Travel 01 (May 08 - Jun 11)

[kennynah]

or visit singapore....geylang galore and stay at hotel81 or at any of a host of budget hotels for usd50 per night...complete with instant 3 in 1 coffee, tea, water kettle and even a box of instant noodles for supper...

[winston]

It's Good to Know: About Flashpacking

Grungy backpackers can be found from Barcelona to Brisbane, surviving on cheap food and searching out the cheapest possible accommodations. But recently, a new band of travelers has put a twist on this practice.

So-called "flashpackers" still seek out low-cost travel (usually by train), but they don't settle for a hostel bunk bed in a crowded "dorm-style" room. They're going for private rooms with amenities like flat-screen TVs - without breaking the bank. Flashpacking hotspots like Berlin and Peru feature clean single rooms for around $50. (They don't, of course, offer the services you'd expect in a standard hotel.)

(Source: Travel and Leisure)

[winston]

It's Good to Know: The Dirtiest Hotels in the U.S.

You are doing a little research online before making reservations for your upcoming vacation, and you find a great rate. But before you book that room, you might want to check out TripAdvisor.com's recently released list of Top 10 Dirtiest Hotels in the United States. The results were based on guest ratings over the past year.

1. Hotel Carter, New York, NY
2. Continental Bayside Hotel, Miami Beach, FL
3. New York Inn, New York, NY
4. Eden Roc Motel, Wildwood, NJ
5. Days Inn Cleveland Airport, Brook Park, OH
6. Days Inn Airport/Stadium Tampa, Tampa, FL
7. Travelodge Bangor, Bangor, ME
8. Velda Rose Resort Hotel, Hot Springs, AR
9. Ramada Plaza Hotel JFK International Airport, Jamaica, NY
10. Days Inn & Suites Gatlinburg, Gatlinburg, TN

In many cases, for a few dollars more, you can stay at a nearby hotel that was highly rated by TripAdvisor.

(Source: Tripadvisor.com and USA Today]

[winston]

Turn Your Hotel Room Into a Gym By Craig Ballantyne

Hotel gyms have a reputation for being tiny, ill-equipped, and crowded at peak hours. So next time you're on the road and need to stick to your workout plan, here are a few exercises that can turn your hotel bed into an impromptu exercise device.

Beginner Routine:

1. The incline push-up. Instead of struggling through full push-ups, place your hands on the bed to reduce the difficulty. Lower your chest toward the bed and push back up to the start position.

2. The bed-squat. Stand at the side of the bed, facing away from it. Push your hips back and lower your body until your butt rests on the bed. Then push through your feet to return to the standing position. (You can use a chair instead of the bed.)

Advanced Routine:

1. Advanced push-ups. Place your feet on the bed and your hands on the floor. Sink down, bending your elbows. Then push up until your arms are straight.

2. The advanced bed-squat. Lift one leg off the ground and point it straight ahead. Push your hips back and lower your butt to the bed as slowly as your supporting leg will allow. Extend both arms straight ahead for balance. When your rear end touches the bed, push with your supporting leg to return to the start position.

Alternate between the two exercises, doing 8 to 12 repetitions each. Do up to three sets for a quick five-minute workout.

[winston]

It's Good to Know: How to Get the Best Seat on an Airplane

This information is so good that I'm reluctant to give it out.

Other than knowing the differences among window, aisle, and bulkhead seats, most people have no clue as to whether one spot on a plane is better for them than any other. But now there are two websites that list the major carriers and the aircraft they use (e.g., DC10, 737, etc.) - and comment on the best and worst seats in each type of configuration. Some of their ratings are based on obscure criteria that you can't determine from a seating diagram, such as annoying bright lights, bothersome movie screens, small windows, etc.

See seatguru.com and seatexpert.com for details - and don't tell anyone else about this.

[winston]

Hotel Insider Reveals How to Snag the Best Deals By Bonnie Caton

Over the past 14 years, Wendy G. has worked her way up from hotel front desks to operations and beyond. She's trained hotel reservationists to negotiate prices... and she knows better than anyone how to work the system.

