Subway Hack Guarantees You’ll Always Have A Handle

by Libby Zay on

In a move that would make video game legends Mario and Luigi proud, a woman used a toilet plunger suctioned to the roof of a subway car to help stabilize herself. It’s likely that the picture, which surfaced on Twitter, is just staged for video game lovers, but it’s kind of an ingenious way to keep standing when there’s no place to sit and no hand rail in sight.

That’s not to say everyone should start carrying plungers around – but if a less silly looking, easy-to-carry invention with a release valve was manufactured, it could be a blessing to short people everywhere.

But even if you think it’s a crappy idea, it looks like we’re not the only people who found the picture hilarious: it has already gotten more than 12,000 retweets and nearly 4,000 favorites on Twitter. Let’s just hope the plunger is clean, or else I feel sorry for everyone in that train car.

[via Gizmodo]

Video Of The Day: Everybody Do The Wave

by Libby Zay on
We just made it through the summer solstice, and these next few hot months will have many of us running toward any available water sources to keep cool. It can be disappointing to arrive at our favorite watering hole and find it packed with people, but the theme park-goers in the video above from Tokyo Summerland don’t seem to mind sharing. In fact, there seems to be more humans than water in this wave pool. Although being so close to all those other bodies looks uncomfortable to me, in Japan, people are more used to having little-to-no personal space in public places – as evidenced by all those videos of trains being packed with people with a little help from station attendants.

Miami Airport To Test Passenger Self-Boarding

by Libby Zay on

Miami International Airport has plans to test a self-boarding system that would cut out airline gate agents and, hopefully, make the boarding process flow better, Skift reports.

Maurice Jenkins, the airport’s director of information services and telecommunications, tells the news outlet the airport already has the equipment it needs to get the process started, and will soon roll out tests with several airlines. He also mentioned the airport is looking at testing self-service kiosks in customs, but that would be further down the pipeline.

According to the Star Tribune, at least 17 airlines across Europe and Asia already use self-boarding machines, and several U.S. carriers are testing the devices. The process is simple: an automated turnstile allows fliers to scan their own boarding passes at the gate before passing onto the plane. Although this essentially means travelers can bypass all interaction with airline employees until the point they step onto an aircraft, it doesn’t mean passengers will get to skip any form of security, so everyone who uses the system will have already passed inspection.

We all know how bad people can be at forming a line at the airport, so we’re curious to see this implemented. My only question is, who will police the size of our carry-on bags now?

Railway Hackers In Cambodia Build ‘Bamboo Trains’ (VIDEO)

by Libby Zay on
A decrepit railway line in Cambodia only sees about one scheduled train per week, but that doesn’t mean it goes unused the rest of the time. According to BoingBoing.net, entrepreneurial railway hackers have been building makeshift trains out of a slatted, bamboo platform set on two sets of wheels. The cart-like contraption is then power by a motor, which propels it at speeds up to 35 mph. It’s a cheap and efficient way to move both people and cargo around the countryside, although the structural integrity of the rig is questionable. A lack of safety concerns didn’t seem to stop a traveling couple from taking one of these trains for a ride, and they documented the process in the video above.

[via BoingBoing.net]

Photo Of The Day: Hallabong

by Chris Owen on


This Photo of the Day, titled “Hallabong,” comes from Gadling Flickr pool member Mike Rowe and was captured using a Cannon EOS 40D.

In the caption for this image, Mike describes something he found in his travels, has searched for elsewhere and had limited luck finding.

“Famous in Korea is the fruit called Hallabong. Seemingly a Japanese development called the Dekopan, the Koreans have adopted it and claimed it for themselves … sweet, much sweeter than most citrus, and a truly delicious fruit. I’ve not seen them in Australia yet, but … they can be found in the US.”

Have you ever done that? I did the same thing in the past. Then one day I realized that trying to bring home some of that experience is not nearly as good as being there. That I can only get them there fuels one more reason to return.

Want to be featured? Upload your best shots to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. Several times a week we choose our favorite images from the pool as a Photo of the Day.

Tips for being featured: add a caption describing the image and your personal experience when capturing it, details of the photography gear used and any tips you might have for others wanting to emulate your work.

Now, you can also submit photos through Instagram; just mention @GadlingTravel and use the hashtag #gadling when posting your images.