but be sure you make it known to the management that you do not accept inferior service and or food.

Loud music, dirty clothed waiters, rushed service, half cooked food? Not something you should allow in your presence. The passive diner who merely leaves and decides not to return is actually contributing to support this poor food, service and restaurant style.

I have lived in Orange County California for over fifty years and can barely find a restaurant worth the price of the meal. I am convinced it is because the customers have learned to accept this and so nothing will ever improve.

When I travel to other cities and discover the thrill of good and enjoyable eating once again, I feel compelled to try and change the attitude that prevails here in Orange County in California.

The Experience of Dining at Santa Clara Restaurants

December 7, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Restaurants

If you have already planned a visit to California’s Great America Green Park, Central Park and Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, then revisit your plan and also include some of the best Santa Clara restaurants where you can eat well and make your visit more fun.

Dining is a wonderful experience, especially in Birk’s Restaurant, Tarragon Restaurant, Kobe Japanese Restaurant, Dishdash Restaurant, Pedro’s Restaurant and Cantina, Parcel 104, Fiorillo’s Restaurant, La Paloma Mexican Restaurant, Bombay Garden and Vesuvio Restaurant.

The Santa Clara restaurants mentioned above are a few restaurants catering to a variety of tastes from American to Asian, so go ahead and have a bite and enjoy!

The Fine Art of Visiting New York City on a Shoestring

December 1, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Tourist Attractions

When we see New York on TV and in movies, we tend to get the impression that it is one expensive town. Visiting New York on a shoestring budget looks impossible. To be honest, yes, it is, but only if you live there. What we see on TV is usually the glamorous part of town, Manhattan, and that’s a little misleading. New York is full of incredible spots that cost little to nothing to visit.

Lodging

When you first arrive in New York, you’ll want a place to stay, of course. An average room in Manhattan is a whopping three hundred bucks a night. The New York Hotel in Manhattan has rooms in the hundred dollar range and is located right in the heart of the area, but that’s still not exactly visiting New York on a shoestring budget.

What you should do if you really want to save some money is take a look around for bed and breakfast setups. Book a room online and make sure to research the bed and breakfast you select before you book. You don’t want to wind up with a reservation in the middle of a bad part of town.

Dining

Honestly, the best way to save money on food (and just about anything else) in New York is to be friendly. When you’re looking for a place to eat, you’ll want to step away from the neon signs and glamour of the main streets and into the little known hole in the wall bars and restaurants, and the only way to find those spots is to ask the locals.

Entertainment

A tip for getting into a show or a sporting event at a lower price: Go to the will call of the venue and just hang around for a bit. Seats are often reserved for family and friends of the stagehands, performers or athletes at an event, and many times, these people are unable to attend. This way, you can avoid having to deal with ticket brokers or scalpers, and you can often grab a seat at the last minute without having to even bother with a reservation.

If you have the time to plan ahead, make sure to look online for discount event tickets or a New York City Explorer Pass, which can save you even more on attractions. Some travelers will even purchase an Entertainment coupon book for the zip code in which they will be traveling. This will often save you on lodging, dining, and attractions. Just make sure that the amount you can potentially save will cover the cost of the book.

Safety

Leave any unneeded cash, credit cards and even ID in your hotel room. If you’re careful, you probably won’t get mugged, but it does happen.

Don’t be tempted by the lure of shortcuts. Stick to main streets that are well lit, stick to crowds, and don’t go anywhere alone if you can help it.

The legends of New York being absolutely overflowing with thieves are mostly exaggerated, but they are based in truth. You don’t need to be scared for your life your whole trip, but do be aware and alert. Don’t be trusting of any strangers: even a man in a business suit might mug you. If you have any friends in New York, spend a lot of your time with them.

Visiting New York on a shoestring is not only possible, but preferable. The pricey parts of town are strictly for tourists.

