Shopping at Sawgrass Mills Mall
By: Bill Morgan

The Sawgrass Mills Mall is one of the highlight attractions of Sunrise, Florida. It is the biggest shopping mall in the entire state of Florida – boasting over 350 stores and outlets. Visitors can shop at high-end retailers like Nordstrom Rack, Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th and Neiman Marcus Last Call. So go watch a movie, play at the arcade, and eat great food at the Sawgrass Mills Mall. Located at 120801 West Sunrise Blvd, the Sawgrass Mills Mall is 15 miles from the Fort Lauderdale International Airport and 30 miles from the Miami Airport. It is open seven-day a week and closes only on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Many of the hotels in Sunrise, Florida, offer cool services and coupons associated with the Sawgrass Mills Mall. Some of them are: The Crown Plaza, the Holiday Inn Express, the Plantation Hotel & Conference Center and the Hyatt Bonaventure. Be sure to ask your hotel about their special promotions. Movie goers can visit the big screen at Regal 23 Cinemas, located inside the Sawgrass Mills Mall. Afterwards, check out the amazing food court. Good luck choosing from over 32 restaurants – including Cajun Grill, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, the Cheesecake Factory, Popeye’s, Japan Café, Ben & Jerry’s and Starbucks Coffee. Women with young children can visit the mall’s many baby changing stations and some of the Kids’ Soft Play areas. The Sawgrass Mills Mall offers an unforgettable shopping experience amongst its 350 stores. You will find everything you need -- like accessories, arts & crafts, books, children’s clothes, tobacco, health and beauty items, home furnishings, jewelry, luggage, men and women’s clothing, electronics, music, video games and much more. The Sawgrass Mills Mall also has a United States Post Office, a full salon and spa, and a Foreign Currency Exchange. Visit www.simon.com for more shopping information.

Beijing's Luxury Hotels For Olympic Tourists
By: Gregory Smyth

The Beijing Olympics have now begun - all the excitement and anticipation of the past four years or more has come to a head, especially for the Chinese. Before the Games, China was warned of a likely shortfall of accommodation space during the Olympics, and hundreds of Chinese businesses looking to capitalize on the excellent opportunity built new hotels. However, there are plenty of rooms still available, and you could grab a luxury hotel room in Beijing at a very reasonable price if you act quickly. Beijing had some seven years notice of the impending Olympic Games. They won the right to host the games in 2001, giving them several years to make up for an expected accommodation shortfall in the city. Administration officials estimated that around 450,000 to 500,000 visitors would inundate Beijing for the Games, with a further 1.2 million to 1.6 million native Chinese visitors coming to the city from other regions and centers. With around 660,000 beds available in Beijing currently, you would expect that the city would be packed to the rafters. However, it is still possible to find hotel rooms in the city, and they are being sold at excellent prices to those travelling to China for the latter part of the Olympics. Part of the reason for this is an erroneous perception in the international community, of a city filled to bursting point with tourists on top of an already large native population. In fact, the government has put its considerable resources to work in coordinating and organizing the city to be tenable and manageable for Olympic visitors. Thousands of tourists, though, will take advantage of the incorrect perceptions of many in the next two weeks, as they are able to stay in luxury hotels in Beijing at budget-friendly prices for the Olympics. Shangri-La is one such chain where you'll find luxury hotel rooms in Beijing at unexpected price tags. The chain actually has two locations, in the west and north west of the city. These hotels are close to full, yet still have some space available. The staff and the impeccable service are one of the chain's major selling points, in a country where the government sponsored star-rating system does not have minimum service standards, and the ratings only cover facilities. The health club at Shangri-La Beijing has a sauna and solarium, as well as all the usual facilities. Once you have been inspired by watching the athletes, you can imitate them - to the best of your abilities! Shangri-La also has lovely lush gardens, in the middle of a very industrial city, and offers easy access to Olympic facilities via the third and fourth ring roads. The Kerry Center hotel is another that offers easy access to Olympic venues, and luxury surroundings as well as great service. The hotel has free in-room broadband access, and executive rooms offer full home-style bathroom facilities as well as little luxuries like CD players. In a twist of individuality, there is a rooftop track for running and inline skating, as well as indoor basketball, tennis and badminton courts. If you are looking to book a hotel room in Beijing for business reasons connected to the Olympic Games, then China World hotel will be the hotel of choice. The impeccable service aligns well with business expectations, and the facilities are a match for the personality of the hotel. A new oxygen chamber in the health club, as well as a golf simulator, three indoor tennis clubs and an aromatherapy spa make the China World hotel a great choice for keeping your mind and body in shape while visiting for the Games. Now that the Olympics have begun, it is a great opportunity to travel to Beijing and stay in luxury hotels that don't have Olympian price tags.

