Petronas Twin Towers, Malaysia

The tallest buildings, by height, in the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are the 88 floor Petronas Twin Towers. These twin towers rise 1,483 feet (452 meters) in the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC).
They were the world's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004.

Currently, the world's tallest artificial structure is the 2,722 feet (829.8 meters) Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Recently, I brought my foreign guest to visit the Petronas Twin Towers and had dinner in the Suria Kuala Lumpur City Centre mall. My friend was indeed very fascinated by the beauty of these twin towers, especially with the beautifully decorated Christmas Tree and fully lighted towers. The water fountain display has always been an added attraction for visitors to the Twin Towers.

Health Is Wealth - Morning Exercises

With increasing awareness for better health and well being in enhancing quality of life, there is always a hive of exercise activities in our neighbourhood park.
Besides the usual walking, jogging and running, there are groups gathered for various forms of physical and mental exercises.
These include practices like Gigong, Tai Chi, Yoga, Praise Dance, Meditative and Gymnastic exercises.
The people in the park ranges from all ages.
The younger set are more into jogging, running and jungle tracking.
The seniors are practitioners of  Praise Dance, Tai Chi and Gigong.
Walking, however is the most common exercise activity by both young and seniors.
For me, it is always very refreshing after an hour of brisk walking in the park.

Jogging

Meditation

Gigong Exercise

Praise Dance

Tai Chi Practice

Morning Photography

The different shades of morning sky .......

Hibiscus In Full Bloom

Could not resist buying this pot of hibiscus.
Taken care of it for a month.
Now enjoying the full blooms.
Photos taken at night with my iPhone 6S Plus. 

Seniors Fitness

Recently the City Council installed a set of fitness equipment in our recreational park to encourage residents to exercise regularly to enhance their fitness well-being. These equipment are chosen by the residents themselves to cater for both the seniors and youth.

Caught A Pokemon

Last weekend was at our neighbourhood park for our regular morning exercise. Met this cute "Pokémon" walking around. Could not resist posing for a photo with him.

Chinese Lunar New Year 2014

 
This year, Chinese New Year was celebrated from 31 January to 14 February 2014.
This 15 days celebration ushered in the Wooden Horse, the 7th character in the Chinese Zodiac calendar.
In many Chinese communities, the New Year is celebrated with a traditional Lion Dance.
The dance is believed to ward off evil spirits and usher in happiness and prosperity.
And to bring good luck and good health to everyone.

The lion dance performers will prayer at the altar of the host's home, break an orange or pomelo signifying it has blessed them and distribute to the household members bringing them good luck, health and prosperity during the year.
The lion will also climb up a high pole and "eat"  a salad vegetable (usually a yellow lettuce) and collect an "ang pow (red packet)" and unfold a banner wishing all Happy New Year, good luck, prosperity and good health.

 

Happy Chinese New Year - Year of the Horse

 


Wishing all my Chinese friends
Happy Chinese New Year
Gong Xi Fa Cai
Nian Nian Yu Yue
Good Health, Happiness and Prosperity
In the year of the Horse

Boun Awk Phanza Festival in Vientiane, Laos

I arrived in Vientiane on 19th October 2013 to a rousing sea of people celebrating the end of the month long Buddhist Lent (Boun Awk Phanza). In conjunction with this Lent, there is the Annual Dragon Boat Race Festival (Boun Xuang Heua) along the Mekong River, with its finals held on the 20th October 2013. Besides the boat race, there were beautiful floats sailing along the river complete with music, dancing and singing.

The Mekong riverside was transformed into a carnival site, completely occupied by stalls selling all kinds of everything from clothings, shoes, mobile phones, food, drinks and beverages, cosmetics, games stalls, and toys, etc, etc.

The crowd in town and at the Mekong riverside was just fantastic. I have not seen so many people in Vientiane before, seems like everyone living in Vientiane and other provinces are here. There were merry making - eating and drinking. I believe the air and sound pollution and the sales of the ever popular Beer Lao these few days must have sky-rocketed. People in Laos are easy going, friendly and always celebrating a happy occasion with good food with plenty of Beer Lao.  

I am very lucky that my work schedule in Vientiane this time coincided with this very important festival in Vientiane.

Visit to Jiangnan Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market in Guangzhou, China

I had attended a couple of meetings held in Guangzhou, China.
In the July 2010 meeting, delegates from various countries had the opportunity of visiting the Jiangnan Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market.

 

This market in Guangzhou is the largest wholesale market in China in terms of total sales and volume of imported fruit transactions. It is estimated that 60 - 70 percent of China's imported fruits are transacted through this market. It is also the largest distribution center of fruits and vegetables in China. Some 5,000 tonnes of produce passed through this market each day. More than 1,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables are imported and exported every day in this market. About 50 percent of these imports are consumed in Guangdong Province alone.

Our visit there was focused on the Fruit Trade Area of the market, which is about 160,000 sq. meters and housing 510 wholesale stores in the fruit business. There are a variety of local and imported fruit species, such as longans, orange, Pacific rose apple, grapes, kiwifruits, coconuts, mango, papaya, cantaloup, pineapples, etc. We were informed that the major imported fruits are kiwifruit from New Zealand, red grapes from South America, and durians from Thailand. Many local fruits are also exported through this market. The major export markets include North and South Americas, Western and Eastern Europe, Eastern Asia, Southeast Asia, Middle East, Africa and other regions around the world.

With Syrian Delegate