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Top Spots For The Best Panoramic Views Of London
London, the capital of United Kingdoms has so much to offer for everyone - the Buckingham Palace, the Westminster Abbey, St. Paul, the Big Ben and the Nelson’s Column. This historic city can be best viewed from some extraordinary places.
The world’s tallest observation wheel is the London Eye that presents you with the best views of the city. You can have a 360-degree panoramic view of London. Representing thirty-two administrative areas of this capital city, on a clear sky day, London Eye capsules will give you the opportunity to see forty kilometers of the city from all sides. Enjoy spectacular views of London from the Private Champagne Capsule. Other than these, you can also enjoy the awesome views of River Thames, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.
Go to the Stone Gallery from the Whispering Gallery of the St. Paul’s Cathedral and enjoy the beauty of London. Climbing another 107 feet will take you to the Inner Golden Gallery from where you can enjoy the city best.
From the Tate Modern Restaurant, which is at the 7th Level of the Tate Modern Art Gallery, enjoy a closer view of St. Paul and Gherkin. The skyline of London both at night and day can also be best viewed from this place.
The Monument, the tallest secluded column of stone in the world gives you some outstanding views of London. You will get to see the city from all directions, if you climb the three hundred and eleven stairs. The Monument was built to remember the Great Fire that engulfed the city in 1666.
St. Paul’s Cathedral, Canary Wharf, the maritime Greenwich, the London Eye and other many well-known attractions of London along with the city can be best viewed from Tower Bridge.
Enjoy some awesome views of London over the St. Paul’s Cathedral and River Thames with wine and food from the 8th floor of the Oxo Tower building where the Oxo Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie is located.
Hyde Park and the Knightsbridge can be enjoyed from Galvin, located at Windows bar. Enjoy the French menu and a panoramic view of the city from Galvin.
Enjoy the views of the south-eastern and central London from the Primrose Hill together with the Belsize Park and Hampstead to the north western side. The sky-high Canary Wharf, St. Paul’s Cathedral with other attractions of London is best enjoyed from the Parliament Hill.
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Top 8 Thai Dishes To Tickle Your Taste Buds
Thai cuisine, a favorite of food aficionados around the world, is famous for its diversity or ingredients. The complex spiciness and intricate flavors and aromas make it even more attractive. Health conscious people will be happy to know that many Thai dishes have herbal ingredients, which possess numerous health benefits.
Thai food is based on the balance of five flavors- spicy, salty, sweet, sour and bitter. Fish sauce in Thai food is equivalent to soy sauce in Chinese. Thai food may be consumed either single or with rice. Steamed rice is a staple food but due to the popularity of sticky rice in the north and northeast of Thailand, special varieties are also produced.
Some of the best authentic Thai dishes are:
Gai Pad Met Mamuang
Gai Pad Met Mamuang may not be a true reflection of Thai food. However, it is very satisfying for the taste buds. It is not at all spicy or hot. Moreover, it is slightly sweet and salty having chicken fried with crunchy cashew nuts. It provides a very good option for children as they are not used to spices.
Som Tam
The highly spicy and the sour flavor of Som Tam make it a very popular food among Thai people. Som Tam means “Sour Pounded”. It is a spicy salad, which is a mix of fresh vegetables. The fresh vegetables include un-ripened papaya, yardlong beans and tomato. Preparing a Som Tam requires the spicy dressings and salad vegetables to be pounded and mixed in the mortar by using a pestle. It is more often served with grilled chicken and sticky rice. It is a food with no fat, low calorie and high vitamins. A true Thai dish, it will leave your tongue burnt and swollen. If you want it to be served with less chili pepper, say “Mai phed” to your waiter, which means not spicy.
Kang Keaw Wan Gai
Gai is the Thai word for chicken. Chicken, one of the most popular meats in Thai cuisine, is most prevalent in curry and soup. Kang Kiew Wan, as its name suggests is sweet as well as spicy. However, it tastes very delightful with a proper blend of the spiciness from green curry chili paste, blandness from coconut milk, sweetness of sugar and saltiness of fish sauce. More often than not, it is served with steamed rice. It is also served as a sauce to a rice noodle known as “Kanom Jeen”.
Por Pia Tord
Lack of spice and a taste of sweet and sour dip makes Fried spring roll very popular among foreigners. It is more of a crispy pastry filled with vegetables. Many Southeast Asian countries boast spring rolls Thai Por Pia possesses a special taste due to the special dip prepared from Japanese apricot.
Panaeng
The taste of Paneang resembles the taste of Thai red curry largely but the coconut milk is thicker and richer. Paneang is little spicy and sweet in comparison to Thai red curry. It tastes best, when served with warm steamed rice. The only thing that may go against Paneang is that it may be too meaty for those who like to have vegetables.
Tom Kha Kai
Tom Kha Kai provides you with another variety of chicken soup - it posses unique popularity and taste. The broth of the dish is prepared with many types of Thai herbs. What makes the soup unique is the addition of coconut milk. The broth is also seasoned with chili, lime and fish sauce. It is more popular among non-spicy eaters.
