Video of the Day: Christmas Market at Night (Prague)

Holiday period is over, and it's time to get back to the reality. The reality of cold winter, global financial crisis, work, etc. Yet the impressions from these holidays will always stay, and I took some videos to refresh these impressions from time to time. Christmas Market in the historical Old Town square was fabulous. No photos or words will describe, you should come to Prague and witness it yourself next time.

Below video was partly taken from the top of the tower to get a better view from above, and from the center of the market where the stage was.

Happy New Year!

staromestska_xmas1, originally uploaded by aibek_dunaev.

I have this great will to wish very happy 2009 for all my friends, colleagues and loyal readers of these travel notes. I hope peace, joy and happiness will be in your daily life, and I wish health and prosperity for you and your loved ones!

Special greetings to all my readers of the travel scraps of mine, to my guest-author Yulia and Nomadlife community!

p.s. I am pleasantly surprised to learn that there are so many people that I know read my blog on regular basis. Judging from the comments I receive, I used to think that this blog usually interests only some of my friends and many other random visitors looking for piece of travel information. But it seems that lots of people that I know reads these posts. So I feel more responsibility towards them in posting some interesting and entertaining posts with photos and videos. Last year I tried to gradually convert my blog to more general travel blog while also implementing some SEO optimization and affiliate marketing tricks. But I decided to keep my blog more of a personal travel blog and write mostly my own stories.

Kind of conclusion

Much to say and write about, but somehow I am lost in the crowd of memories and impressions of 2008. I don't want to write just some statistical conclusions, or some kind of "thank you!" post. This year gave me a lot, literally. It was much fulfilling year in terms of traveling and meeting new people. Yet it was not that much satisfactory in terms of personal and professional growth. And that's what I aim for 2009 - more change with respect to professional accomplishments. And of course, lots of traveling again!

To make a list of the places I've been to in this ending year;
- Christmas (2007) in Hungary with Gitti's family
- Amsterdam and Brussels with Miki
- Awesome Barcelona stay with Alex, Vanessa and Fatima
- Euro 2008 trip to Vienna with Alex, Leila, Vanessa, Adil', Kamilya, etc.
- Ulm and Heidelberg trip with Marat, Aibek, Aida and Arsenchik
- Around Bratislava with Michal
- Istanbul tour with Mahamat
- Kyrgyzstan with family and friends, hosting Alex and Vanessa for few days
- Kazakhstan (Astana, Borovoe) with Alex, Vanessa, Kamilya, Leila, Ivan, Dauren, Renata, etc. Great fun at Leila's wedding!
- Around Berlin with Dastan

I appreciate and thank all the people mentioned for the great trips and blast moments!

Another noticeable moment was the half-marathon I completed in 2008! Whole training and preparation process put me in some sort of sportive discipline and the satisfaction from that sportive achievement was great!

For 2009, I've already planned some trips for half a year. It's a bit too much of ahead planning, but those cost-to-nothing ticket prices by SkyEurope made me book these tickets much in advance;
- Amsterdam in January,
- Venice and Milano in February,
- Brussels and Luxembourg in March (not confirmed yet),
- Milan in April (football weekend, AC Milan's game in San Siro),
- Athens in May

I'll probably be broke for the next half of the year due to these trips, thus better budget management practice should be implemented to save more pennies for these trips. I remember good friend of mine, Diego, used to have some Excel sheet to track all his expenditure. I think I should implement something similar :))

So what's my resolution for 2009? Many. Here's just few of them that I can share;

- To make this big move or big change in my career,
- To launch my first serious technical project,
- To innovate,
- To run full marathon (42+ km),
- To travel, travel and travel, etc.

Messi in Uzbekistan

Messi is in Uzbekistan these days. Providing some "master class" for local youth and enjoying Uzbek hospitality and generosity. Although it is announced as a charity event, there are rumors that huge sums are being paid for Messi and Barcelona for these series of visits, and for other Barcelona players who visited Uzbekistan earlier this year. That's obvious as why he would go to Uzbekistan in this cold weather and in the middle of the season. But what amused me was his photo drinking green tea :) And some other photos in traditional costume, he definitely looks like Uzbek kid :)

Messi drinking local green tea. Совуқ хаводан ичкарига кирган футболчи ўзбек кўк чойининг таъмига юқори баҳо берди. :)




That's the power of money, it brings world best players (Rivaldo (1999), and maybe Messi in the future) to play football in to the unknown part of Asia... it attracts even the richest football clubs of the world... dinero para siempre!

p.s. Pity that Ronaldinho left Barcelona earlier this year. He would really enjoy local delicacy "plov" and green tea in the "chayhana" (translated as "teahouse", but offers more).

Video of the Day: Famous Street Musician Of Prague

Probably the most famous street musician, Vladimir Pinta, performing at the Christmas Market in the Old Town Square in Prague. Just one glance from the magic Christmas atmosphere here.

Living vertical

source: Japundit

When square-meter of horizontal space is expensive, people start living vertical. More vertical style here.

Photo of the Day: Astana (Kazakhstan)

DSC_0188, originally uploaded by aibek_dunaev.

Capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, is a very fast growing city that reminds other oil-rich Arab cities like Dubai. Located in the middle of nowhere (vast steppes), it's like a jewel in the desert. Its skyline is decorated with modern glass-steel skyscrapers and residential modern flats and towers that show that both wealth and business exist in that city. Well, but this is only one face of Astana. It has its other face that is typical to most of the cities/towns in the region and Russia; old and gray face, panel blocks, outdoor bazaars, pollution, etc. Prior to becoming capital, it was named Celinograd. You can guess that it was more like an industrial town. While more wealthy people live in "new" Astana, there are still many people that live in this older part of the city.

Weather was already freezing in September, and they say winters are too cold here. It is located close to Southern Siberia. And strong winds due to smooth steppe around. I was also amazed bu the high cost of living there. Entertainment is also not cheap if you want to go to some of the top clubs/bars.

In overall, it left very good impressions on me. I wish we could have such a growing capital as well.

Bling bling

IMG_1876, originally uploaded by aibek_dunaev.

Honda's walking assist machine

JapanSugoi; Last month, Honda Motor which makes the ASIMO two legged walking robot, unveiled a new computerized walking assist machine designed to make it easier for the elderly to climb stairs and help factory workers.

The 6.5 kilogram computerized leg device consists of a saddle, leg-like frames and shoes. It can reduce the load on users’ legs while walking or climbing and descending stairs by supporting body weight, Honda said.

The Honda walking machine used ASIMO’s technology in its development. Honda has yet to decide on further details such as when the latest device will go on sale and at what price, but the company sees a market for it in Japan, which has an aging population.

These legs could be used by the travellers as well. Especially, backpackers and hikers. Though comparatively short-life of the batteries is a big disadvantage, you don't want to carry it once the batteries are dead. And it doesn't seem to be very ergonomic. Continuous rubbing of your legs (especially between your legs!) against these machine seat/legs may cause some sore skin problems. Otherwise, it is impressive work! These guys rock!

Photo of the Day: Baywatch shooting

18 baywatch shooting.jpg, originally uploaded by aibek_dunaev.

One of the unforgettable trips in South East Asia was the trip to Redang Island with Nacho, Tee and Gitti. We had great fun shooting pix, chasing the fish, eating lots of seafood and partying on the beach at night. My dream is to go there again one day.