Games like Wii Sports and Wii Music are relatively new territory for Nintendo, but its other holiday game is well-trodden ground. Animal Crossing: City Folk (pictured top) is the fourth game in the company's Sims-style community game series, in which the player's cartoon avatar sets up homestead in a forest full of animals, building relationships with them and collecting a houseful of virtual stuff.

"When you say hard-core gamer, who's the hard-core gamer? Because in my opinion, someone who sits and plays Animal Crossing for hours upon hours -- isn't that a hard-core gamer?"

From » Wired

The Villa is suitable for visitors with or without children and whilst the property is designed with a central living area for all to enjoy, there are sufficient additional living spaces to allow privacy whenever needed in Bali Villas.

Villa Surya Damai is situated on the edge of the village of Umalas in a plot that extends to 2850 sq m. The gardens enjoy a 60m palm-fringed river-frontage and overlook the rice fields.

Umalas is a peaceful and quiet village, containing a number of villas as well as the famous riding stables. A pleasant 15 minute walk across the rice paddies brings you to Batu Belig beach, and some of Bali's best-known beachside restaurants.

The Villa is located only a few minutes drive to the fashionable Seminyak area featuring a fine selection of boutiques, antique shops and some of the highest-quality delicatessan shops and bakeries in Bali.

website: http://www.suryadamai.com/

When I was still working in a call center company, we had this team outing in Alcoy. The place was called Tingku Beach Resort. It was a two and a half hour drive from the city by bus. I have always loved going to the beach and with this team outing, it really thrilled me and kept me excited for days. When we arrived, we had to climb down a small cliff to get into the beach. The panorama was breathtaking. Pure white sand stretched far with coconut trees facing the sea. What made it more spectacular was that the sea was so calm and serene.

You can rent a room for an accommodation which will only cost you a thousand bucks for an overnight stay, though the room is not air-conditioned.  Tents could also be set-up along the shoreline without being charged. Though the beach is kantilado, it never stopped us from enjoying our stay. We rented a small bangka and explored the sea. At some parts where the water is shallow, you could see corals and fishes full of life. A karaoke has also been put up by the owner to make the beach more appealing especially to those who love singing. Building sand castles on the shore was also a fun part of playing with the white sand.

We never brought with us any food on our trip to Tingku Beach. What we did was for additional adventure, we went to the town market to buy food during our whole stay. We had the owner of the resort to cook the food that we bought – for an additional charge of course. Nonetheless, it was still a worth-it move because the food was prepared cleanly and cooked deliciously. It was really a good place to unwind and relax after a week’s work. If I’ll be asked for another trip to that place, I’d surely not think twice.

Mickey's Magical Party - El nuevo evento en Disneyland Paris a partir de Mayo del 2009

Justo cuando acabe las celebraciones del 15º Aniversario el próximo mes de Abril del año 2009, en Disneyland Paris se celebrará por todo lo alto y con varias novedades el 80º Aniversario del ratón más conocido de todo el mundo "Mickey Mouse". Descubre las novedades en ambos parques a continuación:

Disneyland Park

En el parque Disney, encontraremos novedades por lo que respectan a espectáculos. En Central Plaza podremos ver un nuevo show durante el día, a parte de la modificación del Disney Characters Express que se realizará entre 2-3 veces a la semana con una nueva decoración ideal para la ocasión. Además, Main Street y el Castillo será decorado para el evento.

Walt Disney Studios

En el parque del cine, los Studios, encontraremos una nueva parade (desfile) el llamado Disney's Stars 'n' Cars Event, que llegará directamente desde Disney Hollywood Studios en Orlando. Así mismo, encontramos una nueva atracción fija y 3 de temporales

• Playhouse Disney :: Live On Stage (Fija) al lado de la atracción de Stich y Tower of Terror
• Una atracción en forma de "U" (Temporal)
• Una atracción mecánica (Temporal)
• Una especie de sillas voladoras como las de Disney California Adventure Jumpin Jellyfish" (Temporal)

fuente: DisneyTheque.com

Mickey Mouse no entiende de crisis

Euro Disney, que explota Disneyland París, anunció hoy que durante los nueve primeros meses de su ejercicio, hasta el 30 de junio pasado, aumento su volumen de negocios en un 12%.

La facturación en ese periodo se elevó a 937,4 millones de euros, frente a 834,3 millones en el mismo periodo del año anterior, anunció la empresa en un comunicado.

La cifra de negocios en el tercer trimestre fue de 331,9 millones, lo que supone un alza del 3%, pese a que las vacaciones de Semana Santa, claves para algunos de los mercados de la compañía, cayeron este año en marzo a diferencia del año pasado, precisó Euro Disney.

