Dearth of the BMW Design

I must say the design language of BMWs of late has been rather stale. Very little differentiation has been made between the models and also amongst their facelift LCIs.

Can’t seem to see the difference between the 3 and 4 series. 5 series facelift was a disappointment compared to the step up made on the E Class facelift. The interiors for F30 looks almost similar to that of the outgoing E90. The orange color lighting dashboard/instrument cluster has been there since the E36 in the early 90s.

I was looking at the 125 M Sport at the Majestic Hotel last evening, it looks almost the same as the previous model!

Somehow can’t help but feeling that BMW seems to be losing the plot. As a fan of theirs, I am worried for them.

A revival

Revival of the blog....watch this space.

Many faces of Alicia

The Kids' responses to potential new additions

Mommy: Do you want another brother or sister?
Jeremy: How many kids do you still want in this house?

Mommy: Do you want another baby?
Alicia: No, as I am already the baby of this house.

Daddy: Speechless!

Beijing March 2012 - Part 2

Temple of Heaven


This is the entrance to the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven was built in 1420 in the Ming Dynasty. It has a total area of 273 hectares. The Temple of Heaven is not only the largest group of temple buildings in China, but also the largest heaven-worshiping architecture in the world.

When the Temple of was first built in 1420, it was called Temple of Heaven and Earth. At that time, both heaven and earth were worshiped here. But in 1530, Emperor Jiajing built the Temple of Earth in the northern part of Beijing, and then Heaven and Earth were worshiped separately. Ever since then it was renamed the Temple of Heaven.

The emperor came here on the 15th day(6th,8th,10th) of the first lunar month to pray for a good harvest. On winter solstice each year, the emperor would come here to hold a sacrificial ceremony to worship the God of Heaven. But whenever there was a drought in that year, the emperor would come here on Summer Solstice to hold a ceremony praying to Heave for rain.

However this kind of worshiping ceremony ended in 1915, In1918, the Temple of Heaven was opened to the public and turned into a park. Now this is area is called Tiantan Park.

Here goes - This is the signature picture of the Temple of Heaven

The Summer Palace

China is an interesting place to go around due to the rich ancient civilisation heritage. But what I could not stand is the sheer number of people going around the tourist places and The Summer Palace is definitely not an exception.

The Summer Palace is supposed to residential or recreation retreat of the once high and mighty Empress Tzu Hsi of the Qing Dynastry

he Summer Palace is mainly dominated by Longevity Hill and theKunming Lake. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is water.

Longevity Hill is about 60 meters (200 feet) high and houses many buildings positioned in sequence. The front hill is rich in the splendid halls and pavilions, while the back hill, in sharp contrast, is quiet with natural beauty

The central Kunming Lake covering 2.2 square kilometers was entirely man made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill. In the Summer Palace, one finds a variety of palaces, gardens, and other classical-style architectural structures.

In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value." It is a popular tourist destination but also serves as a recreational park.

Here are some of the interesting pictures