venice

• a city in northern Italy .
• known both for tourism and for industry .
• is the capital of the region Veneto 
• Together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE) 

• The name is derived from the ancient people of Veneti that inhabited the region as of 10th century B.C.
• The city historically was the capital of the Venetian Republic. 
• has been known as the "La Dominante", "Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges", "The Floating City", and "City of Canals". Luigi Barzini, writing in The New York Times, described it as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man".
• also been described by the Times Online as being one of Europe's most romantic cities.

•  Venetian cuisine is characterized by seafood, but also includes garden products from the islands of the lagoon, rice from the mainland, game, and polenta.
• combines local traditions with influences that are distant from millennial business contacts.
• include sarde in saor, sardines marinated in order to preserve them for long voyages; risi e bisi, rice and peas; fegato alla veneziana, Venetian-style liver; risotto with cuttlefish, blackened from the ink; cicchetti, refined and delicious tidbits (akin to tapas); antipasti, appetizers; and prosecco, an effervescent, mildly sweet wine.

baicoli

• Venice is famous for bisàto (marinated eel), for the golden, oval-shaped cookies called baicoli, and for different types of sweets such as: pan del pescatore (bread of the fisherman); cookies with almonds and pistachio nuts; cookies with fried Venetian cream or the bussolai (butter biscuits and shortbread made in the shape of an "S" or ring) from the island of Burano; the crostoli also known as the chatter, lies, or galani; the fregolotta (a crumbly cake with almonds); milk pudding called rosada; and cookies of yellow semolina called zaléti.

crumble cake with almonds

 LANGUAGE

• Romance language spoken as native language by over two million people.

VENICE is most famous by it's frame work on the unique omate glass-work. which is known as the VENETIAN GLASS. its world renowed for being the colourful, elaborate and skillfully made...

important characteristics of these objects had been developed by the thirteenth century. Toward the end of that century, the center of the Venetian glass industry moved to Murano.

• Byzantine craftsmen : an important role in the development of Venetian glass, an art form for which the city is well-known.
• When Constantinople was sacked by the Fourth Crusade in 1204, some fleeing artisans came to Venice.
• happened again when the Ottomans took Constantinople in 1453, supplying Venice with still more glassworkers.
• By sixteenth century, Venetian artisans had gained even greater control over the color and transparency of their glass, and had mastered a variety of decorative techniques.

LABUAN

Labuan is a federal territory in East Malaysia. It is an island off the coast of the state of Sabah. Labuan's capital is Victoria and is best known as an offshore financial centre offering international financial and business services via Labuan IBFC since 1990 as well as being an offshore support hub for deepwater oil and gas activities in the region. It is also a tourist destination for nearby Bruneians and scuba divers. The name Labuan derives from the Malay word labuhan meaning anchorage.

several attractions and places of interest on Labuan. The military cemetery contains various war graves and memorials to the fallen of World War II. This includes British, Australian, Indian, Sarawakian, Bruneian, North Borneo and Empire troops. There is also a memorial celebrating the surrender of the Japanese to the Australian Forces in 1945. There are also remnants of Labuan's history as a Royal Navy Coaling station, including 'the chimney', a well known local landmark. There is also a Labuan Maritime Museum.

Labuan is also the base for diving on four popular wreck dives: the Cement wreck, the American wreck, (the first USS Salute), the Australian wreck and the Blue Water wreck.

Labuan has many schools. However, it has only one international school, Labuan International School. Other places of interest include the Labuan International Sea Sport Complex.

Labuan's own institution of higher education is Universiti Malaysia Sabah Labuan International Campus, a branch of Universiti Malaysia Sabah in Sepanggar Bay, Kota Kinabalu. Labuan also has a matriculation college, Kolej Matrikulasi Labuan, the only matriculation college in East Malaysia. Thus, all pre-university students from Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan will take their courses here.

   Postage stamps

A post office was operating in Labuan by 1864, and used a circular date stamp as postmark. The postage stamps of India and Hong Kong were used on some mail, but they were probably carried there by individuals, instead of being on sale in Labuan. Mail was routed through Singapore. From 1867 Labuan officially used the postage stamps of the Straits Settlements, then issued its own beginning in May 1879.
The first stamps of Labuan depict the usual profile of Queen Victoria, but are unusual for being inscribed in Arabic and Chinese scripts in addition to "LABUAN POSTAGE". Perennial shortages necessitated a variety of surcharges in between the several reprints and colour changes of the 1880s. The original stamps were engraved, but the last of the design, in April 1894, were done by lithography.

Beginning in May 1894, the designs of North Borneo were printed in different colours, with "LABUAN" either engraved into the vignette or overprinted. On 24 September 1896, the 50th anniversary of the cession was marked by overprinting "1846 / JUBILEE / 1896" on the overprinted North Borneo designs. Additional overprints appeared through the 1890s. In 1899 many types were surcharged with a value of 4 cents.

A last Labuan-only design came out in 1902, depicting a crown and inscribed "LABUAN COLONY". After incorporation into the Straits Settlements in 1906, Labuan ceased issuing its own stamps, although they remained valid for some time. Many of the remainders were Cancelled-to-order for sale to collectors, and are now worth only pennies; genuine postal uses are worth much more.

kalimaran festival

celebrated by the Murut tribes of Sabah is a festival to honor the Murut traditions. Pesta Kalimaran is akin to the Kaamatan Festival.

THE FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
 the various sub-ethnic groups that make up the Murut population, their traditional handicrafts and their traditions, such as marriage ceremony, and other folk-lore. Handicrafts that are very popular with the native tribes of Sabah are beads, and the motifs that are found on the various costumes. Also on display are artifacts that are past down from generations, such as jars and urns which are used gifts, and weaponry of the Murut.

have the opportunity to partake the local food and local brew, such as Tuak, a wine made of fermented rice, which comes in a huge jar and is drunk through a bamboo reed directly from the jar.

photograph above depicts the folklore of the man who turned into stone.The legend was told to him by the grandchildren of the man himself. the stone and the legend was shown in the Kalimaran festival, it would suggest that the story is well-known and widely accepted. The size of the stone was about the size of a soccer ball.

wear of murut...