PhotoHunt - Vertical

View of the Piazza del Duomo

One of my fondest memories while in Italy was visiting the wonderful Leaning Tower of Pisa, built as a bell tower for the cathedral of the Italian city. I could not believe my eyes when I came upon this amazing tower and trust me, it’s absolutely leaning. Have you ever wondered why does the Leaning tower of Pisa leans?



Dating back to 1173 and even initially meant to stand perfectly vertical, the Tower of Pisa holds a significant place in world history due to its leaning tower at about 3.99 degrees.

It turns out that the foundation for the tower was poorly-laid, and the unstable soil prevented a vertical structure. Contrary to popular belief, the Tower did not begin leaning after construction was completed, it had already started to tilt during the early stages of construction. The soil under the tower was loose and was not correctly compacted before the construction began.

Prior to restoration work performed between 1990 and 2001, the tower leaned at an angle of 5.5 degrees, but the tower now leans at about 3.99 degrees. This means that the top of the tower is 3.9 metres (12 ft 10 in) from where it would stand if the tower was perfectly vertical. Nonetheless, the Leaning Tower has stood for hundreds of years, despite the fact that it looks as if it may be in danger of collapse any moment.

The Leaning Tower has been closed to tourists from time to time as architects and builders worked to shore up the base, fearful it would eventually collapse completely.



According to the architects, the leaning tower of Pisa has stopped sinking from 2008 after the removal of a great deal of earth and will be stable for at least 200 years more. And, yes, now you can go up again. It has been measured by accurate readings and modern system, so feel free to stand as close as you want to the leaning tower. Up close and looking to the sky, you feel its extraordinary grandness. The facts of Leaning Pisa are astounding and amazing, so go see it yourself for an experience you'll never forget.



First Commenter - Rainfield

RT/WW - A glimpse of Dubai (Part 2)

We paid a visit to the Dubai's latest hot luxury shopping mall which claims to be the world’s largest mall. Imagine 1,200 retail stores, an olympic size skating rink, a 220-store gold souk, more than 150 F&B outlets and a very huge aquarium inside it. Unfortunately, we didn't spend much time there though as we have a flight to catch to Istanbul that evening. Anyway, we managed to capture a few shots before leaving the mall.

The complex is incredibly huge in every sense of the word and its upscale interior design is tastefully done in a contemporary way yet still provide a warm, comfortable and inviting feel. It's a classic and I love every single detail. All its spaces are very well- proportioned.


The entrance to the modern gold Souk in the mall. A lovely art depiction of the night sky embedded with glittering stars and encrusted jewels.


Statue of a stallion from the Gold Souk. The souk is designed as a tribute to the city's rich heritage of the gold and jewelery trade, for which Dubai is renowned globally


The intricate designs are found to resembles the ones in Italy


There is another amazing section of the mall which offers a great selection of coffee shops and retail kiosks overlooking the Waterfall, giving a soothing and cosy mood to meet. Several palm trees are also set up to replicate the atmosphere of a desert oasis.



The Waterfall runs through the entire four levels of the mall and is adorned with lovely art sculptures of human divers, how cool!



The iconic Burj Khalifa outside the Dubai Mall standing in its glory. The tower was renamed Burj Khalifa (formerly Burj Dubai) and now stands as the world's tallest building. I didn't manage to get up there as we were informed that the observation decks located at the 124th floor was closed due to some technical problems.

First Commenter - Mei Teng

PhotoHunt - Sweet

With Easter a mere few days away, I thought I'd share with you some of the Easter goodies that caught my attention during my recent visit to Austria.

There was an amazing egg store in Salzburg, which had thousands of hand-decorated eggs for every sweet occasion. I was completely breathless as I've never seen so many colourful Easter eggs in my life and this was just one part of the store. The store was not very big though and I was really afraid of bumping into someone and falling on top of all those precious eggs. And it's not the place I 'd like to take my kids to.



Whether to buy or not, it's simply worth looking at all the gorgeous designs.


These eye-catching eggs are sweetest gifts that are not easy to bring home. People were getting them packed in lovely egg cartons but unfortunately, I didn't buy any as there's no way to get them safely back with me to Malaysia.


I caught this cute Easter frog staring at me wide eyed, smiling sweetly at me and I couldn't resist taking a picture.


Apart from the usual Easter traditions of eggs, Easter bunnies of different designs, colours and sizes are widely available too.


The yummy sweet bunnies are all nicely packed and displayed near the main door.


Another option to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. Have a Sweet Easter!

First Commenter - Lina

WW - A glimpse of Dubai (Part 1)

I'm back. My vacation was fantastic and this was by far the best trip I've ever had. We took thousands of shots and saw everything according to our itinerary, it was limitless oohs and aahs. Everything was smooth except for the sandstorms in Dubai which happens to be our first destination. Ouch, not nice!

It was a pleasant beginning of the day when we first arrived in Dubai. We took a bus ride to the city and our first stop brings us to Burj Al-Arab.


The Burj is a fine masterpiece of contemporary architecture designed by top architects to resemble the graceful sails of an Arabian ship. It is known as the only 7 star luxury hotel in the world and rightfully so!


We had fun strolling around the clean, uncrowded beach and came across a group of surfers conducting lessons near the coastline.


This is another fascinating beach hotel with a 5 star rating near Burj Al- Arab, picture taken from another angle. If you have the money, it would be incredible to be able to stay in these exclusive hotels and it is definitely a taste for the rich. I might have to give an arm and a leg or win some big lottery to afford to stay in these hotels for just one night.

As we were exploring the city, all hell broke loose when we experienced sandstorms which brings dusty, polluted air to the environment.

The gray, cloudless sky was covered with tons of dust and sand and the winds were pretty strong


These storms struck the city reducing visibility in some areas.


We found a few spots overlooking the city with colourful blooms and they are blooming everywhere in Dubai.


A large banner of prominent leaders was put up in the street

As can be seen from the pictures, it's definitely unpleasant especially for anyone who's allergic to dust. The fine particles even managed its way through my sun glasses to my eyes. I was going stir crazy and I kept sneezing for hours but despite the storms, nothing could dampen our spirits. We just had to be outdoors to take pictures.

First Commenter - Liza

RT/WW - All Packed and Ready to Go

This is it! The one we've dreamed about, diligently planned, researched, frequently talked about. Woohoo! The much awaited vacation has finally arrived and we'll be heading to Dubai, Europe and Moscow leaving behind work, family and friends for 24 days. It has been a hectic week of trying to get all the loose ends wrapped up before we leave.

We've been preparing so much for this trip and hope everything will go smoothly without any hiccups at all. Nevertheless, this huge vacation promises to be another great experience with wonderful memories.

Most likely, I won't be posting anything during my absence. So people, don't miss me too much. Please pray for a safe journey for us.