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Showing posts from 2012

Manila, the Philippines.......between the rich and the poor

The flag of Philippines and Jose Rizal Monument at Rizal Park, Ermita Manila or Maynila, in Tagalog, is the capital city of the Philippines. My first impression on Manila is congested and polluted concrete jungle. But its never stop me from exploring this bustling city that is rich with colorful cultural, heritage and history. However, my 5-day visit was fully scheduled for meetings which usually ended at 5 pm.....and at that time darkness start to crawl in. Metropolitan Manila is so so so huge. The historical center of Manila is known as Manila City which distributed into 16 territorial districts namely Tondo, Binondo, San Nicolas, Santa Cruz, Quiapo, Sampaloc, San Miguel, Santa Mesa, Port Area, Intramuros, Ermita, Pandacan, Paco, Santa Ana and San Andres Bukid. Due to the limited time in Manila, I only managed to see Ermita and Intramuros which were close-by the hotel where I was staying, the Bayview Park Hotel. Lapu-lapu monument; the pedicabs Intramuros, taken from t

Helsinki, Finland......the sun of midnight

Pohjoissatama......one of the marinas on the east of Helsinki city This post will introduce you to on e of the important Scandinavian cities, Helsinki. I visited this city for work trip, and it was in the summer season, so the sun light time was almost 23 hours with only 1 hour of night. This is due to the location of the city which is so close to the north pole. Although it was summer, the temperature was very pleasant around 10 to 20 degree celcius.   Helsinki or Helsingfors in Swedish is the capital and largest city of Finland. It is located in south of Finland and open to the arm of the Baltic Sea. Helsinki urban area includes the city proper of Helsinki and large parts of other municipalities: Espoo and Vantaa, which immediately border Helsinki to the west and north, respectively; and Kauniainen, which is an enclave within the municipality of Espoo. Helsinki Kathedrale.....the cathedral of Helsinki The Senate Square...... Helsinki cathedral, university and the t

Tea versus Strawberry....... Cameron Highlands

Cameron Valley tea plantation near Tanah Rata Looking for holiday destination? Why not try one of the Malaysian Highlands, Cameron Highlands. CH is one of the popular highland holiday destinations. Its boundary touches Kelantan at the north, Perak at the west and Pahang at the northwestern. The usual means of transfer from Kuala Lumpur to CH is by car with two main routes either via Tapah which approximately 200 kilometers and via Simpang Pulai which about 300 kilometers. Although the different between distances is about 100 kilometers, the journey time for both routes usually takes 3 1/2 hours. Simpang Pulai route is wider and less steep compared to the Tapah route which is well known for choking narrow road, nauseating corner and breaking neck steepness. Narrow road to BOH tea centre and traffic jam near the 'S' corner. The very green scenery of tea tree at Cameron Valley, Tanah Rata Why Malaysian love to spend their weekend in CH? The main re