KUALA LUMPUR - Holiday rentals are an ideal choice of accommodation for family vacations and travellers love them for the space, privacy and amenities they provide.

Take a look at some of the lovely family-friendly holiday rentals in Malaysia, all available from TripAdvisor, to consider for your next staycation.

1. Hibiscus Villa Sabah

- Three bedrooms

- Starts from RM2,787 per night

Nestled amongst a former coconut plantation on the stunning north coast of Sabah, Hibiscus Villa blends harmoniously into the natural landscape of exotic Malaysian Borneo. Built with relaxation in mind, this 3-bedroom villa boasts large open living spaces both inside and out, and offers a spectacular 18 meter infinity pool which extends into the villa. Set in over 2 acres of landscaped tropical gardens, it overlooks the azure waters of the South China Sea - truly an idyllic nature-themed family hideout!

2. Coastal Tower, Penang

- Two bedrooms

- Starts from RM1,629 per week

Coastal Tower is a beautiful 2-bedroom condominium that's located in Tanjung Bungah, within the vicinity of the Penang tourist belt. With a spacious balcony overlooking picturesque views of the green hills and local fishing boats docking by the beach, this modern condominium is an ideal accommodation for family getaways. Complete with facilities such as a large swimming pool, jacuzzi and a well-equipped gym,families can relax in the pool, under the stars, while taking in an outdoor flick.

Read this article:
10 family-friendly holiday rentals for your next staycation

Richard Bergmann Architects, of New Canaan, received a Connecticut Design Award for a project on Hollow Tree Ridge Road in Darien.

The design, which was for the "Bend-in-the-Road Landscape" entry, focused on engaging an historic house with the land and the land with the house, according to Bergmann, whose office is at 63 Park St. The house "had the appearance of being arbitrarily plopped down on the land."

The awards, presented by the American Society of Landscape Architects, Connecticut Chapter, recognize excellence in landscape architecture design. Eligible applicants must be a licensed landscape architect either living in Connecticut or with a project in the state.

A specific challenge was to draw visitors to the front door, instead of entering through the kitchen. The original driveway led straight to a detached barn/garage and guest parking area behind the house, near the kitchen entry. The problem, according to Bergmann, was solved by creating a four-foot-high fieldstone linear wall and planting a row of tall columnar Hornbeam trees, which reinforce the architectural features of the home with its row of pillars framing the front porch. The wall and trees separate public and private spaces, screening the kitchen entry and creating an obvious path to the front door.

"The overall design is an incredible improvement, straightforward and a terrific upgrade," according to the competition's jurors.

"This shows what a creative landscape architect can accomplish."

Bergmann said another major goal was to solve safety issues, entering and departing from a blind driveway on a major bend in the road. This was resolved by relocating the driveway. A new semicircular drive was created, incorporating a large area for guest parking and a turnaround area near the front door. Honoring "green" design guidelines, the pre-existing asphalt was replaced with gravel, allowing storm water to recharge the site. Overhead wires were buried underground. A redesigned swimming pool and terrace completed the landscape project.

"The overall design is an incredible improvement, straightforward and a terrific upgrade," according to the competition's jurors. "This shows what a creative landscape architect can accomplish."

Read the original here:
Bergmann receives state landscape architecture award

Hold on for just a moment while we finish setting up your account..

Your Digital Subscription to the TCPalm is now active. Enjoy unlimited access to TCPalm.com and the TCPalm smartphone and tablet apps.

Note: your login information will be needed the first time you access TCPalm.com and the TCPalm smartphone and tablet apps.

Your Premium Subscription to TCPalm is now active. In addition to your home delivery service, enjoy unlimited access to TCPalm.com and the TCPalm smartphone and tablet apps.

Note: your login information will be needed the first time you access TCPalm.com and the TCPalm smartphone and tablet apps.

Read the original post:
Yard Doc by Carol Cloud Bailey updated April 20. Remove no more than 30 percent of plants growth when pruning

April is National Landscape Architecture Monthjust in time for the Historic Preservation Association of Coral Gables spring event at the Venetian Pool.

