[ElisasAUG]

The days are getting shorter and it is getting colder at least in our part of the world. It is a very Dutch tradition to prepare yourself in these dark days before Christmas for your summer vacation.
I was wondering if you could share with us, why anyone should visit where you live, other than the fact that you're there and that one can practice Kendo. (Or why anyone should live where you are)
Everytime I see the locations where you guys live I have fantasies (sometimes judgemental) about the location where you live.
If I see the not well known locations in the US I think of the movie "American Graffiti" of George Lucas. But than with contemporary cars. If I see the location Hollywood and the likes I have to think about the program on MTV where celebrities show you their mansions and fleet of cars. When I think of Canada I think of the excact opposite of the US with peace and quiet and nothing pretty much happens. When I think of Australia all I can think of is a TV serie which lasted for decades which at one time had Kylie Minogue in it. (forgot the name) Like I said very judgemental so please enlighten my distorted views.
And it would be nice to be objective and tell us everything, warts and all.
Maybe we can meet and greet have a holiday and most important, practice Kendo.
For starters I live in the neighborhood of Den Haag which is near the sea. The distance for some major tourists traps like Amsterdam and other cultural highlights is rather close. Most of the folks can speak passable English, and are rather helpful to tourists.
On the downside it can be crowded, the weather in the summer can be crap. If folks at first think you want to stay forever in Holland instead of just a passing tourist, alas nowadays you can receive a cold shoulder.
But if the weather is nice you can visit many museums, enjoy the sighs and sounds, have a drink outside, even when you're 16 years old. Life can be pleasant in Holland.
Please don't make this a flame thread because we have too much of these.

[BWJfEkOB]

I live in Barnsley, but I wouldn't go here for vacation Not sure what's there to do, besides go to meadowhell (shopping centre). But just 1 hour away is Leeds. Great night life and shopping.

Also, there are museums in Leeds and in areas of South Yorkshire and an odd castle or two. And if you don't mind travelling a bit there's the Yorkshire dales with it's beautiful scenery. A favourite place for ramblers.

Weather isn't as bad as everyone says South Yorkshire tends to be quite sunny. But everytime I've been to North Yorkshire (Harrogate area) it's been quite gloomy. But again beautiful scenery and cloud formation. Everywhere you look, it's a lovely picture.

I myself am still learning more about this place. I just moved here 1 year ago.

[Retapleapse]

In Minnesota, we have one of the biggest malls around in Minneapolis area, Mall of America. We got a lot of tourists thanks to it. Inside there are tons of shops, indoor rides and so forth. That's pretty much one of the biggest attractions of Minnesota. There's also Duluth way up north (close to Canada) where people usually go there at the beginning of Fall so they can see beautiful autumm leaves fall, and beautiful Lake Superior.

If you're a party animal, there's the whole downtown filled with bars, and the stadium to enjoy football and baseball. A lot to shop, and tons of crime, lol

Other than that, we got the famous Minnesota Winter (sometimes 60 below), and thunder storms during summer/fall.

I live here for almost 11 years, and I guess it's a great place to live, but not much to visit. Minnesota is known as one of the places that is middle of nowhere, we ain't got much here, hehehe

[RLRWai4B]

Saskatoon is a small city of 200,000. In the winter, don't bother coming here. In the summer it's beautiful, sunny and nearly every weekend there's a festival of some sort. Jazz festival, children's festival, Fringe festival, Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan, formula 1 power boat races - lots to do. This is a university town with an active arts community including a symphony and a half-dozen pro and semi-pro acting companies. We have a very good facility that can seat 10-16K people that attracts a surprising number of top-name acts for such a small place.

It's prairie here but about 90 minutes north is the start of the boreal forest and many lakes. Lots of people own cabins and go there most weekends to relax. Prince Albert national park is the centre of that area. 5 hours north is the Canadian shield country and some of the best wilderness canoeing in the country. It's possible to take your canoe over a few portages and then spend a week without seeing another soul.

[Voitramma]

I have 2 locations to describe

West Lafayette, IN
Not really much out here since it's about an hour north of Indianapolis but it has it's moments. It's a college town so you can find your general parties and sports attractions throughout the year.

As far as the scenery, it's actually quite nice especially during the fall season. There are a lot of trees out here so you can see the natural beauty of the place, especially if you go to high places like the Math building that is on campus. If you have never seen corn/soy fields before, then this is your place cause there are many for miles around.

If you can't find anything to do, you can always go to Chicago which is a mere 2.5 hours away from here, in which you can find attractions that are indicitave of any large city.

Suwanee, GA
This is where I live when I am not in school. It's about 35 miles outside of Atlanta so you can get big city and small city benefits at the same time. The population in the city itself is about 10,000 though it really doesn't feel like it.

For attractions, you can see Stone Mountain from I-85 or just take the drive down there to see it up close. Stone Mountain is a giant granite rock with a portrait chisled in the side. There is a park with picnic areas, trails, a water park and you can even climb the rock or take the gondola up. I haven't been to the top of the rock, but I assume that it's a nice view up there. There is also a Six Flags in the area as well. While it's on the western side of the metro area (I'm on the NE side) it's still a nice place to go for some great fun.

Shopping in my area is plentiful. There are 3 malls within an 8 mile stretch. Gwinnett Place Mall is your general mall. Discover Mills is a large mall designed to look creative (similar to other malls owned by the Mills corporation) and has a theater and nice arcades. The last one of the bunch is the Mall of Georgia which is one of the largest (if not the largest) mall in the SE. It's not to the likes of the Mall of America, but it's pretty great. It has IMAX theaters, skate park and sometimes several attractions are held there.

