For a lively urban scene that’s rich in creative experimentation, with an exquisite sense of style, Singapore is in a class by itself. It’s also an unusual thing in itself, neither an island not a city, but best described as an island city state. It has a remarkable history, and its current image as one of the most exciting places in the world to visit is based on this same history, along with some innovations of the recent past. There is a strong sense for innovation here, anyway, and it’s been on the edges of world technology and culture for some time, and these days, in Singapore, they blend together. It’s a spectacular thing to see, and it’s one of the many reasons so many individuals with a strong taste for the unique are drawn here. For unique sensibilities, a stay here is heartily complimented with lodgings in a boutique hotel. Singapore has many options for accommodations, and these are some of the most spectacular.

It’s certainly a step away from the chain hotel mentality, and there are many individual features and amenities that can’t be found anywhere else. This is a great way to explore the city state with a sense of style in your lodgings that will meet the style all around you. You might get the opportunity to see a work of theatre or performance with a soundtrack by Sonicbrat, one of the scene’s great new innovators. This is the artistic moniker of Darren Ng, who’s one of the most sought after sound designers around. He’s educated from the National University of Singapore with degrees in Philosophy and Theatre Studies, which are very well-suited preparations for his heady and evocative performance forms.

His own musical training was formally in piano, and then there’s a lot of electricity in there, and both of these fused together in his work. Influenced by such artists as Arvo Part, Brian Eno, and Radiohead, and also the work of the great Murakami, Ng creates sonic textures that begin with his music, and often are original compositions. To this he adds layers of electronic textures, field recordings, and a great spirit of improvisation. His work is open for experimentation, and also for imperfection. This gives it a great deal of body, where the open nature of the artistic experiment meets with his own technical brilliance to make sounds that are impossible to describe, and wonderfully exciting to hear.

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The human mind wants to see personalities in inanimate objects — to see the shapes in clouds other than clouds, to see the outline or silhouette of a mountain or rock and compare it to a more familiar creature. Sometimes entire mountains are carved into these shapes, such as Mt. Rushmore. We take blocks of stone or marble and turn them into people, creating amazing art work out of lifeless stone. It’s the same the world over, and for some reason, it comforts us to see these mountains and hills and boulders turned into the familiar. If you’re traveling to Melbourne, Australia, and checking into one of its top Melbourne hotels, you may have already become acquainted with a dozen of these objects out on the Great Ocean Road, just a day trip away. I’m talking about, of course, the Twelve Apostles.

The Twelve Apostles are a series of rock formations jutting out of the ocean, seemingly hunched and praying, as one might imagine apostles to do. In order to see them for yourself, find your way to the Great Ocean Road, which is a bit of a misnomer, as it only seems to occasionally hit upon the coast for a moment at Glenaire, but turns inward again up Lavers Hill, then back down again to Princetown. It’s filled with rolling hills and valleys, which contrasts greatly with the coast, once you do hit it. You’ll come across the Gibson Steps lookout first; the second stop will be the Apostles. There’s a large parking area on the right and a pathway underneath the Great Ocean Road (similar to the car park in England on the way to Stonehenge).

Depending on when you arrive, you may have to deal with coaches filled with tourists, but you might have the area all to yourself as well. Nearby, there’s an airstrip with cattle all around it, running each time a plane or helicopter arrived or departed. Out to sea, though, you will find the rocks we’ve anthropomorphised. The stacks of rocks that jut out of the water are made of red sandstone, up and down the coast. The cliffs are red, the vegetation climbing them are green, and the water, of course, is deep, deep blue. Perhaps the best time to see them is at sunrise or sunset, especially if the sea is a bit wild, churning round them. I don’t know if it’s because of their name or their shape or both, but you can’t help but think of these as human souls praying out beyond the shore.

