Finding Cheap Eats in London

Travel to London is always fun whichever time of the year you visit. The capital of Britain attracts people from world over year-round. Why not book flights to London and head off to this great city to see the melting pot of cultures? The city will fascinate you endlessly. London is easily accessible from almost all parts of the world with flight tickets available at cheap rates on multiple international airlines offering direct flights to London. You just need to plan your visit beforehand and heed to some advices to make your stay hassle free.
 

When traveling to London, particularly on a tight budget, visitors ensure that they complete their travel within their budget limits. For this they make their best efforts to find cheap hotels and transportation. But, the visitors always run the risk of spending much on their food as the city to which they are traveling might be expensive. The fear always remains that food expenses would be steep thus causing jitters to the travelers. The cost of meals in London is often surprising to the visitors. However, there is ample scope to bring down food costs during your London travel. London being a confluence of various ethnicities provides myriad offerings to its visitors. If food is your concern, don’t worry, you will be able to find many cheap eats in London. This is particularly beneficial for those taking flights to London on a shoestring budget.  

Whether you are taking British Airways flights or traveling to the city from other parts of the world, London has always surprised its visitors. And, food is one among them. Here’s some of the valuable advice to keep your food costs down or you may even get a chance to eat for free now and then. Whenever you visit a restaurant in London, tips are a norm. But, you need to make sure that your bill also includes the service or else you’ll end up paying the tip. If your bill includes this, then don’t pay the tip. A small precaution will help you save some bucks. Even, if you have to pay the tip make sure that you don’t pay above 12 percent.
 

If you want to reduce your food costs significantly, try and go ethnic. Since the British ruled over nearly half of the world, you’ll find a number of restaurants opened by people of various ethnicities that were earlier ruled by the British. In London, you’ll find many restaurants opened by the Indians. You’ll find good Indian food in London as well as the whole of the UK that are cheaply priced. Going to these ethnic restaurants will help you save significantly.

Another best way to save on your food is to dine at a pub. Though most of the pubs don’t serve food, but the pubs that serve food could turn out to be good places for affordable and cheap traditional British meals such as baked potatoes with fillings, Ploughman’s lunch, cottage pie, shepherd’s pie, snacks and sandwiches.

These are some of the ways in which you could lower your food costs when taking flights to London and spending your memorable vacation here.

Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival - A Food Lover's Dream!

Hong Kong, situated on China’s south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, is known for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbor. Hong Kong was earlier a British colony, but is now a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. This unique destination proudly proclaims itself to be Asia’s World City by virtue of having absorbed people and cultural influences from places as diverse as Vancouver and Vietnam. Hong Kong has today become an important hub in East Asia with global connections to many of the world’s cities.

Hong Kong offers various attractions to its visitors. One such greatest event is the annual Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival which greatly attracts tourists from world over. Last year, I purchased cheap plane tickets and traveled by Air China flights to take part in this exciting festival. It was a wonderful experience for me to attend such a big event and wanted to share this with my readers.

I attended the fourth edition of the Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival 2012, which was held for 4 days from November 1 to 4, at the West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade, lying next to Hong Kong’s famous Victoria Harbor. The festival was sponsored by the Hong Kong Tourism Board. I was told that this festival was by far the biggest outdoor bonanza of wine, food and cultural events ever staged in Hong Kong. The festival was dedicated to celebrating Hong Kong’s culinary experience.

The festival was prominently covered by the world media, which raised awareness of Hong Kong’s image as the Culinary Capital of Asia. It was simply great to see more than 310 wine and food stalls offering an extensive selection of wines from 18 countries, along with numerous delicacies. A “Sweet Pavillion”, specializing in the pairing of desserts and wine, and a “New Products Zone”, showcasing wines released in Hong Kong for the first time were the major highlights of the festival. A “Wine Culture Celebration” was also staged featuring Spanish and Italian wines, foods and cultural performances.

I simply loved participating in the festival. It was a completely enjoyable experience for me. The Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival is held every year and I will be looking forward to attend this next year as well.

Spectacular International Horse Show in Rome

I am a sports buff and attending equestrian sports event held in different parts of the world has been my passion. This year I will be attending the International Horse Show at Piazza di Siena in Rome. I have purchased my flight tickets well in advance as I don’t want to miss out on this great event. Being an early booker, I have managed to get the best flight deals from my travel company Fare Buzz, through which I usually purchase my tickets, saved a good amount.

I have made US Airways flight reservations and would be taking US Airways flights to Rome from Philadelphia. I am told it would take about nine hours to reach Rome. I am waiting for that great day when I will travel to Rome to take part in this exciting event of its kind. The International Horse Show will be held at Piazza di Siena in Rome from May 23 to 26, 2013.

Even after 80 years Rome’s International Horse Show still continues to be one of the exciting and most important events of its kind in the field of equestrian sports. A large number of visitors from Italy and foreign countries descend on the historic city of Rome to participate in this amazing event. International competitors from across the world come to Rome to compete in the prestigious show jumping Grand Prix at this spectacular horse show.

