Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Hong Kong - Day Plans at a glance
Day 2: Disney World First day
Day 3: Ocean Park
Day 4: Disney world Second day
Day 5: Sky 100, Science Museum and Victoria Peak
Day 6: Noah's Ark
Hong Kong - In my eyes
A cool "kewl" place to visit...
Size:Bigger than Singapore, Smaller than India (Of course!) Thinking why I am comparing with these two countries? Because one is my birth place and another is the place where I live.
Cleanliness:Some places were too clean and rich. Most of the places were dirty and the buildings were looking too old and shabby. Overall the look and feel was not bad. (As I always compared it to my two near and dear countries)
Transport:Good and well planned. MTR is comfortable and there are many ways to reach it from wherever you are. You can go by normal Bus or small 16 seater mini bus or Taxi. 16 seater mini bus or the normal bus is not fair enough in collecting money though. They ask us to tap when we get on but not when we get off. Meaning they don't calculate the amount by the distance we travel. Sometimes fair and sometimes totally unfair.
Sight Seeing places:Very well maintained and they do have the visitors as their first priority. I would definitely appreciate their service as it was commendable almost everywhere. They know how to attract people to buy their souvenirs.
Food:I can comment only about Indian Vegetarian food as the food that we tried there was vegetarian and mostly Indian. These days Indian veggy food is available almost all over the world and we did find a few restaurants there and food tasted good too. Most of the dishes available are that of north India as we could find North Indians to be a part of some percent of the HK residents. Good thing was that we got Indian Veggy food inside Disneyland eventhough it was spicy, it was tasty and good.
Language:Very few understood English.
Taxi:Taxi drivers were completely rude. May be there are exceptions not sure. whichever taxi we took, the drivers were too rude and they did speak good english. Bus drivers were rude too but they did not understand much but responded to us in English :)
Shopping Malls:Very rich malls and people in the malls looked rich too. It was completely similar to what we see in Singapore and if you ask me even more richer than Singapore malls.
Weather:Too cool from morning to Extremely cold in the night.
Stay:Hotel we chose was good and breakfast was good too. We stayed in Regal Oriental Hotel in Sa Po Road. Its not nearby any MTR but there is a 16 seater bus from the hotel which was convenient for us to travel outside.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
All excited and thrilled!
Mummy! Will it rain there?
Mummy! Will there be flood?
Mummy! Can i take bath there?
Mummy! Is there a fridge where I can put my car for color change?
Mummy! .... A five year old is too curious as how the place would be, worried if that place will be safe, happy that he is going on a holiday... We are all set to go there (where? - later will update it) with mixed feelings, knowing little information about it, expecting it could give us a great experience, planning to spend quality time with my kids...
More updates sooooooooonnnn
Thursday, December 15, 2011
What Do Recycling Symbols on Plastics Mean?
The versatile material is in our cars, toys, packaging, clothing, home goods, food utensils, medical devices and so much more. It is also littering our streets, clogging our waterways and choking marine life. Many plastics can be readily recycled, but how do consumers make sense of all the different types and rules?
You're learning to recycle plastics (great!), but now you have probably heard reports of nervous consumers cleaning out their cupboards and closets of containers that experts are warning may not be safe to use. The good news is those recycling codes can help you protect your family, and The Daily Green will tell you how.
Though it's true regulators and the plastics industry are pointing out that the science on the real-world harms is not yet proven, many are saying the stakes are too high, and the alternatives too easy, to ignore. Read on to see which types of water and baby bottles you don't want to give your kids.
Monday, December 5, 2011
What goes around comes around
The evil you do remains with you! The good you do, comes back to you!
"As the mother heard those words, her face turned pale and red. She leaned against the door for support. She remembered the poisoned bread that she had made that morning. Had she not burnt it in the fire, it would have been eaten by her own son, and he would have lost his life! It was then that she realized the significance of the words: "The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!" Do good and; Don't ever stop doing good, even if it's not appreciated at that time.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Art of Giving!
Even after accepting that giving is good and that one must learn to give, several questions need to be answered.
The first question is:
When should one give?
We all know the famous incident from Mahabharat.
Yudhisthir asks a beggar seeking alms to come the next day. On this, Bhim rejoices that Yudhisthir his brother, has conquered death! For he is sure that he will be around the next day to give. Yudhisthir gets the message.
One does not know really whether one will be there tomorrow to give!
The time to give, therefore, is now.
The next question is:
'How much to give?'
One recalls the famous incident from history.
Rana Pratap was reeling after defeat from the Moghals. He had lost his army, he had lost his wealth, and most important, he had lost hope, his will to fight. At that time, in his darkest hour, his erstwhile minister, Bhamasha, came seeking him and placed his entire fortune at the disposal of Rana Pratap. With this, Rana Pratap raised an army and lived to fight another day.
The answer to this question how much to give is:
"Give as much as one can!
The next question is:
'What to give?'
It is not only money that can be given away. It could be a flower or even a smile.It is not how much one gives but how one gives that really matters. When you give a smile to a stranger that may be the only good thing received by him in days and weeks!
"You can give anything but you must give with all your heart!"
One also needs answer to this question
Whom to give?
Many times we avoid giving by finding fault with the person who is seeking. However, being judgmental and rejecting a person on the presumption that he may not be the most deserving, is not justified.
“Give without being judgmental!"
Next we have to answer:
'How to give?'
Coming to the manner of giving, one has to ensure that the receiver does not feel humiliated, nor the giver feels proud by giving.In giving, follow the advice 'Let not your left hand know what your right hand gives? Charity without publicity and fanfare is the highest form of charity.'
'Give quietly!'
While giving, let not the recipient feel small or humiliated. After all, what we give never really belonged to us. We come to this world with nothing and will go with nothing. The thing gifted was only with us for a temporary period. Why then take pride in giving away something which really did not belong to us?
Give with grace and with a feeling of gratitude.
"What should one feel after giving?"
We all know the story of Eklavya. When Dronacharya asked him for his right thumb as "Guru Dakshina, he unhesitatingly cut off the thumb and gave it to Dronacharya.
There is a little known sequel to this story.
Eklavya was asked whether he ever regretted the act of giving away his thumb. He replied, and the reply has to be believed to be true, as it was asked to him when he was dying.His reply was "Yes! I regretted this only once in my life. It was when Pandavas were coming in to kill Dronacharya who was broken hearted on the false news of death of his son, Ashwathama, and had stopped fighting. It was then that I regretted the loss of my thumb. If the thumb was there, no one could have dared hurt my Guru?The message to us is clear.
Give and never regret giving!
And the last question is:‘How much should we provide for our heirs?'
Ask yourself 'are we taking away from them the gift of work? - A source of happiness?
The answer is given by Warren Buffett:
"Leave your kids enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing!"
I would conclude by saying:
Let us learn the Art of Giving,
and quoting the Saint Kabir:
"When the wealth in the house increases, when water fills a boat, throw them out (for good causes) with both hands!"
This is the wise thing to do!