080904 - Unban Eploration （1）

Human enviroments can be a lot like mazes. Both above and below ground, cities, especially very old ones, are home to interesting structures. Tunnels, sewers and old buildings wait just begging to be explored! While some of these are still in use, many others now lay neglected and forgotten. Urban explorers find, visit and sometimes document the unseen places around us. As urban exploration (UE) has grown in popularity, it has captured the popular imagination. Often misunderstood, UE has developed into a whole subculture, complete with web pages, newsletters, books and movies. Many major cities even have informal groups that meet or use the internet to share their adventures. Since UE has varying levels of intensity, it is open to a diverse group of people. The Cave Clan, an Australian group, is open to anyone older than 18 and has a memebership that ranges from tradespeople to government employees. The group provides a meeting place for like-minded people and encourages them to participate as much, or as little, as they are comfortable with. This might entail crawling through storm drains or may simply invole poking around old houses.

20080908 - Asia's Amazing Malls

New malls pop up everythere.

More than just a place to shop, these Asian malls - among the larget in the world - are entertianment destinations.

see eye to eye

with one's eyes closed:

Asian's Amazing Malls

More than just a place to shop, these Asian malls - among the largest in the world - are entertainment destinations. Shopper can find not only spacious indoor shopping areas but also ice-skating rinks, indoor atriums, amusement parks and more.

Big debut in Dubai

Located in the shadow of the world's tallest building, one of the world's largest shopping centers - the Dubai Mall - just opened this year. Under one roof, shoppers will find several distinct shopping areas, including a gold souk with 220 stores. It has retail space for 1200 stores in its 500000-square-meter area. The mall's centerpiece - a large aquarim with walk - through glass tunnels - will bring shoppers eye to eye with sharks, stingrays and other marine species.

Firsts for the Philippines

The Philippines claims three of the world's largest malls thanks to one man: Henry Sy, a Chines-Filipino entrepreneur, His company, SM Prime Holdings, Inc. has 30 malls in the Philippines, including the SM Mall of Asia. This mall, which opened in 2006, introduced many "firsts" to the Philippines, including an Olympic-size ice-skating rink and an IMAX theater. The mall has golf carts to accommodate those who need help moving around .

090302: Telephone Past, Present and Future

电话从出生开始已经走了很长的一段路了.
Telephone has comd a long way since its early days.

Imagine smoke signal, carrier pigeon and rider on a horseback. Although these may sound strange, years ago, people used them to communicate.

Bell received a patent for a telephone.