Beckham Statue in Buddhist Shrine

by Neil Woodburn on

Every culture since the dawn of man has embraced its share of idols.

Most have honored their reverent spirits by building statues, shrines, and temples to which the faithful can pilgrimage and pay their respects to the god of their choice, be it Buddha, Jesus, Zeus, or Beckham.

Beckham? David Beckham?!?!?

Yes indeed, a Buddhist temple in Bangkok has incorporated a golden sculpture of the famous soccer player into the otherwise Buddha filled interior. In case you’re wondering, Buddha is the one on the left in the photo above.

Blogger Chris Mitchell has thoughtfully sent us this little hidden gem of Bangkok. But that’s not all. In addition to capturing the great photo above, he has also provided detailed instructions on how to find the Beckham temple amongst the hundreds located in Bangkok.

This is great news for the Beckham faithful who will soon be flocking to Bangkok to prostrate, flagellate, and otherwise pay respects to the lord of soccer.

On a related note, rumors of a Posh Spice tribute at Pat Pong have not yet been confirmed.

(note: the website seems to be having some problems loading up all the photos. Hit refresh a couple of times and it should work)

Word for the Travel Wise (06/09/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Alas, the World Cup games have arrived and it was a sad day for both Polish fans and Costa Rica’s Ticos that stormed over to Munich to support their teams. I was fortunate enough to stay inside and watch a good portion of each game, but the one I’m really hoping to see is Trinidad & Tobago vs. Sweden tomorrow. With Trinidad & Tobago being one of the smallest nations in history to qualify for the World Cup and one of my favorite countries to vacation you can already guess who I’ll be rooting for – Go Soca Warriors!

Today’s word is a slang word used in Trinidad & Tobago:

rampalooge – rampage

I tried searching for a good word you might hear during game times like these and this one seemed to fit. I can’t recall having heard the word on my three week Carnival jaunt through the country, but I’m certainly hoping TnT and those traveling over to Germany for the games don’t go on some type of win-or-lose rampage. Then again, it’s the World Cup which only happens every four years. Max it up!

Definition of today’s word and past Trini slang is compliments of the online Trini dictionary.

Past Trini slang words: bawlin’, bacchanal, lime

Word for the Travel Wise (04/27/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

It’s coming… The World Cup that is and it’s time to start prepping for the big journey over to root for your country’s team. Now in my mind there is no better way to cheer the team on than in your native tongue, but it’d also be pretty nice to know some of the local vernacular. To stay in the theme of things you can skip right over all the unimportant jargon like “Where’s the bathroom?” for something a bit more useful when you’re in the stands like “Go for the pill!” With the games approaching so fast there is no time to waste. Click here for cool World Cup phrases.

Today’s word is a German word used in Germany:

Bolzen (s) – To kick about. Playing just for fun in your spare time.

You can find audio and German slang at BBC Languages, who continue to impress on the online scene. They probably have one of the BEST FREE German language guides on the net. Make no mistake in passing this one up! When it boils down to it there are several good sites to learn the Deutsch lingo. Deutsch Lernen and German for Travellers are two other good picks. First Step World offers study abroad courses in Munich and Berlin.

Past German words: vorglühen(s), krieger

Going to the World Cup

by Erik Olsen on

I got an email recently asking about trips to the World Cup
in Germany. As you might imagine, the place…umm, that is certain cities in Germany like Frankfurt and Munich…will be
a madhouse, and even though most of us know and care very little about soccer, there are hard-core multitudes who DO
care and many are making or have already made travel plans to Germany. Personally, I’d LOVE to see the cup. I’m not
that big on soccer, but I’d like to learn more. And I’d certainly love to head to Germany if just for the global
cultural experience that is the FIFA World Cup. I’d take it over the
Olympics, in fact.

Well, as I say, I got an email from a reader expressing concern about getting to Germany
for the cup, and did some poking around. Turns out that on way to get to Germany for the cup is to fly first to Dubai.
Yes, Dubai, ye of the US ports fiasco. Dubai is an official partner of the games, and Emirates Airlines has access to tickets for the matches
which they are offering free to passengers who fly to four cities in Germany: Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and
Düsseldorf. It will cost you a bit: about $1900, but if you’re a die hard fan, this could be the solution you’re
looking for.