TRAVEL BLOG
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Ben and Jerry's Sundae
A trend that has developed in the last few years in London are these company sponsored mini festivals. £5 is an amazing deal to see all these bands. A donation - literally. With free ice cream you could eat 5 pounds in weight or currency and that has paid for your day.
Ben & Jerry's Sundae
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Kangaroo's for K-Town
Woo Hoo!! Australia is through to the last 16 after another come from behind effort. I was in Earls Court London watching the game. Earls Court used to be known as Kangaroo Court in the 60's when it was inhabited mostly by Aussies. They have long since been pushed further west from this prime inner London location, but you can still find many hostels and budget B and B's here, as well as the pubs that Aussies congregate at for major events.
No one took me up on my offer for the Kangaroo deal. Well we have another chance now populate a pocket of Germany with inflatable kangaroos when we head back to Kaiserslautern to play Italy. The blow up kangaroos rated a mention in The Independent this week, so imagine the great press thousands would create.
No one took me up on my offer for the Kangaroo deal. Well we have another chance now populate a pocket of Germany with inflatable kangaroos when we head back to Kaiserslautern to play Italy. The blow up kangaroos rated a mention in The Independent this week, so imagine the great press thousands would create.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Munich: Australia vs Brazil
Guten Tag everyone
München
I went to Munich knowing I wouldn't see the Australia v Brazil game live, but I wanted to be there in support anyway. Apparently there were over 50,000 Aussies in Munich, with the numbers made up from those that made the trip from Australia and a large contingency of UK based Aussies. It was impossible to tell though who had the biggest support base as both Australia and Brazil have the green and gold as their colours, so the streets of Munich was mostly a sea of yellow.
Being more nomadic than tribal, I don't own any items that align me to a nation. Today was the one day I wanted to wear an Aussie shirt. Of all the shops I searched in Munich, none of them had any Australian gear. You could pick up shirts from Togo or Tunisia but the only green and gold was truckloads of Brazil T-shirts.
The Brazil T-shirt must be the third most popular shirt in the world, coming in behind the Che Guevara and Ramones T-shirt. People who wear these shirts usually have no revolutionary or leftist tendencies, or have listened to a Ramones album, and so too most people wearing the Brazil shirt weren't speaking any Portuguese. I'm all for adopting a team if your country isn't in the finals, but how obvious to choose Brazil!
Business Opportunity of the Week
Most of the Aussies, sensibly, came more prepared than I did. The most popular item of the day was the troop of inflatable kangaroos. They brought joy and merriment to non Australians everywhere they hopped. And why wouldn't they? I would have bought one if they were on sale. I reckon I could have sold a thousand that day. Imagine how good it would have looked on worldwide television to see a stadium full of blow up kangaroos when (if) Australia scores a goal.
(skippy waits for Munich's famous Glockenspiel show)
So, here is a business proposition for you. If you can deliver to me 1000 inflatable kangaroos to Stuttgart by thursday in time for the Australia v Croatia game, help me sell them and we can go halvies in the profits. I'm sure I've seen them at $2 shops and you could sell them here easily for €15.
While we have our comical zoo of animals that make us popular around the world, Brazil's appeal most probably lies in its parades of scantily clad carnival girls.
Tschüs
James
München
I went to Munich knowing I wouldn't see the Australia v Brazil game live, but I wanted to be there in support anyway. Apparently there were over 50,000 Aussies in Munich, with the numbers made up from those that made the trip from Australia and a large contingency of UK based Aussies. It was impossible to tell though who had the biggest support base as both Australia and Brazil have the green and gold as their colours, so the streets of Munich was mostly a sea of yellow.
Being more nomadic than tribal, I don't own any items that align me to a nation. Today was the one day I wanted to wear an Aussie shirt. Of all the shops I searched in Munich, none of them had any Australian gear. You could pick up shirts from Togo or Tunisia but the only green and gold was truckloads of Brazil T-shirts.
The Brazil T-shirt must be the third most popular shirt in the world, coming in behind the Che Guevara and Ramones T-shirt. People who wear these shirts usually have no revolutionary or leftist tendencies, or have listened to a Ramones album, and so too most people wearing the Brazil shirt weren't speaking any Portuguese. I'm all for adopting a team if your country isn't in the finals, but how obvious to choose Brazil!
Business Opportunity of the Week
Most of the Aussies, sensibly, came more prepared than I did. The most popular item of the day was the troop of inflatable kangaroos. They brought joy and merriment to non Australians everywhere they hopped. And why wouldn't they? I would have bought one if they were on sale. I reckon I could have sold a thousand that day. Imagine how good it would have looked on worldwide television to see a stadium full of blow up kangaroos when (if) Australia scores a goal.
(skippy waits for Munich's famous Glockenspiel show)
So, here is a business proposition for you. If you can deliver to me 1000 inflatable kangaroos to Stuttgart by thursday in time for the Australia v Croatia game, help me sell them and we can go halvies in the profits. I'm sure I've seen them at $2 shops and you could sell them here easily for €15.
