From New York to Washington, I am taking the bolt bus.

Most of the people on the bus are asleep. I had my bagle with cream cheese and lox, for drink I had Naked juice involving 2 ¾ green apple, ½ banana, 1/3 kiwi, 1/3 mango and a hint of pineapple, and assorted boost of spirulina, blue green algae, barley grass, ginger, pasley, etc. I then called my mama and my O on my cell phone to China – getting friendly reminder of me being too loud. Oops. Now I am on my music and ready to blog.

I chose Blot bus because it claims to have wifi and power plug-ins. Mega bus too has wifi but no power. I feel a little guilty not taking the legendary Chinatown bus. We used to take Chinatown bus up and down the east coast btw Philadelphia, Boston, Washington. They are insanely cheap only 20 dollars, and sometimes routes 10 dollars, and drop you off in the Chinatown of each city, usually relatively central location. Bus is nothing fancy, but mostly on time, and does the job just fine.

The legendary story goes like this, as told Mae who did the NY-Boston travel for many years. When Greyhound, the biggest long distance bus carrier bought Peterpan, the second, greyhound claimed monopoly on the business of transporting people. They took the liberty to raise the price up and up, to something like seventy dollars from 30-40 dollars originally. People hate it but could not do anything about it.

Long and behold, the Chinatown bus appeared. First it was just for the Chinese workers to go between Chinatowns, but soon the word got out. At first, there were first suspicions among the less-Chinese population in the city, then suspicion turned to a bold adventure, then adventure became normal and everyone is taking them – the Chinese, the non-Chinese and the more or less Chinese. The street for drop off and pick up became Port authority bus terminal, soon they added buses right outside port authority, charging half, a third of the price of the greyhound buses inside the terminal building. That was the situation since before we moved to New York, so almost ten years now.

I heard about blot bus from my Washington DC host, who suggested it because the bus stop is only three blocks from his place.

Bolt bus is greyhounds’ fighting back. A subsidiary of greyhound, bolt bus charges similar fare as the Chinatown bus - from New York to DC, $20 for chinatown bus, $19 for bolt if booking online ($25 on site). Being a big company, Bolt added the chichi-froufrou marketing gimmick such as $1 fare, and “price varies at booking time”, I guess to confuse and entice people of less money and more time.

For me, the killer is the wifi and the power outlet, for that makes the trip different. So I am on the bolt bus, instead of the Chinatown bus.

Unfortunately, the wifi comes in and out frequently. And every time it comes in and out, Mr. Bolt ask me to agree to his Terms and Conditions. In addition, I seem to have left my international plug-in adaptor in New York. Sigh, all the guilt for nothing.

…

Bustling traffic.
Tunnel.
Spread of Manhattan skyline, tops of the skyscrapper in the grey cloud.
Cranes. Containers.
Airplanes.
Trees.
River.
Trees. Trees. Tress.

If the greens of trees fill your eyes at the right side, if the blues of the sky fill your eyes at the left side, if you listen to songs of guitar and words of silence and flower opening, if you are drinking fruit juice boosted with spirulina, blue green algae and barley grass, if good moments in New York make you smile and you look forward to more smiles in DC, then even if you have to get up five thirty in the morning after staying up till one thirty, even if you are wifi-less and powerless, even if you feel guilty sitting in a bolt bus, a long distance bus trip is still pleasurable.

I had on a red T-shirt today, with the logo of my own company in large fonts in the front. Jeans. Flats. The compartment of suits and dresses in my luggage, was not opened in New York. The luggage is  now at the bottom of this bus, too going to Washington D.C.

I guess I will open it up in Washington.