I realise I haven't written about LON 2010 yet, so it's never too late to do that, and to share my ambitious itinerary (just in case bloody terrorists blow up the Tube with me in it, you'll at least know what I wanted to see there.... :P )


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This is why:


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In pictures: two monasteries today.

Bodhinyana Monastery, Serpentine
Yup, I went down for Dāna again this morning-an act of tremendous willpower considering that last night was initiation night (the last one I would ever attend here) and I slept at 0530.  This time I remembered to whip out my camera.  Pity it was too hot today so no kangaroos ( Read more... )

Oh, I forgot to mention this too: I was pleased to learn a few days ago that the 32nd Meeting of the World Heritage Committee has inscribed Melaka and George Town, historic cities of the Straits of Malacca (Malaysia) on the World Heritage List.  This means that Malacca and Georgetown are now listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites ( Read more... )

I'm not sure how many of you have bothered to notice but recently it was announced that Jean Nouvel, the winner of this year's Pritzker Prize (architecture's equivalent of the Nobel), has won the competition to build the Tour Signal in the La Défense CBD suburb of Paris, beating designs from both Norman, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, and Daniel ( Read more... )

Wikipedia is really the greatest instrument of serendipity, because you always stumble unwittingly upon gems of information you were never looking for in the first place.  Most times, these give you that enlightened feeling, but today it gave me a reaction more akin to the subject line ( Read more... )

After flying today, the 4 of us sped down to Fremantle Harbour's Victoria Quay for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the Queen.  No, not HM the Queen of Australia (which is technically still part of the British Empire) but the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, the former flagship of the Cunard Line (1969-2004), last of the great transatlantic ocean liners, ( Read more... )

Well, for what it's worth, Happy 2008 everyone!  It's late because the internet connection here is more unstable than a Pakistani democracy ( Read more... )