+ 20 Tips Before Traveling Internationally

Data from Travelzoo....

Security & Health

• Bring copies of your passport. If your passport gets stolen or lost you want to be sure that you can still get back into the country, or be able to prove your citizenship.
• Leave a copy of your passport. For extra backup, leave a copy of your passport at home or with someone you trust. Consider making an electronic copy you can store in your email account as well.
• Register with your embassy. If there’s a problem in the country, this will make it easier for your government to contact you and get you to safety.
• Check-in with your doctor and insurance carrier. Double check and make sure that you have all of the proper vaccinations and that you have renewed all essential prescriptions. 

Money

• Look up the monetary conversion  before you go. Make sure you do your math before you travel to get a sense of where the conversion rate is at.
• Go to a bank or ATM in the country you’re visiting. The conversion centers in the airport or around the city tend to be huge rip-offs. You won’t get charged as many fees at the ATM or the bank, and the conversion will be exact.
• Always have local cash. Not every place takes credit cards. Especially important places like trains or buses.
• Call your bank or credit card provider. Sometimes banks think that fraud maybe occurring if transactions are suddenly happening in US when you’re from India, and they will turn off your card as a security measure. 

Local Research

• Buy tickets now for places you know you want to visit or see. By buying in advance you’ll be able to skip more lines, and find more deals targeted toward you.
• Get guidebooks. Guidebooks usually include maps, key words or phrases, and give you enough detail on certain sites that you won’t need to purchase the pamphlet at the venue.
• Download apps before you travel. Avoid downloading charges from your wireless carrier and get your apps before you leave.
• Research events going on while you’re there. This will help you make sure that you’re not missing be events going on in the city. Fun things like festivals, ceremonies and natural events. Also be sure to research as a few national dishes to try. You don’t want to leave the country without experiencing what its known for.

Electronics

• Bring a charger adapter. Countries have different size plugs and voltage. So if you want to use your iPod, make sure you can charge it.
• Check the voltage of your electronics. From my own experience I know that nothing is worse than having an adapter and still not being able to use a blow-dryer or a straightener because the voltage isn’t high enough for that country.
• Activate your phone’s global capabilities. There's usually a charge we doing this, but it is much less than the roaming charges you’ll get if you don’t.
• Download Travelzoo app. 

Luggage & packing

• Pack an extra set of clothes in your carry-on bag. Don’t be one of those travelers decked out in J’adore Paris apparel because the airline lost your luggage and you have nothing else to wear.
• To check a bag or not to check bag. Each airline has its own set of guidelines as to how many bags can be checked or carried on for free. Make sure to look up what your airline’s rules are to avoid any incremental fees.
• Bring snacks. Traveling abroad is fun, but eating in a foreign country can sometimes become a task. Bring small snacks that will tide you over until you find that perfect restaurant or food cart.

Original Post

Facts About Human Body - Total 15 - Must Read !!!!

1. The stomach’s digestive acids are strong enough to dissolve zinc. Fortunately for us, the cells in the stomach lining renew so quickly that the acids don’t have time to dissolve it.

2. The lungs contain over 300,000 million capillaries (tiny blood vessels). If they were laid end to end, they would stretch 2400km (1500 miles).

3. A mans testicles manufacture 10 million new sperm cells each day – enough that he could repopulate the entire planet in only 6 months!

4. Human bone is as strong as granite in supporting weight. A block of bone the size of a matchbox can support 9 tonnes – that is four times as much as concrete can support.

5. Each finger and toenail takes six months to grow from base to tip.

6. The largest organ in the body is the skin. In an adult man it covers about 1.9m2 (20sq ft). The skin constantly flakes away – in a lifetime each person sheds around 18kg (40 lb) of skin.

7. When you sleep, you grow by about 8mm (0.3in). The next day you shrink back to your former height. The reason is that your cartilage discs are squeezed like sponges by the force of gravity when you stand or sit.

Capital IQ, Eat Street & Big Bazaar - Sweet, Sweet & Bitter All together

1. Sweet Part - Capital IQ & Eat Street = Awesome

29th April 2012 for me started at 6:30 AM, quite early for me :), got ready for a written examination of S&P Capital IQ a leading provider of data and analytic for global financial professionals and have offices around the world, with its headquarters in New York.

Reached the center well before time thanks to my wife who really manages time well, but was amazed to see the number of people applying for the post, which is quite understandable as the paper advertisement didn't mentioned the required experience or the degree should be complete or not but just says we require MBA Finance, MS Finance and that's it for research analyst. 

But have to say they managed it quite well, we were allotted different exam rooms booked in very well know SVIT College, Hyderabad. Then there was 1 Hour OMR sheet based examination. The test consist of 3 sections A) Finance - 40 questions B) Reasoning with bit of Maths - 10 questions and last C) English - 10 Questions. Don't know if I will be shortlisted or not but was very happy with my effort. 

Got free at 11 AM and we were headed towards home but suddenly changed our mind to visit the Hussain Sagar Lake situated in the heart of Hyderabad. By the side of lake we enjoyed some very spicy yummy Indian chat e.g. Raj Kachori, Dahi Puri and Bhel Puri + 2 cans of Coke. Finished sightseeing by 12:30 PM and then decided to have a look in the nearby BIG Bazaar, which forced the good going day to take a U - Turn.

2. Bitter Part - BIG Bazaar = Pathetic

Big Bazaar is on a roll with its 1st time long weekend dhamaaka sale as they call it due to Saturday, Sunday and Labor's Day coming together so we decided to have a look. Parked my bike in one of the smallest parking space I have ever seen for Big Bazaar which might have lead to a private parking place just in front of it and believe me you will park your vehicle there only to be roasted like chicken courtesy of no shades and trees.

We bought two BIG Cinema platinum tickets for Vickey Donor @ 1:30 PM show, but that time the clock was ticking 12:50 so we decided to go to the food bazaar. There we bought a water bottle, kitchen apron, a pair of socks and my wife liked a saree but as we were short on time decided to visit the saree counter again after the movie and got the billing done for other items. Till now everything was fine.

The movie was fine, one time watch but preferably on a laptop rather than on screen. At interval we had coke, popcorn, some veg rolls and were enjoying our time together. Then suddenly after the interval everything changed.

There was no air conditioning in the hall, don't know what was the reason, which added to the boring and predictable movie after break (only in my opinion). It was really a long wait for 1 hour 15 minutes to finish the movie in those conditions, I was just sitting there to see John Abrahim song which came after the end of the movie hehehe.

Then as planned we tried to visit food Bazaar and general Bazaar again but at the counter I couldn't believe what I encountered. 

The baggage guard said that we could not keep Big bazaar carry bags in the baggage place F....K. Then we asked as there is a seal and we have a bill can we take it inside and the answer was again NOOO. 

I humbly asked where should we keep the items bought from them only and believe it or not the answer was I don't know!!!! Bullshit. So, that means if we come out once then can't go inside again but only after throwing the already purchased products somewhere else. Grrrrh.........

Don't know what's the policy behind for this kind of situation, may be a good one, of BIG BAZAAR but as a consumer it was truly annoying & frustrating and I would like to never go again there. So good luck Big Bazaar, you just lost a customer.

This is Varun signing off and if you had some similar kind of experience please share. Bye and have a nice day. I also want to say that it is my opinion only and not an attempt to harm anyone in anyway including BIG BAZAAR.