Get Lost

Art we can get around

Now this is art we can get around.

A second teamLab Borderless has opened in Tokyo at Azabudai Hills, another immersive visual art installation showcase from the absolute weapons who brought you the first.

Technically, this is art, but it’s not like you’re sniffing someones armpit trying to get a half-decent shot of the Mona Lisa, nor is it staring at a picture of an apple which is apparently worth US$274,000, which just quietly, you reckon you could have painted.

At teamLab Borderless, you don’t so much as move from room to room but flow that way.

Each room is an experience, designed to make you feel a certain way. Mirrors, lights, cutting-edge technology and plants alike are used to create different universes, blowing your mind constantly from one room to the next.

In the new edition, one room features countless wobbling lights which run continuously through a space that infinitely expands, meaning you can’t really get your head around depth perception. The lights also shimmer beautifully, just managing to straddle the line between trippy and incredible.

If you went to the old teamLabs borderless at Odaiba, there’s a couple of things you should know. The first is that this new site at Azabudai Hills in the city’s south is bigger…way bigger. No less than 50 (!) the world renowned independent installations are featured in the 8.1 hectare site (where tf did they find eight hectares in Tokyo from?). One of these is an adaptation from the room of lamps that featured in teamLab mark I, which has evolved into a room of light bubbles.

How to celebrate Mt. Fuji Day

Is there a more aesthetically pleasing mountain than Mount Fuji?

Forever a landmark of the Land of the Rising Sun, Fuji’s snow-capped peak is an active stratovolcano that raises it’s head majestically above mist, or on a clearer day standing in full visibility from the capital Tokyo.

Japan is the number one trending global destination for 2024 according to Tripadvisor, aptly crowned ahead of this year’s Mt. Fuji Day on Friday 23^rd February.

Fuji Day commemorates and promotes the iconic mountain, with towns surrounding the 3,776-metre mountain getting ready to party. Lake Kawaguchiko Winter Fireworks have been happening through January and February but are set to go out with the biggest bang on Mt. Fuji Day.

And yeh sure, you could climb it…OR you could go full get lost and paraglide around it, taking the Big Boy in from mid-air.

For more adrenaline, there’s a half-day rafting experience. Fly along the Fuji River you’ll get to splash your way through the 6km course and maybe even tip one of your mates out hold on for dear life. For those who prefer to stay dry, there’s a few cycling tours that allow you to take in the views of Japan’s tallest mountain as well as the stunning countryside.

Images courtesy of Explore Shizuoka.

Apple Vision Pro

“Welcome to the era of spatial computing,” says Apple.

get lost says: welcome to the era of no-more shitty headphone, poor image-quality movies. Welcome to the end of boredom on long-haul flights, for an exorbitant cost.

“But what is an Apple Vision Pro?” you say.

The Apple Vision Pro is an oculus-rift, ski-goggle style piece of headwear that would look kind of cool even if it didn’t do anything, says get lost. But the fact is that it does heaps – a spatial operating system that is kind of like having your Macbook projected onto thin air. Use your hands, your eyes or your voice – you do you – to navigate between Sleepless in Seattle and Maid in Manhattan.

Reactions to the Apple Vision Pro have been mixed; it does look like another step away from the real world, and toward the virtual, which is hardly what we need right now. There are also reports of motion sickness on planes, including one dude who experienced a nauseating combination of Avatar and turbulence.

It remains to be seen if the Apple Vision Pro will become a fixture of our daily life, although most Apple products do. They’re retailing at AU$7,000; you’d want to be taking a lot of long haul flights to get your money worth here.

Check out the guide below, and make your own mind up.

Botanical Pool Club

‘The Black Pool’ is a 40 metre, 40℃ infinity pool that is arguably the highlight of the stunning Botanical Pool Club, near Chiba, Tokyo.

It’s amazing that a place like this could even exist in Tokyo, comprising of 21 rooms, a bunch of swimming pools and a jungle-inspired sauna stretching out over some considerable space.

Tokyo is a city of vastly variable climate, and so this is a place to come whether it’s a desert oasis or warming up you’re requiring.

