brukuns does SoCal - September

brukuns

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Mar 5, 2014
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That’s not what I said.
I thought you said Disney was expensive so I should plan cheaply (overall). It is and I will. But not going to Disney is not an option. Hell, normal brazzos would be going to Orlando, but the thought of being stuck in a giant theme park for 1 week gives me the chills. (that's what I think of Orlando, one giant theme park and there's no getting away... never been though)
 

sdsrfr

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I thought you said Disney was expensive so I should plan cheaply (overall). It is and I will. But not going to Disney is not an option. Hell, normal brazzos would be going to Orlando, but the thought of being stuck in a giant theme park for 1 week gives me the chills. (that's what I think of Orlando, one giant theme park and there's no getting away... never been though)
yes - vacations are for the kids and Disney is expensive.

set your budgets tight early so you have the funds to last the trip. you will inevitably spend more than you plan to bc southern california is expensive, hidden costs can add up, and the pressure to do something bc everyone else does is real.
 
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PRCD

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Do not go to Disneyland. It's just there to fleece tourists. Go to the San Diego Wild Animal park and take @gbg up on his offer.
Stay out of LA County. Fly into Tijuana if you must.
 

gbg

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Brukuns, DMJ is a good beachbreak on camp pendleton. If you stay in north county and go to legoland thats close. we can surf early. Look man, don't come all this way and not surf. I will pick u up before sunrise. Back by 9. I have a board and suit 4 u. You may not surf the way you want but it will be a good experience. I wont bust your balls. Most of us have been out of the water and or surfing poorly at some point in life so just come and have fun.
 

brukuns

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Brukuns, DMJ is a good beachbreak on camp pendleton. If you stay in north county and go to legoland thats close. we can surf early. Look man, don't come all this way and not surf. I will pick u up before sunrise. Back by 9. I have a board and suit 4 u. You may not surf the way you want but it will be a good experience. I wont bust your balls. Most of us have been out of the water and or surfing poorly at some point in life so just come and have fun.
Awesome G, I appreciate that, a lot! The ball and chain is heavy though, gonna have to see how it goes. Was I traveling alone I would take up on your offer eyes closed and it would probably be the highlight of the trip. Hell, just driving through Camp Pendleton would have been worth it :computer: . We have time until then to prepare the terrain though... maybe a stop by Tiffany's blowing up the budget the day before? :roflmao:
 

brukuns

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Mar 5, 2014
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yes - vacations are for the kids and Disney is expensive.

set your budgets tight early so you have the funds to last the trip. you will inevitably spend more than you plan to bc southern california is expensive, hidden costs can add up, and the pressure to do something bc everyone else does is real.
All noted. I know how that goes. My wife and I are not big restaurant goers so at least I have that working in my favor. Thanks!
 
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sdsrfr

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All noted. I know how that goes. My wife and I are not big restaurant goers so at least I have that working in my favor. Thanks!
You’ll save plenty then. It’s drinks before or during dinner, desert, etc. it all adds up.

A little something quickly turns into an extra $100 on the bill - then they throw a hidden service fee and you’re paying an extra 5% on top of the whole bill. it’s hard to always see it coming and it’s become pretty common.

watch out for all the tip requests. It’s become common to ask for a 20% tip for everything. No, you most likely don’t have to tip them but the cashier will prompt you on the checkout , and default to some non-$0 amount anyway.

1 button press to agree to 20% tip or 4 button presses to remove it.
 
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brukuns

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You’ll save plenty then. It’s drinks before or during dinner, desert, etc. it all adds up.

A little something quickly turns into an extra $100 on the bill - then they throw a hidden service fee and you’re paying an extra 5% on top of the whole bill. it’s hard to always see it coming and it’s become pretty common.

watch out for all the tip requests. It’s become common to ask for a 20% tip for everything. No, you most likely don’t have to tip them but the cashier will prompt you on the checkout , and default to some non-$0 amount anyway.

1 button press to agree to 20% tip or 4 button presses to remove it.
Wife doesn't drink either, so I never had that problem with overpriced drinks. Since she's not drinking I don't feel inclined to drink either when I'm out.

