TravelCent

The Bengal Tiger

Delhi India is a major city with much to offer in the realm of cultural arts and entertainment. However, to really experience much of the natural beauty and wonders of India, a tourist may have to venture far outside the city. For those adventure seekers, willing to travel the distance and make their way through the country’s terrain, they may actually be able to see first hand one of the beautiful Bengal tigers. This is becoming less of a possibility due to the increased endangerment of this amazing species. Tourists staying in one of the five star hotels in Delhi may even explore some of the conservation efforts the country is putting forth.

The Bengal tiger is a subspecies of the well-known Siberian tiger and is known for its beautiful stripes. It is most commonly found in India and Bangladesh, although they have also been seen in parts of Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and Myanmar. It is one of the largest of the Siberian tiger subspecies and historically has been one of the most populous. These amazing animals were at one time found throughout the Indian Subcontinent, though their natural habitat has been greatly reduced due to increasing amounts of interaction with humans and technology. At this point, while most of the world’s tigers are still found in India, they are reduced to small, isolated populations, which contributes to their danger of extinction.

The diet of the Bengal tiger consists entirely of meat, which classifies them as carnivores. They eat a variety of other animals that are found in their natural habitat including water buffalo, boars, deer and antelope, among many others. Occasionally they will also consume smaller animals such as monkeys, birds and rabbits, though this is not enough to sustain their necessary daily calorie intake. Also, though infrequently, they have been known to consume other major predators as the need demands. Because humans have encroached upon their natural habitat, the Bengal tigers have been known to attack and eat humans. This should serve as a precaution to over eager tourists who may wish to get up close and personal.

Dancing in the Streets

Street Dance is an umbrella term used to describe dance styles that evolve outside of dance studios. Competitive street dancing started in the early 1970s among the New York City gangs, such as the Zulu Kings and the Rock Steady Crew. The street dance movement know as ‘King Tut’ uses the head and arm movements of the Egyptians dance style depicted in the hieroglyphic of Egypt. Break Dancing, dancers spin the body on the head, back, hands and performing aerial dives and complicated fast footwork, started in the Bronx and grew out of the graffiti art and rapping culture. The aims of break dancing which developed control and coordination of acrobatics and athletic feats either solo, with a partner or in a group to demonstrate the superiority over rival gangs. Break Dancing exploded on to the world market not to long after the late 70’s and became popular among non-gang members and any American traveler could witness this phenomena being performed on the train platforms in India all the way to witnessing break dancer as young as eight perform right outside one of Singapore Luxury Hotels to earn a living.

Break Dancing evolved to what is called ‘Body Popping‘ with terms like The Turtle and The Beetle Crawl. Body Popping consist of a jerky articulation of isolated parts of the body creating a chain of movements which appear to ripple. A mechanical effect is created by tensing the muscles in a stiff body; the exacting movements are small and sharp. Today’s street dancing is commonly used specifically for the many hip-hop dances and funk dances and are no longer considered gang related. The popularity among the younger generations have taken street dance to a whole new level. There is now an American television show almost dedicated to the street dancer called ‘So You Think You Can Dance?‘.  Which has brought legitimacy to the once gangster related activity and is now being taught in the better known dancing schools and studios.

Find Dining a must

My parents, no matter what their finances were, no matter if they were in a fight, always went out ‘Fine Dining‘  every Friday night. This is the one activity they would not give up. Even if they didn’t enjoy each others company for the evening, they enjoy the socializing with their favorite waitstaff, favorite Maitre’d and favorite bartender. My mom would tell them one of her new dirty jokes and my dad would flirt with all the females.

No matter where they were in the world, from Singapore Fine Dining to the obscure small towns like Harlan, Kentucky Fine Dinning, they would always make instant friends with the entire staff of the restaurant they were patronizing, by inviting the staff to come by the bar they would go to after eating and offering to by them drinks. My mother, when she and my father visited a friend in a small town in Germany, made instant friends with the Burgermeister who was dinning next to them at a Fine Dinning restaurant because she invited him to go for drinks afterwards at his favorite watering hole. Today, they still correspond back and forth via the mail.

It was a rare opportunity for me to be able to join them, when I was old enough, and witness how my parents transformed right before my very eyes from the disciplinarians of the house into the most wonderful and delightful people anyone would ever like to meet. My parents were fun to hang around with and truly a revelation I will always treasure along with my friends who were also invited a few times and treated to a night of dressing up to Fine Dine, drink and laugh all night long. Surprisingly, my friends always ask me how my parents are doing and if they’ll ever be invited to go out with them again. Surprising because they are what you’d call non-conforming agitators, but for some reason, getting a chance to dress up and go out for the evening with my folks made them forget about their resolve and just enjoy. I will forever be grateful to my parents showing me a side of life that I rarely get a chance to do, Fine Dine and for letting me see that they are some much more than my parents, they are a gift to treasure and enjoy.

