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Views from the Balcony

An overview of Life around us

Hot Chicken Soup That May or May Not Burn.............
Posted:Oct 10, 2015 11:02 am
Last Updated:Dec 17, 2015 6:41 am
5999 Views
Why is hot chicken soup likely to burn one’s mouth?

I like to take hot Chicken Soup, especially when I catch cold. It is not because my most intimate one living across the ocean had advised me to take it nearly three years before but to speak frankly , I always like to take hot chicken soup since I discovered long time ago how tasty it could be when I am a bit hungry!

However, I always wanted to know, would hot Chicken soup really burn my mouth more than any other kind of hot soup? My loved one could not reply. She had asked me to shut up and finish the soup before it turns cold!

So, you see even my loved one got annoyed with me and asked me to finish the hot chicken soup to get rid of the cold that I caught while walking through the park at night!

Therefore, I would earnestly request my SFF friends to help me to know the truth in this respect! Would any one come forward to explain why such thing happens? Is it for a fixed temperature or for a specific heat as well? Could any one please confirm that hot Chicken soup is more likely to burn my mouth than any other kind? Has the fat content in the soup anything to do with such phenomena?

Thanking everyone in anticipation!










15 Comments
Extinct Freshwater Fishes and Thriving Ornamental Fishes
Posted:Oct 8, 2015 12:01 pm
Last Updated:Dec 11, 2015 9:13 pm
5280 Views
We are known as fish eaters since ages! Most of us like to eat freshwater fishes –either big or small--whichever is available in the market on a given day!
However, the people who live in the coastal belts of our homeland like to eat sea fishes including the dried up varieties originally caught from the Bay of Bengal and then dried up on the beaches by the fishermen themselves!

While buying freshwater fishes from the market, most of us do not bother to know that we are buying the most endangered group of animals on the earth for our consumption that are threatened with extinction according to the experts!

The other day, I came to know from a fishmonger that more than thirty species of our freshwater fishes are no more traded in the market as these species are now extinct in the inland water bodies specially in the rivers of Bangladesh!

He also told me that more than hundred species of our freshwater fishes are now under threat to disappear completely from our inland water bodies very soon unless we take proper steps to save these species
And this can only be accomplished if we could stop over fishing, polluting the river waters by dumping factory wastes etc which are the main reasons behind pushing so many species to the brink of extinction.

Readers who would like to view pictures of some of the freshwater fishes that were available in abundance in the water bodies of Bangladesh but now on the verge of either getting extinct or have gone completely extinct may take this opportunity to view the pictures here under!!
They may also enjoy the images of some of the exotic and ornamental fishes that were introduced in the country in the year 1980 on wards for pleasure of many of us.



Happy Reading and viewing too:

Details of Pictures:
1. Preparations afoot to net Hilsa after the end of the ban
2.4,5.6.7.The pictures of fishes that are extinct now
3,8,9.10. Ornamental Aquarium fishes.










6 Comments
Our Country's First Butterfly Park
Posted:Sep 29, 2015 10:40 am
Last Updated:Feb 9, 2021 11:34 pm
5249 Views
The beauty of a colorful butterfly knows no bound!
It is always a feast for the eyes whenever one looks at the colored wings of this wonderful insect!
The colors of its wing will not only captivate us instantly but will also make us wonder where from this tiny insect could get such colorful wings?

Could any of my reader help me to find the answer?

We have turned the city where I now reside into a concrete jungle!

Butterflies have disappeared from here since long.
This insect, having such a colorful wing, can now be found very rarely here.
If one is lucky, and if one has a roof top garden, one may come across such an eye catching insect moving from his or her flower to flower occasionally!

But the people of our port city, Chittagong, thought differently!
They can now invite us to visit their butterfly park with pride!
The park is not a big one though. It has been established in a compound of over six acres of land, and was opened in the year 2012.


Visitors may find several hundred of butterflies of 11 different species here now among estimated 400 species available in this country,. They can now watch butterflies hovering over flowers, feeding on nectar, flitting from flower to flower.

The park has a museum for dead butterflies too. The Park has a live butterfly –zone in addition to a breeding center!





Source: The Daily Star and Butterfly Park at Chittagong.












8 Comments
Walking Through The Rain.
Posted:Sep 28, 2015 10:10 am
Last Updated:Feb 19, 2019 7:43 am
5146 Views
Rain could tipple down. It could be pelting down---it could also rain cats and dogs!
may ask the rain to go away. They usually sing together to keep away the rain from the neighborhood sometimes!

