www.travellingbee.com More than the usual: long, white sand beaches, immense variety of marine life, rare & exotic sea flora and fauna, even the tropical party lifestyle are all in abundance in the Philippines. With 7,107 islands and a coastline twice the length of that of the United States, Philippines can very well be called Asia's Beach Capital. You have the promise of white sandy beaches to relax on and the liveliest water encounters. Described as the most exciting surfing destination in the world, with great waves all ranking among the world’s best,

it is a surfer’s paradise. Action Asia Magazine says, "The Philippines is to scuba divers what Switzerland is to skiers, Hawaii to surfers, and Nepal to mountaineers." As for white water action, there are a-plenty – lakes, waterfalls, and rivers that create excellent kayaking and white water runsThe Philippines is also Asia’s most inexpensive shopping destination where you can get the most value for your money. Get imported name brands from the West, as well as products handcrafted in the Philippines, from weaves, baskets, and brassware to hand-embroidered piña cloth, wood figurines, and all sorts of custom-made furniture, clothes, wedding gowns, shoes, embroidery items, and many other accessories.

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www.visitedasia.com Singapore Airlines (SIA) led the charge by first cutting its fuel surcharges when the price of jet fuel eased and since then, other airlines like Qantas, Lufthansa, Thai Airways and Cathay Pacific have joined the pack. But while this may be welcome news to travellers, the aviation industry is hardly in the clear as it faces up to falling passenger traffic.

About a month ago, jet fuel was going at some US$131 (RM460) per barrel. The average price of jet fuel as at Oct 24 was US$85.10 a barrel, down 18.4 per cent from a year ago and a staggering 35.5 per cent drop from a month earlier.In light of the lower jet fuel prices, SIA announced in September plans to reduce fuel surcharges by up to 10 per cent on short- and medium-haul flights. Fuel surcharges for long-haul flights, however, still remain in place.

Then, Thai Airways International cut fuel surcharges by up to 30 per cent in early October while Malaysia Airlines reduced fuel surcharges for 20 domestic and 33 international destinations effective Oct 20.German carrier Lufthansa announced on Oct 15 that its surcharge for long-haul flights would be reduced by five euros (RM22.60 ) to 92 euros per flight segment. Still, five euros is only a quarter of the total hike in fuel surcharges this year for its long-haul flights. Fuel surcharges stood at 77 euros each way on March 13 and rose 20 euros in stages to 97 euros by July.

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www.visitedeurope.com Istanbul Sapphire, the 261-meter high skyscraper, will be the tallest residential building in Europe once completed in late 2009. The skyscraper in Istanbul’s 4. Levent district will become the symbol of the city similar to the Empire State Building in New York City, says Nahit Kiler, the chairman of Kiler Holding

Istanbul Sapphire, the tallest residential skyscraper in Europe once complete, is scheduled to finish by the end of 2009. The construction by Kiler Holding in Istanbul's 4. Levent district started three years ago and recently reached the height of 261 meters. At present the tallest residential building in Europe is the 190-metres high Turning Torso in Malmö, Sweden.

“We want Istanbul Sapphire to become a symbol of Istanbul, the Empire State Building of this city, where tourists and residents alike can come and admire Istanbul's skyline,” Nahit Kiler, chairman of Kiler Holding, told reporters yesterday.

Immune to crisisOnce complete, the skyscraper will consist of 64 floors and 174 private residences of 22 different types of varying from 120 to 1,100 square meters. Since the launch of the project flat prices have gone up from the initial price of $550,000 to $4.5 million to $1 and $7.5 million. Kiler noted the total cost of the project currently stands at $200 million. Whilst some 60 percent of the project is financed by Kiler Holding's own resources, 40 percent of the project's budget comes from sales. Turkish investors make up roughly 85 percent of all buyers at present.

 “Istanbul Sapphire has become a brand among international investors and we believe interest in Istanbul's real estate market will increase further. Although Istanbul is a world metropolis, square meter prices here are still lower than in other similar locations, making Istanbul an attractive target for international investors,” Kiler said.

  Kiler noted that the crisis has not had any impact on the sales of the Sapphire flats. “So far we have sold some 40 percent of the whole project, and reached the sales target. […] In fact, right after the crisis escalated we sold units for $7.5 million. Istanbul Sapphire is an A+ category property so the crisis is not affecting our sales,” he added.