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Naropa University is located in Boulder Colorado. It is a private liberal arts university and was the first in the nation to become a Buddhist inspired accredited institution. The school was founded in 1974 by Chogyam Trunga, a Tibetan Buddhist teacher. These are some of the basic factors Alice presented to her parents when she told them she wanted to complete her graduate studies at this university. Her parents were already aware of this school since they lived in Denver, which wasn’t very far. This idea alone provided them with an almost instant support of their daughter’s interest. However, as with all responsible parents and students, they decided to make a quick trip to the campus before Alice applied.

The family decided to make a complete weekend out of the experience and book a couple of rooms in one of the Boulder hotels. And while they had been to Boulder on several occasions in the past it was always for one particular reason or another and they never really spent time touring or experiencing the city. Their first stop would be the Naropa campus, which Alice immediately fell in love with. Her parents agreed that it was beautiful and had a great atmosphere for an academic institution. The campus alone, however, was not enough of a reason to base one’s graduate studies decision on.

So, they family investigated the programs and were completely interested in the Theatre program. It was an MFA in Contemporary Performance and integrated the physical aspects of performance with various theoretical viewpoints. They were particularly interested in how the traditional contemplative practices were incorporated into the study. Alice, however, was completely interested in the Somatic Counseling Psychology. She wanted to focus on body psychotherapy. Her parents were supportive of this and thought it probably offered a bit more job stability options. They spoke with some of the staff and instructors and Alice left Boulder more sure than ever that she wanted to attend Naropa. She immediately prepared her application and her parents were relieved she would be so near.

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Every year thousands of people flock to Melbourne Australia for the Australian Open. The host this tournament in the Melbourne Park every January. It is the first of four tournaments concidered the Grandest Tournaments tennis. All serious players strive to play in this amazing setting. The start of the Tennis Open was in 1905, originally on grass courts until 1987 when the tournament was held on hard courts. There is one player who has ever one on both the grass court and the hard court, Mats Wilander. In 2008, the courts were reserfaced again with a cushioned, medium-paced, acrylic known as Plexicushion Prestige. Seems to be a nice way to save the joint and structual health of the players. There are many games played with in the tournament. Players of all ages and genders compete here. There are junior and master tournaments.

After visitors check into an Australia spa resort, they can find their way down to the park and witness history in the making. Usually, these games have a very high attendance even during these famous hot days. The 2009 Australian Open gained the highest attendence record of any Grand Slam tournament with a whapping 66,018 people filling the stands. The even generates about 38 million to the countries economy.

There is some money to be won in these tournaments. It goes by round and finalists. In the men’s and women’s singles tournaments both paid the same and was divided up in gaining amounts. 1st round got $19,400, 2nd round received $31,000, 3rd round received $51,000 and 4th round won $88,000. Then you had the finalists. Quarterfinalists won $182,250, Semifinalists got $365,000, Runners up took home $1,000,000 and the winners made off with $2,000,000. Not a bad day on the court. In 2009 the singles winners were Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams.

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With a little bit of paint, some shades from Next Day Blinds, and a bit of creativity, you can turn your small apartment space into a design wonder. When you are decorating on a budget,the key is to be extremely organized. It is just a fact that when you do not have a lot of money, you will have fewer choices but when you select the rooms or the themes which are most important and interesting to you, you will be amazed at just what you can do, while staying within your budget.

Take a look around and decide just what decor, just which pieces of furniture that you can not live without, then get rid of the rest. When you choose to replace old and worn drapery and replace it with wonderful modern designs found at Next Day Blinds Bowie, problems about not getting enough light or dreary colors will go out the window. Decorating becomes a wonderful and fun process, filled with simplicity and elegance. Along with the new blinds, you may want to change the color of your paint, or to hang wall paper to either match or compliment the blinds and shades that you have chosen.

You may also decide to repaint old wooden cabinets, adding more color and texture to any small space. And while saving money for the next installment of home improvement, instead of replacing floors and tile, you can throw down a rug. Or, you may decide to just paint your floor. Finding places to store your items can be a bit of a nuisance when you do not have enough space, so find some benches or cabinets at your local second hand store to keep your items in and clear up your clutter.

