Follow The Renminbi

I came across this Saturday post issued by the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States! 

It's meant for those who don't know where to begin to travel in China. 

So, the advice here is to follow the lead of the Chinese RMB: 

• 100 Yuan: Great Hall of People (📍#Beijing) 
• 50 Yuan: Potala Palace (📍#Lhasa) 
• 20 Yuan: Li River (📍#Guilin) 
• 10 Yuan: Three Gorges of Yangtze River (📍#Chongqing) 
• 5 Yuan: Tai Mountain (📍#Tai'an) 
• 1 Yuan: West Lake(📍#Hangzhou)

Note: The currency of China is referred to as either the Chinese yuan (CNY) or renminbi (RMB). The two terms are similar and are often used interchangeably. The key difference is that the RMB is the official currency and the yuan is its principal unit of measurement. 

In the women's doubles at the Singapore Badminton Open yesterday, Malaysians Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan enjoyed a smooth start, easing past Hong Kong's Lui Lok Lok-Tsang Hiu Yan 21-16, 21-18 to reach the second round. Interestingly, it was the world No. 4 pair's first-ever win at the Singapore Open since their debut in 2023. 

And today, they'll meet Japan's world No. 12 Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto next. Pearly-Thinaah hold a slight edge in the rivalry, having won their last two meetings – at the Indonesia Masters and India Open – to lead the head-to-head 2-1. 

The Beer That Uses 2,000-year-old Glacial Water

Svalbard Bryggeri are a microbrewery in Longyearbyen – Svalbard's administrative center – located on Spitsbergen, the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norway.  

For almost a century, it was illegal to brew beer here. All of that changed in 2015 when a local guy named Robert Johansson worked to change the laws and then start the Svalbard Brewery. 

This unique Arctic brewery use 2,000-year-old glacier water to brew beer. They're the world's northernmost commercial brewery, sitting on the 78th parallel North, just 1300 km away from the North Pole. The brewery focus on sustainability, such as converting production waste into energy and heating, and reducing CO₂ emissions by 80% by substituting CO₂ with nitrogen. 

Visitors to the brewery can join in on scheduled tastings and tours. The brewery also host a "brewery night" every Friday from 16:00 to 10:00 PM.

If I happen to be in Norway, for sure, I'll want to make a stopover there! FYI, Svalbard is about the same size as Ireland, but only 2,500 people live there. In fact, it is claimed there are more polar bears there than there are people!

Women's doubles pair Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan began their campaign at the Malaysia Masters on a positive note today. 

The world No. 4 defeated Hong Kong's world No. 56 Fan Ka Yan-Yau Mau Ying 21-17, 21-16 in 37 minutes at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil. 

The Thailand Open champions will next face Thai pair Pichamon Phatcharaphisutsin-Nannapas Sukklad, the world No. 85, in the second round.

A Genius Kids' Menu

Screenshot of the menu

 

Close-up

If indecisiveness strikes children who are taking forever to choose what they want to eat when they're out for a family meal, a Scottish restaurant has come up with a brilliant solution – creating a hilarious kids' menu that caters to the little ones no matter what mood they're in! 

 

With seven options available for those aged 13 and under, this dining spot is sure to save parents precious time at the dinner table.

 

The menu, which was shared on Facebook, includes a basic dish called "Whatever" – a bowl of soup and a sandwich priced at a reasonable £4.95. For the undecided child, there's the "I Don't Know", a Scottish beef burger with fries for just a pound more. Other dishes, all priced at £4.95, include the "I'm Not Hungry" (Cheesy pasta, fries and peas) and "I Don't Want That" (tomato pasta, fries and peas). "I Don't Care" offers younger diners battered chicken chunks with fries and peas, while the final option – "Really" – is a simple sausage and mash dish.

 

The innovative restaurant is The Chlachain Inn, situated in Davies Brae, Mallaig on the west coast of the Highlands. It's about 5 hours and 11 minutes by train from Glasgow, if you're interested to know.

 

One impressed Facebook user wrote: "To be honest, that's a cracking menu". Another hailed it as "Genius", while a third said: "Great place to take the kids". And a fourth recent visitor gushed: "The Chlachain Inn Mallaig. We visited the pub through the summer!"

