Built in the 1850’s, the Lebeau Plantation was once the largest plantation south of New Orleans. It survived the Civil War, the Great Depression, two world wars and Hurricane Katrina. Located in the New Orleans suburb of Arabi, in its lifetime it has served as a ahome, hotel, casino and Sugar Festival grounds. The two-story Greek Revival mansion reportedly had 16 rooms — eight on each floor — separated by a grand hallway that was 13 feet wide and 40 feet long, Hyland said. A spiral staircase was located on the outside of the home…
Weird or Wonderful
Category Archives for Weird or Wonderful.
Lost in Transit
As I lined up to withdraw from an ATM at Singapire’s Changi airport, I became aware of a disturbance . An elderly Sikh gentleman was clearly struggling to use the machine. Firstly, he did not appear to know how to insert his card. A young couple behind him showed him this. Entering the pin stumped him next. Dressed simply, in sandals, open necked shirt and a wrap and clutching an ID card, atm card and some cash, he looked vulnerable and out of place in this vast bustling mega airport. At this point, some of…
Unhappy Passenger’s revenge
If you could not get a seat on a plane, what would you do? After begging Merpati Nusantara airlines for five hours to sell him a seat on a sold out flight from Kupang (Timor Island) to Ngada (Flores) on Saturday 21 December, an Indonesian district chief, Marianus Sae, got revenge. Mr Sae sent public order officers to drive cars onto the runway of Turolelo Soa airport to stop the plane landing at its destination. He said “blocking Merpati from landing at the airport would teach the airline a firm lesson.” Airport officials could not stop the…
BA 747 wing slices airport
A British Airways 747-400 with 185 passengers and 17 crew followed the wrong taxiway at Johannesburg’s main airport, prior to take-off for London. The pilots had been instructed to use taxiway B but followed a much narrower taxiway M. As a result, its wing sliced into an office building. Debris from the building injured four people on the ground. No one aboard was hurt. All passengers evacuated via slides. A kerosene spill from the fully fuelled jumbo was contained by the airport fire services. The 747 has been removed from the office block and its…
Airport -Wildlife Refuge!
A small alligator found under an escalator at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport has left authorities puzzled. A maintenance worker discovered the alligator, which is about 30cm long, on Friday in Terminal 3, Chicago Police spokesman Jose Estrada says. An officer captured the reptile by putting a rubbish bin over it. “We don’t know where it came from or how long it’d been residing in the airport facilities,” Estrada said. “It’s one of those random incidents.” The gator is now being cared for by the Chicago Herpetological Society. “It was in pretty bad shape,” said Jason…
Chinese Guidebook for Civilised Tourism
China was the biggest spender in international tourism last year, overtaking Italy, Japan, France and Britain. It is the world’s fastest-growing tourism source market, according to the latest figures from the World Tourism Organisation.Several countries have eased their visa requirements to attract rich Chinese tourists. Chinese tourists, however, have endured much criticism for their public behaviour while travelling. Wang Yang, one of China’s four Vice Premiers said in May had it “damaged the image of the Chinese people”. Yang condemned “talking loudly in public places, jay-walking, spitting and willfully carving characters on items in scenic…
Google Maps does the Tardis
The British TV show “Dr Who” celebrated it’s fiftieth year with its 799th episode broadcast last week, simultaneously in 94 countries. This gained it Guinness Book of Records status for the largest ever simulcast of a television drama. Google Maps, in a clever move, has established an on-line tour of the Doctor’s time machine: The Tardis. On line users “walking” past London’s Earl Court station can enter a police box there. This, of course, is the Doctor’s time machine from Gallifray, in the constellation of Kasterborous. Google users can enter and explore a 3D version…
You Stink
I was on a completely full 10 hour flight on Sunday. Nearby to me was a passenger travelling with the worst body odour I have ever been in a confined space with! On an informal test, I discovered their smell could be detected from five seats away. The woman sitting next to the passenger feigned sleep and covered her face with a blanket in an attempt to block him out. I know Air Canada have de-planed a smelly passenger in the past. What would you do in this situation? Do/say nothing Silently offer deodorant…
Sweden is not Switzerland
Entries close next week for a competition asking Chinese people to come up with funny ways to help differentiate Sweden and Switzerland. Both nations’ names start with the same symbol in Mandarin. Sweden is Ruidian and Ruishi is Switzerland and many Chinese confuse the two. I suspect they are not the only people who mix them up. Spanish speakers can mix up ‘Suecia’ and ‘Suiza’. I have been told by people how much they love the Swiss furniture store Ikea. People also mix up Taiwan and Thailand. I once confused the Caribbean island of Grenada with Granada…
Funny Safety Briefings
Depending on how strict the airline is, some flight crews will make their safety presentations funnier. Here are some of the better ones that I havew found on the web. Any more? Intro “Ladies and gentlemen, did anyone lose a wallet near the front of the aircraft? – (silence) – We found a brown leather wallet on the floor (again, more silence……..). Ok, now that we have your attention, let’s begin the safety briefing… Please pretend that you care while we go over these important announcements. Welcome to SWA flight #3479. This is a non-stop,…
Recent Comments