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Airports / SIN / Singapore Travel / Awesome Stuff / Singapore Changi Airport / Singapore Airlines / Pools / → All Tags

Hanging Out at Singapore's Changi Airport: The Outdoor Pool. Yes, a Pool.

There's a reason Singapore-Changi International Airport consistently wins awards; it's because the place is ah-may-zing. After spending much time at the three main terminals earlier this week, we're sharing with you our favorite, can't-miss bits of this massive travel hub.

Today: The famous pool atop Changi Airport's Terminal 1

Look, you have to believe us when we say that one of the terminals at Changi Airport has a swimming pool. Why? Because, crazily enough, it's true. You'll find the clear blue waters of the outdoor pool above Terminal 1, just follow the "swimming pool" signs and an escalator to reach it.

Technically, this pool (and whirlpool) is part of a hotel in the terminal—the Ambassador Transit Hotel—but it's actually situated across a landing from the hotel reception and, thus, quite easy to check out on your own before paying the $13.91 SGD ($11.15 USD) to actually use the facilities and take a dip.

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Celeb Travel / Hot Yachts / Cannes Film Festival / Pools / Gerard Butler / → All Tags

Follow Gerard Butler's Example in Cannes for Hot Yachts and Models

Add Gerard Butler to the list of the beautiful people celebrities who have spent the last week in the South of France. Butler got a little R & R in this weekend after spending much of last week at the Cannes Film Festival, airkissing actresses and slathering on suntan oil.

Thursday night, Gerry suited up for the annual amfAR Cinema Against Aids gala at the Hotel Du Cap Eden Roc in Cap Antibes, France, where Lady Gaga performed after her own romp on a yacht just off the coast. When asked about his lifestyle at the event, he relied, “I’m not exactly Mr. Values. Life is about enjoying yourself and that’s what I do.” We couldn't agree more!

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Punta Cana Field Trip / Ecotourism / Green Travel / Dominican Republic Travel / Punta Cana Travel / Pools / → All Tags

The Best Resort Amenity in the Dominican Republic is an Eco-Park

If there is one thing you don't expect from a large Caribbean resort property, it's eco-consciousness. Large resort chains love to overdo it with gluttonous wastes of resources all for the pleasure of their guests, without regard for the environment in which travelers find the beauty of an area. Thus, on our recent trip down to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, we were thrilled to discover that a couple resorts are putting preservation and eco-travel efforts first, and even cultivating their own organic gardens for their restaurants.

We visited one resort in particular, the PUNTACANA Resort & Club, which has added an eco-park onto the list of their amenities, and it's become quite popular. The park, Ojos Indigenas, with lush vegetation, natural freshwater pools and residents like giant crabs, was discovered by accident and immediately given official protection. It is only open to guests of the PUNTACANA Resort, Tortuga Bay Resort and those with vacation homes in the resort, but if you're visiting the Punta Cana area and want to dive into the cool, fresh waters of one of the pools, you can also access it by taking the resort's segway tour, one of the only such tours in the Dominican Republic.

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Water Parks / Indoor Water Parks / Theme Parks / Budget Travel / Recessionary Travel / Active Travel / Pools / → All Tags

Has Anybody Been to an Indoor Water Park? Are They Fun?

It's winter vacation season, and those of us who didn't get any TARP funds have limited travel budgets to work with this year. But while we might not be able to spring for a trip to some luxe Caribbean beach resort, there are plenty of options closer to home where we could get our fix of sun and fun without breaking the bank. USA Today writes about some of the crazy deals available at indoor water parks around the country, where you can bask in constant 86-degree temperatures, splash around in some pretty creative pools, and get your share of ultraviolet rays through huge skylights. It's definitely not something I've ever done before, but after reading about some of the more unique features, I have to admit that I'm intrigued. They look like fun.

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Pools / Germany Travel / Extra Fees / Thomas Cook / → All Tags

The Latest In Extra Travel Fees: Pre-Reserving Lounge Chairs

Hey, hidden and extra fees are keeping the airline industry afloat. So why not resorts as well? Here's the newest extra fee scheme, coming straight out of Germany:

The travel firm Thomas Cook is giving Germans the option of pre-booking their loungers. Reserving a lounger and beach umbrella in advance will cost about three euros ($4.30) a day. One of the firm's managers, Peter Fankhauser, said that 'with this we're relieving our clients of early morning stress.' He said he too found it "really tiresome" on holiday to be sent out by his wife early in the morning to place beach towels on the desired poolside loungers, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported.

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Jaunted in Hawaii / Hawaii Travel Videos / Shira Lazar / Pools / → All Tags

Dipping Into The Queens Bath in Kauai

West Coast web media princess, and Jaunted Embed, Shira Lazar rushed off to Hawaii for a couple days at the bequest of So Much More Hawaii. We will be bringing you her travel videos between June 1st and 5th, in hopes of creating a glorious on-the-fly travel guide using as much point oh social webbing as we can. Enjoy.

