WorldFriends Blog

Strange facts about South East Asia:

1. Angkor Wat, in Cambodia, is the largest religious temple in the world. It is estimated it took 30 years to build!

2. When visiting Angkor, in Cambodia, you can ride an elephant from the South Gate of Angkor Thom to Bayon temple.
3. A golden urn, containing the remains of Buddha, is housed in a stupa (shrine), located on a hilltop in Oudong, 30 miles north of the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
4. Though Vietnam is 1,650 kilometers (1,031 miles) from north to south, the country’s most narrow point, traveling east to west, is only 50 kilometers (31 miles) across.
5. Vietnam is the second largest exporter of coffee in the world. Only Brazil exports more coffee, by volume, than Vietnam. Most of Vietnam’s coffee is exported to the U.S.

6. In Thailand barbers are usually closed on Wednesday because Thais think it will bring bad luck to cut their hair that day of the week.
7. All Thai men are expected to be a monk for a short period sometime in their life. Traditionally it was 3 months but today the time is reduced to a week or two.

8. Some people in Malaysia wash their babies in beer to protect them from diseases.
9. Indonesia is the world’s biggest archipelago with over 17,000 islands.
10. There is a saying in Thailand that you don’t have to worry about falling coconuts because coconuts have eyes. Since more people get killed by falling coconuts than sharks each year, they obviously don’t worry about sharks either!

[Source: gapwork]

Are you familiar with food from every part of the world? The type of food people eat gives us plenty of insight into the culture and livelihood of that particular place. Whether the food that community indulges in contains spices, chili, herbs, vegetables, fruits, etc. give us a big clue to the taste preferences of the people, and some may even say the temperaments of the people.

Let’s see what are some foods people around the world eat.

bobotie
(South African) This popular meal is made of minced lamb or beef; bread, rice or potatoes, onions, and spices. The ingredients are mixed with egg and milk and baked.

cassoulet
(French) This casserole, which means “white bean stew,” is made of white beans, sausage, bacon, tomatoes, carrots, herbs, and other vegetables simmered and is simmered and baked.

dim sum
(Chinese) This meal is usually eaten as breakfast or lunch at a restaurant. Waiters push around trays loaded with noodles, dumplings, vegetables, and meat. Diners are served bite-sized portions in small bamboo cups.

enchilada
(Mexican) In this rich dish, a soft corn tortilla is stuffed with shredded cheese, onions, chilies, and sometimes meat. It’s either broiled or fried and topped with salsa and cheese.

feijoada
(Brazil) This is one of the most popular dishes in Brazil. It’s a stew of black beans, pork, and spices. Pigs’ feet and ears are sometimes included in the mix.

moussaka
(Greek) Considered Greece’s signature dish, this casserole is made of lamb, eggplant, tomatoes, and spices.

pad thai
(Thai) This Thai staple features rice noodles stir-fried with peanuts, oil, vegetables, and usually tofu, chicken, or fish

risotto
(Italian) This creamy, starchy rice dish is made by gradually adding boiling liquid, usually broth, to Arborio rice and sautéed onions. It’s cooked al dente (firm to the bite). Vegetables and seafood are often added during the cooking process.

samosas
(Indian) These snacks are made of meat, potatoes, vegetables, and spices stuffed inside pastry dough and fried in oil.

sushi
(Japanese) This popular meal typically includes cooked rice that is either topped with raw or cooked fish or rolled into small, bite-size pieces with fish and vegetables and wrapped in thin sheets of seaweed. It’s usually served in with slivered ginger and wasabi, a spicy plant in the mustard family.

suya
(Nigerian) This spicy dish is made of cubed chicken or beef marinated in ground peanuts, hot pepper, garlic, ginger, and other spices and grilled on skewers.

[Source: Fact Monster]

Interested to know what people around the world eat? Share with everyone what you eat, no matter where you come from! Join the “Food Around the World” group on WorldFriends!

The global village is here, and is here to stay. Possibly forever. Although recent census figures show that our communities are more culturally and ethnically diverse than ever before, yet many of us still find it challenging to build relationships with people from backgrounds different from our own. How do we befriend someone from a different country? How do we go about getting to know an international student or a new coworker who hails from a different country? Why are our words and/or actions often misinterpreted? Are there ways we can get along better with people from different cultural backgrounds, be it for friendship or professional needs?

Get out of your comfort zone

The only way we can make friends with people from different cultural backgrounds is if we’re willing to come out of our comfort zones and not be afraid to reach out.

Willingness to learn

Are you genuinely interested in your new friend’s culture? If so, express your willingness to learn various things about their culture. It can be anything from the food they eat, how to exchange greetings, their traditions, religion,and even trying their culture’s cuisine. Let your new friend feel welcome and know that you’re open to new knowledge and experiences.

Patience

Sometimes we may not be speaking in our native tongue when with people of a different nationality, or they are not very fluent in your native tongue. It is thus extremely important to be patient for both you and your new friend to understand what each other are saying. This can be very interesting and may even lead to an adventure of its own!