Rain, Rain go away
Come again another day
All the friends
Want to play!

To most of the Indians, rain is regarded as a god. An important god! The rain-god is perhaps the god of life itself! Many Indians think that a shower of rain is a life- force.
For me, rain has always a separate meaning! It is also something that cleans me all the times. I like to walk in the torrential rain to hide my tears from my dear and near ones sometimes!

However rain could be deceptive too. It can also make us unhappy!
Here are some photos that denote what the rain could do to make us miserable as well as happy too!
Readers are requested to view the photos if they desire!!



Source: The Daily Star.
Photo Credits:
1. Gazi Tarek
2.Tariq ul Ghani
3. Arafat Rasel.
4.Hasan Mahmud
5,M H Sunnny
6.Rizwan Hasan
7. Abdulla al Mamun
8.Shajeed Hassan
9.Syed Mahabubul Kader.
10.Sajjad Shaju










6 Comments
Sunrise and Sunset at Kuakata !!
Posted:Sep 27, 2015 10:24 am
Last Updated:Oct 28, 2015 8:38 pm
4959 Views
Kuakata is located on the southernmost tip of my homeland Bangladesh.
It has a wide sandy sea beach where the tourists gather to see both sunrise and sunset from the same spot!

The beach is 30 km long and 6 km wide. It offers a full view of sunrise and sunset.
The white sandy beach has gentle slopes into the Bay of Bengal.
The place is also a sanctuary for migratory winter birds.

Local people call the place as “Shagor Kannya” ( of ocean).
On the Eastern end of the beach, there is an evergreen mangrove reserved forest.
Once upon a time, Kuakata was a part of larger “Sundarbans”.
This mangrove forest offers some protection against tidal surges that occurs from time to time in this part of the world!
The tourist are encouraged to visit this part of Kuakata in the late afternoon, being the perfect time to watch the sun caste shadows on the abstract exposed mangrove roots.


10 (Ten) pictures of sunrise and sunset shot from this particular beach are appended for viewing by the readers who may like to view them here. It could be a life time experience for one if one could view these amazing beauties of nature by visiting this wonderful and breathtaking human and bird’s habitat at least once in one’s life time!


Happy Viewing:
:









11 Comments
Most Beautiful Cities of the World
Posted:Sep 16, 2015 10:47 am
Last Updated:Oct 14, 2015 8:44 am
4919 Views
Which is the most beautiful city in the world? Opinion may differ in this respect for various reasons. But ultimately most of the travelers may agree that no city can beat VENICE if we compare it with other beautiful cities of the world.

Next one is PARIS! Yes, it is indeed the most elegant and sophisticated of all cities. It has inspired practically every major world capital.

No other city can beat PRAGUE if we take into consideration the thousand spires of this city because of its profusion of grand, beautifully-preserved historical monuments dating from practically every period in history.

LISBON is one of the world's most scenic cities. No one should skip this colorful city while traveling through Europe.

“There are those who say God created the world in six days and devoted a seventh to Rio.” The fifth most beautiful city in the world is RIO DE JANEIRO!


Next comes serially AMSTERDAM, FLORENCE, ROME, BUDAPEST and BRUGES!!

Many of my readers may ask me where Bruges is located. ‘It's a small city, in a small country, hardly a metropolis, but huge on beauty! Bruges, the capital of West Flanders in northwest Belgium, is distinguished by its canals, cobbled streets and medieval buildings. It’s one of the world's best preserved medieval cities.

Readers and viewers are invited to view pictures of these cities one by one as appended serially.



Happy reading and viewing too:









15 Comments
The Floating Gardens
Posted:Sep 12, 2015 7:04 am
Last Updated:Feb 28, 2024 4:41 am
5965 Views
The age old proverb, “necessity is the mother of invention”, came true for our country and people.

Yes, I am telling about the floating vegetable gardens as an example among other such inventions which has revolutionized the economic conditions of our poor people who are living now in flood prone areas of the country.

These regions are inundated for several months of the year due to flood caused by seasonal rainfall.

Our country is a riverine one. The country is vulnerable to climate change and people are off late experiencing heavy rainfall and therefore unexpected flood.


If we trace back the history of the floating gardens, we would find that in some parts of Southern Bangladesh., people had to adopt such innovative practice to produce green vegetables since long for their survival.

