Google Doodle

Today's google doodle was simply awesome.  A very interesting tribute to Robert Moog (An american piano music pioneer who apparently changed the industry in 1960s with his invention of Moog Synthesizer - Source internet).
Today is his birthday, and hence google dedicated it's doodle page for him with an amazing synthesizer that can play, record and replay whatever you play with either mouse or keyboard.  Isn't that cool? 

Yet another great feature is, once you record your piece of music, it saves them in a link which is displayed in the left end of the synthesizer - just below record button. If you use that link, it plays back what you did!  

If you are still awake, go check out this new play logo in google.  will love it!!

The antagonistic mother!

I was on a long bus journey today.  While I busily settled down with my ear phones on, peeping into the lovely sun lit sky, there were bunch of tourists who came into the bus.  The journey started, and the bus halted in the next stop.  I saw a women in late 30s pulling off the buggy and got into the bus.  

Song for today!

I am a great fan of Shreya Goshal.  She has that divine voice that it feels as if you are slicing the butter with a sharp knife.  This is one of my favourite songs sung by her.  Ofcourse, the best idea is to ignore the video for the amateur expressions by actors in this song. Well, we can pardon them..that's their first movie.  

But if you listen to this song with a ear phone, it is so soothing and it will put you to sleep, will unburden your heart, erase your tiredness and make you feel lighter on a stressful day like Monday.  

Palace of Westminster

Commonly known as Houses of Parliament, Palace of Westminster standing on the Thames river,  is an important centre of political life in UK.  There are regular tours available to visit some parts of the building and to attend a parliament debate.  However access is restricted only to UK residents to climb up the big ben tower.  

This is the picture of the palace, along with the famous Big Ben clock, Westminster bridge and the Thames river.  Taken during dusk, the glowing palace along with the reflection of the lights on the river was stunning and a mesmerizing scene one cannot miss. 

Emperor Trajan

Trajan (originally named as Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus) is a roman emperor who is said to have reigned during 98AD. He is known for reshaping the city of Rome leaving many landmarks as Trajan's Market, Trajan's Forum, Trajan's column etc.   He was also a famous military commander, triumphing many battles and played a vital role in expanding the Roman Empire. 

It was also said that Trajan's reputation was great, that the new emporers after his reign were honoured by the Senate with a prayer "felicior Augusto, melior Traiano" which means "may he be luckier than Augustus, and better than Trajan".  

This is his statue just outside Tower Hill Tube station in London, in front of the last remaining pieces of London Wall (a defensive wall built by Romans in 200AD).  

Mdina - the silent city!

An old capital of Malta, Mdina is a medival walled city located on the hill overlooking the island. It's well preserved example of walled city in europe.   As the name implies in Arabic, Mdina is precisely located on the centre of Malta.  The history of this tiny city traces back to 4000 years ago. A UNESCO heritage site, Mdina is populated by churches, palaces and gracious houses with large squares and is delightfully a car-free-zone experience.  Home for not more than 300 people, there's a limited vehicle access to some residents.  

                                                          First look of Mdina from the road 

While doing a pre-tour study about Malta in one of the travel books, I read that Mdina should be visited at night.  Hence we planned to spend around half the day there.

Grabbed our subway sandwich on the way, we reached Mdina around 2.00pm. Although the city was dotted with ample car parking spaces, there wasn't any space to leave my little hired car. The place was pouring with tourists.  I roamed around for good 30 minutes before I competed with another carwala and progressed to park into the tiny space!  There are frequent buses that connect Mdina to the major cities, and the journey takes about 30-45 minutes.  

Before we got into the walled city, little did we know that we are going to have a lifetime experience.  The city welcomed us by a beautiful baroque entrance designed by some French architect which spread on the sides with defensive walls.  

What we saw once we entered was breathtaking.  The place was spotlessly clean, beautiful, charming, full of history! We wandered through the narrow "maze like alleys" endlessly without knowing the direction.  All the streets looks so similar, but still we clicked pictures in every lane posing crazily.  We decided to play hide and seek and actually got lost. For about 20 minutes, what started as a game, made us roam around to find each other..did made me a bit panic :(

Narrow alleys

After the "thank-god-I-found-you-jaanam" session, we started over our debate as to which lane was featured in Hosanna Song (tamil version).  After a lengthy argument, we were too tired, and went to Fontanella Tea Gardens - a tastefully decorated cafe with sweeping views of the island (which is also featured in the song). But remember, this is the only cafe inside the city (I think so!), so there's always crowd.  Goes without saying, waiting time is also a bit more.  But that's totally worth it!!

Some of the houses and lanes inside Mdina

We enjoyed our Maltese cheese cake and a cup of tea over the stunning views.  There are some souvenir shops which are a bit expensive, but the collections were amazing.  When there's flooding tourist, there's always a trap! "The Mdina experience" is an audio-visual presentation about Malta's history from past to present.  Certainly, it's worth avoiding.  

