Thai Pomelo Salad

14 Nov 2010 - This is probably one of the easiest recipes ever: You will need:
300 gr. pomelo (peeled, small pieces)
1/2 tsp. chili
1/2 tsp dried shrimp
50 gr. pieces of boneless chicken
30 gr. red onion (chopped)
30 gr. greast coconut
2 tsp. lime juice
1 tsp. fish sauce
1 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
50 gr. cashew nuts

The recipe is so easy because you simply have to mix all the ingredients and top with the cashew nuts before serving. You can also add shrimps. Guaranteed success.

Be Your Own NGO

14 Nov 2010 - Former US President Bill Clinton urged students and guests attending his talk at the Inti International University to become their own non-governmental organization by contributing their time and skills to the world's future. "each one of us needs to become our own NGO, by contributing towards the growth and well-being of our community and country, and the world as a whole by doing our part as responsible citizens. You don't have to be a billionaire like Bill Gates or a former President like me, in order to make a difference in the world. You have the power to do whatever, regardless what the circumstances are, : he said in his address to students., business and government officials at Inti International University. He also said that the 21st century hasthree main challenges to overcome: inequality, unsustainability and instability. 

Star Trek

13 Nov 2010 - Last Sunday we had the comeback Star Trek movie on HBO, and it was great fun. Star Trek has a huge fan base, and I believe the fans were not disappointed by the re-make of the classic late 1960s TV series. The 2010 story about the crew of starship Enterprise was entertaining and full of good action. Director J.J. Abrams, known from hit series Lost and Alias, reinvented Star Trek and brought it into the 21st century. He chose a younger cast for his reboot, with sexy Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto taking on the roles of Captain Kirk and Spock respectively. He also added less known villains, the Romulans, into the picture. The result is a fast-paced reintroduction into the Star Trek universe, and it is much edgier than all previous incarnations. It is a big compliment that both die-hards and newcomers appreciated the movie. So did I.

Meet Patty

12 Nov 2010 - A typical hamburger patty is packed with the meat and fat of 50 to 100 cattle from two or four countries. Eat two hamburgers a week - as the average American does - and in a year's time you have wolfed down 5,200 to 10, 440 cattle. High quality hamburger patties are made entirely of minced beef and seasonings. The patty needs to be cooked at an internal temperature of 80 degrees Celsius as food-borne bacteria such as E-coli may enter due to improper preparation of the meat. In Japan, restaurants regularly serve the hamburger meat without the bun, and call it a hamburger steak. They are served with brown sauce or occasionally in Japanese curries. Mind you, I am talking about the perfect patty here, and I am not sure if you will get the same quality in MacDonalds or the Burger King.

The First Asian Games

12 Nov 2010 - The Guangzhou Asian Games will soon be underway. It all started for the Asian Games at 1948 Summer Olympics in London. Sportsmen from China and the Philippines were reminiscing about having an event where Asian athletes could call their own. This led to the formation of the Asian Athletic Federation, and the announcement of the start of the Asian Games. On March 1951, 489 athletes from 11 countries came to New Delhi, India to show their support and compete. The first ever gold medalist was a Singaporean - N.C. Kok, who won the 1500 meters swimming freestyle gold. The Games were also notable for Japan's first-place performance, a showing made more noticeable because they were barred from the London Games for initiating the Pacific war. However, their misdeeds in warfare did not prevent them from flexing their sporting muscles.

Supermarket Selling

10 Nov 2010 - Every day we go to the supermarket, we buy something and we leave. It may sound as suimple as that, but there is a whole system at work to motivate us to buy more more more. The supermarkets prefer us to shop using a trolley as it looks rather empty with only one or two items and the impulse may be to buy more. The milk is placed at the back, so we have to pass many temptations to get there and walk to the cashier. We find some small items like chocolates and chewing at the cashier, as we may buy them on an impulse. And make no mistake: the most expensive items are placed at eye level, so we notice them easily and may not search the shelves for cheaper varieties. The free sampling and specific events are of course also only designed with the only purpose in mind to let us buy more. There is nothing wrong with all these marketing tricks, but I am sure many people are not aware of them. Is that manipulation?

