Japanese flight attendant outfits in high demand – for kinky sex games

by Scott Carmichael on

If your idea of a fun and kinky night involves begging a Japan Airlines flight attendant to “spank you one more time”, then you may be in luck.

Authentic Japan Ailines flight attendant outfits from the (now bankrupt) national carrier have sold for as much as $17,000.

The outfits have always been extremely hard to obtain, but with massive layoffs looming, the Japanese fetish uniform market is about to become flooded with the outfits.

Japan Airlines has long known how popular their uniforms are, and knows that the outfits are hugely sought after by fetishists. The airline has been sewing serial numbers into their uniforms for some time now.

JAL’s national competitor, All Nippon Airways faces a similar problem, and had to resort to installing chips in the garments to track their whereabouts.

Of course, with outfits worth that much, the airline should have considered selling them to the public before they went bankrupt.

(Image: Getty Images)

Photo of the Day (2.28.2010)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

For anyone with an urge to travel, Bhutan is one of those last great “untouched” destinations we all dream of visiting. A majestic kingdom of towering mountains, holy Buddhist retreats and smiling friendly locals. Flickr user sylhoo was lucky enough to visit Bhutan, capturing this serene shot of a mountain-top prayer shrine, criss-crossed with colorful prayer flags.

Have any great photos you’d like to submit for Gadling’s Photo of the Day? Submit your best shots here.

A polo match fit for an elephant

by Amy Chen on

Before the Olympics wrap up on Feb. 28, it’s only fitting that we pause to admire athletes from every walk of life. Take, for example, the competitors in the 9th annual King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament (March 22-28) held at Thailand’s Anantara Golden Triangle Resort & Spa.

Apparently there’s actually a World Elephant Polo Association for the sport, which is prevalent in places such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

Some rules from the association’s website:

  • Elephants are swapped at half time to balance out any advantage
  • No elephants may lie down in front of the goal
  • An elephant may not pick up the ball with its trunk during play
  • Stepping on the ball is prohibited

For the polo tournament, the Anantara Golden Triangle resort has put together a special spectator package. With nightly rates starting at $493 per room per night, you’ll get accommodations, breakfast, lunch, and transfers to and from the polo match. It’s not cheap, but this hotel isn’t exactly roughing it. Guests staying four nights or more will also receive a free round-trip transfer from Chiang Rai to the resort.

If going to Thailand for an elephant polo match this year isn’t likely, there are some options closer to home: New York City has bike polo and Barbados hosts a Segway polo championships this year. (Random trivia: Steve Wozniak of Apple fame is reportedly not only a fan but a masterful Segway polo player.)

Radisson Blue Coming to Mongolia

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It’s time to go to Mongolia! Almost. In winter 2011, the country will welcome the Radisson Blu Hotel Ulaanbaatar, the first Rezidor Hotel Group property to hit Mongolia. This will increase the company’s tally to 61 countries, says Rezidor president and CEO Kurt Ritter. You’ll find the new Radisson Blu right in the heart of the country’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, walking distance from Sukhbaatar Square and Peace Avenue, and it will be adjacent to the Choijin Lama Temple, which is home to an eighteenth century gold-covered statue of Buddha Shayaryamuni.

The property will have 175 guestrooms, three restaurants (including a microbrewery) and a wellness center – not to mention close to 5,000 square feet of conference and meeting space. Needless to say, this will be helpful in accommodating the increasing number of tourists to Mongolia, which has been growing at a compound annual rate of 15 percent since 2006.

So, if you’re looking to check out the temple or trod some of the same dirt as Genghis Khan, you’re about to get another lodging option.

Travel from Japan to U.S. posts double-digit drop

by Tom Johansmeyer on

There aren’t as many Japanese tourists walking the streets of the United States as there were a year ago. The latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, which covers the third quarter of 2009, puts Japanese travel to the United States down 10 percent to 15 percent on average relative to the same quarter in 2008, and the situation is forecasted to be grim for the fourth quarter results, as well, which are expected to show a continued decline. Seventy-eight percent of the Japan travel trade has projected a drop in fourth quarter travel results year-over-year.

And it doesn’t look better for the beginning of this year. Fifty-two percent of the travel firms in Japan that were surveyed anticipated a decrease in travel bookings to the United States for the first quarter of 2010 relative to the first quarter of 2009. Economic concerns, airfare and fuel charges and pandemic/epidemic fears were reported as the leading drivers of the travel slump for the Japanese market (for travel to the United States).

In the third quarter of 2009, 849,687 people traveled from Japan to the United States, a drop of 5 percent from the third quarter of 2008. July 2009 was particularly tough, with 244,412 arrivals resulting in a year-over-year decline of 15 percent. September was the lone bright spot, with 309,435 arrivals resulting in an increase of 8 percent – the first monthly year-over-year increase in 15 months.