A friend of mine recently came back from an 8 month trek through Western Europe & Scandinavia and here’s a travel tip he offered up for our newsletter. “I rinse out the plastic hotel trash can, put my clothes in it along with some shampoo, and tread on them with one foot while I take a shower. If I need to in the morning, I iron my underwear to dry them.” Short but useful! Thanks, Chris!
Have you ever been researching something on Google or Yahoo or another search engine only to have the sites you’re linking to be in a foreign language? Nowadays a lot of websites will have convenient language flags so that you can get to a foreign language section of the site, but what do you do if you’re looking at a personal website, blog or a website owned by a smaller company? Luckily, you can turn to AltaVista’s handy Babelfish translation page. Babelfish, named after a small fish in the popular science fiction series, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” that, when placed in a person’s ear, would translate any language instantly, translates web pages to and from English, Chinese, Greek, Japanese, Dutch, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian and Russian. You can also translate single words or phrases on their site. Now, I’m not recommending you use this site to do your French 102 homework for you as the syntax can be sorely lacking, but it’s a good start for any basic translation needs. Visit http://babelfish.altavista.com .
Featuring Rome, Italy
Rome ranks among the world's most historically interesting cities and is a bustling, lively place with something for everyone. While it may not be one of Italy's most tranquil cities, it can definitely be described as the most impressive, with its mix of ancient ruins, priceless works of art, and imposing structures. Within the confines of Rome you will also find The Vatican (considered a separate State) where Pope Benedict XVI currently resides. For those who appreciate the arts and ancient history, Rome is definitely a great place to visit. For more information on what to see and do in Rome, visit our travel planner section at http://www.isecard.com/travelplanner/rome.html .
Auto Europe
For over 50 years, Auto Europe has been a leader in worldwide car rental services. In recent years, they have expanded their services to include over 4,000 car rental locations worldwide; scheduled air from the USA to Europe; over 2,000 three, four and five star European hotels; chauffeur and transfer services; prestige and sports car rentals; cellular phone rentals; escorted motor coach tours; and motor home rentals. Their philosophy is, "If you think that there is something more important than a client...then you need to think again."
Auto Europe strives to provide their customers with competitive rates and the best service available anywhere. At Auto Europe they do not believe that customers should expect less because they pay less. Their rates are always competitive, but they never forget that they are in the service business. If you have never used their services before, give them a try.
ISE Cardholders receive a 10% discount on travel services. For more information, visit http://www.isecard.com/featured/autoeurope/index.html .
National Express
National Express travels to over 1200 destinations in the UK and over 30 in Europe and they also travel directly to Reading, Leeds and Glastonbury Festivals.
To take advantage of this special coach card offer visit www.nationalexpress.com , register and enter the promotional code ISEEIGHTEEN in the box where prompted when purchasing your card.
ISE Cardholders receive an 18 month National Express NX2 Card for the price of 12 months - only £10.
16 April 2008
TRAVEL TIP OF THE WEEK
If you're traveling to a place where train travel is prevalent (like Europe), I highly suggest that you research train schedules and journey durations ahead of time. It's very easy to assume that train travel is the most affordable, if not always the quickest, way to go, and it often is, but with the advent of cheap airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet, sometimes you can pick up a cheap, fast flight. Many websites that sell rail passes also link to rail timetables. From the ISE Card website, http://www.isecard.com/ , click on "Free HostelResCard" and then click on "Train Schedules" under Rail Information. You can also find the country specific railway information for every European country here http://www.eurail.com/1_railway_information or you can purchase a Thomas Cook timetable here http://www.thomascookpublishing.com/series.htm?series=Timetables . It's important to remember that rail schedules don't vary much from year to year, but they can be dramatically different from season to season or midweek to weekend.
27 March 2008
Travel Blog
Singaporeans can’t help but to take some time off their work schedule to travel, have a break and enjoy the wonderful sights around the world.
Recently I was in Mindanao (Southern Philippines) to attend an annual meeting of travel associations of ASEAN. The flight on PAL to Davao was a tiring and long one having to transit in Manila for almost 4 hours! Should have taken the direct Silkair flight but understood it was full.
I was actually sceptic of being in Mindanao having read in the papers about all the kidnapping, natural disasters and terrorism activities! But knowing that almost every travel personalities from the ASEAN region would be there provided a huge sense of relief.
What I discovered in Davao eventually turned out to be wonderful surprises. Here is a list of what I found out:
A: Food galore especially seafood where tuna sashimi (maguro) is aplenty, grilled tuna jaw (inihaw na panga) is just heavenly tasty and durian is a big time favourite
B: Davao boasts itself as the largest city in the world with a land area of 244 000 hectares (or 2211 sq km) [Singapore is only 683 sq km]
C: Here is a melting pot of cultures, Dabawenyos (as they called themselves) are made up of tribal people (Bagobos, Manobos, Mandayas and Mansakas), Moslems and Catholics living side by side
D: Davao is located in a virtually typhoon-free region blessing it with marvelous nature, booming industry, year round celebrations and happy people
E: Davao has the lowest crime rate in the Philippines and I got the assurance from the Mayor Duterte himself! And they even have a 911 emergency assistance system!
