Let's organize a Meetup (San Diego/Tijuana)

[drealm]

I can do:

6/6
6/13
6/20

Do any of these work for you Winston?

[djfourmoney]

I don't have a problem meeting in TJ, the bus ride is cheap (under $30 R/T). It all depends when it happens however, I seriously plan to be out of the country by the end of the summer.

Which bus company. from which station in Los Angeles?

Tres Estrellas De Oro is one I took the last two/three times. The station is downtown - http://www.yelp.com/biz/tres-estrellas- ... os-angeles

The other is Intercalifornias - http://www.intercalifornias.com/

De Oro is $28-$30 round trip, last bus leaves I think around 7-8pm, first bus back up is I think at 5:30am. You catch it across the street from Jack In The Box in San Ysidro. You check in for your return trip right at the boarder on the Mexico side. You'll see the name of the carrier on the front of the building, can't miss it.

Intercalifornias is the same, I think the price is $40 now. Pick up/Drop off (at the boarder) is behind McDonald's (there's a parking lot behind it). Same deal with the check-in office on your return, Inter and De Oro are right next to each other.

You can also try Greyhound online fares.

De Oro is dirt cheap, no frills. They might have newer buses than before same with Inter, I think Inter has Wifi now. If you call them, some people don't know English. This happens more with De Oro than with Intercalifornias. With Inter you can usually call the Santa Ana desk which is inside the Santa Ana train station and that guy usually speaks English.

Oh, usually pick up Intercali off 7th street and Maple, the Greyhound is around the corner from there and the main Metro depot is on Maple.

De Oro is on East 6th Street, be careful with GPS, the first time I went, I got crossed up, lucky I didn't miss the bus...

[fschmidt]

I can do:

6/6
6/13
6/20

Do any of these work for you Winston?

Of these, I can only make 6/20. (6/6 is expensive and I have something scheduled for 6/13.)

[drealm]

Okay I propose a new date: 6/20.

Winston can you do 6/20? How about everyone else?

[djfourmoney]

Okay I propose a new date: 6/20.

Winston can you do 6/20? How about everyone else?

June 20th is fine, I don't have anything planned.

[Jester]

I could offer a fairly comprehensive, well-organized real estate tour of Ensenada

People who are coming should let us know what they want to do. I think Ensenada is a full day trip. In Tijuana, you have the red-light district, a food market, and a middle class shopping mall to see how the middle class lives. Jester can explain what Ensenada offers. Those who stay longer can see both. But for Friday night to Sunday, one only has time for one, so we have to pick.

Right, Tijuana is enough from Friday evening to Sunday lunch.

San Diego should be Thursday night/Friday morning (for those interested), and Ensenada should be Monday morning/Monday/Tuesday for those interested. Maybe fly out of Tijuana Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

I do not want to hijack the focus, which is to get to know each other, and break the ice. Tijuana will be perfect, if we can get someone to plan it, someone who knows Tijuana.

I am just offering Ensenada for those who want to consider MOVING to Mexico as an easy, low-cost, libertarian first stop on the way out of the USSA. I can throw in great fish restaurants, sightseeing, ocean etc, maybe even a sample Spanish lesson or beachside barbecue, but for anyone location-independent and also on a budget, who is coming to Tijuana, I hope you come take a look at Ensenada.

For strip joints, I'm sure Tijuana wins hands down. Restaurants and shopping too, actually.

[Jester]

But why do you say that a flight from Vancouver, Canada to Tijuana, Mexico costs zero? It does not.

"How absolute the knave is! We must speak by the card, or equivocation will undo us."
-Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

OK, Mr. Skeptic.

(A) Check the lowest airfare from Vancouver to Tijuana.
(B) Check the per-passenger jet fuel cost for Vancouver to Tijuana.
(C) Check the bus fare from Vancouver to Tijuana.
(D) Check the gasoline cost to drive from Vancouver to Tijuana.

