Showing results by publisher "----RM Alexander" in Travel & Tourism

The result of of more than a decade of meticulous research, Before the Birds Sang Words is a scholarly, fascinating and playful deep dive into the creation of Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room, the timeless Audio-Animatronic musical revue that’s been delighting Disneyland audiences for over sixty years. Detailing not only the genesis and evolution of the revolutionary attraction, this is a story that also explores the contributing influences and passions of the man who spearheaded it—in turn becoming one of Walt Disney’s most personal projects.

For most, the name 'Lucky Plaza' alone is inseparable from its association with the local Filipino community; to say the words 'Lucky Plaza' is to mean 'Little Manila'. It's a place most Singaporeans would rarely think to visit, other than as another place to eat at when in Orchard Road (and even then, this is limited to either the ayam penyet restaurants or the famous yong tau foo joint on the sixth floor). But going around with a guide makes all the difference.

Spend some time exploring Singapore and you are bound to stumble upon a tree shrine. They are not always the largest trees or the most exotic, but you know them when you see them. White Styrofoam packets surround their gnarly trunks, and you might notice the distinct odour of incense, rising from a red wooden altar. What are the origins of these tree shrines? Why do people worship these seemingly ordinary trees? What is its connection to 4-D?

Travel and all that means...Let’s talk about what inspires you, where you want to go, and how you hang on to those memories when you get home.

Seit 18 Jahren tourt die Weltmusik-Band über den Globus, hat zweimal den ECHO bekommen, und Tango gehörte schon immer zu ihrem Repertoire. Aber jetzt wollen sie es wissen: Wie geht argentinischer Tango wirklich? Im Januar 2014 beziehen die vier Musiker von Quadro Nuevo zusammen mit dem jungen Pianisten Chris Gall ihre Zimmer in Buenos Aires: Ein altes Stadthotel mit Tanzsaal im belebten Viertel Boedo. Täglich wird in der Mittagshitze mehrere Stunden geprobt, später ausgegangen, Live-Musik, guter Wein, jeden Abend ein Konzert, eine Tanz-Milonga, mindestens eine.

If you announce that you are going to Iran, someone will certainly advise you not to go. Ignore them – this is one of the most exciting countries on Earth. There is much to discover, and explore in Iran, not only cultural and historical sites but mountains, deserts and wilderness. Above all, this is a place defined by the hospitality and curiosity of Iranians despite a totalitarian regime. According to Lonely Planet's Atlas of Adventure – "it might well be the friendliest country you ever visit".

Die schönsten Geschichten liegen hinter der Gefahr. Direkt dahinter. Wie hoch ist das Risiko, von einer herunterfallenden Kokosnuss erschlagen zu werden? Wie krault der Urlauber gegen die Strömung zum Strand zurück? Was tut man, wenn man von einem Hunderudel überfallen wird? Und warum sollte man den nächsten Flieger nach Hause nehmen, wenn man im Ausland Zahnschmerzen bekommt? Weltenbummler und Spiegel-Bestsellerlistenautor Helge Timmerberg verrät seine besten Tipps und Tricks von A wie Anfängerfehler bis Z wie Zahnarzt. Dieses Buch gehört in jede Reisetasche, denn man sollte nicht eher aus dem Flieger steigen, ehe man es durchgelesen hat, sicher ist sicher.

Südtirol - das ist ein Paradies für Berg- und Wintersportler, Erholungsuchende und Feinschmecker, im Sommer wie im Winter. Denn hier, zwischen den Ortler Alpen und den steil aufragenden Felstürmen der "Drei Zinnen" in den Sextner Dolomiten, wechseln sich alpines und mediterranes Ambiente auf engstem Raum ab. Es regnet weniger als in den umliegenden Alpenregionen und die Sonne scheint länger. Im milden Klima der nördlichsten Provinz Italiens gedeihen hervorragende Weine.

