Coffee Cup Stain

In Quebec, Canada in the early eighties, a group of young performers formed the High Heels Club.  This was a group of people who performed amazing moves, while perched atop very tall stilts.  There were jugglers in the company as well as fire blowers, and thus circus of Cirque du Soleil had begun.  The High Heels Club began holding festivals, to gather around them other people with the circus in their blood, to exchange creative ideas, to learn from each other and to credit and to appreciate the talents of everyone.

It was not long before these performers decided to gather together under one “big top” and finally the company of Cirque du Soleil was born in 1984.  This is a company that fuses the street with the art, with the circus.  Stories are told in beautiful ways through costuming, subject matter, music, lighting and dramatics.  They traveled around a bit for two years in Canada, gaining quite a following, and in 1987 made their first United States appearance in California, USA.  The crowd was stunned and amazed.

They added shows, cities and tour dates, and the audiences kept getting bigger.  The piece that pushed them over the edge, of the top, was Quidam.  This is my own personal favorite, a beautiful story that is illustrated through such delicate, creative and talented means.  From here they moved into cities such as Las Vegas, with regularly occurring shows.  There are home companies in various cities around the world and traveling companies producing and putting up new shows.  Their goal is to defy the limits of perceived reality and to break the rules of traditional theatre and circus.

And beginning on November 11, running through the 3rd of January, they will be performing their winter show, “Wintuk” at Madison Square Gardens.  Book your best Manhattan hotel room now, because just as the seats fill up for their shows, so to will the hotels in the city.  More than fifty people will take the stage throughout the show.  And illustrated will be winter, the cold the long and intense shadows, the cast of extraordinary and spooky characters, and the story of a boy, lost in the city, and setting of on a journey to bring light to an Arctic World.  Amazing.

Each year in the city of Mumbai, festivals are held which are anticipated the entire rest of the year. It is a good thing that so many different festivals happen throughout the country, as there is always a celebration to look forward to. The rituals for each may vary, but no matter which the festival, those rituals will be practiced in fully and with attention paid to their importance. For they are a celebratory time, but they are all of spiritual significance.

There are any Hindu celebrations as well as several Buddhist and Muslim ones as well. One such Muslim tradition, Azzan, is carried out each time a baby is born. Once the infant has had his or her first bath, the prayers and the songs are performed so that the name the baby first hears is the name of the god. No matter which religion is carrying out these traditions, they have done so for many years throughout history, and will continue to do so far into the future.

One of the festivals that is practiced in all the cities of India is Ganesh Chaturthi. However plan your rooms early for your stay in five star hotels, Mumbai is known for this particular festival that occurs for ten days at the end of August and the beginning of September. The ending ceremony is a sight to behold as a procession of people carrying huge statues of Ganpati are carried through the city with the final resting place being the beach at Chowpatty.

The day of the Coconut is another interesting tradition that signifies the end of the monsoon rains during the last few days of August.  This is also a gesture to ensure the safety of the fishermen as the season begins.  Instead of breaking champagne bottles on the bows of the ships, the coconuts are broken, and people dance, and sing and carrying lanterns and candles up and down the seashore.  Many of the festivals, all of them really are filled with color and vibrancy.  This particular one catches me for its simplicity and luminosity.

We are in a raod trip heading north out of Phoenix and ending up in Salt Lake City, Utah. The drive is about 650 miles and goes across some spectacular country side. We are going to be taking out time on the trip, not needing to get there quickly we will be stopping at several National Parks on the way.

The plan is to head north to Flagstaff where we will pick up highway 89 north toward Page, AZ. Then we are going to be headed to Big Water where we will spend some time with an old friend. Big Water is a wierd place. It started to be developed because the original plan for Lake Powel was that the water from the lake would fill up to the Big Water area. During the construction of the dam plans were changed to lower the lake level. Thus the lake never came to Big Water, so really there is very little water in Big Water. Any way my friend moved up there a year ago and is building a passive solar house on some land there she inhearited. It sohould be really cool to see her and check out what she is up to there in the middle of no where.

From Big Water we are going to visit the Coral Pink Sand Dunes state park. This is a soectacular place where the sand is really coral pink and the topography of the land causes the sand to pile up into dunes. After that we will drive through Zion, not really a proper way to see Zion but better than nothing. From there we will need to get ourselves to Salt Lake City so we don’t miss out on our reservations at hotels Salt Lake. We will be there for five days and on our return trip home we will be visiting Arches National Park and Monument valley.

One of the first resources Gerdie looked for when she woke up in one of the Jakarta hotels was right there at the front desk. She had spontaneously agreed to take the place of Steven’s fiancée on what was going to be a secluded romantic get away. Steven’s fiancée Jennie, formerly known as gentle Jennie and now referred to as double crossing manipulative two timing Jennie, had been to Jakarta on a business trip a few years ago. She loved it a great deal and since she was there on work she really didn’t get to see as much of it as she would have liked. She was finally able to talk Steven into planning a getaway for just the two of them and the destination was Jakarta, Indonesia.

