UNCONVENTIONAL WORLD RECORDS

According to tourist reviews compiled by TripAdvisor, the best bed & breakfast (B&B) in the world for 2012 is The Twenty One, Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom.

Quality doesn’t come cheap though, rates can go up to GBP160 a night. Perhaps the interior was designed by Ethan Allen?

Not only that, it seems that Great Britain has an abundance of world-class guest houses, as 8 out of the top 10 is located there.

Details:
- located on a seafront
- run by Matt Fletcher and Andy Cole
- guests are given free Tunnock tea cakes
- TripAdvisor reviews them as “gives superb breakfasts” and provides “comfy beds”.
- rates: GBP55 (single bed) to GBP159 (king-size double bed plus balcony)

The top spot last year was occupied by the Old Manse in Invermoriston, Scotland.

Source
Daily Mail, 18 January 2012

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On 16th January 2012, Ngidi Msungubana, 25 was bitten to death by a shark while surfing at Second Beach in Port St Johns, Eastern Cape province, South Africa (Eastern Cape). The beach faces the Indian Ocean.

It has been called “the world’s deadliest” due to this being the sixth death since 2007 due to sharks there.

People who saw what happened said he was in shallow water (1.5m deep) when a bull shark struck. He then wrestled with the animal for about 5 minutes while the sea around him turned red as he was bitten again and again on both his arms and stomach. Msungubana was finally dragged out of the water by a lifeguard. Unfortunately, he died on the way to a hospital.

Bull sharks hunt by themselves and are dangerously aggressive.

Previous fatal attacks:

- 2007: a lifeguard
- 2009: 3 attacks
- 2011 (15th Jan): a surfer

World shark attack stats show that only 1 in 6 attacks is fatal, but here it’s 6 out of 6.

A possible cause is that many sharks like to come there to eat animals slaughtered during traditional sacrifices.

Popularity: 1% [?]

There are apparently a few hundred mountains in the world that are still not climbed, and quite a lot of them are more than 7,000m high.

There are several contenders for this title:

Gangkhar Puensum, 7,570m, Bhutan

Probably strongest contender. Mountaineering was allowed in Bhutan only relatively recently viz. 1983. 4 expeditions have so far made the attempt for the summit, all failed. Since 1994 the country has banned climbing of mountains higher than 6,000m; in 2003 mountaineering was totally banned, so no further attempts are possible.

Saser Kangri II East, 7,513m, Kashmir

Probably highest unclimbed non-prohibited mountain.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Princess Juliana International Airport (also known as Sint Maarten International Airport) is located on the Dutch side of Saint Martin island, which is located in the northeast Caribbean, about 300 km east of Puerto Rico.

It was opened in 1943 and named after Juliana of the Netherlands, then the crown princess.

Airplanes landing at the airport fly low over the renowned Maho Beach. Hence, the approach is awe inspiring and being on the beach is a perfect place for plane-watching, not to mention nerve wracking.

I think one would not find the tranquility one would expect from a lazy day by the sea here.

A video of a 747 i.e. huge plane, landing:

Amazingly, despite what one might see as an extremely difficult approach, there has apparently been no major incidents there.

Some comments from the youtube video:

The engineer who designed this airport might have been drunk or high.

That’s one beach you can’t fall asleep on.

Maybe they made the beach after they made the airport.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Halden fengsel is a prison in southeast Norway. It opened on 8th April 2010 and has a capacity of 252.

It has been described as the world’s most modern and humane prison. In other words, a prison that doesn’t feel or look like one.

Guiding principle:

Repressive prisons do not work and that treating prisoners humanely boosts their chances of reintegrating into society.

Well, judging from the appearance of the front, it does seem so right?

Features:
- Area: 75 acres (30 hectares)
- cells look like college dorm rooms, with flat-screen TVs & mini fridges
- cells have long vertical windows to let in natural light
- no bars on windows or doors
- every 10 – 12 cells share a living room and kitchen.
- living room look like Ikea showrooms: stainless-steel countertops, wraparound sofas & birch-coloured coffee tables
- sound studio
- jogging trails
- freestanding two-bedroom house where inmates can host their families during overnight visits. Wow, I suppose they can even call for a baby eczema treatment cream in the middle of the night, courtesy of the Norwegian government of course?
- “kitchen laboratory” where inmates are offered cooking courses.

But probably the best feature of all:
- Guards do not carry guns, and they routinely eat meals and play sports with prisoners, to create a sense of family

The prison received it’s first inmates March 1, 2010 but was officially opened on April 8 by the Norwegian King Harald V.

Source
Time, 10th May 2010

Popularity: unranked [?]

If there’s anything stranger than eateries serving mosquitoes, centipedes or scorpions, it must be a restaurant serving animal genitalia.

The Guolizhuang Restaurant, based in Beijing does so.

Apparently there are 4 franchises in that city itself, and it’s expanding even to the US, to the city of Atlanta, Georgia.

