Fake euros

29 Jan 2011 - The value of the euro may have come under pressure in recent months, but there os some good news for the European currency as the production of counterfeit notes and coins remains relatively low. The European Commission said this week that the number of counterfeit euro coins removed from circulation last year rose 8% to 186,000. But the number of fake notes withdrawn by officials dropped 12,6% to 751,000. So while the total number of coins may have risen their total value was only about EUR 300,000, and the value of counterfeit euro notes came to about EUR 30 million. Those are small sums when compared with the total value of euro notes and coins in circulation, which was about EUR 860 billion  in 2010. The EUR 2 coin remains the favourite for counterfeiters, representing three of every four fake euro coins. Among banknotes phony EUR 20 and 50 bills are most common. So please take note during your next trip to the Eurozone.

Socotra

28 Jan 2011 - Like Pakistan (see below: Great Picture (29)), we hear very little positive news from Yemen. So great was my surprise to find the country on top of the list of "secret islands". Ripped from the coast of Gondwanaland (never heard of - sounds from Lord of the Rings) by plate tectonics, the four desert islands that form the Socotra group are a treasure-house of biodiversity, with thousands of plant and animal species found nowhere else on earth. Topping the weird list are the barrel-trunked cucumber tree and the dragon's blood tree, which oozes blood-red sap. Despite being closer to Africa than the Arabian Peninsula, Socotra is administered by Yemen, which keeps the islands off the tourist radar. The islands are being described as "the most alien-looking place on earth.". Looking at the attached poicture I am not sure if that is true, or just possibly just a clever trick from Yemeni marketeers, but the place seems a definite must on the "to do" list for adventurous travelers.

Great Picture (29)

27 Jan 2011 - I do not know who took this stunning picture, but I picked it from the BBC website. The picture was taken in Northern Pakistan, and I love the beauty, the light and the space on this picture. Last year we had so much negative news from Pakistan (floods, war, bombing), so I am pleased to show the beauty of the country. From sunny KL - longing for a wintersport holidays.

Cooking Your Phone

26 Jan 2011 - A south Korean man has been arrested for allegedly cooking his mobile phone in a microwave and then claiming damages from the manufacturer Samsung Electronics. The 28-years old man identified only as Lee is accused of accepting compensation of five million won from the firm after claiming his phone has exploded while being charged. But the National Institute of Scientific Investigation concluded the phone was "artificially modified" because of exposure to electromagnetic waves in a microwave, police said in a statement. Lee staged about 50 one-man protests in front of Samsung HQ and at Incheon International airport before receiving the compensation from the company.

Pussy Willows

26 Jan 2011 - In a bit more than a week we will welcome the Year of the Rabbit, and Chinese and other folks are getting ready to welcome the festive season. Flowers have special significance during the Lunar New Year. It is believed that healthy, blooming plans signify success, wealth and abundance. The Chinese have a saying "hua kai fu gui", which means "When flowers bloom , prosperity comes". Therefore it is lucky to have auspicious plants in bloom during the first 15 days of the New Year. It is even better if the plants wear lots of golden fruit, such as lime and kumquat. Good flowers to welcome the new year are pussy willow, as these symbolise the arrival of prosperity, plum blossom as they symbolize resilience and perseverance, and peony, because they are emblems of love, beauty and affection. But simple azaleas, hyacinths or narcissus will also do!

Thaipusam

25 Jan 2011 - About a week ago Malaysia observed a national holiday for Thaipusam. Thaipusam is a Hindu Festival celebrated mainly by the Tamil community. The festival commemorates when Parvati gave Murugan a spear so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman. It has now been revealed that more than 1,4 million devotees and visitors were at Batu Caves to celebrate Thaipusam on Thursday alone. The Secretary says he had never seen such a large crowd in recent years. "We expected 1.3 million people to come this year, but the actual figure is 100,000 more," he said, adding that last year sw 1,2 million people thronging to the temple. One of the problems connected to the large crowds is rubbish collection. Although the cleaning-up process started immediately after Thaipusam, it took several days to clean up the mess. Workers had collected two rubbish bins of slippers besides finding several identity cards and some money.

City Cows

24 Jan 2011 - It is almost three months in Malaysia and so far the country has been full of surprises. It is a bit difficult to follow complicated local politics, but some people are not afraid to speak their minds. Residents from the Bandar Bahru Sentul area close to KL want to banish cows from their neighborhood, because they affect traffic flow when crossing the road to a ground to graze. But the owner of the cows is locking horns with the neighborhood, and he insists their claim is just a load of bull. He said "I have workers who monitor the cows every day. My cows do not wander off aimlessly." It must be rather stressful for these city cows, and they have already limited space close to car exhausts and skyscrapers. The Klang Valley is no more the idyllic valley for grazing cows as there are hardly any meadows for them to laze or graze the day away. I like to stand up for these marginalized city cows, who remain unappreciated for all their milk, butter, cheese, yoghurt, cream, hamburgers and probably your pair of shoes. Cows have rights too.

