Well from business point of view, GM and Ford has started marketing campaigns to woo the Toyota car owners, who would be looking for an immediate replacement. Here is a review from Business Week. Though it is an opportunistic and strategic move, I guess that the blind faith on Japanese cars might be shattered and naturally people would have started looking for the best alternative.
Somehow, I can't stop myself from thinking of vultures circling over a dying man.
Though it was not my first visit to the Chinese Garden in Singapore, I am fascinated with its serene water body, sprawling lawns and beautiful buildings that boast Chinese architecture. Here is a collection of shots from my last visit.
When kids sprinkled fish food, a large school of prosperity fish, rushed to devour it.
After this, we proceeded to Pagoda, through Confucius statue...
A mere look at the spiraling steps was enough for me to dishearten my spirits to climb up...
But, the view is well worth the climb:
Cute little statues, up close...
Here is the idyllic boat house...
This is the interior of the boat house...
After filing for our visas, we didn't want to take our car from this building as we thought that it would be easier to go to the nearby Low Yat Plaza as well. After 3 and half hours, we realized our blunder of not checking the parking charges earlier. We had to pay RM21.50!!!
I was reminded of the privelege and respect a goat gets before beheaded:) Instead of being chopped, this tyre is going to be trodden for ages^^ You might want to see the Traveling Wheelborough that I had captured last time.
Dunno what I would be capturing next:)
A visit to Stratford Upon Avon, the birth place of Shakespeare is like going on a pilgrimage for literature lovers. It took about an hour's drive from Birmingham to reach there. It is a picturesque village, bustling with tourists.
As seen in the map, Avon river dominates this locale.
The performance chart at the Royal Shakespeare Theater was a standing proof of the prevalent theater culture.
Performance at the Open Year Theater on the banks of Avon...
We saw hoards of people heading towards the Henley Street...
Shakespeare's Birth place comes into view.
I was awe-struck and was so excited to see the house from outside, that I was just standing there without even bothering to follow my friends who were heading to the entrance to buy the tickets.
The birth place tour starts with a multi-media presentation, which was fantastic. The show tries to describe the theater experience and simultaneously shows memorabilia. Here are some colorful shots that I captured at the show.
Inside the house, there were guides in period costume and they explained how life was in Shakespeare's times, when there was no electricity. My first concern was how they survived the winters without proper heating!
Shakespeare's father was a glove maker and at times the income was insufficient and the whole family had to starve! Here is a shot of their humble dining room...
The pair of gloves shown in the above photo is a replica of popular gloves in Shakespearean times.
Let me end this place post with the great poet's grave...
Note that "u" is represented by "v" in archaic English
I wish I could do a recap of the best moments and pictures that I took in 2009, but when I started to sift through my memory lane and the thousands of photos that I took last year, it seemed to be a daunting task. Instead, I decided to just skim and scan through the collection and do a quick post. No complaints, 2009 was good to me. Here I welcome this new year with the best shots that I like from my last years collections...
Well, I have a feeling that 2010 would be even better!
