May 13

You do not want to overlook the importance of purchasing travel insurance when you are getting ready for an international trip. Sure, it’s far more glamorous to plan what landmarks to visit and peruse luxury resorts, but you also need to figure out if you want to buy TATA AIG travel insurance or some other policy.

The wide range of travel insurance policies available can be confusing. The better companies are going to make your job easier by offering you the chance to search for only those policies that fit your needs. You just need to be aware of the basics of travel insurance before you start looking, otherwise you will waste a lot of time on policies that match your circumstances..

There are two basic components to travel insurance. The most important is health coverage. This will provide for medical treatment in foreign hospitals and clinics. Without it, you may have a very hard time obtaining treatment for a broken bone, dental emergency, or when you try to replace a lost prescription. The other part provides coverage for travel disasters and emergencies. This covers things like lost passports and luggage as well as travel delays and even insurance for terrorist acts.

Make a few notes about your own condition before you begin shopping. Are you traveling alone or with a spouse or even children? Is the trip for pleasure, work, school, or some other purpose? Will you be visiting one country or many? How long will your trip be? Each of these factors will affect what type of insurance you need and how much your policy will cost. Other factors to note include age of travelers and existing medical conditions.

Oct 3

Many baseball fans don’t consider their lives complete until they’ve visited every major league baseball park in the country — or at least the big ones, like Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park. Opened in 1912, Fenway is the oldest MLB stadium currently in use and is the oldest venue used by any professional sports teams in the country. Boston baseball fans are proud of this distinction and are rabid about their team, the Boston Red Sox. Many out-of-town members of the Red Sox Nation will stay in Boston hotels to attend major games and playoffs.

Fenway is named for the Boston neighborhood. It was not the original home of the Red Sox, who played at the Huntington Avenue Baseball Ground before moving to their current home. In order to stay in the same stadium through the last hundred years, a number of renovations and adjustments have been made to Fenway over time. In 1999 a proposal was announced to build a new Fenway Park, but after several years of public debate about demolishing the historic park, the plans were dropped.

The most well known feature of Fenway is the Green Monster, the left field wall that rises 37’2″ and is a little over 300 feet from home plate. Originally constructed in wood the wall was covered over in tin and concrete in 1934 and then hard plastic in 1976. The scoreboard, which was added in 1934, is still updated by hand today.

Sep 25

San Diego has a reputation for nurturing research and development. The La Jolla Village and Sorrento Valley in particular house numerous biotech companies with both administrative offices and actual research facilities. San Diego was ranked by the Milken Institute as the top US biotech cluster. In 2009 there were nearly 2000 full-time biological technicians employed in the tri-city area (San Diego-San Marcos – Carlsbad). In addition to being a mainstay of the San Diego economy, research organizations bring visiting scientists, investors, and international representatives to the San Diego luxury hotel s in the area.

Over 140 Contract Research Organizations (CRO) call San Diego home. These CROS provide contract services for the local life science companies. Major biotech companies with offices and labs in the area include Nventa Bopharmaceuticals, BD Biosciences, Integrated DNA Technologies, Neurocrine Biosciences, Merck, Vertx, Pfizzer, and Genzyme, amongst many others. There are also non-profit health care and biotechnology institutes in San Diego , including the Scripps Research Institute, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the West Wireless Health Institute and the Sanford-Burnham Institute. CROs with a strong San Diego presence include Catalent Pharma Solutions, Pharmatek Laboratories, Accelrys, bio-Quant, Explora BioLabs, Alta Analytical Laboratory and MicroConstants.

Sep 22

Take the family to San Diego this October and you’ll enjoy not only the lovely climate, but the chance to celebrate Halloween at two of the area’s biggest attractions: SeaWorld San Diego and LegoLand. So figure out transportation, book a San Diego boutique hotel , and prepare for lots of fun!

SeaWorld San Diego will be celebrating their Halloween Spooktacular Oct 1st – 31st. Kids can trick-or-treat for candy and healthy treats at 10 sea-themed stations while strolling amongst the various sea life who call SeaWorld home. Costumes are encouraged throughout the month. There will be a variety of Halloween-themed shows and some of your kids’ favorite characters will be sharing in the Halloween spirit.

Those willing to head north to Legoland will be able to attend Brick-or-Treat Party Nights each weekend in October. Travel the Brick-or-Treat Trails to find the treat stations, enjoy Halloween entertainment, music, and complete in costume contests for prizes. There will be special, spooky lighting effects as well as the traveling Boo Crew to make the party complete. Several of the Legoland areas will stay open late just for the Party Nights, including Castle Hill, Coastersaurus, Land of Adventure, the Imagination Zone, and Safari Trek.

Sep 19
French Food in Montreal
icon1 Mindy | icon2 Travel | icon4 09 19th, 2010| icon3No Comments »

Regardless of the reason you decide to visit Montreal, Canada there are some standard attractions that you will definitely want to see while you are there. This is one of the world’s most beautiful and livable cities, and to really experience it you will want to pursue as many of the cultural dynamics as you can. Meanwhile, you will also want to explore some of the great cuisine of the city, and there is plenty of that and the city’s restaurants represent food from around the world.

However, for the guests in a Montreal hotel , sampling some of the local fare is on the top of their list. And of course, coming from such a strong French tradition, and as well as strong French influenced contemporary culture, you are going to find some excellent French food in Montreal.

Le Cartet is one of the more hip places to dine, though if that’s not quite your style, you will be drawn by the quality of the food. They have recently introduced a sit down breakfast, which quickly gained popularity with locals. And the food market at the front of the restaurant is great for picking up a few items on the go. Have a great time exploring Montreal, just don’t forget to eat while you’re there.