Understanding

Everyone has their own way of doing things, even amongst people from the same culture. Opinions vary even wider across people from different cultural backgrounds. The way we grew up, the values inculcated in us since we were young all have a strong influence on our perspectives, so respect these differences and even embrace such diversity.

Be inclusive

Be friendly, call your new friend, include them and invite them to meals, events, and activities. Also make sure they are included in conversations and discussions.

Your friend would also be most interested in your cultural background, so be sure to share all the quirky bits of your culture! Introduce them to your traditions and eating habits, be an ambassador of your own culture or country even. Discovering each other’s cultural habits is going to be very interesting indeed. Be sure to keep an open mind!

Montreal, Canada

Montreal is an island in the middle of the Saint Lawrence River, accessible only by bridge. Not all bridges are bike accessible, however, several are including the breathtaking Jacques Cartier bridge. Prominent bike lanes exist throughout the city, most notably along the Lachine Canal, Rue Rachel and most recently along de Maisonneuve Blvd.

Bogota, Colombia

Bogotá has Latin America’s largest network of bicycle routes, called ‘Ciclorutas.’ On Sunday’s and public holidays, many main and secondary roads are closed to cars for the Ciclovia from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., a special feature of Bogotá, where people can run, bicycle, inline skate or just watch from the side. There are refreshment stands along the way and most parks host some type of event such as yoga, dancing, stretching, spinning, etc. Renting a bike or going for a guided tour on Bogota’s Ciclorutas or participating in the Ciclovia are fun and healthy ways to get to know the city, and to get closer to the people.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Fifty percent of people in Amsterdam ride a bike at least once a day. A pleasant way to cover a lot of ground is to rent a bicycle. There are approximately 750,000 people living in Amsterdam and they own about 600,000 bicycles. The city is very, very bike-friendly, and there are separate bike lanes on most major streets

Portland, United Sates

Portland is an excellent city for cycling. It has been rated by Bicycling Magazine as the best city in the U.S. for cycling. It has a network of streets designed to be predominantly used by bicyclists.

Sadnes, Norway

The bicycle seat is a one of the best ways to experience the landscapes of Norway. The sport is becoming increasingly popular in Norway, especially since the success of Norwegian cyclists like Thor Hushovd. As a result, Norwegians generally have a very positive attitude to bicycle tourists, so you’ll have a lot of small talk. Norwegians themselves prefer to ride on nice or even expensive bicycles: in most cities good bicycle shops can be found.

San Francisco

If you have strong legs and can tolerate traffic with intermittent bike lanes, bicycles can be a convenient form of transportation in San Francisco. The city is fairly small — about 7 miles on each side (11 km).

Golden Gate Bridge has sectioned off pathways on each side for pedestrians. If you choose to rent a bicycle and ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, be aware that bikes ride on the west (ocean) side of the bridge and walkers stay on the east, more crowded side of the bridge. It is a pet peeve of many locals to have to dodge bicycles while jogging or strolling.

Copenhagen, Denmark

The fastest and most flexible way of seeing Copenhagen is on a bike. Forty percent of Copenhageners use their bike everyday and the city has been designed to cater for cyclists with separate bicycle lanes on most larger roads.

Barcelona, Spain

You can rent a bike or do a tour. Big selection of city bikes, mountain bikes, hybrid bikes, road bikes and children bikes in different sizes. Great routes.

[Source: GotSaga]

Nicholas Paine, and some of us from the WorldFriends team

We had the pleasure of having Nicholas Paine, Board Executive Chairman of Meta4 Group visit our Shanghai office last week.

On Monday evening, we had a good Happy Hour session with Nick as we chatted with him. He spoke of how the consumer Internet industry is a rapidly changing one, requiring all of us to keep up. He also joked about returning all our teachers’ and parents’ teachings, as we most probably have to reinvent many of those theories to stay relevant in the fast-moving industry. Having been both an investor and entrepreneur, Nick shared how he loves building things and dealing with organizational structure. His beginnings with the Internet industry started way back in 1987, when trying to get the bank to even understand consumer Internet was a pretty daunting task.

Nick was the co-founder of Lavalife, and worked with his multicultural co-founders — a WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) (Nick himself), a Jamaican, an American born Chinese, and a Lebanese. No wonder he has so much passion for the international community at WorldFriends!

See you again soon, Nick!

Restaurants not only have to upkeep the quality of their food, but also the decor and overall ambiance that invaluably add to the customer experience when they dine in. Some establishments focus on the details of every decorative piece, the music, the lighting, and the cutlery, while others have strong themes or concepts that may be interesting or controversial enough to build a following. Here are 5 must-visit restaurants for travelers who step foot in these cities.

