Well for my last night in White Plains, Amanda, Jamie and I decide to go see the play "39 Steps" at the New World Stages Theater. We met at Grand Central where I had just ate the most expensive club sandwich of my life at Cipriani Dolci for $19.95. This experience left me cheated. In what universe, does a club sandwich not have bacon? Well apparently is this hoighty - toighty world, a "club" sandwich (I use the term lightly) is really a chicken salad sandwich. As I said, I was pissed and unsatisfied.
We stepped out into the oven that is Manhattan and started our quest for a taxi. Apparently, taxi stands at Grand Central are really rickshaw stands and there is no such thing as a true taxi stand. As Amanda and I played Frogger, back and forth across the street, it took us 25 minutes to get a cab up to the theater.
The theater was really a warehouse with 5 theaters all showing plays at the same time. We should have known we would be in for a treat when some of the other plays playing were Avenue Q (the porno puppet show), the Gazillion Bubble Show and Naked Boys Singing. We headed to the basement, the land of no cell phone reception, secured some overpriced snacks and took our seats.
First up, the man in front of us had huge hairy plumber crack. Eyes could not divert as the train wreck continued to get up and down several times through out the night. Next up, the 2 girls who crawled across to their seats, sat for 5 seconds, crawled back across up and were never seen again. Then, we had the prerequisite old couple who decided that the row and seat numbers on their tickets were just recommendations and proceeded to take people seats and then act shocked when the true ticket holders arrived and demanded them to get the f*ck out of their seats.
This was not Broadway. There were no elaborate sets. There were 4 people playing 150 characters, transforming props from 1 thing to another. There were references to other Hitchcock plays, there was a plane chase scene that involved planes on a stick diving and weaving chasing a stick man on a horse. But at least it was memorable!
Showing posts with label taxis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label taxis. Show all posts
Monday, July 26, 2010
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Tales of the Taxi
I have a love/hate affair with taxis. They are convenient. They can still get stuck in traffic. They beat the heat of the summer. They can be smelly. They allow you more freedom than public transportation. They can be impossible to find when it is raining out.
Taxis can be dangerous (or at least the drivers driving them can be). My friend and fellow JCI Ben were in Monaco and had to go to Nice at 4 am to fly back to the States so our hosts arranged a taxi for us (since they were still partying). We crammed our enormous suitcases in to the taxi (mine definitely took up more space than his) and we were off. You would have thought we were on the Autobahn. We were zipping dangerously around curves in the French mountains. We were speeding on dark roads and God forbid if we met oncoming traffic or someone going too slow - we wove in and out of lanes like we were Mario Andretti. Ben and I had death grips on the holy shit handles and hoped we would make it to the airport in one piece (we knew we would be on time).
My husband Tom arrived in India after I did last fall and had to take a taxi from the airport at 1 in the morning. His first visit to a 3rd world country, he was leery, as we soon found out he should be. He did not get cheated out of money, as a voucher is pre-purchased, but he was almost cheated out of his dinner (as vomiting could have occurred) . The cab driver made the 45 minute drive from the airport to the hotel in 18 minutes. As Tom careened back and forth in the back seat, they dodged cows, rickshaws and elephants like they were playing Frogger.
Taxis can be used for odd events. In Panama, Lori, Lisa and I wanted to go to the Panama Canal so we hired a taxi for 3 hours. The driver drove us to the canal, we visited it, we ate lunch, and then the driver who would could not identify from sight came back up to us and asked if we were ready to go. I guess paying only 1/2 your fair up front helps keep the driver committed to you. It seemed odd to us to continue to pay a taxi driver to work for us while we were eating lunch, but everyone was doing it. When in Rome......
Taxis can be deceiving. This past weekend some friends who had over imbibed at Universal City Walk went to the taxi area, hopped in a yellow car and asked the driver to take them the 17 miles back to our hotel. When they got there, they asked, "How much?" The driver indicated, "I don't know, I am not a cab driver." What would possess someone to take my friends 17 miles without mentioning this???? They gave him $40 and got the hell out of there!