The menu explains why it’s good to eat the private parts of donkeys, dogs and other four-legged mammals, totalling more than 30.

The ox wee-wee cut into star shapes. How cute. Apparently good for male virility.

The following tube used to be attached to a yak, served with a dragon, no less.

Sheep schlangs on a stick.

Donkey wang ready to be devoured.

Apparently the schlongs are usually dipped in soy or hot sauce before being consumed.

For women especially, eating these things is supposed to be good for the skin, the best acne treatment I heard!

Bon apetit!

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As reported by Ben Anderson, BBC Panorama reporter on 6th April 2009.

He spent 3 months in Dubai and wrote:

I no longer think of the seven star Burj Al Arab hotel when I think of Dubai, but of emaciated, wretched men, lining up for buses before the sun has risen, resigned to the fact that their hard day’s work wouldn’t earn them enough to buy a round of coffee here. It works out incredibly well for the developers – they can charge first world fortunes for the dream villas and apartments, but pay third world salaries to the men actually building them.

Dubai: From riches to rags.

… Looks like one better head to Westgate instead …

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My take is The Headington Shark, located in Headington (duh!), Oxford, England and “landed in the roof of 2 New High Street” on 9th August 1986.

The house itself was built in 1960.

A Bill Heine, an American owns the house and commissioned the shark. He explains why the shark is there thus:

The shark was to express someone feeling totally impotent and ripping a hole in their roof out of a sense of impotence and anger and desperation…. It is saying something about CND, nuclear power, Chernobyl and Nagasaki.

Click here to see the shark

Popularity: 1% [?]

Update 14 February 2012

For the 2012 edition, the price has gone down a bit. It’s “only” SGD9,999+ (> RM24,000) per couple this time, as compared to SGD15,000 per couple 3 years back.

Official Program:

Swissôtel The Stamford’s Helipad Soirée:

- 12-course set dinner by Chef Julien Royer with 2 bottles of Dom Pérignon Champagne
- Bouquet of 99 roses
- Jewellery set with diamond necklace, a pair of earrings and bracelet worth $5,300
- One-night’s stay at Executive Club Room
- 120-minute Couple Spa Treatment at Willow Stream Spa
- Limousine transfers to and from the hotel

In the event of bad weather, dinner will be served at an Equinox private dining room located on level 69

——————————–
10 February 2009

For SGD15,000 (around RM37,000 or USD10,000) on 14th February 2009 you and partner will have the most extravagant Valentine’s Dinner ever, never mind the recession.

Limited to 20 couples.

What you get:
- privilege of dining on the helipad of Swissotel at the Stamford, the tallest hotel in Singapore at 73-storeys
- 9 course French dinner with Dom Perignon champagne (cost SGD6,000)
- a SGD9,000 diamond studded Valentino watch

This is a video of what the place looks like:

Click here to see the video

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Mark this place: a hill in Jalan Baru Selayang-Ulu Yam, about 10km from the Batu Dam in Selangor.

Many people have been coming here for years to collect the so-called healing or miracle water, which originates from a natural spring and flows freely from six PVC pipes on the side of the road.

It’s so popular that traffic jams are not uncommon on the stretch of the road near it.

People of various races and faiths say that the water can cure sickness and restore health, with testimonials spreading around like wildfire. Sicknesses being cured include diabetes, backaches, high blood pressure, arthrities and gout.

Someone having a field day:

Photo credit

And apparently it tastes good too, proponents claim that it tastes cooler, fresher and looks crystal clearl; definitely better than normal piped water.

“A person from a laboratory” reportedly did a test and found that the water “contains a lot of minerals”.

Now that it’s been mentioned by the media, the free ride’s days are surely numbered.

Source
The Star, 29 Jan 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

UPDATE 6th May 2009

The Job went to Ben Southall, 34 of Great Britain. The man from Hampshire defeated 34,000 other hopefuls.

Asked why he thought he won, he said:

I have, over the last six to 10 years, done quite a lot of different things. I haven’t stuck at a single career. I’ve been an event manager. I’ve gone out there and organised my own expedition. I’ve raised lots of money for charity. I do a heck of a lot of things involving fitness, in swimming, in running and I think I’ve just got a broad spectrum of things that appealed to the panel of judges.

I really put myself out as the individual that I am. I’ve been honest as much as I can and I think they like the person they came across. I’m extremely happy. I’m extremely thankful they’ve chosen me because I now get a chance to lap up what Queensland and the [Great] Barrier Reef have got to offer over the next six months.

Before this, Southall had worked as a tour guide in South Africa, charity fundrasier. His application video showed images of him riding an ostrich, scuba diving, running a marathon and kissing a giraffe.

There were 16 finalists, who all spent 4 days on the island for the final leg of the selection process, in which they had to:
(i) snorkel
(ii) participate in a barbecue party
(iii) spend time at a spa
(iv) demonstrate their blogging abilities
(v) take swimming tests
(vi) sit through in-person interviews.