Bei aller Geschichtsträchtigkeit fasziniert am Elsass vor allem die liebliche Anmut der Landschaft, sein besonderer Menschenschlag und eine spezielle Art der Kultur, wie sie wohl nur Grenzregionen hervorbringen können. Die einzigartige Topografie des "schönen Gartens" zwischen Vogesen und Rhein, wie schon der Sonnenkönig Ludwig XIV. das Elsass bezeichnete, weist zahllose Orte auf, die sämtliche Reize zu vereinen scheinen.

Si Wooler, trainer to social media’s most famous fearful dog, Sophie from Romania, unlocks the heart of the special relationship we have with dogs. He explores how over millennia, they have inveigled their way into our homes and hearts and evolved to live alongside us. He explains how dogs learn (and why they sometimes seem immune to our efforts to train them), how they communicate and what influences the powerful bond they form with their people.

In March 2022, Michael Palin travelled the length of the River Tigris through Iraq to get a sense of what life is like in a region of the world that once formed the cradle of civilisation, but that in recent times has witnessed turmoil and appalling bloodshed. It was a journey of sharp, often brutal contrasts. At one moment he would be exploring the old streets of Baghdad or the ancient ruins of Babylon. At the next he would be visiting the war-torn city of Mosul, or learning about the horrific Speicher massacre in Tikrit.

The two-and-a-half-year journey spanned the mountains and deserts of former Soviet Republics, Afghanistan on the fearful brink of foreign withdrawal, and remote corners of the Congolese jungle. From hiking through sandstorms in the Gobi desert to barreling down rapids in a dugout canoe, this perilous adventure, and Charlie’s many encounters along the way, gives insight into the past, present, and future of often-overlooked places during periods of great change.

Gavin has been a wildlife photographer for over 30 years. During that time he's lurked in the shadows of some of the world's remotest places in order to capture footage of the animal kingdom's finest: prides of lions, silverback gorillas, capuchin monkeys, brown bears, grey whales, penguins, mosquitoes - you name it he's filmed it.

In the heart of China's Sichuan province, amid the terraced hills of the Yangtze River valley, lies the remote town of Fuling. Like many other small cities in this ever-evolving country, Fuling is heading down a new path of change and growth, which came into remarkably sharp focus when Peter Hessler arrived as a Peace Corps volunteer, marking the first time in more than half a century that the city had an American resident.

American-born Paul Theroux had lived in England for 11 years when he realized he'd explored dozens of exotic locations without discovering anything about his adopted home. So, with a knapsack on his back, he set out to explore by walking and by short train trips. The result is a witty, observant and often acerbic look at an ever eccentric assortments of Brits in all shapes and sizes.

A few years after quitting his job to follow an ill-advised dream of becoming a guide on the Colorado River, Kevin Fedarko was approached by his friend, the National Geographic photographer Pete McBride, with a vision as bold as it was harebrained. Together, they would embark on an end-to-end traverse of the Grand Canyon, a journey that, McBride promised, would be “a walk in the park.” Against his better judgment, Fedarko agreed to the scheme. The ensuing ordeal, which lasted more than a year, revealed a place that was richer, and far more complex, than anything the two men had imagined.

After half a century of travel, from Ethiopia to Tibet, from Belfast to Jerusalem, Pico Iyer asks himself what kind of paradise can ever be found in a world of unceasing conflict. In a spectacular journey, both inward and outward, Iyer roams from crowded mosques in Iran to a film studio in North Korea, from a holy mountain in Japan to the sometimes spooky emptiness of the Australian outback.

After years of watching Kenyan athletes win the world's biggest races, Adharanand Finn set out to discover just what it was that made them so fast - and to see if he could keep up. Packing up his life he moved from Devon to Iten, in Kenya, to eat with, interview, sleep beside and - most importantly – run with, some of the greatest runners in the world. In the distance rests his dream, to join the best of the Kenyan athletes in an epic first marathon across the Kenyan plains.

In 1977, while she was still in her twenties, Robyn Davidson set off with a dog and four camels to cross 1,700 miles of Australian desert to the sea. The undertaking would make her world-famous. What sets a young woman off on a path like this – thrilling, but often dangerous and lonely? What kept her walking, and what had she left behind her that meant that she could not look back? In Unfinished Woman, Davidson embarks on another journey into uncharted territory: the past.

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