Saturday, June 21, 2008

Coffee, a tempest and wet dreams.


Well, I am sure that many of you have got the case of the 'wandering feet' and I am sure that like me, many of you are thinking of the next place to visit. Well, that is what I was planning on doing today, especially as the heat was getting to be intolerable. So I decided to go to the roof top restaurant and have a coffee while I let my wandering mind take me to terrains I have not visited yet.

With coffee, one cannot help but think of places like Brazil or Spain, with Spain being one of my hot favorites, the people, the land, the architecture and more importantly, the cuisine. Anyway getting back to the story, as I was pondering whether to visit Spain once again, the wind literally blew my porcelain coffee cup out of my hand and right on to my lap. So imagine yourself in my place, cursing the wind and getting soaked all the way to the undies with strong, bitter hot coffee.

If things were supposed to get better after that, well, someone read the dialogue wrong somewhere. For what happened next would make even the Florida hurricane sit up and take note of it. Let us just say that the wind blew hard and cold, accompanied with but naturally biting bullets of rain. So there I was thinking of places to visit on account of the heat and all of a sudden, I am getting drenched from top to bottom [not to be taken literally, the last part, that is] with cold water from the skies above.

The end result was that my coffee was on the floor, with the restaurant's guests getting soaked to the skin with anything and everything showing up to perfection and I thought to myself, that it seems that the heavens are not intent on my traveling anywhere for the moment. So the decision was made, to put up with the intolerable weather for the moment, both hot and cold, all at the same time. A tempest, it sure was, one that any Goldilocks would have loved but it was just not up to my taste.

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Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Traveling headaches and the 'Down under' solution!


We all like to travel on impulse, maybe we may feel like catching a flight to 'wonderful Spain' or even to 'romantic Paris', the city of light. But impulse traveling or not, there are quite a few issues we need to address head on before packing our respective bags. One of the major headaches while traveling is the insurance part of it, since most of the insurance packages that we have subscribed for do not even cover our overseas flight. In short, we all require the services of a nice insurance firm for our Travel insurance needs. Generally, travel related insurance packages are generally available only through travel agents and they cost an arm and a leg. With this Aussie company, Travel insurance direct, that is not the case and we can get the very best insurance packages at a fraction of what it would have originally cost us.

At last, now we can get access to a insurance package that is cost effective, for us that is. The insurance companies offer travel insurance at very competitive rates, sometimes at rates that are only half of what the travel agents charge. This is possible since you would be purchasing the respective insurance packages directly, thus cutting out the middle man.

With the travel insurance needs met, we should be able to rest more easy, knowing that we have access to insurance coverage that does not put a dimple on our respective wallets. So the next time we want to travel anywhere and require a travel insurance package, we know who to approach. With the 24 hour world wide support available, we can get all of our queries looked into and have access to the best travel insurance package currently available. Happy traveling, everyone!

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The Indo-moroccan flavor!


Morocco, a place on the coast of Africa, has produced a myriad number of dishes which have made their way to India of late. The lamb Shashlik is not a dish that is unique to morocco but their style of preparation as well as the sauce is unique to that region.

Recently, I was able to taste the lamb Shashlik prepared in the Moroccan style of cooking, while being coated with a hot apricot sauce that is Moroccan in origin. Needless to say the combination was just perfect, the hot sauce managed to give the Shashlik a whole new flavor and the ensemble was just great.

This is a dish that one should not miss out on, just imagine the shashlik coated in the apricot sauce and being grilled, with all the Moroccan herbs and spices. I am sure that as you are reading this, your mouth must have started to water, because that is what happened to me as the smell of the grill caught me unawares. My suggestion, try the Moroccan cuisine, especially anything that comes with the apricot sauce and after that, you would not want to partake anything else.

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Bora, Bora the myth and the legend!


Bora Bora, sounds like a mythical place, doesn't it? Well, it is a real place and one that is bound to knock your socks off. Take another look at the picture with this post and you will realize what I am talking about. This is the tropical island of all tropical islands and that is putting it mildly, to say the least. Bora Bora has been the subject of quite a few books as well as many number of movies, so in reality, even if you have not visited the place yet, you are bound to have heard of it. The Flights to Bora Bora take off from most of the major cities in the world so getting there should not be much of a problem.

