If you drive down Clement street in San Francisco (north of Golden Gate park and south of the Presidio) around 4:30 pm on any given day you will see a line gathering out side of the Burma Superstar! Restaurant. This might strike you a little strange if you happened to notice that the restaurant won’t even open up for another half hour.

To say that Burma Superstar! is an unimposing looking restaurant would be an understatement. But the food is not only certainly the best Burmese food in hundreds (thousands?) of miles, but worthy of note for anyone who likes food.

Our favorites on the menu would include:

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Popularity: 36% [?]

When we first travelled with our friend Susan we would say something like “oh I need a band-aid” or “does anyone have a wet wipe” and out of Susan’s magic backpack would emerge the desired item. After while it felt like being on the old “Let’s Make a Deal” when Monty Hall would ask if anyone had a raw egg. Susan did her research on what to pack (always including chocolate and peanut butter) on her own but some companies are trying to make this easier for travelers. So eBags for instance offers the Air Travel Essentials:

Air Travel Essentials If you are going on a trip by plane, you are going to want to have some necessary supplies for where you’re headed. The “Air Travel Essentials Kit” comes packaged in a thick clear slide-closing vinyl bag.

• 1 Survivor Industries® - Travel Safe First Aid Kit
• 1 Purell® Hand Sanitizer with Aloe
• 2 Shout® Wipes Stain Treater Towelette
• 1 Charmin To Go® Toilet Seat Covers
• 1 Charmin To Go® Bathroom Tissue
• 1 Jaraze® Sewing Kit
• 1 Kleenex® Tissues Pocket Pack
• 1 Gearaid® Mini Rolls Duct Tape (2 rolls)
• 1 BioZide® Disinfectant/Deodorant Pump Spray
• 2 Dramamine® Chewable Formula
• 1 Generic Poncho
• 1 Generic Small Flashlight

Raw egg not included.

Popularity: 50% [?]

The Union Oyster House is the oldest restaurant in continuous service in the United States. It is the earliest standing brick building in Boston. For more then 250 years it has stood sturdily on Union Street as a major local landmark. In 1742 the building housed importer Hopestill Capen ’s fancy dress goods business, known colorfully as “At the Sign of the Cornfields.” In 1771, from this site the painter Isaiah Thomas published his newspaper “The Massachusetts Spy,” long known as the oldest newspaper in the United States. In 1775 Capesn ’s silk and dry Goods store became headquarters fro Ebenezer Handcock, and Federal Troops received their “War Wages” in this official pay station. In 1796 the future King of France, Louis Philippe, lived on the second floor. Exiled from his country, he earned his living by teaching French to many of Boston ’s fashionable young ladies. 1862 marked the end of Capesn ’s silk and dry Goods store and the beginning of Atwood and Bacon’s establishment. The new owners installed the now world renowned semi-circular Oyster Bar where Daniel Webster was a constant customer. Another first for the Union Oyster House is it has the honor of being the first place in the United States that a tooth pick was used. Enterprising Charles Foster of Maine imported the picks from South America. To promote his new business, he hired Harvard boys to dine at the Oyster House and ask for toothpicks. President Kennedy and other members of his family have dined at the Oyster house for years. J.F.K. favorite spot was a booth in the upstairs dinning room. This booth has been dedicated in his honor. In 2003 the Union Oyster House was designated a National Historic landmark. This is a double designation. Not only is it the oldest continually operated restaurant in the United States, it is also the earliest standing brick building in Boston’s Georgian architecture.
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Popularity: 28% [?]

Here is my review of the new Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1 6MP Waterproof MPEG4 Camcorder which I recently purchased for use on my upcoming cruise.

Popularity: 32% [?]

My whole family is crazy about Walt Disney World.  It is truly our magical place to vacation. My wife and I made our first trip when with her family while we were still dating and with the whirl wind that was we both discovered how much the other liked the Magic Kingdom.  A few years into out marriage we had the opportunity  to go back for another trip.  This time at least we got to set our schedule and see all of the three parks at that time.  What we did not do was plan. 

So fast forward a few years and now we are a family of four and were preparing for our first trip to Walt Disney World in Florida with our own children.  As soon as we picked a date and got a hotel reservations at Shades of Green (one of the Armed Forces Reserve Centers) (www.shadesofgreen.org) I headed out to get a guide book .  It was good.  It told us all of the basics, tickets, restaurant descriptions, how to use the FastPass and which rides were most likely to scare the kids. However this one seemed very cookie cutter.  I started looking for a better option almost as soon as we got home from trip. 

I must have spent hours standing in the bookstore looking through all of the various different books.  I looked at several resources online.  The one book that caught my attention is the PassPorter Guide.  This is not only a guide book, but it is also a whole system to help you plan your travel. 

The PassPorter comes is several versions and loose leaf version, that you can easily update, a spiral bound addition that is my preference, because it is slightly lighter.  The author publishes a new updated version each year and has several “additional pages that can be downloaded from there web site. (www.passporter.com) The system includes pages you can use to organize all of the events you want to do on your trip. 

The Passpoter books range in price from $19.51 to $36.51 depending on the binding you get.  They produce yearly additions that are published each year around November. 

Another great aspect of the PassPorter is their Yahoo Group.  The group describes itself this way.
“The PassPorter WDW list is for everyone planning a vacation to Walt Disney World®, with or without the help of the award-winning bestseller, PassPorter Walt Disney World travel guide. Join us to discuss planning your Disney adventure, getting to Florida (and back!), staying in style at the resorts and hotels, touring the “World” at the theme parks, feasting and snacking, making more magic, and sharing Disneyworld fun! Authors of “PassPorter® Walt Disney World®: The unique travel guide, planner, organizer, journal, and keepsake” contribute to the mailing list. You do not have to have a copy of PassPorter to join the “happiest mailing list on earth” — everyone is welcome!” 

(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/passporterwdw/)

Chuck Prevatte is a regular contributor to The Amateur Traveler.  His travels include North America, Europe and the Middle East.  He is married and the father of three children, a 10 year old girl, a six year old boy  and one due any day.

Popularity: 25% [?]