Marina mall and the Emirates palace, Abu Dhabi

This post is about the Marina mall, a beautiful mall in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the UAE and Emirates palace hotel.

From Dubai, it takes about 45 minutes by road to reach Abu Dhabi. This city is undergoing a total makeover with numerous iconic structures being constructed. Some like the Ferrari world has already been completed.

There are outlets of so many international brands in Marina mall like Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Rolex, to name a few. Over time, this spot has grown into a hub of shopping, entertainment, leisure, and fashion.

Some stats: 

• The total area of Marina Mall is 2,35,000 sq meters
• 4000 car parking spaces
• About 400 retail stores

Marina mall, it is all at the mall!   http://www.marinamall.ae

Try to visit this mall if you ever go to Abu Dhabi.

Marina Mall is located on the Corniche road close to the Emirates Palace hotel. The view of the Emirates Palace from here is awesome!

Emirates Palace hotel is one of the most luxurious hotels in the world. It is owned by the Government of Abu Dhabi and managed by the Kempinski group. 3.9 billion GBP was the approximate cost of construction! The Palace occupies 850,000m² of floor space. The magnificent dome of the atrium of this hotel is covered with 22 karat gold leaf!

http://www.kempinski.com/en/abudhabi/emirates-palace/welcome

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Gmail update, tabs, a cool feature!

Good news!

Gmail has introduced a new tab system to categorize emails. Before all the emails containing conversations, notifications, updates etc. were filling our inbox. Decluttering and making folders for categorizing them, required a lot of time. I experienced this problem when I joined G+. All the G+ notifications were pouring into inbox making it difficult to find other important messages.

Thanks, Google, we now have the tabs in place. They have introduced this feature very recently.

The tabs are   PRIMARY          SOCIAL            PROMOTIONS           UPDATES      FORUMS      
By default, the first three are present when we open the Gmail inbox. There is a + sign after the PROMOTIONS tab, clicking it will open a window through which we can add the last two tabs if needed. Easy...!

PRIMARY - Person to person conversations.

SOCIAL - Messages from social networks, media-sharing sites, online dating sites etc. G+ notifications will go here.

PROMOTIONS - Deals, offers, and other marketing emails.

UPDATES - Personal, auto-generated updates like confirmations, receipts, bills etc.

FORUMS -  Messages from online groups, discussion groups, mailing lists.

Cool feature! One of the best!

Thanks ...Google! 

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Dubai metro, enjoy a ride

Dubai Metro is considered as one of the best in the world. The fully automated metro began their services on 09/ 09/09. Everything is computer controlled, no drivers at all! Two lines, red and green have become fully operational. With its introduction, the road traffic congestion has lessened in this booming world-class city. The ride on the metro is really awesome! 

Most of the iconic structures in Dubai are visible along the way. The trains run smoothly and efficiently. 

If you are visiting Dubai enjoy a ride on the metro. There are single trip tickets, one-day full fare card, and rechargeable long-term cards. The Metro officials were extremely helpful to assist passengers. 

    

There are platform edge doors that will open only when the train arrives at the station. No open platforms anywhere, all fitted with platform screen doors. The platforms including the cabins are fully air-conditioned.    

The metro is well-connected with all the important landmarks in Dubai. The third picture from the top shows the walkway connecting the Burj Khalifa station and the Dubai Mall. 

Beautiful metro!

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The beautiful Marine drive, Kochi

 Some photos of Marine Drive, Kochi!

 There is a beautiful walkway extending from the bridge. 

Marine drive is at the heart of Kochi. This is a popular hangout place in Kochi. These pictures were taken during a boat ride in the backwaters.

Cool and refreshing!

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Google plus comments, make them bold or in italics!

You all might have noticed me writing comments on Google plus making text fonts bold, in italics, combined or strikethrough.  

How did I do it?

• To make the text bold, I typed Asterix first and then the text I wanted and at the end, again I typed one more Asterix in the comment box. Then I clicked Post comment.  

For eg :   *This picture is awesome.*

You will see the comment saved like this with text in bold - This picture is awesome.

• To write the text in italics I typed _ (underscore, pressed shift and then pressed - ) first and then typed the text I wanted and finally at the end, again the same _ was typed in the comment box. Then I clicked Post comment.

For eg: _This picture is awesome._

The comment will be saved like this with text in italics.    This picture is awesome.

• Now, I will show you how I combined both ie bold and italics together. 

                *_This picture is awesome._*

After clicking Post comment, the comment will look like this.  This picture is awesome. 

• Next, how to strike through? 

Easy, first I typed a minus - then typed the text and then again a minus  - and clicked Post comment. the text will be seen strikethrough.

