Archive for May, 2010

Things to Know Before Travelling to Singapore

Travel | Posted by admin
May 27 2010

There are a few things to be aware of that will make your travel to Singapore go much smoother, such as Singapore’s ‘Entry/Exit’ requirements, travel restrictions, what goods are dutiable, the best method to get cash, medical insurance and what side of the road to drive on; all are necessary in order to fully enjoy everything that Singapore can offer.

Naturally, a valid passport is required for any entry or exits from Singapore. Travelers to the region should make a note that Singapore and her neighboring countries do not allow United States citizens to enter with fewer than six months of validity remaining on their passport. Plus, United States citizens do not need a visa if their visit is for business or social purposes, and their stay is for 90 days or under. You can obtain specific information about entry requirements for Singapore at the Embassy of the Republic of Singapore, located at 3501 International Place NW, Washington, DC, or go to the Embassy of Singapore’s website to get the most up-to-date, current visa information.

Travel restrictions for any person with HIV/AIDS has been imposed by the Singapore Government. For dutiable goods, there are four types in Singapore: motor vehicles, alcoholic beverages, gasoline and tobacco. Upon entering Singapore, travellers, at any port of entry, must see an Immigration and Checkpoint Authority officer located at the ‘Red Channel’ for payments of duty, plus goods and services tax (GST) if the dutiable goods exceeds the GST relief or duty-free concessions. Don’t proceed to the ‘Green Channel’ first, this is considered an offence if you do have items to claim.

Automated teller machines (ATMs) are everywhere in Singapore and are considered the best method of obtaining cash. Bank transfers can take weeks and you can expect high surcharges to go along with the transfer. American Express and Western Union are for the most part efficient. You might check with the hotel in Singapore you are registered at to see if they offer their guests an easy way to obtain cash, but they might ask U.S. citizens to surrender their passports in lieu of surety bonds. Consider carefully whether you wish to surrender your passport rather than seek some other type of surety, especially if the passport is requested by someone who is not a government official.

Medical insurance is strongly recommended by the Department of State, so prior to traveling, contact your insurance company to see if your policy covers you overseas and if it covers you in an emergency like a medical evacuation. As for driving in Singapore, they have very well maintained roads and a great highway network. Driving is done on the left-hand side of the road. Motorists should be aware of motorcyclists and for that matter any other vehicle, because they often ignore lane markings. It’s highly recommended to use Singapore’s excellent public transportation modes.

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Mannheim Film Festival

Entertainment | Posted by admin
May 19 2010

The city that could be a celluloid version of the perfect German city of dreams, there are good reasons why film is what it is. The deep thought that reflects local notions of how a representation of an idea will play out on moving images is germane to a city born of philosophy. To consider film, after all, is to consider how time works, and how time plays on all of us. It is a difficult game, and at the end of the day, there are no winners, only those who are older.

But to consider and ponder is one thing, to visit with the intention of saving the daydreaming for later is quite another. This is the point where the city becomes its most alluring self, demonstrating what could be, at every corner, what could be. Then the glorious appeal of the hotels in Mannheim become clearly and exactly the right place to be at the moment. And there are few moments that are as ripe for philosophy, for a daydream, or for a chance to get lost in the movies while on vacation, than those found in Mannheim in November.

This is the time of year when there is the famous International FilmFestival Mannheim-Heidelberg . For ten days there are 40 films that are shown in both cities, and it is attended by 60,000 people. It is no ordinary festival at all, because there are many elegant distinguishing features to this.

It began in 1952, making this film festival second only to Berlin for the longest-running film festival. It has been around for so long because its reputation earns it the right to stay, seeing premiere works by Truffaut, Fassbinder, and Kieslowski over the years.

It has a very selective curatorial process, too, where a few thousand films are considered by the committee, picked for their excellence as well as their eligibility (they cannot have a showing at another major festival). These are honed down to 750, and of these, 40 are selected in a very thorough and time-consuming process. Excellent eyes make the selections, so that the excellent eyes that attend will not face the prospect of frustrated expectations. This is one of the cream of the crop festivals that defines film for the modern age.

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Mexico City’s Sun and Moon Pyramids Still have Significance in Today’s World

Arts & Culture | Posted by admin
May 11 2010

The Teotihuacan Pyramids , located just outside of Mexico City, Mexico, is the largest pyramidal structures built during in the pre-Columbian Americas and have been considered worthy of being inhabited by Gods and by tourists alike. Teotihuacan pyramids, a monumental city, is a thousands of years old civilization and city with wide avenues projecting up to the cardinal points of the universe, a city patterned with dwelling places and with streets that have bore witness to vast activities of people and goods coming and going in this mythical city of the lofty realm of Gods. Many Mexico City area hotels offer tours to this site, visit this page to find out more. Visitors to the pyramids will find mural paintings of mythical figures and Gods, nocturnal beings, jaguars and liquid skies.

The archaeological remnants of the city itself, plus the vestiges of fine pottery from the people of Teotihuacan’s, which are on exhibit around the world, express the past generations of peoples who inhabited this ancient city. The central ceremonial area is laid out in symbolic axes: the Pyramid of the Moon and to its side, the immense, rising stone mass of the Pyramid of the Sun; two structures that represent the duality between the creation of nature and the people who built these limestone, volcanic rock walls. At the other axes, the north-south axis – the Avenue of the Dead is where the buildings, plazas, palaces, alters and the wings of the butterfly extends to either side.

The Pyramids were abandoned, which still perplex archaeologist even today as to why, but hundreds of years later, other people named the site ‘The City of Gods’, with good reason, it was steeped in deep religious convictions centered around cycles in nature that gave directions for sowing, reaping, draughts, rainfall and a cosmology with strict phenomenological relationships expressing astronomical and calendrical aspects that was reflected in the very construction of the city. So much so, the very patterns of life, the unprecedented levels of perfection, the cycles of production, urban designs, ceremonial objects, vases and the social structure of the Teotihuacan’s are currently reflected in today’s agricultural systems and the new movement for a better urban renewal paradigm.

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