Readers discretion is advised. This post might contain a high amount of small-town-attitude.

So I try to leave early to avoid arriving in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, during mid-rush hour. I figure, referring to experience from Göteborg, Swedens second largest village, that arriving around 14.30 would give me plenty of confidence to locate my hotel downtown - a place where I’ve hardly ever driven before.

9:00-14:40 All sunny and dry, singing out loud in the car.

14:45 I hit Söderleden, Stockholm.

14:46 My GPS starts to come alive after being all “in 289 km, keep left.” Yes, noted.

14:48 I enter a tunnel. A LONG tunnel. We all know what happens to GPS signals in a tunnel. I have absolutely no idea what so ever where I’m headed and the tunnel seems to last forever. Traffic is heavy and my mood begins to drop.

14:50 Sweaty and needing my signal I exit and end up in Hammarby Sjöstad.

14:55-15:30 Downhill from there. Not only is the rush hour traffic getting really crowded, I also end up driving in the puddle of the city where my GPS can’t keep up with all the supposed turns and I feel like I’m winning the most-wrong turns-in-30-minutes championship for out-of-towners.

15:33 Parked in garage at hotel. I swear to myself it’s the last time I’ll drive in Stockholm.

Maybe it’s just me? But I’ve driven in Seattle, Vancouver, Orlando and San Francisco during rush hour. Never a problem. But then again, US road system is a bliss.

Image: http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/baybridge.jpg

Where I don’t go I’m inspired by friends who do. Dahuang Xu, currently residing in Taiwan travels a lot in Asia. These are his colors of Cambodia and his story.

by Dahuang Xu.

Photos by Dahuang Xu.

Learn more about Cambodia here: http://www.mot.gov.kh/

Amongst colorful new wheelschairs, pinball games and German wurst und bier I fit in my meetings, browse and catch up with my friends and colleagues from far far away. As always there’s no time for play and after a four hour nights sleep, a three hour flight, a seven hour work day and a two hour mingle I’m pretty much beat.

Tomorrow offers a similar schedule but the upside is something slightly unexpected, taking place tomorrow morning in the hotel restaurant.

I. Will have. Breakfast.

But…wait for it…not a regular breaky mind you. Japanese. Breakfast.

The only breakfast I can eat regardless of sleep quality, mood and hunger. How great is that! Haven’t had it in…years. So yes, it is indeed a treat and something to look forward to.

Goodnight, lights out from Ddorf.

Image from Wikipedia.

I like Düsseldorf. It’s a cute city holding the best international exhibition in our little niche business. http://www.rehacare.de/

This is also the time where I rehearse the details on international greetings. Here my little memorandum.

One hand with most
Kiss twice with FR-IT-ES
Three with the Swiss
Not to mention the Dutch.
Hugs on hugging terms,
Plus one cheek kiss with the Brits.

If the three shows in September didn’t cause H1N1 on me it’s now or never.
I guess. Hope never.

A day at the beach was the perfect way to end the New York experience. We chatted with a local from Brooklyn, Anthony, flying his kite here since he was a kid. Coney Island was also filled with jewish people celebrating their Hoshana Rabbah and a day off. We celebrated with a soft ice and a long walk in the sun and light breeze. Thank you New York for having us. See you soon again, we have a lot of things still to see, do and eat.

And if I’d ever believe in fortune cookies it would be the ones from tonights dinner in Chinatown.

While waiting for the only thing on my shopping list (a 35 mm Nikon lens) to arrive at Cameraland I’m learning to live without a real camera. Also because of the pain of carrying it around for hours. Here’s what I found in the iPhone instead to document today (and one from yesterday).

Just to emphasize. The dog from Williamsburg was…small.

Famous Kat’z Delicatessen became the object of lunch-hunger while in Soho.

Resting at Manhattan bridge.

Wafel poetry in Greenwich Village.

Live entertainment in the subway.

Time to explore the famous neighborhoods of the city. But first things first. Bagels at Wichcraft on 34th street.

Then Williamsburg, upon recommendations from friends. A short ride on the metro brings us to a completely different atmosphere in Brooklyn. We make a spontaneous stop for some manicure and pedicure - Asian style. Fast, efficient and affordable.

Yes, it’s real. And no bigger than a pair of sneakers.

