Monday, February 13, 2012

♥ Valentine Day ♥


History of Valentine's Day

Sejarah hari valentine 

Day is celebrated as a symbol of love is originated from the Festival of Lupercalia which took place at the time of the Roman Empire, around the 3rd century. Festival which takes place every February 13 to 18 is preceded by an offering to the goddess Juno Februata love.

Right on February 14, the youth will draw the names of the girl in the glass box. Girls who are selected will be the partner for a year for pleasure and entertainment attractions.

A day later, they will require protection from disturbances Lupercalia god evil creatures. At that time, the youth will be whipping the girls with animal skins. They believe it will improve fertility crack of the girls.

The festival is not uncommon to make a lot of couples in love, dating, and eventually married. In the process, authorities and local religious leaders adopted this ceremony with shades of Christianity as the entry of Catholic Christianity as the religion of the kingdom.

When the Roman campaign war, the effect of the festival was made Emperor Claudius II, who reigned at that time, the difficulty of recruiting young men to reinforce the troops for war. Many young people are hard to leave family and girlfriend.

On the condition that, Claudius II finally ordered to cancel all marriages and engagements in Rome. This policy seems to have opposition from one of the local priest named Valentine.

That said, Claudius II was furious to see Valentine secretly married couples tetap love. The emperor immediately ordered the royal guards to arrest Valentine and beheaded.February 14 Valentine died exactly 270 years BC.

For the sake of remembering the struggle of Saint Valentine, religious leaders changed the name to the festival of Lupercalia festival of Valentine. During its development, February 14, the momentum sacred to the men to pick the girl who wanted to be his life partner.

Although not known if the legend is true or not, but this is the right explanation for the Christian version is happening on the Lupercalia.

In modern life, Valentine immortalized as love. In the United States, the first Valentine cards are mass produced by Esther A Howland in 1847. In Japan, Valentine is considered as the day when the women give chocolates to men they love.

While in Indonesia, such a culture also began to demand, especially among young people.Many shopping centers and cafes that decorate their place with the color pink. Chocolate and Valentine's cards bearing the words of love are also increasingly popular, especially in big cities.

Amazing Place on Earth

 Yakoruda, Blagoevgrad, BG. Bulgaria


 Niers River, Wachtendonk, Germany


 Plitvice Lakes National Park (Croatian: Nacionalni park Plitvicka jezera, colloquial Plitvice) 
is the oldest national park in Southeast Europe and the largest national park in Croatia. The national park was founded in 1949 and is situated in the mountainous karst area of central Croatia, at the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The important north-south road connection, which passes through the national park area, connects the Croatian inland with the Mediterranean coastal region.


 Chocolate Hills, Philippines

More than 1,770 perfectly cone-shaped hills can be found in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines, more exactly in Bohol. Unfortunately, these amazing hills aren’t really made of chocolate, but they do look curious. The hills look like a sea of chocolate kisses during the dry season. The unusual geological formation has baffled geologists for decades. There are different theories on how the conical hills formed.
Spread over an area of 50 square kilometers, the amazing hills are Philippines’s 3rd National Geological Monument together with Hundred Islands National Park and Taal Volcano, the world’s smallest active volcano.



 Mountain (Tianmen),Chunan province,China (1430 meter)




Burj Al Arab's Tennis Court

Here’s an image from February 2005 of Andre Agassi of the USA and Roger Federer of Switzerland playing a friendly tennis match on top of the helipad at the Burj Al Arab. The Burj Al Arab is one of the world’s most luxurious hotels and is located on a man-made island in Dubai.




 Gosaikunda

Also spelled Gosainkunda and Gosain Kunda is an alpine freshwater oligotrophic lake in Nepal’s Langtang National Park, located at an altitude of 4,380 m (14,370 ft) above sea level in the Rasuwa District with a surface of 13.8 ha (34 acres).



Together with associated lakes, the Gosaikunda Lake complex is 1,030 ha (4.0 sq mi) in size and has been designated a Ramsar site in September 2007. The lake melts and sips down to form the Trishuli river and remains frozen for six months in winter October to June. There are 108 lakes in this area, small to medium in size. The challenging Lauribina La pass at an altitude of 4,610 m (15,120 ft) is on its outskirts.
(Source- Wiki)

After a long trek from Kyanjing Gompa to Bamboo, Gosaikunda was the final destination. A hard but shortcut trail from Bamboo to MukKharka to Cholan pati to Lauribanayak in one day was a tough hike ever in my life. The above picture was shot on Friday Morning from the North-East side of Gosaikunda.


 Plitvice Lakes National Park in Lika , Croatia

Plitvice Lakes National Park was added to the UNESCO World Heritage register among the first natural sites worldwide. Each year, more than 1,200,000 visitors are recorded.


 Bern, Switzerland


 Mont Saint Michel Castle,France


Antelope Canyon

Antelope Canyon is the most-visited and most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest. It is located on Navajo land near Page, Arizona. Antelope Canyon includes two separate, photogenic slot canyon sections, referred to individually as Upper Antelope Canyon or The Crack; and Lower Antelope Canyon or The Corkscrew.



 Mount Roraima

Mount Roraima is a massive tabletop mountain that is found in Venezuela/Brazil/ Guyana. The side facing Brazil and the side facing Guyana are both vertical cliffs that reach 400 meters in height, whereas the side facing Venezuela is a steep incline and although steep it is accessible. This unique mountain boats a variety of plant life, much of it unique and also creates some of the largest and most spectacular waterfalls in the world.



 Keukenhof Gardens - Netherlands


 Ice Canyon - Greenland


 Four Seasons Hotel - Bora Bora


 The Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park 
is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. It is located in the Midway Geyser Basin.


 Ice skating on Paterswoldse Meer
a lake just South of the city of Groningen in the Netherlands.


 The View From the Skyscraper Burj Khalifa
The height of buildings is 828 m (163 floors) and is in Dubai.


Aogashima Village covers the island of Aogashima
The southernmost and most isolated populated island in the Izu archipelago in the Philippine Sea, 358.4 kilometres (222.7 mi) south of central Tokyo, and 71.4 kilometres (44.4 mi) south of Hachijōjima, its nearest populated neighbor. Aogashima is the least populous municipality in the whole of Japan. Warmed by the Kuroshio Current, the town has a warmer and wetter climate than central Tokyo.