Just when I thought mankind’s greatest invention could not get any better (see my compilation of pho reviews), I learn about a company called Marou Faiseurs de Chocolat which makes pho chocolate. Per Bloomberg’s article, These Asian Chocolatiers Are Spicing Up the Global Sweets Scene, pho chocolate is, “A distinctly Vietnamese communion of dark chocolate with star anise, cardamom, coriander, fennel, cloves, cinnamon, and pepper—a classic melange in the country’s famous soup, without the beef.” I’m not a fan of dark chocolate but if this tastes anything like a delicious bowl of pho, I’m willing to give it a shot. Indeed the article says that the inspiration for the chocolate came from a pho vendor near the chocolate factory who was grilling fresh spices for her soup noodle dishes. Someone please figure out which vendor this is so I can have a pho taste test and a chocolate taste test the next time I am in Vietnam.
Guns & Butter: Tasmania Travel Guide
Tasmania Travel Guide is part of the TPOL Down Under Trip Report.
TPOL’s Guns & Butter Travel Guide is the best way to see as much as you can in as little time as possible. Here’s how it works – A trip is composed of two factors: Labor And Lazy. The opportunity cost (what is given up) for relaxing and being Lazy is gained by being adventurous in the form of Labor and vice versa. The guide includes inefficient activities i.e., tourist traps that should be avoided, and aspirational activities that are worth doing but may be impossible to see given the constraints of time and resources.
Have you ever been to Tasmania or “Tassie” as it is called by locals? Here’s what you should do and not do while you are there:
Should Do
- Mount Wellington: Drive to the top to catch the sunrise.
- Salamanca Market: Go on a Saturday.
Did Do
- Visit the weirdest museum in the world (see Museum of New and Old Art (MONA) Tasmania: What the £µ¢&!).
- Eat Fish & Chips (see What to Do in the Citaaay, City of Hobart).
- Bruny Island (see Why You Should Go to Bruny Island Tasmania).
Skip
- Rental Car: Unless you can afford it, skip renting a car for days on end. It is expensive. Attractions around Hobart are walking distance or accessible by boat. If you’re going to Bruny Island, then a car is advisable (see Renting a Car in Tasmania: The Devil Is on the Island).
- Hotels: Stay outdoors. Literally, find the cheapest accommodations, even if that is camping. Paying $130 for an ibis was not worth it.
Overall
I would’ve liked to have seen Mount Wellington, but overall I feel that my two nights in Tasmania were sufficient.
ibis Hobart: Aloft Decor, Sheraton Prices
Ibis Hobart Hotel Review is part of the TPOL Down Under Trip Report.
Getting There: Either rent a car from the airport or take Uber (see I’m in Tasmania. How Do I Get to My Hotel?).
Hobart is expensive. From renting a car to going to a museum (see Museum of New and Old Art (MONA) Tasmania: What the £µ¢&!). The hotels were not a bargain either. Unfortunately, there were not points hotels, leaving me to use the few precious dollars I have to my name. Like the rest of the trip, I started searching for hotels upon arrival. This is a terrible, stressful strategy. While it worked out in Melbourne (see Aura Hotel Melbourne: Flinders, Flinders, Flinders!), I didn’t have much luck in Hobart. Many of the bargain hotels were closed for late arrival check-ins. I ended up going with ibis because it’s a brand I know and because it is located in the center of the city.
Price
The reason to stay at ibis hotels is because they are cheap. Rates are often less than $100 a night. This one was not. For $128 a night, here’s what I got.
Room
The room looks like a typical aloft.
Bathroom
I had an accessible bathroom because the other rooms did not have a view.
View
This is the view I would have missed?
Overall
There’s nothing special about this ibis, including the price. Paying $100 a night here, Darwin, and other cities throughout this TPOL Down Under added up to a small fortune. If you’re going to Hobart, I recommend selecting the cheapest hotel option. There’s not much to do in the city anyway (see What to Do in the Citaaay, City of Hobart). Alas, it’s what I had to add another ‘country’ to the list of places I’ve been.
