True Life Blog

Cindy King is an experienced cross-cultural sales and marketing specialist. She’s also a skilled social media user.

Cindy has come up with an innovative way to exploit the power of social media in a series of cross-cultural Twitter interviews.

We’re honoured that Cindy chose to include PocketCultures in the list of interviewees. If you didn’t catch the interview live on Twitter today you can catch up here on Cindy’s blog. The first half of the post has some introductory questions and the second half contains the transcript of the Twitter interview.

Check out the rest of the interviews too – there are a lot of interesting cross-cultural and international people there.

Are you in a cross-cultural relationship? We’d like to interview you for My Partner is a Foreigner.

On this part of PocketCultures we have featured some really great stories from people in cross-cultural relationships. And we’ve had fantastic feedback from you (thanks!) that it’s useful to read about other people’s experiences, especially if you have friends or a partner from another culture.

So to change things a bit, over the next few months we’ll be publishing a series of interviews with cross-cultural couples.

If you would like to participate leave a comment or fill in this form (leave the story section blank). We’ll send you some questions, you answer and send them back. Easy as that.

Read more:
Why Italians don’t use towels
How to tell your Bulgarian granny that you’re marrying a vegetarian
Black and White: portraits of interracial couples

A Singapore Taxi Driver’s diary is written by a former scientific researcher who for reasons ‘uniquely Singapore’ ended up as a taxi driver.

As a result, I am driving taxi to make a living and writing these real life stories just to make the dull job a little more interesting

Taxi drivers are in the right place to see the life of a city and the variety of its people; Mingjie Cai is a great storyteller with keen skills of observation. This makes an addictive read with some great insights into the lifestyle and people of Singapore.

It’s also a sobering insight into the long hours and low pay of Singapore’s taxi drivers.

Put some time aside for this blog: once you start reading it’s hard to stop.

Read more:
More Singapore blogs from Blogs of the World
Satay in Singapore: Food of the World

At PocketCultures we love to hear it from the locals. That’s why we’re building a team of regional contributors from all over the world to bring you insights into their countries and cultures.

And if you’re into travel, or just like reading about different places, here are two cool projects where you can get your city guide from the locals.

Spotted by Locals

Spotted by Locals is a network of city blogs covering 22 European cities. The regulars like Paris, Rome and Barcelona are there, but they also cover some cities that get less coverage. Ljubljana, Zagreb and even Antwerp are all places where knowing a local would definitely come in handy!

Each city blog is brought to you by a team of ’spotters’ who write about their favourite hangouts and travel tips. Because they’re updated regularly you can be sure of getting up to date information.

Metelkova, Ljubljana by Eva Taucar – Spotted by Locals

This is my City

This is my City is a trip by tv making duo Thomas and Tim. They’ve planned a world tour of 8 cities, and in (almost) each place they have managed to enlist a local who will act as their tour guide. They will be filming their escapades and you can watch the pilot (in Reykjavik, Iceland) here.

One condition of their trip? They will not refuse anything their host suggests:

Exposing yourself to local customs and really getting into the way of life might make you uncomfortable. But being a little uncomfortable is not a bad thing. Our rule isn’t about being stupid or reckless, it’s about being always open. If snorting wasabi naked in a snowstorm is something that the locals actually do, we’re up for it.

they said, in this interview with Matador. Sounds like they will be having some crazy adventures, but that kind of open mind is just what you need to get your head around another country’s culture.

Read more:
Sketching the World, one city at a time
A (photo) tale of 50 states – capturing the spirit of the USA
Favourite online hangouts around the world

We loved this photo of fresh mushrooms in Osaka, Japan.

Like so many things in Japan, they are beautifully presented. Thanks to seikinsou for sharing this photo.

If you liked this, check out our Food of the World photo group on Flickr to see more photos posted by PocketCultures readers around the world. We’d love to see yours too! Just join the group and add your photos.

Read More:
Japan’s space age vegetable plans
Japanese blogs from Blogs of the World
The real Phad Thai: everything you need to know about Thailand’s signature dish

The Islayblog is about the Isle of Islay, an island in the Inner Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. It is run by German expat Armin Grewe, a regular visitor to the Island.