The Clinic, Singapore

Do you reminisce the time when you were in hospital so much so that you’d like to relive the experience? You can do so in Singapore! The Clinic is a one-of-a-kind hospital-themed restaurant (just the furniture and design, rest assured they don’t serve hospital food. But if that’s up your alley perhaps they can acquiesce). Dining in a wheelchair with surgical ward lights shining on you may douse your appetite, though!

http://www.theclinic.sg/

SubCulture Dining, San Francisco

Only for the exclusive, you must be known by the primaries or sponsored by a primary as an invited guest for consideration of membership and admission, which is the requirement for membership to the SCD. The SCD is a private club, a Communal Dining experience developed at an assortment of unique, intimate environments. All unknown guests are on a probation period until approved by the Dissident Chef.

http://www.thescdsf.com/

’s Baggers, Nuremberg, Germany

’s Baggers is the world’s first restaurant to feature fully automated ordering and table service. Gone are the days of the waiter! In the waiter’s place, each table has been connected by metal rails to the kitchen, thereby making service crew redundant. Dishes like “organic beef in buttermilk” and “sausage en croute” glide along the rails to customers, propelled by gravity. A pretty brilliant concept, especially for someone inexperienced in the business of dining.

http://www.sbaggers.de/

Modern Toilet Restaurant, Taipei

A generation of toilet-themed restaurants seems to have arrived since this Modern Toilet Restaurant in Taipei. In the beginning, they mainly sold ice cream — a big pile of chocolate ice cream resembling you-kn0w-what sold in containers that shaped like a squat toilet. Now, there’s more variety and better service. Try for yourself if this toilet-themed restaurant will induce your appetite!

http://www.moderntoilet.com.tw/

The Supperclub, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Singapore

The supper club has comfy beds, an upstairs level, cool purple, red lights, and performers! ‘Nuff said.

http://www.supperclub.com/

We’ve all gone somewhere, near or far, and realized too late that we forgot to bring with us something important. It could be our passport, our air tickets, wallet, medication, extra cash in foreign currency, a flashlight, phone charger, etc. Travel plans, safety, or convenience would then be sacrificed due to our carelessness or forgetfulness. Not to fret, as there’s an easy way to rectify this common folly.

Today, create a list of must-have items you need with you when you travel. Keep updating this list with things you think of from time to time, and even compare this list with others as you may have overlooked something you should have on it. Use this list while packing for your next trip and you’ll see how this simple piece of paper will help you with your packing by leaps and bounds.

We’ve compiled a list of essential items we can think of, but everybody’s list should naturally be tailored to themselves according to their own needs.

Travel Necessities

1. Passport and/or visa
2. Cell phone with roaming subscribed, or destination country SIM card
3. Credit cards
4. Travel tickets
5. Language translation book, if necessary
6. Insurance records
7. Accommodation information
8. Cash
9. Medication for air or sea sickness; painkillers; antacids; allergy medication

Clothing

1. Formal or casual wear, as required
2. Jacket
3. Undergarments
4. Jewelry
5. Shoes or slippers, as required
6. Swimsuits, if necessary
7. Sleepwear

Toiletries

1. Toothbrush & toothpaste
2. Hairbrush
3. Deodorant
4. Shaving cream & razor
5. Feminine items
6. Sunscreen
7. Nail clippers
8. Cosmetics, as required

Electronic items

1. Laptop, if necessary
2. Camera
3. Chargers, including laptop, camera, cell phone
4. Memory cards, as required

Miscellaneous

1. Flashlight
2. Insect Repellent
3. Locks (and keys!) for your luggage

Tell us, what else do you never leave for your travel without?

Lights Down Low: In Shanghai from Lights Down Low on Vimeo.

There are travel videos, and then there are great travel videos.

Shanghai, the economic hub in Mainland China, is receiving plenty of media attention this year, as the bustling city is hosting the World Expo 2010.

We found a wonderful depiction of life in Shanghai through the above video by Patrick Biesemans. The video feels somewhat fleeting, but perhaps this is the very experience one feels in the city of Shanghai. Enjoy, and let us know about the great travel videos you like!

Is there a best time for travel? When do you think it is? Summer? Or when there are price slashes?

Anytime is probably a good time to travel, but here’s 10 possible push/pull factors to get you packing:

1) Taking a break from your current job

2) Taking an extended break from any form of work in general

3) Plane ticket promotions

4) Just ended a relationship

5) Just graduated

6) You miss [insert friend's name who's residing overseas] and want to spend time with him/her

7) Your friend abroad is getting married

8) You need to get that [insert gadget/clothing/bag] from [whichever city] that sells it way cheaper than where you are now

9) You miss the food or you’ve been dying to try the food in [insert place]

10) It’s been a while since you traveled!

Share with us, when YOU think a good time to travel is!

Maggie Q, or actually Margaret Denise Quigley, is a world-renowned actress who initially gained fame in Hong Kong. Many might mistake her as having Chinese heritage, but Maggie Q was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to an American father of Polish, French Canadian and Irish  descent, and a Vietnamese mother. Very interesting heritage, indeed!

Maggie Q began acting in Hong Kong and elsewhere in East Asia. Many of her film appearances are in English or dubbed in Mandarin because of her non-Chinese background. She has, however, stated that she took Mandarin and Cantonese lessons during her career in East Asia and is able to speak both languages to varying degrees. That must have taken quite some effort, and it has certainly pulled through to her international fame she has gained today.