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• North America’s first Dreamliner delivered to United Airlines
• Spontaneity in travel is so overrated
• Malaysia and Singapore: The Orlando of Southeast Asia?
• Australia's most terrifying tourist trails
• Neighborhood to watch: Hong Kong's 'PoHo'

North America’s first Dreamliner delivered to United Airlines Posted: 24 Sep 2012 11:05 PM PDT by CNNGo staff North America has received its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner to be ready for commercial flight, courtesy United Airlines. The US$206.8 million aircraft, acclaimed as "the most technologically advanced commercial jetliner ever built" by Ray Conner, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, is due to embark on its first flight between Houston and Chicago on November 4, at 7.25 a.m. After a two-month period of domestic flights, United's 787 fleet, which will eventually comprise 50 aircraft, will be used on the carrier's European, African and Asian routes starting December this year. More room for bags, better lighting, bigger windows. What are we going to complain about now?"We are delighted to be getting our first 787 Dreamliner," said Jeff Smisek, president and CEO of United. "As we continue to build the world's leading airline, we are excited for our customers and coworkers to experience this game-changing aircraft." The 787 uses 20 percent less fuel than other aircraft in the same category thanks to a lighter composite fuselage. It also has bigger, dimmable windows and roomier cabins. read more

Spontaneity in travel is so overrated Posted: 24 Sep 2012 07:20 PM PDT by Violet Kim I used to be spontaneous once. Actually, I was spontaneous several times. But I was also wise enough to recognize how unwise it was, so I describe these unfortunate moments of poor judgment as "impulsive" and "lazy" rather than "spontaneous," which essentially means the same thing. For me, at least. I also picked very bad places to be spontaneous. Once I was on a trip to Amsterdam. Tired out from the strenuous task of trying to book last-minute RyanAir tickets, I'd intentionally failed to look into sleeping arrangements. "At night we'll just go clubbing, and dance all night! It'll save us money, too," were the exact words my roommate/travelmate (and post-trip, no longer a mate) and I uttered to each other before starting. It all seemed like a wonderful adventure at first. Then, after spending a bit too much time at a coffee shop (time measured by the droop of the proprietor's once-bright smile), we emerged to find Amsterdam dark and cold. Our backpacks heavy, even a brisk, illuminating stroll through the red-light district couldn't jolt me out of my misery. My most vivid memory of that stroll? Admiring the waterfowl bobbing on the crimson surface of the canal. Not a particularly edifying glimpse into the world of legalized prostitution. Just cooing drowsily at birds and wishing that I, too, could sleep on water. Forget clubbing -- we wanted to sleep. Instead, we trudged aimlessly from café to McDonald's to café while I grew less and less charmed by the fact that European places had such early bedtimes compared to their Asian counterparts. I was miserable. I was so miserable and uncomfortable that, while seated at a regular cafe nursing a cup of coffee like it was the last cup on earth, I made no objection when a man seated himself at our table. I nodded along when he said he lived nearby. I nodded along when he said he had a very big bed. I nodded along when he said we could all go and sleep in it. "Don't worry," he said. "My daughters are sleeping right next door!"   I stopped nodding. The Spontaneous Mystique Not only is spontaneity in travel overrated, for something that's mostly fluff and posturing, I've also found it to be expensive. Spontaneous travel is possible with either one of two things: a huge reserve of money that you're completely indifferent to using, or being willing to undergo a lot of unnecessary discomfort for the sake of hopefully telling a story. read more

Malaysia and Singapore: The Orlando of Southeast Asia? Posted: 24 Sep 2012 03:05 PM PDT by CNNGo staff Orlando, Florida. A magical city filled with pricey theme parks, tacky souvenir shops and hysterical children driving their parents to madness with sugar-induced temper tantrums. Not to mention highly lucrative if you're one of said theme park's investors.  No surprise then that England-based Merlin Entertainment Group is keen to see southern Malaysia and Singapore emulate the United States' city's tourism success. In a recent article in Malaysia's Business Times, the company's chief executive officer, Nick Varney, dubbed the region the future "Orlando of Southeast Asia". Orlando, nicknamed "Theme Park Capital of the World," is home to the Walt Disney World Resort (which has several separate theme parks including Epcot, MGM Studios and the Magic Kingdom Park), the Universal Orlando Resort, SeaWorld, Gatorland and the Wet 'n Wild Water Park. read more

Australia's most terrifying tourist trails Posted: 24 Sep 2012 03:05 PM PDT by Anne Majumdar Everyone loves a good ghost story -- particularly when it's true. From ancient times, humanity has enjoyed few activities more than the sheer inhumanity of scaring the living daylights out of each other, so it's no shocker to find entire tourist industries built on doing just that. Come with us as we glide through the walls and down the spooky passageways of five of Australia's most-terrifying visitor hotspots. Boo! 1. Quarantine Station Look out for lecherous licking phantoms."Nobody is crazy tonight," our guide whispers, as we stand huddled on the wharf of Q Station by lantern light. From the 1830s to 1984, in this exact spot on the north shore of Sydney Harbour, migrant travelers disembarked from ships that had been tainted by some kind of outbreak. read more

Neighborhood to watch: Hong Kong's 'PoHo' Posted: 24 Sep 2012 11:20 AM PDT by Payal Uttam Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary digs in the historical Po Hing Fong. It's now a bakery.There's a new funky neighborhood in Hong Kong around Po Hing Fong, in Sheung Wan District. "We call it 'PoHo,' says designer Sirkka Hammer. "The whole area has a lot of buildings which start with 'Po.' It means 'treasure' [in Chinese] so we say it's like a treasure hunt because there are so many interesting shops and artists here." Hammer was the first Western outlet in the PoHo area, which refers to Po Hing Fong and the area surrounding Blake Gardens. With her husband Andreas Aigner, Hammer started the art and fashion exhibition space, Hammer Gallery, with an Austrian café next door called Café Loisl. Loisl has become a big hit, bringing coffee-lovers to the old neighborhood that unfolds across a series of tree-lined terraces and staircases. read more

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