Besides useful information on the island and local whisky specialities in particular it also features (and links to some more) spectacular pictures of the far west of Scotland. And reading it made me start planning my next trip to Scotland immediately.

Read more:
UK blogs from Blogs of the World
On yer bikes! Bike sharing comes to Dublin, Ireland

Today we introduce another contributor, Marcel, with a great first post about the Next Big Thing in Dublin. In his own words:

“Marcel is a German expat living in Ireland and working for an online company with a colourful logo. He loves doing stuff with words, and did not go to school to learn this. He likes Heavy Metal and trains and dislikes many other things. He is so old he still buys CD’s, but has not yet caught up with the idea of becoming an adult.

Besides this, he loves travelling, has worked as a promoter for metalbands and a radio-DJ for four years. And has also won the Irish Blog Awards with his fellow writers of the Dublin Community Blog this year”

Find Marcel on his personal blog King of Pain (in German and English) or at Dublin Community Blog where he is a contributor.

Ireland’s capital Dublin has recently joined the list of European cities to have its own bike sharing scheme, including Seville, Brussels, Nice, Paris, Cologne and many more.

Photo credit

There are 40 bicycle stations throughout the city. These are located in close proximity to each other, every station has a minimum of 15 stands and so there are a total of 450 bikes meaning that access to bikes is relatively easy – and it’s also quite easy to get around town. There are no reports about stolen or vandalized bikes yet, and I’ve seen many people using the bikes througout the city. You can find all necessary information on the operator’s website.

Photo credit

I think that theses bike rental initiatives are a really good thing, especially as most bikes are free to use (for a limited time though – the first 30 minutes are free in Dublin) and it’s a healthy way to discover a city. Depending on the local traffic that is – and it’s less exhausting to bike around in flat Dublin in October than in hilly Nice in the August heat.

Read more:
Which countries drive on the left? – it’s not just the UK
Australians get on their bikes
Irish blogs on Blogs of the World

1. Even if you don’t have time to clip lots of coupons, since most big supermarkets put their weekly specials online, log on before you shop.  Work your menu and shopping list around the sale items.  If you have more than one supermarket in your area, compare ads to see who’s got the best sales first.

2. When you order takeout from a major chain such as Domino’s, you can find coupon or promotional codes online.  Get Your Coupons Here to Save Big Now

3. Replace some expensive meat with vegetables.  Cook vegetable recipes a few days each week.  Buy lots of your favorite vegetables and be adventurous with new recipes.

4. If you’re lacking in both time and money, break out the slow cooker.  You load the ingredients in the morning before you leave, and when you arrive back home, you’ve got dinner.  Plus you’ll have enough extra to store in the freezer for next time you don’t really want to cook, and avoid spending money at a restaurant.

5. When you do eat out, save both money and calories by ordering an appetizer instead of an entree.  The appetizer portion will probably be satisfying enough.  Do this regularly, and the pounds and the spending will drop together substantially.

6. For a meal you eat regularly, like your morning yogurt with granola or your old faithful lunch sandwich, don’t buy it already assembled.  Put the ingredients together yourself.  And if you buy produce in season, it will be tastier and cost less.

7. Get a credit card featuring reward points.  Use it for the expenses you know you can afford to cover each month, like groceries and eating out.

8. Sign up for the supermarket’s customer discount card.  Some stores won’t give you the sale prices without it.  Get your card and use it every time you shop, so you won’t miss out.

9. Buy things in bulk.  Just be careful of which things you buy in bulk, so you don’t end up throwing them away.  If pasta and cereal are on sale, stocking up can be a great idea.  If yogurt is on sale, resist the urge to buy way too much of it.

10. Eat out at lunchtime instead of  eating out at dinnertime on occasion.  Have an informal date at noon, or get together with friends on the weekends for lunch instead of dinner.  Lunch specials are less steep than dinnertime prices.

11. If you enjoy baking, stock up on things like condensed canned milk, special spices, and chocolate morsels when they’re on sale during the holidays.

12. Do you make in-between trips to the supermarket, other than on your main grocery-shopping days, for things like bread and milk? Using a shopping basket instead of a shopping cart will help you to buy only what you need and keep you from impulsively picking up more items.

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