I may add here for my readers to know that some national and international NGOs introduced this innovative practice in the similar geographical locations of Bangladesh where people had to struggle through out the year for survival in the past but no more now!

Needless to mention here that women of these areas where the practice has since been introduced are the main beneficiaries! They became self sustained!


I may now take this opportunity to post some photos of these ‘Floating Vegetable Gardens’ for viewing by my readers. Hope they will like the pictures.

Source: Practical Action.









23 Comments
The Rainy Days
Posted:Sep 9, 2015 1:55 pm
Last Updated:Oct 15, 2023 2:23 am
5277 Views
The rainy days are going to end soon here in this part of our world. The season came to cool down the scorching heat of summer! Monsoon causes the rain to fall in our country like the neighboring countries India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

During this period, our sky remains overcast almost everyday and night. The sun can not be seen during these days. It prefers to remain hidden behind the rain clouds almost daily. It rains in torrents. Sometimes days together. Some times it drizzles too.


I have taken this opportunity to post pictures of rainy days for the readers to view here on my blog page. Hope they will like the photos!!


Happy Viewing:









18 Comments
The End of the World according to Buddhist Religion.
Posted:Sep 6, 2015 9:11 pm
Last Updated:Sep 10, 2015 11:14 pm
4950 Views
What does a person practicing Buddhist religion believe about the end of the world? What is his core belief about the religion he practices?

His most fundamental belief is perhaps the concept of impermanence: that nothing lasts for ever
A good practicing Buddhist is known to believe that everything we own, our memories, people we know, everywhere we have gone, and the entire world together with our sun, the galaxy and the universe will disappear at some point. In other words, nothing will last forever. All will cease to exist at a given point of time.

If we can once accept this core belief of Buddhist religion then may be, we are nearer to our ultimate goal----Nirvana.

What did Buddha himself told to his disciples about the end of our blue planet where we leave now?

He said that the entire world will cease to exist when seven suns will surround it and burn it completely. Everything will be destroyed! Needless to say that life, as we know it, would die off long before the planet itself is destroyed.

Is this scientifically possible? What do scientists tell us about the destruction of earth?

Yes, it is possible. The scientists predict that: the Sun will expand, frying everything on Earth; until the size of the Sun becomes greater and the earth falls into the sun. The scientists also predict that our galaxy may collide with another galaxy.

What else Buddha said in addition to this?

The world will continue to exist until it is 6 billion years old according to Buddha

He said that there were three more Buddha(s) before him. He was the 4th Buddha who had died 2500 years before.

So, another Buddha, the fifth and the last one, is expected to come after 1.2 billion years. and as such the earth and we humans and other life forms have many more years to live unless we destroy the world ourselves immediately.

What will happen to all life when the world is destroyed?

All life will then dwell in Phromalok--the magical place until a new world is formed for enabling all life to return there to begin the cycle of creation again.




Next installment:What do other religions say about the end of the world.








5 Comments
THE STRANGE EVENTS HAPPENING AROUND THE WORLD
Posted:Sep 5, 2015 11:23 am
Last Updated:Sep 8, 2015 9:21 pm
4646 Views
I take this opportunity provided by SFF Blog Land to post some of the mind- blowing photos that I could pick up from various web sites this morning. May be, many of my readers might have seen these pictures before. But those who did not see the pictures before may please view the photos here under posted by me. I do not brag that all credits in this respect goes to me. I did nothing except choosing these photos as I liked!! So dear readers- Happy Viewings!

Photo Details:

1. Rainbow eucalyptus trees in Australia. They look like someone painted them.

2. Horsetail Falls. Yosemite National Park. Happens once a year for just a few moments.

3. Hair Ice. Pretty neat but gross sounding.

4. Known as Green Flash. An extremely rare occurrence when the sun sets.

5. Frost flowers in the Arctic.

6. Danxia Land forms in China

7. This lake in Senegal turns red because the algae in the lake is absorbing light..

8. These boulders in New Zealand occur in clusters and are the result of wave erosion.

9. The "Door to Hell" is a natural gas field in Derweze, Turkemistan. The rich natural gas deposits where lit in 1971 by Soviet petroleum engineers. The field emits a strong smell of sulfur.

10.You can actually take a guided boat tour through these amazing New Zealand caves. These glowworms, called Arachnocampa luminosa, only exist in New Zealand.










14 Comments

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