Saturday Night Fever

9 Nov 2010 - Believe it or not, but John Travolta turns 60. For those of us growing up in the 1970s the movie Saturday Night fever, starring John Travolta, defined a generation. After the Beatles and the Stones in the 1960 the disco-era started around 1977 when Travolta strut his funky stuff on the dance floor. The impact of the iconic movie was tremendous, because soon after its release all men were all wearing high heal and got their leisure suits on, while polyester shirts were THE fashion item. Interesting enough, John Travolta's character Tony looked ubercool in this outfit, but some of us looked right out ridiculous in the outfit. The high heels also meant a health hazard for many, as many ankles were twisted while clomping around. However, the white suit and black polyester shirt became iconic after Travolta appeared on the poster wearing the signature suit. 

Man in Disguise

8 Nov 2010 - A young Chinese man, who boarded an Air Canada flight in Hong Kong elaborately disguised as an elderly white male, is seeking refugee status in Canada. Border officials were stunned and called it an "unbelievable case of concealment". The man boarded the flight in Hong Kong wearing a remarkable silicone mask to make him look like an elderly man, which obviously worked. The man boarded the flight as an elderly Caucasian who appeared to have youthful looking hands. During the flight he went to the washroom and re-appeared as a young Asian male in his early 20s. Reports said the man had a bag with him with the silicon head, a brown leather cap, glasses and a think brown cardigan. Some passengers and cabin crew thought the man had swapped seats during the flight. The reports did not say if his Passport name revealed the name Bond or Houdini (the cartoon is from the SCMP).

Fatwa on Women Cashiers

7 Nov 2010 - Women cashiers were at work in several supermarkets in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia as their employer ignored a fatwa by the country's highest religious authority forbidding female checkout clerks. The popular Marhaba chain kept the women on the job despite the week old ruling, which contradicted a key government policy to create jobs for women. A Marhaba official said the women would keep working until they received an order from the Labor-ministry to stop the practice, which only began in the past three months after the Ministry said it was permitted. Marhaba has more than 25 women working in its branches. The official fatwa-issuing body under the Council of Senior Scholars ruled that the cashier jobs were not permissible, because they resulted in the women mixing with unrelated men.

Durian buffet

7 Nov. 2010 - First of all: I really do not like durian fruit. But I am now in the part of the world where people grave for the smelly fruit. The best way to enjoy durian is - they say fresh from the market. And that is not the supermarket, but the wet market. The latest trend is the durian buffet, which can be found at the roadside in KL and other parts of Malaysia. At jalan SS2 at least four durian stalls are vying for the customers' attention, but most of them offer the same deal: RM10 for all you can eat (fresh kampaung durians only). It sounds like the perfect treat for durian-lovers (and there are many), but ther is also a downside. One has to finish a durian before ordering again, and the stall holder picks the durian for the customer. Effectively, that means one is bound to get some watery or rotten ones sometimes. Not for me!

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.

Social Media Training

30 Oct 2010 - Beijing city officials are being trained to use the mainland's fast-growing social media in the latest government move to guide and monitor public opinion, state media said. The City's Communist party school is offering a training to "bureau-level leading cadres" to help "leaders catch up with internet currents", the Legal Evening news reported. The training will "raise cadres' understanding of information dissemination, and social and public sentiment in order to better respond to sudden crisis", it said. Mainland blogs, chat rooms and other sites have become lively outlets for expression given traditional media are tightly controlled and freedom of speech is curtailed. In particualr, Twitter-like microblogging sites have grown fast, with tens of  millions of people believed to have opened accounts in the past year alone. The propaganda machine has reached the 21st century.

No MIni-Skirts

29 Oct - The mayor of the southern Italian seaside town of Castellammare di Stabia got his way on Monday, when the city council approved a ban on football games in public parks and squares, blasphemy out loud and "very skimpy clothes". Conservative Mayor Luigi Bobbio said that miniskirts and other provocative outfits would still be allowed as long as they were not too revealing. "its a matter of commonsense, of common decency,: he says. A handful of local female politicians protested in front of the town's city hall during Monday's vote, if any, wore miniskirts. The measures also included a ban on men going around shirtless. Violations will be punished with a fine of up to EUR 500. The measures went into force immediately, Bobbio said.

Superbug

29 Oct 2010 - More than 7 years ago I arrived in Hong Kong in the middle of the SARS outbreak. I clearly remember the scary world of empty streets and masked faces. SARS killed almost 300 people in Hong Kong and many more worldwide. Luckily, it never came back. It seems somewhat ironic that I picked up that the first case of the antibiotic-resistant superbug infection was detected in Malaysia. The female patient has made a full recovery and - according to the Ministry of Health spokesperson - poses no threat to the public, the Ministry continues to take precautionary measures to ensure that the bacteria does not spread.