Sep 5

Steamboat Springs, Colorado is not one of the state’s largest cities, though it most definitely boasts having one of the state’s as well as the nation’s most popular ski resorts. It is located near Mount Werner and the Yampa River, which makes it an ideal vacation destination in both the summer and winter as well as the two seasons in-between. It’s appeal as a ski destination is known throughout the world and the winter guests that fill the luxury Steamboat Springs hotels come from across the globe. There are great professional instructors that are perfect for beginners or skiers of all levels and the degree of difficulty on the slopes is also suited for various skill and experience levels.

Meanwhile the summer also has some spectacular offerings. And the Steamboat Gondola is the prefect way to tour the mountain and enjoy some of the most panoramic views of the surrounding country available. In addition, horseback riding and hiking are extremely common along the summit and are popular throughout the season. The Coca Cola Adventure Zone is another popular summer season attraction and has plenty of great outdoor adventure options for children and adults. And one of the favorite aspects of the trip for many people is the great on mountain dining options. Establishments like Hazie’s are easily accessible from the gondola ride and offer delicious food with amazing views of the enchanted Yampa River Valley.

Sep 2

My husband has always been one of those adventurous types that loves to get in the car and drive off in any direction just to explore some new area. We have taken more road trips than airplane flights and if we do happen to fly somewhere you can be sure that an extended road adventure has been at the other end of the flight. Last summer we were in a small town in Central Florida and were standing in line in a grocery store when suddenly John grabbed a map of Orlando off of the rack and I knew instantly where we were going.

As it turned out, we had two weeks left of our vacation time when we arrived at the Orlando hotel . We decided to visit Sea World and had an amazing time. The Up Close tours with some of the marine animals was absolutely amazing and seeing the penguins and dolphins so close was a truly an experience. The next day we went to Universal Studios and spent a large part of the day in the Harry Potter Wizarding World. This was mostly John’s idea and I expected to find ourselves in the middle of a ton of children. As it turns out there were a large number of adults there and I had as much fun as John did. In fact, I think this trip introduced my husband into a new way of seeking adventure and making new discoveries. Tomorrow we’re headed to Disney World .

Aug 29

There’s plenty to do in New York City, especially this Labor Day Weekend, beginning September 3rd. You can head on over to the action packed West Indian Parade and Carnival in Brooklyn, or if you’re looking for something less exuberant, head on over to downtown to do some shopping at the internationally famous Barney’s Warehouse Sale. If that’s still not your thing, head to Greenwich Village for their annual weekend-long Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit. See! There’s literally something for everyone, so book a room at one of the New York City hotels and get cracking.

Also happening in New York City this Labor Day weekend is the New York City Summer Restaurant Week 2010. There will be over 270 of the best restaurants such as Nobu, Tao, Atlantic Grill and Dos Caminos offering lunch at huge discounts. A 3-course meal will only cost $35 or under!

The Children’s Museum of Manhattan at 212 West 83rd Street will have tons of events and workshops for children of all ages happening all Labor Day weekend. Children 4 and under can develop their science and creative skills with ‘Mural Wall Painting’, children 5 and up can invent a toy by using recycled materials. Admission is free on Friday after 5pm.

Finally, the Manhattan East Community Association will be hosting a Family Festival. There will be over 80,000 people attending and will feature over 450 authentic and original artists from crafts to fine arts, from collectibles to fashion. Admission is free and there will be fashion shows, cooking demonstrations and productions of opera and ballet.

Aug 26

Hong Kong is an extremely dynamic city that presents a great progressive contemporary atmosphere, while also maintaining a strong sense of tradition and cultural heritage. Honoring the past is part of the culture, though clinging to it is not. This is evident in a number of the performance art establishments in the city, and popular entertainment is representative of both traditional customs as well as cutting edge performance genres.

The theatre scene is one of the thriving arts scenes and there are productions that represent theatre customs from around the world and through various historic eras. Productions of Shakespeare , Broadway musicals and the latest cutting edge comedies and dramas are all part of the performance scene of Hong Hong. And Cantonese opera is a favorite for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. And some of these performance companies are among the best in the world.

Many of the great hotels in Hong Kong also serve as tremendous resources for finding popular attractions or helping to make decisions about specific productions. In addition to some of the great theatrical productions music and dance are a large part of the culture. Festivals take place throughout the year that honor traditions from around the world and the Salsa Festival is one of the most popular in the city. It takes place for an entire week and features great performances as well as the chance to learn the art with a professional instructor.

Aug 18
Moving: A New Chapter
icon1 Mindy | icon2 Travel | icon4 08 18th, 2010| icon3No Comments »

Some lives are like an open book, where a singleness of purpose can make the chapters simple and rather elegant. Other lives are more like multi-media events, where chapters turn into short films, and those turn into songs, until it moves back to the page again. Every moment has the potential to open up new horizons, and new chapters.

With a pending move, a new chapter is not only very likely, it’s also rather unavoidable. Whether it’s a move of a household, or changing a commercial property , there is an impending shift that will reshuffle all the familiar things. It can be stressful, certainly, but it doesn’t have to catastrophic. In Canada, commercial and residential moves can be simpler with companies like Transglobe Property Management , that specialize in helping with all the aspects of a move.

In any new beginning, one has the difficulty of deciding what to hold on to, and what to get rid of. This works for both physical objects as well as moments that have emotional significance. Here it’s important to remember that nothing ever goes away entirely, it just changes form. A move, then, signifying a new chapter , can be that moment when the things that no longer serve can be put aside, and something new can come from the change as the story continues to unfold.

« Previous Entries