Saturday, November 27, 2010

the King and Queen of its Carnival 2011

"K2T Wisata"

The monarchy for the 2011 edition of the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is now defined. Last Friday, the Tourism Secretary of the City of Rio de Janeiro announced the winners of the competition for becoming the main king of the carnival: Rei Momo 1º and the only queen: Rainha do Carnaval 2011.
For the third time in a row, Milton Rodrigues da Silva got the title of sovereign of the Carnival, together with the new queen, Bianca Salgueiro Ferreira. The prizes are quite appealing: R$ 20 mil (over 11.5 thousand US dollars), a crown, a sash and a scepter from official representatives of the Tourism Ministry and of the carnival in Rio de Janeiro.
The former queen for carnival 2009, Jéssica Maia, became 1st princess. The Civil Policewoman Isabella Magacho got awarded 2nd princes. They will receive R$15 thousand each. As for the men, 2nd place went to Amenon Teixeira – together with  R$3.500- and 3rd place went to Jair José Ribeiro, who was also awarded R$1.500.
In individual and group parades, candidates showed the jury their master of the art of samba and answered general knowledge questions about the carnival of Rio de Janeiro. The jury was integrated of 10 well known personalities in the world of samba.
The reign of the selected candidates has already started and goes beyond sábado das campeãs – champions’ Saturday – in 2011. If you will be taking a trip to Rio de Janeiro the coming February you cannot miss this special event.

Punta Arenas City Tour, BOOK YOUR TOUR IN PUNTA ARENAS

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One of the many options for your trip to Chile is to include some tourism in Punta Arenas. This is the southernmost city in Chile, as well as the most important urban center in the Strait of Magellan.
Punta Arenas is the capital of the region of Chile known as Magellan and the Chilean Antarctica. It was founded on December 18th, 1848 with the name of Punta Arenas. The city changed its name to Magallanes in 1927 and went back to its original name in 1938.
Its strategic location on the Strait of Magellan, where international marine trade routes traditionally went through, gave Punta Arenas many moments of prosperity – the first of them during the Gold Rush in California. The importance of its harbor diminished when the Panama Channel was opened in the beginning of the XX century, but prosperity was soon regained when Chile started using Punta Arenas as its international wool trade center.
Nowadays, Punta Arenas is an interesting destination for tourism in Chile, with a great mix of cultures, from English shepherds to Portuguese sailors. The city is a living testimony of the rich Chilean history. Tours and excursions in Punta Arenas are the starting point for visits to this area, which has the most spectacular landscapes of the world.
If you are travelling in Chile and do not have enough time for walking around Punta Arenas, you may be interested in participating in a tour in Punta Arenas and getting a general view of the city.
During two hours, our guided city tour will take you to the most interesting corners of Punta Arenas. We will visit the observation point from which you can see the Strait of Magellan and Tierra de Fuego. We will then visit the Muñoz Gamero Square, surrounded by mansions from the times of the great cattle traders, and the Magellan Monument, represented with a group of natives (Onas) surrounding it on its feet. Check availability, prices and BOOK YOUR TOUR IN PUNTA ARENAS.
The tour in Punta Arenas continues with a visit to Museo Salesiano de Mayonino Borgatello, where you can see an exhibition on the history and habitat of native tribes in the region: the Yaganes, Onas and Alacalufes. There you can also admire the monument to the shepherd and the cemetery, with its impressive mausoleums and gardens.
Our tour by Punta Arenas ends in the Regional Magellan Museum, inaugurated in 1983 in the Braun Menéndez palace. This museum houses an important collection of objects allusive to the history of the region.
The Punta Arenas city tour takes place daily 10am and 3pm in English. It lasts a total of two hours. All transportation –in some cases even with hotel pick up and drop off, just ask us- and entrance fees for museums are included in the cost. BOOK YOUR TOUR IN PUNTA ARENAS.

