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Nov 30, 2010

Forget poking in Facebook ... this is better :)

4 comments

A small girl closely admiring the artwork on the wall.
This artwork was probably done as part of decoration for a young boy's circumcision ceremony.
Circumcision ceremonies in Maldives are 3-7 days, houses are heavily decorated using mostly Christmas decorations.
People play music, games and sports and enjoy themselves all day all night long.
Its more of a traditional celebration that a religious ceremony.

Villingili, Maldives.




The gathering ...

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A group of fully-clad-in-black women gather at the beach for some time out. I wonder why they wear black in this heat.
Anyways, it nice the see the "faithful" taking some time off and enjoying themselves.
I respect them fully, but I do wonder, why is that some don't shake hands with guys while wearing their gloves? They don't even want to talk to most guys? I have been told that they believe that their voices also need to be protected or something, and they speak only out of necessity to communicate. I don't understand this at all.

Hulhumalé, Maldives.

They say Destruction is a form of Creation ...

1 comments

A man working to break a slab of reinforced concrete with a sledge hammer.
When broken in to smaller peaces, it is easier and cheaper to load the rubble and haul it off to the yard.
Jack hammer, anyone?

Malé, Maldives.

Nov 29, 2010

Who is Anthony Zimmer ???

8 comments
Hello.

Several weeks back, I watched a movie called Anthony Zimmer. It is a French thriller starring Yvan Attal and the beautiful Sophie Marceau.

Let me tell you a little bit about the movie. Anthony Zimmer is a french money launderer and career criminal. He is being hunted by police as well as the Russian mafia, but after plastic surgery, no one can recognize him, making him impossible to find. The only valid connection anybody has to Anthony Zimmer is his ex-mistress Chiara.

Chiara is persuaded to help in on the hunt, but no one is ever sure which side she is on and when she would switch sides.

On the way to Cannes by train, Chiara picks up Francois, a nerdy and recently divorced man, to mislead the people following her. She seduces Francois and invites him to drop his boring and uneventful life to join her. Now the police and the people following Chiara believes they have found the man they were looking for. Francois desperately tried to evade the people trying to kill him while trying to get know Chiara better, who never seems to tell the truth.

It was a brilliant movie, highly enjoyable with commendable performances and realistic action scenes.

But you may wonder why I am talking about a French movie I watched several weeks back. Well, it seems Hollywood is doing what it does best again. They are making their own version. The Tourist.

The Tourist stars Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie and if reports are true, it is an exact copy of Anthony Zimmer. I say if the Tourist is anything like Anthony Zimmer, it will be a worthwhile watch, but I am skeptical. Hollywood has a bad track record of messing up good movies and books.

Anyways, I hope it will be a good movie. Johnny Depp has been an international favorite for years, and looks quite the part. Angelina Jolie has not done a good movie in years. I think it is time Angelina Jolie starts to take roles that she can deliver with confidence, and quit believing she can still fight off a half the city police force and a whole SWAT team with make-shift weapons. (Remember Salt?)

You can watch the trailer for French movie Anthony Zimmer here and watch the first trailer for The Tourist here.

Laterx.

Good catch !!!

1 comments

Fisherman unloading their catch.
These fish are carried across the road to the fisherman's market, where they will be placed on display in groups of same size fish to be sold.
If you want, you can choose to gut, scale, clean and fillet the fish before you take it home.

Malé, Maldives.

Nov 28, 2010

Birds overhead ...

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A view inland from entrance to the Malé.
Behind the trees you can see the dome and minaret of Islamic Center with some birds flying overhead.

Malé, Maldives.

Nov 26, 2010

The new MNDF Air Wing ...

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Maldives National Defense Force introduces MNDF Air wing. Mostly for search and rescue purposes.
The Indian Army has been helping MNDF train the pilots. Its looking good.

Malé International Airport
Hulhulé Island, Maldives.

Nov 25, 2010

Hanging gradens of Babylon ??? :)

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A nice rooftop garden flows down the balconies.
We live in a what they call the perfect example of a concrete jungle. When there no gardening space on the ground, people take their garden to rooftops and balconies. Got to admire the these people who spend a lot of money to have a small garden.

Malé, Maldives.


Godaddy offers domain names for USD1 !!!

7 comments
Hello.

Just wanted to give you guys a heads-up.

GoDaddy, apparently, is the world's largest domain registrar, and it seems they have been around for a decade now. To celebrate their 10year anniversary they are giving a huge discount on domain name purchases.

