Yes, it's a boring Worldcon travelogue

[alias_sqbr]

I tend to find travelogues very dull myself, so don't feel bad if you feel like scrolling by, but if nothing else other Worldcon goers might find some of this useful.

First off: when we checked into the Hilton and they took our credit card number they put a hold on the cost of our stay AND an extra hundred dollars a night. Which was more than we had on the card (we have a very low limit!), thankfully they were willing to wait until we had a chance to transfer some money across (and have yet to complain that, it being Sunday, the money is presumably still not there). No idea what they would have done if we didn't have the extra money to hand up front.

Gratuitous whinging: I said "Grilled chicken breast and steamed vegetables, no sauces/butter etc or much fat, I have a sensitive stomach" and the woman spent five minutes taking detailed notes of my intolerances to make sure they got it right...and I got grilled skin-on chicken thigh with vegetables stir-fried in garlic oil. The breakfast buffet is a large selection of underwarmed food of varying quality. And the bathroom door is translucent which is annoying when sharing a room with someone with a very different internal clock or insomnia. I must admit, though, that the views (from the room and the ends of many of the hallways) are great, and all the staff have been very friendly (even when they were being annoying).

Have yet to find any FANTASTIC places to eat nearby, though there's lots on the nearby SouthBank. While it's very crowded the foodcourt is cheap and it's nice to sit outside under the giant balls of flame.

The Convention Centre is HUGE! Similar aesthetic to the Perth one in some ways.

distantcam went and saw The Amazing HUMAN BODY EXHIBITION today and was underwhelmed.

Tomorrow I get my mobility scooter (I ummed and ahhed over it, but I have so much trouble walking I think it will be worth the extra hassle), super thanks to the concom and Karen Babcock in particular for helping organise it. Anyway, after that I plan to check out a Coles near the Flinders St Station (which according to the more mobile distantcam is the easiest to get to on public transport, though not the geographically closest)

The planetrip was much less dull than I expected. Virgin charges money for the movies/tv channels (is that a recent thing?), but I had lots to watch/read saved on my laptop and like watching clouds (it was sunset as we neared Melbourne, very pretty) The trip back I'll watch a subtitled dvd, it's too hard hearing dialogue over the engine!

Had Issues with the Optus internet dongle when we arrived but Cam managed to jerry rig it so my laptop and his iPad share the same internet. Still, it added to my general grumpiness. Am starting to feel better now that I've had a day to rest and watch "Covert Affairs" and eat some fresh vegetables (gotten for me by the indispensible distantcam)

Comments

[djkittycat]

The hotel thing is extremely odd! I've never had a hotel put any kind of "hold" on my card, let alone one more than what I owed! Usually they just take the card number just in case you don't pay, but they don't charge it until checkout. Is what you are describing here standard practice in Oz?

[alias_sqbr]

I've stayed in a reasonable number of hotels in Australia before and NONE of them did it. I'm hoping it's not a new trend, someone on the lj version of this post said the same thing happened to him in a different hotel recently.