If (A) is not lower than one of the set {B,C,D}, then I buy you dinner in Tijuana.

OKAY, yeah, technically it is not FREE. But it is MYSTERIOUSLY BELOW COST.

OKAY? Good ENOUGH?

[Jester]

I don't have a problem meeting in TJ, the bus ride is cheap (under $30 R/T). It all depends when it happens however, I seriously plan to be out of the country by the end of the summer.

Which bus company. from which station in Los Angeles?

Tres Estrellas De Oro is one I took the last two/three times. The station is downtown - http://www.yelp.com/biz/tres-estrellas- ... os-angeles

The other is Intercalifornias - http://www.intercalifornias.com/

De Oro is $28-$30 round trip, last bus leaves I think around 7-8pm, first bus back up is I think at 5:30am. You catch it across the street from Jack In The Box in San Ysidro. You check in for your return trip right at the boarder on the Mexico side. You'll see the name of the carrier on the front of the building, can't miss it.

Intercalifornias is the same, I think the price is $40 now. Pick up/Drop off (at the boarder) is behind McDonald's (there's a parking lot behind it). Same deal with the check-in office on your return, Inter and De Oro are right next to each other.

You can also try Greyhound online fares.

De Oro is dirt cheap, no frills. They might have newer buses than before same with Inter, I think Inter has Wifi now. If you call them, some people don't know English. This happens more with De Oro than with Intercalifornias. With Inter you can usually call the Santa Ana desk which is inside the Santa Ana train station and that guy usually speaks English.

Oh, usually pick up Intercali off 7th street and Maple, the Greyhound is around the corner from there and the main Metro depot is on Maple.

De Oro is on East 6th Street, be careful with GPS, the first time I went, I got crossed up, lucky I didn't miss the bus...

THANKS, this info is absolutely not searchable on the internet.

+10 for know-how.

BTW Greyhound logged my web addy and will not give me info from another location. f***ing NWO assholes.

[Jester]

Okay I propose a new date: 6/20.

Winston can you do 6/20? How about everyone else?

I can do 6/27, not before.

[Falcon]

Sorry that I am not in Southern California, since I will be in Indonesia by the time you guys meet up there. I know San Diego and Tijuana like the back of my hand and have friends in Tijuana who would be more than happy to show you the "real" parts of town that no tourists visit.

I'm also very fluent in Spanish. Hopefully there's one member who's fluent enough to make the trip more authentic!

It's easy to get across the border, and the Mexican soldiers will usually not check your ID. Getting back into the US is longer, since the queues are usually about 30 minutes on average.

Volaris flights from Tijuana to the rest of Mexico are quite affordable nowadays, so if any one of you wants to explore Mexico more, definitely go for it. Tijuana doesn't feel much like the rest of central and southern Mexico either. Book here: http://volaris.com/

And Winston, you might want to try using Google before posting more basic questions here, haha.

[momopi]

No one has proposed a date, so I will propose the weekend of July 12.

I can't make that weekend... but here are a few other suggestions:
-Weekend of July 19, 20
-Weekend of July 26, 27 (this weekend has Comic-con in SD, if we do end up meeting in SD we'll see the whole downtown area full of cosplayers, a pretty neat thing to see)
-Weekend of August 9, 10
Also later this summer a really big event in SoCal is the US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach (Orange County, between LA and SD). This year it takes place from July 26 to August 3. If you google it you'll see LOTS of pictures of hot bikini girls. Yes I know these are bitchy American girls, so you're not likely to date any of them, but just look and take photos. That's what I do with a group of buddies every year. It's good to get your juices flowing, then after that go to TJ and let it all out.
Just an idea if some of you are in SoCal or are planning to visit SoCal anyway.

If anyone is interested in SDCC, be warned that you need to pre-reg and the lines are crazy. The best way to get to know cosplay girls is to be a cosplayer yourself and socialize in cosplay gatherings -- there's the "in" crowd of cosplayers and the "out" crowd of drooling audience. However I'm speaking from Anime Expo & Fanime, not necessarily applicable to SDCC crowd.