                                      Another cute and colorful corner

These houses have colored doors and windows like any other maltese houses, and unique door knobs - like the face of lion, fish, or horse or anything.
After our wee shopping, we continued our walk.  After a sunny day, it started to get bit chill as the sun went down.  The skies turned blue, and the alleys were lit turning the limestone into a shining golden.  So true that the streets were even more beautiful with dim lights.

 St.Paul Cathedral at night

We reached St.Paul's Cathedral. Interestingly the face of the cathedral has 2 clocks - one for time and another for date.  It was also said that one clock showed right time, and another one showing wrong time which serves to confuse the devil!! 

Anyways, it was time for us to pack up and leave back to our hotel.  We both loved this place so much, that bidding a farewell was so difficult. The medival alleys were timeless beauty, an experience so rich as its history, and I will treasure them throughout my life.  While there are 100 things to do in Malta, I would put "Visiting Mdina" as the top most not-to-be-missed-place; A gem of Malta!!

Wordless Wednesday - 17

Colorful Tulip

These days S & I have been competing each other in playing the Tennis game on TV through Wii games.  We are playing for hours and hours together, that my arm is aching so badly.  So I am excusing myself with just posting this beautiful picture.

Stress busting Six!

It was a nail biting match to watch today's IPL mtach - CSK Vs KKR.  We both came back home a bit early from office.  At one point when the main batsmen started to fall apart, I was so not in confidence, until the captain lifted the bat with his turn.  I have this softest corner for MSD - a crush, love, infatuation, respect, trust, confidence - Whatsoever!  He is the best captain in Indian Cricket history - ofcourse after DADA. 

When the CSK fans were so much under pressure, the cool captain played his game, but could not finish it.  The last over was when adrenaline was in its peak, BP shooting up, and I lay there at the edge of the sofa, biting my nails.  And a big sigh after seeing Bravo hitting a six in last ball!  I love that pressure in cricket!    my heart thumped so fast for about that 15 minutes - even after we won the match.  I wouldn't mind getting that shot of high BP to see the team win with a six on their last ball!  Just like how we won World cup on April 2nd last year! It was as though I was re-living that moment!!!

Framed a moon!

First ever proper moon shot I made. It was taken yesterday around 1am in the morning.  When I gazed through my window and saw this half-beauty, I couldn't stop myself from taking a click!  I have experimented various modes for capturing moon and nothing came close to this shot.  

I used 70-300mm Tamron lens for this.  Aperture was set at f10 and Exposure at 0.001sec (Handheld mode).

Unknown Beauty

I saw this beauty in Botanic Garden, but missed to note down its name..and I regret so much.  It looked like jasmine flower and I clicked it after being attracted by them.  Came back home and out of 100 odd flowers, this one attracted me a lot!  Couldn't find its name.  There is a picture-flower database that I browsed through for about 2 hours checking through each and every picture.  That was utter failure.  

I thought they were some kind of Lupine variety, but these were not conical and they were kind of flowing from top towards earth like curtains.  Being so unsuccessful in deciphering this beauty's name, I posted it in flickr for my friends to identiy.  No success there, but I got a lot of suggestions from them.  Following which, I posted it in a group called "ID Please" - a kind of forum for identifying any flower, plant, bird, animal etc.  I have not got any result from them yet.  I was so fed up after constant failures!   

Now, I am using my last weapon  of presenting it to you!!If there's any botony enthusiasts, please help me identify this flower... Whoever identifies this shall be crowned with "Flora expert award"!!

Edited on 16/05/12 to add:

Guess what?  Got these flower's name. These are Pieris japonica "white cascade" flowers :)

Thursday Challenge - STYLE

For this week's Thursday Challenge - STYLE (as in Hair, Makeup, Mirrors, Formal Wear, Dresses..)

Isn't it stylish ?  This mannequin doll does not need to bother about a hair do as well!!!

Wordless Wednesday - 16

10 on Tuesday - 10 favorite career

It's been long long ago since I wrote 10 on tuesday topics. Today is my 10th post of ToT, what better reason to write on this..Decided to write one but was pondering over a good topic when I saw an add popping out of my laptop asking me if I want to change my career.  Viola...thought about my dreams and aspirations. I am very greedy when it comes to choices.  I don't have just one dream career, but countless of them.  What I've done here is attempted to list down top 10 of my dream career(not in any order though). 

Rotunda of Mosta

Mosta is a small town situated in the middle of the island of Malta. The town's name derived from the Arabic word 'musta' meaning centre.  Initially a hamlet, Mosta turned out to be a busy market town after 17th century. 