Free Travel at Its Finest: Freddie Awards + New Orleans
The Free Travel at Its Finest post is part of Freddie Awards to New Orleans Binge Weekend Trip Report which covers:
Sometimes, you’ve got to live mas. But how to do so when you don’t want to spend money, especially on domestic travel? This is the issue I faced as I debated whether or not to attend my fourth Freddie Awards. The first and still the best was in Las Vegas (see Vegas, Missed Flight Misery). The next was almost as good in New Jersey (see Missed My Flight to NYC: The Freddies Strikes Again). Last year’s was also rough to get to (see JetBlue San Juan to NYC to Seattle: A Big Price to Pay for a Few Points Spent), but I still showed up mostly put together (see Arriving Wrinkle Free Thanks to Bluffworks).
Which brings me to the Freddy Awards 2019, hosted in one of the most boring big cities in America- Dallas. Last time I was here was to watch Michigan trick me into believing it was a good football team (see Michigan vs Florida: A Review Of Cowboy Stadium). I also made the usual rounds from bar to restaurant to bar (see Dallas, Texas: Food & Drink Party Guide). This time I won’t be straying too far from DFW as the awards are being held at the Museum of Flight.
Much like how I booked my trip to Trinidad for Carnival for free, this short getaway also is costing next to nothing.
Here’s how:
- SJU-DFW: $5.60 + 7,500 Avios. I’m very lucky to have found a direct flight.
- Hyatt Regency DFW: $0 + 8k/night
- DFW-MSY: $83 but reimbursed thanks to my new Citi Prestige.
- MSY Hyatts: $0 + 15k a night + stay cert
- MSY-SJU: $5.60 + 15k points on Southwest
Grand Total: $0! The Citi Prestige will cover the $5.60 charges too. One day these points hustles will end. When that happens I’ll just stay in Puerto Rico. Until then I’ll do my best to travel for next to nothing. The award for sexiest booking to the Freddies may not go to me, but the one for most frugal probably should.
Dancing Diplomacy: Why You Should Go to Nightclubs Abroad
Dancing Diplomacy is part of the #NoCollusion, No Albania for TPOL where I break my 100 country count mark. See the World Map for where I’ve been.
It may not make sense to many that I travel the world to drink the same drinks, do the same Dougie, and experience the same hangover that I could at home. Some argue there is no cultural value in shots in Shanghai, bottles in Dubai, or Tremens in Tel Aviv.
That’s simply not true. Every traveler yearns to get the local, authentic experience.There’s nowhere better to do this than at the club. Here’s why:
Music
Music connects people. If you’re an American traveling abroad and you hear Jay-Z in a club #ballsohard, you can’t help but sing along. This energy is contagious and you’ll soon find yourself dancing with a group of strangers. Alternatively, if you’re an American in Albania and you hear Albanian music, you may find Albanians teaching you the words and dances to their music. Making it rain may be a thing of the past but throwing napkins on the floor is not (see Folie Marine Albania: Party Like A Rockstar, BYOD). 
Friends
Try walking up to a stranger in a foreign city and saying, “Hi, you want to hang out?” Chances are, you’ll receive a strange look. Do that at night in a venue that is playing music and serving drinks and you may receive the same reaction. Alternatively, you may make new friends who can provide advice on what to see and do in a given city better than any other guidebook or blog (see Ganbei! The Guide to Making Friends in China).
Honesty
TPOL is very honest #nocollusion. Add in drinks and TPOL is a severely honest. The same is true for your foreign counterpart who will tell you all his/her world views, for better or worse. That honesty goes a long way to forging friendships that last.
A Reason to Keep Facebook
I do not like Facebook and would love to delete it. The only reason to keep it is for adding new people I meet while traveling. Over the years, I have kept in touch with many people via Facebook and have met up with them in random places throughout the world.
After Hours
When you’re at home, do you go to sleep when the bar closes? No. You go hang out with your friends and that’s when the fun begins. The same is true abroad. Meet some new people and you might find yourself on a motorbike going to a house party in the middle of nowhere in Bali. You might find yourself eating delicious fish at some unmarked restaurant in Shenzhen (Coco Park: A Night Out in Shenzhen).
Recommendations
Everyone wants to avoid tourist traps. The best way to do so is to ask your new friends where you should or should not go (see Amalfi Coast: A Beautiful Tourist Trap). 
Overall
Dancing diplomacy – it’s better than being lonely on this planet.