While we have our comical zoo of animals that make us popular around the world, Brazil's appeal most probably lies in its parades of scantily clad carnival girls.
Tschüs
James
Monday, June 12, 2006
FIFA = Thiefa?
I expressed my interest for a ticket for the Astralia v Brazil match in Munich on The official FIFA World Cup site. You are placed on a reserve list in case tickets become available and you have to pay upfront the price of the most expensive ticket (105 euro). 2 weeks before the game FIFA emailed to say that I was unlikely to get a ticket and my deposit would be refunded within a month after the game. What a rort! I only reserved a month before the game, but many people would have reserved since January. I would be interested to know how many reserve tickets FIFA have been sitting on and making interest on during this time.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Come on England - A time to make friends
I have been in London for the week leading up to the world cup. The dominating news story has been Wayne Rooneys broken foot. 8 page lift out supplements in most newspapers analysing the recovery of his metatarsal.
The World Cup being in Germany of course will mean a month of war pun headlines in the tabloid papers.
Sure enough the very first match, Germany 4 Costa Rica 2, produced this headline from the Sun:
First World Four
Bty the way, you can read trashy newspapers like the Sun, or most other newspapers without ever having to buy a copy just by riding the tube every day. Doing this when I first came to London I worked out my favourite newspapers are The Independent and The Guardian. Last time I was here The FT ran an ad campaign saying you never see The FT left behind on the train. I have found this to be true.
While the tabloids are having a German punfest, the broadsheets have been encouraging readers to not mention the war.
At the UK airports there are signs warning football fans travelling over there that war paraphernalia like Wehrmacht helmets and inflatable spitfires should be surrendered at the departure gate. There is also a reminder that performing Nazi salutes in Germany is a criminal offence.
Like the official World Cup slogan says, it's "A time to make friends".
The World Cup being in Germany of course will mean a month of war pun headlines in the tabloid papers.
Sure enough the very first match, Germany 4 Costa Rica 2, produced this headline from the Sun:
First World Four
Bty the way, you can read trashy newspapers like the Sun, or most other newspapers without ever having to buy a copy just by riding the tube every day. Doing this when I first came to London I worked out my favourite newspapers are The Independent and The Guardian. Last time I was here The FT ran an ad campaign saying you never see The FT left behind on the train. I have found this to be true.
While the tabloids are having a German punfest, the broadsheets have been encouraging readers to not mention the war.
At the UK airports there are signs warning football fans travelling over there that war paraphernalia like Wehrmacht helmets and inflatable spitfires should be surrendered at the departure gate. There is also a reminder that performing Nazi salutes in Germany is a criminal offence.
Like the official World Cup slogan says, it's "A time to make friends".
Monday, June 05, 2006
Macau - Las Vegas of the East
I went to Macau on Sunday. Cloudy but visible anyway. With all the casinos there and the ones under construction Macau may eventually be like Las Vegas. With a Billion Chinese as a market it could be bigger than Vegas.
(Grand Lisboa Under Construction)
Getting to Macau takes about an hour from Hong Kong via ferry, which makes for a good day trip (plus you'll get another 4 stamps in your passport).
Macau was once a Portuguese colony, and it was the first European trading post in Asia. The streets are paved in the traditional Portuguese style and the city centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
(Portuguese style street paving)
(Grand Lisboa Under Construction)
Getting to Macau takes about an hour from Hong Kong via ferry, which makes for a good day trip (plus you'll get another 4 stamps in your passport).
Macau was once a Portuguese colony, and it was the first European trading post in Asia. The streets are paved in the traditional Portuguese style and the city centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
(Portuguese style street paving)
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Double Decker Trams to Happy Valley
For getting around Hong Kong I got a 3 day train pass which included return travel on the airport express so getting around was easy enough.
Hong Kong is made up of a peninsula of land jutting off mainland China and a number of Islands surrounding.
I went out to Lantau Island to check out the biggest bronze Buddha in the world. It was so foggy though that you could not see the top of Buddha, even from the base.
From there I got the train to Hong Kong Island. From here I got a tram going to Happy Valley. I had not intended to do so, but if you see a double decker tram that says its going to Happy Valley how could you not get on it. At 2HKD that is a pretty good value tram. Happy Valley is the home of The Hong Kong Jockey Club and its world famous racecourse.
(Happy Valley Tram)
Hong Kong is made up of a peninsula of land jutting off mainland China and a number of Islands surrounding.
I went out to Lantau Island to check out the biggest bronze Buddha in the world. It was so foggy though that you could not see the top of Buddha, even from the base.
From there I got the train to Hong Kong Island. From here I got a tram going to Happy Valley. I had not intended to do so, but if you see a double decker tram that says its going to Happy Valley how could you not get on it. At 2HKD that is a pretty good value tram. Happy Valley is the home of The Hong Kong Jockey Club and its world famous racecourse.
(Happy Valley Tram)