Mosta Dome basking under the glowing sun

The town is famous for it's Mosta Rotunda (The DeChurch of the Assumption of Our Lady or Mosta dome).  A roman catholic church, this is the third largest unsupported dome in Europe (superseded by St.Peter's Bascilica in Italy and Hagia Sofia, Turkey).  

Interiors of the church, the dome and the sacred figures around the wall

Designed by a Maltese architect Giorgio de Vasse, this church will be similar to that of Pantheon in Rome.  There's a nice history related to this church.  During the WW2, the church took a direct hit from German bomb during a mass.  The bomb is said to have pierced the dome, but it never exploded.  So Maltese people consider this as a miracle.  A replica of 200kg bomb can also be seen in the sacristy.

Trafalgar Square, London

Trafalgar Square is an open public space in central London. At the centre of this square is Nelson's column guarded by 4 lions.  There are also various other sculptures and water fountains around.   The name of the square commemorates Battle of Trafalgar as a victory by British Navy against French.  

For many many years, new year celebrations were arranged here which was replaced by London Eye since 2005.  As said, this is a open space, so there's always crowd in this place.  Ideal time to visit is before 9.00am if you want to take a decent photograph.  

This picture was taken during the Christmas from western side of the fountain with the National Gallery building at the backdrop.  The glowing Christmas Tree (Norway Spruce) is presented by Norwegian Government every year as a token of gratitude to Britain for their support during World War II. Currently one can see 2012 Olympic countdown clock in the square.  

There's always a famous square or piazza in every european city.  What Trafalgar square depicts is the lifestyle of London, the glory of Britain and the face of true metropolitan/commercial life.  It's a place to relax, grab a coffee and watch people.  It's a place you cannot miss if you visit London!  

Stonehenge and the mystery behind the stones!

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located on the Salisbury plains (about 90 miles away from London). Archeologists believe the iconic stone monument was constructed anywhere from 3000 BC to 2000 BC.  The site and it's surrounding plains are UNESCO World Heritage Site.  

The biggest mystery is why these stones were laid in circular way?  What was the purpose to build this? How did they bring these heavy stones? Was this a Sun temple or burial place? People have argued and debated over this topic for many decades.  

Some facts about these stones are that they are laid circular in line with midsummer sunrise and minwinter sunset.  Probably that's why Summer Solstice festival is very famous in this location..And sunset was amazing during winter, couldn't imagine how beautiful it will be during a sunrise/ summer solstice.


There were 2 kind of stones used for construction - Blue stones (weighed roughly 4 tons) and Sarsen Stones (about 25tons).  These stones were said to be taken from Wales, about 240 miles away from where these structures stand today.  And the estimated man hours for the construction was about 30 million hours of labour.  All these information were taken from one of the tourist pamplet.  
Knowing the fact now, doesn't it feel amazing still with so much of mystery involved as to how they moved them in 3000BC, how many people would have worked on this, and why did they chose this location to lay the stones! 
With regards to their architectural structures, they are the evidence of the mathematical and geometric understanding of the builders. 


Whatsoever, the growing enigma and the structures of this place never fails to impress tourists.  

If you visit this place, you will be able to see the stones only from an outer secured area.  If you want to go beyond this closer to the circles and tour inside them, you need to pre-book on a guided tour.  

When we went to London the first time as tourists, I told S and his friends that we need to visit Stonehenge.  All of them asked what it was.  I actually had to convince them with so many facts about this site and finally the group said yes.  When we reached Stonehenge, the first reaction of one of S's friend was "Have you convinced us to visit these stones?  What's here to see? And you made us waste £7 for its entrance ticket".  

What can I say!  Camphor smell donkey knows? wink wink.

Thursday Challenge - TOOLS

Filing under this week's Thursday Challenge - Tools (as in construction, gardening, cooking, repair).   This picture was taken while this guy was climbing up the tree to cut them.  

Wordless Wednesday - 15

Grasmere in Lake District

We went on trekking at Grasmere, a small lake town in Windermere.  This is the home for William Wordsworth for many years.  He even described this place as "the loveliest spot that man hath ever found".  No wonder he wrote his best poetries in Grasmere.  He died at Rydal Mount (in Grasmere) and is buried along with his family members in Grasmere churchyard.   It was said that William and his sister Dorothy often loved to walk around White Moss or sit on the shores of Grasmere and write poetries.  

So, we chose this location to do our trekking bit.  We drove from Windermere to White Moss Common Car park and started our Loughrigg Terrace Walk.  Loughrigg Fell (Hills or Mountains are called as Fell here) is one of the hill in central part of lake district.  It has unusual amount of water bodies and lakes surrounding them.  We passed through gorgeous flowing river and wooden bridge.  

Started to climb the mountain while we saw a few mountain-biking enthusiasts pedalling through the narrow path.  It sure was an adrenaline rush - even to see them ride! After climbing more than a few hundred yards, what we saw was a stunning Grasmere Lake!