On the eastern shores of Kauai Island lies a botanical haven for romance and comfort in the home-away condos of Outrigger Waipouli Beach Resort & Spa. Whether you’re on assignment for you next swim shoot or taking a seasonal sabbatical from the fast paced fashion scene,  steal away to one of the more relaxing islands of the Hawaiian landscape where there’s a picture perfect post card moment to fill the memory cards of your PDA or smart phone (but you’re on vacation so put that thing away).

The rich interior finishes of each condominium unit are elegantly defined with luxe Indonesian wood furnishings and Old World Peruvian stone flooring.  The kitchens are well equipped with stainless steel Sub-Zero refrigerators, Wolf convection ovens, Golden Honey onyx backsplashes, and sleek granite countertops.

As you journey around the resort, soak up some sun next to the heated soft-water river pool which stretches over two acres and includes ravine water slides and three sand-bottom whirlpool spas with guest controlled temperature gauges. As day turns to night, landscaped walking paths are well lit for a nightly stroll along the shore.

The surrounding community of Kapaa offers small-town charm and likely conveniences to your getaway budget spending on track. Kauai Village shopping center is just minutes away from a grocery or drug store, popular coffee houses, creameries, and juice.  Coconut Market Place is within walking distance with extended options for shopping, dining and cinema features. Nearby there’s the Wailua Golf Course or Makai Courses, a popular public links for the traveling sportsman.

Kauai, nicknamed the Garden Island, is green and flourishing with plants and flowers that extend from the mountains to the ocean. Kauai offers more than 50 miles of white sand beaches – more sandy terrain per mile than any other island in Hawaii. Other natural wonders include the 3,567-foot deep Waimea Canyon, dubbed “The Grand Canyon of the Pacific,” and the 3,000-foot towering mountain cliffs overlooking the Napali Coast along the northwest shoreline.

A wealth of outdoor activities like kayaking, snorkeling, hiking, mountain tubing, horseback riding, ATV adventures, zip line aerial tours, helicopter and boat tours, offer unforgettable vacation experiences for traveling singles, couples, and families alike!

Outrigger Waipouli Beach Resort
4-820 Kuhio Highway, Kapaa, Hawaii, 96746
Ph: 808-823-1401 or 808-823-1402 Fax: 808-823-1400

www.outrigger.com

The world of fashion is dominated by five cities, New York, Rome, Paris, Milan and London. For the last five years New York was crowned number #1 but has recently been knocked to #2 by Milan. We’ve decided to go the extra mile and give you Best 10 Fashion Cities for Men. Enjoy.

#1  Milan

Milan is the largest city in Italy with a population of about 7.4 million.It’s famous for its fashion houses and shops (such as along via Montenapoleone and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in the Piazza Duomo (reputed to be the world’s oldest shopping mall.

#2  New York

The New York metropolitan area is the most populous metropolitan area in the United States and is world renown for it’s fashion week. The first New York Fashion Week, then called Press Week, was the world’s first organized fashion week.

Held in 1943, the event was designed to attract attention away from French fashion during World War II, when fashion industry insiders were unable to travel to Paris to see French fashion shows. The next fashion week will be held February 2010.

#3 Paris

Paris has been known as one of the top fashion cities for years now.There are a number of famous French designers such as Chanel, Christian Dior, Hermes, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent, just to name a few.

#4  Rome

Rome has been rivaling France since the 1950′s as Europe’s top fashion producer. Shadowing its sister city Milan, Italians have been known for their sophistication and style.

#5 London

London is home to Europe’s busiest shopping area, Oxford street; nearly 1 mile long,which makes it the longest shopping street in the world. London is home to designers Vivienne Westwood, Galliano, Stella McCartney, Manolo Blahnik, and Jimmy Choo.

#6 Los Angeles

Los Angeles is known as the “Entertainment Capital of the World”, leading the world in the creation of motion pictures, television production, recorded music and fashion. Fashion week is also a huge event in Los Angeles and this years show’s will feature designer’s such a David Alexander, Jen Awad, Kevin Hall and Skin.Graft to name a few.

#7 Hong Kong

Hong Kong is well known by its materialistic culture. Shops from the lowest end to the highest pack the streets in close range. The mild weather, low tax and convenience makes Hong Kong a prime international shopping destination.

#8 São Paulo

São Paulo got there name on the fashion map in 1996, with the debut of their first fashion week. Today, the event is the most important fashion show in Latin America. Brazil birthed such models as Gisele Bündchen, Isabeli Fontana, Ana Claudia Michels, among others. Designers such as Ricardo Almeida, Reinaldo Lourenço, Ronaldo Fraga also got there starts in the Latin country.

#9 Sydney

Australia is home to such designers as Alex Perry, Zimmermann, Toni Maticevski, Collette Dinnigan, Leona Edmiston, Ericaamerica, Easton Pearson and Gwendolyne. Like New York their fashion week is also sponsored by Mercedes Benz and is held every year at Melbourne’s St. Kilda Pier.

