Hotel Metropole, Monte Carlo

The Hotel Metropole, located just steps away from Casino square, was recently intensive refurbished by the renowned French Decorator Jacques Garcia, in a fresh Mediterranean dcor, combining classic elegance with modern designs. Ideal accommodations, for business or leisure guests, that seek space are offered with king-sized bedrooms and suites, many with terraces. A palace hotel with the times. The ideal urban resort in the heart of the heart of this vibrant Principality.
It has 170 rooms and suites, all equipped with color and cable television, PAY-TV and video on demand, Internet, direct-dial telephone, minibar, air-conditioning, and marble bathroom with Jacuzzi.

The Metropole Palace also has a beautiful heated sea-water swimming pool, a restaurant serving French gourmet cuisine as well as Lebanese and Italian specialties, a magnificent shopping center with 80 prestigious boutiques, and an underground car park for 600 cars. The hotel provides six conference and banqueting rooms, including a conference center situated on the top floor of the hotel. The Salon Edouard VII can be divided into two separate areas, accommodating up to a maximum of 250 people. Equipped with the latest state-of-the-art technology, it also offers a stunning view of the Casino Gardens and the Mediterranean Sea. This makes it the ideal venue for meetings, conferences, seminars, art exhibitions, banquets and auctions, as well as such events as gala dinners, and a variety of fashion shows. It is a perfect setting for outdoor cocktail parties and al-fresco dining on its terrace on beautiful summer evenings.

Source : Expedia.ca

The World's Best Places to Live 2008

Mercer Consulting's annual roundup of the global cities with the best quality of life is here, and Zurich once again comes out on top. The best place in the U.S.? Honolulu at No. 28.

New York, London, and Paris are internationally renowned cities but consultants at Mercer Consulting have picked Zurich, Switzerland, as the best place to live in the company's annual survey.

Consultants rated each city on a variety of factors including the level of traffic congestion, air quality, and personal safety reported by expatriates living in more than 600 cities worldwide. In the top 25, U.S. cities such as San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago were all edged out by Geneva, Switzerland, Vancouver, B.C., and Auckland, New Zealand. The highest-scoring U.S. city is Honolulu, which came in at No. 28.
Still, Mercer acknowledges that cities with a high quality of life are not necessarily the most exciting. "There are a lot of 'sleepy' towns that got high ratings," said Rebecca Powers, a principal consultant in human capital for the company. "But if you were to judge them on something like nightlife, there are some that probably wouldn't have rated as high."

No. 1: Zurich, Switzerland

Mercer score: 108

2007 rank: No. 1

GDP: $300.9 billion (2007 est.)
Population: 7,581,520 (total country); 347,517 (total city)

Life expectancy: 80.74 years

No. 2 (tie): Vienna, Austria
Mercer score: 107.9

2007 rank: No. 3

GDP: $319.7 billion (2007 est.)

Population: 8,205,533 (total country); 1,825,287 (total city)

Life expectancy: 79.36 years

No. 2 (tie): Geneva, Switzerland

Mercer score: 107.9

2007 rank: No. 2

GDP: $300.9 billion (2007 est.)

Population: 7,581,520 (total country); 185,000 (total city)

Life expectancy: 80.74 years

No. 4: Vancouver, Canada

Mercer score: 107.6

2007 rank: No. 3

GDP: $1.274 trillion (2007 est.)

Population: 33,212,696 (total country); 560,000 (total city)

Life expectancy: 81.16 years

No. 5: Auckland, New Zealand

Mercer score: 107.3

2007 rank: No. 5

GDP: $112.6 billion (2007 est.)

Population: 4,173,460 (total country); 1.18 million (total city)

Life expectancy: 80.24 years

No. 6: Dusseldorf, Germany

Mercer score: 107.2

2007 rank: No. 6

GDP: $2.833 trillion (2007 est.)

Population: 82,369,548 (total country); 581,858 (total city)

Life expectancy: 79.1 years

No. 7 (tie): Munich, Germany

Mercer score: 107
2007 rank: No. 8
GDP: $2.833 trillion (2007 est.)
Population: 82,369,548 (total country); 1,332,650 (total city)
Life expectancy: 79.1 years

No. 7 (tie): Frankfurt, Germany

Mercer score: 107

2007 rank: No. 7

GDP: $2.833 trillion (2007 est.)

Population: 82,369,548 (total country); 3,700,000 (total city)

Life expectancy: 79.1 years

No. 9: Bern, Switzerland

Mercer score: 106.5

2007 rank: No. 9

GDP: $319.7 billion (2007 est.)

Population: 8,205,533 (total country); 122,178 (total city)

Life expectancy: 79.36 years

No. 10: Sydney, Australia

Mercer score: 106.3

2007 rank: No. 9

GDP: $766.8 billion (2007 est.)

Population: 20,600,856 (total country); 4,297,100 (total city)

Life expectancy: 80.73 years

Source : BusinessWeek

Tallest Building in the World

BURJ DUBAI

The final height of this tower still remains a mystery!


Computer generated image of the BURJ DUBAI

Recent picture of the Burj Dubai

Architect: Adrian Smith
Developer: Emaar Properties
The foundation is made up of 192 concrete and steel pilings more than 164 feet (50 meters) deep. They are joined by a 12-foot-thick raft upon which the skyscraper rests.
45,000 cubic meters of concrete was used in the foundation.
The hotel in the Burj Dubai is going to be an Armani-branded hotel. In keeping with Islamic custom it will have separate hours for women and men at the pool.
The footprint of this building is in the shape of a hymenocallis, a desert flower native to the area.

