Malling In Love

Another tourism program Malaysia is proud of is the Homestay Program. For RM50 a night (about P700), students can learn the culture by living with a Malaysian family, eating with them and even seeing them at work.

However, the main attraction for most Pinoys is still shopping. Kuala Lumpur alone has a wide range of cheap-to-luxe shopping establishments, and here is a quick survey of the best:

• Petaling Jaya - Petaling Street market is made for bargaining, and its night market is famous with locals. Though the usual bags, watches, clothes, shoes and fakes are on offer, you can also find Chinese artifacts, gold jewelry, gems, home décor, traditional herbal remedies, fresh flowers and textiles.

• Central Market is where you can score ethnic souvenirs. This souk-style indoor bazaar is where local artists hawk wares like batik, labu sayong (the gourd-shaped carafe Malays use to keep water cool), Sarawak pottery, and traditional Malaysian kites to fly or just hang on your wall. Non-shoppers can sit and have their portrait sketched or sip a white coffee at one of the quaint cafés.

• Mid Valley Megamall - This was the mall connected to our four-star digs, the Boulevard Hotel. Popular brands like Topshop, Zara and Mango compete with local labels like Vincci, Seed and Philosophy. Anchors include Jusco, Carrefour and Metrojaya, plus there's a one-stop IT center, Pet Wonderland, large MPH bookstore and feng shui outlet. Mid Valley connects via bridgeway to...

• The Gardens Mall - Anchored by Japan's Isetan and Singapore's Robinsons, this high-end mall -- connected to the brand-new, five-star Gardens Hotel -- features designer brands like Coach and Ted Baker. Concept store M houses labels from Tom Ford to Alexander McQueen's McQ. Local designers show their stuff at 2201 Fashion Avenue, where you can shop for batik resortwear, edgy streetwear and funky jewelry.

• Sunway Pyramid - Malaysia meets Vegas in this hotel, leisure and shopping complex housed under an Egyptian sphinx and pyramid. Sunway's 700 shops include fast-fashion and high-street stores such as Miss Selfridge and Diva accessories. For men there's Camel Active, Timberland and Valentino Creations; kids have Sesame Street.

• Starhill Gallery - Home to Louis Vuitton, this sleek mall has seven themed floors. For example, "Indulge" boasts luxury fashion brands, "Adorn" has collectible watches and accessories, "Pamper" offers wellness and beauty, and "Feast Village" emphasizes civilized dining.

Did I also mention KL has its own IKEA? With our hectic schedule, however, there was no time to even locate it.

Taken from The Philippine Star

Roxanne Guinoo And Non-Showbiz Boyfriend!

Huling-huli ng ating kamerang-gala si Roxanne Guinoo sa premiere night ng pelikulang Yaya and Angelina: The Spoiled Brat Movie na may ka-holding hands na guwapong lalaki. Ito umano ang misteryosong non-showbiz boyfriend ng dalaga? Hmmm... mukhang papable nga si Papa!

Taken from Pinoy Parazzi

Katabatic Wind

the sinking and downward movement of cold, dense air beneath warmer, lighter air. The air is cooled by radiation, usually at night. It occurs over ice-covered surfaces and in the fjords of Norway, and in many cases can be gale force.

Taken from Dictionary of Science

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A katabatic wind, from the Greek word katabatikos meaning "going downhill", is the technical name for a drainage wind, a wind that carries high density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity. Such winds are sometimes also called fall winds.

Not all downslope winds are katabatic. For instance, winds such as the Foehn, Chinook or Bergwind, are rain shadow winds where air driven upslope on the windward side of a mountain range drops its moisture and descends leeward drier and warmer.

Katabatic winds can rush down elevated slopes at hurricane speeds, but most are not that intense and many are on the order of 10 knots or less.

Examples of true katabatic winds include the Mistral in the Mediterranean, the Bora (or Bura) in the Adriatic, the Santa Ana in southern California, and the Oroshi in Japan. Another example is "The Barber," an enhanced katabatic wind that blows over the town of Greymouth in New Zealand when there is a southeast flow over the South Island. It is a wind that is known in the area for its coldness.

A katabatic wind originates from the cooling by radiation of air atop a plateau, a mountain, glacier, or even a hill. Since the density of air is inversely proportional to temperature, the air will flow downwards, warming adiabatically as it descends. The temperature of the wind depends on the temperature in the source region and the amount of descent. In the case of the Santa Ana, for example, the wind can (but does not always) become hot by the time it reaches sea level. In the case of Antarctica, by contrast, the wind is still intensely cold.

Katabatic winds are most commonly found blowing out from the large and elevated ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland. The buildup of high density cold air over the ice sheets and the elevation of the ice sheets brings into play enormous gravitational energy, propelling the winds well over hurricane force. In Greenland these winds are called Piteraq and are most intense whenever a low pressure area approaches the coast.

In the Fuegian Archipelago (or Tierra del Fuego ) in South America as well as in Alaska, a wind known as a williwaw is a particular danger to harbouring vessels. It originates in the snow and ice fields of the coastal mountains. Williwaws commonly blow as high as 100 knots, and 200 knot williwaws have been reported.

Taken from Wikipedia