Tag: Weird Travel

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Google Wants to Rebuild the World's Largest Airship Hangar. There's Only One Catch.

December 12, 2011 at 11:40 AM | by | Comments (0)

We never have enough time or space to get to all the Google Travel news that we'd like. A few weeks ago we talked about their new airport maps, and a little before that we did an introduction to their burgeoning flight search service. Unfortunately Google Flight Search got dragged down by how the airline industry does business, and it has remained unimpressive.

On the other side of the success spectrum, though, developers and programmers expanded Google Earth to include games—a move that involved airlines and has implications for social media—and an MIT student playing around with Google Maps made a de facto travel itinerary checker.

But this post isn't about any of those stories. This post is about deep, abiding, biting, bitter jealousy.

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Worst Layover Ever? Man Lives on Soy Sauce and Wasabi at Taipei Airport

Where: Taipei, Taiwan
October 20, 2011 at 8:30 AM | by | Comments (0)

Watching the movie "The Terminal" or reading the Alain de Botton book A Week at the Airport can make you have crazy ideas, like perhaps that living in an airport for a period of time would be awesome. Tom Hanks kind of finds romance, de Botton eats a ton of room service and listens to the melodramatic life stories of travelers passing through Heathrow's Terminal 5; it all seems so nice and easy.

This week however, those daydreaming about living at an airport got a wakeup call when a Japanese man was found to be doing just that in Taipei International Airport, after running out of money and overstaying his visa. Masaaki Tanaka subsisted on soy sauce and wasabi packets while searching the airport floor for loose change. Hmm—not so glamorous.

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New York's George Washington Statue Was Dressed Up as a Bumbling Tourist

October 3, 2011 at 4:03 PM | by | Comments (2)

The first thing you need to know is that we checked out this story as thoroughly as we could, because we don't want to be that site that posts an Onion story as if it's real news. Here's the Kickstarter page for the art project, which is—quote—"to transform [the George Washington statue in Union Square] into a contemporary monument to tourism [with] large scale props such as an 'I Love NY' hat, camera, NYC subway map, and local shopping bags."

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There's Something Fishy About This Pedicure

September 15, 2011 at 11:12 AM | by | Comments (0)

Happening upon a hungry Coati wasn't our only interesting animal sighting on our recent trip to Mexico's Riviera Maya. We also spotted a school of fish, only they weren't in the ocean—they were in aquariums inside the Spa at the Grand Velas Riviera Maya. These fishies aren't there for decoration, either; they're there to nibble the dead skin off your feet in what's become something of a spa trend borrowed from Asia.

Ahhh! That was our reaction, too, but you see the "fish pedicure" is quite common in other parts of the world.

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Foreign Grocery Friday: The Lobster Ice Cream of Las Vegas

September 9, 2011 at 2:01 PM | by | Comments (0)

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

Okay so it's not technically foreign, but the Lobster Ice Cream at Las Vegas' new Lobster ME food kiosk in the Miracle Mile mall is totally worth a feature on its own. For one, it's totally Vegas in that it's something so weird, so novelty, so foreign to Vegas that's cool by default. In fact, perhaps the only people in the country who wouldn't turn their nose up at the stuff would be visitors to Vegas, open to wild and crazy new experiences (and with coin to drop on expensive ice cream).

Even a friend from Maine traveling to Vegas with us—a person who knows his lobster—refused to try it, instead opting for Lobster ME's lobster grilled cheese.

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Welcome to the Teeny-Tiniest House in All of Great Britain

August 3, 2011 at 10:00 AM | by | Comments (0)

Could you live in a space only 10' by 6'? What about if it had an enviable view of the water and an unbeatable location? Well someone has, and someone did up until 1900 when The Smallest House in Great Britain was declared unfit for habitation. These days, it's one of two hugely popular tourist sites in the town of Conwy in North Wales.

Apparently there's only enough room inside for "one stove, a water tap, a bedside cabinet and a bed," although we're quite sure that IKEA would have something to say about it if they could get their hands on it.

The teeny-tiny red house stands on the quayside of the town, with the 8 turrets of the medieval Conwy Castle overshadowing it to the right and the town's even older defensive walls fencing it in on the left. It's quite a thing to behold—both the castle and the small house—but save your cash for going into the castle and not the cramped confines of the latter.

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Wish You Were Here: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrn- drobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Wales

July 19, 2011 at 1:14 PM | by | Comments (0)

Fifty-eight letters and one tiny train station. Welcome to the Welsh town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, which sits in the northwestern most corner of Wales on the Isle of Anglesey. Llanfairpwllgwyngyll—the short form, or Llanfair PG to be even shorter—holds the title of longest town name in the world. It would be first for longest general place as well, if it weren't for a New Zealand hill annoyingly sporting 85 letters: "Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu."

