World’s Best Hotels in Tokyo
July 2008
The Tokyo Traveler: Travel & Leisure has published their 2008 World’s Best Awards and two hotels in Tokyo made the cut! Of the 50 World’s Best Hotels in Asia, The Imperial Hotel ranks 22nd while the Park Hyatt Tokyo ranks 16th in Asia and 77th Worldwide.
The Imperial Hotel, at number 22, first opened it’s doors in 1890 and was the was the only fully European style hotel in Tokyo for decades. This legendary Tokyo landmark has welcomed royalty, heads of state, celebrities and international business leaders for over 115 years and is located within walking distance of the Imperial Palace and Tokyo Station. With design elements remaining from a 1923 addition designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Imperial Hotel is definitely worth a visit - and you can stay there too if you don’t mind spending upwards of Y37,800 ($378 US) per night.
The Park Hyatt Tokyo, ranked at number 16, is located in the heart of Shinjuku and offers spectacular views of Tokyo’s unique skyline. The hotel has 173 rooms including 23 suites that are all located above the 41st floor with room rates starting around US $525 a night. The Park Hyatt Tokyo’s New York Bar, located on the 52nd floor, was prominently featured in the movie Lost in Translation starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. Everyone is welcome to visit the New York Bar, but if you go after 8PM (7PM on Sundays) expect to pay a Y2,000 (US $20) cover charge to enjoy some live Jazz and cocktails overlooking the city at night.
Photo Credit: Flickr, Park Tower from Shinjuku
Tags: 2008 World’s Best Awards, Hotels, Imperial Hotel, Japan, Lost in Translation, Park Hyatt Tokyo, The Tokyo Traveler, Tokyo, Tokyo Travel Guide, Tokyo Travel Tips, Tokyo Visitors Guide, Travel, Travel & LeisureShare This
Kevin Federline plans to make a fitness DVD
July 2008
That’s Fit: Filed under: Diet and Weight Loss, Celebrities
Kevin Federline is planning to release a fitness DVD. Hang on there, everyone — don’t start running out to buy one just yet. He plans to film it after he loses a bunch of weight. I guess that’s one type of motivation.
The former backup dancer has admitted that his weight ballooned due to “the pressure of looking after [his] children.” He said, “I plan to get back to looking ripped and sexy again — I know I have let it all go, but watch me fly this year.”
Apparently, I missed the “sexy” part the first time around. At any rate, K-Fed hopes to release the video in January 2009. I’ll be most curious to hear what music he uses for the routine — his own, his ex-wife Britney’s, or something else entirely. What about you — does anybody have any interest in getting fit with Federline?Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
How to play Scrabulous with US players
July 2008
Lifehacker Australia: 
Hasbro’s decision to sue the developers of popular Facebook Scrabble clone Scrabulous has resulted in US users being blocked from playing the game. That’s potentially bad news for players everywhere: if you’re in the middle of a game with a Stateside friend, you’re effectively in lexical limbo. Fortunately, there’s a workaround. Quite appropriately, a Facebook group has been set up which shows how to evade the block, by using Firefox and the FoxyProxy extension to route all Scrabulous games through a proxy server. Follow the link for full instructions. [Easy to follow instructions for playing Scrabulous in the US or Canada]