Pad Thai
Pad Thai, the national dish has history, which traces back to previous centuries. An authentic Thai culinary, it only uses fresh and best ingredients with a super balance of the five flavors. It is prepared by stirring and frying the noodle with eggs, fish sauce, tamarind juice, red chili pepper with bean sprouts, shrimp and tofu. Then it is garnished with crushed peanuts and coriander. Serving it with a variety of seasonings has helped it to become more popular.
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Virgin places $2bn aircraft order
Virgin Atlantic has marked its 25th anniversary by placing a multi-billion dollar order for new long haul aircraft.
The airline is to acquire ten Airbus A330-300s valued at more than $2 billion.
Five of the 270-seat aircraft will arrive in 2011 and five in 2012.
The new aircraft will operate on many of Virgin Atlantic’s existing business and leisure routes worldwide.
They will also assist future growth, helping Virgin Atlantic to fly to new destinations from London such as Beijing, Cancun and Vancouver.
The more fuel-efficient A330-300s, which deliver lower maintenance costs as well as substantial cargo capacity, will integrate with Virgin Atlantic’s existing fleet of 38 aircraft and help the airline expand before the arrival of 15 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, from 2013.
Virgin Atlantic has secured financing for all 10 aircraft via AerCap, an integrated global aviation and aircraft leasing company. Four of the aircraft will be on direct operating leases from AerCap.
Each of the A330-300 aircraft will feature the next generation of seats, which will be lighter and even more comfortable than those in the air today, according to the airline.
Every passenger will benefit from a dynamic new entertainment hub, including USB ports and power sockets in Upper Class and Premium Economy cabins.
All travellers will also be able to send and receive emails and texts on their Blackberries, handheld PDAs and other mobile devices.
The new twin-engine A330-300s are nearly 10% more fuel efficient than the A340-300 four-engine aircraft used by the carrier.
Chief executive Steve Ridgway said: “Despite the worst economic conditions in decades, we are focusing on sustainable growth in the years ahead using the most fuel-efficient aircraft possible.
“Virgin Atlantic has a strong history of successfully investing during a downturn and our Airbus order today sends a strong signal that now is the time to invest, in order to help protect jobs and get the world’s economy moving again.” |
Dubai's first low cost airline takes flight
Flydubai, Dubai's first low cost airline, became a reality on Monday, June 1, 2009, when its first commercial flight took off.
The first flight, which was to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, was closely followed by flights to Amman, Jordan, on June 2, Damascus, Syria, on June 8 and Alexandria, Egypt, on June 9, giving the new airline a total of four destinations in just nine days.
Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of flydubai said: "This region is very dependant on air transport. It is a great credit to the vision and leadership of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, that this airline has now taken off, thereby ensuring residents and visitors alike will be able to travel to more places more often."
The flydubai model is simple, with customers only paying for the services they want. The ticket price includes all taxes and one piece of hand baggage, weighing up to 10kg, per passenger.
Passengers have the option to purchase checked-in baggage in advance at just 40AED for the first piece and 100AED for the second, weighing up to 32kgs, subject to availability. Checked baggage is strictly subject to availability and passengers are advised to book early to secure the space, as only pre-purchased baggage can be guaranteed.
A nominal payment of 5AED allows customers to select their seat and just 50AED secures the extra legroom positions. Tickets are changeable for a small fee, plus any difference in the fare, and food and drink can be purchased on board.
"flydubai aims to make travel a little less complex, a little less stressful and a little less expensive," explained flydubai's CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith. "Our passengers have the option to customise their travel experience depending on what services they want and how much they want to pay.
"We plan to stimulate the markets in which we operate and encourage people to travel to more places more often. flydubai's aim is not to drive traffic away from the other carriers but to help grow these markets. When you consider that low cost travel in this region could be as little as 2% of all air travel, as opposed to more than 20% in Europe and America, it is clear that there is a lot of untapped potential in these markets.
"In addition, flydubai will fly to airports that are currently underserved by the traditional carriers. In a region which is so dependant on air transport, we are looking forward to providing the reality of accessible, low cost, uncomplicated travel." |
Boeing postpones first flight of the 787 Dreamliner
The need was identified during the recent regularly scheduled tests on the full-scale static test airplane. Preliminary analysis indicated that flight test could proceed this month as planned. However, after further testing and consideration of possible modified flight test plans, the decision was made late last week that first flight should instead be postponed until productive flight testing could occur.
First flight and first delivery will be rescheduled following the final determination of the required modification and testing plan. It will be several weeks before the new schedule is available. The 787 team will continue with other aspects of testing on Airplane #1, including final gauntlet testing and low-speed taxiing. Work will also continue on the other five flight test aircraft and the subsequent aircraft in the production system.
Scott Carson, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes said a team of experts has already identified several potential solutions.
"Consideration was given to a temporary solution that would allow us to fly as scheduled, but we ultimately concluded that the right thing was to develop, design, test and incorporate a permanent modification to the localized area requiring reinforcement. Structural modifications like these are not uncommon in the development of new airplanes, and this is not an issue related to our choice of materials or the assembly and installation work of our team," Carson said.
Boeing's financial guidance will be updated to reflect any impact of these changes when the company issues its second quarter 2009 earnings report in July.
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