Hong Kong: useful info

After 5 days in Shanghai, we continued our trip to Hong Kong. Here's some useful information that I wish I had known before leaving and that I learned in HK:

Shanghai: useful info

This trip marked my first (and hopefully not last) visit to the Far East. Here's some useful information that I wish I had known before leaving and that I learned in my trip:

Travel planning

I've been a bad blogger lately, truth is I have been planning my coming trip to Asia. Since we won't have much time there we want to make the most out of it so I've been filling my head (and smartphone) with all kinds of information: maps, sights, restaurants, transportation, guides, weather, etc. Thankfully, there are many websites and apps available for us traveling control freaks, some of which I have already written about here, but since they keep them coming, here are the ones I've been using lately when traveling and travel planning:

Instagram shots

I had turned my Instagram profile private since they decided to make Instagram available from computers. I liked the idea of my Instagram shots being available only to those who also shared their shots on the app. I, however, changed my mind and went public again so if you want you can add me (my profile name is simarik3)!

'Til then, here are some of the shots I like the most:

Delicious dinner with ciauscolo from Le Marche and Südtirol Pinot Noir

Milan's duomo, always beautiful

Mexican beach

I miss Summer!

Street artist in Milan

the Eternal City

new book!

Watching Italy-Denmark at San Siro stadium

Oysters by the Rhein at Düsseldorf

The nice room at Radisson Düsseldorf

Carrie's house in NYC

my beautiful but painful boots

Candy skull for mexican day of the dead

Mexican cocktail - vuelve a la vida

Cupcake Maker

I never told you but when we visited Dubai we got a great thing: the Lakeland cupcake maker!
You might remember my newly found passion for baking cupcakes, well, this nice item makes it a bit easier: it doesn't actually mix all ingredients  for you (that would be really easy right?), it just bakes them, so as soon as you have your mixture ready, you turn it on, line the cupcake papers and pour the mixture, then you close the lid and let them bake for about 15-20 minutes, then you can open it and see if they're ready (with a toothpick), otherwise you can close the lid again and let them bake for some more minutes. Then you still have to prepare the frosting and decorate them but that's the fun part. What I like about the cupcake maker is that, since I'm not very skilled with baking or using the oven, I used to burn the top of the cupcakes but with the cupcake maker I don't have to worry about that! It also comes with a nice recipe booklet.

Italo, competition has arrived

Since the end of April 2012, Trenitalia, the Italian State-owned railways, were introduced to their competitors: Italo, the new high-speed railway company owned by a group of Italian entrepreneurs, leaded by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Ferrari's president.

The brain of a Blogger

Hi there!
I just had to share with you this great Infograph (you know how much I like these things) from Infolinks about the brain of a blogger. Do you recognize yourself in it? I do! Creating and keeping a blog (especially trying to keep it cool and interesting) is really hard, also when, as in my case, you don't have a lot of knowledge about blogger, html codes, widgets, etc. but it's a great hobby, so, here's an infograph of what's going on in my head:

Here are the enlargements that you can use as a step by step guide to blogging:

We are on Google Currents!

First of all, what is Google Currents?
Google Currents is a new mobile app that lets you enjoy free online magazines and other content optimized for your Android or Apple phones and tablets, allowing you to intuitively navigate between words, pictures and video on large and small screens alike, even if you’re offline.

Techie Traveler

I'm spending a lot of time on Pinterest, if you have not yet discovered this handy website, check out this post. So, while browsing on Pinterest, I found this cool infographic created by Lab42 (found on Mashable). It explains graphically how technology and social media are changing our travel experiences.

Bigger version here

I divided it in parts and here are my comments:

Instagram

Yes, as soon as Instagram became available for Android I downloaded it. That was the only app I've always envied from Apple. As you know, it is a photo sharing app where you can upload your photos, change some features and apply filters in order to make them look like Polaroid or Instamatic pictures, then share it with other Instagram users who can "like" it and add comments. As you probably also know, it was just acquired by Facebook, who knows if we'll see any changes in the future but right now this app is really successful, if not, ask the more than 1 million users (like me) who downloaded it within 12 hours of its launch on the Android Market (or Google Play, as it's now called).

Milan's Design Week report

So, finally the sun came back to Milan last weekend, and the timing couldn't have been better, the weekend of the Fuorisalone (that's Milan Design Week in case you missed my last post)!
Anyhow, after a looong walk from downtown we got to Tortona area at lunch time, what better way to start our tour than a good tuna salad bagel from California Bakery's new location in Via Tortona 28. A street cart was giving away RedBulls so we had one which "gave us wings" to start :)

New Nespresso machines

First stop, Nespresso space, there was a light instalment on walls made of Nespresso capsules which was nothing special, then coffee tasting (more caffeine for our bodies! we might have gone a bit Cornholio!) and presentation of the new coffee machines which looked fantastic (retro design).