You may find that painting these pieces of furniture with stencils and designs, will turn them into pieces of art and not just storage space. One way to liven up your inside, is to bring in the outside. Small herb gardens in the kitchen and house plants will do wonders for the inside atmosphere. All of these activities are inexpensive ways to create a warm place to come home to, even if it is a small, warm place.

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It’s a magnificent place, and it’s one of the most unique urban centers in the world. Singapore is a world unto itself, and creates itself in relation to its neighboring countries, still maintaining a unique identity, but with an entirely cosmopolitan sensibility. Singapore always seems to be at the cutting edges of fashion, design, and in the realm of finance. This is one of the reasons, perhaps, that people see it as a particularly good place for their private bank. Singapore has a style and a sensibility to get things done with a splendid grace, and the interest in the rest of the world is entirely genuine.

In recent years it has really started to come to its own in terms of a cultural identity, and part of its appeal is that it’s fabric is the product of many different cultures and traditions. The urban lifestyle here is particularly suited for a blend of cultures, and it’s constantly developing, and constantly looking forward. At the same time, there is also a splendid sense of history, where looking forward also means knowing the past. This sense of motion in time is particularly evident in the musical styles here. Local music sensation Bevlyn Khoo, an instructor at the school of pop, is a perfect embodiment of the Singapore music aesthetic, and her stylings have been likened to a cup of fusion tea.

You can find a number of bubbly influences in her music, from Mandarin pop to rock in English, and one of her earliest influences was Michael Jackson. She sings in Mandarin, Japanese, English, and French, demonstrating her own versatility, as well as her music’s ability to find its way to multiple audiences. Bevlyn Khoo began songwriting in 2000, and since then has performed in cafes all over Singapore, as well as recording cds and winning lots of competitions. She has also tried her hand at acting, and will no doubt be seen again on the screen in the future.

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Walter was preparing for his business transference to Salt Lake City, Utah and reluctantly put his house up for sale. It wasn’t that he was disappointed with his need to change cities, it was just that he particularly loved that house he was living in and had only had it four three years. However, he enjoyed new experiences and the transfer was only going to be for two years with the possibility for more. Walter had considered renting his property but somehow instinctively he felt he would never return to that house once he left. He didn’t know how long he would remain in Salt Lake, but he knew he would be headed somewhere new once he left there.

This was like Walter as he had a history of moving from city to city. He wasn’t what many people would consider to be a wanderer, he was a writer, primarily a freelance magazine writer and he could work from anywhere and was always stably employed. However, recently he had begun working for a major technology company, which was his educational background, and quickly rose through the ranks. This was the same business that was responsible for his impending move to Salt Lake. Walter decided to take a quick weekend trip to the city to look around a get a feel for which area he would like to live. He booked a flight and made reservations in one of the hotels Salt Lake and as his plane ascended through the mountains in its final approach to the city, a strange new feeling overcame him.

Walter felt oddly at ease, possibly due to the serenity of the landscape, he wasn’t sure why, but it was there. The feeling embraced him during his entire visit and gave him a great feeling about his impending move. During his stay one of the places he visited was the city’s public library system. He was greatly impressed with and had heard it was one of the best public libraries in the country. He felt this would be a pleasant place to work on the historical novel he had been putting off. Walter loved the Gateway District and spent an afternoon at the Clark Planetarium. He drove through the neighborhoods of Federal Heights and the Avenues looking at houses and he knew where he was going to live. For the first time in his life Walter felt he was home.

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With the interesting contradiction of having spectacular beaches deep in the desert, Dubai has some interesting mysteries to offer travelers. There is something for all ages here, and a timeless sensibility for awakening the part of the soul that enjoys hospitality. Hospitality is one of the greatest industries here, and this is demonstrable in every luxury hotel Dubai has to offer. There are sumptuous lodgings available to suit every taste, as long as the taste tends toward the magnificent. Life can be very sweet when there are no responsibilities, and vacations are always a good time to forget all your obligations and enjoy the here and now.

