ANFIELD (LIVERPOOL)

Picture from http://www.uefa.com

Anfield was built in 1884 on land adjacent to Stanley Park, Liverpool. It was originally used by the Everton F.C. before the club moved to Goodison Park after a dispute over rent with Anfield owner John Houlding. With the empty ground, Houlding founded Liverpool F.C. in 1892 and the club has played at Anfield ever since. The capacity of the stadium at the time was 20,000, but only 100 spectators attended Liverpool's first match at Anfield.
In 1906 the banked stand at one end of the ground was formally renamed the Spion Kop after a hill in KwaZulu-Natal. It was the site of the Battle of the Spion Kop in the Second Boer War, where over 300 men of the Lancashire Regiment died, many of them from Liverpool. At its peak, the stand could hold 28,000 spectators and was one of the largest single-tier stands in the world. Many stadia in England had stands named after Spion Kop, but Anfield's was the largest of them at the time; it could hold more supporters than some entire football grounds.
Anfield could hold more than 60,000 supporters at its peak, and had a capacity of 55,000 until the 1990s. The Taylor Report and Premier League regulations obliged Liverpool to convert Anfield to an all-seater stadium in time for the 1993–94 season, reducing the capacity to 45,276.The findings of the Taylor Report precipitated the redevelopment of the Kemlyn Road Stand, which was rebuilt in 1992, coinciding with the centenary of the club, and is now known as the Centenary Stand. An extra tier was added to the Anfield Road end in 1998. This then increased the capacity of the ground but gave rise to problems when it was opened. A series of support poles and stanchions were inserted to give extra stability to the top tier of the stand after movement of the tier was reported at the start of the 1999–2000 season.
Because of the restrictions on expanding the capacity at Anfield, Liverpool announced plans to move to a new stadium at Stanley Park in May 2002. Planning the permission was granted in July 2004, and in September 2006, Liverpool City Council agreed to grant Liverpool a 999-year lease on the proposed site. Following the takeover of the club by George Gillett and Tom Hicks in February 2007, the proposed stadium was redesigned. The new design is then approved by the Council in November 2007. The stadium was scheduled to open in August 2011 and would hold 60,000 spectators, with HKS, Inc. contracted to build the stadium. Construction was halted in August 2008, as Gillett and Hicks had difficulty in financing the £300 million that is needed for the development.
From -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_F.C.

THE TALES OF MOUNT KINABALU

Tales of the Mountains's Name

There are two stories that led to the main beliefs in the origin of the mountain's name.
The first derivation of the word Kinabalu is extracted from the short form for the Kadazan Dusun word 'Aki Nabalu', which means "the revered place of the dead".
As for the second source states that the name "Kinabalu" actually means "Cina Balu" (which would fully mean "A Chinese Widow"). Because of the lingual influence among the Kadazan Dusun of Sabah, the pronunciation for the word "cina" (chee-na) was changed to "Kina" (kee-na).
It was told that a Chinese prince, was cast away to Borneo when his ship sank in the middle of the South East China. He was subsequently rescued by the natives from a nearby village. As he recovered, he was slowly accepted as one of the people of the village. Eventually, he fell in love with a local woman, and married her. Years went by, and he started to feel homesick. So, he asked permission from his newly-found family to go back to China to visit his parents (the Emperor and Empress of China). As for his wife, he promised that as soon as he was done with his family duties in China, he would come back to Borneo to take her and their children back to China.
When he made his return to China, he was given a grand welcome by his family. However, to his dismay, his parents disagreed with him about taking his Bornean wife back to China.To make it even worse, they told him that he was already betrothed to a princess of a neighbouring kingdom. Having no choice, he obeyed with a heavy heart.
Meanwhile, back in Borneo, his wife grew more and more anxious. Eventually, she decided that she will wait for her husband's ship. However, since the village was situated far away from the coast, she couldn't afford to come to the shore and wait for him daily. Instead she decided to climb to the top of the highest mountain near her village, so that she could have a better view of the ships sailing in the South China Sea. Thus, she was then seen climbing up the mountain at every sunrise, returning only at night to take care of her growing children.
Eventually her efforts took their toll. She fell ill, and died at the top of the cold mountain while waiting for her husband to return. The Spirit of the mountain, having observed her for years, was extremely touched by her loyalty towards her husband. Out of admiration for this woman, the spirit of the mountain turned her into a stone. Her face was made to face the South China Sea, so that she could wait forever for her dear husband's return.
The people in her hometown who heard about this were also gravely touched by this. Thus, they decided to name the mountain "Kinabalu" in remembrance of her.For them, the mountain is a symbol of the everlasting love and loyalty that should be taken as a good example by women everywhere.
Local legend among the people of Ranau, a district in Sabah, has it that St. Johns Peak was the stone which her body was turned into.
(From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mount_kinabalu)

SIPADAN ISLAND

Pulau Sipadan, as locals call it, is a wonderful spot for a peaceful vacation. It is also one of the most wanted places in the world for a great diving experience. This can be proved as there are many dive journalist have rated Sipadan's underwater scenery as one of the top destination for diving in the world. Even more, the great Sipadan hosts a stunning variety of animals and plants, including rare species of turtles and the outstanding coral reefs. Overall, this is virtually a natural paradise, where you will definitely have the time of your life.

Sipadan Island's info
Sipadan is the only oceanic island in Malaysia. It is 600 metre  from the seabed. Sipadan is located in the celebes Sea off the east coastos Sabah. It was formed by living coral growing on top of an extinct volcano cone. The volcano cone took thousands of year to developed. sipadan is located in the heart of Indo-Pacific basin, the centre of one of the richest marine habitats in the world. So, Sipadan is the habitat for more than 3000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species. Many dive journalist have rated Sipadan as one of the the top destination for the divers in the world.

 
How Do I get to SIPADAN?
Getting to Sipadan requires preparation and bookings.(If you are a not from Malaysia) After arriving to Malaysia, you will have to reach Kota Kinabalu and then fly to Tawau, where you can take a ride to Semporna. This is where you will have to take the boat and get to your dream destination. If you want to spend time in Sipadan, make sure that everything is ready and waiting for you, since you have a long way ahead.

Sipadan's Merine Underwater Life

Frequently seen in the waters around Sipadan: Green and hawksbilll turtles (which mate and nest there), enormous schools of barracuda in tornado-like formations as well as large schools of big-eye trevelly, and bumphead parrotfish. Pelagic species such as manta rays, eagle rays, scalloped hammer head sharks and the astounding whale sharks also visit Sipadan.