Experiences

Greetings! Watery Wednesday New Year’s Reflections Looking back on the months gone by, As a new year starts and an old one ends, We contemplate what brought us joy, And we think of our loved ones and our friends. Recalling all the happy times, Remembering how they enriched our lives, We reflect upon who really counts, As the fresh and bright new year arrives. And when I/we ponder those who do, I/we immediately think of you. Thanks for being one of the reasonsI'll/We'll have a Happy New Year! By Joanna Fuchs http://www.poemsource.com Fireworks! Happy New Year 2010!

Century Plaza Hotel Shenzhen , a famous 4-star international hotel, is the unique Stock-Listed Hotel in Shenzhen . At Century Plaza Greenery Buffet, the decorations were awesome. Plenty of greens everywhere. Look at the vase filled with green apples! Simply amazing! Green plants were seen growing out of the rocks displayed in the middle of the restaurant. Just simply admired those pink roses displayed near the entrance of the restaurant. I always enjoyed those breakfast supplied by hotels all over the world.

Weekend Reflections ( WR ) Christmas (WR1) (WR2) China Ferry Terminal This terminal offers ferry services from the Kowloon side, is located on the Tshimshatsui waterfront alongside Harbour City. departure time Tickets to Macau can be bought in Hong Kong up to 28 days in advance. (WR3) departure gate Passengers are advised to be at the terminal at least 30 minutes before departure in order to complete immigration formalities. one way ticket Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal The terminal building is a two storey structure with arrivals on the lower level and departures on the upper level. Macau (WR4 ) Kun Lam Taking center stage along the outer harbor waterfront is this breath-taking statue of the Goddess of Mercy. Kun Lam is the most popular goddess amongst Buddhists and plays a special role in protecting children, as well as bringing affluence. Inaugurated by the Portuguese president Jorge Sampaio, the statue was designed by noted Portuguese artist Cristina Rocha Leiria. T

Jewellery City dazzled me with its extensive collection of exquisitely crafted and fashionable jewellery. Jewellery City Co. Ltd was set up in 1983 in Hong Kong. They are popularly known as JC to their customers and every year, around 60,000 people pass through the doors of their stores in Hong Kong and Singapore. Their clientele is made up of 70 percent tourists and 30 percent locals. lovely globe rings and bangles (at the workshop) My birthstone is Sapphire . What's your?

It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air." ~W. T. Ellis ~ It is the personal thoughtfulness, the warm human awareness, the reaching out of the self to one's fellow man that makes giving worthy of the Christmas spirit." ~Isabel Currier~ Christmas! The very word brings joy to our hearts. No matter how we may dread the rush, the long Christmas lists for gifts and cards to be bought and given--when Christmas Day comes there is still the same warm feeling we had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes." ~Joan Winmill Brown ~ Remember This December, That love weighs more than gold! ~Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon ~ cinderella snow white sleeping beauty the seven dwarfs mickey Open your presents at Christ

The Royal Banquet Hall at Fantasyland serves international food including American Grill, Japanese, Chinese Dim Sum and Specialty Rice Dishes. One can enjoy delicious grilled chicken, steak, pizza, beef burger and sushi. lovely interior There are different types of kitchen. the Grill kitchen that serves satays, steaks and sausage a Sushi and Tempura kitchen. the Steam kitchen serves dim sum the Kettle kitchen offers curries and stews We had only three dishes. broiled beef steak grilled chicken turkey leg They were simply delicious but pretty expensive.

We came to this unique place where we could see three prayer wheels. We were asked to turn the wheels clockwise one after another from right to left. According to the Tibetan Buddhist belief, spinning such a wheel is just as effective as reciting them orally. In Tibetan prayer wheels, the mantra (prayer) Om Mani Padme Hum is printed in an ancient Indian script or in Tibetan script, usually on the outside as well as on the scroll inside. A Buddhist prayer wheel is of a hollow metal cylinder, often beautifully embossed, mounted on a rod handle and containing a tightly wound scroll printed with a mantra. Om purifies bliss and pride (realm of the gods) Ma purifies jealousy and need for entertainment (realm of the jealous gods) Ni purifies passion and desire (human realm) Pad purifies ignorance and prejudice (animal realm) Me purifies poverty and possessiveness (realm of the hungry ghosts) Hum purifies aggression and hatred (hell realm) human body physiological and pathological P

We visited the silk factory and we were given a brief account about the silk-making and also a demonstration of making the silk comforter. Cocoons The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 300 to about 900 meters (1,000 to 3,000 feet) long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous. Silkworm The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of the domesticated silkmoth. It is an important economic insect since it is the producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food is white mulberry leaves. It is entirely dependent on humans for its reproduction and no longer occurs naturally in the wild. In China , there is a legend that the discovery of the silkworm's silk was by an ancient empress called Xi Ling-Shi. She was drinking tea under a tree when a silk cocoon fell into her tea. She picked it out and started to wrap the silk thread around her finger, she slowly felt a warm sensation. When the silk ran out, she saw a small larva. In an instant, she realized that this caterpiller larva wa

Mount Rushmore National Memorial , near Keystone , South Dakota , is a monumental granite sculpture by Gutzon Borglum (1867–1941), located within the United States Presidential Memorial that represents the first 150 years of the history of the United States of America with 18 m sculptures of the heads of former United States presidents . (left to right): George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) Mount Rushmore National Memorial at the Window of the World The building is the United States Capitol Niagara Fall We just had a far view of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. How I wish I could get nearer and touch the granite sculpture .

The Great Pyramid of Giza (also called the Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Cheops ) is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt , and is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that survives substantially intact. far view of the pyramids at Window of the World The Sphinx is the largest monolith statue in the world, standing 73.5 m (240 ft) long, 6 m (20 ft) wide, and 20 m (66 ft) high. It is the oldest known monumental sculpture . The Great Sphinx of Giza is a statue of a reclining lion with a human head the entrance into the pyramid the interior of the pyramid The interior is complex, with a series of passages leading to several rooms. The pyramid remained the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years, unsurpassed until the 160-meter-tall spire of Lincoln Cathedral was completed c. 1300. Well, we didn't spent much time inside the pyramid. It was a little eeirie as we saw