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Sunday, 27 December 2009
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"Balloon Boy" Will Be Flying Alone...
...while mom and dad are sitting in jail. Richard and Mayumi Heene have been sentenced to jail for 90 days and 20 days, respectively. I now believe that justice was served in this case after they exploited their children, deceived the government, and lied/rattled the country at the same time.
What did they think was going to be the end result here? A reality TV show? It's unfortunate that these children have been put through this. Only because their starry-eyed parents wanted their 15 minutes. Now these young children have to live without their parents for three months because of their stupid/idiotic decisions.
What's your take on this case? Do you believe justice was served?
Saturday, 26 December 2009
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Travel Tips for Within the US
It's that time of year when a lot of people travel to celebrate with friends and family. I have been to many airports inside the USA and so I thought I would take a minute and write a post on tips that you can follow and hopefully have a good trip. Please note that I have never traveled outside the states and so I have no tips designed for International travel.
1) Arrange for friend or family member to write you a check in advance of the trip, in the amount that you wish to spend on your trip. Mail it via USPS or UPS with a tracking number on it so that you can find it should it be lost. If it is lost in the mail, then you can put a stop on it and you haven't lost nearly as much money as you would were you to be pick-pocketed or to lose your wallet. If it is not lost, than all you have to do is get it cashed and you have your money. If you do not know or cannot trust anyone at your destination, please see the next tip. More Here...
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My Hajj Saga Part 4!
So I left off with doing the Tawaf around the Kaaba. It really wasn't THAT crowded if you consider that the expected crowd to be around 3 million since it was pretty early on. Our Hajj group guaranteed the complete Hajj experience so we got there pretty early compare to the rest of the Hajj groups leaving from America.
Now the Grand Mosque is the holiest mosque in Islam and since we take our shoes off before entering any mosque we go to, we took our shoes off before entering the Grand mosque. We then wrapped our shoes in plastic bags and placed them under our arms. Usually when entering any mosque, shoes are to be left outside but since there were many people there, the guards recommended that we keep them with us in a bag so that we didn't lose them. I had specifically bought leather sandals for the Hajj and had worn them thoroughly back home so that they wouldn't hurt my feet when I actually did the Hajj since we were told to not buy new shoes but have well worn shoes.
After taking our shoes off, we headed straight to the main floor, trying to get as close to the Kaaba as possible since in our current states we couldn't do the larger Tawafs from the second and third floors of the mosque. The Tawafs that are done closer to the actual Kaaba are actually shorter than the ones done from the second and third floors for those that didn't know. There are three floors to the mosque so that Hajjis can perform their rituals with ease. The ones who are stronger and healthier than the average Hajji tend to do the Tawaf around the Kaaba as close to the Kaaba as possible because they can handle the densely populated area. However those that are physically weaker might opt to do the circumambulation from a distance from the second or third floor.
As we headed towards the main floor, we were greeted by this site:
Imran took this from a distance and then asked me to take this one a little closer up since I was taller:
Haha, Imran's head got in the way.
After this pic, we began to walk the 7 counterclockwise circles around the Kaaba that were required of us. We were told to start each circle from the Black stone and every time we came back to the black stone at the corner of the Kaaba we were to raise our hands towards the stone as if kissing it (since it's basically impossible to kiss the black stone with all those people there) and then to say "Allahu Akbar" meaning "God is Great." While doing this ritual, I noticed quite a lot about my fellow Hajjis. More Here...
Friday, 25 December 2009
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Great Trips for 2010: Rockefeller Center's Top of the Rock
I took a day trip to New York City this summer and couldn't resist the chance of seeing the city in a new light.
Set on top of Rockefeller Center, this sightseeing attraction brings you through NBC studios where you can see for yourself all prime time and late night television is taped. But before you step out onto the observation deck, they take you on a small journey through how and why they opened their doors to see Manhattan.
After buying our tickets, they direct my friend and I into an elevator for a short ride up about 3 stories. As we exit, we then find ourselves in queue for a photo session with central park as the backdrop. After the picture, we wonder into a dark room filled with tourists, children of all ages, and locals who were up for another adventure NYC has to offer. The room then turned into a small movie theater where they show two short clips of Rockefeller Centers history and how they came to turn the high rise building into an observation deck.
More Here... -
Merry Christmas from TripCrazed!
Forget the traffic, no more shopping and sit by the tree because Christmas is here! Whether you are celebrating in your home, with family or abroad, this is a time to reflect on the gifts of the past season. Sure, today is a day to sigh in relief after all the hectic Christmas shopping. Hopefully lots of us TripCrazed got lots of travel gifts! (I'd love a one way trip to anywhere. Preferebly somewhere warm! It's not even that expensive, no need to get back home!)