Finally, taxis can be downright unreliable. I was visiting NYC with an ex in December 2005 for a long weekend. We were having a great time until the last day. The taxi drivers decided to go on strike - there were NO taxis running in NYC. It felt like Armageddon. The streets were like canyons that you could run down, it had a Will Smith, I am Legend, feel. As we scrambled to find transportation to the airport, we cursed the taxis. How could the government let this happen? When thousands of taxis stop running, it impacts EVERYTHING!
Oh well, taxis are good, and taxis are bad. They make me curse, but they give me the freedom to explore!
Taxis can be dangerous (or at least the drivers driving them can be). My friend and fellow JCI Ben were in Monaco and had to go to Nice at 4 am to fly back to the States so our hosts arranged a taxi for us (since they were still partying). We crammed our enormous suitcases in to the taxi (mine definitely took up more space than his) and we were off. You would have thought we were on the Autobahn. We were zipping dangerously around curves in the French mountains. We were speeding on dark roads and God forbid if we met oncoming traffic or someone going too slow - we wove in and out of lanes like we were Mario Andretti. Ben and I had death grips on the holy shit handles and hoped we would make it to the airport in one piece (we knew we would be on time).
My husband Tom arrived in India after I did last fall and had to take a taxi from the airport at 1 in the morning. His first visit to a 3rd world country, he was leery, as we soon found out he should be. He did not get cheated out of money, as a voucher is pre-purchased, but he was almost cheated out of his dinner (as vomiting could have occurred) . The cab driver made the 45 minute drive from the airport to the hotel in 18 minutes. As Tom careened back and forth in the back seat, they dodged cows, rickshaws and elephants like they were playing Frogger.
Taxis can be used for odd events. In Panama, Lori, Lisa and I wanted to go to the Panama Canal so we hired a taxi for 3 hours. The driver drove us to the canal, we visited it, we ate lunch, and then the driver who would could not identify from sight came back up to us and asked if we were ready to go. I guess paying only 1/2 your fair up front helps keep the driver committed to you. It seemed odd to us to continue to pay a taxi driver to work for us while we were eating lunch, but everyone was doing it. When in Rome......
Taxis can be deceiving. This past weekend some friends who had over imbibed at Universal City Walk went to the taxi area, hopped in a yellow car and asked the driver to take them the 17 miles back to our hotel. When they got there, they asked, "How much?" The driver indicated, "I don't know, I am not a cab driver." What would possess someone to take my friends 17 miles without mentioning this???? They gave him $40 and got the hell out of there!
Finally, taxis can be downright unreliable. I was visiting NYC with an ex in December 2005 for a long weekend. We were having a great time until the last day. The taxi drivers decided to go on strike - there were NO taxis running in NYC. It felt like Armageddon. The streets were like canyons that you could run down, it had a Will Smith, I am Legend, feel. As we scrambled to find transportation to the airport, we cursed the taxis. How could the government let this happen? When thousands of taxis stop running, it impacts EVERYTHING!
Oh well, taxis are good, and taxis are bad. They make me curse, but they give me the freedom to explore!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Taxi Tour of Seoul
In 2006, I had the opportunity to go to Seoul, Korea with JCI. I was a candidate for JCI Vice President so I did not have a lot of time to sight see. The 1st day I did and I took advantage of it. Christa, Sean, Mindy, Ben, and I were off to see anything and everything we could. Our cab took us to the first temple on Sean's massive and extremely comprehensive sightseeing list (I think he is more organized then I am) and we explored the temple. As we were looking for a taxi to take us to the next location, we came across a Communist protest complete with the ominous music and hundreds of people shouting something we could not understand. As the police with the riot gear showed up, we took it as our clue to get the hell out of dodge.
Then it was off to the Seoul tower to take the tram to the top. Mindy and Ben got in a different cab then us, had some problems with communication and ended up at the base of the mountain. Sean, Christa and I arrived at the tram entrance and proceeded to wait and wait and wait not knowing what had happened to Mindy and Ben. A half hour later and a mile hike later Mindy and Ben showed up in need of a drink and a shower. The view was amazing!