Brazilian Beaches: Devotee ecstasy
By: Roberto Bell

Beautiful pallid sands and cool turquoise bluish green waters are not the only factors that make Brazilian beaches the most loved all over the world. At any time of the year, you can find yourself getting a elegant sunburn or revelry the night away. Brazil has a plethora of beaches that can anyone into a beach bum. Long coastlines dotted with attractive cafe's and long hours exhausted trying out water sports makes the Brazilian beaches a most sought after target amongst all beach lovers. Copacabana Beach: This Brazilian beach is a hot spot especially for the New Years twilight. Copacabana is situated in the southern area of Rio de Janeiro. Its beauty is improved with the historic forts that are seen at this Brazilian beach. Copacabana also draws a reputation for being known as one of the best beaches in the world. A fun time at Copacabana beach would mean loads of fun in the sun with games such as volleyball. Ipanema Beach: Located in the Southern area of Rio de Janeiro, Ipanema beach is a mixture of different civilization. This beach like all Brazilian beaches present white sands and loads of games and fun. A amble down the sandy shores would reveal people playing games such as beach volleyball, football etc. Pipa Beach: It is located in the state of Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil. Pipa magnetize people because of its fine white sand and cliffs that offer a gorgeous view of the place. Pipa has a vast number of fine restaurants nightclubs. Ponta Verde Beach: This beach is located in Maceio in the city of Alagoas. Ponta Verde also remains to be the most regular beach of Brazil. This beach is a well-liked spot because of the reefs, which contain tiny ponds that form during low surge. This is also most frequented because of a certain part of land that development out of the sea. This land is covered entirely with a green cover. Toque Toque Grande: The Toque Toque Grande beach is located in the metropolis of Sao Sebastiao in Brazil. The island is quite unoccupied by people. It's an ideal location for those wanting some isolation and love scuba pitching. Jericoacoara Beach: This beach is known for offering some of the most spectacular views in Brazil. It proves to be an perfect spot for surfing.

Great Sailing Vacation in Hawaii

Hawaii is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. Its capital is Honolulu on the island of Oahu. The most recent census puts Hawaii's population at around 1.22 million.Although some said that Hawaii's sailing vacations are slightly expensive, it is worth it when it comes to ultimate comfort especially if you decided to get a crewed boat. This is because the crewed boat will ensure that everything will be handled by the charter that you have chosen unlike when you go on all by yourself through a bareboat. The Happy Weather People who have been into Hawaii sailing vacations would agree that the most enjoyable part of the whole trip is the tropical weather offered by Hawaii. The place is considered to be one of the America people's greatest natural treasures both for tourists and locals. Here, majority of the guests are foreigners that flock the islands and sands to escape the busy city life. Hawaii is composed of eight major islands and a network of more than 100 islands and islets located all around the island chain that is located in the Pacific Ocean. Being in a chain that is home to some of the most unpredictable waters on Earth, the islands of Hawaii are most sought after to visit because they are truly unique. Because of its subtropical climate, Hawaii enjoys the best of both worlds - the good and the worst of it. The tropical islands are home to some of the world's best white sand beaches, because of the mild temperate weather almost all throughout the year revelers can enjoy the sun, sand and surf. But since it is part of the Pacific's unpredictable waters, storms can hit its hardest every now and then. Still on a good day, the sun shines almost all day long so there's no need for jackets and heavy coats.For people looking who are planning the perfect vacation, weather is the number one factor to take into account. Aside from nice weather, Hawaii is also synonymous to a place where people could enjoy water sports of all kinds like snorkeling, wreck diving, underwater scuba, surfing, or just basking in the sun. This gives the feeling of relaxation to the tired mind and rejuvenation to the burdened body. And because water has natural healing properties and the most common healing agent, people do more than flock the islands of Hawaii to fill their need to get away.The Hawaiian weather is also good for those who want a good tan because the sun shines here just enough to cook but not enough to burn. If you are on a Hawaii sailing vacation, it is the best time to get the greatest tan of your life without worrying that you will get sunburns. Just make sure that before you get exposed, apply a considerable amount of sunscreen to protect your skin from too much UV rays due to prolonged exposure. The Best OptionIf you are planning to indulge into Hawaii sailing vacations, yacht charters are the best options for you. Through a yacht charter, you can enjoy sailing vacation in a tropical paradise. Through a yacht charter, you can sail around the most gorgeous coastlines out there. Opting for Hawaii sailing vacations would ensure that you would enjoy that balmy breeze of the tropical island by lying barely dressed on the deck of the yacht. From here, you can watch great surfers as they do their signature and acrobat moves. You can also get a good view of the huge waves as they go back and forth across the dock.Aside from great sea view, you can also get a good view of some majestic sceneries and landscapes along the way.