Remember that no matter what religion you are and although it might be a Christian holiday, it is celebrated by almost everyone. You've got traditions like Santa Claus, gift giving, holiday sales and various cultural traditions. Let us take the time to remember all the gifts we've received, big or small.
TripCrazed would like to give thanks to the Xanga community for their posts! Thank you to Places2Explore, Ever the Nomad, A Pair of Panties and Boxers and Art of Backpacking for featuring their guest content on our site! The greatest gift of all is working with TripCrazed and sharing the love of travel with everyone!
And a special thanks to our interns Kate and Neeraja for their posts and great support here on TripCrazed!
From all of us, Have a very Merry Christmas! Safe travels if you are spending time with family or lucky enough to get an awesome travel gift!
Your Editor, Teresa
Thursday, 24 December 2009
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Should I Intern Abroad?
Well, I've been thinking lately about next year's possibilities and opportunities, what I can do vs. what I should do, and it got me into thinking about going abroad but not just to hang out and bar hop, but to get something out of it as well. I want to get hands-on experience in my career field (Journalism), and I think that being abroad while getting experience by interning somewhere, would be the ultimate way of going about it.
But as I searched "intern abroad" it boggled my mind on how many different companies and places of interest I could choose from, but also boggled my mind on who to pick. I'm confused because I know what I want to do, but don't know where to begin.
Have you interned abroad? Any suggestions on where to look? -
Pack Your Bags and Move to a Black Neighborhood
The following idea applies to those with a limited view and understanding of minorities, such as black people.
The challenge: pack your bags. Move into a black neighborhood. No suburbs, no rich family, even the small town people, I want all of you to once pack your bags and live in (or walk down or make a friend, whatever contact you wish to make, in) a black neighborhood...or any neighborhood that has what people would call "minorities" in them. The neighborhood doesn't have to be bad, really. Just any one in random, so you can get the full gist of what we have to deal with, and why the majority of what you believe in simply does not apply to us. Trust us. Some of the things you believe in just plain don't work so well with us.
For those who believe in values where people don't have a single clue about people other than a stereotype, I want them to put away their inhibitions and see what is really up. Anything that we are all doing wrong, let them guide us and tell us exactly what we are doing wrong. And we will do the same thing for you. Trust me. You have some bad juju that you impose on people, including your kids, too. More Here...
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
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Guinness Is Burning!!!!
Just when you thought 2009 couldn't get any worse, it's just been reported that the iconic Guinness plant in Dublin city center fell victim to a "large scale fire" early Monday morning.
The fire was apparently sparked by two workmen fixing a section of roof with a blowtorch right above a highly flammable area, and no Guinness employs were injured though two firemen were hospitalized for good measure.
The 250 year-old brewery which only one year ago was responsible for producing 1 billion pints (*HOLLA-luh-jah!!*) of the dark, thick dry stout finally expanded in 2008, lessening the Dublin plant's load.
I'll certainly be hanging my head extra low this already-dreadful holiday season as I'm riddled with fear of what will happen to my precious Guinness, one of the only beers I actually enjoy drinking. Will they still be able to churn out those 1 billion + pints/year?
Hopefully all ends well before next Saint Patrick's Day, otherwise I fear for the the entire world's well-being.
The After Picture... -
A few things you should know about my country: WALES
NO. We are NOT a part of England. They refuse to take any responsibility for us.
They might have annexed us in 1536, but have since decided we are best left to our own devices: namely singing to Tom Jones songs, hitting each other with leaks and eating daffodils. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!
Though, asking us if we are a part of England isn't quite as stupid as asking us if we are a part of Russia, or Australia. Both of which I have honestly heard before. Do people not read anymore? Do people not have brains anymore!?
More Here... -
Learn New Languages & Feel the World's Happiest Places
Guest submission from cybertom@hotmail.com
Many travel to experience the world, but we wanted to find that special happy dreamland…
We came across a good article about “the happiest places on earth” a while ago. Actually, the headline on the front page caught our attention. It’s a cheerful yet rare title, rare since most news these days are mostly about unhappy matters…So it’s nice to see something different and positive once in a while.
Surprisingly, neither sunny California, Florida, or Hawaii or a similarly popular vacation spot didn’t take the crown. Almost all the happy places listed are in Europe or Asia Pacific, while Canada and Mexico made guest appearances. But Europe has both the happiest and probably not less happy people after all. More Here...