Through the week we (I) did not get much time to go sightseeing and there was still stuff on Sean's list that I had not seen so after a Korean BBQ and a lot of drinks, Lori, Phil and I thought it was a good idea to hire a cab and take a midnight tour of the city. Probably not our best idea as we all were tipsy but we jammed ourselves in to the back of a taxi cab and gave our driver the list of 6 things we wanted to see. We took off like we were drag racing in the movie "Tokyo Drift", went about 1 block and the driver slammed on the brakes and pulled over. Had we laughed too much as we were holding on for dear life? Then the driver started yelling at a pedestrian and passed him our sightseeing list. What was going on? Was he trying to get this guy to drive us? Were we going to get robbed at one of these spots? The guy outside wrote on our list and handed the paper back to the driver and again we went from 0 - 60 in 3.5 seconds. We figured out that he had our list translated so he knew where he was going.
We got to the 1st location and we tried to dispense of our cab driver and pick up a new driver who wasn't as nuts, but he was not having any of it. He stuck to us like glue. He assisted us in taking pictures, opened our car doors and since we could not really communicate with him, we knew we were stuck with him. At the second location, the closed gate blocked the temple so we could not even see it to take a photo. The next thing we know the cab driver is talking to the security guard who opens the gate and we have the ability to walk around the deserted grounds. The driver was trying to explain the temple to us in KOREAN so of course we had no idea what was going on. We lost Phil briefly as he ducked behind a bush to go the bathroom (I told you we had been drinking) and then we were off to the next location.
2 hours later, our stomachs hurting from laughing so much, the driver returned us to the bar next to our hotel where we had a pitcher of smoking beer (compliments of dry ice). A tour, a pitcher of beer, a night to never be forgotten, all for $45 dollars - how can you go wrong?
Then it was off to the Seoul tower to take the tram to the top. Mindy and Ben got in a different cab then us, had some problems with communication and ended up at the base of the mountain. Sean, Christa and I arrived at the tram entrance and proceeded to wait and wait and wait not knowing what had happened to Mindy and Ben. A half hour later and a mile hike later Mindy and Ben showed up in need of a drink and a shower. The view was amazing!
Through the week we (I) did not get much time to go sightseeing and there was still stuff on Sean's list that I had not seen so after a Korean BBQ and a lot of drinks, Lori, Phil and I thought it was a good idea to hire a cab and take a midnight tour of the city. Probably not our best idea as we all were tipsy but we jammed ourselves in to the back of a taxi cab and gave our driver the list of 6 things we wanted to see. We took off like we were drag racing in the movie "Tokyo Drift", went about 1 block and the driver slammed on the brakes and pulled over. Had we laughed too much as we were holding on for dear life? Then the driver started yelling at a pedestrian and passed him our sightseeing list. What was going on? Was he trying to get this guy to drive us? Were we going to get robbed at one of these spots? The guy outside wrote on our list and handed the paper back to the driver and again we went from 0 - 60 in 3.5 seconds. We figured out that he had our list translated so he knew where he was going.
We got to the 1st location and we tried to dispense of our cab driver and pick up a new driver who wasn't as nuts, but he was not having any of it. He stuck to us like glue. He assisted us in taking pictures, opened our car doors and since we could not really communicate with him, we knew we were stuck with him. At the second location, the closed gate blocked the temple so we could not even see it to take a photo. The next thing we know the cab driver is talking to the security guard who opens the gate and we have the ability to walk around the deserted grounds. The driver was trying to explain the temple to us in KOREAN so of course we had no idea what was going on. We lost Phil briefly as he ducked behind a bush to go the bathroom (I told you we had been drinking) and then we were off to the next location.
2 hours later, our stomachs hurting from laughing so much, the driver returned us to the bar next to our hotel where we had a pitcher of smoking beer (compliments of dry ice). A tour, a pitcher of beer, a night to never be forgotten, all for $45 dollars - how can you go wrong?
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