En los nueve meses transcurridos hasta el 30 de junio la cifra de negocios de los parques temáticos aumentó en un 13% con respecto al mismo periodo del año anterior, y la de los hoteles y el complejo hotelero de Disney creció en un 10%

fuente: Cinco Días

Villa Soma is conveniently located less than 15 minutes from the airport and 5 minutes from the Four Seasons Jimbaran and the adjacent beach. Nusa Dua, Kuta, Seminyak, Dreamland Beach, Waterbom Park and other major attractions are all within 25 minutes driving distance from the villa.

Built on 5 levels with entrances at both the top and bottom levels, Villa Soma has 800 square meters of living space with 2 swimming pools – the upper level infinity pool cascades down to the lower pool. The villa’s 4 spacious A/C bedrooms comfortably accommodate up to 8 adults and 4 children (plus 2 daybeds). Villa Soma is part of the exclusive Temple Hill development and features modern architecture and interiors, black terrazzo flooring indoors and ironwood decking outdoors, high ceilings and oversized metal and glass sliding doors. The villa’s prime Jimbaran location combines unmatched views with easy access to the beach and all of Bali’s major attractions.

My neighborhood is the absolute perfect place to live.  My house isn't grand on any level.  It is a very modest 1800 square foot tri-level.  There really isn't anything distinguishing about it, except maybe our yard.  We have a great backyard for living in the city, complete with a creek, room for a massive garden, and  a great gate.  If something happened to my home, I think that I would insist on just rebuilding right on this same plot.  In fact, if all we could afford was a 1000 square foot home, I think I would settle b/c I just don't think I could move away from this section of town!  We live on the first street of an older subdivision.  Most of the homes were probably built in the 80s and 90s.  The houses on our street were from the 70s and then they seem to have kept expanding up a hill to the Country Club golf course.  If you go up the street to the golf course, there are about 3 sub streets in between our street and the golf course street.  As you go up the hill, the houses get more extravegant and taxes get higher.  But the thing I love about these houses is that each one is so unique!  They all have a certain style of architecture and they are sooooo beautiful to look at.  They yards are all beautifully kept because they have groundskeepers.  In fact, the houses on the actual golf course road are required to pay some fee to someone and their yards are mowed for them so that they get done on the same day.  And it is so eerily quiet...you feel like you are walking on some resort!  No one drives through at 5:30 in the morning.  Everyone is either out walking exchanging pleasentries, or on vacation I suppose.  I mean, if you can afford a house like that, surely you spend a few weeks of the summer "countryside!"   I feel as though I am regular "townsfolk" who can only afford to live on the outskirts of the kingdom.  But that's okay...my kids have a safe place to ride their bikes and I have a quiet and beautiful place to walk.  (See fitness journal)

Okay back on track.  So I am walking on the golf course road and it is raining.  It is starting to come down pretty heavily.  All of a sudden about 5 of these beautiful houses have sprinklers that kick on to water their yards!  Are they all on the same system or something?  I don't know.  What a waste of water (green side of me says).  What a waste of money (cheap side of me says).  Well, maybe they are on vacation and don't know it is raining (the less judgmental side of me says). So I started thinking...if these people are this rich, surely they can afford sprinklers with some sort of sensor that knows when it is raining. Do they make those? If not, someone is going to get rich doing it, because these people can more than afford it.  Hmmm...I wish I were more "crafty."

Anyway, this was a random thought....by Cinturon!

Puri Tupai consists of two traditional “joglo” houses, incorporating the best of Javanese and Balinese architecture. Left wing and right wing. Left wing contains two bedrooms, main kitchen, living area, writing table. Right wing contains two bedrooms, bar area, day bed, and entertainment mezzanine lounge.

Bedroom
There are total four bedrooms (three double and one twin) which can accommodate up to eight guests in genteel comfort. All bedrooms are with air-conditioning system and en-suite bathroom but without bathtub.

Villa Casabelle Location
Casabelle is located on the Bukit and faces south over the Indian Ocean . You will feel a long way from the hustle and bustle of touristy areas, yet are only 20 minutes from the airport and 30 minutes from the main shopping and restaurant areas. Secluded beaches are only 10 minutes away where you can enjoy spectacular sunsets and stroll on white sand. An 18 hole championship golf course is 25 minutes away at Nusa Dua, while an 18 hole golf course, New Kuta Golf at the Pecatu Graha complex is only 5 minutes away.

Villa Ombak Luwung Rates :
* Low Season: USD 1250 /night
* High Season: USD 1600 /night
* Peak Season: USD 2000 /night

So, this place is a “resort.” Well, actually it’s a couple hotel/motel complexes, gift shop made to look like a mining town, a pool, and a water slide/kiddie pool. However, the pool and the slides aren’t connected. So we had to walk all the way around the gate to get from one another. We had the pool to ourselves until people started just jumping the fence to get from place to place.

The place we’re staying is nice though. (except the bathroom is kinda ugly)