Pinatubo or Eyjafjallajökull

In June 1991, the second largest volcanic eruption of the twentieth century took place in the Philippines, Mt Pinatubo.

This eruption was second in size only to an eruption in Katmai, Alaska, in 1912.

A giant ash cloud rose 35 kilometers into the sky and over 400 km wide. It covered cars with a coat of dust as far away as Singapore.



There were no cancellation of air travel as drastic as Eyjafjallajökull, though.

Heathrow in the twilight zone

The 16 April 2010 eruption of Mt Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland send a pulsating eruptive column above 8 kilometres altitude and caused significant disruption to air travel across Europe.




The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull large ash plume lasted longer than that of Mount Pinatubo.

And became a dangerous tourist attraction too.

Best Invention On Display

Bauma 2010, the 29th International Trade Fair for Construction Machinery is the world's largest and probably most important trade fair for the building industry. It is presently held from 19 – 25 April 2010.



The trade fair began over 50 years ago in Munich Germany.



Some facts:
more than a half million square meters (5,382,131 sq ft) of exhibition space
3,150 exhibitors from 53 countries
over 415,000 visitors from more than 200 countries



The airport closures in Europe almost derailed the must-see exhibition.
Eighty of the 3,150 booths were left unattended when the show opened.
What saved the Bauma show is that many exhibitors came from European countries that have train connections to Munich.

An exhibition of this scale will not come with free entry.
Admission prices:
Day ticket: EUR 24
Online advance sale: EUR 20

3-day ticket: EUR 49
Online advance sale: EUR 43

Permanent ticket: EUR 62
Online advance sale: EUR 54

Queenstown Police Centre

Westminster Unicampus in 2007, submitted the highest bid to pay a monthly rent of $55,888 for the former Queenstown Neighbourhood Police Centre at the Queenstown MRT.



It went into trouble when it defaulted on its rent to the Singapore Land Authority.
Not only did it default on its rental payments, it also carried out unauthorised renovations and demolished the toilets on all three storeys of the building.



The Westminster's director would only say: 'It's an investment that has gone sour."



King Institute of Technology Pte Ltd is the new successful tenant, bidding $27,000 for the site.

R & R Inventions

The Ferris Wheel was designed and constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr as a landmark for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

The roller coaster was patented by LaMarcus Adna Thompson on January 20, 1885.
In 1959 the Disneyland theme park introduced the first roller coaster to use tubular steel track, unlike conventional rails set on wooden railroad ties.



Hotels began in America during the first two centuries of European settlement. In 1889 the Savoy Hotel in London set a new standard, with its own electricity and a host of special services.



Universal Studio was founded by Carl Laemmle, a German Jewish immigrant. On June 8, 1912, Laemmle formed the Universal Film Manufacturing Company. Shortly after Music Corporation of America took over Universal Pictures in 1962, Universal Studios Hollywood grew over the years into a full-blown theme park.


The concept for Disneyland began one Sunday, when Walt Disney was visiting Griffith Park with his daughters Diane and Sharon and opened to the general public on July 18, 1955.


The first cruise ship was the Prinzessin Victoria Luise built in 1900.
Modern day ships has passenger capacity of between 2000 to 5000.


Gambling, in some way or another, has been seen in almost every society in history. One of the first known casinos was the Casinò di Venezia, established in Venice Italy around 1638 and is still in operation.

In 1931, Las Vegas became America's first legalized casinos followed by Atlantic City, America's second largest gambling city.
The casino industry in Macau took form in 1962 when the government granted the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau (STDM), a syndicate jointly formed by Hong Kong and Macau businessmen, the monopoly rights to all forms of gambling.



Beer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea and is recorded in the written history of ancient Egypt.

Terrorist Tools

The electric blasting machine is commonly used in quarry and mines. It controls and set off 200 detonators in a single operation.

Owners of such equipments have to apply for permits from the police or military security divisions.




On the other hand, the mobile phone is as common as the clothes you are wearing. You will be the odd man out or feel naked when you left home without one.



What have these two items have in common? Well, they set off explosions. The daily bombings show that the mobile phone is the choice of weapon for the terrorists. Yet permits are not neccessary.

Great Inventions Too

Tower cranes first started appearing in Europe in the first half of the 1900s.
In 1908, Maschinenfabrik Julius Wolff & Co. introduced the first series of tower cranes specifically designed for the construction industry.
Potain and Liebherr followed during the second world war.
In 1975, the Danish company Kroll became manufacturer of the world’s tallest and biggest tower crane, the K-10 000.




One of the first hydraulic excavators, was produced by Poclain France, in 1951.
The Ferwerda brothers, who moved from the Netherlands to the U.S. produced the excavation motion and was launched in 1941.



The idea for the concrete pump was patented in the US in 1913. It wasn’t until 1927 in Germany when chief engineer Fritz Hell began the first successful design of a concrete pump. A Dutchman named J.C. Kooyman further developed the pump.
By 1959, another German firm, Schwing, had manufactured a fully hydraulic pump.

On March 23, 1857 the first Otis passenger elevator was installed at 488 Broadway in New York City. The first construction hoist was introduced in 1951 by Alimak of Sweden.



The U.S. crane manufacturer Northwest Engineering mounted it first crane on crawler tracks in the 1920s.
In 1935, Ruston-Bucyrus introduced the 22-RB crawler crane, which remained popular for decades.
In 1941 Manitowoc designed the M3900 heavy crawler crane, capable of lifting 103.5 tons.

Reinforced concrete was invented by Joseph Monier in 1849 and received a patent in 1867.
Early 1900s saw buildings that used reinforced concrete in their construction began popping up all over the world, especially in the United States and Europe.



John MacAdam, a Scottish developed the bituminous material for road-paving applications in 1815.
The first mechanical asphalt paver was introduced in the United States in 1931 by Barber-Greene Co.



The Diesel engine was invented by German engineer Rudolf Diesel, 1858 to 1913.
After R. Diesel death the petroleum industry was rapidly developing and produced a cheap by-product "diesel fuel".

The Sunbird Is Back

After a no-show for 2 weeks, this female yellow bellied sunbird is back.




The male partner has not appear yet though. She is picking material for her nest, in this instance hair from the golden retriever.

Where Are The Bees?

From 2006 bees seem to disappear from the bee farms for reasons still unknown. In the last two or three years around two million honey bee colonies have disappeared.


The problem is affecting bee populations all over the entire world. Colonies have been wiped out in Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, Spain, the UK, Greece, and Italy. And yes, Taiwan too.


This has prompted Hillary Clinton to declare "we must act quickly to preserve and promote our beekeeping industry."


Albert Einstein told us – if the honey bees disappeared off the face of the Earth, within four years, all life would be gone. Chilling.


And the movie 2012 is still fresh in the mind.