But remember to go there when the season is in full swing, other wise you may well miss out on the atmosphere that a crowd can bring. Unless, you are looking for a bargain, in that case, traveling during the off season, you should be able to net quite a few good offers from rooms at half the rate to services at subsidized rates. Borabora has so many sights that I am not sure how to describe them all, think the movie "beach" then you may well have the idea of what this place is like. The perfect paradise to vacation in, with almost everything taken care of.

Naturally, for a place as hot as this one is, there are quite a few hotels here but one of the best ones is none other than the Hotel Bora Bora which is just perfect. This place has all the modern amenities and the cuisine here is just great. So for your next vacation, make a beeline to Bora bora and have a real vacation!

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Beijing gearing up for the Olympics!


It is time that Beijing came to terms with the various problems, both internal and external and concentrated on providing the stage for the perfect Olympics ever. One can hope that this will be the gala to outshine every other one so far. China is a wonderful place to visit and if one is into games then the Olympics would be the best time to visit China. There are quite a few problems confronting China and one can hope that with time, the Chinese would be able to settle all outstanding issues. Given the length and breadth of China, it may be a bit overwhelming for the first time visitors. So take a moment prior to your trip to read more on this nation and its rich cultural history, try to re-discover the ancient links between China and India.

The religious traditions that are followed by the modern Chinese is quite fascinating in itself, for on one hand they believe in a system that does not allow for any religious sentiments, but on the other, they have this blind faith in god, astrology and sea- monsters. Modern China is quite interesting in that way, you would probably get to see a bit of the old China shine through all that Glitz and glamour, the interesting thing is that these two china's co-exist with one another. Coming back to traveling in China, one of the must see sights is none other than the Great Wall of China itself. The structure may or may not be visible from space but it is the only monument that has been in a stage of development for 2000 years and is still being built today. back then, it was built for the purpose of security but today it is being developed to conserve the Chinese cultural heritage.


From the Three gorges dam to the markets of Guangzong, there is quite a bit to see. It is always a good idea to read a travel guide or two to China before the commencement of the trip itself. In addition to providing information on places to see, these Travel guides will also provide information on hotels to stay at as well as which ones are good and so on. Have a great time in China and hope that you are able to get a few tickets to the Olympics!

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Thursday, June 12, 2008

Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the crystal skulls, a review!


The latest Indiana Jones installment from Stephen Spielberg falls short of the mark set by its predecessors, way short. The storyline is haphazard at the very best and does not cross all the t’s. The story is based primarily on the legend of the El Dorado, the mystical city of gold. The legend is that this city is built primarily of gold or that is how the story goes. The city is just a legend but going by it, it is a city that is built on gold and nothing else, something that this movie has played with.

In addition, the Indiana Jones, most of the installments had a very interesting prelude to the main movie, something that set the tone for the rest of the movie. But this one seems to have given all that a miss except for a nuclear explosion. What makes this a bit laughable is that a common refrigerator, one that is lead lined is supposed to offer one protection from a nuclear bomb. That is laughable at the very best, what a lead lined refrigerator will do is offer you protection from the radiation at the very best but not from the explosion, even a 6th grader would know that. But then again, we have to believe that it does and go with that.

The story line is not remarkable at all, from the quest of a missing friend to that of the city, the storyline is too vapid, one that is full of vapors, probably from all the helium, that we all need to see this movie with. The saving grace for this movie comes in the form of cate blanchett, who has performed her role to the very best, even exceeding it at certain points in the movie. It is a real pity that the story was too blasé to take advantage of her performance. For she made one of the best villains known so far, with all the series taken together. Her cool hard glaze was believable and her expressions of doubt that flashed across her face as she stood in the way of the moving truck did wonders to her performance.

For the story itself, well it seems that Stephen Spielberg did not do all the necessary hard work, for it would seem foolhardy to make a movie that uses archeology as a premise and connect it to outer space. But that is what has happened, with half the world believing that UFO’s are not real and the other half believing in them to the extent that half of the believers think that the UFO’s are a part of some government conspiracy, it is no wonder that this movie is not as popular as the rest of the series. For one, had the storyline been set in Russia, it may have seemed plausible. Anyway the damage is done and this is not a movie for serious moviegoers. The stunts, booby-traps and the rich content has all but disappeared from this movie. This is more like a B-grade movie at the very best and we can but pray that the next one, if there is going to be one will fare much better.

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