As Meredith is getting ready for her aupair gig in a town outside Paris this summer, she was asking me some travel tips and advice on how to get by on little cash in the expensive city of lights.

Hard to believe that it’s almost 7 years since we last visited France. The French were preparing for the new millenium, I was still able to get 6 francs for a dollar, my camera was a small konica film point and shoot, and the backpack was small and didn’t have all the state of the art details like the one I have now. We probably had more cash back then since we qualified for those youth fares and “student” discounts. Oh those youth train pass fares, how I miss thou.

As if I needed anymore reasons to head over to Chengdu…

This June will mark the 12th anniversary of my high school graduation from Brooklyn Tech. It’s 12 years since I last wandered around Fort Greene, bought turkey sandwiches and mystic at the deli by Ashland Ave, skipped class so I can hang out in park with the dealers from Myrtle Ave, and ran laps and played football on the dilapidated field at Fort Greene park. I’ve been back before, but mostly just passing through.

Coming back from the Socrates sculpture garden this afternoon, karen and i decided that we should swing by the neighborhood we spent 4 of our teenage years in. It was nice to reminisce that we had first met there and to remember the old haunts. Academy diner is still standing, but shares the block now with Corcoran and Brooklyn Properties–2 sure signs that gentrification has arrived. It also got a fresh facelift. The deli by the G train where karen and bettina went to drop their cash after school continues to sell the same delicious junk food to those Tech kids. Over in the DeKalb Ave side, the pizza shop around the corner hasn’t changed. The bodegas haven’t given way to organic health food stores or wine shops that sell bottles in wicker baskets. In fact, DeKalb pretty much looks the same. And of course, that behemoth with the rooftop antenna that is Brooklyn Tech is still standing tall and proud on that stretch of Fort Greene Place that also known as Brooklyn Tech Place. On the other side though, wine bars, nice restaurants, brunch spots, cafes, boutiques, and pricey home goods stores dot Fulton Street.

I’m not going to engage in the fierce debate over gentrification and the displacement of peoples. I’m actually thrilled to see that my old stomping grounds have transformed from a struggling neighborhood to one dynamic New York hotspot. Despite the transformation, Fort Greene still retains a deep rooted NYC feel and appearance.

More bad news for the cruise industry.

Sadly what’s supposed to be a relatively safe and stress free form of travel has become somewhat dangerous. Personally, I don’t think I would ever go on a cruise unless it’s for free. Well even with a gratis ticket, I’d have to give it some thought. I’m certainly fascinated by this whole cruise culture and those 24 hour buffets. There is also something very romantic about waking up at a new country every morning.

However, the idea of being trapped in with the same folks for the duration of the trip is enough for me to not ever go on a cruise. The dinner with the captain or admiral or whatever he’s called sounds a bit hokey. I’ll be making my 5th trip to the all-you-can-eat buffet thank you very much.

Hey, whatever floats your boat, right? Literally.

I’m not a fan of the Travel Channel offerings. The Poker World Tours, top Hawaiian secrets and haunted hotels shows are flat offerings and do nothing but make me switch the channel. Every now and then, they’ll air Globetrekker that keeps my attention until the first commercial break.

Last night the channel aired a show called “Are We There Yet?: Hong Kong” which was geared towards the traveling American family. It suceeds in the idea, but the actual show is a dud. Unless you and your family are part of the Town and Country set, the “tips” they offer are completely useless. Do you really need to recommend high end hotels such as the Four Seasons or The Peninsula? The starring family hired nannies to babysit while the couple went out on the town each night. Apparently all the the kids need to remember about their HK experience was the Chinese nannie.

While there was the constant reminder that they didn’t want to do anything touristy, and their desire to fit in with locals was really forced. The starring mom talked up the Sampan ride, Star Ferry, HK Disney as too tourist.? No, you don’t say?! Being a local was walking through Stanley Market–the market designed with the non-Asian in mind. Not once did they even mention the Lady’s Market, the Bird Market, or Temple Street. This is a family show, so maybe Temple Street isn’t a good fit. But the Bird Market or the street lined with goldfish would certainly appeal to their little brats. There was no mention about the Teddy Bear store complete with oversized bears and video games that was down the road from the Peninsula. Rather than a public double decker bus, they recommended the sightseeing double decker as an inexpensive way to see the city. Their transport tip also fail to mention the state of the art prepaid passes they use over in Asia that allows the people to pay for their rides without using cash. Those cards also doubles as debit cards in Watsons and convenient stores all over town. Their idea of high tea is at the Peninsula. Please! Give me the real HK high tea with yingyang tea with “baw-law bao” in a “cha-tan-teng” anyday.

Someone please send the Discover folks a copy Hong Kong Rocks!

After dropping off those taxes to the accountant on Saturday, I decided to walk home from chinatown. I grabbed a quick lunch, headed south towards city hall, stopped by ground zero, rounded back up Broadway, and walked over the Brooklyn Bridge to head home.

Each time a tourist took out a camera to take a picture, I stopped to see what they were photographing. It was all Manhattan skyline. No big deal to me, but must be really fascinating and romantic if you’re visiting. Manhattan was that big a deal to me. It was some of the stuff on Third Avenue in the Gowanus that caught my eye. The walk was a mere 2 hours, including a bathroom break at Barnes & Noble on Court Street. All this cost me was the left glove from the new pair I bought like 2 weeks ago.

Here are all the pics.