So, after a major truth revealing relationship blow out, it was determined that Steven and Jennie would not be taking a trip together and it was likely that they may not even be getting married. This all occurred the evening before they were scheduled to leave, and Gerdie just happened to be home when Steven called and was able to meet him at their favorite nightclub to talk about what had happened. After a few margaritas, Gerdie agreed to meet Steven at the airport in the morning and fly to Jakarta with him.

Consequently, when they arrived at the hotel they had reserved neither one of them had any idea what to do or see since Gerdie had no idea she was going and Steven was relying on Jennie’s previous trip to guide their way. One of the first things Gerdie found out from the front desk was the existence of some amazing malls that offered great shopping opportunities. Before shopping however, they decided they would tour the National Museum of Indonesia, which they found absolutely intriguing. They also enjoyed lunch in a small café they found in Jakarta Old Town. They were both captivated by the city’s beauty and Jennie’s name only came up maybe, oh, five hundred times during their stay.

Just a couple of centuries ago doctors recommended that their wealthy patients go spend some time in Mallorca to calm their nerves.  It was recommended for its splendid climate, and proximity to the sea.  Mallorca still has that effect on people who come here, and it’s still very true that the sea and the sun are magnificent for the constitution of its guests.  But it’s also true that it has a very lively nightlife, and attracts celebrities and the rich and famous from all over the world, looking to enjoy the sea and a great party.  There are many people who come here, and who live here, however, that never see a nightclub, and they seem to enjoy it, too.  There’s something about the place that’s attractive to everyone, and our luxury Mallorca hotels afford you the opportunity to see what the buzz is all about.

You can decide which Mallorca you’d like to see, and whichever you choose is bound to be a kind of paradise on earth.  Spending time in the Spanish Caribbean is time wisely spent.  There is a magnificent sense of style here, combining the utterly modern fashions of Spain generally, but accentuated with island touches and influences from all the other cultures that pass through here.  The local language has a very interesting history, and speaks a great deal about the cultures who have passed through here.

In Mallorca, as in the rest of the Balearic Islands, Menorca and Ibiza, the spoken language is Catalan.  It is similar to Castilian Spanish, in that they are both derived from the Latin, but there are significant differences.  If you do speak Castilian, switching to Catalan is about as easy as faking Portuguese.  It is spoken in parts of France and Italy, and Barcelona and other cities that make up Catalonia.  It was repressed under Franco, and has been experience a kind of renaissance for the past few decades.  There are very few language departments that offer it, such as Monash, but there is a considerable body of literature in the Catalan language, and it’s certainly worth learning, and always worth learning a few words while you’re here.

There is always an enormous pleasure in the moment when your feet first touch the warm water in your own hot tub at the end of every day.  We are truly creatures of habit, and we get used to rituals quickly, especially when they suit us.  The ritual of relaxing is something we need, but don’t pay attention to often enough.  That switch then, from the working rhythm to the relaxing rhythm, is one that we like, and it’s a wonderful thing for the body and the mind, to mark it with the ritual of relaxing in the spa.  That moment signifies that the day is over, and the night has really begun.  That’s part of the mystique about hot tubs, and of course you’ll also find that you can relax any time of day or night, and any season of the year.

Having the ability to take a soak any time you like means that you’ve made a commitment to yourself, to your health, especially the stress level, and to the ones you love.  Having a spa in your own home means that these things are important to you.  You’re entering into a kind of club of other hot tub owners, where you’re all living a little differently than the rest of us.  It’s a good feeling, and it’s not a new fad at all, but goes back a very long way.  Socrates recommended Egypt as a place to go to cure ills and improve your health.  Interestingly, this was centuries ago, and it was recommended for its seawater, and the mix of sand and sea, which are still the big draws for travelers today.

Egypt also has a gorgeous supply of natural hot springs, and they’ve been attractive to locals and visitors for millennia as well.  It’s fascinating to consider that hot tubs today are contemporary versions of these natural sources of water, and they are used for the same purposes.  Back then and now, they’re popular for the way they can help calm the mind and strengthen the body.

We like to demonstrate our commitment to the communities we serve by taking an active role in participating in community events where we can.  We offer customer service with a difference at TransGlobe Property Management, where every member of our staff is important and serves a role that is vital to the life of our company.  With over fifteen years of experience in serving Canada’s residential and business communities, we take pride in our ability to perform at a level that meets or exceeds all your expectations.  Our dedication shines through in every phase of our relationship.

Beginning with the selection of your new residence or place of business, we have a very user-friendly database, so that you can find available properties right where you are, and where you want to be.  We like to get to know our clients, and also to get to know the neighborhoods we serve, so that our properties shine, and our residents are happy.  Just knowing that you’re working with customer service professionals who are trained to address your needs quickly and efficiently makes living in our properties an exceptional experience.

Transglobe Property Management has a solid reputation among our clients, working with you every step of the way to make sure that you are being heard.  It’s a revolutionary business model to provide such a human touch, but it makes all the difference in the world to us.  Our communities are very important to us, and we understand that we have a responsibility to take a role in making the neighborhoods safe, healthy, and interesting, so that you and those dear to you can really thrive while you’re here.  We are helpful, courteous, and very understanding, so that when any problems might arise, we can meet them together with ease.  Our representatives are experienced and friendly, so that your particular needs will be met by the experience of quality professionals.