Best hot chocolate in New York City

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When you first take a trip to New York City, you will realize upon arrival that it is a very big and cosmopolitan city. With that in mind, it is not surprising that there is not a single best place to drink hot chocolate in New York City, but several places you may like, according to which part of the city you are like and what your personal preferences are. Here are some more of our favorites:
You like challenges? Then you might be tempted to try Frrrozen Hot Chocolate, a special from Serendipity 3, in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. How can a hot drink be frozen at the same time? Head to this amazing chocolate place and find out for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.
Now in the SoHo, in Manhattan, you will find a classy option. MarieBelle New York serves a dark and very thick Aztec hot chocolate two in international varieties: the European version – made with water- and the American version – made with milk. Both come in iced and spicy versions. Don’t forget to order some of their handcrafted chocolate – which feature designs that make them real works of art.
In the recently revitalized DUMBO area of Brooklyn, the famous chocolatier Jacques Torres Chocolate offers a “classic” variety favored by many, and its signature “wicked” hot chocolate, which is made with chipotle peppers.
Already feeling like booking your flight to New York City and tasting these delicious concoctions? Just be a little bit more patient, there are a few more left. We will talk about them in our next edition.

Berlin finishes its summer season

"K2T Wisata"

Many were the visitors, both from Germany as from the rest of the world, which chose to take a trip to Berlin during the last days of the summer. According to information provided by Visit Berlin, official tourism initiative of the city, some 890,600 travellers arrived in Berlin during the month of September on the Spree River, which means an increase of 14.8%. The number of lodging nights went up to 2.03 million – 13% up.
Tourism in Berlin resulted in a great attraction for international visitors. 337,800 arrivals were registered, which represents 20,1% more than for the same month in 2009. The national arrivals went up 11,8%. In general, international visitors accounted for 836,400 nights in Berlin (a 18.1% increase) while Germans stayed in hotels in Berlin for the remaining 1.2 million of nights (a 9.7% increase).
“With these numbers the previous dead summer seasons for urban tourism are now a thing of the past for Berlin,“ said Burkhard Keiker, executive director of Visit Berlin.
Those who took a trip to Berlin in September were mainly from Switzerland (33.4%), France (31.9%) and Austria (29.1%). A total of 763 hotels in Berlin made 117,070 beds available for those people.

Best hot chocolate

"K2T Wisata"

Ever tried a drink and decided it’s the best you ever had of its kind? Travel guides usually strive to give those doing tourism in New York City ideas on where to eat and what to try. But their suggestions are often limited to a few places that then get over-crowded by tourists who read the same guide.
To prevent you from experiencing the “well-known-secret” disappointment, we have gathered in these 3 editions the best hot chocolate places in New York City, as suggested by New Yorkers. Here are the remaining options:
In Midtown West Manhattan, The Russian Tea Room is one of the most famous and fanciest restaurants in New York, also offering its own signature hot chocolate – which includes marshmallows and whipped cream. The peculiar decorations are also not to be missed.
Max Brenner, in Union Square, Manhattan, has an original way to serve its hot chocolate: a “hug mug” from which you drink while using both hands to hold it. White, dark and milk chocolate cocoas can also be combined with amaretto, Baileys and other drinks.
The Cocoa is a great option in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, offering hot chocolate infused with cinnamon, mint and spice, to combine with sake, beer and wine, or with the house’s triple chocolate mousse cake.
At last in TriBeCa, Manhattan, Petite Abeille –little bee- takes its name from a Belgian book for children, and also from that country is inspiration found for their waffles, beer and a 70% Callebaut chocolate used for hot chocolate drinks.
Hot chocolate will give a warm touch to any of the cold days of winter holidays in New York City!

FIFA World Rankings

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SOCCER-FIFA/BLATTER
Very little movement to discuss on the FIFA World Rankings front this month, unfortunately. Even everyone’s favorite underdog, Montenegro, has stalled on its meteoric climb to rankings glory, gaining a surprising zero places in the last month.
Although Egypt did bump up into the most sacred of position, the top ten, despite completely whiffing on World Cup 2010, taking over for Russia, who also whiffed on World Cup 2010, and sliding in right behind Croatia, who also slapped a big fat doughnut on the world’s grandest tournament.
The top ten may or may not be calculated by the sum of their Football Manager rankings.