#10  Las Vegas

Last but not least is the fabulous city of Las Vegas. Usually known for it’s hot weather and gambling junkies it is also a fashion mecca all it’s own.

By Eddington Howard

Rick Seaney and his posse of tech associates live and breathe travel like a fashion intern trying to get into New York Fashion Week. They know what they’re talking about hands down. Rick Seaney’s very unbiased approach to reporting travel deals and news within the airline industry will keep you coming back for more.

Whenever I come across something great, I love to share. This is no exception. People asked me often, “How do you save so much money on travel?” I tell them about FareCompare.com. FareCompare.com allows me to keep a lot of my money during this temporary economic crunch. The information that this site provide is mind-boggling. Check out RickSeaney.com too. He even tells you how to write an airline complaint letter.

Rick was kind enough to answer a few questions and concerns about travel and a little background history about his company:

Where are you from and where are you located?

I am originally from El Paso, TX, moved to the Dallas area at age 9 where I
currently reside.

Why are you passionate about travel?

When I go home at night and think of all the people we helped navigate the
shark infested waters of finding and buying a good air travel deal – I sleep
like a baby.

Tell us how you started FareCompare.com?

We are a bunch of technology guys that got into air travel by accident as we
looked for something interesting that let us use our skills crunching huge
amounts of data.

Why should consumers visit FareCompare.com?

We can tell you hours before prices hit the streets that you favorite
destination is going down in price and when you get our site with one click
you can check hundreds of combinations of depart and return days for those
elusive cheap seats. It is very simple we save you both time and money (I
have a symbol of a clock and $ on my whiteboard, it reminds me everyday what
we are coming to work to do — save consumers time and money).

What are 3 of the most asked questions about purchasing travel?

1) When is the best time to buy travel to X departing on Y?
2) The current quote for my trip is X, Is that a good deal?
3) Why does the persons setting next to me pay a different price than I
do?

What are the best days to fly?

Tue/Wed/Sat (Wed absolute cheapest), during the day (first flight out, just
after lunch, just after dinner are the cheapest) – Basically when most
don’t want to fly.

What are the Top 5 places to travel internationally or domestic?

1) The cheapest 4 European destinations the summer and fall are, Ireland,
Spain, Germany and Switzerland
2) The cheapest U.S. destinations in the summer are Florida, beaches
3) Prices to Rio/Sao Paulo have dropped nearly in half to under $600rt
from many locations

How can consumers keep up with travel deals and news from FareCompare.com?

1) Sign up for our real-time email alerts http://farecompare.com/signup/
2) Follow our real-time deal tweets on Twitter
http://farecompare.com/twitter/
3) Checkout our new dealfinder tool http://farecompare.com/dealfinder/
4) Come to our homepage and get a quote from anywhere in the world to
your desired destination
5) Check out our blogs http://rickseaney.com http://deals.farecompare.com
http://firstclass.farecompare.com
6) Catch my column each week on ABCNews.com

In our recent Facebook Poll, we asked women if they could go any place in the world, domestic or internationally, where would they go? Surprisingly, 25% of women said, “Dubai.” Hmmm, we thought but it sparked our interest in doing some research of our own about this mysterious yet beautiful city.

Like any foreign country, it’s recommended that you do a little research about the culture, weather, best time to travel, water and laws. Doing so will prevent you from having a trip for hell.

Here’s what we found out:
Local Facts & Figures
Dubai, is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. Located on the Eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, in the South West corner of the Arabian Gulf.

Dubai has a total area of approximately 2,428 sq miles. The seven independent emirates are: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah. They came together to form the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the year 1971. While Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the UAE, Dubai is unquestionably the commercial, leisure, shopping and sporting capital of the Gulf.

The Ruling Families
The ruler and president of the UAE is His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, the eldest son of the hugely popular Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan who died in 2004.

The ruler of Dubai is His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Sheikh Mohammed is also the Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE.

Language
Arabic is the national language of the United Arab Emirates and Dubai, but English is often used in business. Hindi, Urdu and Farsi are also widely spoken. Dubai now has a population made up of more than 70 nationalities.

Economy
The UAE is one of the world’s wealthiest countries, with a GDP of US $54 billion (2000), and has the third-largest proven oil reserves in the world. While oil and gas production form its foundation, Dubai is increasingly broadening its economic activity to include: real estate, tourism, trading and manufacturing.

Customs
Visitors of Dubai and United Arab Emirates may import 2,000 cigarettes or 400 cigars or 2 kgs of tobacco and 150g of perfume. Only Non-Muslims can import 2 litres of spirits or 2 bottles of wine.

Currency
The currency is the Emirati Dirham which is linked to the US Dollar. The Dirham is commonly referred to as either AED or DHS when shown in written forms as on price tags or menus.

