Weird travel gadgets: SensorFreshQ food safety tester

Should you be partaking in any street food on your next visit to a developing country, this device will tell you how fresh that meat or poultry is by “sniffing” the air around it for bacteria. Available from Amazon.com for US$89.95.

Chinglish lesson of the day: Rather more curves, please hold the armrest for your safety

Apparently this warning can be seen on the Chengdu Airport bus.

Weird travel gadgets: The Senz Extreme Umbrella

If you live in a tropical or rainy or windy climate, you probably go through several umbrellas during a particularly nasty or wet monsoon season. Enter the SENZ Extreme Umbrella which has been tested under 180 MPH wind conditions by skydivers. Now all you have to worry about is misplacing it. Available from SENZ Umbrellas starting at €45.95.

Japanese urban camouflage by Aya Tsukioka

In case you are concerned about your personal safety, the Kitsune Noir blog has noted that designer Aya Tsukioka has created a skirt that unfolds to become a realistic looking vending machine in order to hide from would be attackers. Somehow though, I don’t think this will work on the mean streets of the South Bronx or Johannesburg!

Chinglish lesson of the day: Car kiss and ride

Cantonese in one minute: Electricity

In a second equally entertaining video, Pierre-Francois Metayer of PFMproductionz explains the various components of the Chinese character for “electricity” in Cantonese:

Mandarin in one minute: To sing

Pierre-Francois Metayer of PFMproductionz has produced this amusing video to help non-Mandarin speakers to learn how to speak (some) Mandarin:

The Obama do nothing skit on Saturday Night Live

Or as James Taranto best summarized it in the Wall Street Journal: "The Norwegian Nobel Committee makes President Obama look ridiculous."

Chinglish lesson of the day: Carefulness bump head

Tall Westerners watch out!

Please lighten your load before boarding our aircraft

Here is an odd story from several newspapers (including Daily Mail, The Independent and the Toronto Star) that is also being picked up by several aviation and travel blogs, including the Wend blog and the Dallas Morning News’ Airline Biz blog. Apparently, All Nippon Airways (ANA) is now asking passengers to use the toilet before boarding the aircraft so that they will weigh less and help to cut carbon emissions (and cut the overall cost for fuel as well). The theory behind the request is simple: empty bowels and bladders will mean lighter passengers and hence lighter aircraft and lower fuel usage (and not to mention some additional cost savings for the airline). However, this is definitely better than the Ryanair idea to charge passengers to use the onboard toilet!