It is so at odds with the Tokyo we all know and love, in fact, that we at get lost think it’s a masterstroke. A refuge from the chaotic, beeping energy, leaving you with more energy to charge this city’s weird beauty during the day and at night.

FLOKEHYTTENE

Pronounced: FLOKE-HIT-NAH. Yep, the entire Norwegian language is just an outrageous tangle of consonants and vowels to an outsider.

Hello to these small cabins situated in Sveio, at the edge of Norway’s mighty west coast, just south of Bergen. Flokehyttene translates to ‘The Tangle Huts’, but these are hardly a tangle.

This part of the world is blessed with extraordinary beauty and these incredible installations (built in typical northern minimalism) let the location do all the talking.

Panoramic windows offer glorious views to the outside world—wild winds whipping the sea into a frenzy. And you’re watching it all from the comfort of your little cabin, coffee in hand.

From AU$275 per night.

Click for FLOKE YEAH

Level 8 Los Angeles

We separate travel experiences by category on this website: do, stay, drink and eat. Level 8 probably ticks all four of these boxes, and then some.

It’s the new behemoth that has transformed downtown Los Angeles.

It’s sprawled across 30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space on level 8 of the brand new Moxy Hotel and AC Downtown Hotel, right across the road from where the Lakers play.

It’s a labyrinth that includes a Japanese restaurant, a South American restaurant, burlesque, an opulent poolside party area that looks like a modern Great Gatsby scene, and a luxurious Mexican church-themed bar that includes a confessional booth, which you’ll surely need to visit more than once. There’s even a 24 hour supermarket downstairs.

The cool thing about Level 8 is that it’s everything you need in one – a night out from dinner to a raucous party, to a filthy club boogie and right through to kick ons – without ever leaving the building.

Air New Zealand Skynest

THE CLEVER

Air New Zealand’s have taken out an award for airline innovation at the Crystal Cabin Awards during the week, with their Skynest concept winning the prize for giving the common person business class privileges.

The Skynest is a way to make sleeping more accessible on long haul flights for those that can’t afford business, and it might just pave the way for other airlines to follow suit.

The Skynest is a block of six sleep pods in a bunk bed configuration which can be rented in four hour slots each flight, allowing passengers to put their head down and actually lay flat for a while. Pretty handy for some of Air New Zealand’s flights, like the 17-hour direct flight between New York City and Auckland, which is one of the longest in the world. It’s been received well and

The Kiwis also added the Economy Skycouch to their growing range of ‘things that make your flight way better’.

It’s essentially just a row of economy seats that can change into a couch after take-off, with a special footrest on each set to make it a little more practical. It’s not rocket science, but like the Skynest, it helps you lay down and sleep on a flight – invaluable in our book.

The not so clever

While the Skynest and Skycouch have been hailed as universal winners, we’re not quite sure about the double decker concept, which has been floated in recent days as another potential innovation in the air.

The double-decker conceivably means more seats could be squeezed into a plan, and you would think more leg room down low.

The downside would be having the seat in front of you a few inches from your face at all times. It doesn’t look too comforting.

It is only a concept at this stage, but we couldn’t imagine many things much more claustrophobic than this seating arrangement for a long haul flight.

Credit: Archbishop of Banterbury

Sydney’s first wave pool

The surf revolution is well and truly underway.

UrbnSurf is opening the first wave pool in New South Wales at Olympic Park in Sydney, with completion expected in early-2024.

Surfing actually has a higher participation rate in New South Wales than Rugby League (2x), Basketball, Netball, Cricket, Hockey, Squash, Volleyball, AFL, Yoga and Fishing. Yet there are only so many beaches with decent waves, seemingly not enough to accommodate everyone.

The result? Turf wars and kook slams as every man and their dog (literally, see below) fight for a tiny piece of the ocean to get a wave on.

Enter wave pools: waves on cue, to thousands of people every single day, using the Wavegarden technology that closely intimates specific waves over and over again.

