Universal Studios Singapore

Posted on October 5, 2010 by Bob

The first theme park built in Singapore is Universal Studios , located in Resorts World Sentosa on Sentosa Island. The park, which opened in April 2010, is only the second Universal Studios Park in Asia and the first in Southeast Asia. It offers 49 acres divided into seven themed zones surrounding a scenic lagoon. Eighteen major attractions were ready on Opening Day and others are planned to come online throughout 2010 and early 2011.There are plenty of Singapore hotels near park, making it a convenient, fun, and familiar excursions for kids of all ages.

The seven zones in the theme park are Hollywood, New York, Sci-fi City, Ancient Egypt, the Lost World, Far Far Away, and Madagascar. The latter two are based on DreamWorks Animation films and feature the world’s largest collection of DreamWorks’ themed attractions, including a castle from the Shrek movies. Each zone has it’s own restaurants, shops, rides and attractions. Visit dinosaurs, meet Shrek and other characters from film and television, and enjoy amazing rides such as the world’s tallest dueling roller coaster based on the hit show Battlestar Galactica. There are also various theaters and stages offering unique entertainment throughout the day.

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Accuracy in Maps

Posted on October 3, 2010 by Bob

Students of cartography laugh at the naivete of people who believe that the map of california they are using to navigate from San Diego to Sacramento is an accurate depiction of space. They understand better than most of the world that field measurements taken to create maps are always riddled with errors in precision and accuracy. Humans make mistakes and charting something as uneven and imperfect as the natural world is pretty much impossible. Maps are as accurate as they can be and are intended to be general representations, not exact ones.

Those who believe that aerial photography and satellite imaging have improved the accuracy of geographic maps are correct, as long as they don’t think that this erases the possibility of inaccuracies. Images only depict certain portions of the spectrum of light, instruments and the atmosphere itself filter out other spectra.

Given the complexity of the world, it would be literally impossible to accurate display all the cultural, biological, and physical features of any area, no matter how small. To do so you would need to recreate the actual area, which would defeat the purpose of a map. Map users need to understand that the document in front of them only portrays selected features in a standardized format of symbols. Realistically, all maps are generalizations, estimations, and, most importantly, interpretations of the geographic conditions depict — a human representation of an area as seen by the mapmaker.

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Boston’s Famous Back Bay

Posted on October 1, 2010 by Bob

As one of the oldest cities in America, Boston holds a lasting fascination for anyone who loves history, heritage, and culture. Full of monuments and historic buildings and sites, the city is also home to a number of famous districts or neighborhoods. Some, such as Chinatown, are known for the cultural heritage of the immigrant populations that settled there. Others, such as Beacon Hill are notable for their architecture and history. Back Bay_http://www.boston.com/travel/boston/neighborhoods/back_bay/ is one of the city’s most expensive neighborhoods and offers a wonderful mix of residential, office, and retail space.

Back Bay began as river mud flats that were filled in by the city in the mid 19th century to expand the available land. The neighborhood is organized on a grid and the streets are named alphabetically to aid in navigating this historic area. Back Bay is part of what is known as Boston Proper, along with Beacon Hill , Downtown, Government Center, the North End, Chinatown, the South End, the Fenway, and the Financial District.

Visitors to the city can chose from various accommodations, including numerous luxury hotels. Boston ‘s Back Bay will provide them upscale shopping in Copley Place Mall, Boylston Street, the Prudential Center Mall, and the famed Newbury Street. Architecture lovers can spend hours wandering from the residential Victorian brownstones in the northern section of Back Back down to the southern section which houses some of the city’s tallest skyscrapers, including the tallest, the John Hancock Tower. Back Bay is also home to the Boston Public Library and the Berklee College of Music.

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Book Lovers Gather in Vancouver

Posted on September 26, 2010 by Bob

The largest celebration of words and reading in Western Canada returns to Vancouver on September 26th. The Word on the Street brings together authors, exhibitors, performers, and an estimated 35,000 book lovers every September. This year’s free event will take place on September 26th at Library Square and appeal to readers of a wide range of interest and ages.

