Life In Car

The Harbor City Ocean Terminal is a great place to begin exploring Hong Kong. With all forms of public transport only a step away, it’s simply a matter of setting sight-seeing priorities and deciding how best to reach them. The entire system was designed to move millions of people around Hong Kong’s complicated geography with both efficiency and speed.

On foot from the terminal is the main shopping area of Tsim Sha Tsui and Nathan Road. Using buses while shopping in the Tsim Sha Tsui area will be useful to avoid many steep streets, especially if carrying shopping bags. Kowloon Park with shady paths and ornamental lakes is not far from Nathan Road, either is the historic Signal Hill Garden. The Star Ferry Terminal is nearby, enabling one to cross Victoria Harbor and reach the northern part of HK Island. The main museum area is only minutes from the Harbor City Ocean Terminal.

However, using Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system is ideal during the sultry summer months or inclement weather. The MTR has 10-lines with many interchanges and is very efficient and cheap. Tourists coming from any Hong Kong Hotel in the north of the main West Kowloon hotel district may prefer to use the MTR to reach HK station on HK Island and then proceed on foot. Using the MTR, one will avoid crossing Victoria Harbor by ferry.

The Peak Tramway is a 121-year old funicular railway built by the British, and is one of the oldest in the world. It starts in Central HK from near the Old Government House and climbs a breathtaking 1300 feet in under a mile to reach The Peak Tower. Once there, visitors get a spectacular view of Victoria Harbor and Hong Kong’s skyline.

The first stop on the LEGO KidsFest Tour is Boston, MA. KidsFest will be at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center on September 25-26, 2010. The event kicks off a national tour that will run through May of 2011. LEGO KidsFest began as a pilot event in Hartford, Connecticut in November 2009 and attracted over 25,000 attendees from more than 14 states. The Boston weekend is expected to surpass that attendance with families coming from all over New England to stay in Boston Hotels .

LEGO KidsFest is a weekend of creative, educational, and interactive activities for kids and their families based on the popular LEGO franchise. The event will feature lifesize LEGO models and offer kids a chance to build, create, and play. One lucky family will win a trip to LEGOLAND California . Other prizes will be awarded based on drawings from those who complete the LEGO Passport Program, by visiting every participating booth and getting a passport stamp. Creation Nation allows kids and families to create a personal mosaic of legos that will be added to a basketball-court sized map of the US, contributing to the physical representation of individual creativity. The Roaming Railroad will offer kids a scenic ride through the festival with ticket proceeds being donated to a local charity. Kids can also race their favorite cars at the Roaming Racetrack and visit the Construction Zone. Area schools are invited to participate in the Landmark School Competition by creating a replica of a town landmark. And parents will love the opportunity to shop early for Christmas at the KidFest LEGO Retail Store.

KidFest will continue with 2010 dates in Hartford, CT, New York, NY, and Chicago IL before moving on to Atlanta, GA, Philadelphia, PA, and Los Angeles, CA in 2011.

Experienced travelers know that finding food in a new and exotic location can be a challenge. It’s not just a matter of finding food that is safe to eat. Most modern cities will have plenty of clean and sanitary eateries and the spread of international chains and franchises means that Starbucks, McDonalds, and even familiar sit down restaurant names can be found virtually anywhere. The real questions are where to find “local” food, how to order it, and how to eat it without offending the locals.

In Singapore, the best place to start is at the front desk. Pretty much any hotel in Singapore is going to have a concierge desk that can direct you to the better local eateries and maybe even give you a quick primer on dining etiquette. Singapore restaurants offer cuisines from all the corners of the world, with Chinese, Malay, and Indian foods being predominant. Some of the more popular dishes include chili crab , Katong laksa (chili paste and chopped laksa leaf) and satay with peanut sauce, onions and cucumber. A few translations may be needed. Assam is tamarind, lengkuas is blue ginger, and serai is lemon grass. Bee hoon are thin rice noodles, hor fun are wide, flat rice noodles, while mee are thick egg noodles, and sotong is squid or cuttlefish. When in doubt, just ask.

You can rest assured that most foods are eaten with a fork and spoon, while noodle dishes and Chinese foods traditionally use chopsticks . Remember to use your fork to push and cut food with your left hand and to eat with the spoon in your right hand and never to stick your chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice and you’ll be fine. Malay and Indian foods are usually eaten without utensils. Use your right hand to pick up food. Most places are fine if you request a fork — even Chinese eateries.

If you’re on vacation in Rome you won’t want to spend all your time in a Rome hotel . This city has so much to offer there is no way you’ll see it all on your first visit so choose wisely. Many who come to Rome come for the history. Whether they want to see the ruins of ancient Rome, the catacombs, or visit the art and architecture of the Italian Renaissance is a matter of personal tastes.

For those interested in the ancient ruins the Coliseum comes to mind immediately, this crumbling monument to the times of the Caesars is where gladiators would battle each other and wild beasts for the entertainment of the masses much like today’s wrestling and fighting sports only these individuals played for keeps. Today it’s one of the first stops for visitors and the ground above the cells below it has caved in places limiting tour areas. The Coliseum is also a protected cat colony and home to over 200 feral felines.

The renaissance started in Italy though it didn’t thoroughly effect Rome until later when it was promoted by popes in the 16th century. This is highlighted by the stunning sculptures and and paintings in many of the cathedrals and churches. St. Peter’s Basilica of Rome, in fact, is home to the famous sculpture La Pieta by Michelangelo .