Folie Marine Albania: Party Like A Rockstar, BYOD
Where to Party Albania Riviera is part of the #NoCollusion, No Albania for TPOL where I break my 100 country count mark. See the World Map for where I’ve been.
Following the long drive from Skopje, I arrived in Himare, Albania, at 11PM. I checked into the barracks (see Bollanos Hotel: Wait, Where Am I?), threw down my luggage, and went across the street to the bar. I met some friendly bartenders there who supplied me with beer while breaking the bad news that Folie Marine was nowhere near where I was. I would have to take a $20 cab to get there, and it would be wise to book the taxi return ahead of time in order to get back.
Since one of the reasons I came to the Albanian Riviera was to go to this club (check out their Instagram during the summer months to to see why), I agreed. Before I left, the bartenders and I shared a locally made poisonous concoction. 
I arrived at the bar and was greeted by the hostess. She was surprised that I had made the journey alone via taxi and that I was not staying at the adjacent resort, the only hotel in the city of Jala.
Ready to do some damage, I headed straight to the bar. Since it was early in the morning, 12:30AM, the place was very quiet. This gave me an opportunity to take photos of the pool. The establishment looks like a baby version of XS Las Vegas. 
What happens next is a bit fuzzy, but the club went from being empty to completely slammed as I found myself at a table with strangers singing along to American hiphop.
Things went from calm, to crazy, to silly after someone suggested shots of this poison:
After that, there was the traditional throwing of the napkins:
Then just as quickly as everything started, everything ended. The music was turned off, the people went back to their hotel, and I was all alone. I dialed my driver’s number and couldn’t get through. I asked the bartender for a taxi and they laughed at me. I tried to check into the hotel and they said it was sold out. Exhausted, I considered going to sleep on a beach chair. While dozing off in the lobby, the front desk agent somehow contacted my driver and miraculously he was in the area. He took me back to the barracks for some much needed rest.
Overall
From what I can remember, it was memorable night out. I was supposed to return the next day for the day pool party, but given the logistical nightmare I decided against it. I regret that decision. I further regret not finding a guesthouse in Jala where I would have gladly spent the majority of my time while on the Albanian Riviera.
Folie Marine: Party Like a Rockstar, Bring Your Own Driver.
TPOL’s TIP: Check out Airbnb for Jala guesthouses as the Folie Marine resort is $500/night when it is not sold out. If that’s not available, wing it like I did or skip it altogether.
Detained in Israel? Check The Back of Your Passport
I have a separate category on my blog called Travel Nightmares. It’s where I recount everything that can go wrong or has gone wrong in my travels, whether it was self-inflicted or not. Visas are especially problematic for me (see China 72-hour Visa-Free Transit Disaster (again)). The worst experience was my detention upon arriving to Tel Aviv (see Detained in Tel Aviv: A Most Unwelcome Welcome) and my prolonged goodbye when I tried to leave (“You Leave Only with Passport!” Detained in Tel Aviv Again and Bags Recovered! Ending My Tel Aviv Ordeal).
Two days ago, Lucky wrote a post called, Israeli Passport Sticker Raises Eyebrows At Beirut Airport. In it, he describes how he was stopped by Lebanese authorities at the airport. He writes, “While I didn’t have an Israeli stamp in my passport, I did have an Israeli security sticker on the back cover of my passport. This is a sticker that’s placed on the back of your passport after you’re questioned at Ben Gurion Airport. It’s yellow and has a barcode.” After a quick detour to get his passport photocopied, he was sent on his way.
Lucky was, as his name suggests, lucky. Per the State Department, “Even if their travel documents currently do not have Israeli stamps or visas, persons seeking entry into Lebanon who have previously traveled to Israel may still face arrest and/or detention if this travel is disclosed.”
Given that information, there are some takeaways that are worth reiterating:
- Don’t get your passport stamped if you go to Israel.
- If you have been detained, remove the sticker from the back of your passport.
- Do not volunteer to the border agent that you have traveled to Israel.
Now for the questions that I don’t know the answer to:
- The State Department says arrest or detention is possible if “travel is disclosed.” If the border agent asks if you’ve ever been to Israel, what do you do?
- Lebanon is one of the few countries that I want to visit that I have yet to visit (see Where I’ve Been). By blogging, I have disclosed that I have been to Israel. How popular is TPOL in Lebanon? Is detention a certainty when I go? Obviously, there’s only one way to find out.
