A World of Apps

We live in the culture of apps in this day and age. With thanks largely to Apple, we’re spoilt for choice when it comes to apps, made more appealing with (mostly) low prices. Its popularity continues to grow: In just 30 months' operation since July 2008, the Apple App Store has reached the unbelievable milestone of 10 billion app downloads.

Get away from it all…but keep connected, just in case ;-)

For digital travellers, check out these 7 highly-rated travel apps, some of which can be added to your digital device absolutely free (mobile data charges may apply):

Find WiFi hotspots wherever you go

WiFi Finder (Free)

When you have a packed itinerary, you won’t want to waste time war-walking trying to find available WiFi. With 300,000 locations in 140 countries, you can zoom into WiFi ready places for instant connection, and is a great way to avoid roaming charges.
   (Download now)

You didn’t think of leaving without switching on my automatic feeder…right?

Saving Grace (Free)

Designed to take the stress out of packing, users can check off against pre-set items or add your own. Grace also lists important tasks from travel insurance to emptying the fridge, so you won’t worry about forgetting Fido's food when you reach the airport.
   (Download now)

Sometimes, the money changer doesn't have a digital exchange board

XE Currency (Free)

With over 5 million downloads, it’s no wonder travellers rely on it. The app converts every world currency on-the-go, is free, simple and compatible with both smartphones and older generation Java phones.
   (Download now)

Eat like a local and don’t walk past that recommended but little-known restaurant.

BuUuk (Free)

Another free app to brighten your day. Travellers looking for food and drink in Asia, Australasia, Middle East and South Africa can search its growing database. Enjoy a smorgasbord of cuisines and search its ‘New’ and ‘Offers’ sections for discounts.
   (Download now)

There are 890 World Heritage sites, and we may only remember a few.

UNESCO World Heritage by Harper Collins Publishers

A bit costly, but when you have flown all the way overseas, you don’t want to miss a world-famous archaeological or heritage site by missing its street because you weren't aware it was there!
   (Download now)

Shanghai Metro is the longest metro system in the world

Shanghai Metro App by Communicarta

When you step into the largest metro system in the world, it’s best to have the handy Shanghai Metro App on your side. It features bilingual text and audio, Google Maps, journey planner, and as the clearest Shanghai Metro Map to date, could be a lifesaver on your trip.
   (Download now)

Art on the Tokyo subway

Find!Tokyo by Enfour, Inc. (Free)

If locals can occasionally be lost in Tokyo’s efficient metro, what more visitors? With Find!Tokyo, you enjoy a full scalable Tokyo train and subway map, navigation, nearby places of interest, and best of all, it’s all accessible offline as the content is already in the app.
   (Download now)

Know a good travel app? Share with us by commenting below! Our travel community could do with insights that would enrich and benefit all fellow travellers!

Music Fever

In the generation of the 21st century, music has become part of our life. There’s more and more music genres that have been introduced to the community nowadays. Thousands of music genres all around the world - oldies, new age, hip hop, metal, rock, R&B, house music, trance, electronic dance music, dubstep and many more.
As people demand more of music events and artistes, there are various music festivals that have been organized all around the world.

STEREOSONIC

One of the annual music festivals held in early December
in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne.
If you’re an EDM (Electronic Dance Music) fan, never midded out Stereosonic!



Can you imagine if Armin Van Buuren, Benny Benassi, Aviici, Skrillex, Swedish House Mafia, Paul van Dyk, LMFAO and many more international artistes and DJs
rock the party with you, how crazy can the party be?



Despite the capacity of the venue to gobble thousands, this event will be packed with clubbers and ravers.

---

The Dutch equivalent – MYSTERYLAND

has been in place since 1993 in Netherlands,
while the large outdoor dancing festival -

TOMORROWLAND

is held in Belgium annually. Based on a fairytale decoration, it’s a magical way for this festival to showcase the variety of genres within electronic music.



The event takes place every summer since 2005 at Schorre Boom
and can count on the presence of top international DJs including
Armin van Buuren, Ferry Corsten, and Bob Sinclar.





The 2012 edition will take place on July 27 to July 29,
boasting an impressive line-up of 400 DJs, includes
Avicii, David Guetta, Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia, Steve Aoki, and Skrillex.

---

Are you addicted to the top 40s that are always being played on your radio channel?

MTV WORLD STAGE

is a global series that brings multi-genre talents with global relevance to an audience in over 550 million households.



When attending MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia, you’ll experience what’s a hottest concert is all about- hottest international artists performing hottest songs
in the one of the hottest water parks, Sunway Lagoon Resort in Kuala Lumpur.



No matter whether you’re into R&B or K-Pop, or Malaysian local singers,
you’ll find your favourite here!

---

So, you don’t like to party rock and you definitely dislike the hangover
or exhaustion on the next day?
What about sitting by the lakeside, enjoying a plate of delicious cheese slices
with a glass of wine, and some soft Jazz music?

