Boyzone's Stephen Gately dies in Spain

Singer Stephen Gately, a member of the Irish band Boyzone, died Saturday while vacationing on the Spanish island of Majorca, the group's Web site said Sunday.
His four bandmates were to travel to Majorca, the posting said.

Gately, 33, was in Majorca with his partner, Andrew, the Web site said.

It did not offer Andrew's last name.

No further details about Gately's death were immediately available.

Boyzone made history in the United Kingdom with 16 consecutive Top Five hits, according to Ticketmaster's Web site.

It's one of Ireland's best-selling bands, with six No. 1 singles in the United Kingdom, and four No. 1 albums, Ticketmaster said.

The group, which separated in 2000 to pursue solo projects, reunited in 2008.

Its greatest hits album -- "Back Again ... No Matter What" -- was released last year.

Gately joined the band in 1993 after answering an audition ad. "A lot of people didn't think we would make it out of Ireland back then," he said previously on the group's Web site.

"We were overwhelmed when Boyzone began to take off, it was incredible."

source : cnn.com

UNDP : Norway is the best place to live, Indonesia is ranked in 111th

Have you ever wonder which country is the best place to live ? Well, here are the results according to UNDP.
Norway takes the number one spot in the annual United Nations human development index (UN HDI) released Monday but China has made the biggest strides in improving the well-being of its citizens.

The index compiled by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) ranks 182 countries based on such criteria as life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.

Norway, Australia and Iceland took the first three spots while Niger ranks at the very bottom, just below Afghanistan.

China moved up seven places on the list to rank as the 92nd most developed country due to improvements in education as well as income levels and life expectancy.

Colombia and Peru rose five spaces to rank 77th and 78th while France -- which was not part of the top 10 last year -- returns to the upper echelons by moving up three places to number 8.

The UNDP said the index highlights the grave disparities between rich and poor countries.

A child born in Niger can expect to live to just over 50, which is 30 years less than a child born in Norway. For every dollar a person earns in Niger, 85 dollars are earned in Norway.

This year's index was based on data from 2007 and does not take into account the impact of the global economic crisis.



"Many countries have experienced setbacks over recent decades, in the face of economic downturns, conflict-related crises and the HIV and AIDS epidemic," said the UN development report's author Jeni Klugman.

"And this was even before the impact of the current global financial crisis was felt."

Afghanistan, which returns to the list for the first time since 1996, is the only Asian country among the bottom ten which also include Sierra Leone in the 180th spot, just below the Central African Republic.

The top ten countries listed on the index are: Norway, Australia, Iceland, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Japan.

The United States ranks 13th, down one spot from last year.
And for Indonesia, has been ranked in position 111th, one level above Honduras.

See the complete HDI Rank Country here

Source : yahoo news

Journey to Prague

Several weeks ago, me and my colleagues went to visit the city of Prague in Czech Republic.
We went from Nuremberg, Germany with a bus.
One of the unique about Germany's transportation is, if you had a plan to travel, then you'd better buy the tickets in advance, like us, we got 50% discount for booking 2 weeks in advance.

The travel time was approximately 3 hours and 45 minutes. Along the way you'll find very beautiful scenery.
The bus officer would come to surveyed you one by one, to ask your purpose visiting Prague and for how long. No need to worry, it's just a routine questions.
But make sure you brought your passport and for the visa, it has become one package deal if you visit the European Union.

Arriving at the main station of Prague, I was surprised with the classic form of the building, a little bit old, but it's beautiful.
Then we headed to ground floor, because one of the officers say 'everything is under the ground'. Amazing... 4 floors below the ground... Wow...

At level 1 you'll find food court, game center and also money changer. You must exchanged your Euros here with Korun Ceskych (Czech currency),
because not all restaurants and stores accepted Euros. But I suggested you not to exchanged too much at the station, just exchanged to buy a ticket only,
because you'll have low rates, you better trade it out later, because in the tourist area or near the Vltava river there's plenty money changers and banks are open every day with a better exchange rate. The rates at the station usually 1 Euro = 22.10 Cr, but in the bank you'll have 1 Euro = 25 Kr.

The stairs to subway was really steep, its about 20 meters high.
We bought 24 hours tickets for all transportation for 100 Kc, which can be used for all types of transportation, from trains, subways, buses and trolley.
For additional information, at each station, hallway, buses, trains and trolley, all equipped with cameras (CCTV), so I felt more secured.

We drove to our apartment which already booked via the Internet, 1400 Kc for 1 night, 3 beds.
After taking a short rest, we were rushing to explore this city.
Starting from the restaurant on the street, because it was lunch time. Be careful to order food here, because if you ordered bread here, then you'll be charged for extra tax, if you ate at a restaurant in hotel, then you'll be charged for seats per person.
But even so, the food taste was pretty good here, and worth to try, after all its cheaper than in Germany.