He starts work on 1st July 2009, and won’t be alone since he plans to bring his Canadian girlfriend along.

Some scandals to hit the contest since its announcement in January 2009:

(i) many applicants were angry because they could not submit their videos due to the contest website crumbling under the weight of too many visitors.
(ii) The tourism department had to admit that it created a video “application” that showed a woman being tattooed expressing her love of the Great Barrier Reef.
(iii) A finalist was kicked out when it was found out that she had connections to the adult entertainment industry.
(iv) Someone claiming to be Osama bin Laden submitted an application via a video on youtube.

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This has been described as the best job in the world, and it’s open for applications.

Tourism officials in Australia want somebody to work as “caretaker” on Hamilton Island, a tropical island, the largest inhabited island among the Whitsunday Islands, located just off the Queensland Coast, part of the world-famous Great Barrier Reef.

Why is it the best job in the world?

For starters, it’s a beauty, with good weather all year round: blue skies, crystal water and pure sands.

Click here to read more

Popularity: 1% [?]

There were many strange stories in the year 2008, but quite possibly the strangest one has to be the one about Pamela “Pam” Babcock, 35 of Kansas, USA who sat on a toilet bowl for 2 YEARS before being discovered on 27th February 2008.

Now how would one celebrate New Year like that???

That might not be so peculiarly strange in a year full of strange stories and weird people, but consider these:

(i) she sat there for so long that the part of her body touching the seat had developed open sores, causing it to become stuck to the seat. Police had to remove the seat from the toilet with a crow bar so that doctors could surgically remove it from her bottom (no mention of the use of air tools).
(ii) She was found fully dressed, with her tracksuit bottoms pulled down to mid-thigh, suggesting that she was in the middle of “doing her business.”
(iii) her legs seemed to have “atrophied.”
(iv) there was an overpoweringly terrible smell emanating from where she was seated.
(v) the toilet was located at her boyfriend, Kory McFarren’s, 36 mobile home, he was around all the time and she was not confined in any way. So why did he not do anything? He said:

She refused to come out due to her fear about leaving the bathroom because of beatings she received in her childhood. I didn’t do this to her. It was her choice. She is an adult, she made her own decision. It was my fault I should have gotten help for her sooner – I admit that. But after a while, you kind of get used to it.

Kory McFarren

(vi) McFarren claimed that he tried to “coax” her out of the bathroom every day, but her reply would always be:

Maybe tomorrow.

(vii) apparently she’d slept on the toilet bowl and never bathed or cleaned herself, even though her boyfriend claimed that Babcock did move around the bathroom, including bathing and changing into fresh clothes.
(viii) McFarren only called the police when his girlfriend apparently became “groggy.”

The mobile home where it happened

In fact, it could be MORE than 2 years, since he later added he was not sure, and that:

Time just went by so quick I can’t pinpoint how long. It just kind of happened one day; she went in and had been in there a little while, the next time it was a little longer. Then she got it in her head she was going to stay – like it was a safe place for her.

The sheriff summed up the whole thing:

This truly is a case of two people, in my opinion, with diminished mental capacity.

On that note, I’d like to wish my readers a happy and prosperous new year!

Source
The Telegraph (UK), 16th March 2008

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Now for something to look forward to on your next vacation

But…. don’t you think that some of our very own buildings here in Malaysia could make the list, or (gasp) even top the list?

According to virtualtourist.com, the world’s ten ugliest buildings and monuments are as follows:

Boston City Hall; Boston, Massachusetts, for its “dreary facade and incongruity with the rest of the city’s more genteel architecture.”

Maine-Montparnasse Tower; Paris, France; a 210m tall office skyscraper completed in 1972, the tallest skyscraper in France. It’s been called a “blight on the landscape of the world’s most stunning city.” 2 years after it was completed, the construction of skyscrapers in Paris city centre was banned. A running joke is that the view from its top is the most beautiful in Paris, since it’s only from there one cannot see the tower.

Click here to read more

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Or as Avi Avram said, the most alien-looking place on earth, the perfect place to play an “out of this world” prank.

Welcome to Socotra Island, a small 4-island archipelago in the Indian Ocean, with a total area of 3,796 sq km, located around 190 miles south of the Arabian peninsula. It belongs to the Republic of Yemen.

As you can see from the following map, it’s the blob off the Horn of Africa.

It has been geographically isolated from mainland Africa for the last 6 (or perhaps 7) million years.

This island hosts a few hundred species of plants and animals which cannot be found anywhere else on Earth.

Like the following Dragon’s Blood Tree, probably the world’s most alien-looking plant. One can’t help noticing that they look like UFOs:

Then there’s the Desert Rose, which probably is better off being named Elephant Leg Tree:

Click here to see the rest of the post

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It’s a Swiss-made prefabricated construction situated on top of a building in downtown Paris, as part of an art installation. Yes, you the guest is part of the exhibit.

And no matter how much money you’ve got, they’ll only ever allow you to say one night for about USD600.

