Museum of London Docklands

The Museum in Docklands explores the story of London's river, port and people from Roman times through to recent regeneration. Twelve galleries provide a showcase for artefacts, paintings, engravings and photographs from the collections at the Museum of London and the Port of London Authority. There is also a year round events and educational programme.

Melaka Dimond of Malaysia

Introduction Melaka:

Melaka is world-renown for her long history, historical sites, cultures and cuisines where she has charmed numerous visitors to her shores since her founding in the 15th. Century AD.Come feel her unique history, see her sites, enjoy her cultures, hospitality and taste her delightful cuisines

Etihad experience high summer bookings

Etihad Airways is advising passengers to book their summer flights as soon as possible to avoid disappointment as the peak summer period approaches.




The Abu Dhabi-based airline, which was voted “Middle East’s Leading Airline” at the 2010 World Travel Awards, has seen a significant increase in bookings to several of its key destinations as customers from the Middle East book their summer travel.



Etihad Airways now offers flights to 63 global destinations across an expanded network that includes the recently launched Japanese destinations Tokyo and Nagoya, and Baghdad and Erbil in Iraq. In addition, Etihad has increased frequencies to Dublin, Manila, Kathmandu and Beirut.



Etihad will operate a total of 1,032 flights a week this summer, a 16 per cent rise on the 888 weekly flights that operated during the same season in 2009.



James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ Chief Executive Officer, said: “We expect to see extremely high demand during our summer period, especially as residents across the Middle East region travel to cooler climates in Europe.

Krabi safe for tourists, governments told

KEY players in Krabi’s hospitality industry want to assure visitors that the Andaman coast is a safe destination in order to kick start the region’s ailing tourism industry




The message conflicts with alerts from the vast majority of national governments who have warned their citizens against travelling to Thailand. Only Taiwan currently lists Krabi as a safe destination for tourists to visits.



Similarly the Pattaya hotel market is facing another awful year with occupancy of luxury establishments falling to below 50 per cent.

In 2006 and 2007 Pattaya experienced usual booming tourist trade with occupancy reaching three-quarters of all four and five star rooms.



Meanwhile the Criminal Court will announce tomorrow whether it will approve an arrest warrant for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on terrorism charges, as the massive clean up operation in Bangkok gets underway.



The judicial body will re-examined a request by the Dept of Special Investigation for an arrest warrant for Thaksin.



Volunteers including teenagers and students were among those who helped to clean six venues which remained littered with rubbish and reeking of sewage after the red shirt demonstration.



Participants wanted to remind the red shirt rioters of the damage they had done to the peaceful image of Thailand around the world and the damage done to the economy through the destruction of property and decline in tourist numbers.



The 44-year-old Siam Theatre, in Bangkok, and CentralWorld shopping centre are just two of many buildings left gutted by fire.



And tourists have been warned not to break tonight’s 23:00 to 04:00 curfew after 36 people were fined 2,000 baht and received two month suspended jail terms in Bangkok last night.



There have been a total of 511 arrests for violating curfew intentionally or without justified causes since May 20 according to the Metropolitan Police Bureau.



Authorities warn they will continue to arrest those who violate the condition, which has been put in place in the Thai capital and northern provinces after escalating violence.

Dubai debt concerns resurface

Concerns over Dubai’s financial position have resurfaced after its largest private equity company, Dubai International Capital, requested a three-month extension to its debt repayments, in the latest blow to the emirate’s financial image.




DIC, which is the investment arm of Dubai Holding, a conglomerate owned by the ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rasid al Maktoum, announced it has secured agreement with its six lending banks to delay the repayment of the debt from June until September.



The company said in a statement: “The extension period would allow the implementation of a consensual longer-term plan that would enable DIC to maximise the value of its business for the benefit of all its stakeholders.”

The banks are co-chaired by HSBC and Emirates NBD, and represented by Deloitte whilst Lazard was acting for DIC. The company has agreed to continue to pay interest and amortisation to keep the loans current, a DIC spokesman said.



The delay will stoke market uncertainty about the health of Dubai’s finances, just as the emirate seemed to be getting back on track. This month, Dubai World, the state-owned conglomerate that sparked last year’s recent debt crisis in the emirate, reached agreement with its main banks to restructure $23.5 billion of debts over eight years. It is also seeking a final deal with all its creditors by end June.



Government-related companies must restructure an overall debt burden of $109 billion.

Rule 240 Revisited

Much has been written about something called Rule 240. Some pundits claim its an “urban travel legend” and no longer exists. Others disagree.




What is Rule 240? Well, back in the days when airlines were regulated by a government agency, they all had to abide by some sensible rules to protect passengers in case of, among other things, a cancellation or misconnection that was within the airlines control. These rules were incorporated in the airlines contracts of carriage. Post-deregulation, these rules no longer had to be followed, but some airlines, whether formed after or before deregulation, perhaps because they were too lazy to completely rewrite their contracts, kept the same rules. Airlines formed after deregulation typically didnt incorporate these rules into their contracts, and some have done away with them.



Anyway, Rule 240 originally stated that in the event of a cancellation or flight misconnection, the airline would have to put you on their next flight out, or, if that wasnt “acceptable,” on the next flight out of a competing airline if that flight would get you to your destination sooner, all at no additional cost to you. If only first class was available on the other airline, then they had to upgrade you. This only applied in circumstances under the airlines control, such as crew failing to show up, or mechanical problems.



So does Rule 240, or something like it, still exist? Well, we searched the contracts of carriage for a bunch of big and smaller airlines to find out, and near as we can see, several airlines, such as Alaska and United, still have something they call Rule 240, and others, such as Delta, Southwest, and Virgin America, have more vague language saying that they will put you on another airline at their “sole discretion” or that they “may substitute alternate carriers.” And some airlines dont call it Rule 240 at all, instead using a numbering system of their own invention (Alaska calls it "Rule 240AS" for example, and Continental calls it "Rule 24").



Keep in mind that airlines can change their contracts at any time, and several of the larger ones have done so in recent months. And sometimes there isnt a flight on another airline that will get you there sooner, especially if youre traveling from or through a so-called “fortress hub,” such as Atlanta, a Delta Airlines stronghold, or there may be no seats available on the other airlines next flight. Also, if you're traveling on a "bulk," "consolidator," or other unpublished airfare, then all bets are off.



To address the skeptics, in the chart below weve done our best to interpret the airlines policies, and have excerpted the actual language from their current (as of May 2010) contracts of carriage, which, although we're travel journalists not lawyers, we assume are legally binding documents. Below the chart, weve also provided links to the contracts on the airlines Web sites so you can see for yourself.



We've noted whether, near as we can tell, the airline will put you in first class on its own (or another carrier's) next flight out.

Hong Kong Memory

Round-trip Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car, and visit Po Lin Monastery, Bronze Giant Buddha, Victoria Peak, Aberdeen, Repulse Bay. Enjoy the Harbour Cruise - Bauhinia for a unique sightseeing and dining cruise in Hong Kong.