A Glimpse of Some of the Iconic Structures in London

The River Cruise along the Thames allowed a good view of some of the iconic buildings in London. The Shard also known as the Shard of Glass was built in 2003. This 87-storey building towers at 306 m (1,004 ft). It was said that the Architect, Renzo Piano only charged the client for a token fee of 1 shilling. In return, he asked to be given the penthouse at the uppermost level. Recently, he put his penthouse for sale at 48 million pounds. His approach in charging for professional fee is something professionals can learn from!

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This Swiss Re Building which always appears in BBC backdrop which is more known as The Gherkin is now for sale for the second time. The new buyer is expected to pay 650 million pounds (RM3.5 billion) to secure ownership. That's a lot of money!

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True to its name, The Walkie Talkie, this latest skyscraper which stands at 525 feet tall with 37-storey does resemble the first generation of portable phone which we called "Daiko Dai".

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Right Photo: CCTV Building, China

For a few seconds when I first caught sight this building addressed "No. 1, London Bridge" reminded me of the CCTV Building in Beijing. But at closer look, this is far from the ingenuity and uniqueness of the CCTV Building as far as engineering complexity is concerned.

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This odd shaped building which looks like sea shell and visible from the Walkway of the Tower Bridge is the City Hall Building. The Architect probably got his inspiration from a snail.

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We caught sight of the Millennium Dome commonly known as O2 at the Greenwich Meridian Observatory. Built on the Greenwich meridian line, this is the largest dome in the world with a diameter of 365m.

The Dome has played host to practically all kinds of events ranging from musicals, sports, entertainments and even church event.

Backstreet Boys, Barbra Streisand, Beyonce, Bon Jovi, Boyzone, Celine Dion and many many other great singers have performed here. Michael Jackson was supposed to perform his "This Is It" here but the concerts had to be cancelled because of his untimely death.

It would have been awesome to watch "Les Miserables" when it was performed here in October 2010 during the 25 years of the performance of "Les Miserables" in London.

The ATP World Tour Finals between Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick in 2010 was also played here.

In September 2009, Hillsong Church London's 10-year anniversary church service was also hosted in O2.

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I was looking forward to getting a ride in the London Eye but somehow just couldn't find the right moment to try it. London Eye is one of the numerous similar structures around the world that is making money. The Eye in Malaysia unfortunately had long been dismantled and sold because it's operation was not sustainable financially.

Built to a height of 135m, it allows passengers in the uppermost capsule a panoramic view of 40Km. I did take a ride in the Cape Wheel in Cape Town, South Africa just over a year ago. That Wheel which takes passengers to a height of only 40m gives a much limited panoramic view.