Etihad thinks they are ready for the big time

by Josh Lew on

A few years ago, Etihad Airways was an upstart. Sure, it has grown at least 40% each year since its 2003 birth, but that trend can’t be sustained with the economy the way it is now. Right?

The Abu Dhabi-based carrier is adding destinations to its roster rapidly. New routes include Beijing, China and Melbourne, Australia. In the US, it is only possible to catch an Etihad flight out of JFK. But, that may soon be about to change. Etihad has signed two major deals this year, one is a 45-plane order with Boeing and the other a mammoth 51-plane order with Airbus. These will mean that the Etihad fleet will be growing by more than 300% in the coming years. No matter how you look at it, the numbers in those orders are almost ridiculously ambitious, especially considering that most airlines are now doing everything they can to save money rather than spend it.

It seems that Etihad is hell bent on overtaking Emirates as the best known brand to come out of the Persian Gulf.

Big in Japan: Hakodate, the gateway to Hokkaido

by Matthew Firestone on

All this month, Big in Japan is on the road in Hokkaid?, Japan’s northernmost island. Join us as we take a look at the rugged wilderness, world-class skiing and remote hot springs that make this winter wonderland so justifiably famous…

The island of Hokkaid? (??????, literally North Sea Circuit) is connected to the Japanese mainland through the modern marvel of engineering that is the Seikan Tunnel.

At length of 33.5 miles, with a 200 yard-deep and 14.5 mile-long undersea portion, the Seikan Tunnel is the deepest and longest undersea tunnel in the world.

While the journey underneath the Tsugaru Channel can be a bit claustrophobic at times, you soon emerge in Hakodate (????), the gateway to Hokkaid?.

Following the Kanagawa Treaty of 1854, Hakodate was one of the first ports to open up to foreign trade. As a result of this early internationalization, the city is a veritable living museum of late 18th and early 19th century European architecture.

Something akin to the San Francisco of Japan’s far north, Hakodate is best explored by riding nostalgia-inducing trams though the hilly streets.

Keep on reading…

Built on a narrow causeway, and spread out along the water’s edge, Hakodate is a romantic city with distinct European airs.

At the base of Mt Hakodate is the famed Motomachi district, which is home to the vast majority of the city’s historic wood and brick buildings.

Here, you’ll find Hakodate’s most famous landmark, namely the Russian Orthodox church. Dating from 1916, the church is adorned with distinctive metal domes and spires and that would certainly look more at home in St. Petersburg than in Japan.

Indeed, Hakodate was once home to a large Russian community, who came here more than a century ago to make their fortunes in the Land of the Rising Sun. Of course, not all of them were privileged enough to return home, and a good number ended up dying far away from their family and friends.

You can pay tribute to these lost souls at Hakodate’s Foreigners’ Cemetery, which is peppered with old gravestones containing inscriptions in English, Russian and French.

While the modern city wields but a sliver of its former power and influence, at one time Hakodate was Japan’s first port of entry for Europeans.

A great place to relive this golden age is at the former British Consulate, where you can partake in that classic English institution that is high tea.

And finally, you can’t leave Hakodate without visiting the ruins of the Goryō-kaku, Japan’s first Western-style fort.

Built in 1864, this structure was built in the shape of a five-pointed star, which was intended to trap attackers in a lethal crossfire.

While much of Hokkaidō has been untouched by human hands, Hakodate is one place where history lives on…

Want to learn more about Hokkaidō? Sure you do!

Tune in all this month as Big in Japan heads north and blogs from the road.

** All images courtesy of the Wikimedia Commons Project **

Pickpockets in Copenhagen? A Gadling blogger’s victim story. Part One

by Jamie Rhein on

Yep, it’s happened. My wallet was taken out of my daypack-style backpack in Copenhagen, Denmark on Monday. And yes, I know better than to have my credit card with it. As much as it was a bummer to lose the money, the credit card put me on edge.

I think I’m better now.

I found out the wallet was missing when I went to pay for items I was buying at Tiger, Denmark’s answer to the Dollar Store. It didn’t matter how cheap the items were since I didn’t have my wallet when I went to pay. I discovered the bag open and the wallet gone at the cash register after everything was totaled. The bagged items not to be purchased by me were left with the guy at the counter.

After retracing our steps, just in case the wallet somehow dropped out and somehow no one would have picked it up, we went to the main police station to report it missing. The police officer gave me a phone to use and pointed out the number for VISA in a big book on the desk.