A trip to India is an exciting thing, indeed, and there are many fantastic prospects here that can set anyone to long days of musing about the upcoming travel.  New Delhi is one of the largest cities in India, by area and population, and one of the most densely-populated in the world.  Coming here can be a life-changing experience, offering a glimpse into many other ways of living and being in the world.  For visitors looking to experience the heart of India, with a fine dose of luxury, New Delhi four star hotels can have an awful lot to offer.  There is a rich combination of sumptuous style and old-world hospitality, and guests might feel so welcome here that they won’t want to leave.

There is so much to see in New Delhi, however, and although it’s infinitely complex, and always unwinding, it’s a wonderful experience to jump into the heart of it and see what the days and night have to bring you.  There’s something new at every turn, and wherever you begin to look, you’ll be lead in a hundred new directions, and a splendid opening into New Delhi is through its art.  One place to start looking, which will lead immediately to a thousand new windows and doors, is at the work of Monica Narula.

Her background is English literature and filmmaking, and she’s worked as an artist for many years, but is perhaps better known as a media practitioner.  Or perhaps it’s better to say, more underground rather than better known, because the work is complex, hard to read, and enormously fascinating.  She was one of the co-founders of the Raqs Media Collective, which started in New Delhi in 1992 as a way for like-minded artists to work together on projects that used critical theory, new technologies, and a view toward new ways of creating art.  She is also a founding member of Sarai, another collective formed for combining theory and practice.  Her work is a hybrid of digital art with other new forms, to make complicated questions for a complex time.  Looking toward an age of new media in the world, New Delhi seems to have something rather exciting going on.

We are in Phuket right now, but we aren’t on the beach, so we can’t tell you too much about that part of it. We’re staying in the city and one of the five star hotels Phuket has and it’s pretty much like any of the other major cities of the world. We did some shopping and I got a pair of pants and two shirts and my sister got a pair of pants for only $32.00, which is one of the best bargains we’ve run into during our travels. We decided to get three items only, but the sales lady talked us into much more.

We’re leaving Phuket tomorrow, flying out on Air Asia. We already checked our flight and found that it has been delayed, which we consider a good omen, cause we can fit in a little bit more before we leave. We’re heading to Chiang Mai then to Bangkok and then to Hanoi. The whole flight was relatively cheap, about $280.00, which again is an excellent bargain. My sister did all the booking online. After we watched that show on T.V. where there are couples who get to travel all around the world and how easy it was for them to book cheap flights right on the spot, we thought we’d do the same, wing it during all our travelling. Most of our friends told us we were nuts, but so far, we’ve managed to save a lot of money but searching for the cheapest flight that day!

So, with the extra time we have because of our delayed flight, we checked out the local market. It turned out to be a food market, but it was really great. There were all sorts of foods on display, like purple eggs and intestines. We found a food vendors stall that had a lot of people in front of it and as we approached we saw people pointing. I guess that’s how you order food. So we decided that it would be fun to point to our food. I pointed to the rice and the beef curry. My sister pointed to the rice and a different curry. The dishes were quite scrumptious and cheap, about $2.80! We grabbed some drinks, again with the pointing method, we don’t know what it was but it was yellow, kind of tasted like a watered down fruit juice. After we finished that, we found a sweets vendor and pointed to what looked like pancakes with yellow balls rolled inside. They were very tasty!  We figured we had to stop, or we’d point our way to explosion. We were so full!

This experience at the food market was great! I’d like to see something like this back in the States. It was really fun and all the food was fantastic. Maybe will find something similar in Hanoi.

Rajasthan is spectacular! It’s straight out of a National Geographic magazine. The landscape and scenery varied from place to place, but at the same time remained constant throughout all of Rajasthan. It mostly a hot and desert kind of region with hardly any roads. Only a small minority of India’s population actually owns a car, so the existing roads are long, very narrow dirt and sometimes concrete roads linking one town to the next.

The tan, parched topography has splashes of bright colors. It reminded me of little speck of life in this barren land. The most colorful aspect are the women wearing their saris, even while working in the fields, these colorful females only add to the beauty of this place. The fields can stretch for miles on end, lining both sides of the so called highway. People, all of a sudden would appear in the middle of nowhere, walking to some destination, carrying huge bundles on their heads; bundles of hay, sticks, ceramic water jugs and all very heavy loads. I passed some children in blue uniforms walking barefoot to school. I passed an occasional truck broken down on the side of the road, and I had to stop several times to let Shepard’s clear their flock of sheep from the roadway.

I’ve never been so enthralled. To get to experience this part of India has been a life long dream of mine. By the time I reached one of the Rajasthan luxury hotels, I had played a constant game of chicken with other cars, scooters, buses, trucks, bicycles, rickshaws, dogs, pedestrians, goats, donkeys, camels and naturally the occasional cow. There really aren’t any road rules here. Except the one about driving on the left side of the road, but, then that’s only if one feels like it. But, I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is India after all.