In the Old Town Square we found ongoing street party, where hundreds of young people gathered and danced near dozens of vans/trucks carrying huge speakers with rock/metal music.

It's very noisy here, but it's also exciting because many of those wearing unique costumes. You do not need to worry about riot, because many policemen were guarding this party.

Then we headed too the famous Astronomical Clock, which already a lot of people lined up in front of the clock to see the 'action' every one hour.
For those who wanted to explore the city with more relaxed, you could rented a horse-drawn carriage which can accommodate about 4 people.

We've around the city until it reached the edge of the Vltava river. Here, we were offered a boat tour up the river, such as 'Little Venice' with the price for 290 Kr plus snacks and drinks that you can choose by yourself.

It was really exciting and fun too, because the tour guide explained about some historical of the city, important events and sometimes made a funny joke.

We were all fascinated by the beauty of this city from the river. After touring the river to a small canal for 40 minutes and are happy to take photos, we walked on the bridge filled with tourists, while enjoying the night view from here.

Apparently the scene more beautiful at night than during the day, but do not forget the time, because about 10 hours of the night, the roads were pretty quiet and you'd better went back to your hotel.

Tomorrow morning we are looking for breakfast at fast-food restaurant and it's true price is much cheaper than in Germany.
After breakfast we ride the tram around the city, we hasn't had a clear goal ... After about far enough,
we got off the tram and under the direction toward the 'Little Eiffel Tower' or the Petrin Tower.

To get to the Petrin Tower Park and you need to have the tram which takes you to the top of the hill, you don't need to pay for this streetcar, because it includes in 1-day ticket.

When you reached to the top of the hill, you will find a very beautiful garden, full of roses and of course the Petrin Tower.
Since the tower was opened at 10 a.m., so we're walking around the park and having some pictures.
After the tower was opened, I bought a ticket for 100 Kr to climb this 60 meters high tower.

There are 2 levels of the tower, the first 20 meters tall and if you continue the journey you will reach the top of this tower.
I felt really satisfied when I reached the top of this tower. It only took less than 10 minutes to climb this 299 stairs. Although I was a little afraid of heights, but I didn't want to waste this beautiful view from the top of this tower.
Unfortunately, my camera's battery was out while on the tower, so I missed to take a picture with a group who wore unique costumes, just like a traditional costumes.

From Petrin Tower we headed to the Castle of Prague using tram.
Once again I was fascinated with the architectural style of buildings here. The architecture was influenced by the Christian culture of 18th century (my thought).
What I'm confused, at that time how do they can make the building of this grand and beautiful, with great detail.

Unfortunately, to entered some certain rooms in the palace, you must have a special ticket.
There's so many guard who guarding this palace, and some of us took a picture with them.
The scenery outside the palace was also very beautiful, because the palace was located fairly high on the hill.

After we finished for walking around this palace and we also a little but tired, so we decided to have lunch in a restaurant near the Old Town Square.
Time passed so quickly, because at 3 pm we had to returned to the main station where our bus was waiting to went back to Nuremberg.

Wow, it felt great for visiting this historical city. Do not forget to buy some gifts and souvenirs when you visit this city.
The journey to this city would gonna be an unforgettable experience for me.

Bamberg, Nice City to Visit

Germany, is one of European country that is worth a visit as a tourist destination.

The country which the capital city is in berlin

also has small towns that have other very beautiful scenery.

One of the beautiful small town is Bamberg.

Located in Bravia, north of Nuremberg, about 45 minutes by bus from Erlangen, has Regnitz river. When World War II, the city of Bamberg survived the bombing,

so the original buildings still stood firm with their ethnic form.
Bamberg name itself is taken from the House of Babenberg.

If you go to Bamberg, you have to taste the cuisine of this city, one of which is called the historic beer Rauchbier (smoked beer). There also many delicious foods here, I've tried one of them, and the taste was really nice...

The price is also not too expensive, a 0.5 liter glass only about 3 euros. It does feel a little bit different from the usual beer, and the color was slightly brown.

This town is quite famous for its beer, because there are about eight traditional brewer in town.

Bamberg also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage because of its authentic medieval appearance.
This city also has many main sights, which are :
- Cathedral (1237), with the tombs of emperor Henry II and Pope Clement II.
- Alte Hofhaltung, residence of the bishops in the 16th and 17th centuries
- Neue Residenz, residence of the bishops after the 17th century
- Old Town Hall (1386), built in the middle of the Regnitz River, accessible by two bridges
- Klein-Venedig ("Little Venice"), a colony of picturesque fishermen's houses from the 19th century along one side of the river Regnitz.

I really enjoyed my trip to this city... And the weather in autumn is really cool, also you can enjoy the sight of trees changing their color from green to orange.
So... what are you waiting for, prepare your passport and have a visit to this beautiful city, and don't forget to buy some souvenirs for your family and colleague.