Cooper's Beach Image Gallery

Cooper's Beach Image Gallery

Cooper's Beach is the main beach in Southampton village on Long Island; Southampton -- back in 1640-- was the first settlement in New York State.

Enjoy the Ho‘okipa Beach

photo from : twalshphoto.net

Ho‘okipa Beach Park is located on the north shore of Maui, Hawaii. Ho'okipa Beach Park is one of the premier windsurfing venues in all the world. It is not far east of the Kahului Airport, which means you can get off the plane and get in the water very quickly.While ever-present strong winds and powerful currents do not make the beach a place for beginners, experienced surfers and windsurfers continually flock to Ho'okipa for both recreation and windsurfing competitions.

Your worst hotel experience?

A recent hotel stay reminded us of just how bad they can occasionally be. We checked into a respectable five star city hotel in the early evening, did some work, then went out to dinner and checked out a bar afterwards. We'd had a really exhausting day - morning shoot, long drive, flat tyre, an important appointment we almost missed. You get the picture. We rocked in from dinner around midnight, got changed, and dragged ourselves to bed, only to find the bed - the sheets, the edge of the pillows and the doona (quilt, eiderdown), well, um... damp. I took a sniff. It smelt okay, like water. No air-conditioning above the bed. Perhaps the laundromat hadn't properly dried it and it then dampened everything else? I called the front desk and explained. Half an hour later a housekeeper showed up without fresh linen. We explained again. He disappeared. He returned another 20 minutes later with fresh sheets, but no doona, no mattress protector. Bring a friend, I called out, as he disappeared, as you'll probably have to turn the mattress over too. He returned another 15 minutes later with a colleague, mattress protector, and doona. However, when they pulled off the mattress protector to turn the mattress over, we saw an enormous yellow circle. Yes! Urine! Why on earth a maid had remade a urine-soaked bed in a five star hotel that clearly wasn't full was beyond me. By 1.30am, the Night Manager had moved us. Did I ever tell you about the bed bugs story? So, what was your worst hotel experience? 

Pictured? Definitely not the hotel in question - that's one of our better hotel experiences.

Travel insights from travel experts

I am probably suffering from chronic information overload - how about you? - but increasingly I'm finding myself wanting to read more informed opinions from people with experience and expertise in a subject, no matter what the area, but especially travel. If I'm doing research or simply trying to stay abreast of trends, I don't have the time or inclination to sift through reviews and advice from people whose backgrounds and qualifications I know very little about. Which is why I very rarely visit Trip Advisor (see my post of yesterday for more on user-generated reviews) and which is why I was so happy when the smart people at Uptake, in partnership with BootsnAll Travel Network and Tips from the T-list, started Travel Insights 100 (and also asked me to join!). Travel Insights 100 consists of 100 opinion makers in travel, from tourism industry leaders to travel writers and bloggers. Essentially it's an online forum where you can find a diverse group of travel experts and a place for discussion about the issues and changes affecting travel around the globe. You'll find members' blog posts, RSS and Twitter feeds, as well as the results of surveys of the members that Uptake will undertake and release from time to time, the first of which was a survey - what else - on Twitter. Check out the actual results here and a summary here. And do let me know what you think.

Visit the Coronado Beach, San Diego California

Coronado beach is a popular beach in San Diego California. Coronado has perfect beaches to spend an entire day or weekend sprawled out under an umbrella until the sun sets over the Pacific Ocean. Swim, surf, sail, body board, fish, or just fall asleep in the sun. Other activities include beach volleyball, tide pool exploration, and kite flying. So visit the coronado beach with yours family, friends and more people.