The Frogs in New York City

There is a new exhibit that opened recently at the American Museum of Natural History,  located downtown conveniently close to many of the four star New York hotels. The curator of the exhibit is the herpetologist, Christopher J. Raxworthy.  His focus has been on the amphibians and the reptiles of the old world, with particular attention paid to the Chameleon species.  He has worked in Madagascar, Morocco, Senegal and Vietnam, just to name a few.  He has helped with the conservation and the protection of the different species and has been responsible for the discovery of more than one hundred and fifty amphibian species.  He has published his findings and has significantly contributed to the literature published.  He received his education at University of London, and at the Open University in Keynes, and has been lecturing at the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar.  He joined the team in New York in 2000.

The exhibit at the museum includes specimens of the many different frogs, most are more brilliantly colored than the most spectacular birds on the planet.  The frogs in New York are from all reaches of the earth, as they adapt to the various climates and thrive in almost any terrain.  Their strategies for survival are examined in the exhibit, many tactics for survival in the species range from incredible to down right bizarre.  For more than one hundred years, the researchers at the museum have been collecting data and performing research with the hopes of preservation and the conservation of the more endangered of the species.  This has become important as of late, as the conditions created by humans and the development of the previous natural habitats is causing many of the species to just simply disappear.  The museum offers many shows and exhibits throughout the summer of 2009,  and oddly enough, these frogs are just fascinating.

Saving the Bronx Zoo and the Brooklyn Aquarium

In a testimony before the NYC Council last week, John Calvelli stated the importance of the New York Aquarium and the Bronx Zoo, to the economy of the city of Manhattan, the businesses and the NY hotels that benefit from the tourism generated by these two parks provide.  Calvelli is the Executive VP for the Wildlife Conservation Society.  He was attempting to secure future funding of these incredible institutions.  The Committee on Cultural Affairs had recently announced plans to cut a significant amount of the funding now being offered to the the cultural organizations and institutions of New York.  He stressed that it is exactly these institutions that make this be best city of the world.  New Yorkers are employed by these institutions and the museums and the zoos of the city offer inspiration and education to the children and the people of the Big Apple.

Big and fantastic dreams are what this city has been built on and what it offers to not only those living on the island, but to those traveling internationally throughout the years.  He stated that the cultural attractions and institutions are part of the genetic make-up of the city, the DNA.  He stated that facts, that both the Aquarium and the Bronx Zoo are located in the neighborhoods of the city that are for the most part under-served and under privileged.  These two attractions bring in more than four million visitors a year, pumping dollars into the neighborhoods economies.  Both also offer days of free admission and those who may not be able to afford it, can experience both parks.  Between the two, they employ many of the young people of the Bronx, as well as offering employment opportunities to the elderly, seasonal workers, and those on disability.  More people travel to the Aquarium in Brooklyn, than travel to any other institution on the island.  In financial times such as these, it is the culture and the arts that bring people together, and Calvelli hopes that his testimony will have an impact on the committee’s final decision.

World Comedy Film Festival

World travelers on the lookout for the best Bangkok hotel will have so much to choose from.  This city offers a surplus of luxury and comfort.  The population of nearly 15 million, it is estimated, is extremely diverse, and helping to continue to feed the city’s reputation as one, if not, the Asian hotspot.  There are gorgeous city views, fantastically sprawling neighborhood, and a tropical climate that is very pleasing.  With all of these things going for it, it is also one of the most metropolitan centers in Asia.  This brings tremendous cultural innovations to compliment the traditional forms, and there is something to offer to everyone who passes through here.

The Bangkok Film Festival and the World Film Festival here already have splendid reputations in the international film community as being premiere venues for showing the best new work on the screen.  2009 is the kick-off year for Bangkok’s World Comedy Film Festival.  This will feature over 60 international comedy films.  There will be selections of Asian films, and a roughly equal selection of films from Europe, the Americas, and Africa.  There is also a special segment of the festival featuring some of the best of Thai comedy from the last three decades.  The festival director this year is Nakorn Veerapravati from the Federation of National Film Association, who is acting as co-producer of the festival along with the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Under the title, Laughter’s Beyond Frontiers, the first World Comedy Film Festival is expected to stimulate the economy after recent tough times, and help to bring foreign investors to the local arts community.  It is also expected that the festival will help relieve stress for the festival audiences, as only comedy can do, and to bring feelings of pleasantness between the locals and the international audiences.