Here in Brazil we pay 10% as a tip... when I'm in LA I go for 17%... not paying a full 20% but don't wanna be the cheapskate paying the least either (usually 15 if I remember correctly). Considering the dollar is 5.5 x 1 I might break that rule this time. but not paying the service is ugly... if I don't want to pay for a service I probably shouldn't go at all. Gonna pay attention to not get tricked into paying full service.

I'm inclined to find an Airbnb with a kitchen so I can save a bit. and to be quite honest, coming from Brazil, just going to the Supermarket in the US is a treat on itself, so many options. You wouldn't understand.
 

PRCD

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Wife doesn't drink either, so I never had that problem with overpriced drinks. Since she's not drinking I don't feel inclined to drink either when I'm out.

Here in Brazil we pay 10% as a tip... when I'm in LA I go for 17%... not paying a full 20% but don't wanna be the cheapskate paying the least either (usually 15 if I remember correctly). Considering the dollar is 5.5 x 1 I might break that rule this time. but not paying the service is ugly... if I don't want to pay for a service I probably shouldn't go at all. Gonna pay attention to not get tricked into paying full service.

I'm inclined to find an Airbnb with a kitchen so I can save a bit. and to be quite honest, coming from Brazil, just going to the Supermarket in the US is a treat on itself, so many options. You wouldn't understand.
A hotel with a kitchen might be cheaper than an AirBnB now. Stuff has gotten crazy expensive out here since you last came. Restaurants are not really worth it. An InstaPot and a CostCo membership could save you a fortune haha.
 
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grapedrink

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You’ll save plenty then. It’s drinks before or during dinner, desert, etc. it all adds up.

A little something quickly turns into an extra $100 on the bill - then they throw a hidden service fee and you’re paying an extra 5% on top of the whole bill. it’s hard to always see it coming and it’s become pretty common.

watch out for all the tip requests. It’s become common to ask for a 20% tip for everything. No, you most likely don’t have to tip them but the cashier will prompt you on the checkout , and default to some non-$0 amount anyway.

1 button press to agree to 20% tip or 4 button presses to remove it.
Agreed. My rule of thumb is that the out the door price of a meal is double the entree price per person when it’s all said and done. At least, and that’s if you stick to maybe a drink and sharing an app or desert. Could easily be 3-4x if you aren’t careful. In this sense, take out is your friend and eat it in your hotel room.

As to brukuns question about LegoLand, kids seem to love it because it is more interactive. It’s less organized line up rides and more chaos with kids running around all over the place like it’s Lord of the Flies :drowning:

Also, take gbg up on his offer. You could be back to the room early enough to still have plenty of day left.
 
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brukuns

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A hotel with a kitchen might be cheaper than an AirBnB now. Stuff has gotten crazy expensive out here since you last came. Restaurants are not really worth it. An InstaPot and a CostCo membership could save you a fortune haha.
I didn't look much, only around LA (hotels aren't really doable near SM and Venice... only viable options are closer to the airport)... Airbnbs are extremely more affordable than hotels, and in much better areas too. Still need to do a lot of research though, but Airbnb definitely seems on the cheaper side.

I doubt I can get a membership at Cotsco, I don't you need a SS number?

What's Instapot?

But I agree... inflation coupled with the extreme devaluation of my currency against the dollar are gonna make for a fun trip (the latter being a much bigger problem than inflation... I'm a child of inflation, 10% is peanuts). Fuck it, no vacation since 2018... I'll fucking go through my emergency reserves if I must, hell if it comes to it I'll even take a fucking loan. It's not gonna come to that but I had already said fuck it when I decided to travel to the US with this dollar.
 

grapedrink

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You should be able to find a suitable AirBnb. It’s the hot investment for the upper 20% crowd so the market has become crowded. Lots of options.

Instapot is an electric multi cooker: pressure/slow/rice cooker and a few others.

Im sure someone can float you a Costco card. If nobody offers that’s closer I’ll send you mine or my wife’s with a stamped return envelope. No worries :beer:
 
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brukuns

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Agreed. My rule of thumb is that the out the door price of a meal is double the entree price per person when it’s all said and done. At least, and that’s if you stick to maybe a drink and sharing an app or desert. Could easily be 3-4x if you aren’t careful. In this sense, take out is your friend and eat it in your hotel room.