Breakfast can be delivered, and in direct contrast to other hotels, taking of the golden embroidered bath towels are actually not just allowed, but rather encouraged!

What it looks like from from the outside

Click here to see more pictures

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Not too long ago there was no such thing as Kota Kinabalu – Australia direct flights, let alone affordable flights.

But in a short while things have changed, and the world seems so much smaller now.

There are now direct Kota Kinabalu – Brisbane and Kota Kinabalu – Perth flights, both introduced this year, if I’m not mistaken.

To make it even crazier, AirAsia has recently offered zero fares for the Perth flight, for travel between 2nd November 2008 and 30th April 2009! That is guaranteed to cause one hell of a mad scramble.

I should really plan my trip to see my relative in Perth now which has been sitting on the drawing board for too long already. Homestay accomodation is guaranteed there, no need to check out Perth Hotels. As for the other flight, I’d need to look up Brisbane Hotels. Of course the stay can then be extended to the other must-visit cities Sydney and Melbourne, hence it would make sense to ask around for Sydney Hotels and Melbourne Hotels too.

… now would be a good time for me to complement my Swiss Army knives with one of those Swiss Army luggage.

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It is the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in New York.

Since 1931, it’s an annual tradition and lighted late November at the earliest, with the lighting broadcast on TV in the US.

It’s even more famous than the US’ own National Christmas Tree.

It’s not the same tree every year as they’d switch off the lights a the week after New Year’s Day, then remove & recycle the tree for other purposes.

Tree specs:
- Type: usually Norway spruce.
- Height: 23m – 27m.
- Number of lights: 30,000
- Length of wiring: 8km
- Size of star at the top: 3 m in diameter & weighs almost 250kg.

Source
Wikipedia
Bayou Graphics Studio

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Yahoo! News reported on 5th December 2007 that there’s an X-rated exhibit on libido opening this week at the Francois Mitterrand National Library in Paris.

The exhibit runs until 2nd March 2008, and understandably, it’s only open to those 16 years and older.

Called “L’Enfer de la Bibliotheque, Eros au secret” (Hell at the Library, Eros in Secret) it has 350 pieces of material, including:

- libertine literature
- pornography, including an 1830s pop-up, where lifting a paper door reveals a man showing his private parts to a blushing young woman. The caption reads: “This, Mademoiselle, is how you can sum up the history of France.”
- Japanese prints
- photographs
- audio recordings of persons reading once-censored poems.
- dozens of banned books, including a manuscript by the Marquis de Sade
- political pamphlets, including:
(i) an anti-royal one which shows Marie Antoinette, the 18th century queen of France, lifting her skirt in “undignified poses.”
(ii) an anti-clerical 1790 one containing a list of priests caught dallying with prostitutes, complete with the ladies’ names and addresses, plus sordid details of what kind of things the priests liked to do with them.

Actually the section has been in existence for about 170 years but was kept secret and locked away. Librarians would hide documents from the library’s collection that they thought “dangerous for public morality.” Apparently it was not simply destroyed because the collection is “sometimes very precious for book-lovers and have a great monetary value,” as the then library director, Joseph Naudet described it in 1849.

It was dubbed L’Enfer (Hell) and has its own classification category.

Source
Yahoo News, 5th Dec 2007
CBSnews.com
The France National Library’s page on the exhibit

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According to Forbes Traveler, it is located on the island of St. Lucia, an island nation in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean.

The resort is called Jade Mountain Resort, located on top of a volcanic bay and officially opened December 2006.

From the rooms, you can see the Pitons, St. Lucia’s most famous landmarks. The Pitons are two volcanic mountains within a World Heritage Site. The Gros Piton is 770 m, and the Petit Piton is 743 m high; they are linked by the Piton Mitan ridge.

Note that there is no door or wall from the bed to the balcony.

This is the view from the balcony (well, the entire room is actually a long, covered balcony). In fact, there are no sliding doors, screens, or French windows at all:

There is an infinity pool in every room, and they are not small: up to 900 square feet! Lined with iridescent glass tiles. They fill nearly half the suite and at night they change colour.

Specs
- 24 suites
- infinity pools are located 16 stories above ocean
- designed by Nick Troubetzkoy, a Russian Canadian architect
- rates start at USD950 per night, topping out at USD1,470 per night
- no TV, phones or electric communication: no internet
- totally open air layout, even toilet and shower are exposed. In fact, even insects and birds can fly in and out!
- going to the beach entails quite a long and tedious walk

Not surprisingly, despite the steep price, it’s full booked for the rest of this year.

The resort management claims that the current client record for not stepping out the door—not even once—is five days.

Apparently, this is what those who have been there said:

The reviews from most of the travel glossies to date have been almost embarrassingly breathless. Online comments from recent patrons feature a more nuanced range of opinions—some near incoherent with praise, others more measured, especially considering the prices involved.

