Travel Tips

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...A.C.C.O.M.M.O.D.A.T.I.O.N.S...
Here's a site where you can sign up and offer a couch, cot or room for weary travellers for free, and in return, get the chance to choose from the members which couch is the best to crash in -- Hospitality Club when you are travelling.

Or alternatively, if you do not like to intrude on others, you can always select a hostel to stay in where you can come and go as you please. I usually source for mine at BootsnAll Hostel Search.

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...T.I.M.E...
If you are one of those who get all muddle-headed about dates and times of cities... like you go... if Mumbai is 3.5 hours behind here... and Paris is 1 hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time... and today, the Daylight Savings Time for the Northern Hemisphere begins... when is the birthday of my dog?
Then, you would find this site useful: Time and Date.

Feature that I like : Fixed Time World Clock - If it is 9am in Sydney, what time is it elsewhere? Useful when planning when to place a call to a friend overseas.

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...M.A.P.S...
If you lust after maps just because... all sizes and types of maps of countries and regions around the world can be found at the University of Texas Map Collection.

Another good site with great country maps is Geographic Guide.

If you want to zoom in further into a city, until you can nearly see the water sprinkler at the corner of the streets, check out Map Quest. You feel as if you are hovering over the city. I don't know about you but I get quite a THRILL retracing the streets that I actually walked on in the cities that I have been to.

Navigate the streets of Singapore from Singapore Street Directory.

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...C.U.R.R.E.N.C.Y...C.O.N.V.E.R.T.E.R...
Everyone has his own favourite currency converter... Mine is Oanda. I just like the name...

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...W.O.R.L.D...W.E.A.T.H.E.R...
My favourite weather girl -- Wunderground. Even has Trip Planner which show you the weather in the past X years during the same period that you are travelling so that you can make your own preparations.

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...D.I.S.T.A.N.C.E...C.A.L.C.U.L.A.T.O.R...
Sum up approximately how far the crow stuffed in your backpack had made it (so far) from the Surface Distance Calculator.

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...T.R.A.V.E.L...R.E.S.O.U.R.C.E.S...
Active forum at the popular Lonely Planet Thorn Tree. Expect some inane questions... "I want to go here, there and everywhere... I have 10 days, is it enough?" But as it is very active, the topics move quite a bit. You might learn a thing or two and may even come across some topics that you can contribute and maybe help out someone.

A rather fond site of mine - BootsnAll where you can read travel articles, email insiders for tips, participate in the cozy forum once you are registered as a bootie and source for lots and lots of travel information.

To plan your travel calendar to coincide with major festivals around the world, use the excellent Whats on When

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

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...B.O.O.K.S...
Perhaps the most popular cyber bookstore... Hunt for books and reviews from the jungle of the Amazon.

For information about famous authors around the world, search for them at Books and Writers.

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...M.O.V.I.E.S...&...T.H.E.A.T.R.E.S...
I seldom bother about mainstream movies. But when something quirky (and usually non-English) comes along that piques my interest, I would check out the reviews at The Internet Movie Database.

Useful for those in Singapore... Occasionally during Film Festivals, foreign films swim to our shores. More info can be gleamed from the Singapore Film Society.

Also, only relevant to Singaporeans, the place to check out the Events Calendar for the latest in plays, musicals, performances, film festivals and to buy tickets is at SISTIC.

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...A.R.T...
Love this Art Archive site with a lot of information about art in general and artists and even images of their famous works.

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...R.A.D.I.O...
I get my fix of feet-tapping and hip-swaying from Zona Latina.

And when I feel like a sing-along but fumble for words, I look up the lyrics in Lyrics Doman.

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...A.S.T.R.O.L.O.G.Y...
Divine help is sometimes sought from Susan Miller's Astrology Zone.

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...P.E.R.S.O.N.A.L.I.T.Y...TYPES...
What type are you? Take a simple test at the Enneagram Nine Types. May be useful to help understand yourself or your loved ones better.

Try out Jung-Myers-Briggs Typology Personality Test and find out which of the 16 types are you. I am an INFJ, only 1% in the world, making it the rarest of all the types, and thereby, making us really unique!!

And perhaps being an INFJ was a destiny from the moment when I was born... as derived from the study of Numerology. Well, I am a LifePath 7 person.

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...R.E.S.O.U.R.C.E.S...
Nobody knows this world better than the National Geographic.

Assuage your Wanderlust with this great magazine with fantastic photos and travel articles.

Follow archaeologists online as they dig and dust at Archaeology.

For information about anything, go to : Nation Master Encyclopedia

And of course, who can forget : Wikipedia

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...F.A.V.E...P.E.R.S.O.N.A.L.I.T.I.E.S...
Having read nearly every one of his charming travelogues, it's great to relive Michael Palin's Travels and check out his newest journey at this site.

Another amazing person I adore is Sir David Attenborough. I particularly enjoyed Life of Birds.

Read more about the extraordinary life and works of Jane Goodall.

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...L.A.N.G.U.A.G.E.S...
Learn basic French, Spanish, German, Italian, Greek and Portuguese from BBC Languages

Once you have some basics and want to be able to practise with someone, for a small fee, you can find an email or chat-pal at My Language Exchange.

Or, if you have absolutely no idea where to find a language teacher or class, you may search for one near your city at Language School Teachers Network.

Til today, I strarggle with speling misstakes. So, I sumtimes need too check the Dictionary just to bee sure.

For quick translations of simple words, I use the little bubble-blowing Babel Fish Translation. But do not take everything it blows out as 'for real', especially for sentences!

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...V.O.L.U.N.T.E.E.R...W.O.R.K.C.A.M.P.S...
There are over 2000 affordable (US$200 - $400) International Volunteer Service Programmes in 90+ countries at Volunteers for Peace.

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...M.E.E.T...U.P.S...
From this site, you can form, sign up and arrange for meet ups with groups whose interests range from Spanish Language to Monty Python Fans to Scrapbookers... Interesting in a way in that, on, say, every second Tuesday of the month, you and the other enthusiasts of the same subject around the world are meeting up somewhere.

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...C.U.L.T.U.R.E.S...
Consolidation of links to many of the incredible mysteries of the Ancient Cultures of the World. Another site with useful links is Ancient World Cultures.

I like the World Almanac here, especially, the section on Countries where up-to-date factual information can be obtained.

Embrace the diverse cultures of South America with lots of information at South America for Visitors.

For an interesting and simple introduction to the colourful cultures of the Middle Eastern, flip to The Middle Eastern Culture Page.

Titbits here and there on some of the Cultures of Africa. Not the most comprehensive, though. Gosh... Africa is too huge and too diverse!! But it should give you a nice introduction.

If you share my interest in Tibetan culture, do drop by Government of Tibet in Exile to check out the schedules of teachings by the Dalai Lama or Central Tibetan Administration for a browse of any news.

Check out the chockful of information about the Religions and Cultures of India.

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