Newly lacquered, we continue to Bedford avenue for some vintage shopping in a really great area. I found this great little cook shop Whisk (one of the few places where I could stay for hours amongst china, wine openers and melamine).

On the way back we try to find one of the worlds largest China town. Not as easy as it sounds actually. We needed to ask several locals before finding the core. Then it became so busy we immediately became tired and went home.

The tastiest pomegranade soda.

Miss K considers laundering.

Back in Jersey Miss K flirted with the reception and washed up five more of their delicious signature chocolate chip cookies. A sweet ending of a long and interesting day.

My shoulders were in pain this morning. I decided to leave my 2 kg camera at the hotel and made sure miss K brought a more compact, pain-free version. A quiet morning walk on the bayside, met some nice Chinese people fishing in the morning mist. All guided by a friend I met in Paris, Saint Jamais. It seems to be our destiny to meet in hotel lobbies. First Paris and now New York.

Miss K did her duties at Bergdorf Goodman where I found ear muffs made out of shaved squirrels (or whatever), for a bargain 190 USD plus tax (8%). They stayed in the store. Then we watched deffed old men on roller skates in Central Park. And to round up another long day, some Korean dinner.

Gosh I’m too tired to write anything today. After 13 hours of jet-laggy sleep we walked for hours and now I’m just ready for another sleeping session after meeting a friend over a juicy hotel burger. Good night and more from the Asians in New York soon!

Our PATH station.

Emmet, 6 months, supposedly half greyhound, half chihuahua.

Miss K and yellow cabs.

Grand Central Terminal.

33rd street, heading back to Jersey City.

The Big Apple is just around the corner. I need to order a taxi. But at the moment I can’t because calculating the pickup time is disturbing. Anything you need to set your alarm to before 6 AM is inhumane. So I stall.

I haven’t packed. I’m not at home until tomorrow evening. I’ve hardly prepped at all. I’m sure my passport is there somewhere.

Sometimes being out of time will eliminate fidgeting and travel nerves. All I can do from here is to make a detailed packing list so that tomorrow night I can check off each item and rest assured that I’ve probably relied too much on it anyway.

It will be awesome, it will be fun and I will make New York my hot, new model.

Stay tuned for live New York updates!

At least according Real Holiday Reports. The Germans aren’t popular but came second in the race. A race you really don’t want to win. But still a 1000+ travelers uniformly elected the Russians the most rude and unsophisticated tourists.

My personal experiences with Russian on traveling foot are unfortunately similar. But like RHR say, it’s about experience in the game. Many of them are on holiday for the first time and maybe not updated on the latest travel manners. Or just manners for that sake. I get equally annoyed with newbie Swedes, Danes, Italians and Americans but more because of the loud, rowdy and self-righteous behavior keeping them company.

Ah well. We still need to share this planet of ours. So to the holidaying Russians (and everyone else for that matter) out there: Don’t call dibs on the sun chairs. It’s really annoying and you’ll get the entire hotel against you.

But remember to read a lot of survey results. A mere googling gives French, British and Germans equal…credit.

http://www.dagensps.se/artiklar/2009/08/31/70507467/index.xml

I am now accepting travel tips for New York in October. What is a must, what is YOUR must?

Will be staying here. Length of stay is seven days. Never been in N.Y before but I have the pleasure of company for a change. Any tips on areas, dining, ultimate photo spots, museums, shopping or just hang-out in general please post to necesse@gmail.com or in the comments section.

Thanks and cheers!

(Great) photo source: http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5010

Formed in the last ice-age, the Rhine Falls.

Der Rheinfall, Schaffhausen.

Good food should be simple, proper and enjoyed on a warm summer evening on a balcony in a nice European city. Period.

Above starring Weber-grilled Bratwurst, hotter-than-Wasabi Dijon mustard, oven fresh buns and..er…Mariestad Export beer. From IKEA. In Zürich.

The other night starring Swedish herring, Västerbotten cheese, sour dough crisp bread in the spirit of O.P Andersson. The latter purchased at IKEA. In Zürich.

Well, as an IKEA-allergist I’m quite content with the selection of wares in outlandish IKEAs. Reasonably priced sofas and tasty spirits. A combo as reliable as Swiss clockwork.