Source
Forbestraveler.com

… Now fire up your Garmin GPS and track the place down!

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The usual urinals have us staring at walls, so what could be a better way to perk up the experience than to replace concrete with glass and have them on top of highrises?

Source
techchee.com and lackcolor.com

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South Korea’s Love Land is a theme park located on the northern part of Cheju (also known as Jeju) Island, an island off the south coast. It’s full of statues, photographs and sculptures of the sexual nature.

On the way to the park, the traffic signs are already suggestive:

When you first enter the park, you will be greeted with this statue:

(more…)

Popularity: 6% [?]

9 Sept 2011

Then there’s the waterfalls at Plitvice Lakes National Park in the Lika region of Croatia, of which the tallest is Veliki Slap at 70m. The park was given world heritage status in 1979.

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1 March 2007

Beauty is a subjective matter, but your truly believes that the world’s most beautiful waterfall is the Iguazu Falls, located on the border between Argentina and Brazil. It’s so spectacular that it was featured in the James Bond film Moonraker (1979) and that the then US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly said “Poor Niagara!” when she first saw it.

Further on the Niagara connection, it is much larger than the Niagara Falls. It’s only worthy contender as the world’s most beautiful and spectacular waterfall is Victoria Falls in Africa. However I think Iguazu clinches the title because it is wider and and has 270 separate falls. Having said that, Victoria has the world’s biggest interrupted water curtain: it has about the same length as the Iguazu’s total and more than 90 metres tall. The Iguazu is 82m at its tallest.

The most impressive part of the falls is the Garganta del Diablo, also known as The Devil’s Throat (pictured below),a U-shaped, 150m wide and 700m long cliff.

A video

Iguazu probably offers better views to its visitors than any other falls. At one point a person can be surrounded by 260 degrees of waterfalls, whereas at Victoria you can’t face the the water head-on due to the chasm it falls into.

Viewing platform

Victoria has water pouring into it from one side, but at the Iguazu it is from THREE sides.

source

Note: all photos off wikipedia.org

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Everybody knows about Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon. But considerably less knew about the last person ever to have set foot on the moon, Eugene Cernan. (more…)

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L’Arbre du Tenere (The tree of Tenere) was once the most isolated tree on earth – no other tree can be found within a 400 kilometre radius. (more…)

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As is commonly known, a site has to demonstrate such lofty ideals as “outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of mankind” to qualify for UNESCO’s hallowed list. That list includes such luminaries as The Persepolis, Memphis and its Necropolis, the Historic centre of St Petersburg and last but not least, Malaysia’s very own Kinabalu Park.

However, possibly no other World Heritage Site is as interesting as the Khajuraho group of monuments, in northern India. (more…)

Popularity: 15% [?]

Ananova.com reports on 15 January 2007 that men from all over Europe, or more specifically bar owners, shopkeepers and shoppers are going to Bulgaria in droves to buy Boza beer, the so-called “breast-boosting beer.” No, not their own breasts, but rather their female partner’s. (more…)

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It will take something special to beat the official Federal Government Highway from Moscow to Yakutsk, in Siberia, Russia. Worse, it’s the only available road to get there, which could mean waiting for a week in 100 km-long traffic jams. Apparently, women even gave birth there while waiting.

This road has all the qualities that makes for a major humanitarian disaster during the rainy season, when the the road turns into an impassable mud blanket, swallowing everything, no matter how big it is. In the meantime the city has to partly airlift food products. (more…)

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New York-based nonprofit group the Blacksmith Institute have compiled a list of the world’s worst polluted places, in no particular order: (more…)

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The North and South Yungas Roads in Bolivia make the road to my village look like a three lane highway.

This is a must-watch video about the road on the BBC’s Top Gear programme:

Starting high in the rarefied air of the Bolivian Andes, the steep and bumpy La Paz to Coroico road plunges down almost 3,600 meters on its spectacular 64-km path to the lush, sub-tropical Yungas and the sleepy town of Coroico. The narrow – occasionally very narrow – track hugs the walls of the sheer valley as it snakes its way beneath waterfalls and rocky overhangs. A fatal accident every fortnight is not uncommon on the Coroico road. In 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank dubbed the La Paz-to-Coroico route “the world’s most dangerous road.”

It was built in the 1930s by prisoners of war.

Other scary facts:

• the road includes Christian crosses marking many of the spots where vehicles have fallen
• single-lane width
• no guardrails
• rain and fog can make visibility precarious, the road surface muddy, and loosen rocks from the hillsides above

However, it would seem that this road will not last much longer. A much safter alternative road connecting La Paz to Coroico is nearing completion.

As usual, adrenaline junkies have turned the road into a popular tourist destination starting in the 1990s. Apparently mountain bikers like to zoom down the hills for their thrill fill.

source

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Only one of the original (read: ancient) Seven Wonders of the World is still standing, which is the Great Pyramid of Giza in Cairo, Egypt.