Vietnam travel from Hanoi to Halong Bay

By: Footprint

Travel in march to Vietnam, 2nd March, Dragged myself out of bed, with Sarah’shelp, and just made it to the Kangaroo Café for 8.30am- I felt like I was dying. You name it, stomach ache,headache, arse ache the works! Slept on the bus mostof the way to Ha Long bay, which Sarah was pleased aboutas it meant I wasn’t harping on about how crappy Ifelt and she could read her book in peace! I managedto force down some dinner en-route, which turned outto be a big mistake - I won’t go into detail. We setsail on a boat out of Ha Long city bound for the bay,the scenery here is just stunning. Legend has it aDragon made the 2000 or so Islands by whipping themout of the sea bed with his tail – if you believe thatyou’ll believe anything! We visited several caves cutinto the limestone by the sea and they really wereimpressive, some even had resident colonies of batsroosting in the roof. Again, these had been made byDragons – however, they must have been out orsomething when we got there because we didn’t see any.This was possibly a good thing as my ‘trots’ were sobad by this time I doubt I’d have been able to runaway anyhow. We cruised the bay all afternoon, therewas a low lying mist which really set an atmosphereabout the place. By nightfall we’d reached a quietnatural harbour in, we ate on aboard (not meunfortunately – I was downstairs ramming imodium downmy throat!) and then slept on the boat which wasreally great.Travel in march to Vietnam, We woke around 7.30 amafter a humid night on the boat. I have to admit thatwe had no problems at all with our berth, but some ofthe group had actually had rats running over theirlegs and face during the night! Felt slightly betterbut I was still having severe stomach pains and theworst headaches I’d ever experienced, I guessed I maybe dehydrated so I started eating re-hydration saltsby the shovel full and drank everything I could get myhands on. The bay looked great so early in themorning, we had Sea Eagles snatching fish just feetfrom the boat – they were awesome to watch. We sailedon to Cat Ba National Park, then onto Cat Dua(Pineapple) Island, it was still quite misty but warm.We rowed to the beach there and found a spot to chillout. Within 10 minutes we were under siege by themonkeys that live on the island. One tried to take achunk out of my arm but a right hook saw him off. Onelady in the group was not so lucky though, as she wasbeing relieved of her nice handbag by the monkeys sheresisted and got a nice bite out of her leg – notpretty. I have to say though, that despite beinglittle sods the monkeys were bloody funny to watch -reminded us of Alfie one of our nephews a little bit! Didn’t eat all day today as felt that 24hrs starvationmay sort out my guts - fat chance, just made me feelmore tired than ever! Met a top guy called Carl fromMelbourne Australia. He’s kindly invited us to stayif we pass that way later in the year. Carl hadtraveled just about everywhere years ago when wastravelling was hard going – reminded us both of UncleRon a bit. If you’re read this Carl, thanks for theoffer and we look forward to seeing you later in theyear. We finished days sailing back at Cat Ba andspent the night in a nice hotel on dry land. I had agood shower and immediately felt a bit better. Imodium doing great so far - just worried about theBarnes Wallis effect!4th March, Managed somebreakfast and boarded boat, Sarah managed to polishoff enough for four people as usual. The sun wasshining as we sailed back to Ha Long bay, what afantastic view. The rock formations are justincredible. Jane, Anna and Jane kept us entertainedon the way back, three great ladies who’d done so muchtravelling it was incredible, we could have listenedto them all day. Hello, if you read our journal! Wegot back travel to Hanoi late, ate as I was feeling a touchbetter, then headed over to the rail station to catchthe overnighter travel to Hue. We shared the cabin with twoVietnamese, a girl and a guy named Binh - neither ofwhom spoke English. Binh could see that I wassuffering and hopped off the train at one of thestations and got me a bottle of water (yeah – yeah, weknow they warn you not to accept gifts from strangers– but it’s OK we’re grown ups we can look afterourselves!) how kind is that. Second thoughts maybehe was a bit worried about me leaving a “Trampsbreakfast’ on the cabin floor?! Still feel terrible,but at least we’re out of Hanoi which is a cool placeand en-route to Hue – let’s see what that brings!

