Dubai: Palm Jumeirah Opens

I've been trying hard not to be interested to the developments in Dubai, yet I think I tried long enough. I must admit now that now I'm actually interested on it. For me, Dubai (and neighboring Abu-Dhabi) is nothing but a crazy playground of development. What they are doing there are simply utopian in a very shallow way. Very childish if I might say, very fake.

"Hey, let's make the tallest tower in the world, and make the actual height a secret, a lot earlier and taller than expected tallest skycraper in NYC, Freedom Tower. Sure.. Money is not a problem."

"Hey, let's build the tallest hotel(s)! Please don't make it (them) look normal!"

"Hey, let's buy the top athelete names to name our buildings. Pay them as much as they want!"

"Hey, let's build a snow park in the middle of desert! You got it!"

"Hey, let's make the biggest mall in the world, no matter who would occupied it. if Zara wants to build 4 stores inside, we'll let them!"

"Hey, let's make a cluster big island that can be seen from space! Oh wait, make four of them!"

OHHH PUHLEEAASE!!

And the this first cluster of the man-made island is done and just celebrated the grand opening. Let's meet all the celebrities who was coming for the event!

Fireworks in Grand Opening of Palm Jumeriah, I hope it's not fake as Olmpic opening in Beijing

I hate hate hate the fake buildings, islands (Yes I hate Pulau Sentosa, but somehow it works well with Singapore, that is also has lots of fake beaches, lakes, etc.) and everythings that so unnatural. But now I'm realizing that between hate and love sometime has only a very fine line.

I thought that I will have no interest to visit this city. Maybe if I would probably because I did involved in some projects in Abu-Dhabi for my ex-company and some design proposal and competition works in Dubai (especially one in Palm Jebel Ali). But now I'm starting to think to come if I have a chance. Well done Dubai marketing team!

Google Earth image of Palm Jebel Ali, Palm Jumeirah, The World, and Palm Deira (from left bottom to right top)

Global Slowdown, So What?

A few days ago I was watching TV (Yes, I do this a bit often now since I have to share internet with my girlfriend) but stick to English speaking channels like CNN (Apparently in Slovenia 90% Kabel-TV channels are either in Slovene or German, and CNN is among the least) and there was an interesting topic on Business Travelers program, about global tourism started feeling the impact on global financial crisis. Here's the video of the first and second part.

Part 1 Global Overview

Part 2 Asian Tigers

For other parts please browse on CNN media website, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.

Yes it's true, vacation is not a prime need and you'd only do it if you have spare money and time to spend. Yet, I believe that no matter what it's still a human need. It does not have to be expensive and far, but people need it time after time to escape from daily stress at work and home.

So What Can We Do to Keep Traveling?

Be smarter!
Plan the travel more carefully by finding as many information from everywhere. Internet is the best place to start, there are zillions of travel stories from various travelers on different budgets and interests. Thorn Tree Forum is one place to begin. There are other good sites too, like Virtual Tourists and STA. You can ask some travel genius about anything. List down all the plans, activities, prices and alternatives if things wouldn't go as planned. Be wise but don't be too stiff! Traveling spontaneous is often more fun than just follow the book, isn't it? While traveling, carrying some good travel guide books would save your day, your budget and even your life. I carry at least a Lonelyplanet guide with me whenever I travel.

Be budget! Find local gems!
OK, maybe we don't need to go for that romantic candle-light dinner every night. And perhaps skip the Gucci bag and those expensive day-treatment spas. The vacation can be as much fun without if you wisely spend your fortune somewhere else. Instead of the same indulgence only on different place, try to indulge yourself with local stuffs on where you're visiting.

Maybe the local young designer purse won't bring your status higher, but can look as nice as the next season Coach bag and cost 80% less! Someone would still ask where did you get the bag and you can still answer proudly, "It's from my last vacation to Argentina". Or while you're in a place like Bali, get out from hotel which offers you their spa packages and instead find a massage parlor on the corner of the street, they might be not as convinient but you only pay one third of the price for longer treatment! Please support local economy and talent! :)

Avoid franchises as much as you can! Why buy the same things that you can also find it home? Unless you're telling me that you got a really great discount, much better currency rate and tax return, leave the shopping temptation home. There are some other exceptions for me though. Like no matter how I want to stay away from foods like McDonalds, when traveling abroad I often pay a visit and try the "local variety" they offer only in that specific country. It's a habit.

Explore Your Local Sites!
It's the perfect time to go to that place that is near but you always never have the chance to go. Maybe you visited it long time ago and wonder how is it now. Maybe it would bring old memories with your partner, friend and family. Maybe it's the time to support your community economy. Or maybe it's simply to save cost on flight tickets.

Find Bargains!
Last but not least, keep an eye on travel bargains! Do check offers regularly from various airlines, hotels and tourist sites. They really understand the impact from the crisis, but they still need to keep the wheel turning, so bargains and promotions are sometime still effective to keep the tourists coming. An example from Air Asia answering both oil price drop and global slowdown.

OK these are things I can think for now, if you have any other idea, please post me. Thanks and happy traveling!

a boat on coast of lovina Bali at dawn

Air Asia Omitted Fuel Surcharge

No kidding! This is a good news for you in South East Asia - Australia region who enjoys budget airlines regularly. The latest oil price drop has many benefits, especially good for times like this financial crisis. One of them is Air Asia decided to kill the fuel surcharge on its ticket (at least for now, they didn't promised to keep it this way on the future). So grab while you still can!