 

The Chlachain Inn's website reveals the inn is "located in the fishing village of Mallaig which is found at the end of the Road to the Isles with ferry services to the Western Isles and the outer Hebrides". 

 

FYI, the Inn was built around 1900 – the name meaning stone house – and has always been a popular haunt of the local population. In 2017 The Chlachain underwent some refurbishment and now offers something new to the area: "a modern Scottish pub & restaurant situated in the West Highlands of Scotland serving quality food with a wide selection of Scottish whisky & gin".

Penang's Wonderfood Museum

If you're heading to Penang, Malaysia soon, don't miss out on the Wonderfood Museum – it's a veritable feast for the eyes and a perfect spot for some fun, food-themed photos! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Located at #49, Lebuh Pantai, George Town, the Wonderfood Museum is a must-visit for foodies and anyone interested in experiencing Malaysia's diverse culinary heritage. The museum showcases lifelike, larger-than-life replicas of traditional Malaysian dishes, ranging from savory curries to mouthwatering desserts. 

 

Each exhibit is meticulously crafted to look and feel real – and offers not only a visual treat but also information about the cultural significance, history, and ingredients of the dishes. The museum features sections on Malay, Indian, Chinese and Peranakan cuisines, allowing you to learn how each of these influences has shaped Malaysian culinary traditions. 

 

For locals already familiar with Malaysian food, the museum offers a fun opportunity to strike a pose with your favorite food replicas and capture unforgettable moments. The museum is designed to be interactive, with opportunities for visitors to take quirky and fun photos with the food displays.

 

World's Largest Collection of Fossilized Poop

You might have been to some incredible museums – but have you ever been to a 'poo-seum'? 

Well, the first-of-its-kind 'Poozeum' is in the US, and features thousands of pieces of poo from different animals throughout history. But don't worry about the smell – all the items are fossilized, so you won't need to hold your nose! 

The Poozeum was set up by George Frandsen, who holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of fossilized poo. 

[Note: The scientific name for a piece of fossilized poo is a coprolite. Coprolites can give scientists clues about what kinds of food an animal ate]. 

Frandsen (left) actually began collecting fossils of poo when he was a teenager, finding them both funny and interesting. He opened the Poozeum in 2014 as an online resource while donating pieces of his exhibit to museums across the US. 

Frandsen said the “enthusiastic response” to the early stages of the Poozeum motivated him to open the physical location in the Arizona city of Williams in May of this year to address the “glaring absence of coprolite representation” in natural history museums.

He now has over 8,000 pieces in his collection, including that of dinosaurs and a renowned 67.5cm (127-inch) sample of carnivore coprolite dubbed "Barnum".

Kerala Advertised Bus in London

India's Kerala is often called 'God's Own Country' as it is blessed with nature's bounty, lush green scenic landscapes, pristine beaches, and lip-smacking food. From mangroves, forests, hills, waterfalls, lakes, tea gardens, and wildlife sanctuaries, Kerala has it all and has rightfully earned its place as the pride of 'Incredible India'. 

 

To promote tourism, the Kerala government has come up with eye-catching advertising campaigns.

 

An Instagram user has spotted a bus in London, UK sporting vibrant advertisements promoting Kerala tourism. ''Kerala advertised bus in London", the caption shared by Ryan Shiju read. 

 

In the video, a double-decker bus, sporting beautiful visuals of Kerala's picturesque backwaters and Alappuzha's houseboat, is seen running across the city. A hashtag on one side of the bus reads, “#TravelForGood”.

 

Kerala Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas also shared a video of the bus branding from London and wrote, ''Kerala tourism's new campaign method. Our Alappuzha and houseboat in London buses". 

 

A similar campaign was also run in 2018 when five big London double-decker buses with visuals from Kerala were run across the city. 

 

Kerala is definitely on my bucket list.

