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- British hotel replaces bedside Bible with Kindle
- U.S. once again celebrates Independence Day with feeding frenzy
- Bali wants in on the medical tourism action
- World's first no-booze beer garden hits Tokyo
- London taxi becomes a hotel for Olympic visitors
- The perfect hotel for starving artists
- Foreigner Street: China's obsession with wacky replicas and large bathrooms
- Get wet with the Great Barrier Reef minke whales
- 5 challenging cable car rides
| British hotel replaces bedside Bible with Kindle Posted: 05 Jul 2012 12:43 AM PDT A hotel in Newcastle, England, has removed all the Gideons Bibles from its rooms and replaced them with Amazon Kindles. But guests will still be able to get their fix of the holy text (or ignore it while looking for more interesting stuff in the drawers), as each Kindle has been preloaded with an electronic version of the scriptures. The Hotel Indigo, part of the InterContinental Hotels Group, made the move to reflect the local history -- the hotel is located near the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle Upon Tyne, the largest independent library outside London. "In the 18th century, Newcastle was one of the largest print centers in Britain," said Adam Munday, general manager of Hotel Indigo Newcastle. "We wanted to reflect this literary history in a very contemporary way so are offering guests the use of cutting-edge Kindles pre-loaded with the Bible." Gideons International, which distributed 84 million Bibles around the world last year, supports the move. "Anything to put the Bible in people's hands is a good thing," Gideons spokesman Ken Stephens told CNN.com. read more     |
| U.S. once again celebrates Independence Day with feeding frenzy Posted: 05 Jul 2012 12:05 AM PDT by Hiufu Wong The annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest is a curious beast -- a spectacle of porcine gluttony staged amid a pro-wrestling-style atmopshere, complete with hooting and hollering fans. Held each year in Coney Isand, New York, it's a strangely fulfilling way to punctuate the United States' July 4th birthday. Nathan's is among the biggest event for "gurgitators," or competitive eaters, but it's by no means the only regulated pig out. Check out this list of 19 awesome eating contests from HLN. More on CNNGo: World's 50 most delicious foods
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| Bali wants in on the medical tourism action Posted: 04 Jul 2012 11:58 PM PDT by CNNGo staff Facelift followed by a week on a beach in Thailand? Hip surgery with a side of shopping in Singapore? Over the last 10 years, Asia's rise on the medical tourism scene has been quick. Eastern nations dominate the global scene. Now Bali wants a slice of the action. The Indonesian island recently opened its first facility specifically targeting medical tourists with packages and services, Bali International Medical Centre (BIMC) Nusa Dua. BIMC already has an international hospital in Kuta, which opened in 1998. read more    |
| World's first no-booze beer garden hits Tokyo Posted: 04 Jul 2012 08:45 PM PDT Ah -- summer; that sweat-drenched time of year when 5 p.m. every weekday heralds the crack and hiss of a new amber dawn. Or, to put it another way, the season when Japan's many, many beer gardens fling open their doors to millions of thirsty office workers. The ranked masses in downtown Tokyo are sure to be lured to Suntory's new watering hole, which opens July 5 in the pastoral setting of Roppongi's Midtown shopping "village." We just hope, though, no one's too on-edge or in need of a fix, as the brewing giant's All-Free Garden is the world's first al-fresco beer joint to have a complete ban on alcohol. More on CNNGo: Video -- Japan's alcohol-free beers read more    |
| London taxi becomes a hotel for Olympic visitors Posted: 04 Jul 2012 07:15 PM PDT by CNNGo staff In preparation for the biggest sporting event to have hit London in many years, the city is getting inventive. Bin men and road sweepers are being turned into tour guides, trained to provide customer service and to offer pocket-sized maps to visitors who have no idea where they are. "Our street sweepers and bin men are some of the friendliest faces in town. So much so, that as well as keeping the city clean, they often become the unofficial tour guides for London," said councilor Ed Argar, cabinet member for city management and transport. And one entrepreneurial cabbie is hoping to offset a loss in earnings due to Olympic-oriented traffic restrictions, by converting his taxi into a hotel.
