Cookie travels

I was captivated by the clear blue water from a picture I saw of a beautiful secluded island. It immediately struck me as a perfect spot for a romantic getaway, an island away from the stares and noise of the crowd. This island is Isla Mujeres, an exotic island in the Mexican Caribbean situated just 7 kilometers away from Cancun. A stay in this island would mean a relaxed stress-free life. There are plenty of a activities to be enjoyed in this laid-off island though. You can enjoy nature land activities from its white sand beaches as well as sea activities in its clear sea water.

If you are wondering how to get to Isla Mujeres Cancun, this island is just 50 minutes north of Cancun Airport by car and 20 minutes from Cancun-Puerto Juarez by express ferry with departures every 30 minutes on board modern sun deck and air conditioned fast boats. Departure schedule is between 5am and midnight. For exact timing, better inquire from Ixchel Beach Hotel when you book for your accommodation.

Ixchel Beach Hotel is located just a few steps from the beach with 117 rooms to offer. They have standard rooms, one bedroom suite, two bedroom suites and penthouses to suit your needs. Amenities like gym, wireless internet, tour and travel, massage, baby sitting, parking, scuba diving, deep sea fishing, water sports, money exchange might be helpful in your decision. More so, you can choose between dining and drinking at the pool side with Kalak, a pool facility for breakfast, lunch, light entrees, and drinks of your choice or the beachfront with Sunset Grill, a beachfront ‘palapa’ serving buffet and ‘a la carte’ service for breakfast, Mexican seafood for lunch, and gourmet and international specialties for dinner. Why not visit Ixchel Beach Hotel website and book a room for a romantic getaway at Isla Mujeres Mexico? For us it would be a family getaway and Ixchel Beach Hotel would be the right place to stay.

This year, Finnish midsummer celebration is celebrated during 19-21 June. Midsummer is a celebration of light. It marks the summer solstice, the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere and concurrently the beginning of winter in the southern hemisphere. For us living in the northern hemisphere, it signifies the longest day of the year where in the sun almost never sets. You can expect 24 hours of daylight north of the Arctic Circle.

In Finnish, this event is known as Juhannus with reference to the Feast of St John the Baptist. Juhannus is also Finland’s Flag Day where in flags are raised at six in the evening on Midsummer’s Eve until nine in the evening of the following day.

How is it celebrated? A typical celebration will consist of Midsummer bonfire (or kokko) which is associated with beliefs concerning fertility and purification. There will also be merrymaking, drinking, dance and music. Finns at this time would like to travel towards the lakeside, forest or summer houses to feel at one with nature on Midsummer Eve. But for those who are in the city, there are celebrations to be enjoyed as well. Take for example in Pori, Finland, the midsummer festival will be held at Kirjurinluoto Arena on 19-21 June. So after a visit at the housing fair in Reposaari, stay for a while in Pori and experience midsummer festival in the city.

Last 5th May 2007 at 9 pm eastern time, Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. stepped into the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and begun their fight before a huge crowd for the World Boxing Council super welterweight title. After an intense 12 rounds of close fight that was almost a draw, a split decision by the judges that was loudly booed by the spectators declared Mayweather as still the best fighter in the super welterweight category. Boxing fights like these are always watched by the boys here. You could hear their loud voices cheering as the fight went on.

If fans of Oscar De La Hoya were thinking of a rematch last spring, it didn’t take too long for that to happen as talks of a rematch started off earlier this year. And as what Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer had mentioned last January, they were finalizing the deal for a rematch which would be scheduled somewhere in September. So finally the deal is closed and the big fight will be on 20th September 2008 at MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Same venue as last year’s fight. It will be another boxing event in Las Vegas you shouldn’t miss. You can now order your Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Oscar De La Hoya tickets online at Team One. They have better seats available and their prices are better than what you would pay at the ticket exchange.

So travel bugs who are very much a boxing fanatic, head off to Las Vegas this September and join the crowd as they once again cheer in the boxing fight of Number 1 fighter, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and contender, Oscar De La Hoya. Buy your fight tickets now before it gets sold out!

