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Picture: The "Bögg" head exploded after 12 minutes.
The "Bögg" (a snowman-like figure made out of paper and hay) found its end at 6.12pm: with a big bang his head exploded to the cheer of the Zurich crowd.
See my pictures of the magnificent “Sechseläuten”-carnival here: http://easteatswest.typepad.com/photos/sechseluten_2006_zri/index.html
Picture: The "Bögg" still alive and well...
Picture: Let's play "find your baggage" at Delhi airport.
Why do you want to travel (not just go on holiday, mind you)? What makes you think that the trip was worthwhile? I recently read a book called “The Art of Travel” by the modern-day philosopher Alain de Botton in which he exactly tackles those questions. To answer the question he draws upon the 19th century English artist John Ruskin who laid strong focus on interacting with the scenery either through drawing or through writing (“paint with words”). Ruskin urged us to interact with beauty as just briefly glancing over a beautiful scenery does not help to really appreciate its beauty. Actively contemplating beauty, according to Ruskin, allows us to understand why something is beautiful. And probably to your dismay he counted photography as not among the activities that allows us to understand beauty as it is too quickly done. Therefore my fellow travellers, don your pencils, get your crayons ready or start your own blog in order to appreciate the beauty of our home called earth. Go out and gain insights for life (according to Friedrich Nietzsche).
Picture: Travel in style and at ease through India (here an old Packard at a Rallye in Delhi).
Should you ever consider exploring the wild and beautiful Northwest of India by car, make sure you get a knowledgeable and trustworthy driver. And if he is on top educated and good company, you hit the bull’s eye! My driver Ram Kishor Dixit was such a rare character and he operates now his own tour company. Here is his website: http://www.pleasantindiatour.com/
Picture: The newly refurbished New Majestic Hotel in Singapore can also be found on the websites below.
I am a hotel aficionado and with boutique hotels blooming everywhere I would like to help choosing the right one. Here are three websites with my favourite boutique hotels around the world (some hotels may feature on various websites):
Picture: And now let's go to Switzerland for our honey-moon, love (a wedding picture of Aishwary Raj, the Bollywood godess)!
According to the Swiss tourism authority each year the numbers of tourist from India increase by 15 percent. This is on one hand fuelled by the increasing purchasing power of Indians (and honeymooners) and on the other hand by the fact that many Bollywood movies end in the Swiss mountains. Each year between 15 to 18 Bollywood movies are filmed in Switzerland. According to the tourism authority Indians love the mountains, the cleanliness and the reliability of Switzerland and spend on average 250 CHF a day. And as with Chinese mainland tourists the Swiss tourist authority is launching a brochure to inform tourism employees how to deal with Indians (be ready for some hardcore bargaining, my idea). Keep on bringing those Bollywood beauties! Here are some tips from the brochure on how to handle Indian tourists:
Here is the link where you can find the brochure: http://www.hotelleriesuisse.ch/ (no, this is not a joke)
Picture: A Japanese school class learning in Kyoto how to meditate.
While Islam is growing in Europe through immigration, Buddhism is growing through inspiration. This “religion without God” as the German weekly magazine Die Zeit called Buddhism, differs in one fundamental way from the other monotheism: it has not been revealed by God but was discovered through self-experimentation by a human.2500 years ago Buddha tried all sorts of approaches to happiness and finally came up with a way of life to achieve happiness: the separation from the ego. Whereas Christianity, Islam and Judaism were transcended by God, Buddhism was “discovered” by trial and error. The historic Buddha discovered that by a specific mediation (Shamatha) one can free his mind from desires and start to see the real nature of the world (enlightenment). In a way it embodies the message that revolutionized Christianity and brought the European enlightenment: look for the truth yourself, do not trust any religious authorities! But maybe the reason for the popularity of Buddhism is much simpler: better visualization. Who is more inspiring: a suffering human being on a cross or an enigmatically and peacefully smiling seated person in gold? I think Buddha wins this race hands down.
For a very point-on description of the main world religions read (in German) here: http://www.zeit.de/2007/12/Buddhismus-Kasten
http://www.zeit.de/online/2007/11/bildergalerie-buddhismus?1
Picture: Laotian kids cleaning real eggs.
Listen to the German nutrional expert Udo Pollmer explaining how easy it is to copy eggs (originally an US-invention 100 years ago). And before you think those copied Chinese eggs outrageous, think again, they might be even healthier than real eggs (no cholesterol, bird flu etc.).
http://ondemand-mp3.dradio.de/podcast/2007/04/07/dkultur_200704071108.mp3
PS: Thanks Alex for the link!
The second most beautiful woman in the world, Aishwarya Raj from Bollywood fame, got very recently married to the son of another Bollywood idol, Bachan. Here are some pictures from people I know. Enjoy! 
Pictures courtesy of Faiza. Thanks!
Picture: Learn how easy it is to call a Bonsai your own.
For over 25 years the Bonsai-Atelier Rieterpark (next to the Rietberg Museum) in Zurich has been organising Bonsai exhibitions. The new spring exhibition just opened and will continue until the 29th of April every day from 11:00am to 7:00pm.
The address is:
Bonsai-Atelier Rieterpark, Gablerstrasse 14a/Joachim-Hefti-Weg 4, 8002 Zürich.
Picture: The spring Bonsai exhibition just started and the weather is perfect.
Picture: A Thai female prisoner winning the world boxing title against a Japanese figher in Klong Prem Prison in Thailand.
When I was waiting for my flight to Siem Reap in new Suvarnabhumi Airport (Bangkok) I watched a boxing match on TV. In the beginning I thought it odd that two girls were boxing. Than I realized that one girl was Thai and one Japanese. And finally I read the tiny but visible prints on the Thai girl’s shorts: “department of corrections”. And I remembered reading about this annual slug-fest before where female boxers from Japan and Thai prisoners slug it out at notorious Bangkok’s Klong Prem Prison. And the oddest thing was that in between the rounds they showed wonderful commercials about the wonderful life inside Thai prisons. Well, why not consider a stint at Klong Prem next time you are going to Bangkok (everyone goes to Phuket)?
Read about my visit to Klong Prem prison here: http://easteatswest.typepad.com/east_eats_west/2006/02/inside_klong_pr.html
And if you want to read about how it is to be in a Thai Prison (The Klong Dan Prison in Samut Prakan) from the perspective of a Thai named Gor, go here: http://www.thaiprisonlife.com/
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