Word for the Travel Wise (07/02/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Earlier I mentioned the cool film festival to check out in Korea if you so happen to be around. For the few with little to no interest in foreign films all because of the language barrier, get over it and read the subtitles! There are so many incredible movies to watch beyond our Hollywood summer blockbusters.

Today’s word is a Korean word used in Korea:

mol-lah-yo – I don’t know

My past lessons focused a little more on Korean dining which can be consumed about anywhere though finding a good restaurant might be tricky. For more vocab words found on the menu check out Korea infogate. Several more words in the Korean alphabet with excellent pronunciation guides can be found at Mr. Oh’s Learn Korean website. It’s a fun place to start to learn the basics. KBS World Radio has a three part, 30 chapter online learning guide all for free. I can’t get the hangul text to show up, but they’ve got sound clips of all the sample conversations available. Learn Korean dot net has most of the aforementioned along with a forum to meet other speakers both fluent natives and beginners. For a list of Korean language programs in the country click here.

Past Korean words: shik-sah, sollongtang, yuh heng

Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival

by Adrienne Wilson on

Film Fest alert: Fans of fantasy and Asian culture will be glad to find the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) is in it’s 10th year and running from July 13 – July 22, 2006. Screening low-budget films, horror, sci-fi, thrillers and non-mainstream genres has placed the nighttime festival in the world of cult movie festivals. Actually, it’s the back-to-back night marathon said to be a major highlight. Three or four films in a row, unconventional themes, and let’s say a special baby-baby, love done by your side to enjoy the previewing…  Sounds like good summer movie fun!

The PiFan festival will take place at the Boksagol Cultural Center, Bucheon Citizen’s Hall Auditorium, Bucheon City Hall Auditorium, Wonmi-gu, Sang 1-dong, Bucheon, and Gyeonggi-do.

Robot Museum

by Erik Olsen on

The good folks at Engadget want to help find something for the geek in you to do next time you head to Japan. As if that country, and Tokyo especially, wasn’t a geek fantasyland already, what with all the high-tech gadgets and gizmos available that you won’t see here for five years.

Well, the newest attraction coming out of Japan is the Robot Museum, the country’s first museum fully dedicated to showing off the wide range of robots of the world. Ohh, ahh. I know, I can hear the synapses in your brain crackling with glee. The new museum is expected to open in Nagoya’s Sakae district in October.

GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of June 25

by Adrienne Wilson on

Looks like another Friday has snuck up on us which means it’s time to list some of our favorite posts this week on Gadling. If you missed them before, here they are now:

5. Summer Hot Spots of the Rich and Famous:
Following the every move of movie and music stars has never been a personal past time of mine and while I choose to believe that most people are in the same category of caring less, I know I’m wrong. More people than I could ever possibly count will click into People.com, including some of our very dear Gadling readers to spy on the likes of famous folk on their glittery vaca’s in the Maldives. Thank Karen for the inspiration to do something great with your own summer days.

4. Most Expensive Cities:
Those of your traveling on a super tight budget will want to check out Neil’s blurb on the most expensive cities according to the U.S. based Mercer Human Resource Consulting, who just released their updated list. Last year Moscow was fourth on that very list and this year it gets tops for most expensive city. Apparently the folks there feel just a bit differently.

3. Air Conditioned Shirt:
Alrighty – Leave it to one of our fellow human beings to think up a gear item like the air conditioned shirt. Never in all my years would I have thought to see a shirt with a built in fan, but Erik has uncovered this unique piece of cooling cloth and makes a good point of how handy it could become in the Amazon.

2. Sounds to Sail to the Islands:
My longing to go to the islands and eclectic taste in music either from the islands or by an artists with roots in the area mentioned, lead me to creating this small guide for people looking to escape to a warm locale surrounded by water. Check out my list of good summer tunes and places to go after listening to them.

1. Lonely Planet Diving & Snorkeling Series:
Most of you know that I’m allergic to scuba diving and such now, but I can’t knock a good post when I see one and for underwater enthusiasts this is a must see. Erik directs our attention to Lonely Planet guide’s latest quest to update and publish five volumes of its Diving & Snorkeling series. Peep the post for a list of the upcoming releases.

Word for the Travel Wise (06/30/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Another day, week and month has come to an end and I’m as tired as ever. No pointless chatter tonight.

Today’s word is a Mandarin word used in China:

zai jian – bye

Mandarin is the most widely spoken of the Chinese language and can be a bit difficult to learn, but there are many sites online that can help get you started. The best will probably cost a small amount of money and the links are many so for sources pointing to additional sources check out About and Mandarin Tools. Mandarin tools is good if you’d like to add pinyin tools and other Chinese text files to your computer. Zap Chinese is free and has small dictionaries of common words with audio. Mei Wah is an awesome and funny site on becoming more aware as an eater and learning Chinese by way of menus and restaurant signs. China Language online is another excellent site I recently stumbled upon providing info on Mandarin, Cantonese and Hakka. In addition to these past recommendations check out the Hong Kong Language Learning Center (HKLLC) for study abroad in Hong Kong or Beijing. Qi Journal has a section dedicated to Chinese culture and language study.

Past Mandarin words: zhu ni hao yun, guo nian ha, mu di di, hao, xiang zi