Travel experts versus 'real' travellers

Travel 'experts', whether they are travel writers, guidebook authors, travel bloggers, tour guides, travel agents, hoteliers etc, are also 'real' travellers in my mind. Yet publishers and travel sites are frequently pitting the two against each other. Sure, the travel experts sometimes get special treatment and they can rarely shut themselves off from the act of reviewing, even when they're on holidays, but the fact is that they do take holidays and do travel like 'normal' people too. I book my flights and hotels online. I have to negotiate local transport like you do. I eat as many bad meals as I do good ones, and I also get allocated my share of crappy hotel rooms too. Yet increasingly the opinions of the experts - the people who stay in hundreds of hotel rooms a year, catch scores of flights, and talk to thousands of other travel experts and travellers - that is, the people who make it their business to accumulate vast travel experience and knowledge and develop skills at discernment - seem to be increasingly undervalued and overlooked in favor of the opinions of 'real' people. One example is the hotel reviews in Budget Travel (a magazine I love, by the way), such as this one which states that "Online reviews generally praise the hotel as an affordable gem with a fun, unique theme" and "Reader Dawn recommends Franklin Feel the Sound, where she stayed in June 2009. She writes that the Franklin exceeded her expectations and was excellent value". Frankly, unless I know who these online reviewers were and have more information about them and Dawn, I don't care what they think. I want to know how much hotel experience they've had, how many hotels in Rome they've checked into and inspected, and how many hotels they've stayed at fullstop, so I can then determine what their idea of "affordable" or "unique" is, and how different their expectations may be to that of other travellers. You see, travel experts know these things. What do you think?

Behind-the-scenes in a Michelin-starred chef's kitchen and the kindness of chefs

Being able to spend a night in the restaurant kitchen of a Michelin-starred chef - in this case that of Pierre Gagnaire at Reflets, Dubai - is one of the delights of our job. It wasn't our first time - which was Bacchus at Read's, Mallorca, where we dined at the Chef's Table and Terry did a Master Chef experience with Felix Eschrich - but our night at Reflets was probably one of our most enlightening and educative experiences in a restaurant kitchen. And Terry and I have both spent a lot of time in kitchens. I worked in Sydney cafes to put myself through uni and during high school for pocket money, while Terry did a stint working weekend nights in the kitchen of a friend's Surry Hills bistro to keep himself out of trouble when I went to South America to do my masters. But these were no fine dining restaurants! It would be inconceivable to think that a chef in a Michelin-starred fine-diner would retrieve a salad he'd dropped intentionally on a dirty floor, plopping it back in a bowl to be served to an impatient customer as one drug-crazed cook did in the kitchen of a popular Balmain cafe I onced worked at. What I also find inconceivable, after these Michelin-starred kitchen experiences, are the abusive Ramsay-like tirades of the kind we see on Hell's Kitchen. Because the atmosphere we witnessed in both kitchens was one of calm. No yelling. No screaming. No chaos. Very little confusion. Over the course of 3.5 hours of service at Reflets, we only heard the head chef shout "Allez! Allez!" a couple of times and witnessed a few minor moments from the sous chef, irritated with the energetic expediter who could occasionally be a little too eager to send unfinished plates out. In stark contrast, the chefs were cool and composed, the kitchen quiet. There was still a buzz, a real energy about the place, but it was a positive one. Throughout the night, when not checking plates, watching his team or talking to diners, a patient Pierre Gagnaire took time to explain, answer questions, and even ask us about our work and travels. He brought us delicious morsels of food that we savoured - some foie gras here, lobster ice-cream there - while Head Chef Olivier Biles brought us bottles of water and periodically asked if we were okay. Servers ducked out of range of Terry's camera and apologised for getting in our way, when we were the ones clearly in their's. What struck us is how extraordinarily professional, how kind, and how hospitable chefs of this calibre can be. It's their generosity in such stressful conditions that is most remarkable. But then it really shouldn't be surprising because when we talk to chefs about why they do what they do, mostly they say they do it to give pleasure. And how very pleasing the experience was. I'll let you know when the story's out.

Pictured? That's me chatting to Pierre Gagnaire.

D.T. Fleming Beach Park Pictures

One more for beautiful beach is D.T. Fleming Beach Park. D.T. Fleming Beach Park on Maui was rated as the best beach in America in 2006 for a good reason. Combine the park facilities with a lot of sand and you have the perfect vacation beach.
DT Fleming Beach Park is one of Maui's nicest beaches with good swimming in summer and pounding surf in winter. The nearby resort area of Kapalua offers upmarket resorts and some of the most challenging golf courses in Hawaii. In contrast to the Bay Course, Arnold Palmer designed this one to be more demanding, with six holes headed straight up the slopes of the West Maui Mountains and nine headed straight down. Length: 6,001-6,632 yards. Maui is a great place for everyone. You can spend hours doing things but its still fun. So...have a fun with yours family in D.T. Fleming Beach Park..

