• 06
  Jul
  2009

• Tasty cuisines of the World

  
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  Author: Blog Contributor
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If you are a food buff but do not have the time to travel around the world and taste the various international cuisines then make a note of a few here:

Lebanese Cuisine: is where you can taste all the goodness the Middle East has to offer. Foods are generally Mediterranean, high on vegetables, little meat and full of flavors. Perhaps the most famous dish worldwide is the appetizer mezze - a selection of dips, pickles, salads and nibbles with Arabic bread. It also includes an abundance of fruit, fresh fish and seafood and little animal fat. The country is also famous for the Arabic sweets, Tripoli being referred to as the “Sweet Capital” of Lebanon.

Greek Cuisine: With a significant influence from the Turkish and Italian cuisine, the Greek cuisine is a focused around olive oil, vegetables and herbs specific to the Mediterranean region. Eating in Greece is a different experience from Greek restaurants in other countries - gyros for example is considered by Greeks junk food.

Thai Cuisine: Many people say Thai food alone, with its balanced mix of hot, sour, bitter and sweet, is a good enough reason to visit the country. The foods are characterized by the use of fresh herbs and flavors, such as lime juice, lemon grass and fresh coriander. Similar to many Asian cuisines, rice is the main component in Thai foods as well. You will often come across nam pla, a strong fish sauce, shrimp paste and noodles. If you’re looking to get a kick of out your lunch, you should try the raw beef, fermented fish paste or deep fried insect larvae mostly present in the Northeast, where eating insects in fairly common.

• 03
  Jul
  2009

• Medical Tourism

  
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  Author: Blog Contributor
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Medical tourism refers to the rapidly-growing practice of traveling across international borders to obtain health care. The reasons could be any, high cost of health care, long wait times for certain procedures, the ease and affordability of international travel, and improvements in both technology and standards of care in many countries.

According to an article by the University of Delaware publication, “The cost of surgery in India, Thailand or South Africa can be one-tenth of what it is in the United States or Western Europe, and sometimes even less. A heart-valve replacement that would cost $200,000 or more in the US, for example, goes for $10,000 in India—and that includes round-trip airfare and a brief vacation package. Similarly, a metal-free dental bridge worth $5,500 in the US costs $500 in India, a knee replacement in Thailand with six days of physical therapy costs about one-fifth of what it would in the States, and Lasik eye surgery worth $3,700 in the US is available in many other countries for only $730. Cosmetic surgery savings are even greater: A full facelift that would cost $20,000 in the US runs about $1,250 in South Africa

Popular medical travel worldwide destinations include: Argentina, Brunei, Cuba, Colombia, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Jordan, Lithuania, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, and recently, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Korea, Tunisia and New Zealand.

Another common specialized health destination is for addicts. Alcohol and drug addiction are the two most common problems dealt with at these facilities. They are set up like all-inclusive resort centers, except that there is more emphasis on monitoring the guests’ behavior and keeping them on their rigid programs. These are not particularly relaxing resorts, but they can often break a person’s addiction in a healthy manner.

• 02
  Jul
  2009

• Wimbledon: the mecca of tennis action

  
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  Author: Blog Contributor
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With the ladies finals to be contested by the American sisters Venus and Serena Williams, the stage is all set for the all eyes to center in on the center court of Wimbledon. This said; let’s get to the beginning of how it all started at the Wimbledon to the time that has retractable roofs on the center court.

The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely considered the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in the London suburb of Wimbledon since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, and the only one still played on grass courts. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which is responsible for staging the world’s leading tennis tournament, is a private club founded in 1868, originally as ‘The All England Croquet Club’. In 1875, lawn tennis, a game devised by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield a year or so earlier and originally called ‘Sphairistike’, was added to the activities of the Club. In the spring of 1877 the Club was re-titled ‘The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club’ and signaled its change of name by instituting the first Lawn Tennis Championship. The only event held in 1877 was the Gentlemen’s Singles which was won by Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, from a field of 22. About 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final.

Did you know that until 1922, the reigning champion had to play only in the final, against whoever had won through to challenge him? As with the other three Grand Slam events, Wimbledon was contested by top-ranked amateur players until the advent of the open era in tennis in 1968. Britons are very proud of the tournament, though it is a source of national anguish and humour – no British man has won the singles event at Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, and no British woman since Virginia Wade in 1977.

• 01
  Jul
  2009

• Seven Wonders of the World

  
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  Author: Blog Contributor
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Did you know that the “New” Seven Wonders of the World (7.7.2007) does not have the Pyramids of Egypt or the Eifel tower. It’s a pity that we can just have seven wonders and not eight or ten wonders. The new Seven Wonders of the World are: the Colosseum in Italy; Christ Redeemer, Brazil;  The Taj Mahal, India; Great wall of China, China(obviously); Machu Picchu, Peru; Petra, Jordan; Chichen Itza, Mexico.

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is the first known list of the most remarkable man-made creations of classical antiquity, and was based on guide-books popular among Hellenic sight-seers and only includes works located around the Mediterranean rim. The number seven was chosen because the Greeks believed it to be the representation of perfection and plenty.

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were: Great Pyramids of Giza; Hanging gardens of Babylon; Statue of Zeus in Olympia; Temple of Artemis at Ephesus; Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus; Colossus of Rhodes; Lighthouse of Alexandria. The earliest lists had the Ishtar Gate as the seventh wonder of the world instead of the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

Wonders of the medieval world included: Stonehenge; Colosseum; Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa; Great Wall of China; Porcelain Tower of Nanjing; Hagia Sophia; Leaning Tower of Pisa. However, there were other lists that also included: The Taj Mahal; Citadel of Cairo; Ely cathedral; Cluny Abbey.