February 18th, 2010 by Mervyn Hughes
Sierra Aitana Mountains offer up amazing views of inland forests of date palm-Elche. Sometimes in winter, these mountains may even be witness to snowfall. For animal lovers, there is Aitana safari park that will offer spectacular experiences with views of elephants, giraffes, lions, tigers and many more animal species besides.
In fact there are many small towns and villages on this stretch of the east coast of Spain that would be a delight to the intrepid traveler or holiday maker. One can enjoy tennis, golf, bowling, hiking, snorkeling, scuba diving as well as sailing. The tapas bars, seafood restaurants etc of this ancient village blend well into the modern wide avenues.
Adopting new customs, traditions and culture will hopefully be a refreshing experience, so try to visit during major events, celebrations and festivals which is a great time to be introduced to traditions and cultures of the country. For many services, tipping may be expected, so keep in mind that it should be 10% of your entire bill.
With a huge number of flamingos, Calpe Las Salinas is another favorite destination in Costa Blana. After visiting here, you can simply follow the coastal road that circles Benissa and reach Moraira, where you can tempt yourself with the moscatel grapes – famous for their use in wine production. Read more...
January 1st, 2010 by Mark JM Bond
Finally back at home in Ealing, London after a fun and relaxing three weeks in Pattaya. So having kissed my wife i was greeted by the big pile of fresh post. God it was depressing. I had two parking tickets totalling 240.00 plus a 500.00 water rates invoice. This was then quickly followed by a demand from the water board for 1500.00 to fix a leak in their pipe! God I am only back 5 mins and I’m stressed already.
Over the following weeks a serious of un-related events started to make me seriously consider my living situation. Since moving my Thai wife to England I could see that some of the fun and love of life had been sapped out of her, she now religiously got up with me at 07:00 and worked all day in my office till 20:00 or more. I could see the stress taking the toll on her. In England and London in particular you live to work, it’s the norm, you grab a quick lunch and normally eat at your desk – I often work 6 days a week, sometime even seven. The MP’s expenses row which wouldn’t have normally bothered me really hacked me off, If it was any of us claiming for mortgages we didn’t have we would be sacked and charged. That’s it I declared over my second (or maybe my fifth) glass of Pinot – we are moving to Thailand. Read more...
December 9th, 2009 by James Chung
There are about eighty thousand Chinese symbols or even more. These symbols include every characters, alphabets and signs that have been in use in China for over thousands of years. Only now the use of these symbols has become limited.
The use of these symbols has declined as the Chinese language is developing over the years but they have other uses which are connected to art. The artistic formation of these symbols has eternal aesthetic value and they are acclaimed by the whole world for this reason.
The use of the Chinese symbols in China is as popular as ever. You can notice them in many places especially in expressions of art and architecture. The Chinese people are using these symbols to mark their products like kitchenware etc. There is another aim to these symbols which are related to superstition which is still followed in Chinese culture.
The Chinese symbols are formed so artistically that they are extremely attractive whatever their meaning might be. In reality every sign has deep philosophical connotation behind them which has rich history and is also used traditionally. Read more...