Hot Spring in Japan

A hot spring is a spring that produced by the emergence of geothermal heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There are geothermal hot springs in many locations all over the crust of the earth.

Onsen is a term for hot springs in the Japanese language, though the term is often used to describe the bathing facilities and inns around the hot springs. Japan is famous with the thousands of onsen.

To ensure the cleanliness, allguests are expected to wash their bodies and rinse themselves thoroughly before entering the onsen. Bathing stations are equipped with stools, faucets, wooden buckets, and toiletries such as soap and shampoo; nearly all onsen also provide removable shower heads for bathing convenience. Entering the onsen while still dirty or with traces of soap on the body is socially unacceptable.

People said that onsen have various medical effects. Japanese people believe that a good soak in proper onsen heals aches, pains and diseases, and visit onsen to treat the illnesses, such as arthralgia, chronic skin diseases, diabetes, constipation, menstrual disorders and so on.

Let’s have a look on the famous hot spring destination in Japan.

First, Atami hot spring in Shizuoka.

Second, Beppu which located in Oita.

Lastly, Shirahama in Wakayama. 

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onsen

Go Back To The Childhood at Disney World, California

Snow white, Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Peter Pan Dumbo…… The great successfulness of Walt Disney is that he and they give children a best childhood, for me too^^

There are 3 main parks we can found in California: Disneyland theme park, Disney California Adventure and Disneyland Resort. So many entertainments can be found in these parks. Spending one day is not enough to experience all the entertainments.

One of the famous shows is the “World of Color”. This is a night-time show at Disney California Adventure which opened at June11, 2010. The show has nearly 1,200 fountains and includes lights, water, fire, fog, and lasers, with high-definition projections on mist screens. And all things about Disney will come with music, as the important elements in Disney.

Many character dining can also found in these 3 parks. For example, the Goofy’s Kitchen and Flo’s V8 Café.

Mickey's Soundsational Parade is another wonderful show which premiered on May 27, 2011. The parade includes Disney characters throughout the years. The show takes around 23 minutes with Mickey Strikes Up the Band, Aladdin’s Magical Cymbal Celebration, Peter Pan’s Neverland Buccaneer Blast, Royal Princess Romantic Melodies and so on.

Lastly, no visit is complete without the iconic images of fireworks bursting behind Sleeping Beauty Castle. The firework will put on for most nights.

Reference: disneyland.disney.go.com

Freedom Trail at Boston

Boston is the largest city in New England, which also the capital of the state of Massachusetts. Boston is one of the ten most popular tourist destination and one of the most historic, wealthy and influential cities in the USA.

At downtown of Boston, there are many famous historical sites. Freedom Trail, which is marked by a red line of bricks embedded in the ground, is the path that connects all those historical sites. The significant historic sites include:

     i.        Boston Common
    ii.        Massachusetts State House
  iii.        Park Street Church
   iv.        Granary Burying Ground
    v.        King's Chapel
   vi.        King's Chapel Burying Ground
 vii.        Benjamin Franklin statue and former site of the first public school, Boston Latin School
viii.        Old Corner Bookstore
  ix.        Old South Meeting House
    x.        Old State House
  xi.        Site of the Boston Massacre
 xii.        Faneuil Hall
xiii.        Paul Revere House
xiv.        Old North Church
 xv.        Copp's Hill Burying Ground
xvi.        Bunker Hill Monument
xvii.        USS Constitution

The Freedom Trail is sponsored by the Boston Minuteman Council, in conjunction with the Boston Chamber of Commerce. It was officially opened as an authorized historic trail of the Boy Scouts of America on May 28, 1972.

The beginning of the trail is accessible on the Green Line or the Red Line from Park St station. It is a 2.5-mile walk from Boston Common to USS Constitution in Charlestown. Simple ground markers explaining events, graveyards, notable churches and other buildings, and a historic naval frigate are stops along the way. Most sites are free; Old South Meeting House, Old State House, and Paul Revere House have small admission fees; still others suggest donations. 

MBTA is the famous public transportation system if you wish to get around Boston. There are also several stop points along the Freedom Trail. Visitor suggested choosing public transport because the on-street parking is hard to find and the parking lot prices is expensive.

Reference: 

http://www.thefreedomtrail.org

http://wikitravel.org/en/Boston

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Trail

Flower City in Haarlem

Haarlem in Netherlands has a nickname “Bloemenstad”, which mean flower city. Haarlem is the centre of a flower-growing district and a major export point for flower bulbs. And they call themself this not without any reason. All throughout the city you will find different flowers. Especially in spring and summer the city is totally coloured by crocusses, daffodils, tulips and hyacynths.