This horse show sounds quite fascinating to me and I am waiting with bated breath to reach the superb grounds and see the setting of the Villa Borghese where the grand event is to be hosted. Villa Borghese is well known for its horse riding history.

The event includes the most significant Grand Prix and the hugely popular Puissance, where horse and rider combinations would be required to jump the formidable wall. The competition in the past has reached the 2.20 meter mark. It would be simply a great sight to see the event culminating with a spectacular display of horsemanship, with visitors having earlier witnesses over 100 mounted Carabinieri displaying their skills of precision riding within the arena and finishing with a daring charge.

Savoring street-food in Shanghai!

Shanghai, China’s business district is the most sought after destination for globetrotters. I had also dreamt of visiting this lively, thriving place sometime in future. I was finally seeing my dreams come true as I had been able to spare some time and visit the second biggest city and a major financial hub of China. I contacted a well-known travel company Fare Buzz to buy airline tickets at best fares. I was fortunate to get cheap tickets deals as the promotional offer had been launched and finally booked Air China flights to Shanghai. 
 

I was now in the exciting city of Shanghai, which is also known as Asian Paris. The city is greatly frequented by tourists from world over. I had heard that visitors here shouldn’t miss out on the traditional street-food. So, my priority was obviously to savor on street delicacies. This was, in fact, the important highlight about my visit to Shanghai.

It was exciting to see the traditional street food being sold from the back doors of people living in the 1930s-built Jing’an Villas neighborhood, just minutes from the hi-tech business district of modern Shanghai. Jing'an Villas (at 1025 Nanjing Xi Lu) was built in 1932 and comprises of 183 subdivided three-story units. The area’s architecture was partly modeled on European-style terraced housing and also had Chinese concepts of common space, resulting in a unique hybrid style of houses found only in Shanghai incorporated.

Think of visiting stall #107 here for a bowl of midday noodles. A small army of ayis, or "aunties" are ready to greet you and ready to serve bowl after bowl of noodles. Do remember to come early for the soup wantons. If you come at lunch a bowl of scallion oil noodles are likely to be offered. To get a great taste, ask the ayis to have your noodles topped off with a veggie "chicken" filet made from tofu, a stewed, hard-boiled egg, or a fried pork chop (zhupái). 
 

Checking out stall #15 near the entrance at Nanjing Xi Lu would just be great for a taste of classics. Here you’ll have to write down your order yourself. This was really exciting for me as I got a crash course in writing by copying Chinese characters from the red display menu. The Shanghai classics – everything from pork wontons to fried rice, fried noodles and sliced stir-fried glutinous rice with greens (chao niángao) – are displayed on the menu. You just need to order your favorite.

Stop by stall #128 or Denny House, named after its owner Denny Wong, for the perfect cup of Hong Kong-style milk tea. It’s great favorites with Shanghai residents. There’s lot more to explore here. I would again be visiting this beautiful city to spend more time here. A visit to Shanghai is strongly recommended.

Cancun - A popular spring break travel destination

Cancun is a great Caribbean destination attracting tourists from all over the world. This coastal city, situated on the Yucatan Peninsula in the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, is famous for its white sand beaches and crystal blue water. Cancun offers sun, sand and nightclubs – all that a Caribbean paradise would. This beautiful place – with its clear waters, beautiful beaches, great weather, and nearby coral reef – receives over 3 million tourists every year.

Famous world over as a popular spring break travel destination, the very thought of visiting Cancun is alluring. I could not hold myself at these thoughts and decided to get hold of cheap flights deal at the earliest. Without losing any further time, I spared few hours to conduct a search on the Internet and see whether I succeed in getting low fares. I fortunately landed on a website of a well-known travel company Fare Buzz and got great flight deals. I booked Spirit Airlines flights from Atlanta to Cancun.

After booking my airline tickets, I started preparations for my trip. In fact, I was traveling to Cancun for the first time. I booked the tickets so that I could fly in the springtime as it is simply a great fun to visit during this time of the year. However, there’s a caution. Though Cancun is a popular spring break travel destination, the weather patterns here during springtime are unpredictable. The weather can be humid and hot.

Sometimes, it rains as well. For those traveling for the first time, it is important to get updates on rainy seasons or other weather-related issues prior to your journey.

Previously, Cancun was a long strip of forest flanked by beaches. The Mexican government, however, decided to develop Cancun as a tourist destination in the 1970s because of its great weather, clear waters, beautiful beaches, and nearby coral reef. The city has now become the biggest resort area in Mexico. The paradise setting of Cancun also makes it a popular wedding and honeymoon destination.

My visit to Cancun was indeed thrilling. I explored the archaeological ruins from the pre-Columbian Mayan civilization. It was quite fascinating to visit the underwater art museum in the National Marine Park. There are 400 life-sized sculptures in clear shallow waters creating artificial reefs for marine life in the museum. The snorkelers, scuba divers and tourists riding in glass-bottomed boats get an opportunity to see the marine life interacting with the art sculptures. Other favorite pastime with the tourists here includes swimming with dolphins, going on guided Cancun jungle tours, and fishing during a boat tour in the Caribbean Sea. I simply enjoyed every bit during my stay in Cancun. I would love to visit this fantastic place again sometime in future.