Long days

It's quarter past nine in the evening is I write this. However, outside, there is still light. I thought it was only about 7 but got a shock when I saw the clock.

I still can't get used to the long daylight hours here in the UK. When we first arrived, it was dark by 6.

Anyway, yesterday we had a clear night sky and the stars were finally out after nearly a week of non-stop rains.


My daughter was singing 'Twinkle twinkle little star' when she looked up into the sky and saw this bright star (might be a planet).

Visit to Kenilworth Castle

I don't know why but I have always been fascinated by forts and castles. Finally had the chance to visit the historic Kenilworth Castle near here when my in-laws visited.


Panorama shot of countryside from top of Kenilworth castle. Most of what you see in this picture was once under water - the mere.

It is an ancient castle which was first established by Geoffrey de Clinton (Lord Chamberlain of Henry I) around 1120. However, it became famous only after the novel Kenilworth, by Sir Walter Scott came out. This story was based on the romance between Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester. You might have seen the 1998 movie Elizabethstarring Cate Blanchett as the Queen, which earned her an Oscar nomination. Joseph Fiennes played the part of Robert Dudley.

Elizabeth I paid a visit to Kenilworth in July 1575 and the extravagant festivities in her honor, lasted 19 days. According to what we learnt at the castle, this was seen as a marriage proposal from Robert to her Queen. It never happened, probably because the Earl was her subject and mainly because he was already married (though his wife died suspiciously of an accident later). The Queen died a spinster and is called the 'Virgin Queen' for this reason.


Ruins of the Keep and the Great hall

The castle is now looked after by English Heritage since 1984. It's open from 10am to 5pm. So the four of us - me, my father-in-law, brother-in-law and my daughter set off on a very wet day to visit the castle. We had about 2 hours to roam around the castle grounds. Both my father-in-law and brother were able to get Concessions (£3.70 each), while my ticket was £4.95. It was free for Rahil.

Though we were wet and cold, it was an exciting visit. The castle is in ruins now. I can only imagine how grand it must have been in ancient times.

Introducing Azwanhadzree.com

I am sure you have heard of Superman or Spiderman but have you heard of "MerapuMan". Well go on over to the Wierd World of MerapuMan. He has loads of humorous and interesting posts.

Got to know Azwan through the net and even though we haven't met in person, have exchanged a couple of e-mails. Was quite impressed when his relatively new blog azwanhadzree.com jumped from nothing to a Google Page Rank of 3 in almost 3 months.

His latest post explains Alexa Traffic Rankings and ways to improve it. Another post on the latest Spiderman movie (still haven't seen it) and his comic collection also gave me an idea for a post of my own. Always was a bit shy to reveal that I am a father of two kids but still collect and read comics. Yeah! Now I am coming out of the closet....

I READ COMICS!

do you?

Crazy ad campaign

Advertising companies are coming out with innovative and memorable ad campaigns for their clients and the latest battlefield or medium to attract consumers is the blogosphere. The crazier the ads, the better - especially humorous videos as they generate more attention and word-of-mouth promotion.

The rest of this post was deleted on request of advertiser.
Fight for the flavor

4 generations of ladies

My in-laws left for Malaysia by Emirates from Birmingham International Airport, along with my brother-in-law and Grandmother yesterday. As we didn't have enough room in the car, my wife and the kids saw them off at the house. My daughter, Rahil was really sad and she cried several times yesterday. She kept saying, "I miss Tok Ma (grandma)!" over and over again. All of us were a bit down and the house suddenly seemed so quiet.

It was really nice to have them here in Coventry, even if it was only for a short duration of 2 weeks.

You might be surprised to learn that there were 4 generations of ladies (all from mother's side) - Tok (my wife's grandmother), my mother-in-law, my wife and Rahil and all of them happen to be first born. Certainly unique.


Rahil with great-Grandma.

Grab cool audio and video equipment

Have a confession to make - I do make money from my blog. I am sure that regular visitors have noticed that some of my posts are sponsored reviews.

Since October last year, I have joined a few customer generated advertising companies, my favourite being PayPerPost.com. The company is a pioneer and it has led to a paradigm shift - from advertising by companies in the mass media to consumer generated advertising. Companies were initially reluctant to advertise in this new medium - many still are but more and more companies have joined in as they see the advantage of this new advertising medium.

Members which are known as Posties take up suitable opportunities (PPP Opps) and get paid after a period of time. You might be amazed to learn that Posties have won up to $1000 for a single opp. Unfortunately I am not one of them.

I was really excited to learn about the latest announcement. Not only do we stand a chance of making money from the oops but we might earn great products too. Every Tuesday this month PayPerPost is holding something they call the "HDTV Tuesday". We stand a chance of winning all sorts of cool audio and video equipment for specially marked opportunities. Some of the lucky guys have already won TVs and a PS3. However, the prize that everyone is looking out for is a new HDTV at the end of this month. All of this is due to Bid4Prizes who are sponsoring the prizes.

The prizes today are a Slingbox, Nintendo Wii, Yamaha Surround Sound System and a Logitech universal remote. Unfortunately, only U.S. residents can take the opps.

BP and Shell

Did you know that the petroleum companies, BP and Shell, were once a single company?

BP and Shell-Mex Ltd had merged in 1931, to create Shell-Mex and BP Ltd until they separated again in 1975.

I only got to know when I visited the Coventry Transport Museum. It was not mentioned anywhere in the museum but my father-in-law, who's in the oil and gas business noticed this classic petrol truck.


Read about our trip to the museum with loads of pics here.

Not related, but the BP fuel station here on Lockhurst Lane, happens to be my favourite, along with Tesco's at Ricoh Arena - because they are the cheapest.

Tags: bp coventry shell coventry transport museum