Comic Book in Real Life

Greem Cafe in Seoul, South Korea will transport you into a two-dimensional world inspired by the hit Korean TV drama “W – Two Worlds” by Lee Jong-suk and Han Hyo-joo, in which the characters are caught between the real world and the webtoon world. That's right because every detail, from walls, counters, furniture, and even cutlery is crafted to look like drawings coming to life, Architectural Digest reported. 

 

Nestled in Seoul's Mapu-gu District, this cafe has become a magnet for coffee lovers and more so, because it creates the illusion of being in a comic book. And so, unsurprisingly, it has also become a favorite among photographers. 

 

A video of the cafe is currently going viral on the Internet. Posted by Science Girl on X, the caption reads, "There is a cafe in South Korea where everything is monochrome and like a drawing, making you feel like you are in a storybook. It's called Cafe Yeonnam-dong 239-20". 

 

[Note: It's actually Cafe Yeonnamdong 223-14 now but earlier on, it was Cafe Yeonnamdong 239-20. The former cafe was very small and equipped with only a few tables. As the cafe was getting popular among youngsters, the owner shifted the cafe to the current place with a bigger space to accommodate the demand. 

 

Cafe Yeonnamdong 223-14 is located in Yeonnam-dong, Hongdae. The cafe simply simply got its name after the address. The cafe is also known as그림카페 Greem cafe, in which "Greem" means drawings in Korean].

 

No Nudity Among The Sunflowers Please

Stoke Fruit Farm on Hayling Island, off England’s south coast, have been urging visitors to stop posing naked for photographs in their field of sunflowers (Scientific name: Helianthus)

 

The owners of the UK farm issued the unusual request on Facebook on August 11: “Reminder to all we are a family area and please keep your clothes on in the sunflowers! We are having an increase of reports of naked photography taking place and this must not happen during our public sessions please!” 

 

Sam Wilson and sister Nette Petley run the farm that their grandfather set up. It comprises 350 acres, producing wheat, peas, potatoes, pumpkins, squash, sweetcorn, hay – and sunflowers. 

 

The former told CNN Friday that there had been about six incidents of people stripping off among the blooms since the field opened to visitors at the end of last month. 

 

“We’ve always had people take risque pictures but this is the first year it’s been a problem, which is why we’ve put signs up”, he explained. 

 

More so, after “a couple of children saw what was going on” – and as he stressed: “...we just can’t have nudity in public view”. 

 

The sunflowers were first planted by Wilson and his then-fiancee behind the church where they got married six years ago. But the plants did not bloom in time for the nuptials. 

 

Wilson said: “We went away on honeymoon and then my sister rang and said ‘people want to pick your flowers’, so we set up an honesty box for visitors”. 

 

Nothing could have prepared them for just how popular the attraction would become, with people traveling large distances to see the flowers in bloom. 

 

Today, paying visitors are invited to wander around a massive area of about 50 acres, covered by two million sunflowers.

Zombie Attack

The coronavirus pandemic has devastated businesses, with the hospitality industry, live entertainment venues and airlines hit particularly hard. 

After being inspired by the resurgence of drive-in theaters, one entertainment company in Japan, has come up with a creative option that really takes into account, social distancing. 

Kowagarasetai, a Japanese haunted house and horror event production company, claims the concept – a drive-in haunted house – is the first of its kind. Actually, it is a hybrid, somewhere between a drive-in and a drive-thru. 

Located in a covered parking garage in a non-descript building in downtown Tokyo, gives visitors a 360-degree, front-row experience that simulates being stuck in a car during a zombie onslaught. 

Use your own car for ¥8,000 ($75), or if you're like many Tokyoites and don't own one, they will provide a vehicle for ¥9,000 ($85). For an extra ¥1,000 ($10), visitors can have their car covered in fake blood. 

Given that you're just sitting in the garage, no driver's license is needed. Meaning, cars remain stationary throughout the "show".

 

Visitors turn off the engine and the garage shutter comes down, plunging the vehicle into total darkness. And drivers receive a set of Bluetooth speakers and the spooky tale begins. 

"Around these parts, there's a legend that the ghosts attack humans. Honk your horn three times if you want to hear more", intones a voice from the speaker. In Japanese, of course. 

For the next 17 minutes, blood-soaked ghouls and zombies press up against the windows, rock the car or climb the bonnet. 

