How I Love Google Map!

The first time I started to use Google Map was two years. You would say I'm outdated. And yes, I was! Because I had no idea what Google Map could do for me in the old times. Usually I would just go to www.centamap.com if I wanted to somewhere in Hong Kong which I was not familiar with. But then after I have started travelling, Google Map has actually become a very resourceful friend of mine.

I remember the first time before I went to Europe, I was using Google Map to search for a hotel in Florence called Hotel Bavaria. I typed in "Hotel Bavaria Florence" and it showed the location almost immediately.

But it was not enough. I needed the direction from the train station to the hotel. Therefore, I clicked "Get Direction" on the left and searched for it. Soon I got the whole picture of how to go to the hotel but it was quite complicated. So I clicked the "little orange man" right above the magnifying bar and dragged it to the streets starting from the train station, just like the below.

That "little orange man" actually led my way by showing the blue lines which are all directions. And I just went through the whole thing three times in order to make sure I wouldn't get lost when I arrive there.

Finally, I printed the map out with the directions highlighted in blue, plus the description of the directs on the left. When I arrived at Florence last year, I was able to find the right way and amazed how Google Map could do it.

My story is finished but I have never done with Google Map because there are actually much more things to explore. In fact, Google Map is more than showing the maps and directions of how to go from venue A to venue B.

First, I personally enjoy very much just looking at the views of places that I want to go. When I'm free, I will just go to Google map and type in "Greece", "Venice" and "Barcelona" to see how they look in real there. Again, I will drag the "little orange man" to change to the street view and see the surroundings of these places. In some cases you may not be able to drag the "little orange man" but it is always combined with pictures as an elaboration of a particular location.

Second, I cannot only find how to walk, but also what buses or trains to take from A to B, and even how many minutes it takes approximately by taxi or private car. It is all shown on the left side which is usually being ignored but this information is SUPER USEFUL in real life because last time I used this function for planning my Amsterdam trip! It even provides the time of when the bus or train will take off which is just awesome!

Another amazing thing is checking the weather! This is not a very popular function as it is not shown explicitly on Google Map. Instead, you need to find it on the right top by clicking "Satellite" or "Map" (it depends. If you're now seeing the "Satellite" view, you will see "Map" on the right top and vice versa). After that you will see "Weather" and click it. There will be a tick sign shown besides to indicate that you have chosen the function. And then you will find the weather information on the left bar!

In conclusion, Google Map gives me a total different way to see the world. In the past, I could only imagine how Venice looks like or find pictures from books. Now we have Google Map and it provides almost all actual views of different parts of the world. It feels like I have my own Dokodemo Doa (隨意門) that I can go anywhere I want from my home without the restriction of time or venue.

http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx322/gigi_rosak/FirefoxScreenSnapz015.jpg

But after all, I still wonder how Google Map could do all these...?

How it can cover almost all the places in the world...?

To be continued...