  -This picture is awesome.-      This picture is awesome.

One important thing to note - do not add a space after the Asterix, underscore and minus. 

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Iddali - a South Indian dish!

Iddali (Idli) is a delicious south Indian dish. 

The above-shown platter contains standard sized idlis, very tiny idlis (cute, isn't it?), sambar, and a fried extra hot chilli 😊. Sambar is a vegetable stew like that contains potato, ladies finger, tomato, big onion, various spices etc. Very flavorful dish!

A special steamer rack that has very small depressions is needed to make small sized Iddalis. Iddali is made by grinding rice and urad dal (black gram) and kept fermenting overnight. A little salt is also added to the dough during preparation. Various methods are prevalent in different regions and the ingredients also may vary from place to place. Nevertheless, Iddali is a wonderful dish enjoyed by everyone here.

I like iddalis very much!

There is a side dish which is a must, of course, that I haven't shown here! Chutney (Chammanthy), made by a paste of coconut scrapings, chilly and salt. Here too, there are so many methods with different types of ingredients.

Yummy!

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Lulu mall, Edappally, Kerala - July 2013

 An update of Lulu mall, Edappally, Kochi (Ernakulam), Kerala in India!

 This is the month of holy Ramadan! 

There are special food sections at the Hypermarket now.

Many new shops have opened.                                   

There is an NRI (Non-resident Indian) festival going on. Lucky draws and special discounts are also there.                                 

http://lulumall.in

https://www.facebook.com/LuLuMall

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Lulu mall, Edappally in Kerala - an update!

This is an update of Lulu mall. Visited two weeks ago.
http://lulumall.in

Check my previous post in my other blog magical present.
http://magicalpresent.blogspot.in/2013/04/real-life-example-of-success-lulu-mall.html

They already have started PVR Cinemas, the awesome multiplex!
http://www.pvrcinemas.com
https://www.facebook.com/PVRCinemasLuluMallCochin

The bowling range has also become operational. This is a 12 lane bowling alley!

Found a Wikipedia page also for Lulu mall!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lulu_Cochin_Mall

Read they are having NRI fest in Lulu mall, well, will be visiting tomorrow and keep you all posted.
Wish me awesome malling!

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Book World by Kinokuniya, Dubai - a paradise for book lovers

Book world by Kinokuniya is one of the best bookstores in Dubai. 

A very spacious store located in Dubai Mall, this outlet attracts thousands of book lovers across the region every day. I have visited here so many times; I simply love going there. They have millions of books in different languages in many genres, magazines, yes, Japanese manga is also there. Awesome collection!

We can browse leisurely through everything displayed, sit quietly and read, the place is simply beautiful! Very friendly staff! Some stationery is also available. 

Don't miss it if you visit Dubai! 

Level 2, Dubai mall, Dubai financial center road, adjacent Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world!

More info  http://www.kinokuniya.com/ae

http://www.thedubaimall.com/en/shop/books_cards_stationery_stores/book-world-by-kinokuniya.aspx

Kinokuniya is a world-famous bookstore with its corporate headquarters in Tokyo and having branches in many countries. Check http://www.kinokuniya.co.jp  

Hope they will open a store in India too 😊

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Contact form widget in Blogger blogs - a new feature!

Hello😊
Blogger has added a new 'Contact form widget' for Blogspot blogs.

I added the new Contact form widget from the Blogger widgets collection. It is very convenient and easy to install.

How did I install it?

First I signed in to Blogger and reached my Blogger dashboard. 
Then I clicked open my first blog listed there.
Next, I clicked on the Layout tab on the left-hand side.
On the right-hand side of the Layout page, I found the blue colored Add a Gadget link. Clicked it open.
It opened a pop-up Add a Gadget window.
Clicked More Gadgets tab below the Basics, on the left-hand side.
There it is... listed as first, Contact Form, developed by third-party developers for Blogger.
Clicked on the plus sign on the right-hand side, at the end of that window.
Another window opened with the title Configure Contact form widget. 
Clicked the orange colored Save button seen on the left-hand side at the bottom.
Saved it and then viewed the blog again.
Done!

The page element may be rearranged if needed, by dragging it to the desired position. I fixed it at the top of the sidebar.

I wanted the title Contact form text in italics. Edited the text, Contact form, in the Configure Contact form widget page like this by adding the HTML syntax for italics <i>

<i>Contact Form</i>

Saved it after the HTML edit.

Similarly, I added the form to my other blog too.

It is better to add a Contact form so that readers can communicate without resorting to the comment form writings all the time. The message will reach our registered email.

There is no Captcha for this Blogger Contact form, but I think it is okay. Also, the messages, by default will reach our registered email ie Gmail only.

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