I can’t read Chinese, but I’m pretty sure that’s not right. Want to learn Chinese (or a myriad of other languages)?
There are some pretty fabulous free tutorials available courtesy of the Foreign Service Institute of the US Government and the BBC.
The script and tonal system make it tricky for Westerners, but that’s no reason not to try!
This is a Hipmunk guest post from Jodi Ettenberg.
View from my old apartment in NY.
A simple service post for those Hipmunks based in or planning to visit New York City during the coming months: here's where to find the schedule of all the summer movies being screened in the city: NYC Summer Movies.
I'm from Montreal but I lived in New York for several years, and always found out about upcoming outdoor screenings too late, leaving me scrambling to get there. No longer! It's all on one handy page, with links to each of the locations during the summer movie series.
(h/t Kottke, by @matthewhowell)
Well played, gentlemen. Well played.
Last week's twitter contest had a ton of submissions. It seems a lot of you were excited to win $500 Fly Bucks to travel on @flyfrontier as we celebrated our partnership. It wasn't easy, but here's the winning tweet:
The @flyfrontier destination I want to visit most is Alaska @thehipmunk, because I want to shoot a polar bear (with my camera!)
Congratulations, Mike! We hope you get to shoot your polar bear (from a safe distance).
Send us the picture, OK?
We celebrated hipmunk moms on Mother's Day, so we obviously were going to do the same for dads on Father's Day.
Instead of using twitter, we're trying a little site called facebook.
All you've got to do is tell us why you love your father more than hipmunk and if it's got the most "likes" by 8pm eastern today (June 17, 2011), we'll buy your dad a year-long membership to the Bacon of the Month Club.
(If he doesn't eat bacon, we'll get him a $100 worth of hummus or some other food he loves.)
And we'll make sure to keep this our little secret, so there'll be no sign of hipmunk anywhere on the Father's Day gift.
Inspired by yesterday's #Londonliesfortourists entry, I thought I'd try my hand at a few lies for our tourists here in New York via @thehipmunk:
Savvy hipmunks know better than to spend any more time than is absolutely necessary in Times Square.
Yesterday's writeup was a hit on the nyc reddit community, where I proposed we crowdsource a few more. Here's a sampling of the best -- read the full thread here:
foreseeablebananas:
NYU is well loved by the local community in Greenwich Village, which is why they allow the university to build so much.
percival21:
This is where King Kong's body fell in 1933 from the Empire State Building.
grobertson:
Be sure to tell the taxi driver you're going to Brooklyn before opening the car door. He'll be super nice. They love crossing the bridge.
jeanpaulfartre:
if you're the only one in a subway station late at night you have to hail the subway or it will skip the stop (assuming no one on board has requested a stop).
bridge_girl:
Giuliani implemented fines for walking too slowly on sidewalks. Unruly children may be taken away by the ACS at the city's discretion in public spaces. Cabs all go downtown; you have to take the subways back up.
scriptedlife:
Everywhere except broadway is rife with criminals, like in gangs of new york.
kittenpaws:
Magnolia bakery is definitely worth the wait.
pavel_lishin:
Subway handles are actually coated with a disinfectant material - it's simply impossible for germs to stick to them, so don't worry too much about hygiene after riding the subway.
jaredisle adds:
In fact if you lick them, not only is it safe, they taste of peppermint.
And if you've got a few of your own - for either New York or your hometown - please share them in the comments!
For instance, here's one from @TimeOutLondon:
The McDonald's on Hampstead High Street is the only branch in the world to have been awarded a Michelin star.
#londonliesfortourists
And here's a gem from @DavidConstable:
When the organ starts in St Pauls Cathedral, the first couple on the dance floor win a prize #londonliesfortourists
It's not only inspired many more lies to tell tourists in London (check out #londonliesfortourists on twitter), but also for cities across the world.
Have you got some you'd like to share? Tell us in the comments!
This is a Hipmunk guest post from Jodi Ettenberg.
I'm writing this from Vancouver airport and am on my way back to my hometown of Montreal for the first time in 2011. While wintertime is quite cold, there are kilometers and kilometers of tunnels linking much of the downtown core, and the city can be enjoyed at any point during the year. Here are my Top 5 things to do in Montreal:
1. EAT! Yes, I tend to be biased because I write a lot about food. But the food options in my city are plentiful and varied. For starters, Schwartz' Deli offers smoked meat that is very different from corned beef or the smoked meats available elsewhere. Open late, there's a line up outside the door at all hours of the day. Montreal is also known for its bagels and Fairmount or St. Viateur are each an ideal place to sample Montreal-style bagels, which taste different from all others I’ve tried (they’re much thinner, crunchy outside and soft inside – and in my biased opinion, much better!). You can't come to Montreal and not eat poutine, our provincial dish of cheese curds, gravy and french fries. The best place in town: La Banquise. Finally, there's a great group of BYOB restaurants on Duluth Street - but more on these later this summer when I round up the specifics of great food in Montreal.
[Photo Credit: Adie Reed]
2. BIXI THROUGH THE OLD PORT A Bixi bike ride around the Old Port and surrounding areas is an ideal welcome to Montreal. In the summer months, Sundays include the fun outdoor party at Piknic Électronik on Île Ste.-Hélène. The tiny island adjacent to Montreal easy to find (use your Bixi bike!) and a perfect place to relax. You can take the bike through Montreal's downtown core and around the Lachine Canals off of Atwater Market - great way to cover ground and enjoy the sun.
[Photo Credit: Joe57Spike]
3. MOUNT ROYAL. I’d also recommend visiting Mont Royal, the tiny mountain looking down over Montreal. You can walk your way to the top, visit Beaver Lake and see the sunset over the city. In the summer, you can partake in a huge, free drum circle called Tamtams in Mont Royal park, happening every Sunday afternoon.
4. ART MUSEUM. I can spend hours strolling through the Musee des Beaux Arts for an ever-compelling series of art exhibits. Until June 26, the museum houses The Warrior Emperor and China's Terracotta Army exhibit, well worth seeing, as well as the 'Earth is Blue Like an Orange' exhibit with quirky photos, installations and sculptures showing a different way to see the world (through September 4, 2011).
5. FIRE FOUNTAIN. Unique and fun: my city has a Fountain of Fire named La Joute. Created by Jean-Paul Riopelle in 1969, the fountain spews fire on the hour and makes for quite a spectacle. It’s located in Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle in the Quartier International de Montreal. Worth a walk to view, especially when lit up at night.
More from Montreal later this summer, including the world-famous International Jazz Festival that runs every June/July.
Just in time for the Paris Airshow. Tnooz reports on this latest installment from Airbus' Future of Aircraft series. Apparently even the seats on the planes of 2050 are self-cleaning. This is the future. Sadly, no word on whether or not we all have jetpacks.
For some perspective, here's what French futurists in 1910 imagined for the year 2000.