The Queen's Bath in Kauai is a small freshwater pool carved out of a lava shelf next to the ocean. Watch the video to see more of this natural wonder!

Worlds-Coolest-Pools / Pools / Thailand Travel / Resorts / → All Tags

Get Your Feet Wet In Thailand

Last one in's a rotten egg! We're finding the best places in the world to stick our toes in this summer (or next winter) for our World's Coolest Pools map. Know of any pools we must check out? Let us know.

Sometimes it's the accessories that make the outfit, and this Thailand resort pool wouldn't be complete without the cabanas that have doubtless been the subject of many a turf war at this new property's shore. But to dip your toes in this beauty is worth a "Home Alone"-style booby trap or two.

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Worlds-Coolest-Pools / Disney World / Pools / Disney / Pirates / → All Tags

Indulge Your Inner Amphibian At Disney's Stormalong Bay

Last one in's a rotten egg! We're finding the best places in the world to stick our toes in this summer (or next winter) for our World's Coolest Pools map. Know of any pools we must check out? Let us know.

Without a cutesy shape or a benevolent aura, you'd never recognize this mega-pool as the domain of the Mouse. But we had to check out the Yacht and Beach Club combined pools after a tipster promised not only a sandy bottom but "a slide from a pirate ship." And you all know we have a weakness for pirate travel.

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Worlds-Coolest-Pools / Tahiti Travel / Pools / Hotels / → All Tags

Your Own Semiprivate Oasis In Tahiti

Last one in's a rotten egg! We're finding the best places in the world to stick our toes in this summer (or next winter) for our World's Coolest Pools map. Know of any pools we must check out? Let us know.

The invention of the sandy-bottomed approach was one of the great pool innovations of the '90s. But the pool at the Le Méridien Tahiti takes it a step further: There's nothing real about this white-sand beach, but your toes won't know the difference.

The sand in question is claimed to be natural, but is in fact imported from other parts of the island to give the Le Méridien lagoon that particular sparkle. The blob-shaped pool is somewhat remote from the nearby city of Papeete, but the hotel also features an on-site artist's studio and horseback rides should you be bothered to change out of your swimsuit.

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Worlds-Coolest-Pools / Cornwall Travel / Pools / Saltwater Pools / → All Tags

By The Sea, By The Sea, By The Cornwall Sea

Last one in's a rotten egg! We're finding the best places in the world to stick our toes in this summer (or next winter) for our World's Coolest Pools map. Know of any pools we must check out? Let us know.

Further proof nature has a sense of humor? A natural outcrop of rocks provided the inspiration for city officials in Bude, a popular Victorian seaside destination, to lay in the groundwork for one of England's rapidly disappearing "sea baths."

Before chlorine ruled the pool world, swimmers looking for a space more placid than the open ocean turned to natural pools along the coast of Cornwall to bathe -- same seawater, no undertow. Many of these sea baths have since been closed, but Bude's remains thanks to a small but dedicated cadres of locals who fought to keep the pools open (albeit with municipal lifeguards) after a 2005 study deemed them unsafe.

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Restaurants / Hotels / Pools / → All Tags

New Boston Restaurant: BOKX 109 American Prime

Mango mint cocktails on the pool deck... truffled duck fat fries in the private tented cabanas... swordfish steaks in the plush dining room. Gotta be Miami, right? Or maybe Vegas?

Nope, try Boston. Beantown's chicest new hotel, the Hotel Indigo in Newton, recently debuted what clearly aims to be the town's trendiest restaurant-bar, BOKX 109 American Prime.

With a nightclub-like atmosphere and an upscale comfort food menu, this peculiarly-named restaurant certainly has started a late summer buzz in Boston. But is the nation of Red Sox and Sam Adams ready for high-heeled pool parties, $40-entrées and chefs who are touted as "performers?" One thing's for sure: A line of trendy restaurant moguls are eagerly awaiting to see whether Bostonians bring their wallets.

Related Stories:
· BOKX 109 American Prime [Official Site]
· Boston Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: BOKX 109]

Crime / Swimming / Pools / Summer Travel / Google Earth / → All Tags

"The Google Earth Gatecrashers"

How did we not already think of this? New York magazine once crashed hotel pools in Gotham, but now British lads--and you know it's the lads--are using Google Earth to find neighborhood pools worth infiltrating.

Says the Daily Mail:

The craze involves using the Google Earth programme, which provides high-quality aerial photos of Britain and other countries.

Once a target is chosen, the organisers use social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo to arrange to meet, say police.

Authorities worry that the trend is about to really catch on thanks to a combo of warmer weather and vacant houses, as Brits go on summer holidays. Time for us to get a Bebo account!

Related Stories:
· The Google Earth Gatecrashers [Daily Mail, via]
· Summer Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of a prime target: Google Maps]