In the town name of Llanfair PG, there are only 13 vowels, plus the impressive totals of 11 Ls and 7 Gs. As you can imagine, the town rides on tourism based solely on this claim to fame, and when we dropped by earlier today, the single parking lot at the train station was half-filled with tour buses and half with rental cars (our own included).

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These Boots Are Made for Throwing, at Estonia's World Championship Competition

Where: Estonia
July 7, 2011 at 10:48 AM | by | Comments (0)

If you regularly take off your shoes after a long day at work and toss them somewhere in the house, have we got a sport for you. The annual Boot-Throwing World Championship will kick off July 8 in Viljandi, Estonia, for a fierce two-day competition.

The first world championship was held in Finland in 1992 and since then, boot-throwing has become a serious sport. In fact, boot-throwing athletes have been caught taking performance-enhancing drugs and now there are regulations against them.

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Airports May Literally Be Cooking Their Own Goose to Avoid Bird Strikes

Where: PA
June 20, 2011 at 3:45 PM | by | Comments (0)

Ever since Flight 1549 unexpectedly found itself in the Hudson River thanks to some pesky geese, there has been much made about getting birds away from runways to avoid a similar situation. Suggestions have included sound makers, nets, and even plans to just fill in waterways in order to relocate flocks of feathers anywhere but near an airport. Now there’s another option that airports are thinking about...

The latest plan would involve New York City officials collecting unwanted airport birds—primarily Canada Geese—and shipping them off to Pennsylvania. Upon arrival in the Keystone State, the birds will be cooked and fed to those in need of a warm meal. Apparently the Department of Environmental Protection is all in favor of this plan, as they’re thinking utilizing the birds as food is probably better than just getting rid of them by tossing them into a landfill. We guess they’re right, but it still seems just a little odd.

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Hong Kong Airlines' Flight Attendants Get Their Kung Fu On, Now in Video!

May 5, 2011 at 11:02 AM | by | Comments (0)

OMG. Remember when we told you that Hong Kong Airlines was beginning a program to teach their flight attendants Kung Fu? Well, now there's video!

Above, thanks the Wall Street Journal, you can watch as the newest and youngest FAs at HK Airlines use their hands for other things than pouring you tea and demonstrating safety procedures. This learning Wing Chun—a form of Kung Fu that works well in confined spaces—is, for a change, totally in the name of their own safety. The fact that they're looking for press (and getting it) is totally forgiven because this is the awesomeness. We took a self-defense class once, but we didn't get to wear a flight attendant uniform for it. Do over?

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Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting on Hong Kong Airlines

Where: Hong Kong
April 18, 2011 at 12:28 PM | by | Comment (1)

Don't mess with the cabin crew onboard Hong Kong Airlines, because they're about to become martial arts masters. No, really! After a flight attendants trained in close-range combat found her skills helped her deal with unruly and heavy passengers, the airline has now made such training compulsory for all flight crew, with other HK Airlines staff invited to learn as well.

According to the AFP, the flight attendants will specifically learn Wing Chun, a form of Kung Fu ideal for up-close combat in confined spaces.

Flight crew won't just be using it to chop troublesome passengers into submission; it'll also aid with overweight passengers. The Wing Chun-trained FA who inspired all this actually found her strength allowed her to better deal with an overweight man who was feeling ill onboard a flight. Those who are currently in the program say they're enjoying it, since being able to defend themselves is a valuable skill.

Perhaps now some American airlines will consider makes Pilates part of their crew training?

[Ip Man photo: alternativechronicle]

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Bathtubs, Dead Cows and More: The Weirdest Things in Passenger Luggage on Virgin Atlantic

April 12, 2011 at 11:41 AM | by | Comments (0)

What's the worst thing you've ever had in your luggage? A busted bottle of suntan lotion? Maybe a giant melted Toblerone from the airport duty-free shop? Whatever—it'd be pretty difficult to beat the exotic and gross stories others have about what they've attempted to check onto planes, and today Virgin Atlantic released a list of the Top 5 Strangest Items to Turn Up at a Check-In Desk:

1. A pet tarantula hidden in a ladies coat at JFK airport.
2. A dead cow wrapped in plastic at JFK airport.
3. A bag of cutlery previously stolen from a Virgin Atlantic flight at Delhi airport.
4. A couple who fell in love on the island of Grenada decided to try and check in a bag full of sand, sea and water as a memory from the island they met and fell in love on.
5. A bag of soil and coconut trees at Grenada airport.

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