Here are her five tips for getting a great deal on hotels with three or more stars:

1. Book directly with the hotel.

Call the front desk and ask to speak with the "on-site reservationist." Avoid the reservations 800 number, which will usually connect you to an outside company that isn't open to negotiation and can't access the best deals.

2. Appeal to the "human factor" for negotiating power.

Once you get an on-site reservationist on the phone, let her know why you're excited about going to that particular hotel. Going on your honeymoon? Let your excitement show.

3. Be nice.

"If you're nice," Wendy told me, "you're much more likely to get what you want. If you're unkind, you'll pay full price for the room by the elevator."

4. Try someone else.

If you still don't get the deal you're looking for, call back a few hours later to see if you can catch someone on the next shift.

5. Ask for a nicer room.

If you're already getting a discount, you'll be less likely to get upgraded to a nicer room for free. But if you're paying full rate, make sure you ask if a room upgrade is available.

[blid2def]

Rajasthan puppetry... awesome skills...

Embedded videos have been disabled.
Click to view video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvDDU_vDbVI

[millionairemind]

HAHA.. they haven't seen the Asians, other than Japs, who is usually polite to a fault..
July 10, 2009
French are worst tourists

PARIS - PENNY-PINCHING, rude and terrible at foreign languages: French people are the world's worst tourists according to a study of the global hotel industry released on Thursday.

Carried out last month by TNS Infratest, the study asked 40,000 hotels worldwide to rank tourists from 27 countries based on nine criteria, from their politeness to their willingness to tip.

Clean and tidy, polite, quiet and uncomplaining, Japanese tourists came top of the crop for the third year running.

At the other end of the spectrum, French holidaymakers and business travellers were the least generous or ready to tip, and ranked next-to-last for their overall behaviour and politeness.

Pushy French travellers made amends on elegance - classed third - as well as for their discretion and cleanliness.

But the French were the least ready to try a new language, unlike US tourists who were most likely to swallow their pride and order a pizza, baguette or a paella in the local lingo.

US tourists also got top marks for generosity - as the biggest spenders and tippers - but fell short on other counts as the least tidy, the loudest, the worst complainers, and the most badly dressed.

Despite cliches about beer-guzzling hordes descending on Mediterranean resorts each summer, Britons came a surprise second for their overall behaviour, politeness, quietness and even elegance - second for dress sense only to the Italians.

But the model Japanese were followed by Canadians as the least likely to whinge when a trip goes wrong.

France's rivals for the 'worst tourist' tag, Spaniards and Greeks came near the bottom of the pack in almost every category. -- AFP

[winston]

Reminds me of the time I was on a Ferry, travelling between two Scandinavian countries...

There were a few well-dressed Chinese ladies, who were continuosly spitting onto the deck of the ferry, while the people around them, were watching with amazement

[winston]

Airline suspends flights to Philippine resort

MANILA : Flag carrier Philippines Airlines said it has suspended flights to the main airport serving the resort island of Boracay, following a similar action by rival carrier Cebu Pacific.

The airline, also known as PAL, said all its 12 daily flights into Caticlan airport are being diverted to Kalibo airport, 50 kilometres (31 miles) to the southeast, "due to landing weight limitations" imposed by aviation regulators.

Cebu Pacific took the same action on Thursday for all its 15 daily flights to Caticlan.

PAL said the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines informed carriers on Wednesday that they were allowed to use only one Caticlan runway for both take-off and landing "to avoid similar incidents like the one involving a Zest Air flight last month" when a turboprop plane overshot the runway.

PAL and Cebu Pacific both said they would bus passengers from Kalibo to Caticlan at no extra charge.

Zest Airways has not announced any changes to its Caticlan service.

At least half a million tourists visit the white sand beaches of the island of Boracay every year, according to industry estimates, making the tiny airport of Caticlan the second busiest destination in the Philippines after Manila.

From Caticlan, on the north coast of the central island of Panay, tourists take a short ferry hop to Boracay island.

- AFP/vm