Las Vegas – America’s Playground

November 6, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Nightlife

Las Vegas is the city which is located southeast of Nevada near Arizona and California borders. It is the largest city in Nevada and it has the fastest growing rate in the United States of America. This is because it is the most urbanized city in the country and has the highest standard of living as compared to any city in the whole United States of America. Las Vegas is known as the entertainment city of the United States. This is because most of the entertaining places are located here like clubs, hotels, restaurants and many more. Country’s most of the betting is also done here. The centre of attraction of this city is casinos. A lot of people from all over the world come here to gamble in these casinos to play poker and other gambling games. Everyday many people get bankrupt and many make their luck by winning thousands of dollars in just few hours.

Las Vegas is also famous for its boxing championships, entertainment enterprises, music, sports and amusement centers. It also has the world’s largest observation tower located here. It is called the Stratosphere Tower. A person can take a view of almost the whole city from here and even observe the heavenly bodies in the space. This city is also known for manufacturing all the gaming equipments which are available throughout the country. It is also a commercial hub of ranching and mining through which a lot of profit is gained to the country by mining metals like iron and steel. So basically there are a lot of places to visit if a person is coming to Las Vegas for the first time. A Las Vegas holiday would take at least a month for a person to completely explore the city and utilize the time to have fun here.

Las Vegas has various names given by people like “City of Lights”, “Sin City”, and “Lost Wages”. This city is most famous for its nightlife. The main contributors to its nightlife are the nightclubs that are open throughout the night and the gaming and gambling parlors which are also open 24 hours. Apart from gambling and entertainment, there are other things which a person can indulge himself in like theme parks, resorts, various tourist spots, and so on. The hotel industry of this city contributes as a major part of the revenue of Las Vegas. The hotels of Las Vegas are famous throughout the world for their high standards and expensiveness. So a person should carry quite a good amount of money if he is visiting Las Vegas.

Places to see before you die: Reasons to add New York City to the list

September 6, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Hotels

If you are answering that you don’t need to see New York before you die, it is because you have never been there! If you have gone to New York once in your life, you just want to repeat the experience over and over again. I rarely met people that did not care for New York. It is probably one of the more exhilarating places on earth. New York to me is like an addicting lover…you just have to get more from him!

The moment I stepped foot in New York I was hooked! I took the overnight bus from Montreal and arrived around 7 o’clock in the morning. I had hardly slept, trying to sleep on a Greyhound bus is an experience all by itself, and arrived at Port Authority. I went outside to grab a cab. From the second I stepped foot on 8th avenue, I knew that I would love this town. I was going to a friend’s apartment from Port Authority, he was living just beside Bellevue Hospital, and I was mesmerized by the city while I was in the cab. I arrived at my friend’s place and he asked me if I wanted to take a nap and immediately I wanted to go out and walk around. I could not fathom being inside and not outside discovering this beautiful city.

New York may not be the city where you find the greatest museums or restaurants, other towns like Paris or London fit the bill more perfectly, but you find an energy in New York that you don’t find anywhere else on earth. I never feel tired when I am there. I always feel invigorated! I sometimes get up in the morning in my hotel room and feel tired but at the instant I step foot on the street, I only want to see everything there is to see. My routine when I am in town is that I get out for breakfast around the hotel, come back to the room to freshen up afterward and head out for the day. Even when I am dead tired, I find myself walking everywhere and never coming back to my hotel before 4 in the afternoon. I take a shower and dress a bit better and go out for a drink. I then decide where I want to have dinner. I don’t go to New York to go out clubbing, I come back pretty early after dinner…drop in my bed so I can start again the next day.

I wish I could recommend an exact restaurant or a precise location but everything in New York is fun. I went 14 times and plan on going back as soon as possible. Even if you don’t go up the Empire state building, visit the Statue of liberty or go to the MOMA, just breathing in the atmosphere is enough for me. I traveled to a couple of places in the world but nothing comes close to New York for me!