Even though I couldn’t remember my credit card number, I was connected to someone in the U.S. who is with the bank that issued me the credit card in the first place. Within minutes, the credit card was canceled and a new one should be arriving in the mail soon. If we were staying in Denmark longer, I would have been able to have a credit card mailed to the address where we are staying with friends. With less than 24 hours left to be in Denmark, there was no point in that.

The police officer did file a report and I have a copy. The copy is in Danish, but I asked for the English version of the form to attach to it. I also asked the person who I talked with from the bank to write a note about when I called and make a notation about the only two times I’ve used the card since I’ve been in Europe. I have the receipts for those two transaction. Hopefully, this will be the end of this saga.

I was concerned about having only twenty U.S. left and a few Danish coins for our trip back to Columbus. We arrived back home without having to spend another dime. My friend gave me money with no strings attached when we went to Tivoli Gardens so I would have some money to spend.

The plus side is that my driver’s license was not in my wallet. That’s one less thing to hassle with, although I do need to get another AAA and health insurance card.

By the way, when I started out on the trip, I wasn’t keeping my money in my wallet, but in a passport pouch. Once my daughter and I started staying with friends, I became more lax.

Don’t be lax –EVER– is my new motto.

Travel writing is like my dream job

by Brenda Yun on

In the past week alone, when I’ve been asked about my profession I’ve been as honest as possible and told them, “I’m a travel writer. I barely make enough money to pay for groceries each week, but I love what I do.” Three people this past week have replied enthusiastically, saying, “Travel writing is like my dream job.” One of them actually took a travel writing course in her spare time. She’s a lawyer, the second is a doctor, and the third was interviewing me for a part-time teaching position at the University of Phoenix. When I told them exactly how much I make per day writing about travel, they quickly understand why it is “like [their] dream job” – and will likely be nothing more than a dream, as it really isn’t a realistic kind of professional pursuit.

Nights like tonight firmly cement this kind of thinking. I just got back from a social networking function that was hosted by Pacific Edge, the magazine that published my article about my trip to Vanuatu. As I walked around the room introducing myself as the travel writer that wrote the article in the very magazine they were holding, they stared at me blankly. They clearly had not read my article and probably had no intention of reading it.
Despite knowing it all along I’ve finally come to terms with the grim reality of being a travel writer. When I started out as one about two years ago, I was so excited about my newfound “profession.” It was something I always dreamed about. Admittedly, it is something most people dream about but that a small percentage of people actual pursue. An even smaller percentage are actually successful with it.

Conversations like the ones I had with these travel writing dreamers and evenings like the one I just endured make me realize one important thing though: at least I’m living my dream. At least I wake up every morning excited about the world and what I do. I never could see myself holding a high-paying corporate job like many of my friends too. I’m pretty content being a hard-working, poor but happy travel writer who tells stories that are at the heart of the human experience.

Clinton in the Cabinet: What this means for Cuba

by Brenda Yun on

While most of America seems awfully and overly excited about Hillary Clinton’s appointment as Obama’s Secretary of State, I think there is more to be nervous about. In particular, the implications Clinton’s new role will have on our relations with Cuba is as uncertain as what Washington’s relations have been with Cuba for the past forty years. While Obama has been open to ending the embargo that exists between the two countries and even shutting down Gitmo, Clinton has opposed change to this longstanding policy and has sided with Bush and McCain on how we should proceed with regard to Cuba and Castro’s communist regime.

The recent flurry of news coming from Cuba tells us that change will come, as Obama prophesied during his Presidential campaign. Despite a ban on American tourism in Cuba, the cigar country is doing far better than its Caribbean neighbors with regard to visitors – especially visitors from Russia and Canada.Then there’s the sudden “confessions” coming from the detained 9/11 prisoners at Gitmo, hoping for a final, martyr-like curtain call. And, of course, as I had mentioned in another article, there are rumors of a Castro-Obama peace talk that could end a near half-century standstill between the two countries with regard to tourism and trade.

Finally, where and how Clinton will fit into this picture come January is a perplexing question. My guess is that Clinton, despite her disagreements with Obama on Cuba, will follow her boss’s lead and try to usher in change, as Obama certainly expressed a need for in an op-ed article that he wrote in the Miami Herald back in August.

Cuba is an increasingly interesting place in the world right now. Fidel Castro has fought a long battle with America, and he pretty much single-handedly fended of the most powerful nation for nearly fifty years. I imagine, if and when Cuba’s doors open – which could be as soon as next year, that Castro’s country will be a much different place. Whether that is for better or for worse will be a fascinating thing to witness.