The Finnish Housing Fair Cooperative Organization (Suomen Asuntomessut) working in cooperation with the City of Pori, Finland are organizing the 8th National Holiday Housing Fair from 13th June to 6th July (except during 20th – 22nd June) in Reelinki, Reposaari in a seaside location. Reposaari is a tranquil island with a beautiful nautical environment only about 30 minutes drive from the center of Pori. The 8th National Holiday Housing Fair is one of the main events arranged by Pori as part of its 450 years anniversary celebration.

During this fair, visitors can observe not only the traditional Finnish holiday houses but also the first floating holiday homes in Finland. According to Suomen Asuntomessut there will be a total of 29 holiday homes that will be showcased at the fair area. This includes nine holiday homes and eight cabins with beach, one removable cabin, a detached house, a small apartment block with eight holiday apartments where four of these apartments will be open to visitors during the fair, two floating holiday homes, the first in Finland, including the three Yyteri villas, which is an adjacent attraction of the fair in Yyteri, a beach nearby Reposaari. The housing fair aims to present solutions to ordinary problems of the people pertaining to the construction and reconstruction of holiday houses, its interior and exterior decoration, leisure activities as well as the latest developments in holiday houses.

More information about this fair can be found here.

Whenever we travel, it’s customary for us to shop for souvenirs, memorable stuffs or whatever that we feel like buying inside the shopping center. We would usually spend half a day shopping for a two day trip, and longer shopping time for long vacation.

Let me share with you some shopping ideas for those with teenagers at home. I know kids are becoming technology oriented and would want to have their own PCs for games, downloading music, or chatting with their friends. Instead of buying them a pre-assembled PC, it would be better if we allow them to build their own machines. Kids can learn the barebones of computer here and parents can save over $1,000 compared to those readily available PCs. It’s a win-win situation.

Why not surprise them with a DIY or Do It yourself PC kit in one of your travels. I’m sure it would bring them smiles. If you are pressed for time and can’t find one as you shop around coz I know short trips can be very hectic, you can always order online at EasyAsMyPC. Their Do It yourself PC kits are easy to assemble and contains everything your child needs to build his or her own computer. These kits also include clear and easy-to-follow instructions in English, lots of illustrations, and a full manufacturer warranty. A screwdriver is all your child needs and the results are remarkable in only a few hours. A great surprise indeed.

Despite the holiday, our side trip in Turku, Finland was not bad after all coz as I list down the sights explored, there were quite a number of them that I was surprised. Somehow had it been a more prepared trip, I could have seen more of the inside and not just the outer view. More so as I was doing some posts about Turku, I realized that I missed the Sibelius Museum and Ett Hem Cultural Museum nearbythe Turku Cathedral, including the Great Old Square and the Brinkkala Mansion where the Christmas Peace declaration is read every year which is located near the Tuomiokirkkosilta (Cathedral Bridge). The point is I was already in that area but I still missed it. Actually I was on ‘the other side of the river’ enjoying the glass-building Turku City Library that’s why I didn’t pass those. Maybe someday our family might come back to Tukru.

When you travel to United States for a holiday be sure it’s somewhere during Thanksgiving so you won’t miss the shopping event in the United States known as Black Friday. Black Friday falls on the day after Thanksgiving probably anywhere in the last week of November. You can check your calendar for the exact Thanksgiving Day. Now let me tell you why you shouldn’t miss this shopping event. You can save a lot of money when shopping for Christmas by purchasing items during black Friday coz of the deep discounts given by retails stores. Shoppers are just so in the shopping mood here even your boss will give you a day off despite its being a non public holiday. What’s up for grab? There are door buster deals, wherein items are sold at a very low-price for the early birds who can come to their store as early as 5am or there’s the loss leader for items sold at cost or even at a loss.

On the other hand, this might not be a good idea for you if you are a shopper who wants to enjoy a hassle-free shopping experience coz Black Friday shopping is a chaotic shopping encounter. You have to wait in line outside the store at a very early time, experience shoulder-to-shoulder customer traffic, jammed store aisles, crowded and busy elevators, the rush and the grabbing of hugely discounted items, you are lucky if you get that item you want, not to mention the hunger, stress, and sleepiness. But here’s the good news, you don’t have to experience all these in order to enjoy a Black Friday sale. At Black-Friday.net you can still purchase Black Friday items. It’s online so it’s hassle-free. Their consumer friendly website enables you to plan your holiday shopping and also offers email alerts so you will know when new Black Friday announcements are available. Remember shopping here is hassle-free.

