Tag Archives: Clubs

Croatia – Dubrovnik Day 14

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This was a pretty action packed day.

First started by going to the Dubrovnik Shopping Minceta (mall). Rob needed to grab a Fanny pack for Italy. The mall reminded me of Dragon Centre in China Town Toronto. We then went to the restaurant in the mall called Minceta (haha, go figure). Details can be found here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/08/15/minceta/

After, we headed to Old Town, and did the most popular tourist attraction, which is walking the walls of Old Town (I did it through the Dubrovnik card). It took about an hour (with taking some pics). We might’ve lent abut more time taking pics if it wasn’t so hot!

After, I did a Game of Thrones walking tour. Some notes from the tour:

-Kings Landing was in Malta for the first season, until some issues arose with some heritage thing being broken from the set

-Disney will be filing a scene in the upcoming Star Wars movie at Dubrovnik (likely only a 3 minute scene).

-When using Old Town, AirBnb and shops get compensated for any business they lose by the film company

-Lots of “teleporting” of scenes

-The red keep gets “placed” in many scenes

-The shame walk is comprised of several parts of the old town

-Lots of scenes shot at Lovrjenac (castle building slightly outside Old Town)

END OF THE POST HAS MORE PICTURE DETAILS

After the tour, visited St Blaise’s church and one other church (did not catch the name).

Then rode a cable car to the top of the mountain for sunset. Thought the sunset and view was worth it.

Then went back to the hotel to get ready for some clubbing.

Went to Club Lazareti, which played pretty good techno music. Wish I stayed the whole night (but went back to Revelin since the night before was great… but unfortunately not true for this night). Still, met some Germans at Revelin, where we tried to check out the beach for any after party. Unfortunately there was none. Still a fun night overall. (Note, there was an after party at Club Lazareti, but they added the Euro COVID certificate requirement for after 12am. Sigh).

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Black water bay: some episode in the early season (it’s summer time because of the red lights)

Black water bay: (not sure when but a boy gets thrown into the sea):

Black water bay: (some episode in the beginning seasons)

Black water bay (at some point)

Black water bay (from the last episode, and also sometime from the beginning seasons)

Tower scene from the last episode

Lovrjenac: scene from King Joeffrey’s wedding

Old Town Dubrovnik as King’s Landing

Lovrjenac: (not in the show, just him resting)

Lovrjenac: this scene was part of the hall way that Sansa used to escape King’s Landing

Lovrjenac: used as the red keep several times (this scene is when little finger threatens Cersei with knowledge, but she says power is power and threatens his head).

Lovrjenac: some scene

Lovrjenac: used when Sansa was hiding??? And the red keep (see above about little finger saying knowledge is power)

Pile Gate: this is where the famous riot scene is (where people are hungry and someone throws something at Joeffrey)

Shame scene 1:

Shame scene 2:

Croatia / Bosnia – Vodice / Dubrovnik Day 13

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We left our hotel in Vodice around 10:30am and headed to Dubrovnik Airport (to drop off our rental car)

Really the only areas of interest along the way during the drive was the gas station stopped (to get some supplies, refuel, and throw things away), and crossing Bosnia. (Also the trip did affirm that Croatia’s highway system is pretty modern, but with a lot of tolls (the inner city roads however are a different story, since they are all small and tight).

Crossing Bosnia was really easy (we gave them our passport, and they didn’t even look at all 3 or scan them). It was a 9 minute drive to Bosnia, so super short. Going back to Croatia, they did check and scan all our passports.

After the border, it was about an hour till the airport. At the airport, when returning of our rental car to XL rental cars, we did have a bit of bad luck (guess because was Friday the 13th). There was two slight scratches on the hood of the car, which cost $400 USD (we really don’t know how they got there). Hopefully Chase Sapphire reserve will be able to cover it.

We then took an Uber to our AirBnb (what had crossed our minds is to take a ferry from a close city called Cavtat to Dubvrovnik, but decided against it since the port is far from the AirBnb).

We got to our Airbnb in 20 minutes, and then got some food at a place our host recommended called Belvedere. Details can be found here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/08/15/belvedere/

After dinner, got to the AirBnb, and I actually booked a separate hotel (for logistical reasons). Booked Arch B&B (super close to the AirBnb), but they then moved my reservation to Studenski Dom (a really awesome new dorm). It was great, from the newness, to no mosquitos, to the free breakfast. The only thing I did have to do is ask them to allow me to have the AC be able to set at a lower temperature (lowest was initially locked to 28 degrees Celsius!).