The math for budget flight ticket was usually like this:

ticket (nett) = ticket + fuel surcharge + services (optional) + airport tax

So no fuel surcharge this time. And yet, another good news! They're having a "free-seats" promo on travel between Jun 22th to Oct 24th 2009. Yes, that means literally you only pay for the airport tax! I did a test booking for Singapore - Kuala Lumpur on July 2009 travel and it came up like this:

Note: The 2.50 SGD is optional baggage, if you only have cabin carry you won't need this, but if you have more baggage, you'd pay more. It sucks I know, but this is normal for any budget airlines flights in the whole world.

Grab the free seating or just grab the no-fuel surcharge, happy travel everyone!

Blog Experience Enhanced!

Yes, you like how it sounds.. enhanced! I just enabled easier feeds on my two blogs, Grab-One! and Travel-Book. With the help of FeedBurner, the blog updates can be redirected to your home page or any of your favorite reader. Subcribing is fool-proof and just a few clicks away. Here's a screenshot of how the feeds on iGoogle.


Not enough? Now you can subscribe via Email by filling the field on the widget on the right side of this page. So any new posts on this blog will be flooding your inbox, or your junk mail hehe (*knock on wood).


I'm sorry that I haven't been so productive the last few weeks since I've been really occupied with my moving to Slovenia. I promise a new post within a day or two (have a lot of ideas on my mind..) and then more updates regularly. Thank you my fellow readers and writers :) Ciao!

Where The Hell Is Matt? He's Dancing Terribly Around The World

I always love his videos.. Really simple seems meaningless, yet so inspiring and .. fun. I'm quite surprised that according to his map, on these days, he's in Singapore for a trip to Malay Peninsula. On the last day I'm in Singapore hehe.. Enjoy the video, this was 2006 Outtakes, there are more videos in his page and YouTube. Check them out! They're really nice.

Moving to Slovenia

I hate to say good-bye, but I must bid farewell to friends here in Singapore. I want to tell you about my moving-out to Slovenia. Why Slovenia? I think I don't need to explain :P but here's what..

I'm gonna start to work in a Slovenian architecture consultant firm called Ravnikar Potokar Arhitekti. I don't know for sure, but I think they have about a dozen people working there. You think that's small? Then good luck finding 5 Slovenian firms that has more than 3 staffs! :D FYI on the contrary, the company I've been working in has about 1,200 staffs in Singapore alone.

This adventure ahead thrills me. I've been overwhelmed by the new experience, the totally different working atmosphere, and different projects with new settings. I just can't wait to begin working!

So Where Is Slovenia?
Many people aren't so sure where it's located, it's a new nation (1991 independence from Yugoslavia), so probably didn't come out on geography exam when you were back in school.

Well, Slovenia is much closer than you'd think. It's often considered as Eastern European country, while in fact it's more located in the central Europe, you know that big Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Africa? Slovenia is just there in the corner, right between Italy and Croatia, and South from Austria and Hungary. Not in Balkan as some people thought, and it's not Slovakia! Mistaken this, you'd be slammed by furious Slovenes! Hahaha just kidding.

Slovenia relative location to Europe

Beloved Capital
Ljubljana, the city I'm heading to, is the capital of Slovenia. Pronounce it "li-yu-bli-ya-na". Uh, you'd probably complain what's with the hard word. Well if I'm not wrong, Ljublji means "Love", and remember that "Ljubim te" means "I love you". Got it? OK, There goes your first Slovene language lesson.

Ljubljana has only 300,000 inhabitants, yet it's the biggest city in Slovenia. So now you got the idea how dense Slovenia is, right? There are only 2 million people living in the country, making it one of the least dense EU country. As you can imagine, when you step outside the city you'd find yourself passing hills like you see in Sound of Music, crossing the dream-like turquoise colored rivers, which was the set of one Narnia movie for the river scene (yes, the shot was taken in its Soča River), and meandering mountain pass covered in snow (the Alps stretch all away to Slovenia). It's just simply beautiful.

I couldn't recall anywhere else than Slovenian countryside, where you can actually ALWAYS enjoy the scenery while driving fast along the express ways. But you know what, Slovenia has a lot more to offers. Even though it's small, that piece of land and its people are really diverse. Here's what I have in mind about Slovenia on my last visit earlier this year.

my first impressions of Slovenia (click to enlarge)

You would find more interesting stuffs on Slovenia tourism website or wikitravel.

OK, I'm gonna change my address, I hope I can settle soon so that we can invite you to come to Slovenia. Happy traveling!

us in front of Predjama Castle, inviting you

A Reason to Travel Around The World: UNESCO World Heritage Site

For many people, vacation means sunbathing on the white sandy beach, hitting a jackpot on casino slot machine, pampering body and soul in spas, or seeking for bargain on souvenir markets. But do remember that we're living in a rich world, yes so wealthy in culture and nature, not merely economy and possession. There are thousands of things around us to be seen, touch, smell, and experience. Some has been there since the earth formed, some since the cradle of mankind and some evolves with human.

For some of you who would like to enjoy the world more than what your local travel agent has to offer, the world is almost unlimited. The wonders can be world-renown or local best-kept secrets, and all you need is a bit of research. There are tonnes of online references out there to look for, my favorites are lonelyplanet thorntree forum and wikitravel, which are free and so convenient. I thank people who spends a lot of their time contributing and helping each other.

Now I'm gonna spotlight a list that made by UNESCO and had been somewhat guiding me to pick interesting places when I'm planning to travel. This list is called World Heritage List. Yes, it sounds so familiar, as places are using this award in their slogans and advertisements. But we're rarely pay attention on it right? There's more than only a slogan. This list made to protect and preserve these places. Imagine what would happen if the developers just build whatever they want to bring money from tourist flocked the sites! Disaster! And this program also give incentive so that the sites benefit surrounding community (not only from tourists-generated income) and to mankind.


There are currently only 878 sites on the list. From Borobudur Temple to Ha Long Bay, these sites await you on your next trip around the world :)

Happy travel!

disclaimer: photo was taken from this blog