Major areas include the Magazine Mews, the Poetry Tent and the Family Literacy Tent. There will be performances, literary readings, panel discussions, cookbook demonstrations, and contests throughout the day. Families can engage in the Wordsearch on the Street contest and the Kids Only Scavenger Hunt. There will also be storytelling, bookmaking for kids and activities for tweens and teens. Exhibitors will include book publishers, literacy organizations, magazine publishers, independent publishers, comic book producers, multimedia organizations, booksellers, and associations. Authors and exhibitors visiting the city will find numerous Vancouver hotels in the area to choose from.

In addition to traditional authors, magazines and presses, the event includes a special section, The Word Under the Street, for local alternative zine publishers and comic book artists. It offers readings, presentations, special exhibitions and events. Budding authors can attend a number of Writing Talks as well as chatting with published writers in the Authors Tent and the Canada Writes tent.

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Four Day Trips Outside Sydney, Australia

Posted on September 24, 2010 by Bob

Using Sydney hotels as a base of operations, any traveler to Australia can experience day trips that will take them through scenic vistas and historic railways.

Hunter Valley is about ninety minutes outside the city, where travelers can encounter wineries, historic towns and mountains. In the Hunter region, the valley stretches inland from Newcastle through Maitland, Singleton and to the Upper Hunter, extending about 150 kilometers. Visitors here will find national parks, lakes, and one of the best known wine producing regions in Australia.

For views, Newcastle is only two and a half hours trip by CityRail train. You’ll be able to see views of mountains and the scenic Hawkesbury River. At a population of 300,000, Newcastle is the seventh largest city in the country, and the largest city that isn’t also a state or federal capital.

Train day trips include the Cockatoo Run , which employs a diesel locomotive that runs on a side track up the very steep Illawarra escarpment to Robertson and Moss Vale, rising about 600 metres in 16 kilometres. The train makes a stop along the way for photographs.

The Zig-Zag Railway was constructed from 1866 to 1869, and was considered a major engineering feat, built to take produce to Sydney from farms beyond the Blue Mountains, as well as to help develop iron and core deposits in the Lithgow Valley.

Each of these four trips may be accomplished in a single day, where, at the end of these journeys, travelers can return to the comfort and nightlife available in Sydney.

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Boston’s Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Bob

If you want to combine your academic interests with horticultural curiosity, then a trip to Boston is in order to check out that city’s Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University . The Arboretum has its origins 168 years ago, in 1842, when a Boston merchant and farmer died and donated his country estate, Woodland Hill, as well as a part of his fortune, to Harvard University.

The land was to be used specifically for education in agriculture and horticulture and related matters. Harvard began here the Bussey Institute, which conducted agricultural experimentation. Sixteen years later, a whaling merchant, James Arnold, also specified that a portion of his estate was to be used for agricultural and horticultural improvements. This gift was joined with the 120 acres of the Bussey’s former estate and created the Arnold Arboretum.

For travelers who have chosen to stay at hotels in Boston , the Arboretum’s 265 acres is considered one of the best examples of landscape design in the country, divided into four main sections — the main Arboretum, the Peters Hillo, the Weld-Walter, and the South Street tracts. The landscaping was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, and it is both considered a Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, in addition to being a National Historic Landmark.

The Arboretum Grounds are open and free of charge to the public from sunrise to sunset every day of the year. The Visitor’s Center, though, has specific hours. Located in the Hunnewell Building on 125 Arborway, it’s open Monday through Friday, from nine to four; Saturdays, from ten to four; and Sunday’s from noon to four, and closed on holidays.

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Hong Kong has the best Nightlife and Shopping

Posted on September 10, 2010 by Bob

Hong Kong has a combination of mountains, skyscrapers and sea that will take your breath away. Staying at a Hong Kong hotel and looking out onto the city, you can glimpse a fantastic view of the picturesque harbor, the steel and glass of downtown Hong Kong and the hilly islands in the distance, which seem to float on the blue South China Sea.