I did ask the receptionist at the AirBnb what club he recommends to go to. He said Revelin. I looked it up, and I was convinced (they do bring in famous DJs like Tiesto, and the website said it was in a castle).

Revelin is in the old town (which makes sense since it’s on/in a castle). The Uber ride was 12 minutes. The DJ did not disappoint (some refreshing progressive house and deep house). Great way to end the night.

Croatia – Split Day 1

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Left SFO around 7:55pm on 7/31, and took a Swiss flight from SFO to Zurich, Switzerland. The flight experience was actually really good. They served free Glenlivet (so got 4 of those), two meals (dinner and breakfast), and had blankets and pillows. They also had free snacks and bottles of water laid out for “overnight to” eating. One key decision I did also make is upgrade my seat to an exit row, where I basically had unlimited leg room. From the above, the 11 hour flight went by pretty fast (and also binge watching Below Deck season 4 while buzzed helped).

When I arrived at Switzerland, didn’t have to go through passport control. However, there was security, where they did a pretty thorough screening of my personal bag (I think because there was a good amount of electronics). One thing to call out though is that the mocha from the airport did make my stomach upset.

The flight from Zurich to Split went by fast (basically a bit over an hour). When arriving at Split, passport control had a pretty long line, but went through it after 20 minutes. After, there was a declarations control area, where it looked like they were randomly picking who went through it.

From the Airport, we took an Uber to get to our AirBnb (30 minute drive that cost about 500 Kunas). Our AirBnB is at a pretty central location (5 minute walk from the main part of town).

After settling in the AirBnb, we first had dinner at an outdoor fast food place called Fast Good 058 (where I just had fries since I wanted to stick to something basic). Then we headed to a street called Obala Hrvatskog Preporoda (translated to Coast of the Croatian Renaissance ), where they have a good amount of nightlife and restaurants/bars going on. We checked out Roof68, where they were playing some house / tech house music. Drinks were ok (not cheap though), but I did like the vibe.

Hawaii – Kona Day 5

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Started off the day by going to Janie’s place, which as I may have mentioned before has an awesome view from higher ground of the water.

We then went to grab some poke (first time) at a new place called Kona Grill house (interestingly enough I didn’t order any red meat, only sea food). Here are the details: http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2020/11/21/kona-grill-house/

After picking up the food we drove to a Kahalu’u beach, where we ate said food (and then NJ and ben snorkled… which Ben mentioned was the best place to snorkel as of Day 8 of our trip). Shortly after, had my first Kona Coffee and Tea experience, where you can read a out it here: http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2020/11/21/kona-coffee-tea/

Shortly after, we made our way to Green Sands Beach, where along the way we drove to the southern most point of the United States!

When we got to the entrance of Green Sands Beach, we met our second off road challenge (and my first time driving off-road!). This one was definitely much more of an experience than the previous day. Not only where there more sudden drops, but there were multiple ways to go (so trying to choose the less bumpy one was sometimes challenging). The secret though (which we found out on the way back) is to follow the paths closest to the only wired fence.

When we got to the beach, we basically had the beach to ourselves (one other group left shortly after we arrived). To be honest, I didn’t think the sand was super green, but Justin was mentioning it’s because of how late in the day it was. We only spent 40 minutes in the water, but I did body boarding for the first time, and got 1 really good wave.

We then headed back to Holualoa (right before sunset), and checked out the Ola Brewery:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2020/11/22/ola-brewery/

After, we went to a bar/”club” called MyBar, which was a reminding experience during COVID times.

We finished if day watching the moon set at 11:28pm at Magic Sands Beach. That one was a first for me, which was really beautiful.

Whistler 2020

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Stayed here for 2 nights, and 2 days (Friday to Sunday)

Started off from Vancouver, where I got a ride from Sam (who rented a all wheel drive BMW car). Ended up driving at 3pm, and got to Whistler at 6pm (it took us an extra hour since we stopped to get liquor at BC Liquor store, and some groceries).

The AirBNB was located at 7406 Ambassador cres (6575 doorcode), and it was a good dive for 14 people (haha just enough bathrooms that I never noticed waiting for one).