GoDaddy says on their website:

SPECIAL OFFER! $1.00* DOMAIN NAME!
Register or transfer any available .COM, .US, .MOBI, .BIZ, .NET, .ORG, .CA, .CO.UK and .IN domain for just $1.00!*
Applies to the first year only of new or transfer registrations. This offer may not be used for renewals, bulk registrations, premium domains or Sunrise/Landrush domain registrations. Limited to one order per customer, expiring after 10,000 redemptions or on December 15, 2010 (whichever comes first). Discount will be reflected in your shopping cart; cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer or promotion. Customers may not use gift cards, PayPal® or AliPay to redeem this offer.
*Plus ICANN fee of 18 cents per domain year when applicable.
Your discount will be applied in your shopping cart.
I do not like buying stuff on GoDaddy. Their website is annoyingly busy, very slow and make sure they offer you as much as they can as often as they can before you can actually reach the shopping cart and checkout. However, over the years, I have been buying all my domain names on GoDaddy, because, and only because, they are cheap and reliable as a domain registrar. Their hosting, email, and all other additional services pretty much suck.

So if you have been thinking about buying a domain name, this might be an opportune time to check out GoDaddy. Do it now before the offer expires.

Laterx.

Nov 24, 2010

They are watching us !!!

2 comments

Cameras around town watching our every move.
The police have been installing these cameras at busy junctions and popular public areas.
Hope they serve us some good.

Malé, Maldives.

Nov 23, 2010

Dangerous liaisons ...

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Have these people never heard of safety gear when working so high off the ground, or are their employers not the least bit worried about an accident or mishap? At least wear some protective gear!

Malé, Maldives.

She looks tough enough ...

5 comments

Equal rights ...
A girl marching abreast the boys at a street parade.
Our National Defense Force is a male dominated, but it is nice to see that girls are doing just fine along side the boys. Girls with guns!

Malé, Maldives.

Nov 22, 2010

It does't grow on trees ...

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Red ribbons of some kind thrown on to a tree ... probably as part of a theme in celebrating colorful event.

Malé, Maldives.

Nov 21, 2010

Woopra: Realtime visitor/traffic information …

3 comments
Hello.

Anyone who owns a blog or a website will want to know more about heir readers. Nothing personal, just enough information about the readers to help make the blog more appealing and useful to the readers.

As with most online services, there are several choices. There is a dizzying array of web analytics tools available, with Google Analytics being one of the well known. I have been using Google Analytics for years now. Google Analytics is an enterprise level tool, very powerful, and provides a wealth of information about the visitors to a website. The information is presented in an easy to read format, and one can drill down quite far to find the required information. Its a good service and its completely free to use.

Let me introduce one more. Woopra.

Woopra is a fairly new entrant to the market. Woopra is loaded with features; features not found in most analytic tools. Unlike other analytic tools, Woopra can give you analytic information from a standalone Java program on your system (same information can also be accessed online if you want, but the interface is a bit different). The standalone program maybe the first among the traffic analytic tools and the user interface is really very nice and extremely quick.

One of the most appreciated feature of Woopra is its live tracking. Woopra can give you real time tracking information, telling you what is happening on your website as it happens. Most online analytic tools including Google Analytics need time to process the data, delaying the information by almost 24hours at times.

Woopra also has a chat feature that can be used to chat with visitors to a website. I do not know how useful this can be to a blogger or website owner. Its a little bit on the creepy side. As for me, I do not want to interact with my readers while they are on my blog reading my article. If readers wants to say something, they are more than welcome to leave a comment. I also do not want a blogger trying chat me up while I am on their blog.

I signed up for Woopra when the service was invite only back in 2008. But I have to admit I did not find it all that appealing back then, and I almost forgot about it until a few weeks back, until a friend re-introduced me to the service. Woopra has come a long way, and I now use the service regularly to track visitor to my webistes and blogs.

If you have not tried Woopra yet, it is totally worth checking out. The basic account is free.

Laterx.

Coil of ropes ...

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A coil of nylon rope.
I just thought it makes a good subject to practice composing a picture.
Thilafushi, Maldives.

Flats Area 2 ...

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The first of many flats built under Sinamalé housing scheme which were available for rent-to-buy.

The Sinamalé housing complex, was intended to be affordable to low‐income residents. However, this has not supplied a significant injection of affordable housing in the market. Additionally, the practice of residents who obtain these flats at low rates from the government subsequently subleasing them at exceptionally higher rates, has resulted in the prices of the rental market further increasing. Many believe that the current problems exist mainly because of the lack of an established mechanism that would monitor the situation. 
- An excerpt from Rapid Assessment of the Housing Situation in the Maldives, produced by the Human rights Commission of the Maldives in consultation with Displacement Solutions.

Malé, Maldives.

Nov 20, 2010

Flats Area ...