Hong Kong is a great place to be young. Weekends can be packed with nights out at the plentiful bars and clubs in Lan Kwai Fong (LKF), shopping trips to buy everything from Louis Vuitton stores to the cheap and inexpensive bargain shops located in Mongkok, and customary visits to popular tourist attractions all around the city.

LKF is the most popular nighttime hangout spot. Spanning only a few streets, the entire area is closed to traffic at night, which allows residence and tourists to walk around freely among the numerous clubs and pubs. The nighttime atmosphere of Lan Kwai Fong is intoxicating. Everyone dresses up in their bling best and all are having a great time. Mongkok will prove to be another great place to hang-out especially if you know how to bargain in Cantonese, if not don’t worry, just ask a local to help you out, and they will gladly help you get the price down to where you want.

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Cancun – Educational and fun to visit

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Bob

When you’re traveling to Cancun it’s not to spend the whole vacation locked in a hotel. Cancun has too many natural and man made attractions to see in just one visit it’s truly a pity that many first time visitors are mislead into spending their whole time on the beach or in the bars.

Cancun has many of these attractions less than half a day’s travel. A short drive from the city you can visit archeological sites like Chitchen Itza ,the site of a well preserved Mayan village. Here you can Climb to the tops of these ancient pyramids and stare at a landscape that was usually only admired by Mayan priests and their sacrifices. You can even venture inside some of the pyramids and see preserved murals some featuring jade, which isn’t native to the region and is believed to prove Asian traders may have visited the natives before the Europeans did. Plus, don’t forget to check and see about staying for the laser show and mock sacrifice.

Cancun and the surrounding region is popular for snorkelers but few want to venture into the ocean reefs where there is a risk of encountering sharks. A safer alternative is is Xel Ha nature park . Here you can swim with and snorkel amongst thousands of colorful fish in a naturally insulated reef cove.

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Rio’s Adriana Varella

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Bob

The history of contemporary art in Brazil is one that reveals a wild and eclectic blend of styles and personalities. Since the restrictions were lifted in the later part of the 20th century, more and more work has become known to the rest of the world, and more bold experiments are being created. This is all under the memory of censorship, where the artists of the 60s were forced to find new ways to communicate complex meanings. As such, a lot of the art that comes from this region has been heavily influenced, and influential in, the global movement in conceptual art. Although that moment might be considered past, it does still exist in the theoretical frameworks of contemporary artists.

Adriana Varella is one perfect example of this. She’s now based in New York, although her creative consciousness was formed, one could say, when she was living and studying in Rio de Janeiro. Hotels and tourist culture are a part of the city that also runs through everything, and it’s certainly found its way into her work. She, like many of her generation, is involved in the process of interrogating identity. Her work has some self-exploration, but her complex tactics are designed to ask questions and to undermine the viewer’s expectations, so that they will wonder and reflect on who and where they are.

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El Mercado in San Antonio

Posted on August 21, 2010 by Bob

The market mentality, where one goes to the center of town once a week to gather all the home’s necessities from local merchants, is one that has a romantic past. There are many who relate to an old-world sensibility, and one that’s been made obsolete by large shopping centers where one can find everything in one store. However, there are many places in the world, and in this country, where it’s not at all a thing of the past. Interest in organic and local foods have helped to spawn the new market mentality in some of the larger cities, but in others, it’s never left.

That’s certainly the case in San Antonio, whose Historic Market Square is not just a blast to the past, but is a living moment in the present. It’s true that visitors from all over the world will come to patronize El Mercado in order to find Mexican crafts to bring home. But there are also locals who frequent the market. The farmer’s market is still one of the most interesting places to buy the complex line of ingredients necessary for the local cuisine.

It makes the town a very welcome place to visit, but it’s also an important part of life for the locals. There are many who come to be a tourist, and start wondering about San Antonio Homes for Sale , because it can start to look like home before too long.

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