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| The perfect hotel for starving artists Posted: 04 Jul 2012 06:10 PM PDT by Max Kim Calling all wannabe artists who can't afford to travel. We may have found a cool new home for your artwork. Since the beginning of June, art has become an accepted form of currency at The Clarion Hotel Stockholm. Its "Room for Art" policy allows creative guests to pay for their stay with an original, signed work of art. Although there are a few not-unexpected caveats regarding reservations, cancellations, availability and annual limits ("this offer is valid based on maximum two persons occupancy per double room, one night per stay. Offer can be taken advantage of maximum two times per person, per calendar year.") there isn't any disappointing catch. "It's all really very simple: an artwork -- a room -- one night," states their official website. Hotel representative Tess Mattisson said that it's all for a simple cause. "It's to celebrate the establishments like the Chelsea Hotel in New York City which over the years have encouraged struggling as well as established artists -- but also to invite international artists to experience Sweden and Stockholm," said Mattisson. More on CNNGo: 15 unusual places to spend the night The legacy The inspiration for the new policy comes from the personal nostalgia of general manager Marcus Majewski, whose artist father paid with art for a room at the legendary Chelsea Hotel in the 1970s. Guests' artworks used to be the main focus of the Chelsea Hotel in New York.The Chelsea Hotel on West 23rd Street was a thriving port of call (and in some cases, a place of permanent residence) for artists during its prime from the 1960s to the 1980s. "To see my dad's pieces hang next to famous artists at the Chelsea Hotel really made an impact on me," said Majeweski. Under new management, however, the iconic New York hotel is being renovated and "de-arted" amid protests to preserve its quirky art history, but the Clarion hopes to further the room-for-art legacy. "I thought it was obvious that we at Clarion Hotel Stockholm should do something about this. After all, we are already a significant art hotel," said Majewski. More on CNNGo: 10 hotel rooms with history Art-friendly To promote art appreciation, the hotel frequently collaborates with artists and musicians to host art gallery showings and performances. They also have an in-house art consultant who gives personal art tours upon request. The hotel management said that around 50 guests have paid for their lodging with art and so far, it's been a huge success. "Last week we had an artist who actually cried tears of happiness in our lobby," said Mattisson. "We're just glad that we're able to do what we can support some of the struggling artists out there."  The Clarion Hotel Stockholm looks incongruously smart and trim for a hotel that's supposed to house struggling artists. Mattisson said that the hotel has not planned anything for the submitted pieces yet. "It depends on how many artworks we get," he said. "What we do for now is store them in a safe place. " There's no end date for the "Room for Art" offer. The hotel hopes to make this a "permanent offer towards artists." But what if the art is bad? Really, really bad? "We don't judge the art. At all," said Mattisson. "We provide service and accommodation -- that's what we do best. You don't have to be an established artist -- you can be an upcoming artistic talent as well. If you provide us with an art work –- we'll provide you with a room." Artworks must be signed by the artist, and are limited to A4 format which must be submitted upon arrival with a Room for Art form available via the hotel's website. Ringvägen 98, Box 20025, 104 60 Stockholm; +46 8 462 10 00; www.clarionstockholm.com; unless you're Tracey Emin or somesuch, rooms start at US$125 per night. More on CNNGo: Melbourne hotels give away $20K Warhol classic read more    |
| Foreigner Street: China's obsession with wacky replicas and large bathrooms Posted: 04 Jul 2012 06:10 PM PDT by Richard Macauley Yangren Jie (洋人街), otherwise known as Foreigner Street, is a Chinese theme park open 24/7, for free. The 3.5-square-kilometer park is located in Chongqing, a sprawling city in western China also known for attempting to create the nation's first sex-themed park (which shut down amid a public outcry three weeks after it opened in 2009). Clearly, this is a city that knows its entertainment.
At Yangren Jie, the theme is "foreign" with a capital "F." Opened in 2006, it includes all the best of what ain't from China. read more    |
| Get wet with the Great Barrier Reef minke whales Posted: 04 Jul 2012 03:00 PM PDT by Michelle Wranik Each winter on the Great Barrier Reef, a rare and extraordinary wildlife encounter takes place. It's a phenomenon that happens nowhere else in the world. In fact, scientists don't know why it happens at all. During the months of June and July, between 60 and 80 dwarf minke whales come to the warm waters off Queensland's northern coast to frolic, mate and calve. Thought to be a distant cousin of the northern hemisphere minke, these agile little whales grow to a maximum of eight meters. But, unlike most timid marine mammals, they behave in a highly unusual manner - purposefully seeking out human company. read more    |
| Posted: 04 Jul 2012 11:10 AM PDT by Daisy Liu One thrill-seeker's joy is another mortal's horror. But riding a cable car is not all about vertigo sweats and dizzy spells. Cruising over sweeping views or reaching an exceptional spot can make a bad ride worthwhile. Londoners and visitors to the city -- perfect timing with the Olympics about to break -- can now hop on a cable car across the River Thames. But if city vistas are too much like old hat, here are five other great cable car rides to try.
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Six-one, 202-pound gurgitator Joey "Jaws" Chestnut won the Nathan's hot dog scarfing battle by downing 68 water-soaked hot dogs.
David Weekes' inspired idea provides the shortest cab ride to a hotel in history.
The Golden Reception Hal (sic) lays on wedding photography services. But it's chiefly a large public toilet.| You are subscribed to email updates from CNNGo.com To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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