Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Different Accommodations Available




There are different kinds of accommodations available in my place from simple apartments to luxury hotels. Each of the accommodations has its own advantages and disadvantages as well, which I will list below.

Tourists always find peace and comfort from hotels with variety of amenities such as cozy rooms, neat and clean bathrooms, restaurants serving scrummy delicacies, relaxing swimming pools and sauna, gymnasium equipped with cutting edge facilities, and the like. Staying in the hotel gives you more time to unwind from daily activities resulting unwanted stress. One does not have to bother to go to the market to buy and cook for his food, to bring extra bed sheets and other bedding materials, and to clean the rooms. However, hotel rates are more expensive than other kinds of accommodations.

Families travelling to other tourist attractions prefer to stay in rental properties like apartments and houses for rent because it provides them more space. They can have bigger bedrooms, extra rooms for playing and watching movies, good kitchen, and wider bathrooms with bathtub. Some individuals more likely to prepare their own food than going outside to dine in restaurants. They want to experience how locals live in that particular place by driving to the market to buy their necessities and interacting with others by asking for directions. Aside from the comfort and sound living they can get, they can save some bucks because rentals are cheaper that hotels.

For me, I'd rather choose to stay in a hotel for the comfort and safety I can experience despite the extra cost. Whenever I go to other places and need to stay overnight, I prefer checking in hotels that is accessible and near to other establishments and landmarks.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Japan Nuclear Horror




I thanked God for keeping all of my friends in Japan safe and sound. God is really good every time and every time God is Good!

A week ago, I've read and heard some of their stories. There were panic buying, that every individual take all food stuffs, and other necessities of life. Leah, one of my comrades there, told me that she can't even find toilet tissue paper in any of the convenient stores she tried purchasing. Well, she had a hard time searching for rice that day. Since almost all people in Japan have lots of money so they can buy all what they need, unlike in the Philippines that you can still find something valuable in the store when there is panic buying.

Aside from that, there was a rotational power cuts outside central Tokyo. They have experienced dark environment with fears of aftershocks. Brownouts is due to the blast of the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant, which is more scary because of possible nuclear radiation leakage. Residents living near the power plant site are advised to evacuate in order not to be exposed with this fetal radiation.

It is hoped and prayed that Japan will be stable soon.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Nuclear Radiation Dose Effect


The radiation levels from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have fallen back from a great spike on Tuesday, Japanese authorities say. Japan government has advised residents living within 30km or 18 miles to leave the area.

Now let's take a look at the effects of nuclear radiation to humans. A sievert is essentially equivalent to a gray, but tends to be used to measure lower levels of radiation, and for assessing long-term risk, rather than the short-term acute impact of exposure.

Based from World Nuclear Association, here is the radiation dose effect:

2 millisieverts per year (mSv/yr)
Typical background radiation experienced by everyone (average 1.5 mSv in Australia, 3 mSv in North America)

9 mSv/yr
Exposure by airline crew flying New York-Tokyo polar route

20 mSv/yr
Current limit (averaged) for nuclear industry employees

50 mSv/yr
Former routine limit for nuclear industry employees. It is also the dose rate which arises from natural background levels in several places in Iran, India and Europe

100 mSv/yr
Lowest level at which any increase in cancer is clearly evident.

350 mSv/lifetime
Criterion for relocating people after Chernobyl accident

400 mSv/hr
The level recorded at the Japanese nuclear site, 15 March

1,000 mSv single dose
Causes (temporary) radiation sickness such as nausea and decreased white blood cell count, but not death. Above this, severity of illness increases with dose

5,000 mSv single dose
Would kill about half those receiving it within a month

image credit: all voices