Overall
If you’ve gone to Israel, take note of this advice.
Why I Upgraded My Chase Marriott to Bonvoy
I received an interesting offer from Chase. For $10 more a month, I could change my Marriott Premier Plus card to the stealth Marriott Bonvoy card. Aesthetics alone, this is worth the increase from $85 a year to $95. Look how nice it is:
In seriousness, everything Bonvoy has been a flop up to this point. Without the old SPG cash and points system (see Are Marriott Cash + Points a Myth?), my Marriott balance might as well be zero. I don’t care if it’s category 8 or category 1, even paying 25k will drain even the most robust account. Contrast this to paying 3k a night at the Aloft Bangkok. Back then SPG points were actually worth something. Now, they are almost as bad as most domestic airline programs.
With these negative changes, I had to decide whether it was worth going for ‘platinum’ status with Marriott and how I would achieve it. Reaching 50 nights or 25 stays with SPG provided 4PM checkout, suite upgrades, and great overall service. That was fairly easy to do. Now, to reach that same level of status, now called Titanium Elite, I would have to stay 75 nights. (On paper, the benefits I want e.g., suite upgrades, 4PM checkout, are available to Platinum Elites but many have written that suite upgrades don’t happen as frequently.) Add in my move to Puerto Rico and the lack of desire to travel as a result of coming to this tropical paradise and the chances that I reach 50 nights, let alone 75, are looking bleak.
Cue Chase’s offer: If I spend 3k in 3 months, I would receive 15 nights towards requalifying for elite status. Right now, I’m at 20 nights, 15 having come from one of my Bonvoy cards and 5 from actual stays. With 10 more from booking an office meeting (which used to be unlimited until bloggers do what bloggers do), I would be 5 away from Platinum Elite.
For me, that’s the deal of the year. While I scramble to figure out what program deserves my loyalty, at least I know that I will have 4PM checkout through 2020 with Marriott, something that is indispensable for my lifestyle (see Courtyard by Marriott Hong Kong: New Year’s Cert Rescue Story).
TPOL’s TIP: I now have the Chase Marriott Bonvoy, the Amex Personal, and Amex Business Bonvoy. They are worth the fees for the free night.
Why You Should Go to Bruny Island Tasmania
Why You Should Go to Bruny Island Tasmania is part of the TPOL Down Under Trip Report.
Congrats on renting a car. It’s time to go to Bruny Island. The drive to the port from Hobart is quick. The queue at the port is anything but. We arrived on a perfect sunny Friday afternoon just in time for the ferry to go on a lunch break. It usually runs every 30 minutes except from noon to 1pm.
At 1pm, we waited in the queue for one ferry to go and another to come. Talking to locals, many were upset at the the delay to get from one side to the other because of the growing number of tourists that have recently increased. Though they recognize the growing number of visitors and the bottle neck, local business owners still close as early as 4PM. That makes no sense because the summer days are long and there’s so much to do on the island.
TPOL’s TIP: Grab a beer for the ferry ride over along with wine and espresso while you wait.
Oysters
With time against us, we mapped out the must see of Bruny. First was the oyster bar. Unlike Darwin and Melbourne, the oysters here were delicious. A dozen cost $20AUD. That’s nothing for freshness.
TPOL’S TIP: If you’re in a serious hurry, go to the drive thru.
Brewery
Breweries are the next bubble. Ever city has a brewery serving the same stuff under a different name. Clever names for IPAs don’t make them less disgusting. Leave the recipes to the monks who centuries ago perfected Dunkleweisen, TPOL’s favorite beer.
The Bruny Brewery wasn’t like most breweries I’ve been to. The beers here were actually good. The brewery also made its own cheeses, something more satisfying than popcorn and peanuts.
TPOL’S TIP: Get a designated driver. Normally, there’s only one cop on Bruny, but during peak season more show up. The penalty for drinking and driving for tourists is a fine and a lifetime ban from driving in Australia (see Vineyard Crawl: My Yarra Valley Wine Tour).
Ocean Lagoon Intersection
One attraction that doesn’t close is where the intersection meets the lagoon. Climb up for iconic photos.
