Wednesday, June 20, 2012

CNNGo.com

CNNGo.com

The 'perfect flight' -- Air Canada claims to have flown it

Posted: 20 Jun 2012 12:29 AM PDT

by Sanday Chongo Kabange

You may think the perfect flight is one that leaves on time, arrives early and contains no children.

But Air Canada and Airbus have a more serious definition. They have successfully conducted North America's first biofueled international flight between Toronto and Mexico City, and their creative marketing teams have decided this is the true "perfect flight."

The aircraft utilized a special design that can reduce carbon emissions by up to 40 percent, and the maiden commercial flight used the most environmentally friendly practices available today.

The newly designed Airbus A319 jetliner from Air Canada was powered by a 50-percent biofuel blend made from used cooking oil.

The jet was fitted with high-tech equipment that optimizes its routing and flight altitude, allowing it to minimize fuel use and carbon emissions.

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Dirtiest hotel room items -- the unhygienic side of holidays exposed

Posted: 19 Jun 2012 09:55 PM PDT

by Daisy Liu

Wet towels, toilets and that hard-to-reach-space behind the TV cabinet -- you may think you know where the dirtiest places in your hotel room are, but think again. 

A recent study in the United States identified light switches and TV remote controls as the dirtiest items in hotel rooms.

Other hot spots for bacteria included bathroom sinks and toilet seats, the study, led by the University of Houston, found.

The survey team collected surface samples from a total of nine hotels in Texas, Indiana and South Carolina and measured the bacterial contamination.

Fecal bacteria -- if you're eating, you may want to stop -- was found on an astonishing 81 percent of the 18 surfaces analyzed.

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Secrets of the Dragon Boat Festival rice dumpling revealed

Posted: 19 Jun 2012 08:38 PM PDT

by Derrick Chang

 Dragon boat dumplings, pyramidal leaf-wrapped packages filled with glutinous rice, meat, beans, salty egg yolks, and other exciting things. Mrs. Lui is a vendor at the Shek Kip Mei Estate market who makes rice dumplings and other sweet and savory snacks. A couple of weeks before the Dragon Boat Festival during the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, Lui makes over 300 rice dumplings a day. These treats are traditionally eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival. Here, Lui teaches us how to make them. 


 
Mrs. Lui has been a cooked food stall owner in Kowloon for over 30 years. She followed in her father's footsteps and learned rice dumpling recipes from her father.

Rice dumpling business is brisk in the week leading up to the dragon boat festival. She will often sell over 300 a day during the festival period. Many of her loyal customers have bought her rice dumplings for decades.

Some new customers need to be taught how to store and reheat the rice dumplings. "Never put the rice dumplings in a sealed bag or box. The flavors will go off quicker," she says. The rice dumpling needs fresh air to breathe. Also if refrigerated the rice dumplings can last up to two weeks. Don't freeze them as this will also make them lose flavor. You can steam or boil them; steaming will take longer but tastes better than boiling.

 
The rice dumplings are wrapped with steamed bamboo leaves and reed.

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Aussie travelers holiday at home this winter

Posted: 19 Jun 2012 01:00 PM PDT

Back in the dark days pre-Google -- when faxes were cutting-edge, actual physical tickets arrived by registered mail and travel agents were mysterious practitioners of black arts -- we generally had little to no idea what it was they did to get us on that plane, boat or coach trip.

In 2012, thankfully, things are a lot different for would-be vacationers -- we have choices, the ability to compare prices at the click of a mouse and some agencies even share with the world the trends and indicators they can divine from the resulting customer booking patterns.

The latest such data come from lastminute.com.au, which has been rooting around in its records to see what Australian travelers are up to and where they're heading in the next few months.

Most, it seems, are forgoing the charms of overseas destinations and choosing instead to vacation at home this season.

Hotel bookings for June to August show sojourns in country lead the pack, being far more popular than trips abroad -- New Zealand, Indonesia and Thailand come behind Australia in second, third and fourth places, respectively.

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at 9:06 AM