Tag Archives: Travel

SINGAPORE SLING

This fabulous architecture belongs to the Marina Sands Hotel in Singapore. I’d probably have to take a valium before I dared go to the edge of the infinity pool on the skypark deck level. Criminy! A friend is staying there now traveling for business. Lucky dog!

Feng Shui By Fishgirl analysis: the use of 3 towers is good feng shui numerology. The curves as indicated by the pool shot above add to the yin energy to balance the phallic towers. The skydeck resembles a giant surfboard from what I can tell. So far so good. But I think the hotel management needs to send me a ticket and put me up for a week in order to get a full feng shui report card. . .

Leave a comment

Filed under Architecture, Design, Feng Shui, Interior Design, Travel

EVERGLADES FENG SHUI

From the moment we entered the Everglades National Park we anticipated an exotic adventure. Intrepid travelers like us don’t let a little “Beware of Vultures” sign daunt us. We began our day tour at the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center and our first stop was the Anahinga Trail. Named after the anahinga bird, this is a paved walk with much of it a boardwalk over the marshy slough.

This is an anahinga drying its wings

You’ll see alligators, exotic birds, alligators, turtles, the aforementioned vultures that are protected by the park, and more alligators.This is what we were hoping for, but the trail more than exceeded our expectations.

There were many opportunities to photograph the gators. Although the pic above is from the Everglades website, all the rest are mine.

The park is impressive and we’re happy to know that it’s a World Heritage Site. It’s something our government did right. By paying attention to good thoughtful design, this National Park has created positive feng shui for the animals it is protecting as well as the guests that visit.

The trails are well maintained and uniquely designed for excellent viewing. The boardwalk was wide enough to make it wheelchair accessible. You feel like you are out in the glades–and you are! The elevated boardwalk allows you to look down to see great blue herons immediately below you and look up to tree limbs where they are nesting right before your eyes.

See the great blue heron being watched by the gator being watched by me?

2 Comments

Filed under Feng Shui, Fun, Plants & Outdoors, Travel, Uncategorized

HEMINGWAY HOUSE IS THE CAT’S MEOW

Image

Any visit to Key West must include a visit to the Hemingway House. Unless you are allergic to cats, that is. This historic home is residence to 40+ cats descended from Ernest Hemingway’s original double-pawed pets. They have the run of the place and are not particularly shy of visitors.

Image

The tranquil pool has ceramic elephants on either side of it. Good feng shui guardians as they represent Ganeshe, remover of obstacles!

Image

This is the writing room that Hemingway did his work in. I would think that awesome swimming pool and the bars on Duval Street would be major distractions, though!

Image

The cat above literally came out from behind the books on the shelf in Hemingway’s writing studio! If you look closely you’ll notice the extra toes on his paw.

ImageI love the tile patterns throughout the property–not sure if these were always pastel or are simply faded from sun and wear of the constant flow of tourists in the gardens. The yellow and black Art Deco tiles shown below were used in his bathrooms.

Image

Image

This cat condo was built to resemble a doll house replica of the famously shuttered Hemingway House.

Leave a comment

Filed under Architecture, ART, Pets, Plants & Outdoors, Travel, Uncategorized

HANGING OUT IN SRI LANKA

One trend I’ve been following for awhile is eco-tourism and upscale sustainable design. Case in point: the Heritance Kandalama Hotel in Sri Lanka. The 3 pools at the resort were built with an ancient Sri Lankan filtration technology. The roof has a lush overhanging garden reminiscent of the fabled hanging gardens of Babylon.

A great destination for bird watchers and trekkers, too. Meanwhile the nearby Dambulla Cave Temple holds 150 Buddah statues that date back to the 19th Century. With this type of attraction, Sri Lanka seems poised to become the next Bali.

1 Comment

Filed under Architecture, Design, Feng Shui, Green/Sustainable, Plants & Outdoors, Travel

IDEAS TRAVEL, TOO: Locking Up Love vs Setting it Free

I took these pics in Florence, Italy last year while traveling with my true love. We saw these locks along the Ponte Vecchio and didn’t have a clue what they were about. Until today when I came across a Travel & Helpful People. Er, Helpful Person. Anita Mac does a great job of describing these “Love Locks” on her travel blog: TravelDestinationBucketList (and she has even more super pics of them, too). Apparently a generation of romantic youth from China to Praque to Italy and beyond like the idea of padlocking their names together in a gesture of eternal love.  From a feng shui standpoint, I believe a better representation of love is to set it free and if it’s yours it comes back to you. Does anyone else see a connection between chastity belts and love locks, or is it just me?