Now, a non-profit Swiss foundation called New7Wonders which specializes in the “preservation, restoration and promotion of monuments” have suggested making a new list for the modern version of the Seven Wonders. (more…)

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A list of the 10 strangest monuments can be found at archibase.net. My pick is this one that apparently can be found at Melbourne, Australia.

The statue is of Charles La Trobe, Victoria state’s (in which Melbourne is located) first lieutenant-governor.

It was done by Melbourne sculptor Charles Robb.

He said he did it that way because “it embodies the notion that universities should turn ideas on their heads.”

source

Tags: monuments, statues, australia, melbourne

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Burning Man is an annual event held at Black Rock Desert, Nevada.

It lasts about a week.

In 2005, about 35,000 people attended!

And what it is exactly is difficult to explain.

It’s like all these thousands of people converge in the middle of the desert, create a temporary city and do all sorts of fun things. After it’s over, they go back to their lives, leaving no trace of them ever being there.

It culminates in the burning of an effigy of a man:

Sounds like something I’ve got to add to my list of things to do before I die.

There are many pics of this event around the Net, but this one I found the best, because it looks at it from the point of view of a Burning Man “virgin”:

http://www.jeremedia.com/photos/bm/

Tags: burning man, effigy, strange events, social events

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Tech entrepreneur Mrs Ansari, 40 became the 4th space tourist, and the first woman, and of course the first Iranian.

Like the previous 3, she reportedly paid USD20 million (16 million euros) for the privilege.

But what interested me more was her life story which is truly inspiring:

She arrived in the US at age 18 totally unable to speak English.

But she proved to be a wizard at electrical and electronics engineering, and went on to earn her Master’s.

And she proved to be an even bigger wizard at being a techpreneur: founded a company making software for switching signals on phone networks. Knowledge gained at first and postgrad degress put to good use. I guess that would be good enough for a PhD, if she went for it.

But she reserved her best for last: selling her company for more than USD500 million at the height of the dot com boom just before the bubble burst.

So I think it’s safe to say she can afford to go up there.

Her quote is worth putting up: “People think they reach the height of their life at age 40. I’m hoping this is just the beginning of another hill that I will be climbing.”

source

Tags: anousheh ansari, ansari, space tourist

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In early August 2006, The Yorkshire Post (UK) reported that a former railway signal box is hoping to be recognised as the world’s smallest pub.

The 2,4m (8 ft) by 2,4m (8ft) Signal Box Inn at Cleethorpes has four stools and standing room for another two customers.

It boasts five hand pumps serving real ale and has a a fairly large beer garden.

Landlord Andrew MoCall, 35, has submitted his 64 sq ft local for a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

The title is currently held in the US by Sam’s Bar in Colorado Springs at 109 square feet.

Andrew says: “We’re so small some drinks companies won’t fit equipment for us because they think we won’t do enough trade. But business is booming.”

And Andrew thinks that the next logical thing to do now is to find the world’s smallest cellarman to work for him.

Update: but someone mentioned Café de Groot, on the Rodeweg 5, Groningen, Holland. It like 2,5 by 1,5m (even smaller).

source

Tags: smallest pub, cleethorpes, cafe de groot, pubs

Popularity: 3% [?]

Without question, it is the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco. The distance between the two towers is more than 1km.

I don’t think its creator, Joseph Strauss ever wanted this “honour.”

Since its opening on 27th May 1937, there has been about 1,300 deaths.

That’s about 19 in a year, or almost two a month.

The most popular year was in 1977 where 40 people jumped. That’s almost one every week.

Some macabre trivia:

• if you jump off the middle of the bridge, which is about 250 feet above, it would take you 4 seconds to hit the water at 120km/h. That is like being hit by a speeding truck. Of course that means almost certain death. In fact, 98% of jumpers die.
• the guard rail is only 4 feet high. No wonder anybody could do it. Barriers were not put up due to a myriad of reasons, including of course cost and the argument that “if you put up barriers, people will simply go elsewhere to die” . Let me put it this way, even the feasibility study proposed in 2005 alone costs USD2 million. Just a study!
• men outnumber the women 3 to 1.
• most are locals – that means it’s not true that people fly here from the woeld over just to kill themselves.
• youngest to die: 14
• oldest to die: 85
• average age: 41
• most don’t leave suicide notes, but for those who did, some are downright silly, like this one: “nothing wrong, only a toothache.”
• Cause of death is either “extensive internal injuries” or “drowned in their own blood.”
• there have only been around 26 survivors. All hit the water feet first and suffered broken legs and internal injuries. Ouch.
• most of the jumpers are men wearing suits.
• many jumpers *do* want to be dissuaded from jumping. In one case, a police officer told one would-be jumper: “if you jump, I will shoot you.” He did not jump.
• the most popular spot on the bridge to jump from is at lamppost no 69. There are a total of 128 lampposts.
• most people jumped facing the city rather than the ocean. “Attention whores to the last” some people would say.
• there are also many fake suicides, like Chris C, who turned up a year later in Houston selling bibles.
• the first to die jumped less than 3 months after the bridge’s inauguration. His name is Harold Wobber, WWI vet. He turned to a stranger on the walkway, said “this is as far as I go” – then took his last step
• the only person to have jumped twice off the bridge is Sarah Rutledge Birnbaum in 1988. She survived the first jump, did not give up, and was “successful” on the second.
• The most famous person to have jumped off is Roy Raymond, Victoria’s Secret clothing chain (most famous for its lingerie) founder. He founded the company in the 70s but killed himself in 1993 after “failing to start new businesses.”
• The most misguided person was the one who jumped because he did not make it to Columbia Law School, only Stanford.
• The dumbest person is Charles G Jr, who jumped 4 days after his father did because “I wanted to keep dad company.”
• The 500th person to jump left a suicide note: “do not notify my mother. She has a heart condition.” But there was no need to tell her – she saw it on the evening news. The 500th suicide had been greatly anticipated. It was like everybody wanted to be the 500th to die. One person even had written the number 500 on his t-shirt. Sheesh. That is like writing “first post” in a blog’s comment section.

