High-end dining just got a lot higher.

Just when you think going out to eat is losing its magic, these 10 oddly themed restaurants push the envelope and really get you your money’s worth. For some of them, food is secondary to the ambiance, or not even part of the picture. For others, the tastes of the menu items are piqued by the complementary atmosphere. Whatever you’re into – cats, ninjas, or handcuffs – a few of these restaurants are sure to make it to your bucket list.

Yellow Treehouse Café, New Zealand

The Yellow Treehouse offers a unique setting that channels the excitement of your tree-climbing days. Patrons of the restaurant dine in an illuminated pod-shaped structure perched 10-meters high in a Redwood tree. The pod can hold 30 guests at one time. As for the food, it stays grounded – all dishes are fresh, seasonal, and adapt to clients’ needs.

Cabbages & Condoms, Bangkok

As its namesake suggests, the food at Cabbages & Condoms is “guaranteed not to cause pregnancy.” The restaurant was created to support the Population and Community Development Association, an organization that provides sex/AIDS education and awareness. The garden restaurant is an introduction to Thai food – in only the safest way possible – and instead of mint favors on your way out, you’re given a box of condoms.

Calico Cat Café, Tokyo

Imagine going to a café that only serves cat food, but there’s a chance that it’s too crowded to get a seat. The Calico Cat Café in Tokyo is just that popular. The café caters to your love for coddling and feeding cats sans the commitment. Patrons are asked to sanitize their hands and remove their shoes upon entering and to abide by set rules: do not hold or stroke a cat if it resists you, do not wake a napping cat, do not hold cats with scarves around their necks (they are too young), and do not bring cat nip or cat food to the café. For $9 per adorable hour, the café is a bargain. Only, you’ll leave hungry.

Ithaa Undersea Restaurant, Maldives

The magical Ithaa Undersea Restaurant is the first of its kind in the world. The restaurant is located 5 meters (16 feet) under water off the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island and serves contemporary Asian-inspired European cuisine. The restaurant is encased in R-Cast acrylic and can host 14 people at one time, offering a 270° panoramic underwater view.

Unsicht-Bar, Cologne and Berlin

Heighten your other senses by taking away one very important one: sight. The Unsicht-Bar, with locations in Cologne and Berlin in Germany, uses the dark to strip patrons of their vision and take them on a culinary adventure that requires they focus more on taste, temperature, texture and smell. All light is forbidden, including that coming from watches and cellphones. The restaurant’s waiters are also either blind or visually impaired. The food, which is described enigmatically to leave an element of surprise, is served in a context-appropriate manner, avoiding a confusion of flavors or a potential mess. The flavors are simple, but profound in that they are enjoyed in an entirely new way – without visual prejudgment.

Ninja New York, New York City

Japanese cuisine just got more interesting. At Ninja New York, diners are wowed, and often at the edge of their seats, with ninjas jumping around, pop rocks on sushi rolls, smoke machine action, magicians, and an overall festive and upbeat atmosphere. The restaurant’s décor aspires to mimic a ninja village from the feudal days, providing patrons with a sense of what it was like back when.

Chill Out, Dubai

As if Dubai has not enough marvels as is, the city offers a unique way to, well, chill out. Chill Out is an architecturally fascinating refrigerator lounge with special lighting and design works that highlight the innovativeness of the frozen structures. Before entering the bar, Patrons are offered thermal clothing – parka, shoes, and gloves – and are then led to the Eskimo oasis. A complimentary mocktail or hot chocolate welcomes you.

Devil Island Prison Restaurant, China

This restaurant was initially conceptualized to scare people from a life of crime. Upon entering this restaurant, patrons are allocated a number, photographed, fingerprinted, and optionally handcuffed. The interior of the restaurant is designed after a prison, with sliding jail doors, metal floors, and rusty iron bars. Patrons dine in a prison cell and are served by waiters dressed in black-and-white striped inmate uniforms. Food includes fried, coffin-shaped bread.

Dinner In The Sky, Worldwide

Suspended 50-meters high by a crane, diners at Dinner in the Sky can host an event practically anywhere. The table is equipped with 22 seats, one chef, one waiter, and one entertainer. Dinner in the Sky operates in more than 15 countries, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, and South Africa. The event can be hosted for up to 8 hours, with the time fragmented – people can come and go at whatever interval of time. As for a bathroom break, have no fear, the crane will lower for relief without interrupting the experience for more than a few minutes.

Marton Theme Restaurant, Taiwan

Originally serving chocolate ice cream in toilet-shaped containers, Marton Theme Restaurant has certainly gained quite the fanfare over the years. There are now Marton restaurants across Taiwan and the company has recently changed the name of its restaurants to “Modern Toilet Restaurant,” all of which offer a full menu that can be enjoyed whilst sitting atop a toilet.

Images: Jeremiah Ro, Meredith P., Carsten Lorenzten, Karendotcom127, Wonder Bus Tours Dubai, Smart Travelers

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Travel is one of the best ways to open your perspective. Seeing and experiencing new places can be a strong catalyst for making us aware and more conscious, but those experiences can also come at an environmental cost.

With a rise in eco-tourism, it’s tempting to think that sustainable travel is easily achievable, but in some places, exploring and voyaging have a higher impact than the supposed benefits. In fact, many organizations around the world are constantly working to develop stricter regulations that will protect local environments, cultures and populations. Thinking about our travel impact is essential.

When it comes down to it, no matter how badly we want to visit, there are some places that we just shouldn’t go, and if we do travel to them we need to be very conscious of our impact. We’ve pulled together a list of places that we hope travelers will pass on, be it for environment, social or cultural reasons. But since we do believe in the power of seeing the world, we’ve also provided some great alternatives.