In print and online

It's been a busy period for Terry and I, as you've gathered from the dearth of blog posts these last months. And we've got a lot of work being published to prove it, from a small 'Up Next' piece on Abu Dhabi in the September edition of National Geographic Traveler to half a dozen eco-experiences I wrote about in Rough Guide's Clean Breaks book. I saw our first edition Travellers Northern Italy guidebook for the first time in a bookshop in Dubai the other day too and got exhausted just looking at it - that was a tough trip. Although I know you don't believe me. We've always written for in-flight magazines, but we've been doing a lot more writing for them these past few months. If you're wondering why, it's because it's fun, the editors are lovely, easy to work with and respond to emails, it's nice to submit a story and see it in print a month or two later, and they pay on time. In September's Storytelling issue of Gulf Air's in-flight magazine Gulf Life, we have features on Abu Shady, Syria's last hakawati or professional storyteller and a review on the Sheraton Aleppo; while in the October issue, we have articles on Syrian sculptor Mustafa Ali; a new Damascus jazz duo comprised of opera star Rasha Razk and pianist Ghazwan Zerkli; and funky Zen bar in Damascus with its fabulous views. All feature Terry's gorgeous photos of course, as does a story on Doha Tribeca Film Festival director - he shot the stunning portrait of Amanda Palmer in the lobby of Doha's W hotel. We've got a bunch of stories in this month's issue of Jazeera's in-flight J Mag too, and in MPI's One Plus magazine a profile on Emirati Ali Al Saloom who is changing the way visitors to Abu Dhabi experience the UAE.

Envying a donkey his pace - the frenetic tempo of travel writing, part 2

So how, as travel writers, do we get ourselves into the situation I described in the last post? And is it possible to be a travel writer and avoid this frenzied pace of life? To answer the second question first, I don't think it is possible if you want to make more than a decent living out of this profession. To answer the first, the way we work now is that we go on a trip with a number of commissions up our sleeves, and then while we're on the ground we follow up more leads for stories and pitch new ideas to editors from that destination. But that doesn't mean that other requests for stories stop coming in. As wonderful as they are, most of the time they're not even related to the destination we're in, which of course complicates things. While we're on the road, an editor might email and ask "Where are you at the moment?" which usually means he/she has a hotel they want reviewed or lead they'd like us to pursue. We'd be crazy to say no. At the same time, the longer we stay in a place and the more people we meet, the more story ideas we develop. Although we worked on a dozen stories in Damascus this trip, I left with twice as many ideas that I'd love to pursue next time. Do we prefer working this way, on multiple commissions, to focusing on a guidebook and a story or two? Absolutely. For one, it pays a hell of a lot more for less work. Secondly, we're meeting way more people doing stories than we did on books because we're no longer pounding the pavements all day every day putting dots on maps and checking transport timetables. But more on that another time. One of the downsides to this frantic pace is that it leaves little time for blogging. But blogging doesn't pay the bills. And for now, I kind of like it that way. I'll tell you why another time. Now, I have a story (or three) to write.

Envying a donkey his pace - the frenetic tempo of travel writing, part 1

Our recent trip around the Middle East (see this post) wasn't meant to be that kind of trip. There was no guidebook to write. No insane photography commission for Terry to undertake. Just lots of stories and hotel reviews to research and a couple of meetings about a book we're developing. However, somehow a trip that was meant to be fairly straightforward and one we'd hoped would trundle along at a slower pace than normal - a donkey's pace was what I desired - turned into the usual frenzied adventure where we find ourselves running from one appointment to another, and working long days that extend well into the night, every day and night. And now we're frantically writing up those stories and Terry's editing and prepping images for the stories (hence the lack of time for blogging), at the same time as we're pitching more stories, doing more reviews, going on photo shoots, and prepping for the next trip - every day and night, well into the night. So how as travel writers do we get ourselves into this situation? And is it possible to avoid this frenzied life?