The official count stopped in June 1995 as the official number of suicides touched 997. Probably the authorities wanted to stop speculation as to who would be the 1,000th victim. That did not stop Eric Atkinson, 20 to be that person less than a month later.

Hence, it is safe to say that this sign do not make that much of an impact.

This young man was persuaded by a California Highway Patrol officer from taking his own life in early 2005:

Sources:

• sfgate.com
• wikipedia
• everything2.com

Tags: golden gate bridge, suicide

Popularity: 4% [?]

The Icelandic Phallological Museum in Husavik, Iceland so far has more than 150 penes of land and sea mammals, including those of whales, bears, seals, walruses and others.

The founder, Sigurdur Hjartarson’s first penis (belonging to a bull) was collected in the 1940s.

Unfortunately, none of humans, although a few people have pledged their member, presumably posthumously.

source

Tags: world’s only penis museum, penis, museum, icelandic phallological museum, iceland, sigurdur hjartarson, hjartarson, phallology, phallologist

Popularity: 1% [?]

As of this year (2006), 44 years.

The town of Centralia, Pennsylvania, US has been on fire since 1962.

Not that its buildings are permanently on fire, but rather an underground coal mine fire has been going on underneath the city all these years.

It could also be the world’s least populated town, with only 11 residents.

source

Tags: centralia, pennsylvania, mine fires, underground fires, coal fires

Popularity: 2% [?]

The Cardrona Bra Fence, New Zealand, where at its peak, hundreds of brassieres can be seen.

According to wikipedia.org:

The Bra Fence began during the Christmas holidays of 1999, when four women’s bras were attached to a wire fence alongside the road, possibly by revellers on their way home from the nearby Cardrona Hotel. News spread of the addition, which was left on the fence by the local landowners, and more bras began to appear. By the end of February there were some 60 bras, but at about this time they were all removed anonymously. This was reported in the local press, and the story gained widespread dissemination through the New Zealand media, leading to more bras appearing.

As of early 2006, the number of bras attached to the fence stood at close to 800.

Sadly, in April 2006, the local Council ordered the bras on the fence to be removed, as it is on council property.

source

Tags: world’s most controversial tourist attraction, cradorna bra fence, bra fence, new zealand

Popularity: 2% [?]

Updated 4 December 2011

Effin, a place in Ireland’s County Limerick is deemed an offensive name by Facebook, which has refused to recognise it as a location.

———————-
27 August 2006

Fucking is a small town in Austria.

Imagine a tourist from that place coming to Malaysia, and the following conversation could transpire:

• Malaysian: hello, where do you come from?
• Austrian: hello, I come from Fucking, Austria.
• Malaysian: [startled, gains composure] You sound like you are not so fond of your country.
• Austrian: I don’t know what you’re talking about, I love my country very much.
• Malaysian: [even more bewildered] Then why are you talking like that?
• Austria: Talking like what? All Austrians like Fucking very much.
• Malaysian: [red faced now] We like Fucking too, but we don’t talk about it openly.
• Austria: What, you mean you’ve been there?
• Malaysian: Of course, most of us have done it, but we’d rather keep quiet about it.
• Austria: [his turn to be amazed] But I don’t think Malaysians like Fucking. It’s too cold for tropical people like you.
• Malaysian: I’m sorry? I thought Fucking’s the same for everybody – it won’t feel cold at all, unless you’re a necrophiliac.
• Austria: Malaysians are very strange people.

Also, it possibly holds the record for the most stolen place name in the world, and of course a most popular object to take your photo with.

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What makes it even more interesting is, apparently there is *another* sign next to it, in Austrian/German language of course, which translates to: “please – not so fast”. That sign actually exhorts drivers to slow down due to the presence of a school across the road.

