Seven Wonders of the World: Bollywood Style

by Jamie Rhein on

Can you name the Seven Wonders of the World? I made it through a partial list before I became stumped. Here’s a refresher course. In true Bollywood fashion, a musical number is linked with gorgeous costumes, scenery — and a bit of name-that-place. All are rolled into one fun package of a tour around the world to seven of it’s most famous places.

This montage is from the Indian movie, Jeans. Aishwarya Rai, actress and former Miss World, sings and dances with a mighty handsome male partner to the song “Ajooba.” They start dancing at the Great Wall of China and don’t stop until they do a dance segment at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Okay, that’s two of the wonders. What are the other five? Check the first comment to find out.

Thanks to Fahed Zariwala, uk2k4u, for sharing this on You Tube.

Rickshaw Pullers: Cultural Icon or Exploited Commodity?

by Willy Volk on

Last December, West Bengal — India’s poorest and third-most populous state — outlawed rickshaws on the basis that human-powered transport is, “A disgraceful practice that flourished when the British lorded over the people.” Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, West Bengal’s chief minister, may be right, but in outlawing the profession, the government put an estimated 6000 licensed pullers (and who knows how many unlicensed ones!) out of work. Interestingly, Bhattacharjee’s government claims that cycle-rickshaws — arguably more difficult to operate — will still be allowed.

Although rickshaw pullers earn only about $2.25 a day, that’s roughly double the income of the typical West Bengal citizen. Consequently, late last month, the Calcutta Hand Rickshaw Pullers Union (sorry, no website) asked Bhattacharjee to develop a retraining package. However, considering the minister is vigorously wooing the tech sector to Calcutta, it’s hard to say whether he’ll spend much time worrying about these cultural icons.

As an aside, be certain to check out Andy Carvin’s short but stunning video of cycle-rickshaws. It’s amazing how they can remain so sparkling despite all the mud.

[News via Mental Floss; photo courtesy Soumik]

Vanishing Chinglish

by Iva Skoch on

China will never be the same; at least Beijing, that is. As the Olympics approach, a quasi-government group in Beijing has set out to correct the city’s English menus and signs.

The WSJ just ran an article detailing these efforts: to date, for example, these language cops from the Beijing Speaks Foreign Languages Program have replaced 6,300 road signs with often odd, sometimes downright hilarious, English phrasing, the result of bad translations.

We’ll definitely miss the restroom signs saying “Genitl Emen” (aka, gentlemen), such great attractions as the “Beijing Hospital for Anus and Intestinal Disease” (aka Hospital of Proctology), and street signs telling us “To take notice of safe: The slippery are very crafty” (aka, be careful: slippery). Or, “Little grass is smiling slightly, Please walk on pavement” (aka ?).

Fortunately, we’ll still be able to relive the good ol’ days on various websites, such as pocopico.com, flickr’s chinglish pool, chinglish.de, and google images, of course. Any other good collections out there, dear readers?

Heart-Shaped Destinations

by Willy Volk on

Okay, so we wouldn’t’ve known about these heart-shaped places if it hadn’t been for the eagle-eyes over at Google Sightseeing. Nevertheless, here are some heart-shaped objects that can be seen from way up high:

If you live in the area of any of these places, it might be cool to swing by and exchange gifts! Unfortunately, you’ll have to print out some of the aerial views in order to explain the significance of the location to your Sweetie. (“Honey, why are we in a swamp…?”)

The Most Romantic Places on Earth

by Willy Volk on

Of course, Valentine’s Day is largely about romance. In my opinion, the most romantic place I’ve ever been was on top of Table Mountain. After riding the aerial cableway car to the top, my wife and I found a secluded spot, whipped out a bottle of South African wine, and watched the sun set. It was beautiful. However, many people might not think of a mountaintop as particularly romantic. To that end, here are some other places that might be more “classically” romantic:

  1. The Samode Palace in amber-soaked Rajasthan, India.
  2. Chaa Creek’s Treetop Suites high above Belize.
  3. Mfuwe Lodge’s chalets, overlooking animal-packed South Luangwa Park.
  4. Bavaria’s Schloss Neuschwanstein, nestled among so many mountains.
  5. Chile’s Hacienda Los Lingues is for the horse lovers.
  6. California’s Muir Woods, which conservationist John Muir claimed was “best tree-lovers monument that could possibly be found in all the forests of the world.”
  7. The Daintree Cape Tribulation coast is where the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree rainforest meet, and the only place on earth where two World Heritage areas exist side by side.
  8. Zanzibar’s gently-sloping Paradise Beaches.
  9. The Sheraton Moorea is guaranteed to make you melt.

What should we list as #10?