Year of the Rabbit

23 Jan 2011 - As demand for pet bunnies grows ahead of the Chinese Year of the Rabbit, animal rights group Peta urged consumers to forgo adopting the furry animals as household companions. Pet shops in China and elsewhere in Asia have seen soaring sales of rabbits in the run-up to the Lunar New Year which begins Feb 3. Peta warned that the animals are often abandoned once the novelty wears off. "There is no better time to help rabbits than during the Year of the Rabbit, and you can do so by refusing to support the pet trade that causes so many animals to suffer", said Peta campaigner Maggie Chen. "Rabbits are not just cute and fluffy, but they are high-maintenance animals who require significant resources, equipment, attention and veterinary care.". A group of "crush fetishists sparked an online furore last November after uploading graphic videos showing attractive young Chinese women crushing small rabbits.

Appalachian Cooking

22 Jan 2011 - For the first time ever I met a TV cook. For 10 years Mark Sohn had a half hour cooking show on one of the USA network. He specializes in Appalachian cooking. From his website I learned that the foods of Appalachia are the medium for the history of a creative culture and a proud people. This is the story of pigs and chickens, corn and beans, and apples and peaches as they reflect the culture that has grown from the region's topography, climate, and soil. Mark Sohn has also written a cooking book about Appalachian cooking which unfolds the ways of a table that blends Native American, Eastern European, Scotch-Irish, black, and Hispanic influences to become something new and uniquely American. He shows how food traditions in Appalachia have developed over two centuries from dinner on the grounds, church picnics, school lunches, and family reunions as he celebrates regional signatures such as dumplings, moonshine, and country ham. Food and folkways go hand in hand as he examines wild plants, cast-iron cookware, and the nature of the Appalachian homeplace.

KL/Amsterdam

22 Jan 2011 - The last weeks I heard about a number of incidents involving bag-snatching, pickpocketing and theft in town. I had this (stupid) impression that Kuala Lumpur is a relatively safe city, but it turns out to be a city like any other in the world, where junks and criminals are always on the look-out preying for an opportunity to make some quick bucks. It reminds of the zillion times that my bicycle got stolen in Amsterdam. Bicycle-theft is probably still a reality for students and other folks in Amsterdam, but I read that the city also tops the Dutch list of car thefts. In particular the Volkswagen Golf appears to be popular. More than 17,000 cars were stolen in Holland In 2010, and 2,200 car thefts occurred in Amsterdam. Wow! This figure is about the same as 5 years ago, which must be quite frustrating for the police officers in charge and of course for the victim car-owners. I remember that miserable feeling when you realized that your bicycle had been stolen, but - damn - how lousy would it feel if your car is missing from its parking place?

Sopranos in Hong Kong

21 Jan 2011 - A copied this pice for the blogger BigWhiteGuy in Hong Kong. Never piss off a Hong Kong triad member, because they can hold a grudge. One might recall the 2009 murder of a triad member outside the Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel. It turns out that was precipitated by a bar fight involving dozens of triads in 2006, in which the Red Pole smashed a whiskey bottle over the head of a rival gangster, causing loss of face and leaving him with a scar running down the right side of his face and throat (a literal loss of face, I would say). That's when the plotting began, culminating in the attack three years later, which saw the victim hit by a car and then hacked with knives.And the reason for the bar fight? Because one triad shouted at a bar girl. Rude behavior led to someone getting whacked. If it weren't Chinese it could have been an episode of The Sopranos.

Miracle Machine

20 Jan 2011 - A man whose heart had stopped was brought back to life after 3,5 hours thanks to a machine that performed 20,000 life-saving compressions. Arun Bhasin, 53, was found lying unconscious in Croydon last month. He was rushed to Croydon University Hospital, but suffered a cardiac arrest. He was then hooked up to a revolutionary cardiac support machine. The Zoll AutoPulse pump, which is battery-operated, performed 100 compressions per minute. It maintained Bhasin's heartbeat for more than three hours. Bhasin, who is on the road to recovery, said: "I should be dead. I cannot believe they kept me alive for so long. It's a miracle." I would love to know what Bhasin experienced while he was on the other side.

Toylets

19 Jan 2010 - There is great news for gadgets-lovers all over the world, because in Tokyo the Toylets.have been introduced. The Toylets have been launched by computer-game producer Sega, who transformed a number of public toilets in Toylets. Toylets have a pressure sensor in the otherwise innocuous urinals, which responds to the pressure of your urinal delivery. If you piss full strength into the right direction your delivery helps to blow up a girls' skirt, while an other application offers multiplayer competition. Your pressure is measured against the pressure of your predecessor to have used the urinoir. So hallelujah, the lives of Japanese men has now been enlightened with a measurable way to have pissing contests. The Toylets have been installed in four pubs and game halls, and are currently being tested. I guess after this news it's official: I will move to Japan. Who will join?