There are 100 fils to one Dirham and coins issued are 5 fils, 10 fils, 25 fils, 50 fils and one dirham. Notes are issued in denominations of Dhs 5, Dhs 10, Dhs 20, Dhs 50, Dhs 100, Dhs 200, Dhs 500 and Dhs 1,000.

Always try to have a selection of smaller notes available for cheaper items as it’s not always easy trying to get change for a 500 or 1,000 dirham note.

Banking and Money Exchange
Exchanging cash or travellers cheques is relatively easy in Dubai; however individual banks operate during different hours. The main banks opening hours are either 8am to 1pm or as in the case of HSBC, 8am to 3pm, Saturday to Thursday; all banks are closed on Friday.

Personal cheques are not widely used in the UAE so please don’t expect retail outlets to accept a cheque even when presented with a personal cheque guarantee card.

Clothing
It is usual to wear a suit and tie when conducting business in Dubai. Otherwise dress is generally informal, although ladies should avoid wearing low-cut dresses or shorts in public places out of respect for local religion and customs. Regular swimwear is acceptable around hotel pools and on beaches.

Shopping and Business Hours
Shopping and business hours have tended to vary considerably in Dubai , however this changed with effect from 1 st September 2006 when the whole of the government sector, including schools, changed their weekend from Thursday/Friday to Friday/Saturday. The major supermarkets such as Spinneys, Choithrams, Safestway, and the Union Co-Op open from 8am to 10pm seven days a week.

If you are staying in self catering accommodation you cannot fail to be impressed with the range of goods and produce on offer at very reasonable prices in local supermarkets. There are counters especially reserved for pork products and it is fair to say that there is not much in the way of produce that cannot be obtained in Dubai .

The butchers and fishmongers within the main supermarkets are always extremely helpful and will prepare your meat to your liking and gut and fillet fish as per your request.

Public and government sector working days are from 7:30am to 3pm. Privatised companies tend to work from 9am to 5pm. All the major shopping malls are open from 10am until 10pm. Most shops operating outside the main shopping malls are open from 9am until 1pm and from 4pm until 9pm.

Money exchanges are prevalent in Dubai and they will often give a similar, if not better, exchange rate than banks. Money exchanges are open from 10am until 10pm from Saturday to Thursday and 5pm until 10pm on Friday; some money exchanges close between 1pm and 4:30pm.

There are numerous Automatic Teller Machines which are linked to all European countries and cash may be withdrawn as normal via Link or credit cards.

Tipping
With regard to tipping, generally most restaurants seem to include a 15% service charge. However if this is not the case, normally 10% is about the correct amount, but is not obligatory.

Taxi drivers usually expect a tip and for an average trip it would be expected to round the tip up to the nearest 5 or 10 dirham note, again tipping is not obligatory. Please make sure that you have some smaller notes in your possession for taxi fares.

Electricity
Electricity services in Dubai are excellent and power cuts in the electrical supply are rare. Normal three-pin 13 amp British-style plugs are used operating on 220/240 volts. If you need to purchase an adaptor, all supermarkets and most hotels will sell these and other useful items.

Water
Water is processed through huge desalination plants and is perfectly safe to drink. Having said that it doesn’t taste particularly pleasant and most residents tend to drink either bottled water or have a water cooling machine installed. If you are on a self-catering holiday there is absolutely no problem in using tap water for cooking purposes.

Chilled bottled water is sold at supermarkets, shops and petrol stations and is very cheap at about Dhs 1 for a litre bottle and is to be recommended if you are unsure of whether or not to drink directly from the tap. Beware of hotel prices for bottled water, especially when the bottle is suddenly put on the table during lunch or dinner- the price may be heavily marked up.

Alcohol
Alcohol is widely available at many bars, restaurants, hotels, sports and leisure clubs normally where the licence is held by a hotel. Alternatively, there are also many restaurants which are not licensed, so if you are out of your hotel, and in doubt, it may be wise to check with the waiter before ordering your meal.
You cannot purchase alcohol from any supermarket or off-licence unless you have an alcohol licence. This facility is strictly regulated and is open to non-muslim residents only who have been issued with a alcohol licence by the police department. It is against the law to walk in the street drinking alcohol or to be drunk in a public place.

Drinking and driving is also against the law, which literally means that you are not allowed to drive with any quantity of alcohol in your system. If you are caught drinking and driving you could face a prison sentence. Always bear in mind if you have been drinking the night before and intend driving early the next day. If you are in any doubt take a taxi.

Drugs
Dubai has a very strict policy of zero drugs tolerance. By European standards, penalties and sentences are extremely harsh for possession of the slightest amount of an illegal substance and the death penalty, although rarely imposed, is still available to the courts in cases of importation of any form of illegal drug into the country.

Emergency Services
Police: 999
Fire: 997
Ambulance: 998

Local time
The UAE is 4 hours ahead of GMT during winter months and 3 hours ahead during daylight saving in the summer months.

For flights and more information, use www.farecompare.com.

Special Thanks for our friends at www.vacationindubai.com