For interesting and contradictory reasons, enjoying the here and now is sometimes easier when there is world class shopping nearby, and Dubai has some of the most fascinating shopping centers in the world. Fashion, housewares, and electronics are all on display here, but there are usually a host of other attractions here that will also make the kids smile. There are a number of apparent contradictions here, combining the familiar and the strange, and a tendency toward making things larger than life that speaks to a local sensibility. And for apparent contradictions that fall apart to make sense under close scrutiny, there is A-Class, one of Dubai’s new hip hop acts.

They’re made up of all the members they need at the moment, Sean Shorty and Akey. They both grew up in Dubai and live here, and they’re born listening to the rhythms and beats of James Brown, Michael Jackson, and Tina Turner. As they matured in the city, they saw a hunger and a need for music of their own, that spoke to both the international hip hop culture they grew up in, as well as a local Arab cultural sensibility, and their music is the answer. The mix of American – US – style hip hop and Arab rhythms is called Aratone. English is their second language, giving the intensity of the music another level of complication that, in the face of hip hop culture who’s soul is based in mixing, is absolutely welcome, and exciting.

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Deep in the Tramuntana mountain range of Northwest Majorca, there is this very romantic village called Valldemossa. Chopin called it the most beautiful place on earth. Since I heard so much about this wonderful place, I was eager to visit it and find out if Chopin knew what he was talking about.

I was staying at one of the 5 star hotels Balearics with my aunt. We left early in the morning and didn’t have far to travel since our hotel was also nestled in the Tramuntana’s. We travelled deeper into the more lush green mountains on the west side. There were forests of pine, terraces of olive trees and lingering clouds only hundred meters above the sea. As we approached the Sierras of Tramuntana, we saw these dark clouds that seemed to be stuck between two cliffs. The actually look unwilling to move. We look at one another hoping we weren’t headed that way, because the rest of the sky was a beautiful cerulean.

We drove higher and higher along this serpentine road. All the curving and turning we did made us dizzy, there were not straight aways. I was fighting car sickness. Our ears kept popping as we climbed higher. Finally, Valldemossa came into view. 1300 meters above sea level. By this time we were so excited and hoping that all the hype was true.

But, just as we thought, those dark clouds were exactly where we were heading. Right in the valley. Right where Valldemossa is located. The sunlight disappeared, but that didn’t dampen the colorful town. Little stone homes with colored doors and shutters. Windows clustered around one church tower that was the highest peak of the town. Leafy trees surrounded the town as if to protect it from any harm and it almost seemed as if the town was floating. It was better than any fairy-book picture, beyond words. Better that how Chopin describe it.

The road we were on circled the town until the entry to Valldemossa was obvious. I parked as soon as we could find a spot and began our excursion. When we stepped out of our car, we noticed how different the air was, the oxygen was so pure and the aroma was of dampened pine cones. This place was well worth the curvaceous drive and it truly is a fairytale land.

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Kyle had recently agreed to go with his father on a business trip to Tampa, Florida. He hadn’t been able to spend a great deal of time alone with his father since his parents’ divorced and Kyle lived fulltime with his mother. Kyle was going to begin high school next year and while he was close to his mother he regretted that he would not be seeing much of his father. So when his father mentioned that he would be in Tampa for a week and only had to work three of those days Kyle became interested in the trip. He didn’t have to think before saying yes when his father asked him to go along.

When the two of them checked into their room at one of the best Tampa hotels Kyle wasn’t sure what he was going to do while his dad was in meetings. He had never been to the city before, though it sounded interesting and exciting to him before he got there. Now that he was there he felt a little lost. Fortunately his father came to his aid and suggested he spend the afternoon down by the water front and he gave him some money to get a sandwich and maybe a souvenir or something. It was a beautiful afternoon and Kyle had a great time.