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The first of many flats built under Sinamalé housing scheme which were available for rent-to-buy.

The Sinamalé housing complex, was intended to be affordable to low‐income residents. However, this has not supplied a significant injection of affordable housing in the market. Additionally, the practice of residents who obtain these flats at low rates from the government subsequently subleasing them at exceptionally higher rates, has resulted in the prices of the rental market further increasing. Many believe that the current problems exist mainly because of the lack of an established mechanism that would monitor the situation. 
- An excerpt from Rapid Assessment of the Housing Situation in the Maldives, produced by the Human rights Commission of the Maldives in consultation with Displacement Solutions.

Malé, Maldives.

Cars on a Boat ...

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A load of old cars and engines from capital city, Malé, being transported to the scrap metal yard at Thilafushi Island.
Thilafushi, Maldives.

Nov 18, 2010

Old Gas Light ...

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A modernized version of an old gas light I found aboard an old ship.
I think the curator of our local museum might be interested in the stuff I found on that boat.
Thilafushi, Maldives.

Nov 17, 2010

Bam !!!

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A boat, riddled with bullet holes is blown up and sunk.
This was at a show by Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) to commemorate 100+ years of service.
I can tell you there were a lot of people gathered at the waterfront to watch this show.
There were a lot of cameras with huge zoom lenses too.

With the separation of police as a civil body, the mission and duties of the NSS had to be revised. This revision envisaged a totally different turn for the organization. Hence, to carryout the newly derived mission and tasks, the core of its structure had to be modified and redesigned. All these new implementations created more of an infantry organization and was renamed the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), on its 114th anniversary, on 21 April 2006.

Malé, Maldives.

Nov 16, 2010

One black, one white ...

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A farmer from Thilafushi Island takes two goats. He is probably on the way to the capital city, Malé.
Thilafushi Island, Maldives.

Chains, lots of chains ...

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A heavy coil of of iron chains rusting aboard a boat.
Thilafushi, Maldives.

Nov 14, 2010

Bashi, a Maldivian sport for women ...

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‎"Bashi" is one of the most popular sports played by women in Maldives. It was traditionally played with a ball made of woven coconut leaves. The game is played between teams with a player from one team hitting the ball across the net with her bat while the fielders from the other team try to catch the ball.

During the time of the country's first President, Mohamed Amin Didi, he introduced a modernised version of the sport by using a tennis ball
instead of the woven ball. Later the wooden bat was replaced with a tennis racket and now the sport has become so popular in the islands that Bashi teams regularly travel within and outside the atolls to play competitive games.

Nov 13, 2010

Kids on roofs ...

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The city has gotten so congested that the kids have to take their play time up on the roof.
This doesn't look very safe. Hope they are being supervised.
Malé, Maldives.

Nov 12, 2010

Rays of the sun ...

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My view.
Looking at the south western side of the capital city from my 6th floor window.
Malé, Maldives.

Nov 11, 2010

Shooting hoops ...

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Primary school kids enjoying an afternoon game of basketball at new stadium area.
Malé, Maldives.

Best seats in town ...

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People gather at the waterfront to watch the weapons show hosted by Maldives National Defense Force.
I can tell you there were a lot of people gathered at the waterfront to watch this show.
There were a lot of cameras with huge zoom lenses too.

With the separation of police as a civil body, the mission and duties of the NSS had to be revised. This revision envisaged a totally different turn for the organization. Hence, to carryout the newly derived mission and tasks, the core of its structure had to be modified and redesigned. All these new implementations created more of an infantry organization and was renamed the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), on its 114th anniversary, on 21 April 2006.

Malé, Maldives.

Nov 10, 2010

Cricket: and he is out !!!

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Expatriates from neighboring countries enjoying a friendly cricket match.
Wickets down, seems he is out!
Malé, Maldives.

Nov 9, 2010

Behind Dharubaaruge ...

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The park area behind Dharubaaruge.
This area was designated for a city hotel to be built by Shangri-La group.
Things did not go according to plan and the project has been scraped.
Malé, Maldives.

Nov 8, 2010

silhouetted spectators ...

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Spectators at a friendly cricket match silhouetted against a harsh morning sun.
Malé, Maldives.

Got a Visa card? Good. Don't let it expire !!!

10 comments
Hello.

Bank of Maldives Plc Ltd, the state owned bank, has issued a statement informing its customers that expatriates and foreigners with a BML Visa Electron debit card linked to local Maldivian Rufiyaa account will not be able to use their visa debit cards overseas from November 1st, 2010. No transactions can be made with the Visa Electron debit card outside of Maldivies, either on an ATM or at a POS terminal.