Enjoy the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy

Leaning Tower of Pisa Pictures

Leaning Tower of Pisa Pictures

The Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italian: Torre pendente di Pisa) or simply The Tower of Pisa (La Torre di Pisa) is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa. It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in Pisa's Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo) after the Cathedral and the Baptistry.

Although intended to stand vertically, the tower began leaning to the southeast soon after the onset of construction in 1173 due to a poorly laid foundation and loose substrate that has allowed the foundation to shift direction. The tower presently leans to the southwest.

The height of the tower is 55.86 m (183.27 ft) from the ground on the lowest side and 56.70 m (186.02 ft) on the highest side. The width of the walls at the base is 4.09 m (13.42 ft) and at the top 2.48 m (8.14 ft). Its weight is estimated at 14,500 metric tons (16,000 short tons). The tower has 296 or 294 steps; the seventh floor has two fewer steps on the north-facing staircase. Prior to restoration work performed between 1990 and 2001, the tower leaned at an angle of 5.5 degrees, but the tower now leans at about 3.99 degrees.[4] This means that the top of the tower is 3.9 metres (12 ft 10 in) from where it would stand if the tower were perfectly vertical.Read full history of leaning tower of pisa at wikipedia.
article source : http://en.wikipedia.org/

Bora Bora Lagoon Resort and Spa Photo Galleries

Bora Bora Lagoon Resort and Spa is a beautiful place in the world. If Mother Nature has amply blessed the Polynesian islands, she has been particularly generous with our isle, Motu Toopua. It is here, in the middle of Bora Bora's majestic lagoon, that we have created the ultimate Polynesian destination.More people can be visit in this place be happy.

Trans Studio, The largest indoor Amusement Park

Trans Studio Resort Makassar is an integrated tourism area in Makassar, Indonesia. Trans Studio built area of 12.7 hectares with investment of up to Rp 1 trillion. The project was inaugurated on September 9, 2009 by Mr. Vice-President of Indonesia Jusuf Kalla. Facilities built in between the shopping center that includes the Trans Trans Walk and Rodeo Drive, and Trans Studio, Trans hotels, and offices of Bank Mega. Trans Studio Building was built area 22,000 m² with 20 meters high which is the largest indoor amusement park in Southeast Asia.
Trans World Studio is in the area of Makassar Trans Studio Resort is located in Global Business Area Integrated Tourism and Tanjung Bunga, Makassar, South Sulawesi, or only about five miles from the center of Makassar (Field Karebosi). Trans Studio Theme Park World Makassar adopted the concept of Universal Studios in the United States. Contains simulation chambers several television programs, Trans TV, or events in Indonesia. Some of them are the Tsunami Island, eerie atmosphere affected by the tsunami and earthquakes. There is also Magic Museum containing objects such as living in a movie Night at the Museum, the Other, Rafting, Magic Corner, Lost City, Terror Twister, and Water Coaster.

Desk update from Abu Dhabi: month #45 on the road but whose counting?

We're back in the UAE and after a couple of days in Dubai (pictured*), we're chained to desks once again in Abu Dhabi - not our desks, but our friends', at their colossal home in the new part of the capital, off the island. The closest thing to a 'home' for us still being in storage in Dubai. A 'desk update' in publishing-speak suggests a guidebook update by phone and email. It's what publishers commission authors or in-house staff to do when they're not inclined to spend the money to send writers on the road. From what we're hearing, it's happening increasingly of late. But we won't have that. Aside from the fact that we still don't have a 'home' to speak of - this week marks our 45th month living out of our suitcases! - travelling is why we do what we do. Why on earth a travel writer would want to write something from a desk without having been to a place we'll never know. We've well and truly researched the stories and reviews we're currently writing up, having spent the last six weeks on the road travelling around Syria, Qatar and Kuwait. But we're paying for it now. We're tired. Chronically tired. My feet are wrecked. We've both been fighting off the flu for a couple of weeks although poor Terry has finally lost his battle. As we write, we're talking to publishers and potential sponsors about future projects - in Thailand, Syria, and the Arabian Peninsula - and in the interim we're considering trips to Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Iran, and possibly Kathmandu. We're also contemplating an opportunity that could keep us on the road even longer if it comes off, but more on that in the near future... for now, deadlines await. So what have you been up to and where are you going next?