JAZZ ASCONA

also known as Ascona Jazz Festival
is an annual Jazz Festival held in Ascona, Switzerland.



From late June until early July, this 10-day music festival will take place at Lake Maggiore. It is one of the most important European Jazz Festivals.



With more than 200 concerts and 300 artists,
it attracts a lot of Jazz lovers from all over globe.

There are many more music festivals all around the world, and they are too many to be listed. No matter what your type of music is, everyone loves music! Attending a music festival is no longer an activity that you can do only in your own country, but it can also be an activity or a reason why you travel to certain countries.
Don’t you agree with the saying,
‘To fill a day of your life by enjoying the music you like, in the way you’re comfortable with, is one of the best moments in life’?

Animal Paradise

Are you a pet lover? Don’t most of us have our own favourite pet? However, we can hardly bring our lovely pet along during vacation, and so some of us might get a little homesick just because we miss our adorable furkid during our stays away from home. Today, I'm going to share some ANIMAL PARADISES with you, so you may make a visit there someday to just cure a little of your homesickness for your little furkid.

MEOW VILLAGE!

What can a former mining village turn out to be? A ruin? A creepy ghost town?
What about a cat village?



In Houtong (Taiwan) , a former mining village has recently been the star attraction of tourists and photographers. Why? It isn't because of panoramic scenes of sunsets
but a hundred adorable friendly cats as models!



Yes, Houtong has recently recreated itself as the home to hundreds of wild stray cats! Thanks to the neighbourhood residents who had been feeding the cats for years and keep the environment clean and serene, this place has turned into a mecca for the cats.


If you're a cat lover, make sure you travel to this little meow town with your camera!

---

WOOF CAFE!

What do you think about a dog café? Cute dog pictures hanging all around the walls?



When I say Bau Haus Dog Café, I mean a real dog café where lots of dogs are going to play with you and be sitting next to you while you're having your mouth-watery dishes.



In Hongdae of Seoul, Bau Haus is where all the dog lovers, dog owners and dogs gathered. Don't worry if there're any naughty doggies that will make a mess, as the employees in Bau Haus tend to the pooches, take care of them and clean up after them.


If you always dream to have a place where you can just bring your little furkid to have a delicious dinner together, Bau Haus is where you and your furkid want to be.

---

BUNNY ISLAND!

Okunoshima Island, and now known as Bunny Paradise is a small island floating in the Inland Sea between Hiroshima and Shikoku. As its name suggests,
it is now taken over by 300 rabbits. Okunoshima used to be a top-secret military site to manufacture poison gas.



40 years ago, a group of school children released a few rabbits on the island, and these free and fearless rabbits survived with the help of a predator-free environment.


Though it's wild, the rabbits are all friendly to visitors and will approach visitors en masse in search of a snack.

---

MONKEY ONSEN!

While parks of monkeys can easily be found,
have you ever found an onsen (hotspring) which is full of monkeys?



It’s found at Jigokudani's Yaen Koen (Hell's Valley Monkey Park)
in Yamanouchi, Japan.



In spite of its name, it is a park which is full of various breeds of monkeys practicing bathing in the onsen.


Can you imagine bathing right next to the tub where snow monkeys are bathing?
As long as you keep your do's and don’ts, you’ll be alright and may even make a fuzzy friend or two.

---

PIG PARADISE!

Blue skies, white clouds, pristine clear beach and windy weather... This is what we usually want to have during our vacation to the seaside. Isn't it a little boring? What about adding some creatures of beige colour, with a chubby body with stumpy legs and a pair of large, leaf-liked ears?


In Exuma Cays of Bahamas, you'll find yourself swimming together with the lovely pigs in this Pig Paradise, but only after you feed them the delicious green lettuces on your hand.



Looking at them come charging out of the bushes heading straight to you at full speed, leaping into the water, squealing, snorting and doing piggy-paddle all the way.



Have you ever imagined that pigs could float?

Extreme Holidays

Relaxation & no worries vs. Exhilaration & Moderate Dangers. Contrary to popular belief, there are some people who would choose the second word-group if asked to describe their ideal holiday. Instead of self-pampering, these extreme adventurers could face fickle weather, equipment breakdown, dangers from wild animals and possible loss of life from the first step of travel.

Have you ever had a dream of visiting the African continent?

Yet, they wouldn’t give it up for anything in the world.

They’ll pass up 400 thread-count beds for a bunk on rickety trains. A sit-down dinner for fireside meals under the stars. But it’s no sacrifice, because they get to see more amazing sights, and bring back fantastic albums from places far, far away.