You'll like the food here. You can get some great southern food here like grits (my favorite). This is the best place to have it (or anywhere in the SE US) cause from what I have found, other places in the US just can't get it right unless a southerner is cooking the food.

For the scenery, it's pretty nice. There is a lot of wooded area so it's really nice to see during the fall and it's easy to enjoy cause the weather doesn't get that cold often (70s during the Christmas break last year). You can drive south and see the city of Atlanta with it's bars, Atlanta Underground, World of Coke and Martin Luther King's memorial and home. Or if you drive north, you can see the nice southern countryside at the foothills of the Appalachain mountains.

I almost forgot, you can't say that you have been to Atlanta unless you have been to a Waffle House. There is at least one on every exit in the area so they are not hard to find...at all. There are 3 in my area, two on either side of the highway less than a mile apart and another one that is another exit down. Go enjoy the southern diner the way it's meant to be enjoyed.

Ok, I've rambled on too long about my area.

[Heclailia]

Ok well I guess if you like the ocean, Seattle is a decent place. Tons of stuff to do here and you can find so many unique characters to spend time and mingle with. Pike Place Market is a definate tourist attraction. If you're not framiliar with it, its a big long market that overlooks the bay and its has tons of booths that people set up to sell thier goods. Jams, fish, clothing, art, you name it. Boat rides are of course an option and they will take you to pretty much any island around that you desire. Just across from Seattle is Alki beach where rollerbladers and volleyball players hang out. Tons of parks in seattle. A new library was just put up and you'll have to check it out. I don't even know how to explain what it looks like.


For me, Seattle is perfect because I can't stand the heat. If you choose to come here though, check out Bellevue kendo club.

[SHpuntik]

Kendo is good here due to the long efforts of dedicated seniors in the Hawaii Kendo Federation, stemming from the history of Japanese immigrants here. Most of the dojos and higher-rankers are on Oahu (island with Honolulu) but much of the beauty of Hawaii is on the "outer" islands. There are Kendo dojos on all four major islands. Of course, all of them are replete with tourist traps. And it's expensive.

[Natashasuw]

Nowhere beats So Cal, we have temps in the high 80's , low's in the mid 50'sto upper 60's in the valleys. Lots of places for tourists to go, Plenty of kendo to do, fishing, surfing, you name it we got it,

[rxnixoncom]

I live near the central city, Kuala Lumpur. Our dojo is small, so if you don't mind cramping with us you are most welcome here.

The city have many tourist attractions, mostly shopping malls, buildings, cultural and food. We have the Petronas Twin Towers, F1 Serpang Circuit, Megamall, Petronas Philharmonic, KL tower and lots more. Our local delicacies will give you some new tastes and cravings. If you love spicy hot food, you can find all sorts here. Besides local food, we have other types of food from other countries. (Almost everything under one rooft? Maybe)

There is no 4 seasons here, only 2. Raining season and dry season. The weather doesn't change much, almost like summer for other countries. Many people here can speak English so you won't have much communication problem.

If you like adventures, you can visit other states through our domestic flight or coach. You can do from diving, snorkeling, jungle tracking, mountain climbing and lots more.

What I love about where I stay, it's the FOOOOODDDD....!

[Binuilienzync]

I live near the central city, Kuala Lumpur....

What I love about where I stay, it's the FOOOOODDDD....!

I hope to visit Kuala Lumpur someday also, people there also speak some Cantonese, right? Or I got the wrong country, lol

[KernJetenue]

Wow lots of responses. Thanks.
It looks like the American continent has some options. Provided you travel from East to West (not nescisarilly(?sp) in a straight line) you can have it all. Lots of shopping, peace and quiet and culture in the Canadian outback. Good food, very important. The only American Cuisine I know is from your regular fast food chains so please tell me what are "grits"?. Furtherdown the road some more peace and quiet in Seatlle and to top it of, high rolling in California, it sounds great and I'm already dreaming and hopefully others are as well. Malaysia should be something like Singapore I suppose, which I also can recommend while we're here exchanging travel tips. Kendo in Singapore is also very pleasant. I had the distinct honor to combine a social event with a visit to nearly all the dojo's there. Well anymore tips and tricks?

[Quaganoca]

Wow lots of responses. Thanks.
Good food, very important. The only American Cuisine I know is from your regular fast food chains so please tell me what are "grits"?.

South - BBQ, good steaks, chilis (Both Texas and Louisiana claimes they have the best Chilis)

East - sea food (fresh oasters and crab cakes), New England Claim Chowder

North - snow... j/k I forgot to mention in Minnesota we got the state fair which opens around the end of August every year. It's a Minnesotan tradition, great food and fun. Food such as: Pork chop on a Stick, Corn on a stick, Deep Fried Chocolate on a stick, corn on a stick, and a lot more. Almost everything is on a stick, lol There are also alot of stuff to see, too. Such as they have contests on who carve the kewlest Cheese statues, biggest pumpkins (fruits), animals, art gallery, technology etc...

West - dunno if there are any special dish invented there, but I now there are tons of great Chinese/Japanese resturants I gained 5 pounds last time I went to California :P

Also check this out for great places to eat:

http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/whereweeat/

[Ad0i89Od]

I hope to visit Kuala Lumpur someday also, people there also speak some Cantonese, right? Or I got the wrong country, lol

Yeah, and Mandarin too. But you have to see who, cause we are sort of multi racial country. I myself speak both. Hope to see you in the future

[fedelwfget]

Malaysia should be something like Singapore I suppose, which I also can recommend while we're here exchanging travel tips. Kendo in Singapore is also very pleasant. I had the distinct honor to combine a social event with a visit to nearly all the dojo's there. Well anymore tips and tricks?

Yeah, you can say that. Except we have more land