I’ve just gotten back to work from my summer holiday and I’m already onto my next business trip. This time it’s Singapore.
I’m on my way to the airport, counting how many flights I’ve taken and with how many airlines I’ve flown.

My favourite airline is Lufthansa, as it is very hi-tech and very functional, which is, of course, what you would expect from a German airline. Their latest innovation is the “Private Bed“, thanks to which you can adapt your seat to your every need. I hardly ever take flights that are less than 8 hours long, which means that I have to deal with serious jet lag. As well, when I arrive, I need to be rested, alert and ready for meetings, so I’ve now learnt to sleep on any type of plane. Somehow, I think that this one is something else entirely!
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Mandarina Duck has conquered the Pyramids. Look out though! We’re not in Egypt but in the Wafi Mall; one of Dubai’s luxury leisure and shopping kingdoms, where a new mono-brand store has just opened.

If you’re not a millionaire but want to live in luxury, I suggest staying at the (not inexpensive) Raffles Dubai Hotel, which, of course, is a pyramid!

A typical day in Dubai includes some serious shopping in the frenzied international stores. Make sure that you get an advantage card, with which you might even win a free flight!

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Last month Mandarina opened a new monobrand store in Edmonton, the capital city of Alberta and Canada’s cultural capital for the year 2007. History and culture play important roles in the arts and lifestyle of this city. You’ll be overwhelmed by all the activity of this year’s “Festival City“. Its extensive cultural and artistic programme will definitely be very interesting but certainly not relaxing.

So, if too much culture stresses you out, then try some shopping therapy at the West Edmonton Mall, where my colleague Andrea got to meet Patrick Swayze! It’s one of the largest shopping and leisure centers in the world. A modern Babylon, where you can shop till you drop amongst 800 stores and more than 100 bars and restaurants.

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Packing and traveling. The seaside, holidays, relaxation. New places to visit, to explore and to love!

Mind you, we should travel in a responsible way. If we were to follow a few guidelines, we could be conscientious tourists so that, rather than just having fun, we could also learn something about other countries and bring their culture home with us thereby preserving it instead of ruining it.
Mandarina has always supported this type of travel and the photos along our corridors remind us of that every day.

Until 13 September 2007, at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York, you can see an interesting exhibition entitled “Design for the other 90%“. It is a collection of projects by various designers, with a common goal of trying to create low-cost solutions to satisfy the primary needs of 90% of the world’s people. The poorest ones.
Among the projects, there’s “Life Straw“, which presents a type of straw that actually cleans water while it’s being drunk and protects against cholera and other illnesses.

Technorati Tags: Design, Cooper-Hewitt, New York, responsible travel

I love packing my bags. It means that I’ve somewhere new to go, something new to discover or a beloved place to return to.
I promise myself every time that I’ll take only the essentials and I won’t just toss stuff in haphazardly. And then my bag starts overflowing and I start filling up a second one, just for the small things, which always ends up weighing more than my suitcase.
Is there any woman on earth who can actually travel with just a pair of jeans, two tops, two swimsuits, a sarong, an evening dress and maximum two pairs of shoes?
I’ve never met one!

What are you doing for your next vacation?
Why don’t you send me photos of your Mandarina bag on its world travels?

Technorati Tags: travel, packing, suitcase

Hello everybody. My name’s Andrea Signori and I travel around the world as a Visual Merchandiser setting up displays in Mandarina Duck mono-brand stores.

My most recent trip was from Bologna to Edmonton to Panama City and back to Bologna.

Wednesday 30 May: Bologna to Amsterdam to Minneapolis to Edmonton (Canada).
Equipped with a sweatshirt and a scarf, I found myself rethinking two old clichés:
1) it’s cold in Canada: I arrived to 27 ° C above zero, dry weather and an army of mosquitoes the size of blimps;
2) all female flight attendants are young and good-looking: on two Northwest flights, their average age was well over 50.

In my hotel, I was surprised that my room had a Polynesian theme, or rather a beyond kitsch theme. The whirlpool bath was bigger than my entire bathroom back home.

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I’ve just returned from Sardinia and I’m already itching to set off again. I was thinking about a trip to a really far-off country and Australia looks very tempting!

The “Pack your bags and win a trip to Australia” contest - in cooperation with Mandarina Duck - has just been launched on Lastminute.com.

First prize: win a set of ‘Flight’ luggage! You’ll get three tries at finding an airline ticket in a virtual suitcase.

Second prize: two tickets to Sydney with Emirates Airline! Get your friends to participate in the contest and you’ll be eligible for the final draw on 10 September 2007.

As well, all contest participates will receive a 5% discount on the purchase of a Mandarina Duck product from our online shop!

I’m going to try it! Australia is an amazing place!

Technorati Tags: Lastminute, Australia, Trolley

I often go to Tokyo for work and I usually land at Narita Airport (Shin Tokyo Kokusai Kuko), the largest airport in the “Land of the Rising Sun” and probably the one with the highest number of passengers and greatest movement of goods.

I must say that it’s not the most comfortable airport to land at. Narita is more than 60 km from downtown Tokyo and it’s best to have an expert driver pick you up or take public transportation, which is always on schedule.

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The 52nd International Art Exhibition opens to the public on 10 June. It’s a tour of 77 nations through their contemporary art.
The exhibition title is very thought provoking: “Think with the Senses – Feel with the Mind. Art in the Present Tense”. Robert Storr, the first ever American Biennale curator, in his introductory thoughts on the 52nd edition, he said, “Art is now, as it has always been, the means by which humans are made aware of the whole of their being”.
Wandering art lovers can click on this Grand Tour 2007 and organize a trip around Europe following the various openings associated with the 52nd International Art Exhibition; Art 38 Basel; Documenta 12; and Skulptur Projekte Münster 07 .

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Hi, you’ve already heard about me from Ducky, but I’d like to tell you something more about my job. I’ll try to explain how projects and ideas take shape and become Mandarina Duck’s products. We’ll talk about trends and about my favorite places for shopping around the world.

There are no city squares in Tokyo. Shibuya, however, is the exception as there is something that resembles a square in front of the railway station. This area is populated by trees and Hachiko. Or rather by a statue of this famous, faithful dog. In my mind, Hachiko has become the symbol of one of the most trendy districts of Tokyo, where it’s rare to find people over the age of 25.

My work has taken me to Tokyo, London and Paris, where I have strolled along the city streets and come to love the spontaneity and informality of Japanese style.

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