Cycling or biking - a great way to keep fit while travelling

Bungee jumping and skydiving sessions at beach resorts only take up a few hours. But others prefer extreme activities that last the whole holiday. For instance, you may be a (semi-)extreme traveller if you backpack your way through Greece, or go on two-wheels. With sun, sea, seafood and an abundance of affordable Mediterranean food, it could be considered extreme holiday Lite.

The ceiling of the world at the Himalayas...

Secondly, there are the airheads. For these travellers, simply mention Kilimanjaro, the Himalayas, Mount Fuji or even the grounded Abel Tasman Coastal Trail in New Zealand, and their eyes would probably mist over with desire. A group tour would probably make them mist over with tears.

Say hello to the locals....whichever the species.

There are also those who travel by bus and boat to remote islands, just for the pleasure of diving. They’re not comfortable unless underwater exploring the colourful world of marine corals and life. Always seeking new extremes, they may also enjoy freediving, such as at Phuket which offers AIDA certification courses.

So give your colleague a break if he/she returns from holiday with new scars, or an unblinking shaken face. They’ve not come out of zombie-land, but more probably had the time of their lives! And with three deep breaths and adequate insurance, you too could be on your way to an extreme holiday.

Getting Off the Couch: 5 Movies that Inspire Us to Travel

Do you sometimes feel a tinge of envy watching other people’s holiday videos? Or perhaps you sat through a movie more for the fantastic backgrounds and camera angles that swept the city skyline, than for the storyline. Has a movie ever evoked your wanderlust to visit a country? Because no matter how real it is onscreen, nothing beats going to a place yourself so that you’ve ‘been there, done that’.

Paris-city of love. When we think of old Paris and new Paris, the contrast is beautifully shown in Amelie and The Da Vinci Code. Whimsical Amelie brings us on a journey to quaint cafés and quiet nooks of Paris we dream of but don’t usually see. There’s humour too when a homeless man declines her change as it’s his ‘day off’. Da Vinci Code however gives us a quick-tour of the Louvre, chateaus, and fantastic architecture. Ok, so the movie ends in London. But true to Paris, there’s love at the end of both movies.

Bangkok-city of angels. In Bangkok Dangerous, we get to see much of the city, and then some. We sit back as the film brings us to touristy restaurants, tranquil temples and street markets. Now for the second part of the title: courtesy of Nicholas Cage, we get to see Bangkok’s Water Market in a whole different light, plus overturn a kingpin’s ruthless organization. Don’t try this abroad.

Taipei-city of surprises. In Eat Drink Man Woman, the movie starts and ends with a sumptuous feast. Not a bad way to portray a modern Asian city that respects tradition. In between, we see everyday life through the stories of the characters and their relationships.

Greece-country of gods. From the bright colours, good company, lovely beaches and breath-taking mountains, Mamma Mia! invites us to join the wedding celebrations as Sophie races to discover her real father. Faulty hostel toilets are also closer to real life than we think.

Movies move us to travel. And if you have an urge to start a travel-memoir, follow your heart. Because in the end, we don’t want to be like Raphael (Amelie’s retired father) who had to be pushed to fulfill his dream of travelling the world, via envious postcards sent home from his globe-trotting garden gnome.

Mind Your Sign Language

Have you ever been to a country where they give you disgusted stares when you hold out your index and middle fingers in a ‘V’ sign?
If you're puzzled about it, here's the deal: it's a high probability you may have just made a rude gesture at the locals but thankfully not enough to start a riot that wants to lop off your head.

Before you go on your next holiday, check out some of the more common hand gestures thought to be harmless, but not so elsewhere.
Who knows, it might save you from making an embarrassment of yourself!

Thumbs Up

Many make the mistake that this show of fist with the thumb sticking upward signifies a positive message, such as ‘good’, ‘excellent’, and ‘good luck’.
Not so in Latin America, West Africa, Greece, Russia, Sardinia, southern Italy, and especially the Middle East, as it conveys the same message as what the middle finger is to the lot of us!

A-OK

With your index finger and thumb forming a circle while the rest of your fingers are stretched out, this signifies ‘OK’, ‘good’ and other similar positive expressions to us.
But you might not want to show this to the Brazilians, Germans and some other Mediterranean folks, as this action conveys the term ‘a-hole’ and ‘faggot’ to them.

Peace

Giving someone the ‘V’ sign with your index and middle finger showing toward yourself is considered an insult to the people of Great Britain, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.
It may be a ‘peace’ sign to us whichever way our hands may be facing, but unless you're ready for a fight, you may want to avoid giving them this gesture, which contrary to popular belief, is the sign for ‘this is war’.

The Palm

The instance where your palm is opened and fingers stretched out to your intended target may seem like a friendly motion of saying 'hi',
but do that in Greece and you will inadvertently insult the locals. Known as a 'moutza', it basically carries a rude connotation similar to the American version of ‘talk to the hand’.
Innocently common hand gestures? Think again. One man's salute is another man's insult. Travel wise, and travel smart!