Almost tripped to K-Town for nothing
FRIENDLY TIP
Do not hop on board the Metro Rapid 720 in the early to mid afternoon, IT IS HELL. Traffic on Wilshire grows heavy, as do the numbers of bus commuters piling in at nearly every damned stop. With your vision blocked, it is difficult to read the street signs; second, human bodies pushed up against each other at this horrible hour makes the air smell funny; third, heavy traffic + tons of people = slow ass transportation.
THE STORY
I had both days off work this week (lucky!) to take care of a few errands -- in particular, the student visa application for China for my travel study in Shanghai this summer. I overslept through my alarm, and barely got out the door an hour before the Chinese consulate offices would close at 3 pm. I didn't think getting there would be such a big deal, since the Rapid 720 takes roughly 15 min. to drop me off by my workplace; but I totally underestimated the entire thing.
My time was ticking away rapidly. I left the apt. at 1:40 pm, and by 2:20 had ONLY just reached Wilshire/Fairfax. From that point on there was still a good ways to go, and I started convincing myself that this entire trip was a mistake -- my fault for leaving late. I needed to get off at Wilshire/Vermont, meaning I still had a decent chunk of K-Town to traverse before I would be anywhere near the offices of the consulate. Then 'lo and behold, I got to Vermont at 2:40 pm; I started pumping these walking legs as fast as I could. And 10 minutes later, I was there; I was in; I had a waiting number; 3 pm closing time no longer had anything on me. 15 minutes past closing time, they call my number (ironically, I'm "666"), I go up to the window, hand in my passport and visa application, and am given a receipt as well as instructions to come back Wednesday to pick everything up. That's it.
THE MORAL
So, lesson learned: the earlier you go, the better. I would've been so pissed if I went all the way over there for nothing! I just hope that Wednesday morning before class won't be this bad...
Do not hop on board the Metro Rapid 720 in the early to mid afternoon, IT IS HELL. Traffic on Wilshire grows heavy, as do the numbers of bus commuters piling in at nearly every damned stop. With your vision blocked, it is difficult to read the street signs; second, human bodies pushed up against each other at this horrible hour makes the air smell funny; third, heavy traffic + tons of people = slow ass transportation.
THE STORY
I had both days off work this week (lucky!) to take care of a few errands -- in particular, the student visa application for China for my travel study in Shanghai this summer. I overslept through my alarm, and barely got out the door an hour before the Chinese consulate offices would close at 3 pm. I didn't think getting there would be such a big deal, since the Rapid 720 takes roughly 15 min. to drop me off by my workplace; but I totally underestimated the entire thing.
My time was ticking away rapidly. I left the apt. at 1:40 pm, and by 2:20 had ONLY just reached Wilshire/Fairfax. From that point on there was still a good ways to go, and I started convincing myself that this entire trip was a mistake -- my fault for leaving late. I needed to get off at Wilshire/Vermont, meaning I still had a decent chunk of K-Town to traverse before I would be anywhere near the offices of the consulate. Then 'lo and behold, I got to Vermont at 2:40 pm; I started pumping these walking legs as fast as I could. And 10 minutes later, I was there; I was in; I had a waiting number; 3 pm closing time no longer had anything on me. 15 minutes past closing time, they call my number (ironically, I'm "666"), I go up to the window, hand in my passport and visa application, and am given a receipt as well as instructions to come back Wednesday to pick everything up. That's it.
THE MORAL
So, lesson learned: the earlier you go, the better. I would've been so pissed if I went all the way over there for nothing! I just hope that Wednesday morning before class won't be this bad...