On Sunday, when the decorated cars of the annual flower parade are parked at the Gedempte Oude Gracht, you can visit the special flower market.

Every year at the end of April, there is a big flower parade (bloemencorso) that arrives in Haarlem in the evening. The parade starts in Noorwijk very (too) early on a Saturday morning and arrives between 20:00 and 21:00 in Haarlem. This is a big annual event is the Flower Parade that goes from Noordwijk to Haarlem. Usually there are some 14-18 big floats like the one pictured above. In between the floats drive luxury cars decorated with plenty of flowers and brass bands play cheerful music. Here the parade stays until Sunday. The flowers mainly used are hyacinths.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haarlem

http://wikitravel.org/en/Haarlem

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/road-trips/flower-route-netherlands-road-trip/

Eat at Street Food Paradise, Mumbai

Mumbai, formerly Bombay, is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is also one of the famous cities in the world. One of the amazing characteristic of this city is the street food cultural. The street food sold by hawkers with portable stalls can be anywhere in Mumbai. Some people love the street food rather than dining in restaurants. The most important is that the price of those street foods is reasonable. Let’s look on some famous food!

Vada Pav as the great Indian vegetarian burger, which is made of Vada (deep fried mashed potato balls) sandwiched between slices of Pav (small Indian bun) with green chillies and chutney for accompaniment. This is the most famous in Mumbai, thus you just can found easily.

Pav Bhaji, the Bhaji (mashed vegetables cooked in spices) topped with butter and served piping hot with Pav. People may found different type of this food because many of them using own recipe to make the food more special.

Falooda is a rich drink that vermicelli mixed with milk, almonds, pistachios, a bit of rose syrup and the key ingredient sabza or basil seeds topped up with two scoops of ice cream. It is also a great dessert after the street food of Mumbai, a very refreshing drink.

A travel cannot without visit any interesting place of the country. Thus, there are several things can do in Mumbai.

v  Visit the Essel World

v  Have a “MumbaiWalk” around the city

v  Visit the temples

v  Enjoy theatre or performance

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_food_of_Mumbai

http://www.mydestination.com/mumbai/travel-articles/721626/mumbai--the-street-food-paradise

http://wikitravel.org/en/Mumbai

http://mumbaiwalkingtours.com/bazzargatewalk.html

Cultural Tour at Myanmar (Burma)

Some tourist would like to visit Myanmar several times for just enjoy the culture.

The culture of Myanmar was influenced by Buddism, the Mon people (an ethic group of Myanmar), India, Thailand and China. However, the culture of this country had change and will continue change because it influenced by the British colonial rule and westernisation.  

Bagan, the Land of a Thousand Temples, is appropriately named with temples sprawling out as far as the eye can see. For an unparalleled view of the Bagan plain, you can take a hot air balloon ride at sunrise through a company called Balloons Over Bagan. 

Visit the night market too for experience the local culture. Although there aren’t many things to buy or play, but this is a good way to feel the culture of Myanmar.

Visit Shwedagon Pagoda is a must in order to find the great pagoda. It also called as Golden Pagoda based on the design.

Don’t forget to check out the Inle Lake too. This is an enormous body of water populated by thousands of traditional fisherman working strenuously from their leg-paddled rowboats.

Otherwise, visit the Kandawgyi Lake(Victoria Lakes). There is a Karaweik Buffet Restaurant which offer a wide selection of Asian dishes and one hour cultural show.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Burma

http://wikitravel.org/en/Myanmar

Cooking Vacation at Loire Valley, France

France is a country of romance, wine and history, a point that we cannot miss in our travel destination. Let’s find something special or famous destination!

The Loire Valley is: "an exceptional cultural landscape, of great beauty, comprised of historic cities and villages, great architectural monuments - the Châteaux - and lands that have been cultivated and shaped by centuries of interaction between local populations and their physical environment, in particular the Loire itself."

Get back to our topic, the special vacation – cooking vacation. Other than those adventure activities or attraction visit, people can spend vacation in learning something. Especially for people who love to eat or cook, they can gain many things in this kind of vacation. Since France has nice environment and the coooking vacation is available, I would like to chooes Loire Valley for my vacation. 

The International Kitchen offer many different packages at different places. They offer one day classes and also cooking vacation for few days. People can visit the local market, found some special ingredients, enjoy the local food and feel the romance environment.

Accommodation, activities and meal all are schedule and prepared by The International Kitchen. People may not feel uncomforted because member of The International Kitchen are friendly and people do have some own free times to explore the area.

Reference: http://www.theinternationalkitchen.com/