Leave a comment

Filed under ART, Creativity & Future Projects, Feng Shui, Fun, Love & Relationship, Travel

A RESTAURANT DECOR THAT IS SOOOO MONEY!

March is Travel & Helpful People month at Feng Shui By Fishgirl. One of the fun things about traveling for me is putting my feng shui eyes to good use to find unusual places to report about here. Tucked away on a back road off a back road in the already remote Big Pine Key, Florida is one such place. The No Name Pub is famous for being hard to find. Yet once you do, you’ll most certainly find it crowded with other people as this is a most popular destination about 30 miles from Key West. The food is really good pizza, local seafood, and pub fare. We recommend the Royal Pizza. However it’s the decor that caught my attention. Every square inch of ceiling and wall surface and columns has dollar bills stapled to it.

As you can see here, people write their names or other messages on the bills. Can you take a guess at how much money is attached to the No Name Pub’s interior? (By the way, there is an upstairs, too, but they only have half the space there covered with bills so far).

Hearts seem to be a big theme when deciding what message to draw on your dollar. That’s also sending a great feng shui message to the universe: Love and/or I Love Wealth.

Traditionally you will often find one dollar bill framed in restaurants to indicate the first dollar received by customers. Sometimes you’ll see a Ben Franklin framed. Even if they’ve never heard of feng shui, restaurant owners tend to have a sixth sense that honoring the first dollar is good for their luck. It is a symbolic ritual that enhances the ch’i energy—money attracts money—and that’s good feng shui.

We asked the waitress how much money there was stapled all about. She said that the last time someone counted it there was roughly $130,000 in dollar bills fluttering down from the ceiling and walls. There is often a 20 minute wait time for indoor seating which proves that the decor is attracting a lot of business to the No Name Pub. This is one instance where “clutter” is great feng shui!

By the way, one of the most fun things about Big Pine Key is that it is home to an endangered species of miniature Key Deer. They roam freely all over the place. You’re not allowed to feed them. But they are amazing to see because of their petite size.

Leave a comment

Filed under Architecture, Creativity & Future Projects, Design, Feng Shui, Fun, Travel

AMSTERDAM SUNHEAD B & B-Thumbs Way Up!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Hot Travel Tip: Stay at the Sunhead B & B when you visit Amsterdam. You’ll be conveniently located on the Herengracht Canal close to the Dam. The must-not-miss Anne Frank House and museum are right around the corner (even in middle of winter the lines were long here so get up early and beat the crowds). The train station is less than a 3 minute walk away. You’re never more than a 15 minute walk from anything you’ll want to see if you stay at the Sunhead. This most charming B & B is in a 1617 building and the feng shui vibe is lovely. Carlos, your innkeeper, will delight you every morning in his cozy kitchen with a huge and delicious breakfast consisting of yoghurt with fresh fruit compote, fresh squeezed orange juice, crusty rolls, prosciutto or bacon, eggs your way, and coffee or tea. This hearty fare can get you way beyond lunchtime if you’re counting calories or coins. His naughty sense of humor is a refreshing way to begin your day as well if you don’t mind a few well placed F-bombs before noon, bitches. We stayed in the Tulip Room under the red-beamed rooftop and double height ceiling which is at the very top of 3 narrow flights of stairs. There is no elevator so if this is a concern, you’ll want to pass on this opportunity. There’s so much to see and do in Amsterdam you’ll want to stay 4-7 days.

 

3 Comments

Filed under Architecture, Feng Shui, Travel

SEXY AIRSTREAM VINTAGE TRAILERS

airstream

Vintage Airstream trailers have incredible design appeal. Even though they were first introduced in the late 1920’s, they still have a cutting edge gleam and a certain sexiness to them. The one shown is a 1974 model that resides in our apple orchard on Deer Isle, Maine. There are two others on the property and they attract a lot of attention. I’ll be blogging more about them as we renovate and update the interiors with feng shui in mind.

FYI: They are available as rental cabins (5 hrs north of Boston, 10 hrs north of NYC) and the island is a perfect setting for an artist’s getaway or writer’s retreat. Contact me!

2 Comments

Filed under Design, Feng Shui, Travel