The statement goes on to say that Maldivians who has already been issued with a Visa debit card can continue using the debit card worldwide, with a controlled spending limit of US Dollar 600/- daily, until their cards expire. New cards will only be issued against a US Dollar account, even for Maldivians.

In short, if you want to use your old Visa or apply for a new Visa debit card, you should have a US Dollar account with BML, and sufficient funds in your US Dollar account.

Bank of Maldives says it was a necessary decision to survive the US Dollar crisis. It seems that the Bank just does not have enough foreign currency to settle foreign bank charges for increasing debit card transactions abroad.

Bank is having tough time, that is understandable, by why did BML issue this statement in local language Dhivehi, when almost all banking communications and services are in English? Especially when this decision affects expatriates and foreigners more than locals? Weird.

Everyone traveling to mecca this season for Hajj bought US Dollars in the black market for a highly inflated rate because the banks in Maldives could not keep up with the demand. Everyone who is traveling abroad for the year end holidays will have to do the same. Thousands of students abroad are going to feel the pinch as well.

Black market for US dollars has been expanding at an alarming rate for the past months, and this decision by the bank will make the market explode.  Maldives is a small country, she is not self-sufficient, and depends heavily (exclusively?) on foreign imports. This US Dollar shortage will further strain the relationship businesses have with Bank of Maldives, will take it toll on the business relation locals have foreign parties, and it will definitely drive up the prices of almost everything.

This decision by bank will not go down easily with the general public, not to mention the uproar in the business community. Some say this is the worst years in the Bank's history.

So what is the solution?

The short answer would be to simply find another bank. There are other banks in the country, where you can apply for a Visa credit or debit card, so switching banks does make sense. The problem is Bank of Maldives is the largest bank in the country, it is well established, its operation is wide, and they have a branches across the nation. The other banks cater mostly to a niche, and specialize in corporate banking. Visa may be by far the most commonly used debit card around, but there are other alternatives. MasterCard? Maestro?

If you must have a Visa card, I am sure there will foreign banks which can offer Visa cards to us Maldivians. The procedure may be a little disheartening, but you can get it.

Long term solution? I do know now enough to comment on the countries monetary policies. But I would like to hear your thoughts on this.

I have one question, this may sound stupid, but if US Dollar is on a decline and at an all time low, why is it becoming increasingly hard to buy it? Are people abandoning US Dollar and starting to trade in other currencies? That would be bad for us Maldivians, since in this country, foreign currency is synonymous with US Dollar.

Laterx.

Nov 7, 2010

Tea time at a local eatery ...

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Evening tea time at a local shop, locally known as Hotaa.
Popular items include short eats known as Hedhikaa.
Malé, Maldives.

Path to the lone tree ...

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This is my attempt at the often photographed lone tree at the western west side of capital city.
Malé, Maldives.

Sunsets on Villingili ...

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A golden sunset. Very peaceful. Villingili, Maldives.

Nido: Do better ...

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A street advertisement for Nido brand milk powder.
Malé, Maldives.

Marlboro Gold replaces Marlboro Lights ...

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The popular brand of cigarette, Marlboro Lights get replaced by Marlboro Gold.
Malé, Maldives.

Nov 6, 2010

Indonesian workers enjoying an offday ...

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Expatriate Indonesian workers enjoying a sunny morning on their offday. Male', Maldives.

Nov 4, 2010

The world according to Clarkson ...

3 comments
Hello.

The World According to Clarkson is a collection of articles written by Jeremy Clarkson for the Sunday Times, spanning 2001 to 2003.

I just finished listening to the AudioBook. I liked most of his aggressively opinionated but erudite observations. He comes out as seasoned traveler, and discusses topics ranging from restaurant food, environmental protection, urban development, the European Union, and political diplomacy among other everyday topics.

It is about the life in the 21st century. Clarkson certainly does not take himself too seriously and his writing is fairly light. He takes a cynical approach and often goes off on a tangent with an entertaining style. I could personally relate to most of the topics he covered. It was hilarious.

I especially like when he points out the pompous, the ridiculous, the absurd and the downright idiotic ideas of Governments and Unions. Occasionally, he does talk about eccentric, the clever and the sheer brilliance of institutions. You will laugh.

Clarkson does not hide the fact he is not too keen about Mr. Tony Blair or his policies and keeps referring to him as His Tony-ness. Weird.

The book is read by Jeremy Clarkson himself and his accent was a bit too British for my liking. I have nothing against Britons, but I got the feeling that it takes a bit more effort to talk with a British accent. They talk slow. Maybe I felt that way because Hollywood and American TV has made American accent a bit more universal.

Anyway, it was a good listen.

Laterx.