The following evening they had tickets for the Florida Orchestra. Kyle played the flute for his school orchestra and his family had always enjoyed going to the symphony. They had dinner before the performance at Bern’s Steak House and just as Kyle was about to dig into his barbeque ribs his father told him he had something to discuss. He then told Kyle that he was going to be transferred to Tampa for his job and asked Kyle to consider moving with him. He had already discussed it with Kyle’s mother who was willing to let him go if he really wanted to. That added a bit of pressure to the rest of the evening but Kyle tried to escape into the music. He didn’t want to make that decision. The next day he told his father he really needed to think about it and the decision changed his experience in the city. He went from the freedom of a vacation to the perspective of a possible new home. One thing about it, Tampa was certainly inviting.

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Isn’t it Ray Charles that sung ‘Georgia on my Mind’? Well I know why. Georgia is a beautiful state. Gorgeous green rolling hills dense pine forests, fertile farms and of course the Peach Trees.

As a kid we would go to Georgia every other summer to visit my aunt and cousins there. In alternate years they would come up to New York State to visit.

We would always take two days to get there, driving south from New York to somewhere in the Carolinas stay the night and then make it to my aunt’s house by later that afternoon.

There home was out side Atlanta by about 60 miles. It was an old house built in the middle of the 1800’s and set on a big piece of land densely forested with pine trees. It was a great place to spend our summer vacation. Running and playing in the woods, hanging out with the variety of animals they had and making home made ice cream.

Some years we would be there on the Forth of July and I remember all of us heading over to Stone Mountain for the fireworks display. It was an impressive site seeing the fireworks exploding with the backdrop of the sheer white granite face of Stone Mountain.

Great memories of wonderful times, I know I can’t get them back but I still want to go back and see some of the places I remember going to when I was a child. Also my aunt is getting on in years and I haven’t seen her for about ten years, so it is time to get there for a visit.

My aunt really loves gardens so I’ll take her to the botanical gardens in Atlanta for a day. It will get her out of the house and into some very beautiful surroundings. We may be able to do more depending on how she feels and if so I’d like to go to Atlanta Underground, I remember going there when it first opened probably thirty years ago or more now.

I have my room booked at Georgia luxury hotel and am very excited to be going to Georgia.

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The smallest of the Balearic Islands, and also one of the most exciting places on earth, Ibiza is a new adventure in culture and entertainment. Ibiza has been the host of a stunning number of civilizations and cultures, from the ancients Romans to the Visigoths and the Vandals, and the sense of history here is profoundly strong. It is almost uncanny the way these civilizations have left their mark here throughout the years, and also there are fantastic touches from every new visitor. You are participating in history and culture here, and it’s got a fiercely individual sensibility, honoring the ideas and traditions of the people who visit. This may come from the hippie sensibilities that have left their mark here, or it may come from something much older. Whatever the origins, it’s a great place for boutique hotels. Ibiza embraces tradition at the same time that it welcomes innovation, and this is amply demonstrated in the lodgings.

Boutique hotels offer something different, being remarkable individual and unique, and are often smaller than chain hotels, so that guests can be treated to a real designer experience. You’ll probably have the sense that some of this was created just for you, and at times you might be right. Most of the time, it won’t matter, because it’s such a splendid atmosphere, and relaxation will take over everything. At that point, you’ve really entered Ibiza, and that’s the perfect time to see what’s happening in the city. Check out the new experiments from Ivan Guash Serrano for a taste of what the rhythms of the island can do.

Born and raised in Ibiza, Serrano made a career as a DJ here, inspired by the multiple creative efforts by local and international talents coming through here every night. It’s a very heady way to grow up, and into a musical existence. He eventually got restless in spinning tracks by other artists, and felt he had something of his own to contribute. Carrying the knowledge of digital musical forms forward into his own work, he created Spiritual Light, a musical ongoing odyssey featuring strong percussion and bassline, and a large dose of psychedelic trance, to make for a listening experience that combines electronic and visceral impulses to move you into a new way of seeing.

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