Some travel blah

The past two weeks have been pretty quiet at work. There are a few new enquiries here and there, and a few new bookings as well. Nothing that is too challenging for me to handle. I wish I can take more cruise or fully inclusive tour bookings, and not just about hotels in new york city or one night accommodation at some local airport.

I guess I shouldn't really complain about this. Times are tough and people are being more frugal in spending, especially about traveling. Nowadays, travellers are after the best value for their money. Nobody passes up cheap accommodation in Vancouver (or anywhere) for that matter. I know everyone is wanting to purchase good deals, and even airline or wholesalers appreciate this. Promotions on domestic and international travel are being advertised on television, newspapers, etc. They say these special deals won't last that long, and if one must plan travel now is the best time. That is providing of course that one has the resources or savings to do so.

Working towards healthy living

In the recent months, I have been really trying to see my luck in caring for plants at home. I started out with an African violet pot, which is still alive after three months by the way. I have also since tried to care for flowers and blooms on a weekly basis. I wish I had known how to make use of the products from the website I found, but I am curently on a green thumb hiatus.

What I would really like to try though, is to keep a vegetable garden. Although this is not possible at the moment given the fact that we have limited space at home. I am sure when hubby and I get our own house eventually we would have a garden, and I am able to see for myself the benefits of organic gardening. This would be something I would like to be able to do, as well as be able to impart to my future children on living a healthy life.

At the moment, in our household we try to eat a lot of greens and fruits at each meal. Trying to maintain a healthy diet is something I neglected growing up, since I rarely got sick when I was young I did not feel the need to watch what I ate. I guess it comes with age, that one becomes watchful of the ingredients in our meals. Really, eating organic food is beneficial and awareness about this is something the modern world is learning about increasingly.

Tourism and management

So much of the world talk now is about climate change, environmental sustainability and other things that relate to keeping our world a better place to live in. When I was still studying tourism management, we had a few case studies that dealt with companies’ strategy on solid waste management within their business. It is really interesting how some companies try their best to be compliant on this issue, while others are simply uninterested. If I had more time then, I would have been interested in doing an assessment or case study on this topic. Too bad, I am now studying a different area!

Tech rant (again)

I’ve never been a real techie person, and so when I was starting out in this blog bandwagon I did endless research on a good web hosting site. I found out that I did not really have to be a tech geek or an IT graduate to be able to run my own site. It still has its challenges, and it does take me a lot longer to do my widget configurations and all that, but I manage (in some ways). I have been thinking about changing my site layout again, but I am just not prepared to go through having to adjust all the settings and all that just yet. Maybe when my boyfriend heads off overseas for two weeks I will be able to work on this.

Exchanging Homes? Why not do Reunion Island?

One type of accommodation option that has emerged in the past decade or so among potential tourists, is the idea of Home Exchanges. We saw this recently in the movie, The Holiday, with Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz exchanging their British and American homes to each other's delight. Really, as much as this modern society is more open to these sort of things, one can never be cautious enough in dealing with complete strangers. Especially on the internet. Nowadays, psychos are roaming mad, and a mere innocent look is not enough to see through what one is capable of. How paranoid our society is becoming.

One advertisement caught my eye as I was searching for my apartment. It was from a person from Reunion Island, located near the coast of mainland Africa in the Indian Ocean. I first got familiar with this French island when I went to Mauritius a couple of months back. Most Mauritians raved about this lovely neighbour of theirs. Reunion island is not a very populated destination, with only 700,000 inhabitants. Their culture is a mix of French, African, Indian and Chinese as reflected through their food, music and way of life. Really there are so much that this small island can offer from beautiful landscape, to refreshing seascape. The best time to visit this island is from April to September when the weather is not too hot.

It is not for the faint hearted tourist, as the authentic experience of this island is anything but traditional but everything that one could hope for in a travel destination. I do hope that I can visit this lovely neighbour of Mauritius one day. Costa Cruise offers sailings to this paradise island as seen here. This island is also good for surfing, adrenalin sports, mountain biking, treking, photography enthusiasts, spa lovers, nature lovers, and everyone else.

There is a growing number of resorts from budget to luxury found at majority of the island's towns. A few of them are: Les Villas du Recif, Les Villas du Lagon, Boucan Canot, Novotel Saint Gilles La Reunion, Hotel Saint Alexis, Lodge Roche Tamarin, Palm Hotel and Spa. I was surprised to find out that they had a lot of accommodation types to offer!

Starting April 1, 2009 Air Austral will connect Sydney and St Denis, Reunion Island direct, twice a week. People travelling to Paris will have the chance to see this magnificent island on their way to Europe. Surely this is something I look forward to selling to my passengers!