The night off, played a bunch of drinking games including don’t drink and drive MARIO cart, and an awesome game of rage cage and flip cup. For food, we ordered at a noodle place (there aren’t ok many food delivery options, but literally googling “Whistler Food delivery” showed you all the options. The other option would’ve been pizza).

The next morning, got up at 9am, but ended up arriving to the Village / Gondela area at 1pm. A ticket was $110 for 1 day (it’s more expensive if we weren’t with Dersu, who has a buddy pass).

The first mountain I started off was Hwistler, where there were practice bunny slopes. Then I went down the easiest route (which took a long time, but not because of me).

Then I went to Blackomb, where the easiest route there was actually easy.

See all the Whistler tips here: http://lessons.awesomenessoflife.com/2020/03/01/whistler-and-snowboarding/

At the bottom of the mountain is a restaurant called Longhorn (which reminds me of a Vegas day club based on atmosphere, music, quality of sound system, etc). As you come down the mountain, you can hear the music, which actually got me going.

After Whistler, we ate at Beacon: http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2020/03/03/beacon/

After Beacon, we chilled back at the AirBnb for a little while, then headed to a restaurant called Araxi: http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2020/03/03/araxi/

After Aroxy, we tried one club called Tommy’s. That place was literally complete trash (bouncer lied and said there were 100 ppl when there were only 30, and I did not like the music). We then tried a place called Moe Joe’s, which was infinitely better. Music was a mix of top 40 and after hours, and people there were better lol.

Next day, explored other parts of the village (including the south part), plus found the Olympic Rings and took pictures! The rest of the time up in Whistler was eating at a restaurant called Caramba (http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2020/03/03/beacon/), and then chilled at Longhorn (which I wish we chilled at a bit more soon as the DJ was great, although drinks were a bit pricey – $20 for an old fashion).

Drive back down from Whistler at 3pm, and arrived at the airport at 6pm.

First Day in Hong Kong!

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So the first thing I did when I got off the plane was to get an Octopus card (basically the suica equivalent in HK, which proved to be super useful in Japan). Then I took the airport express train to Hong Kong station, which only took 24 minutes!

From Hong Kong Station I made my way to my hotel in LKF. On hind site, I should’ve continued taking the train to Central station, since walking on the street proved to be a challenge. Many of the sidewalks had fences so you couldnt j walk easily. So with my not so light luggage I had to take not so straightforward paths. In some cases, there were overpasses that needed to be taken (didn’t realize that for a bit). And finally, when I got to the street near my hotel (Wellington street), it was on a hill! When I went on the hill, I overshot the turn I was suppose to take! Eventually I got to my hotel.

After getting to the hotel I met up with Jas around 2:00pm. We headed straight to the Intercontinental Hotel for high Tea (along the way we strolled through the avenue of stars). 

  
   
 
While walking, she explained that for construction, the scaffolding they used are built from bamboos:

  
After high tea, we checked out some sites a long the way back to Central (including the Tsui … clock tower). 

   
 
When we went back to central, we ferried over, which gave some nice views of the bay.

  
When we got back to central, we ordered an Uber, which took us up to Victoria Peak. Here are some pics:

  

While we were up at the peak, I got to ty this amazing McDonalds salmon burger:

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When we came back from Victoria Peak, we got dinner at a restaurant called Tsui Wah restaurant. Apparently it’s a place people go when they are super drunk and ending the night.

   
 
After dinner, we joined a pub crawl that went to 4 bars in LKF, and one nightclub. Two of the bars were called boomshack and the other one was called Geronimo. On the pub crawl I met one guy from Boston that was telling me that when he was in Macau, he hung around some prostitues that told him how the trade was like. They said there is one guy that coorindates where each of them go, and they have connections with various clubs in Asia (and they fly the prostitues around Asia). Also, apparently they need to make a minimum of $3000 USD a month.

Another guy I met at the pub crawl was named Alexander (Mason). He worked as a manager at Nobu, and helped open up the Nobu in Miami. He said he was a “host” originally at a nightclub, which is one level up from a promoter. I added him in FB and he said to contact him if I wanted to try and get into a club in Vegas (Encore Beach, Wet Republic).

I also met a person who works for Muni.

We ended the night at a club called Magnum. I thought the drinks were over priced. It was like $10 us for a bottle of water! I was definitely like WTF. 

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