HPACG, a 501c3 nonprofit whose mission is to promote the understanding and importance of historic resources and their preservation, is hosting a spring fundraiser on Saturday April 26th at the historically-designated landmark Venetian Pool included in the National Register of Historic Places. The Venetian Pool was opened in 1924 as the Venetian Casino, which was part of the Grand Plan George Merrick had for the City of Coral Gables. Completed in 1925 it was designed by Phineas Paist with Denman Fink.

In 1989, the pools first historical renovation was completed. Between 2009 and 2010 the pool underwent a second renovation. The pools original rich history can still be observed as you walk through the entry fountain room and gaze upon its historic photographs, reminding patrons of an era long gone by.

Oh, about the Opera.

The first national opera troupe performance in Miami was in the drained Venetian Pool on February 2, 1926. The million-dollar production had a cast of 30 singers and 28 ballet dancers who arrived on three special trains. The opera was sponsored by the developers of CG and Miami Shores. A year earlier, in 1925, the celebrated Paul Whiteman Orchestra played in the Venetian Pool to help George Merrick promote sales in CG.

History repeats itself. Help preserve it.

Help support the Venetian Pool and its historical significance in Coral Gables and beyond. Sponsors to date include (Founders Level) Keyes Real Estate and the Elizabeth L. Perez Team; Myrna Mayor/Zamora Group; City of Coral Gables. (Artist Level) Chef Luis/Paella Grill; Calypso. (Architect Level) Realtor Cary Avila/ EWM; Joan Thompson/ Summer House Interiors; Coral Gables Museum.

For more information about HPACG and sponsorship opportunities please email HPACG President Karelia Martinez Carbonell at kmartinezcarbonell@historiccoralgables.org

Read more here:
First Opera at the Venetian Pool in 1926 with a Cost of $1 Million

Get Breaking News First

Receive News, Politics, and Entertainment Headlines Each Morning.

MIAMI (CBSMiami) The electrocution of a 7-year old boy in the familys North Miami swimming pool apparently due to faulty wiring to the pools light has served as a lightning rod drawing attention to pool safety.

Master electrician Walter Sanders was at a Coral Gables home Friday where he immediately noticed a potentially, very dangerous issue with the pools underwater light.

As you can see, theres water in the light, Sanders said, pointing. You can see the water line inside of that light fixture.

There can be no overstating the obvious, Sanders said.

Water and electricity dont mix, without possibly deadly consequences.

Swimming pools are to South Florida as canals are to Venice. Theyre everywhere. And most pools built before 1984 have a full 120 volts of electricity going to their lights.

I would suggest those people would want to look into hiring an electrician to change that system over to a twelve volt system, Sanders said.

A 12-volt power system for pool lighting uses a transformer to step down a potentially deadly 120 volts to just twelve.

Read this article:
Pool Electrocution Highlights Wiring Safety Issues

YAKIMA, Wash. Grass, maple trees and a water fountain will be installed at the west end of the Yakima County courthouse this summer the final touches on the structures recent exterior upgrade.

Those finishing upgrades will cost about $50,000, and a request for bids for the work was advertised Wednesday.

A roughly 3-foot concrete pool and waterfall will accompany the grass and maple trees that will replace the old planter box at the west end of the building along First Street. A small strip of sidewalk near the corner of First Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard also will be completed, said county Engineer Gary Ekstedt.

It will be kind of a little park, he said. There will be some grass and a couple of maple trees in there.

Work is expected to begin in June and take about a month.

So far, the county has spent roughly $4.3 million on upgrading the exterior of the courthouse, which included a new facade over the entire building improving weather resistance and newly paved sidewalks and parking lots, said Director of Public Services Vern Redifer.

Were styling and profiling, he said.

More:
Yakima County courthouse to get finishing landscape touches

1 hour ago by Rob Jordan Researchers at Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment are examining conservation plans for wild tigers that would promote gene flow among populations. Credit: Prasenjeet Yadav

(Phys.org) New research by Stanford scholars shows that increasing genetic diversity among the 3,000 or so tigers left on the planet is the key to their survival as a species.

Iconic symbols of power and beauty, wild tigers may roam only in stories someday soon. Their historical range has been reduced by more than 90 percent. But conservation plans that focus only on increasing numbers and preserving distinct subspecies ignore genetic diversity, according to the study. In fact, under that approach, the tiger could vanish entirely.