Other interesting place names:

• Climax, Minniesota, USA:

• Dildo, Newfoundland, Canada:

On another note, I think most of us have seen this road name, supposedly taken somewhere in KL, but can anyone confirm whether it’s real or fake? If authentic, it surely is Malaysia’s most interesting place/road name.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Well, to me this is a tie between Moscow and Stockholm.

If you’re into adjectives like timeless, ornate and grand, it has got to be Moscow.

If you’re into more progressive stuff, it has got to be Stockholm.

Tags: subways, metro, Stockholm, Moscow

Popularity: 1% [?]

Many mentions in the web already, but from this comments from a visitor you’d know that at least we’re better off:

On the net I had found that the entry fee was 7 Egyptian Pounds. However when I got there they said it was 13 Pounds. I went back to the car as or whole group was going to go in, but when we got back to the pay window it was now 30 Pounds each….when I paid my 30 pounds I was actually given 3 tickets with 10 pounds written on them!

Pics

Tags: world’s+worst+theme+park, fantazyland, theme+parks

Popularity: 2% [?]

I stumbled on this blog entry by an affluent Filipino tourist (from Manila) to Sabah. I say affluent because they can afford ot stay at swanky resorts (Magellan Sutera) and eat at expensive restaurants (Ocean Seafood Restaurant). He/she came here in May 2005, so this entry’s a year too late, but still it’s a good opportunity to find out the impression we’re creating. I could recall 2 points made by them:

• shopping experience is similar to Manila [hence, we need to offer things which are unique to Sabah]
• it’s easy to navigate around [this is a good point which we must strive to keep up]

Tags: travel, sabah, tourism, Philippines

Popularity: 8% [?]

Popularity: 1% [?]

From Bruneian Nonnie’s blog i got to know that Jerudong Park Theme Park (of course in Brunei) is doing badly, business wise. It seems that Bruneians just couldnt take it that now the rides are not free anymore, and simply refused to come.But is more interesting to me is now I know the cost of those rides. That gave me the idea to set up my own Neverland Here are some examples of the things on sale, more available from the official Jerudong Park and Country Club website.Now I know that to get the circular fella here (more commonly known as a Ferris Wheel), which is 11 years old and in perfect working order, will cost me at least USD160,000. And it’s a bidding system – hence the price could go up higher. Damn, there goes my dream of setting up my own mobile theme park.

And now I know that kiddie stuff like this, made in 1994, and in need of a little bit of refurbishing would set me back USD210,000!

And this so-so looking, 9 yr old, in perfect working order rollercoaster costs USD1.2 million. Yikes!

 

 

Technorati Tags : brunei, theme, parks

Popularity: 3% [?]

I was prompted to write about this when I got this email with subject: “malu kita… orang putih pula yang mula2 nampak tragedy in sipadan.. the barge that destroyed our legendary coral reef… haiya..!!” [Shame on us, it was them foreigners (caucasians) who first saw the Sipadan [dropoff point] tragedy, the barge that destroyed our legendary coral reef..[expresion of disgust]]

Yes, we malu (ashamed) but it’s hardly surprising that orang putih (caucasian foreigners) got to know the facts first.

Wasn’it it an “orang putih” who:
- first climbed mount kinabalu in 1851?
- first descended successfully down low’s gully?
- first hang-glided down from the top of mount kinabalu in 1984? (more…)

Popularity: 1% [?]

Eminent Sabahan photographer Louis pang said this is his best shot of Mount Kinabalu for 2006. I know I havent seen as many Mount K photos as him, but to me this is not even the best for 2006, it’s probably the best shot of the mountain ever taken. (more…)

Popularity: 1% [?]

The Tidong people in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia has surely one of the strangest marriage customs in the world. (more…)

Popularity: 2% [?]

Probably the worst city to live in the US is Benton Harbor, Michigan.

Still, it does not stop the city website to say:

Welcome to our great city! Benton Harbor is located in Southwest Michigan, along the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan. Our community is one of growth, prosperity and diversity.

The City of Benton Harbor offers distinct advantages to the citizens and business owners within the community. Both, residents and business owners are aware of the positive change within our community for economic growth and development.

Come and see why Benton Harbor is a great place to live, work, and visit.

Population is about 12,000 (92% blacks).

Out of the 3,767 households there:
- 42.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them
- Only 20.8% were married couples living together
- 42.0% had a “female householder with no husband present”
- 32.1% were non-families.
- about 40% of families and 42.6% of the population were below the poverty line.

There have been years of poverty, violence, high employment (25%) and the highest murder rate per capita in the whole country.

There have been 2 major riots in the city’s history, in 1966 and 2003 and lesser riots in 1960, 1967 and 1990.

In 2003, about 200 houses were set on fire. The riots were generally interpreted as signs of frustration from the majority of its population: black youth.

In stark contrast, across the river there’s the town of St Joseph with a population of 8,800 (90% whites). It has only 2% unemployment and more than double Benton Harbor’s household income.

Source
Wikipedia

Popularity: 1% [?]