* the pic is of the view from our room at Jumeirah Emirates Towers where we stayed recently; Terry had photographed the hotel and we'd done site inspections so many times over the years, but never checked in. Now we've stayed, we know why it consistently wins awards for being Dubai's best business hotel. While the rooms are a bit dated in terms of their style, they're impressively appointed, the lobby has always been one of the city's buzziest, and the towers and adjoining Boulevard are home to some of my favorite restaurants and bars, including Vu's, Noodle House and The Agency.

Taipei 101 in Taiwan : The World's Tallest Tower

The Taipei 101 Tower of Taiwan is the tallest building on Earth. Its height above ground is 509.2 m. This includes the 60 m spire; the building also holds the record for the highest roof (440 m).The Taipei 101 Tower contains the world's fastest and most comfortable elevators. The building is thrilling to look at, an impressive tribute to steel, glass and incredibly clever engineering. And yet the design clearly reflects the local Chinese culture; for example, there are eight canted sections, eight being the lucky number in Chinese. Each section is embellished with a traditional Chinese symbol of fulfillment, the symbols being large enough to be visible from the ground.Taipei 101 is currently the world's tallest completed building on earth with its 509 m height. It is located in the East of Taipei (Xin-Yi district), the capital city of Taiwan. The tower consists of 101 stories above the ground. The top floor is at 439 m. The construction of Taipei 101 (Taipei International Financial Center previously) was started in 1999, and finished in 2004. The total cost was about 1,7 billion US dollars. This tower has the worlds fastest elevators (doubledecker) they can get as fast as 63 km / h. The indoor observation deck is on the 89th floor (382m). The total weight of Taipei 101 is 700,000 tonnes, which is such a mass that could possibly make an earthquake. The structure is capable to withstand the largest earthquakes. The 800 ton damper on the top of the tower can reduce up to 40% of the movements. The Taipei 101 Mall is a 6-story shopping mall inside the building. The former tallest building was the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur with 452 m height, it only held the record for 6 years (built in 1998). The upcoming world's tallest is going to be the Burj Dubai, which has already overtaken Taipei 101, but until its finished it is not official.

The Sears Tower In Chicago

The Sears Tower has been a Chicago landmark for almost 36. Over that time the Sears Tower has become the destination for millions of world tourists and a daily center of work and commerce for thousands of Chicagoans. The Sears Tower has been America's tallest building for 33 years. And at 442 metres, it's no small competitor -the Petronas Towers only beat it out by 10 metres. It has 108 floors, and from its observation deck 412 metres up, four states can be seen for some 80 kilometres from the tower. It has 108 elevators, for different levels up the tower.The Sears Tower will be Chicago's tallest until the Chicago Spire is completed early next decade, which will be 158 metres taller, at a whooping 600 metres in height. This will also make it the tallest in the US. Other tall towers in the US currently planned are the Freedom Tower at 541 metres, and Crown Las Vegas at 512 metres. The Sears Tower, however, will still be the quintessential Chicago skyscraper. After all, the Chicago Spire will be a condominium building, not such a symbol of the city's endeavour, like the Sears.

Exotic Empire State Building in New York City

The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. Its name is derived from the nickname for the state of New York. It stood as the world's tallest building for more than forty years, from its completion in 1931 until construction of the World Trade Center's North Tower was completed in 1972. Following the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001, the Empire State Building once again became the tallest building in New York City and New York State.

The Empire State Building has been named by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. The building and its street floor interior are designated landmarks of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and confirmed by the New York City Board of Estimate.It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986. In 2007, it was ranked number one on the List of America's Favorite Architecture according to the AIA. The building is owned and managed by W&H Properties.

The Empire State Building is the third tallest skyscraper in the Americas (surpassed only by Chicago's Sears Tower and Trump International Hotel and Tower) and the 14th tallest in the World. It is also the 4th tallest freestanding structure in the Americas and the 12th tallest in the world.
source information from wikipedia