With the exception of Turku Castle, the rest of the sights in the downtown area were explored on foot. So here are some sights in Turku that we were able to see: Turku Cathedral, Turku City Theatre, Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art, Paavo Nurmi Stadium, Turku Castle, Turku Art Museum, Turku City Main Library, the market place, the bridges along Aura River (link to the five bridges along Aura River), and we also passed by the Forum Marinum on our way from the port to downtown area and back to port. I also took photos of buildings and houses depicting the architecture in this city. I will be posting in the weeks ahead each of these sights so keep visiting.

As my parents and siblings visit to Finland is coming closer, options like car hire is racking my mind, hence this post. If you need a car hire for your vacation trip, here’s some useful information for you to consider.

Argus Car Hire.com offers you the cheapest car hire rates in Europe and rest of the world coz every time you search online to find the best quote, Argus Car Hire hunts from over 450 car rental suppliers in over 12,000 locations across the world to find the best value prices so you don’t have to. You can book their car hire quickly, securely and easily with these 3 steps: quote, book, confirm, and you are minutes away from getting the cheapest car hire for your vacation trip.

The website is user friendly and a search is easily done. I did try searching for a 12 passenger van, pick-up at Helsinki downtown and drop off at Pori but there is no car available that matched my search criteria. I was advised to amend my search details to get availability. Anyway, your car needs might be different than mine.

So what benefits can you get from this company? They offer their customers collision damage and vehicle theft waiver, premium location/airport fee, book now pay on arrival, unlimited mileage, breakdown assist, lowest price guarantee, online support, and more. If you are interested to know more about their car rental conditions as well as the explanations of each condition, a visit to their website is worthwhile coz these conditions vary from country to country. If you want to know the locations covered by Argus Car Hire, they cover worldwide but you can check their website for the particular location you require. So the most logical thing to do is visit Argus Car Hire.com.

Argus Car Hire
Argus House, 59 Terenure Road East
Rathgar, Dublin 6, Ireland
Tel: +353 1 4999 601 (International Number)
Email: you may contact their online support
Website: www.arguscarhire.com

Turku, aside from being the oldest city in Finland, can also be described as a city with five bridges along the Aura River. Why is this so? Because as it is located on the river banks of Aura River (Aurajoki), its land stretches on both sides of the river, hence, as you take a walk along the banks of Aurajoki in downtown Turku you can see five bridges connecting the eastern and western side of Turku. The eastern side is popularly referred as “this side of the river” whilst the western side as “the other side of the river”.

Let me take you to a walk along Aura River. Our stroll starts on “this side of the river”, the eastern side of the Tuomiokirkkosilta (Cathedral Bridge) where the Turku Cathedral, Sibelius Museum and Ett Hem Cultural Museum are located. On this side of the river, we can also see the Great Old Square and the Brinkkala Mansion where the Christmas Peace declaration is read annually. As we reach the next block, we will find the Aboa Vetus and Ars Nova, which is a museum about old Turku. As we continue our stroll, the next bridge we will pass by is the Aurasilta (Aura Bridge), where we can see the Paavo Nurmi sculpture done by artist Wäinö Aaltonen. Up ahead is the Teatterisilta (Teatteri Bridge) with the Turku City Theatre beside it. Next is the Myllysilta (Mylly Bridge) where Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art is situated. The last bridge is the Martinsilta (Martin Bridge) where we can see a lot of ships and sailboats. This indicates that it’s now the sea that stretches ahead. From here we can take a free ride to ‘the other side of the river’ in one of Turku’s familiar attractions, the river ferry, Föri.

a Föri carrying pedestrians and bicycles across the Aura River © Wikipedia.org

If we start our stroll on “the other side of the river” from the Cathedral Bridge towards Martinsilta, we will pass by the Main Library, the Pharmacy Museum with the Tourist Information beside it, the Forum Marinum, and the Turku Castle. Restaurants and cafes are on this side too. You can dine at Aurora, famous for its steak, or Sergio’s, for Italian food, or enjoy the best coffee on the riverbank at Café Art. We have now completed our virtual walk along Aura River and have familiarized ourselves with the five bridges along it. So how would you find the walk if its the actual one?