App watch: Foodspotting

Any respectable foodie must have this app, especially a traveling foodie.

Foodspotting is social networking applied to food, its motto is "Food is meant to be shared" and so, instead of recommending restaurants to your contacts, why not share and recommend also the dishes you tasted?
When I'm looking for a new restaurant, I want to know how the dishes look, how big (or ridiculously small) the portions are, especially while traveling to new places where you don't know how the local specialties look like.


Foodspotting was a great discovery and it's so simple to use: you just have to take a photo of your dish, upload it to foodspotting and share it (including hashtags to make it easier to find, like #pasta or #gelato). It is also integrated with Instagram.

So, if you are in a new place or feel like trying a new restaurant, log in to your mobile app (both Android and Apple) and browse the dishes of the restaurants near you, you'll surely find something delicious!
You can follow my findings on Foodspotting at: http://www.foodspotting.com/tfoodie

It's an App World

So today's post is dedicated to technology. As a 21st. Century traveler, my world got better thanks to technology. The Internet, smartphones, digital travel guides, ebooks, devices with built-in cameras, you name it: technology has saved us a lot of luggage space. Imagine my carry on bag a couple of years ago: camera, travel guide, book, map, mobile, travel documents, passport, etc. and imagine my carry on today: my Galaxy Tab & my passport!
I love my Samsung tablet, I can use it as a phone, e-book reader, computer, etc. and I can store lots of apps useful for my travels. It has an Android operating system (I'm not an Apple fan), built-in camera and external SD card for storage.
So here's my top ten of the best free apps that you can download for your Android:
1. Google Maps: this one actually came with the device, it's good when you have an internet connection, otherwise it won't detect your position or load any maps.
2. Trip Advisor: I don't book anything before looking it over on Trip Advisor so the app is a must. It features almost everything that is on the website: reviews, forums, etc.
3. Kindle for Android: I love to have something to read on planes, trains, hotel rooms, etc. so being able to bring even 10 books without adding a gram to my carry-on is one of the many things that make me happy. Kindle doesn't need an internet connection but be sure to load your books before leaving home.
4. TripIt:  (free version) you can keep your travel itinerary, booking codes and even maps and weather forecast for your destination.
5. Skype: If there's wi-fi around you, Skype is all you need to keep in touch with family and friends (and if you have Android 2.3 or higher and a front-facing camera, you can even show them where you are)
6. Booking: one of the best websites for hotel bookings I know. Even if I normally book my hotels well in advance, it is useful when I'm planing them.
7. Memoires: to keep track of the places I visit.  It's kind of a travel diary.
8. Skyscanner: like Booking, I mostly use it for travel planning, when looking for flight routes and prices.
9. Trains Timetable IT: Best train timetable app for Italian trains
10. Guidepal travel guides: I haven't tried many but they have the essential info a travel guide must have, including offline maps.
*Bonus: Evernote: I use Evernote for everything, even grocery shopping. What I normally do is create documents with all the useful info I'll need (addresses, explanations, opening hours, images and maps) before leaving, and Evernote keeps it there. And if (G*d forbid) I run out of battery, I can access it from any computer through the website.
Also, depending on where you are headed to, you can use more location specific apps, for instance, this autumn I've visited some European countries and I found an app that had metro, street and rail maps of all the cities I visited and even timetables, the app is called Öffi, have a look, it's great. You can of course find all these apps in the Android Market.
The only bummer is that for most apps you will need internet connection so you might want to use wi-fi to avoid huge roaming charges, keep that in mind!

Update: It's news of these days that a man supposedly crossed the border to Canada by showing a copy of his passport scanned on his iPad... I wouldn't try it now but hopefully in the future we'll also have e-passports!

My travel bag

Xmas holidays are around the corner and this year I'll be spending it with my family in Copenhagen!
Here's what I'll be bringing as my carry-on:
- Passport, obviously
- my great Samsung Galaxy Tab (acts as my travel guide, ebook reader, camera and document holder)
- sunglasses (I don't think I'll be needing them a lot, but who knows?)
- sleep mask and socks for the plane
- leopard print scarf (my new travel must!)
- a black beanie to keep my head warm
- some beauty must-brings