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Disneyland Is The Best
By: MITCHELL HAMPSON

Although me and my family are not the biggest of travellers and I can't really stand the heat in Southern California in the summer, so I was a little perplexed when my wife suggested we go to Disneyland for our tenth wedding anniversary with the kids.Also what put me of were the incredible waiting times in the lines while waiting for the rides, but I had to think of the kids. So we went ahead and made plans for our Disneyland vacation, we decided against the on site hotels as we thought this was a little pricey and chose somewhere a little cheaper but still excellent value.I must admit though that I do love the overall amusement park environment, it's great fun to see people from all walks of life letting their hair down and behaving slightly different than they normally would, I also enjoy the food as it is a chance to just eat whatever you like for a day or two, without worrying about those extra pounds, mmm those hot fudge sundaes are my favourite I must say.By the time I got there I must admit I was still a little apprehensive as there were literally hundreds of people lining up to get in, I was quietly delighted though once I entered as the park is so big that there was still plenty of space for us to enjoy ourselves. I have always loved Michael Jackson and couldn't wait to see the new 3D movie that was waiting ahead of us.Getting myself ready to face the huge lines that were starting to build I was rather surprised again, the wait wasn't half as bad as I first thought and was really quite tolerable, the staff were very professional and moved us along quite well, instructing us to move to the correct areas as necessary. It was a great all-round experience. The rides are all beautiful and extremely inventive; we were all having a great time.The theme shops and cafeterias were great as well really making you feel like you were in another world, I was really glad we had gone, and the smiles and delight on my wife and kids faces more than made that clear for me. The park is very well run and unbelievably clean. Although I am maybe getting on a little in years now it made no difference to the enjoyment I had there, I wish I could have gone back every week.So if you are thinking on trying it out yourselves take it from me it's great with a capital G. And don't worry if you haven't a family, guess what you don't need one, every whim and indulgence is catered for whether it be for a family or a couple or even on your own. Why not start by checking it all out on the internet there are many, many sites out there that can sort out your Disneyland vacation. Go on you know you want to; I promise you will never regret it.

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Mitch Hampson is a successful Webmaster and publisher of Cheap Travel Agents so if you would like more information on this subject please checkout his website at www.worldtravelnow.info

Festive Thailand
By: Richard Greaves

Festivals in Thailand are either Buddhist, Chinese, animist, or associated with the monarchy. Buddhist and Chinese festivals are lunar and generally fall on a full moon, animist festivals such as Songkran or Loi Krathong can be solar or lunar, while royal holidays fall on special historical days such as the founding of the current Chakri dynasty or the birthdays of the reigning monarchs.The most deeply spiritual of the Thai holidays is Visakha Bucha held on a full moon night in May. It commemorates the date on which the Buddha was born, attained enlightenment, and died. Visakha Bucha day is marked with sermons and alms-giving culminating in an evening candlelit procession known as wien thien in which celebrants circle the temple three times in honour of the triple gem of Buddhism - the Buddha, the Dharma (teachings), and the Sangha (community of monks). Songkran, the most vigorous of Thailand's festivals, was the official Thai New Year until 1941. Formerly tied to the movement of the sun, modern Songkran takes place from 13-15th April. Songkran began as a ceremonial bathing of Buddha images as part of a new year's spring cleaning ritual. However, it has degenerated over the years into a free-for-all water fight in which the streets are filled with revellers armed with water guns, jars and buckets.Though Songkran is celebrated nationwide, it's probably done with most gusto in Bangkok’s tourist centre of Khaosan Road and in the northern capital of Chiangmai.The southern island of Phuket with its large Chinese population is the scene of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival held during the ninth lunar month each year. The event lasts ten days and other than participants observing a vegetarian diet, involves ceremonies at Chinese shrines and temples along with firewalking and other acts of self-mutilations carried out by devotees known as Ma Song. These Ma Song are in ecstatic trances and oblivious to pain as they clamber up ladders with bladed rungs, walk barefoot over hot coals, and plunge skewers through their cheeks.The event Phuket Vegetarian Festival dates back to 1825. At that time, many immigrant Chinese worked in Phuket's tin mines. A visiting Chinese opera troupe cured their sickness with a vegetarian diet. This much impressed the local population who started the vegetarian festival.The afternoon before the festival, celebrants raise a high pole (the Go Teng pole) at each temple. This is to invite the gods to descend. Then at midnight, they adorn the pole with nine lanterns to mark the opening of the festival. Over the next ten days, ceremonies such as invocation of the gods Lam Tao and Pak Tao, processions of images of the deities, and the feats of the Ma Song. The festival ends with merit making ceremonies at the temples and the send-off of the gods.Thailand is a land rich in culture and tradition and the best and most moving way to experience the delights of this eastern kingdom is to attend one of the many festivals and ceremonies that adorn the calendar.

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Richard has over 20 years experience in the travel industry and writes for Cheaper than Hotels. Cheaper Than Hotels offers cheap Thailand hotels.