For Huntington Beach try the commercial area across the street from the pier on weekends. I recall some cool bars upstairs but it's been a while. If a young blonde on the pier wants to talk to you, chances are that she wants you to attend her church. X_X

If you're driving past Little Saigon area, visit Cafe 168. There's an ATM in the lobby if you forgot to bring cash to tip the waitresses. Go earlier in the day to "see more", or just kick it and watch some martial arts movies with subtitles on the big screen. If you don't like the atmosphere, try GZ Cafe 10 mins away (more relaxed).

[momopi]

Sorry that I am not in Southern California, since I will be in Indonesia by the time you guys meet up there. I know San Diego and Tijuana like the back of my hand and have friends in Tijuana who would be more than happy to show you the "real" parts of town that no tourists visit.
I'm also very fluent in Spanish. Hopefully there's one member who's fluent enough to make the trip more authentic!
It's easy to get across the border, and the Mexican soldiers will usually not check your ID. Getting back into the US is longer, since the queues are usually about 30 minutes on average.
Volaris flights from Tijuana to the rest of Mexico are quite affordable nowadays, so if any one of you wants to explore Mexico more, definitely go for it. Tijuana doesn't feel much like the rest of central and southern Mexico either. Book here: http://volaris.com/
And Winston, you might want to try using Google before posting more basic questions here, haha.

Falcon, next time when you're in the area and want to do a day (or weekend) trip, let me know if you'd be interested in leading a small group "culinary tour".

[Falcon]

Momopi, I'll give you a cultural and musical tour in Mexico. But I guess you'll be much more qualified to lead a culinary tour than I would.

I'm sort of a mini-celebrity in Tijuana and am instantly recognized by many locals, especially the musicians by the big Revolution Arch in downtown. Just ask Jester (don't post it on here, it's to protect my identity).

[starchild5]

Just meet up already.....sorry I sound gay and cocky and weird and crazy ....There is nothing more important in your life right now than meeting the ones who think alike...forget about your gf, sex, wife, family.......Just meet up man.....This Murphy Law aka AI is messing with your life..The more we are together the more we will be powerful.....I'm from India...can you think of any other shittier place than India to be born and think in these line of thoughts....

There is no separate destiny for you and me and winston and momopi and falcon and jester and fchmidt etc etc everyone on humanity.....We are all ONE and We have same richness poverty and misery........There is a far far FAR higher force of darkness that do not want you to meet your own kind at this point in time.....There is no excuse for your suffering if you do not unite .............You do not have any choice.....You need to unite....This AI aka murphy law is making its move ...we all need to be together....else...we will be lost for ever..sorry i need to say this.....it doesn't want you to evolve.....YOU NEED TO MEET. Period.

Being not from America....I'm totally aware of it....I'm in Philippines now.....Only Americans can save humanity however shitty your life is...you have extra credit that we do not ........

You are amazing....you are meant to go beyond the known universe itself.......You are beyond UFOs man......just meet up.....Do I need to make you feel guilty about how privileged you are in America and how miserable we are in third world country card to get you going

[Falcon]

Tijuana is a gateway to the rest of Mexico. Don't stay stuck there forever.

Folks in Tijuana had introduced me to a family in rural Veracruz. Later I went down there, and that family literally wanted to marry their pretty daughter off to me. (Same thing happened to me in a barangay in the Visayas, Philippines, but that's another story.) I stayed at their village, which was an eye-opening experience for me. I drank the well water, slept in a hammock over a mud floor, enjoyed tortillas pound by hand, rode the local chicken buses, went to a village dance party, and visited the Indian ruins near their place with 2 cute ladies by my side.

So please, please don't just stay stuck in the tourist areas! Interact with people and don't stay stuck in the tourist comfort zone. Be a creative actor on the stage, not just a spectator.