Posts from ‘September, 2007’

Honda’s ASIMO robot on display

ASIMO the amazing walking robot built by Honda is one of the feature exhibits at the Miraikan Emerging Science Museum in Odaiba the futuristic city in Tokyo Japan. ASIMO or the ‘Advanced Step in Innovative MObility” robot is an incredible humanoid robot which can even walk up stairs. It is hoped that with constant upgrades one day the robot will be able to take visitors on guided tours around the museum.

The museum has an amazing array of technological feats, many of them Japanese, including robotics, interactive displays featuring the Linimo Maglev 300km plus train, space and mining exploration and plenty of hands on interactive educational entertainment for people of all ages.

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Cannstatter Volksfest – Stuttgart’s Oktoberfest

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Stuttgart is not only the home of Mercedes Benz and Porsche it’s home to the annual Cannastatter Volksfest- the second largest beer festival in Germany (or the world for that matter) after Munich. The centerpiece of the festival is the huge Ferris Wheel and 24 metre basket of fruit. The festival dates back to 1818 and now attracts over 3 million people to its two weeks of celebration. There are huge beer tents but they are not as big as that found in Munich, but its much easier to find a beer here as things are not quiet as busy.

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Geelong – Kings of Aussie Rules Football

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Geelong, Australia moments ago became home to the 2007 Australian Rules Football Premiers. Geelong is a beautiful bayside city about an hours drive south west of Melbourne. Only minutes from some of the world’s best surf beaches this town has a year long calendar of events, great attractions and shopping. But today the focus on Geelong is football and the Geelong Cats have just been crowned the best in the land!

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Supersized Snitzels and Beer

We know what it’s like when you go on holidays, the diet goes out the window, you have a few extra beers and large meals. Well, Check out this restaurant in Hofheim, just outside Frankfurt Germany. Called Waldgeist this restaurant specializes in XXXL meals all washed down with the German favorite a supersized beer. The snitzels here don’t even fit on the plate correctly and 4 people could eat the one burger and still be full! Hit the next page for their website, its in German but the pictures and all the XXXL’s across the menu should give you an idea if you cant be bothered translating it via bablefish. If you are near Hofheim make sure you detour to Waldgeist and if you are on a diet just have one beer, a 2 litre sized beer.

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Piss Alley – bad name, ugly lane but great food!

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Shomben Yokocho or Piss Alley as it is better known is a interesting collection of small huts and restaurants squeezed between train tracks and the huge Odakyo Department store in Shinjuku Tokyo. It’s not the most beautiful lane way you will come across but is still a far cry from how it looked before a tragic fire in 1999 which destroyed much of the area. But the atmosphere and the aromas still remain and it is one of Tokyo’s best hidden treasures for great food. The area was once a notorious area with illegal activities including sex, gambling and dodgy booze deals but today only about 50 metres of the strip remains. The restaurants are no larger than a standard lounge room and the food is cheap and sure is good, with some of the city’s best yakitori. The area got its lovely nickname due to the lack of sewerage in the area, but fortunately things have changed and plumbers have cleaned up the area. For those after a bit of a alcoholic treat when visiting the area try a Karai Shochu its a vodka like drink which has extremely hot chilli peppers dissolved in it… only a brave person will go back for seconds.

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Mmmm Tasty Croquettes

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Got a few Euro spare change kicking around in your pocket and got the munchies in Amsterdam, well a croquette shop will do the trick. Scattered through the Dutch city are great croquette shops full of stainless steel vending machines. Choose the tasty croquette you want to eat, whether it be meat, curry, vegetable cheese or some other tasty morsel, pop your Euro in the slot and simply open the door to a hot and steaming crumbed croquette. They are delicious! The staff works behind the vending wall of vending machines and all the service is automatic, that is unless you want to try the tasty Dutch version of potato chips, Pommes- complete with mayonnaise which can be bought from a staff member and is usually served in a clever paper cone.

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Ute capital of the world

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Although the Ute or Utility was invented by Ford in Geelong Australia in the 1930’s, Deniliquin in New South Wales holds the title of the Ute capital of the World. Deniliquin is on the edge of some of the driest and flattest land on earth a farming and grazing region and home to the annual ute muster. In 1999 Deniliquin wrote itself into the history books with the largest parade of registered utes with 2939 vehicles taking place, and since then the number has grown to 6211. People bring their utes from all over Australia to attend and some even transport them from overseas for this huge event. This years event is on this weekend and it promises to be bigger than ever. To celebrate this feat the town has even erected a WB Holden Ute up a pole in all its glory. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s no service at this restaurant

At this restaurant known as ‘s Baggers in Nurnberg Germany you wont find any waiters to take your order or to bring drinks to the table, instead you will find a touch screen computer and something that looks like a food rollercoaster that bring food directly to your table. When you get a table at this futuristic restaurant you make your order via the computer at your table, your meals is then prepared by humans (not robots) in the upstairs kitchen and sent on a ride to your table. The restaurant claims that the system cuts costs and improves efficiency making for an overall better dining experience. The food served is called Franconian Style which is an old German style of cooking the name baggers comes from a potato fritter style dish. Read the rest of this entry »

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

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The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in the centre of Berlin is a stark reminder of the horrors of war. This church was built between 1891 and 1895 in honor of the then Emperor Wilhelm II’s grandfather. But during the extensive bombing raids of 1943 the church was virtually destroyed. The only thing left standing was the belfry. Between 1951 and 1961 a new church was rebuilt next to the ruins, and the ruins were kept intact as a reminder of the destruction of war. The church was actually opened on the same day as churches rebuilt after war damage in Conventry England and Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in Russia as a symbol of reconciliation between the three countries which were once at war.

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Bargains amongst the palm trees

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If you’ve spent the day in the sun on Waikiki Beach and need to find a bargain or that special kitsch gift for the friends back home give the International Marketplace a go. There are over 130 stores with everything you will ever need- authentic Hawaiian Shirts, jewelry, nick knacks and lots of other cool stuff. If shopping gets too hard there’s a few good cafes and bars to kick back in for a while before doing a bit more bargaining with the friendly store holders. Most nights there is free entertainment to make a great evening of it and the market is open seven days a week from 10 to 10:30 PM. days a week from 10 to 10:30 PM.

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