F: White sand beaches are mere minutes away and mountain resorts less than an hour’s drive.
At the end, I had a wonderful time in Davao. Best of all, moving around Davao is cheap and convenient as taxi charges only 30 peso (air con) to most places around city. And the drivers are polite! If you are tempted in visiting Davao now, don’t hesitate. I will be going back there again!
It is always a good time to plan early for that special educational trip overseas and while there are plenty of opportunities to grab the great travel bargains, I know many are concerned about the current view of the bird flu. One good thing though is that we can mostly be rest assured by our government’s action in taking every precaution to update everyone of the situation. There is even a website set up by MITA dedicated to the flu bug (www.flu.gov.sg). At ISE, we have in place our risk assessment management system and always take stringent view in regularly assessing the risk situation before embarking on a travel programme. After the Asian Tsunami disaster of 26 December 2004, our team undertook several RAMS visits to Khao Lak, Phuket and Krabi between February and May 2005 until we are satisfied before we brought the first group of students and youth for a learning journey cum community work programme. Since then more than 200 have traveled with us to the area in 2005 to assist the community while enriching their understanding outside the classroom. Irregardless of the situation, we will always place upon ourselves to remove any uncertainty, be it small or major, so we can work worry-free in executing the travel programme. In addition, we are fortunate to have an established network of reliable people on the ground to report to us even on the smallest details in that particular area. In times like this, we never take unnecessary risks.
Till next month, wishing you a belated Valentine and here is a question to ponder on.
If money doesn't grow on trees then why do banks have branches?
Recently I was in Mindanao (Southern Philippines) to attend an annual meeting of travel associations of ASEAN. The flight on PAL to Davao was a tiring and long one having to transit in Manila for almost 4 hours! Should have taken the direct Silkair flight but understood it was full.
I was actually sceptic of being in Mindanao having read in the papers about all the kidnapping, natural disasters and terrorism activities! But knowing that almost every travel personalities from the ASEAN region would be there provided a huge sense of relief.
What I discovered in Davao eventually turned out to be wonderful surprises. Here is a list of what I found out:
A: Food galore especially seafood where tuna sashimi (maguro) is aplenty, grilled tuna jaw (inihaw na panga) is just heavenly tasty and durian is a big time favourite
B: Davao boasts itself as the largest city in the world with a land area of 244 000 hectares (or 2211 sq km) [Singapore is only 683 sq km]
C: Here is a melting pot of cultures, Dabawenyos (as they called themselves) are made up of tribal people (Bagobos, Manobos, Mandayas and Mansakas), Moslems and Catholics living side by side
D: Davao is located in a virtually typhoon-free region blessing it with marvelous nature, booming industry, year round celebrations and happy people
E: Davao has the lowest crime rate in the Philippines and I got the assurance from the Mayor Duterte himself! And they even have a 911 emergency assistance system!
F: White sand beaches are mere minutes away and mountain resorts less than an hour’s drive.
At the end, I had a wonderful time in Davao. Best of all, moving around Davao is cheap and convenient as taxi charges only 30 peso (air con) to most places around city. And the drivers are polite! If you are tempted in visiting Davao now, don’t hesitate. I will be going back there again!
It is always a good time to plan early for that special educational trip overseas and while there are plenty of opportunities to grab the great travel bargains, I know many are concerned about the current view of the bird flu. One good thing though is that we can mostly be rest assured by our government’s action in taking every precaution to update everyone of the situation. There is even a website set up by MITA dedicated to the flu bug (www.flu.gov.sg). At ISE, we have in place our risk assessment management system and always take stringent view in regularly assessing the risk situation before embarking on a travel programme. After the Asian Tsunami disaster of 26 December 2004, our team undertook several RAMS visits to Khao Lak, Phuket and Krabi between February and May 2005 until we are satisfied before we brought the first group of students and youth for a learning journey cum community work programme. Since then more than 200 have traveled with us to the area in 2005 to assist the community while enriching their understanding outside the classroom. Irregardless of the situation, we will always place upon ourselves to remove any uncertainty, be it small or major, so we can work worry-free in executing the travel programme. In addition, we are fortunate to have an established network of reliable people on the ground to report to us even on the smallest details in that particular area. In times like this, we never take unnecessary risks.
Till next month, wishing you a belated Valentine and here is a question to ponder on.
If money doesn't grow on trees then why do banks have branches?
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