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 But the number of fake notes withdrawn by officials dropped 12,6% to 751,000.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.