Tour Guide, Vietnam

A Vietnamese lady waits for passengers for a journey on the Thu Bon River in Hoi An Ancient Town. Increasing competition from locals for the tourist dollar means many of the local tour guides are left to wait.

Pink Anemonefish

This is a photo of a "family" of pink anemonefish in and around their host anemone. If you look closely you can also see the small anemone shrimp (tiny white eyes) in and around the anemone.

City Hall, London, United Kingdom

City Hall is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority (GLA) which comprises the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. It is located in Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames near Tower Bridge.



The building has an unusual, bulbous shape, purportedly intended to reduce its surface area and thus improve energy efficiency, although energy use measurements have shown this building to be fairly inefficient in terms of energy use, with a 2012 Display Energy Perforance Certificate rating of "D". It has been compared variously to Darth Vader's helmet, a misshapen egg, a woodlouse and a motorcycle helmet. Former mayor Ken Livingstone referred to it as a "glass testicle", while the present mayor, Boris Johnson, has referred to it as "The Glass Gonad" and more politely as "The Onion". Its designers reportedly saw the building as a giant sphere hanging over the Thames, but opted for a more conventionally rooted building instead. It has no front or back in conventional terms but derives its shape from a modified sphere.



A 500-metre (1,640 ft) helical walkway, reminiscent of that in New York's Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, ascends the full height of the building. At the top of the ten-story building is an exhibition and meeting space called "London's Living Room", with an open viewing deck which is occasionally open to the public. The walkway provides views of the interior of the building, and is intended to symbolise transparency; a similar device was used by Foster in his design for the rebuilt Reichstag (parliament) in Germany. In 2006 it was announced that solar photovoltaic cells would be fitted to the building by the London Climate Change Agency.

One Pound Fish...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETSl8gWsFZ0

A Pakistani fish seller in the UK may soon be as popular as Gangnam Style star Psy, with his catchy song to attract customers notching up more than 3.6 million views on Youtube and landing him a record music deal.

"Come on ladies, come on ladies, have-a, have-a look, one pound fish. Very very good, very very cheap, one pound fish," fish seller Muhammad Shahid Nazir can be seen singing at an east London market to attract customers.

The Helix Hotel, Zayed Bay, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

The Helix Hotel in Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Bay doesn’t have floors like we’re used to – instead it spirals in sections of a corkscrew from top to bottom with no clear breaks, flowing from retail to residential, and hotel suites to saunas. The hollow center keeps foot traffic flowing while infusing interior spaces with coastal air and natural light, while on the outside GROW panels are fast at work harnessing solar and wind energy. Because of its unique design, every room has a slighly different view — perfect for watching over the contruction of Zaha Hadid‘s Sheikh Zayed Bridge just next door.



Leeser Architects‘ design of the Helix Hotel won the invitation-only competition sponsored by Al Qudra Real Estate and QP International. In cooperation with environmental design consultants at Atelier Ten, the Helix Hotel, which nearly floats right into the Persian Gulf, will maximize use of local natural resources likes sun, wind, and ocean water while keep guests comfortable in all 208 rooms.

Modern Heaven...

Lavender girl...