Berry Vineyard
We reached the vineyard five minutes before closing. They wouldn’t offer us samples, nor would they let us use the bathroom. The owner seemed irritated that we even tried. The employee said we should have come earlier and wasn’t sympathetic to the delay on the bridge.
TPOL’S TIP: Bruny is the getaway destination for locals. It has yet to embrace tourists.
Get Out
Our flight was at 9:30PM. The local said take the 7PM ferry to ensure we didn’t miss the flight and not to worry about traffic on the way out. With everything closed, we went to the pier at 6PM. It was fortunate that we did because the wait to get out was as long as the wait to get in.
TPOL’S TIP: Get there early and leave even earlier.
Albanian Riviera: Beautiful, But How Do You Get There?
How to Get to the Albanian Riviera is part of the #NoCollusion, No Albania for TPOL where I break my 100 country count mark. See the World Map for where I’ve been.
Promises made, promises kept. The time had come for TPOL to listen to the voters and move to Albania (see Vote Where TPOL Moves Next! And I’ll Go There). By move, I meant go on vacation. Those words mean the same thing right? After all, I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be. The Albania Riviera is beautiful. It’s like the Amalfi Coast without the tourist traps. The problem is that there is no efficient way to get there.
Option 1: Fly into Tirana, Albania’s Capital, and take the bus.
Option 2: Fly into Corfu, Greece and take the boat.
Option 3: Fly to Skopje, Macedonia, check off your 100th country, and figure it out when you get there.
Obviously, I went with option 3. I spoke to the front desk at the Skopje Marriott. They recommended hiring a private driver. The cost was $500. I vetoed that idea and decided to take my chances with the bus. With no published bus schedule that I could find and no way to book a seat online, what could go wrong? I hopped into a taxi and told him to take me to the bus station. He asked where I was going and I said Saranda, Albania. At the time, I was unaware that my intended destination, Jala, was located much further up the coast. My plan was to figure out how to get to Jala, home to Folie Marine, the top party destination in the Albanian Riviera, once I was in the vicinity.
The taxi driver asked if I was open to hiring a driver instead of taking the bus. I asked him how much and he said around $230. For 7 hours direct versus having to deal with changing busses and taking twice as long, I agreed. Our first stop would be Bitola, Macedonia, where we would have to find another driver who would agree to take me the rest of the way for his cut of the fare.
The drive from Skopje to Bitola was 2.5 hours. When we arrived, I went to find some drinks while my driver went to find another driver.
In no time, he found someone to take me to Saranda via Thessaloniki, Greece. For the next few hours he drove and drove. Meanwhile, I was searching for a hotel near Jala. There weren’t any. I don’t mean that the hotels were sold out. I mean that there weren’t any actual hotels. The lone exception was the Folie Marine & Club which was at capacity. Had it not been, the daily rate is $500.
I settled for a hotel in the in the town of Himare, which I assumed was close enough to Jala by taxi. When we arrived in Saranda, the driver was less than pleased to find out that he still had to go another 32 miles. He charged me another $25 for the inconvenience. That was actually reasonable considering that my taxi back to Saranda the next day cost 500LEK ($45USD).
Lessons Learned
I learned next to nothing from this experience, except that Albania needs to invest in infrastructure if it wants foreign tourists to come.
For those looking to go to other cities in Albanian Riviera: A stop in dreadful Corfu followed by a ferry ride may be the best option. Flying into Tirana is not convenient, given the lack of direct flights (see Tirana’s WikiAirport Page). Even if you find a flight into Tirana, hiring a car or taking a bus for 170 miles is not much better than the routing I took.
For those looking to go to Folie Marine: Given the clientele at Folie Marine, I assume they don’t care if there are tourists. The nightclub was packed, the tables were booked solid, and the hotel couldn’t offer me a room even at 4AM. Staying in Himare was not a great idea. It cost $20 each way to get to Folie Marine and I was lucky that the taxi that took me there actually came back to pick me up. Otherwise, I would have slept on the beach.
Overall
The Albanian Riviera is beautiful, pristine, and remains undiscovered to the outside world. The reason is because it is inconvenient to access. Compared to Corfu which was ruined by tourists, that may be a good thing. But for the stubborn adventurer like myself, it was an unnecessary hassle.