On buildings and trees

Traveling to countries which don’t have much infrastructure can either be an advantage or a disadvantage for some. A lot of the Western world would have their constructions with Precast Concrete laid out with careful thought accompanied by modern designs. While many countries in Africa (such as Mauritius, which I’ve been to recently) and Asia don’t have it all yet. Tall trees are in place instead of tall department stores, children playing alongside the roads outnumber the cars traveling by. Precast Concrete Septic Tanks may not be something everyone knows about, high rise buildings may not be seen but it surely these pose no hindrance to a real adventure traveler. In fact, sometimes without traces of modernity the place can be more appealing, as it is less commercialized. To each their own, really. Each city’s architecture and infrastructure may be charming in their own way, even the lack of it is welcome (in my opinion that is).

My cup of IT

Okay, with all these technology propping up here and there in your face, how can one keep up? For a business person I am sure this poses more of a challenge. Especially for those businesses that would like to reach their market through the internet. With software as a service available now, it is easier to create a business plan, or make use of software that works for the business. There is even hosted team foundation server available to those who don’t want to be involved in too much technicalities of a seemingly easy job: maintaining the business and earning the big bucks. At work now, I know that remote access devices are in place for support required from off shore technicians. I also know that they have managed to find cheap web conferencing for those urgent and crucial meetings of minds. I am in awe by all these things available nowadays. Sooner or later the unimaginable would be somewhat ordinary. My appreciation goes out to all those involved in the IT industry who strive to make this world an easier place to live and work in.

The air we breathe

My family has tried a couple of air purifier machines at home. In Manila one would think this would work, but I am not sure if it really does. In Sydney, when I moved here, the family I lived with used air purifiers as well. One of the kids had asthma and the parents thought that by turning the machine on at night this would have the child avoid an asthma attack. The question are air cleaners safe really? It really depends on how one is convinced to use them at home, or whether the machines are used properly the way they are meant to be. For me, I think I don’t really mind not having it. I suppose it is all just about preference.

Constantly changing themes

A few weeks ago I was just so confused with my web templates and all that. I was so dissatisfied with my previous template that I was up and about for quite a while looking for the perfect one. It was an endless search, and a few times I liked a couple or so designs. I’ve seen a number of really nice wordpress themes on topwpthemes.com and have settled on something that I like, for now, that is. I suppose it’s just my nature to seek change every once in a while. Who knows in a couple of months I would be searching for new themes again. I’ve realized that since I have a few blogs anyway, I would be able to rotate changing the designs in them, that way I don’t rattle myself up updating each site all at the same time!

What would you do if you were the Richest Man in the world?

Just watched a special feature on BBC Channel on Bill Gates and his empire. It just blew me away. The segment feature Bill Gates and his beginnings, his interests, his young adult life, background and how his interest in computers and technology led him to create the mega company Microsoft. In the interview it was said that Gates made so much money and that if quantified, he’s been earning about $5 million a day, since 1975. That means he is worth more than about $68 billion dollars! I probably won’t even make $5 million in my lifetime, and here he is just doing that overnight! The interviewer mentioned that Bill Gates likes burgers, and that with his earnings, he could give each person on the planet (all 60 billion people) a hamburger (costing say a dollar each), and he would still have about $6 billion left as a change.

The good thing though about Bill Gates, or at least what the interview made me believe, is that he is not a greedy person. Him and his wife, Melinda, have invested and created a foundation in the interest of education, world health and population. Gates has actually invested billions of dollars to funding research on malaria, and is aiming to make an impact on every person’s life by him contributing his earnings for the benefit of the world. Husband and wife Bill and Melinda Gates have decided to give back to the public what they have earned, instead of acquiring properties or giving this to their children as inheritance. Really, one can see that they are quite a well grounded couple.

He's one of those people who looks like all their lives they've just been using their brains. By choice or by not, I think the world needs more people like him. Making good use of his talent and his resources.

Love and thoughts on the modern world

Some people go around meeting other people through the internet, using online dating services or even through the new speed dating formula. These kinds of meeting were unheard of a few decades ago, but now, every other person would know someone who’s done speed dating or is currently dating someone they met through a dating service. One good friend from Sydney has tried using the 5 star dating website. She’s told me that she noticed that people who go through those services hope to meet people that share a faith in Christianity, or believe in the same things, have the same background, etc. I couldn’t agree with her more. Since these services usually ask about one’s preferences, they usually eliminate a potential time waster who is not matched up to one’s standard or who does not belong to one’s type. Of course it is never guaranteed, and it is entirely up to your discretion just like in any dating scenario to discern if one is a possible mate. I have never done this type of meeting though. If I was single, I probably would not mind trying this option with a bunch of girls willing to help me build up my online dating resume!