Thursday, June 26, 2008

Website Review - Business Directory Nepal


The theme for this month is

"Business Directories (Yellow Pages) of Nepal"




Connection Yellow Pages

www.nepalpages.com


The oldest yellow pages directory of Nepal, started in 1991. On the website you can search the directory from search box, alphabetical listing and popular categories.


I personally found their advertisements to be more highlighted and the main directory less highlighted. Even the fonts are so small. And the add listing link is not easily viewable either.




Nepal Home Page Yellopages

http://www.nepalhomepage.com/yellowpages/


Another popular yellow page directory of Nepal. The homepage makes you feel there are lots of listings here than in other directories. The directory is simple and effective - there are lots of categories you can choose from right at the homepage (along with number of listings under that category). A click on the category takes you to the sub category page, from where you can choose your listing. The listings are shown in table form, from which you can select the desired company for more details.


There is also a search box at the botton, though not so prominent. Also the add edit link is not easily visible. Other useful links at sidebar are also nicely highlighted. One thing missing perhaps is browse alphabetically or other methods of browsing.




Nepal Yellow Pages Business Directory

www.ypofnepal.com/


Probably the simplest yellow page directory. There's a big search button at the front page, as well as an advanced search option, based on city name, address etc. Then there browsing option by categories, which take you to sub categories page and then the individual listing. Couldn't be more easier and to the point.


Another interesting function for this directory is the membership. The site uses lot of AJAX like fancy technologies, which make the site browsing easy and fun. Once being member there are other functions like bookmark individual listing for further use. You can also select the listings directly from the Classification Index page. And getting listed is quite easy as well. You can even manage your own gallery and profiles. Pretty cool site from yoolk I must say. The site even has a yellow color theme for yellow pages. Just that the spelling of "yolk" is incorrectly mentioned as "yoolk". How lame!





Want to feature your website or blog here too? Drop a mail at nepalsites@gmail.com with some description about your website with the subject line "Website Review".


Friday, June 20, 2008

Pokhara


Pictures of Pokhara taken some time ago. Pokhara, beautiful as always and less polluted than Kathmandu valley. Places to see in Pokhara include Fewa Lake, Sarangkot, World Peace Pagoda, Bat Cave, Begnas Lake (the largest lake in Pokhara), Devi's Fall among several other wonderful places.



Pokhara Sky and Peace Pagoda
A morning view of Pokhara Sky as seen from a Lake Side hotel. On the background, the World Peace Pagoda can be seen. The World Peace Pagoda in Pokhara holds a giant statue of Buddha.




Devis Fall
Devis Fall (also known as Devi's Fall or David's Fall or Devin's Fall or "Patale Chhango") is an attractive waterfall in Pokhara that runs through the "Gupteshowr Mahadev Cave". The water can rise quite high on rainy seasons.




Bat Cave
Considered to be the most difficult cave to pass through, Bat Cave (or "Chamero Gufa") is so called due to the huge number of bats present inside the cave.




Fewa Lake
The most popular of the lakes in Pokhara, Fewa Lake (also known as Phewa Lake or Fewataal) also holds the temple in the middle of the lake named "TaalBarahi". On a clear day, the Annapurna range and Machapuchre are visible from this lake. One can also climb to the World Peace Pagoda after a short boating in Fewa Lake. The place around Fewa lake is popularly known as Lake Side where there are lots of hotels or guest house to stay in. The Lakeside is the most attractive destination for tourists in Pokhara.




Fewa Lake Pokhara as seen from top
The World Peace Pagoda is a short distance upwards from the base of Fewa Lake. On the route you can see this beautiful view of the Fewa Lake and the Annapurna range.


Thursday, June 12, 2008

The Fool's Prayer


The royal feast was done; the King
Sought some new sport to banish care,
And to his jester cried: Sir Fool,
Kneel now, and make for us a prayer!

The jester doffed his cap and bells,
And stood the mocking court before;
They could not see the bitter smile
Behind the painted grin he wore.

He bowed his head, and bent his knee
Upon the monarch's silken stool;
His pleading voice arose: 'O Lord,
Be merciful to me, a fool!'

The room was hushed; in silence rose
The King, and sought his gardens cool,
And walked apart, and murmured low,
'Be merciful to me, a fool!'



- Edward Rowland Sill, 1868




I read this prayer on the novel "Gump & Co." by Winston Groom. With the last king of Nepal kicked out of the "Narayanhiti" Palace, I thought the poem made some sense. Anyway, the novel is a humorous sequel to the famous novel "Forrest Gump" by the same writer, which was even made into the movie "Forrest Gump" in 1994. The movie went on to become the biggest movie of that year as suggested by Oscars. I thought it was bit unfair to the movie "The Shawshank Redemption", released on the same year, which I believe is a must watch movie for anyone. Incidentally, the movie Shawshank Redemption currently ranks at number 2 in the IMDB top 250 movies of all times (right after the movie "The Godfather"). The Shawshank Redemption is an inspiring movie about friendship and hope, played by characters like Tim Robins and Morgan Freeman, in seemingly desperate times of life imprisonment in a notorious jail. I believe the concept of hope is applicable to anyone, anywhere.



Well we are drifting too much off topic here. Back to the Fool's Prayer. But then again, there's not much to talk about the fool; except perhaps that one should/could learn from their mistakes.