1. Galapagos Islands

Although a popular destination for seeing biodiversity at its purest, the Galapagos is under threat. In 2007 UNESCO deemed increasing human immigration and uncontrolled development of tourism as threatening the “outstanding value and physical integrity” of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Ecuadorian government sees the same problem, and last year raised the entrance fee to the park.

So where to go if you still want to see some of South America’s island biodiversity? The Islas Bellestas. Often called the Galapagos of Peru, Islas Ballestas is a natural reserve comprised of over 700,000 acres. In order to protect the wildlife, visitors are not allowed to land on the island, but you’re sure to spot sea lions, penguins, pelicans and a diverse array of bird species from the comfort of the boat. You’ll have much less of an impact but still get to see some amazing wildlife.

2. Antarctica

A pristine environment threatened by climate change, many travelers are flocking to Antarctica to see the continent up close before it’s too late. But the increase in tourists has not been beneficial for Antarctica. Over 45,000 people visited Antarctica in the s2008, up from 10,000 a decade ago.

An increased number of tourists has meant increased methods of travel, and cruise ships pose a significant concern to the continent and its surroundings. After the MS Explorer cruise ship sank in 2007, leaving a diesel stain five kilometers in diameter, the countries of the Antarctic Treaty came together and decided to limit tourism to the region by controlling the size of cruise ships and the number of tourists taken ashore in order to prevent environmental damage.

If you’re looking for a southern adventure, leave Antarctica to the scientists who are doing ground-breaking research on the continent and opt for a chilly experience with less of an impact instead. How about Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of Argentina? You’ll find snowy mountains and icy glaciers as well as plenty of penguins in this beautiful region of Argentina.

3. Angkor

Once the seat of the Khmer Empire, Angkor is a stunning area of ornate temples and structures that is one of the most important archeological sites in Southeast Asia. But such a reputation draws a crowd. Bus loads of tourists fill the area everyday, most opting for a walk around the most well-known of the structures, the Temple of Angkor Wat. Thousands of feet pass across the stone buildings, not always with a delicate impact.

If you do travel to Angkor, make time to see the less visited temples. Exploring the temples in the east and northeast parts of the park will be quieter and more enjoyable; watch the sunrise at Srah Srang and you might be just one of a few tourists. Angkor isn’t the only place for temples in Cambodia. You can also visit Preah Vihear, another UNESCO site but far away from the hustle and bustle of Angkor.

4. Dubai

The epicenter of luxury, development Dubai has turned into an environmental catastrophe and financial boondoggle. Rich investors hoped to build a series of islands shaped like a map of earth. Now a pile of rocks, the area is the world’s most expensive shipping hazard and has been referred to as a “pile of muck.” That’s only the beginning of a long laundry list of environmentally unfriendly aspects of the city, including a proposed three billion square foot “Waterworld” type structure in an area where water scarcity is already a problem, caged endangered species, a refrigerated swimming pool and artificially cooled beach and, of course, the world’s tallest building.

If you’re on the lookout for sand and palm trees with a sane focus, check out Abu Dhabi. The average per capita worth here is around $17 million, but the oil rich locale does have environmental aspirations. The city recently installed 60,000 water saving devices in offices and homes and it’s the host of the World Future Energy Summit, the world’s platform for future sustainable energy developments.

5. Slums

In recent years, slums tourism has become fairly popular. From Kenya to Indonesia, travelers are paying tour operators to take them into impoverished areas, in the hopes of an “authentic” view that might open up their eyes to global inequalities. Going after an authentic experience is great, and it’s important to not turn a blind eye to the economic problems that Westerner-friendly tourism often leaves out. Slum tourism doesn’t have to be slum voyeurism, but make sure that you are doing for the right reasons and that your tour operator is not taking advantage of the local population and culture.

No matter where you go, it’s important to travel with the environment in mind. The Rainforest Alliance has a great list of 10 questions to ask before you book your next trip.

1. What is your environmental policy?
2. What percentage of your employees are local citizens?
3. Do you support any projects to benefit the local community?
4. Do you support conservation? How?
5. Is your business certified?
6. Have you won any eco-awards?
7. Are you recommended by any reputable NGOs or conservation groups?
8. What sorts of policies have you implemented to reduce water consumption, conserve energy or recycle wastes?
9. How do you educate visitors about local natural areas, wildlife, energy conservation, and local culture?
10. How do you monitor these practices?

Happy travels!

Images: pfala, alh1, 23am.com, tyler durden, Britrob, markhillary,

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The beautiful people – those fabulously wealthy jet-set elite – have often been accused of acting as if they’re on another planet. That’s nothing new. But here’s an example that defies belief.

In Dubai, it can get very hot. At the height of summer the sea itself warms up to around 37°C / 98 F – so you can be sure that the beach becomes screamingly uncomfortable to walk on. This is bad news for beach-front hoteliers…but let’s not forget that this is ultra-wealthy Dubai, a place where a common response to a problem is to throw money at it until it goes away. Instead of issuing beach shoes along with guidelines about how it’s healthy to limit your tan by keeping out of the midday sun, how about changing the beach?

That’s Versace’s solution to the problem. The strip of beach outside their new Palazzo Versace hotel in Dubai will be refrigerated, via a network of coolant-carrying pipes under the sand and chilled air wafted over it by huge blowers. As Jonathan Leake notes in the Sunday Times, this is the place you’d expect such things to happen: around 60% of Dubai’s enormous power expenditure is on air conditioning.

Further details are emerging of an accompanying 820 square meter refrigerated swimming pool – and plans for another 15 similarly luxurious hotels dotted around the world. Meanwhile, new construction projects shamelessly boast in their brochures of following “environmental best practice” standards. Dubai seems to be setting itself up as the ultimate fantasy destination where normal rules don’t apply – and the rest of the world pays.

Image: novocortex

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