Ophiuchus

18 Jan 2011 - So, I thought I was an Aquarius, but after reading about a new zodiac sign it seems this is no longer true. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune a 13th constellation, Ophiuchus - Greek for serpent bearer - is being widely regarded as a new zodiac sign. Astronomy instructor Parke Kunkle also explains that the moon's gravitation pull has made the earth "wobble" around its axis which shifts the stars allignment with about a month. So suddenly I find myself being a Capricorn! Astronomers are quoted saying this is nothing new as Pphiuchus has been there for thousands of years, but that the ancients who discovered the constellations left out one constellation to fit the months of the calendar. The news has also reached social platform Twitter, where people reacted in shock. Twitter-bird @HarryPotterish said "First we were told that Pluto is not a planet and now there is a new zodiac sign: childhood was a bloody lie!".or @geezi who twittered "Damn you Ophiuchus, I was born a Virgo and I will die a Virgo." Anyway, if you are born between Nov 30 - Dec 17, you are Ophiuchus.

TukTuk Cheating

17 Jan 2011 - Do you also hate to be cheated by taxi drivers? Well, hope is appearing on the horizon. It could spell the end for cheating autorickshaw drivers in India, the scourge of commuters and foreign tourists alike.An Indian company has developed a mobile phone application that allows consumers to calculate the fare they should apy for a journey rather than the often inflated amount demanded by drivers. MindHelix Technologies, a software company based in Kerala, has launched its TukTuk Meter application that uses Global Positioining System (GPS) technology to calculate routes and their costs. "Anyone with a GPS enabled mobile phone camn download the application for free and use it when they are traveling in public transport", said Kalidasan, the company's Kochi-based Chief of Operations. "No autorickshaw driver can fleece you if you have a TukTuk Meter installed in your phone". He said the application can be used anywhere in India, even in remote areas.

Watson

16 Jan 2011 - Remember computer HAL from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: a Space Odyssey? Well, the future is here. Watson, a supercomputer which IBM claims is as a profound advance in artificial intelligence, edged out jeopardy! game show champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter on  Thursday in a short practice round ahead of a million-dollar tournament that will be televised next month. It is powered by 10 racks of servers running the Linux operating system. It's not connected t the internet but has digested encyclopedias, dictionaries, books, news, movies scripts and more. John Kelly III, IBM Director of research said the technology could help doctors sift through massive amounts of information to draw conclusions for patient treatment and care.

Sally, Sam, Christine, Cedric and Sharon

15 Jan 2011 - In a few weeks we will enter the Year of the Rabbit, and a friend gave me the 2011 Chinese Almanac in preparation. It is full with useful and not-so-useful hints and tips, and the coming days it will keep me busy discovering my destiny. From what I got so far, the prediction is that my year will be "stable", which seems a euphemism for "boring". Some how, I have the feeling hat Year of the Rabbit will not be boring at all, so let's ee who is right. However, I was immediately drawn to the chapter about "Naming Your Pets". It is argued that naming pets is no different from naming babies. One first has to determine the birthday of the pet. The nature of a name is determined by the pronunciation: names of Wood begin with a dental consonant, names of Fire nature begin with a palatal consonant, and so on. According to Chinese wisdom an animal of Metal nature would suit me best, and I should name him/her Sally, Sam, Christine, Cedric or Sharon. I don't think I will ever have a pet ...

Ai Weiwei

14 Jan 2011 - Most of the time I like to keep the tone of message of this blog light, but sometimes there is a need to raise more serious issues. And as I care a great deal for China and the Chinese people these serious often have to do with the Middle Kingdom. BBC reports that demolition workers have torn down the Shanghai studio of Ai Weiwei - a move he says is linked to his pilitical activism. Mr Ai said that it only took a day for the workers to flatten everything. He initially had permission to build the studio, but later the permission was revoked under claims that he had failed to follow planning procedures. Mr Ai called the demolition order "ridiculous". Ai Weiwei is one of China's most famous contemporary artists, and he was involved in creating the Olympic "Bird's Nest" stadium in his hometown Beijing. He has been an outspoken critic of China's leaders and the human rights situation in the country.

Sharks in Queensland

13 Jan 2011 - The news wires are vbuzzing with the unprecedented floods in Queensland, Australia. On top of the misery and dismay caused by the rising waters, the local population is now reported to be confronted with a new challenge: sharks swimming in their backyard. Residents of the town of Goodna reported spotting a dangerous bull shark. These sharks are known to attack human beings, and it is feared that they are agressive and looking for food. And not only sharks are causing havoc, there are also reports of crocodiles at drift and of poisonous snakes swimming in the waters. The local advice to avoid the waters all together, but that is easier said than done when your living room in under water.

Pandamania

12 Jan 2010 - For the first time in nearly two decades two giant pandas will be brought from China to the United Kingdom. The two animals will be brought to the Edinburgh Zoo. The project represents the culmination of five year of diplomatic negotiations at a high level. One wonders what it is that makes the panda so engaging? According to Ron Swalsgood, Director of Applied Animal Ecology it is because the panda reminds us of ourselves. "they eat sitting up with their hands and their special pseudo thumb", he told the BBC. Zoo visitos love to see pandas eating and they are often amazed by the way they handle their food. The classic pose of the panda eating his food resembles a man or woman sitting on the floor. Mr. Swalsgood also believe we love pandas because of their distinctive eyes. Their eye patches look their eyes look bigger. I went to see Pandas in Hong Kong's Ocean Park, but all did was shit. Maybe we admire that too.