"Numbers don't tell the entire story," said study co-author Elizabeth Hadly, the Paul S. and Billie Achilles Professor in Environmental Biology at Stanford and senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. She is a co-author of the study, which was published April 17 in the Journal of Heredity.

That research shows that the more gene flow there is among tiger populations, the more genetic diversity is maintained and the higher the chances of species survival become. In fact, it might be possible to maintain tiger populations that preserve about 90 percent of genetic diversity.

Rachael Bay, a graduate student in biology at Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station and the lead author of the study, said, "Genetic diversity is the basis for adaptation."

Loss of diversity

The research focused on the Indian subcontinent, home to about 65 percent of the world's wild tigers. The scientists found that as populations become more fragmented and the pools of each tiger subspecies shrink, so does genetic diversity. This loss of diversity can lead to lower reproduction rates, faster spread of disease and more cardiac defects, among other problems.

The researchers used a novel framework, based on a method previously employed to analyze ancient DNA samples, to predict what population size would be necessary to maintain current genetic diversity of tigers into the future. The authors believe this new approach could help in managing populations of other threatened species.

The results showed that for tiger populations to maintain their current genetic diversity 150 years from now, the tiger population would have to expand to about 98,000 individuals if gene flow across species were delayed 25 years. By comparison, the population would need to grow to about 60,000 if gene flow were achieved immediately.

Read more:
Diverse gene pool critical for tigers' survival

By KEITH HEUMILLER

Staff Writer

HAZLET Members of the township swim and tennis club could be swinging, climbing and lounging in the shade this summer, thanks to a newly unveiled capital improvement plan.

The upgrades, which include a 66-foot zip line, two rock walls, outdoor table games, nine new shade tents, and a number of landscape and facilities improvements, will be phased in beginning this year.

The project may be the largest of its kind in the history of the club, according to Township Administrator Dennis Pino.

We are thinking completely outside the box about ways that we can enhance the experience there, to maybe attract new residents who may not have come before and also to benefit our members as well, he said.

As of April 11, the township was soliciting bids for the two rock walls, expected to cost about $38,000 total and stand about 9 feet above the clubs diving tank.

While the actual operation of the rock walls will be up to the club director, Pino said township officials have ensured they will be safe and secure for the clubs youngsters.

Theyll be wet and probably slipping and having a great time, he said.

The township has already ordered the zip line, which is to be installed near the pool at a cost of about $19,000. Pino said riders will sit in a pedestal-style seat and swing from one platform to another over a protective layer of rubber mulch.

Read the original post:
Pool upgrades include rock wall, zip line

The first time I saw Camden's Harrison Avenue landfill, it had been closed for years. It was also on fire.

I'd been dispatched by an editor to check on a report that the grass atop the toxic tundra of buried trash was ablaze again. And so it was, on a hot afternoon in the late 1970s.

Last week, I returned to Harrison Avenue to tour the $68 million Salvation Army Kroc Center, which is on schedule for an Oct. 4 ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The project's cost includes $21 million for 34 acres of site remediation work by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Of the $59 million provided by the estate of Ray and Joan Kroc, of McDonald's fame, $27 million has been set aside to endow the center and help pay operating costs.

But clichs are boring. Besides, if I had a buck for every Camden project I've heard proclaimed as a game-changer for the city, I'd have enough cash to change my own game, and then some.

"The hardest thing has been to get people to believe it's happening," says Salvation Army Maj. Paul Cain, the center's administrator.

Nevertheless, many have come to believe: Campbell Soup, Subaru, Wells Fargo, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and New Jersey American Water have helped raise $9.2 million, and counting, of the $10 million local match required by the Krocs.

The water company alone has contributed $1.2 million, including, just last week, a $175,000 advance on a future refund of connection fees.

View original post here:
In Camden, salvation sprouts in unlikely location

Chakrabongse Villas - Bangkok - Thailand
Info Booking! : http://www.hotelz.tv/info/thailand/bangkok/eFCbkLQReF/chakrabongse-villas.html A former royal residence by the Chao Phraya River Chakrabong...

By: Hotelz Tv - Thailand

Read the original:
Chakrabongse Villas - Bangkok - Thailand - Video