In fact, the top fifteen includes five teams who never showed up in South Africa: Croatia, Egypt, Norway, Russia and Italy.
Upon further skimming, absolutely nothing of relevance happened, and the biggest move in the top fifty involved Burkina Faso tumbling down four spots.
So we’ll have to wait until next month to gush over Montenegro. Or anything at all.
nov10

Playing The Gender Game

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3566129
The trusty old story that is ‘Equatorial Guinea women footballers accused of being men’ appears to have sprung a new development, and that is the;outing’ of the two women in question. Incredibly, it’s because Nigeria, of all places, has lodged an official complaint. You know, that entirely honest and completely transparent Nigerian FA. (Nigeria also beat them in the final, which makes their stance of righteousness even more mysterious.)
The two ladies rumored are Genoveva Anonma and Salimata Simpore, and one is reported to be suspected of gender doping. Or whatever it is.

The former has already reportedly been gender tested, and one would presume passed. Actually we can all perform a gender test right now and she’ll pass.
Therefore we can guess the latter is the lady in question.
Anonma:
Genoveva-Anonma1
Simpore:
salimatasimpore_equatorialguinea-455.jpg
This is not going to end well, no matter what.
Then again she looks no more a man than Fernando Torres looks a girl, so there’s that.

Show Me Japan Vol.1 Issue 2

"K2T Wisata"Welcome to the second issue of Show Me Japan – a photo meme where we aim to showcase as many Japan related images from as many bloggers as possible.
第二回Show Me Japanへようこそ!この企画は、出来るだけ沢山のブロガーを募り、出来るだけ沢山の日本に関連する写真を、より多くの人に紹介する事を目指した写真ミームです。
You don't have to be in Japan to participate, you don't have to even blog in English. As long as you have a Japan related post with a Japan related photo on your blog during this weekend, you’re invited to play with us.
参加するからといって別に日本に居る必要もありませんし、ブログを英語で書く必要もありません。(ご自身に著作権のある)日本に関連する写真を掲載したエ ントリーをブログ上で週末にアップロードしているそこのあなた、我々はあなたのような方がエントリーされる事を願っているのです。

To read the complete FAQ (available in English and Japanese), please click here.
英語と日本語のFAQはここにありますので、参加にあたり一度目を通して頂ければ幸いです。

Twenty two (excluding myself and Dr Trouble) bloggers joined us for last week’s edition, and this week we hope for an equally great turnout.
嬉しい事に、22名もの方々が先週末行われた映えある第一回目に参加してくれました(主催者二名を除く)。第二回目の今回も、前回と同等の参加者が集まってくれれば良いのですが…。期待が膨らみます。

And as long week, all your entries will be retwitted and stumbled as well.
参加者全員のエントリーはツイッターとStumble Uponにて再投稿される予定です。

Below are randomly selected photos from five randomly selected bloggers who participated last week. How random was the selection? Is asking an innocent bystander for a number between 1 and 22 random enough for you? Yeah, that’s the idea.
前回の参加者の中からランダムに選ばれた5名の方がエントリーに使われた写真を以下に掲載します。どうやって無作為に選抜したか?それはですね、見知らぬ 通りすがりの5人を捕まえて、1から22の番号の中から好きな番号を選んでもらい、その返答番号に相当する参加者のエントリー中の写真を採用させて貰いま した。とても公平でフェアで民主的だと思いませんか?

You can click on the photos to be taken to their respective blogs.
選ばれた写真をクリックしてその写真が使われたブログを覗いてみてはどうですか?

Enjoy!
Click on the photo to visit Bad Communication




Click on the image to visit Bartman



Click on the image to visit Yuri's blog



Click on the photo to visit Mike in Okinawa



Click on the photo to be taken to Yosuke's blog


And now, please enter your own post in the widget below and show us Japan!
さあ、日本に関連するエントリーURLを下のウィジェットにリンクして、 あなたが見た日本を世界中の皆に紹介しちゃいましょう!

Have a great weekend! それでは良い週末を!

