DESKTOP 3260 - DAWN

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

DESKTOP 3154 - SYDNEY BY NIGHT

This post is part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 2964 - ANNIVERSARY

On this 20th anniversary of 9/11, the violent terrorist act that claimed the lives of 3000 or so innocent victims still haunts the memory of all people around the world who believe that non-violent means for achieving a change for the better is the only means that befits a rational, humane and thinking human being. September eleven still horrifies and disturbs all human beings who have a pure heart.

 

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

DESKTOP 2871 - FOG IN THE CITY

We've had a very wintry few days with cold, wind and rain, lashing storms and floods. This morning, the fog came and enveloped the city in a grey mantle...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

DESKTOP 2707 - SYDNEY

Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds the world's largest natural harbour, and sprawls towards the Blue Mountains to the west. Residents of Sydney are known as "Sydneysiders".

Sydney is the second official seat, and second official residence, of the Governor-General of Australia, the Prime Minister of Australia and the Cabinet of Australia. The Sydney area has been inhabited by indigenous Australians since the Upper Paleolithic period. The first British settlers arrived in 1788 to found Sydney as a penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia.

Since convict transportation ended in the mid-19th century, the city has transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural and economic centre. The population of Sydney at the time of the 2011 census was 4.39 million, 1.5 million of which were born overseas, representing many different nationalities and making Sydney one of the most multicultural cities in the world.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 2693 - BRISBANE

Brisbane is the port and the capital city of Queensland, Australia, and Australia’s third largest city. It lies astride the Brisbane River on the southern slopes of the Taylor Range, 19 km above the river’s mouth at Moreton Bay. The site, first explored in 1823 by John Oxley, was occupied in 1824 by a penal colony, which had moved from Redcliffe 35 km northeast. The name honours Sir Thomas Brisbane, former governor of New South Wales, when the convict settlement was declared a town in 1834. Proclaimed a municipality in 1859, it became the capital of newly independent Queensland that same year. Gazetted a city in 1902, it was joined during the 1920s with South Brisbane to form the City of Greater Brisbane. Its municipal government, headed by a lord mayor, holds very broad powers. The Brisbane statistical division, including the cities of Ipswich and Redcliffe, has close economic and social ties to the city.

 

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 2591 - EUREKA TOWER

Eureka Tower is a 297.3-metre skyscraper located in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction began in August 2002 and the exterior completed on 1 June 2006. The plaza was finished in June 2006 and the building was officially opened on 11 October 2006. The project was designed by Melbourne architectural firm Fender Katsalidis Architects and was built by Grocon (Grollo Australia).

The developer of the tower was Eureka Tower Pty Ltd, a joint venture consisting of Daniel Grollo (Grocon), investor Tab Fried and one of the Tower's architects Nonda Katsalidis. It was the world's tallest residential tower when measured to its highest floor, until surpassed by Ocean Heights and the HHHR Tower in Dubai.

From 2006 to 2019, it was the tallest building in Melbourne, until the topping out of Australia 108. It is currently the third tallest building in Australia, behind the Q1 in Queensland and Australia 108, as well as the second tallest to roof (excluding spire) behind the latter skyscraper. As of 2016 it was the 15th tallest residential building in the world.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

DESKTOP 2581 - HONG KONG

Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港; literally: "Fragrant Harbour" or "Incense Harbour"), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta in East Asia. Macau lies across the delta to the west, and the Chinese province of Guangdong borders the territory to the north. With a total land area of 1,106 square kilometres and a population of over 7.3 million of various nationalities, it ranks as the world's fourth most densely populated sovereign state or territory.

After the First Opium War (1839–42), Hong Kong became a British colony with the perpetual cession of Hong Kong Island, followed by the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and a 99-year lease of the New Territories from 1898. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during the Second World War until British control resumed in 1945.

In the early 1980s, negotiations between the United Kingdom and China resulted in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, which paved way for the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997, when it became a special administrative region (SAR) with a high degree of autonomy. Under the principle of "one country, two systems", Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative and judiciary powers. In addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of "appropriate fields".

Hong Kong is one of the world's most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the world's most competitive and most laissez-faire economic entity in the World Competitiveness Yearbook. Its legal tender, the Hong Kong dollar, is the world's 13th most traded currency. Hong Kong's tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by simple taxation with a competitive level of corporate tax and supported by international confidence in its independent judiciary system where the rule of law, not rule by law, applies to legal, contractual proceedings.However, while Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, it suffers from the most severe income inequality among developed economies. Hong Kong is renowned for its deep natural harbour, which enables ready access by international cargo ships, and its skyline, with a very high density of skyscrapers; the territory boasts the second largest number of high rises of any city in the world.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.