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www.divinationpower.com  A NOTORIOUS rat run where HGVs shake residents' homes as they pass could finally be calmed - with the help of police.The streets of Alexandra Park Road, Crescent Road and Albert Road are used as shortcuts by truck and coach drivers to dodge the North Circular bottleneck at Bounds Green.

Residents have been pushing for a big vehicle ban for years.It is hoped that £600,000 promised by the then-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone will be used to stop them getting through using a mix of a police-enforced weight restriction and road reshaping.Haringey Council is meeting residents in Alexandra to discuss options next week, and hopes are high as police have already vowed to enforce a 7.5 tonne weight limit if one is imposed along these roads.

The junction of Alexandra Park Road and Albert Road could also be reshaped to make it harder for large vehicles to turn right when travelling from Muswell Hill to Wood Green.Jimmy Athanassiou, chairman of Palace Gates Residents' Association, said: "It is like a minor earthquake. You even get Stansted coaches cutting through here. But I am optimistic. The police are supportive and even the local schools are supportive."

Sergeant Neil Billany, head of the Alexandra Safer Neighbourhoods Team, says he has promised the council he will enforce a weight restriction "if it were put in place".But banning big vehicles could pose problems for the lorries needed to build the planned Haringey Heartlands development and Heartlands High School in Wood Green.

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www.thecontroversies.com Having missed out on the last ODI series in Sri Lanka with an elbow injury, Sachin Tendulkar is likely to return for the seven-ODI series against England starting November 14 in Rajkot. His availability will be one of the key issues of discussion when the selectors meet in Nagpur on Wednesday to announce the squad for the first three one-dayers. Tendulkar had last featured in an ODI during the CB Series in Australia. A groin injury picked up during the tournament kept him away from the Kitply Cup held in Dhaka and the Asia Cup in Pakistan that followed.

"We haven't heard anything from him yet so we expect him to play," one of the selectors told Cricinfo. This will also be the first time the selectors, headed by Kris Srikkanth, will be appointing an ODI squad; they had picked the Test squad to face Australia.

From the squad that featured in Sri Lanka, Irfan Pathan is likely to be dropped given his lean form this season. As an allrounder, he doesn't have a strong case, scoring 105 at 17 in his last seven innings and picking up 10 wickets at almost 47 in the nine games he has played since the Kitply Cup. Though he was the third-highest wicket-taker in the Challenger Trophy, the selectors will be hard-pressed to pick him unless captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni supports his case.

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www.bookreviews101.com Nora Peterson is planning the perfect Christmas, possibly the last that her family will celebrate together. Her twins are high school seniors who will soon be lighting out of the family nest, and she’s determined to make some precious memories before their departure. Fraternal twins Christi and Charlie are far from identical in terms of appearance and personality, yet they share the invisible bonds that many twins experience. This bond is torn asunder and the structure of the family notably weakened following a tragic accident.

 A single, widowed mother who works the emergency room as a nurse, Jenna Montgomery fears her only daughter will not see another Christmas. Suffering from a weak heart from a young age, Heather’s life perches tenuously on edge; any illness has the potential to throw her over, and she becomes progressively weaker each year. God gives them a miracle and new hope for life as the long wait on the organ donor list comes to an end.

One Perfect Day follows the lives of these two women in parallel, alternating chapters as their stories unfold. The loss of her son plunges Nora into emotional trauma while the donation of his heart provides a new lease on life for Jenna’s daughter. These two women will never meet, yet their stories are joined together as Heather receives Charlie’s donated heart.

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www.marriagesinasia.com/ Winter has set in and with it, has heralded another round of festivities in India. It’s that time of the year when most couples tie the knot and exchange rings. With all eyes set on the brides as they embark on the blissful journey, they cannot afford to go wrong on the way they look. To help you brides look your best, we get you tips from the fashion experts on what to wear on the D-day.

Times are changing and so are the trends. It’s time to go beyond the traditional ‘reds and fuchsias’ for the wedding attire and explore with a multitude of shades from bright indigo and purple, to bronze to pastels and neutrals. Fashion designer Anjali Sharma says, “Today’s brides are modern and want to experiment with colours. She can choose any possible colour for the Indian wedding.” “But one should be a little careful with the yellow bit, as the colour may not complement very well with the Indian skin tone”, she adds. However, if one does’t want to break the tradition, then the customary colours may be incorporated in the embellishments in innovative ways. “To keep up with the tradition, one may use reds and gold in lace and embroidery,” says designer Michelle Salins

Go contemporary with silhouettes and embellishmentsInstead of going for the overdone regular silhouettes, choose the cuts that enhance your look and have mod-chic appeal. For a contemporary look, merge modern and western silhouettes with ethnic attire. “Team a lehenga with a nice fitted corset-top”, says Michelle. Anjali says, “Wear sarees with pre-pleated stitches.