As to brukuns question about LegoLand, kids seem to love it because it is more interactive. It’s less organized line up rides and more chaos with kids running around all over the place like it’s Lord of the Flies :drowning:

Also, take gbg up on his offer. You could be back to the room early enough to still have plenty of day left.
Legoland sounds very interesting... I see there's even a little area with a small town where kids drive their own motorized cars, that must be cool AF. But dude, we're brazzos going to Los Angeles... my wife is not settling for not taking him to Disney. If I have to choose, it will be Disney, I won't have much say in it. Cool that Disney has gotten so much more expensive (apparently 160 a piece) and Legoland isn't far behind costing 100.

It's cool, it's when we start looking at these details that the trip starts taking shape. much to research still.

As for gbg offer... trust me, it would be the highlight of my trip and I haven't given up... but my wife is a nagger. She's gonna be a pain to convince. I actually mentioned it to her and she gave me the look of hell. And she's always all so dependent on me when we're there, it would be much easier if she would just feel comfortable enough to have a morning for her and the kid without me but I'm not holding my breath. To help matters she wakes up early as fuck so she will be up the entire time I'm gone (normal people would wake up at 9am and barely notice I was gone... she will wake up 5am without a shadow of a doubt, probably even earlier). I have to be realistic here and not get my hopes up.
 

brukuns

Kelly Slater status
Mar 5, 2014
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You should be able to find a suitable AirBnb. It’s the hot investment for the upper 20% crowd so the market has become crowded. Lots of options.

Instapot is an electric multi cooker: pressure/slow/rice cooker and a few others.

Im sure someone can float you a Costco card. If nobody offers that’s closer I’ll send you mine or my wife’s with a stamped return envelope. No worries :beer:
Thought instapot was some awesome weed service. hahahaha.

Getting access to Cotsco would be cool, closest I've been to entering a Cotsco was going to the In and Out on Washington Blvd, hahaha. but I don't wanna give anyone any trouble. But if it's cool for you it's definitely an option, as long as I know how to return it, sending mail in LA is alien to me.

I know the west of LA well, but when it comes to North County I'm a bit lost... I mean, I know the locations and distances, but don't know what each city is like, could probably use some help on figuring out the best cities and neighborhoods to look for Airbnbs or hotels... don't want to accidentally get a room on a gang infested area or something. hahaha. I know some of those cities in N County can be a bit core and localized.

Thanks again grapedrink :beer: .
 
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grapedrink

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I hear you . . . How you navigate the wife thing is on you :roflmao: Also, I’m not saying you shouldn’t do Disney, although I do agree with the others that there are great activities and a better overall vibe in NCSD where LegoLand is. No reason why you can’t do both, especially because Disneyland isn’t exactly in LA either.

For the Costco card I would simply mail it to whatever address you stay at and you pay cash at the Costco counter. Inside would a return envelope with my address on it. Look for a blue post office box or google “post office near me” and drop it in the box. Pretty simple. They do have discounted Disney tickets inside as well.

Addresses on AirBnb can be tricky, most guests hide them. You could always send an inquiry and ask, then ask on here who lives in the area and PM them without blowing out the address itself. Can also look at google street view.

Plus, you will have my address so you can show your appreciation . . .

1679271971769.png

:ROFLMAO:
 
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sdsrfr

Phil Edwards status
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I doubt I can get a membership at Cotsco, I don't you need a SS number?
you can buy from Costco using instacart grocery delivery without a membership. Not sure if there is a per item markup or just delivery fee.

you cannot buy anything with someone elses costco card. The payment has to match the membership name.
 

grapedrink

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you can buy from Costco using instacart grocery delivery without a membership. Not sure if there is a per item markup or just delivery fee.

you cannot buy anything with someone elses costco card. The payment has to match the membership name.
That’s why I suggested he use cash, I think it should work :unsure:
Agree with instacart delivery, good call
 

sdsrfr

Phil Edwards status
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As mentioned, disneyland is not in LA and only an hour from Legoland.

maybe consider a stay in NCSD and drive for Disney. NCSD also has the wild animal park and zoo.

why home base in LA? Everything in LA takes at least an hour by car.