Great Picture (24)

5 Nov 2010 - The first time I came to Kuala Lumpur was in 1988, when I was backpacking South-East Asia. These days I have been reminiscent of the trip, as I could never ever have thought that I would be living in the same city more than 20 years later. I always thought I would end up in Capetown, which was the end point of another great trip. One of the highlights of that African adventure was a visit to the desert in Namibia, where the lights and colors are breath-taking. Hence this picture.

Annoying Tourists

5 Nov 2010 - People love lists. Normally they make a top 10 or even top 100, but in the KL Time Out magazine I saw a top 9 of the nine most annoying things about tourists. This is summary of what Malaysian find annoying about their visitors from overseas, but most of these points seem universal?:
1. The matching T-shirts (mainly mainland Chinese);
2. The backpackers on the metro who knock people over with their bags;
3. The incessant taking of photographs when you are trying to walk down a pavement;
4. The sudden stopping in the middle of said pavement to take the photograph;
5. The ones who like to remind us they come from a better country;
6. The sheer volume of their voices;
7. The fact that they are willing to pay rip-off taxi rates because it's still cheaper than at home;
8. The way they automatically assume that malaysians don't speak any English;
9. Their predilection for socks and sandals (and socks in sandals);

So what's at number 10? 

Ginseng

4 Nov 2010 - Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) highly values ginseng. The ideal ginsend specimen resembles a person, with a small knob at the top, a proportionately sized torso and evenly placed branches, for the legs and arms. It is probably safe to assume that ginseng is not consumed for its flavour - it has a distinctive, bitter taste that is not to everyone's liking. The root though, can fetch very high prices because of the myriad curative powers attributed to it - among other things, it is believed ginseng increases sexual prowess and longevity, boosts energy levels and cures cancer and diabetes. The shape, cultivation methods and age of a root determine the price. Scientific studies show that at least some of the medicinal values attributed to ginseng are valid.

More of Dog Poop

4 Nov 2010 - Following the story about the Korean "Dog poop girl" a few days ago (see below) there is more to say about naming and shaming dog owners who refuse to clean up their pets faeces. In the United States and Germany residents are trying to trace offenders with DNA testing. According to AOL news, residents at an upscale condominium complex in Baltimore are fed up with people who don't pick up after their pooches. They are taking action by proposing all dogs living at the building are swabbed for their DNA. Then, any dog faeces left behind would be sent to a lab and tested for a match, and offending owners would be slapped with a USD 500 fine. The proposal raised criticism from animal rights groups, who felt it was unfair and violated the dog's privacy rights. They also claim the inititive will not solve the problem as visiting dogs cannot be traced down.  

Fung Shui

2 Nov 2010 - Kuala Lumpur is full with urban development. Wherever one looks skyscrapers are being erected. I was told that many of those buildings are empty and that people are waiting for the big boom in the real estate market, but so far it does not stop developers from building more, higher, bigger. What does this mean for fung shui in KL? One could be living next to a park or empty land with lots of greenerey and vegetation but the fung shui could be disturbed by the construction of a highway or power station on that plot. Village people are often much better in tune with nature and have long protested such developments. Christian missionaries in the 20th century tried to discredit these villagers and their fung shui beliefs, as they saw construction as development. They did not loike them to complain about the installation of electrical and telegraph poles near their homes. There are no more Christian missionaries in Malaysia in the 21st century so construction is on. And fung shui appears to be forgotten.

Dog Poop Girl

2 Nov 2010 - Most dog owners love their dog. They believe there are so many wonderful aspects of owning a dog: companionship, loyalty and love. But one of the most dreaded tasks in taking care of man's best friend is picking up its faeces. Some people refuse to perform this chore. in 2003, a woman in South Korea boarded the subway with her dog. After the dog relieved itself on the floor, the owner refused to clean up het pet's mess, even though another passenger offered a tissue. The incident was caught on camera and posted on a website. Within days, internet vigilants identified the pet's owner and posted her details in cyberspace. Known as "Dog Poop Girl", she drew the attention of local broadcasters and international newspapers, and the ensuing media frenzy was so great that shw was forced to leave her hometown. It is not known if the dog moved with her.

Mandarin Oriental Tokyo

1 Nov 2010 - It is now possible to rent the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo hotel for a party. But the price is tag is not small, one has to pay 55 million Yen for it. From 3 pm until noon the next day, customers get use of the entire hotel, including nine restaurants and all spas and rooms, for the equivalent of HKD 5,247,300. The luxury hotel in central Tokyo began selling the plan a week ago as "something splashy" to commemorate its opening five years ago, said spokeswoman Chie Hayakawa. It would include a cocktail reception for 500 people.

Dump the Mini Skirt

1 Nov 2010 - Taiwan still has a military draft, but over the years it has been watered down to an average of just over one year - one of the shortest in the world. The army generally prefers volunteers but a recruitment drive this year has been so far off target that military brass tried to resort to cleavage and miniskirts to appeal to young men's patriotism. Thus the idea of hiring Lin Chiling, often billed as Taiwan's most beautiful woman, to pose in military fatigues with a special designed miniskirt, according to a leaked memo. Lin apparanetly agreed to do her petriotic duty, but her asking price would have taken up more than half of the budget earmarked for this years' army recruitment. Oh well, capitalism trumps patriotism - tell that to the masters in Beijing.

Halloween

30 Oct 2010 - Although I always thought Halloween takes places on 31st October, I was explained that tonight is actually Halloween night. Maybe it helps that the Saturday more attractive than another dull Sunday? Anyway, I have very little with the Halloween phenomena and I am quite surprised to find the event all over Asia. It is big in Hong Kong, and in Kuala Lumpur it is also all pumpkins, witches and Harry Potter gadgets. Worse is that all commercial TV station air an overflow of B-class horror movies (and even A-class horror movies are terrible)  The Malaysian New Straits Times published the Top Ten of scary creatures from horror movies. I had expected Hannibal from Silence of the Lambs, or Jack Nickelson in The Shining, but none of them. It's heavy stuff like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Scream. The only scary creature on the list is Damien Thorn (at number 2) from The Omen. The newspaper explains that one should not be fooled by his innocent appearance of this anti-Christ who sports the devil's symbol of 666. I remember the little fella ... and yes, he did give me the creeps.