Rio de Janeiro

"K2T Wisata"

Tourism in Rio de Janeiro will form now on benefit from the establishment of the new visitors’ center in the Monument to Estácio de Sá, in Parque do Flamengo. It is a new alternative both for cariocas –locals- as for tourists on a trip to Rio de Janeiro to also enjoy the visuals around the monument, with an exclusive view of the Pão de Açúcar hill.
In the visitors center you will find computers you can use to conduct information searches, and multimedia centers for tourists and locals to get to know a bit more of the history of Rio de Janeiro through audiovisuals.
There is also an area for exhibitions of arts, photography, sculptures, paintings, staging and musical performances, together with a modern and fully equipped auditorium for 40 people that can be used for film screenings, workshops, conferences and other activities.
Estácio de Sá was a Portuguese military member in the 16th century. He founded the city of Rio de Janeiro and was the first general governor of its region in colonial times. The commemorational monument was built in 1973 by the then government of the Guanabara State of Brazil, which aimed to keep under it the mortal remains of the founder of the city of Rio de Janeiro, making it also the official memorial of such event.
After going through its last reform in year 2000, the monument will now be allied with the information technologies made available in the visitors’ center as a way to recover the city’s history. It also works as an urban and economical boost to the surrounding area, with its 24 hours security and lighting attracting tourists from all over the world that gather in the Flamingo Square to admire the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro.

Underwater Museum

"K2T Wisata"

This November 27th, in the framework of the 16th United Nations Climate Change Conference, the first Underwater Museum of Cancun will open its doors and start attracting many of those doing tourism in Mexico.
Located in Mexico, in the waters surrounding the beach resorts and hotels of Cancun, Isla Mujeres and Punta Nizuc, the project was co-funded by Jaime Gonzalez from the National Park of the Western Coast of Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancún and Punta Nizuc, Roberto Díaz from the Nautical Association of Cancun and Jason deCaires Taylor, a well-known underwater artist and sculptor.
But the idea did not come from one day to another. Over a year ago, on November 14th, 2009, phase one of the project took place by taking underwater three of deCaires’ sculptures: “Dream collector”, “Burning man” and “The gardener of hope”.  All of them were placed close to natural coral reefs and sea life in order to create an artificial habitat that helps keep reefs and corals in the best condition possible.
After 18 months of hard work and the employment of 400kg of silicone 120 tons of cement, 3800 meters of fiberglass and 120 hours of underwater work, phase two of the project was completed, submerging a total of 400 statues that compose the “Silent evolution” collection. These statues are based in real people and made in their actual size. They tell the history of humankind from Mayan civilization until nowadays, going through the history of Mexico including the conquest, independence and revolution times.
If you are thinking of taking a trip to Mexico, you should consider visiting Cancun for some relaxing vacations in Mexico, and then take a day trip to this National Park and visit the Underwater Museum. You can see the sculptures from under the water while enjoying sports in Mexico, like snorkel or scuba diving, which are offered as part of the museum activities.
Even if you do not want to go underwater, the museum will not disappoint you: when seen from the surface, the sculptures are distributed in a way so that you can see a human eye staring at you from the sea bottom. The Underwater Museum of Cancun is a sports, cultural and environmental activity that will enhance any trip to Mexico.

Friends and Lemons

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One of the things I love about blogging is the online friendships I have developed. One of those friendships is with Toni, also known as The Happy Housewife.
I first started reading The Happy Housewife when I read about her coupon for the troops program on another site. I think that was almost three years ago. Since that time Toni and I have become friends and we even met in person last year at a blogging conference.
Last week Toni posted about the lemon tree in her yard and how she was trying to find new ways to use lemons because she had so many. She even hosted a lemon link up and asked her readers to share their favorite lemon recipes.
When Toni posted about her lemons and I saw the pictures of how many she had, I was a bit jealous. You see lemons are right up there with chocolate as one of my favorite foods.  I love lemon pie, lemon pudding, lemon bars, lemon curd, and more. Really, I love anything lemon.
I was teasing Toni about how jealous I was and how I wished I had a lemon tree in my yard like hers.
Well, earlier this week I received a box from The Happy Housewife. My first thought was, no, she didn’t.
But yes, yes she did, Toni sent me lemons, straight from her tree.
And look at those lemons!
I can not believe how good these lemons are. It is going to be hard to go back to regular store lemons again. Not only were these lemons good, look how big they are.
This is one of Toni’s lemons next to a grapefruit that I had in my refrigerator. The lemons were as big as a grapefruit and they were so juicy.
I might just be moving to Florida just so I can have a lemon tree. :)
Thank you Toni!!!! I love the lemons.
Lynn