"At the drive-in haunted house, guests are confined in a car so they can't escape the horror until the end", Kowagarasetai producer, twenty-five-year-old Kenta Iwana (right) told AFP. "It makes it even scarier for them". 

Fear not, even if the horrors are up-close, you will live through it! 

Selfies Galore

There’s a Selfie Museum in Europe – where you can take amazing selfies on 400 square-meters on 2 floors! And it’s a hit with social-media savvy locals and tourists alike.

With almost 30,000 visitors since it opened last December, the "Selfie Museum", billed as the first of its kind in Europe, is already one of the Hungarian capital's most popular attractions. 

Its creators say their idea – inspired by a similar venue in the US which is at 6757 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California – is targeted at the younger generation looking for an edge to their status updates or profile pictures. 

"We play with shapes and colours, and try to push people's borders and let their creativity bloom", Lilla Gangel, who co-founded the museum with her partner Balazs Koltai, told AFP. 

The selfie opportunities among the 11 interactive installations include palm trees growing from the walls and pink-coloured ceilings and surroundings, not to mention, a ride on banana swings, a climb on a unicorn, or a lounge on giant macaroons. 

Word about the Budapest museum has spread fast, unsurprisingly, on platforms like Instagram and Snapchat.

Selfies are, of course, all the rage so I won't be surprised if other cities follow suit!

The Pub That is Not a Pub

Pub co-owners Oisin Davis (L) and Vaughan Yates (R) pose outside their Virgin Mary Bar, located @ 54 Capel Street, Dublin, Ireland, May 16, 2019. Image credit: AFP

Just two weeks ago, an Irish pub opened its doors. 

But this drinking haven is boldly different. Started by two enterprising Irishmen, The Virgin Mary is Ireland’s first alcohol-free bar. 

Located in what was once a furniture shop on Capel Street, the stylish bar seats 30 and offers a selection of cocktails, beers, and wines, all of which are non-alcoholic. 

Vaughan Yates and Oisin Davis, both of whom are veterans of the drinks industry, were inspired to go into this business after noticing both a growing appetite for non-alcoholic drinks and a gap in the market for an alcohol-free venue. 

The duo enlisted award-winning Anna Walsh (left) to devise a number of bespoke non-alcoholic cocktails. 

Walsh had made non-alcoholic cocktails before, but this was her first time creating a full menu. Without alcohol at her disposal, she was forced to experiment and play around with different flavours. 

“When you give yourself boundaries, you’re forced to be more creative”, she says. 

If you know your mocktails, you should be familiar that these taste like sugary facsimiles of the real thing. Both Walsh and Yates were keen to avoid clichéd mocktails and create drinks that tasted “grown-up”. 

The result is a range of cocktails designed to emulate the taste and mouthfeel of alcoholic drinks. 

The bar’s signature Virgin Mary is a hot and spicy non-alcoholic surrogate for the Bloody Mary. This is a cheeky play on the vodka-infused classic cocktail that is made of tomato juice, muscat, pickle, lime and spice.

And the Cedar’s Spritz (left) is a refreshing alternative to a gin and tonic made with non-alcoholic gin and sparkling wine.

Yates’ own go-to drink is a newly launched non-alcoholic aperitif called Everleaf, which tastes bitter and deceptively boozy.

There are also a selection of non-alcoholic beers with Mikkeller’s Drink in the Sun coming highly recommended.

The bar even serves a dark and creamy “iced nitro coffee” which they call Raven Nitro Coffee (right) that is poured from a beer tap to mimic Guinness, without which no traditional Irish pub would be complete. It mimics both the texture and appearance of Guinness when served chilled in a glass.

In other words, there are drinks to cater to every palate. 

Open from 4 PM to 11 PM each day, the bar aims to recreate the buzz and atmosphere of any other late-night venue with “lighting, music, and conversation”. 

Definitely for people who want to drink sans the alcohol – these “drinkers” too want to have a good time in a pub that is not a pub, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, the bar will appeal to those who are looking for more options when it comes to places to socialize with friends.

I hope it doesn't become just a novelty.