January, 2004: Construction begins.
20 September, 2004: The first concrete is poured for the foundation.
26 June, 2005: Gulf News reports that the estimated total cost for the Burj Dubai complex rises to US$5,500,000,000.
16 July, 2005: Construction Week magazine reports that the designers of the Burj Dubai are reconsidering their decision to use stainless steel on the exterior of the tower because prices have jumped from US$400 a ton to $2,200 in just two years.
March 23, 2006: The Associated Press reports that 2,500 construction workers rioted because of low pay and poor treatment doing an estimated US$1,000,000 damage. Thousands of construction workers at other Dubai projects also went on a sympathy strike.
April 16, 2006: AME Info reports that the Burj Dubai is going to be at least 200 stories tall, a number that turns out to be false.
September 1, 2006: Construction reaches 70 stories.
October 1, 2006: Construction reaches 75 stories.
October 31, 2006: Construction reaches 80 stores and 850 feet / 259 meters. That height makes it taller than the tallest building in Europe.
October 1, 2006: Construction reaches 75 stories.
October 31, 2006: Construction reaches 80 stores and 850 feet / 259 meters. That height makes it taller than the tallest building in Europe.
November 11, 2006: ITPBusiness reports that construction is being delayed by a shortage of exterior cladding material.
April 6, 2007: The tower reaches a record-breaking 120 stories.
July 21, 2007: This building passes Taipei 101 as the tallest building on Earth.
August 29, 2007: Passes the CN Tower in Toronto to become the world's tallest free-standing structure.
May, 2008: This building passes the KVLY Television tower in North Dakota to become the tallest man-made object on Earth.
May 20, 2008: A worker is crushed to death by an exterior panel.
May 24, 2008: A British man parachuted off of the Burj Dubai just days after it rose to a height making it the tallest man-made structure ever built. He managed to sneak past security guards and walk up more than 150 stories of stairs with all of his gear without being noticed.
June 17, 2008: Arabian Business reports that the height of this building has been increased by planners, but remains secret.
December 30, 2008: Original scheduled completion date. September, 2009: Anticipated completion date.

TRAVEL INSURANCE TIPS

When you are drooling over travel brochures and thinking about buying sun lotion for those sunny beaches that await you, be sure to add travel insurance to your shopping list. Here's are a few factors to consider:

• Unlike size, price isn't everything. The most important thing is that your travel insurance must be right for you. But this doesn't mean you can't find a bargain. Make sure the policy covers the main problems you may encounter on your travels. It should always cover the cost of cancellation and medical treatment. Make sure you are protected if your money or valuables are stolen or lost or if you miss your flight. You should also check the full range of benefits and exclusions within the policy. If you are planning any special excursions or sports then ensure they are covered. Always remember to take a copy of your policy with you.

• Book your travel insurance as soon as you can after you have booked your holiday to safeguard you if the trip is cancelled or, in certain circumstances, if you are forced to cancel yourself.

• If you are planning to take more than one trip during the year, one of the best ways in which to reduce the cost of travel insurance is to buy an annual policy as opposed to single trip cover. This also means you don't need to worry about forgetting to organise insurance for your summer holiday or any last minute weekend breaks.

• I know it seems that life is too short to read the small print on financial documents but it's better to go through it now than in a hospital bed or police station - especially if you find there is something missing or the cover starts on the wrong date.

• If you do have anything lost or stolen whilst on holiday, make sure that you obtain a report from the police – this is a condition of many policies and claims are often not covered if a report has not been obtained, especially for valuables and cash. Lots of people try to make false claims on travel insurance policies - mainly because they did not need to use the cover and so feel they 'deserve' their money back. The knock-on effect is that insurers will expect you to prove your case.

ALWAY READ THE FINE PRINT! INSURANCE BROKERS ARE OUT THERE TO MAKE MONEY OF YOU, THEY ARE NOT WORKING FOR A CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION.

Sultan of Brunei's Personal Use Airplane

This Airbus 340 aircraft was "remodeled" in Waco for the personal use of the Sultan of Brunei. Yes!!! you are not dreaming!!! the sinks are actually made out of solid gold and one of them is Lalique crystal. The Sultan bought the aircraft for a charitable amount of $100M; had it flown to Waco, brand-new, had the interior completely stripped out; and then made the folks at E-Systems (now Raytheon) install $120M worth of glittering improvements inside and outside.

EMIRATES A380

On July 29th 2008, Emirates entered into a new era of aviation with the delivery of the A380.








This giant plane is arranged in a three class configuration - 399 seats in Economy, 76 fully-flat seats in Business Class and 14 Private Suites in First Class. Interesting thing to note here is that this is only the 1st of 58 A380s that Emirates has ordered!

A list of links to news articles from different sources covering this event.

http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/UAE/233386

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/28/emirates_a380/

http://www.luxist.com/2008/07/31/first-emirates-a380-lands-in-dubai/

Airline of the Year 2007

WORLD AIRLINE AWARDS have been conducted by SKYTRAX for the past 10 years. These are the widely accepted results internationally because the results have been computed after extensive surveying of passengers.


The following is the ranking by SKYTRAX for the best overall airline for the Year 2007

1 Singapore Airlines

2 Thai Airways

3 Cathay Pacific

4 Qatar Airways

5 Qantas

6 Malaysia Airlines

7 Air New Zealand

8 China Airlines

9 Emirates

10 British Airways




The 2008 Results will be out in the next few months! :)