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www.looksbuddy.com I’m an avid reader of Style SOS and I actually have clippings (as far back as 2005) of articles that I found interesting and informative . . . but it’s the first time that I’ll be writing to you. I just want to ask what would be your recommendation for a tinted moisturizer with SPF.

Something that I can use in the morning before I head to the office. I want something that doesn’t leave a sticky feeling after application. I’m currently using Philosophy’s The Supernatural, but it’s “pore-fading” quality doesn’t seem to work for me, no matter how much I put on (or maybe I’m just not doing it right). And I don’t think this one has moisturizer . . . but what I love about it is that it doesn’t have a sticky after-feel. Hope you can help me out soon. . . . my supply’s about to get depleted soon.       

Foundation comes in many forms: liquid, cream, wet/dry, and tinted moisturizers. Tinted moisturizers are the sheerest of all. It’s a moisturizer and color in one. It’s perfect for women with active lifestyles or for those who don’t need a lot of coverage. But keep in mind it’s always ideal to set any liquid makeup with translucent powder. Apart from skin color, skin type and skin needs dictate your choice for a tinted moisturizer.

If you have oily skin, go for water-based or oil-free foundations. This will help evade the sticky feeling you dislike. Try Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer (available at Rustan’s). It’s got an oil-free variant which is sheer, lightweight, and can be worn by all skin types, especially acne-prone, sensitive or oily skin. Product description explains that it helps to prevent excess oil from setting on the surface of the skin and it controls oil breakthrough while providing hydration to prevent dryness. Your skin will love that it offers further protection from UVB rays and the harmful effects of the environment with SPF 20.

An affordable option is Nivea’s Tinted Moisturizer (available in all leading drugstores and department stores). It’s available in two shades and contains UVA and UVB protectors. You might also like The Face Shop’s Phytogenic Liquid Foundation (stores are located at Glorietta 2, Bonifacio High Street, SM Mall of Asia, and SM North Edsa). I’ve recommended it many times to readers..

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/www.internetslife.com Behind Yahoo's push to open up Web search and advertising is software powerful enough to sort through the entire Library of Congress in less than half a minute.The software, called Hadoop, sits on top of Yahoo's massive computing grid and is transforming the way that Yahoo and corporate giants, like IBM, extract meaning from enormous streams of data. Universities are also using the code — an open-source version of software Google relies on for daily operation — to train a new generation of computer scientists and engineers.

"It makes it possible to actually take advantage of all the computers that we have hooked together," said Larry Heck, vice president of search and advertising sciences at Yahoo.Hadoop improves the relevance of ads Yahoo shows on the Internet by analyzing the company's endless flow of data — now well over 10 terabytes a day — on the fly. As users click from Yahoo Mail to Yahoo Search to Yahoo Finance, and back again, Hadoop helps figure out what ad, if any, is likely to catch someone's attention.

The key lies in mining insights from mind-boggling amounts of data. If a woman repeatedly reads reviews of sport utility vehicles, then clicks on automotive classifieds and then orders a book about helping a child adjust to kindergarten, she might be in the market for a new family-sized car, according to a Yahoo sales presentation.As part of the push for more openness, Yahoo will be

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www.homehues.com BEDROOM BLAST
Want to be part of an emerging trend in home décor? Try making a dramatic statement in your bedroom with an upholstered bed wall from Robb & Stucky. The home décor powerhouse offers a versatile selection for creating visual interest in the boudoir. First, select an upholstered headboard to fit a king- or queen-size bed. Then select a pair of upholstered panels, either 41 or 33 inches in length. According to Kris Kolar, vice president of interior design for Robb & Stucky, “Panels can be hung on either side of the headboard or the look can be customized by hanging the panels vertically over the headboard—perfect for tall loft spaces.” Another option: Use the two 41-inch panels as twin headboards in a guest room.

HIGH POINT HIGHS
Sarasota designer Sally Trout returned from the renowned High Point Market in October with a treasure trove of fantastic new products and future trends. Starting with colors, the market showed a future filled with softer, warmer hues. “Definitely more pastels,” says Trout, including pale yellows, soft golds, pale pink and blush, accented with clay, taupe, cream and driftwood tones.

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