Wave pools are not a new thing, and UrbnSurf has actually been pumping in Melbourne since 2019. Prior to that the U.S. had a few of these bad bois before anyone else.

Some purists may turn up their nose at wave pools and yeh, we get it; you get the taste of chlorine over salt water, and you don’t have Australia’s beautiful beaches and rock faces to look back at.

But look at it this way. UrbnSurf in Sydney can take 1,000 surfers every day, which means 1,000 people that aren’t vying for waves in the beach. It’s a win-win, and more waves for everyone.

The Sydney set up will be similar to Melbourne. A variety of six different settings, spitting out waves suitable for everyone – from beginner groms through to Mick Fanning. There’ll be lessons for groms and adults alike, and a bar on-site where you can’t talk about the one that got away…because everyone was there to see it.

Paddle-boarding the Loboc

Green is usually reserved for thinking about Ireland, or salads, or traffic lights.

But get lost were on Bohol Island, Philippines recently, and whenever we think of the colour green from here on in, we think we’ll be thinking of the stunning Loboc River, which flows gently from the village of Carmen and into the Bohol Sea.

The vividness of the emerald green water, reflecting its jungle surrounds, makes for a surreal paddle downstream on a stand up paddleboard, which is surely made for this sort of journey. Alone except for occasionally floating past villagers doing a spot of fishing, this river is a spot tranquility, where you can get a work out as well. Pop in for a refreshing dip in the humid climate, or jump off one of many rope swings dotted along the river. Paddle as far and as fast, or as cruisey as you like.

Consider this your green light to go to the Philippines.

Top 5 from Saadiyat Island

Wealth and skyscrapers are probably your first thought when it comes to Abu Dhabi, but Saadiyat Island is proof that there’s heaps (read: HEAPS) more to it than this.

Think epic beaches, stunning wildlife, world class restaurants and a museum to rival some of the world’s best. All on the one island!

Bet you didn’t know that?

Here’s get lost’s top five from Saadiyat Island:

1. Take it really easy on Saadiyat’s pristine, white beaches

One thing that a lot of people don’t understand about Abu Dhabi is that the beaches are absolutely elite. None better than Saadiyat Beach, which has a well-deserved reputation as one the best beaches in the Emirates, accessed via a wood boardwalk in order to protect the beach’s native wildlife.
It’s also home to an uber cool beach club https://www.saadiyatbeachclub.ae/home

2. Unwind at Nurai Island

Alright, Nurai Island might technically be a different island to Saadiyat, but it’s so close, and so damn beautiful, that we have to include it. It’s only a ten-minute boat ride over calm waters, and we doubt you’ll ever stay anywhere more romantic than this private island. This is Emirati opulence meeting romance.
https://www.nuraiisland.com/

3. Marvel at the wonderful wildlife

Saadiyat Island is a protected haven for wildlife and marine life. The island is home to animals you’ve never heard of, like the Arabian gazelles, graceful beasts that are as cool as their name would suggest, and are often spotted just cruising about the gaff, as if on a Sunday stroll, every day. If you’re lucky you might spot a Hawksbill turtle which seasonally nest on Saadiyat’s pristine beach. By the beach, bottlenose dolphins make frequent appearances and there is a kaleidoscope of vibrant birds to be spotted, if you are of a more aviary sort of inclination.

4. Get a bite at Mamsha Al Saadiyat

Mamsha Al Saadiyat is a beachfront community with a wide array of restaurants and cafes stretching across a beautiful promenade with breath-taking views of the Arabian Gulf. They say don’t eat places with a view; Mamsha absolutely blows this out of the water. This is THE place to eat on Saadiyat.
https://visitabudhabi.ae/en/where-to-go/marinas-and-plazas/mamsha-al-saadiyat

5. Visit the iconic Louvre Abu Dhabi

Saadiyat Island is home to the iconic Louvre…no not that one. With stunning architecture and a thought-provoking collection of modern art, the Louvre Abu Dhabi is understandably drawing people from all over the world. It takes a lot for a building to do that but you’ll get why when you walk through the doors of this place.
https://www.louvreabudhabi.ae/

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