Dead Celebrity

28 Oct 2010 - Michael Jackson's sudden death sparked an outpouring of grief around the world, but fans also opened their wallets to make him this year's top-earning dead celebrity with USD 275 million, Forbes Magazine mentioned. Jackson brought in more than the combined total of the other 12 celebrities on the list, and he was ranked third on last years' over all list. Elvis Presley came in second and The Lord of the Rings author Tolkien came third, just before Charles Schultz, the creator of Charlie Brown. John Lennon ranked number five. "Jackson's top spot should come as no surprise given the renewed interest in his music, videos and all other things related to Michael Jackson," Forbes writer Lacey Rose said.

Mister Donut

28 Oct 2010 - A Mister Donut store in Taiwan has been fined thousands of dollars for "smell pollution" after neighbors complained that the aroma of the sweet, fried pastries was overpowering, an official said. The shop operated by food giant President Chain Store must pay TWD 100,000 (HKD 25,300) after inspectors checked out the complaints, showing it is not only bad smells which fall foul of environmental regulations, The Taipei city official said. "Our team of odour inspectors ruled that the smell from the store was above regulated level after receiving complaints from nearby residents that it was too much for them," she said. inever there was job like "odour inspector" - maybe it is something to be introduced for Hong Kong. The Hong Kong residents fighting extension of a garbage dump would have somebody to turn to?

Whale World Record

28 Oct 2010 - We have the Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games, the Asia Games, the East Asia Games et cetera; people aim for the highest possible and break new records all the times. The number one spot will bring fame and glory, but little attention goes to animals who set amazing records. A female humpback whale swam 9,650 km from Brazil to Madagascar, a journey that set a world record for a migrating mammal. The findings help researchers understand the behavior of the whales, Peter  Stevick of the College of the Atlantic in Maine wrote in the Biology Letters. The whale, identified by her natural marking and DNA, was first seen off in Brazil in August 1999. She will not even be mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records.

Great Picture (23)

26 Oct 2010 - Some pictures show misery, disaster and accidents. This accident happened yesterday in Hong Kong when a bus plunged off an overpass, but miraculously the taxi drivers were not seriously hurt - possibly because they were fast asleep in their cars and had a guardian angel watching over them? The bus had no passengers on board but the busdriver was critically wounded. The picture was published in the SCMP, and made by Felix Wong.

No Kissing

26 Oct 2010 - Amourous couples at theMandarin Gallery on Orchard Road in Singapore have to find a new make-out spot after the mall put up no-kissing signs in its plush rest areas. The kissing crackdown, together with bans on sleeping and eating, started in July. Three individual signs, framed as one, show a fork and spoon, a cartoon man lying down snoozing and a kissing cartoon couple holding hands, with a heart between them - all with a bold red line drawn through. It was put up after a handful of complaints to the mall management about bad behaviour by inconsiderate shoppers ranging from people hogging couches to young canoodlers. Tenants whose shopfronts face the lounge areas say the signs - especially the kissing one - are much needed, even if they may raise a fewe eyebrows. I guess that point the Mandarin  Gallery tries to make is that one is welcome for shopping only.

Raising Orchard Road

24 Oct 2010 - I am still in Singapore and I read in the Strait Times newspaper that the Singapore Government plans to raise Orchard Road to a new level, literally, under a SGD 26 million project to stave off future floods. A low lying stretch of the shopping belt, from Orchard Parade Hotel to Cairnhill, will be raised by an average of 30 cm to prevent rainwater from overflowing onto the roads. Work will begin in November and is expected to be finished by the middle of 2011. It sounds like a major exercise, but raising the road appears a "tried and proven" method that can help prevent a recurrence of the flash floods that deluged parts of Orchard Road in June and |July this year. Maybe the Singapore Government can consult the Maldives before the islands sinks into the sea because of global warming. And maybe this is also something for the motherland?

Quote of the Day (23)

24 Oct 2010 - Some people tend to joke that Singapore is boring, but I disagree. The place has changed a lot over the last years and has now a rather groovy soul. But Singapore still suffers from the stigma of being a place where chewing gum is banned, and vandalizers are caned. What do Singaporeans think of the stigma themselves? Alfian Sa'at says: "I think it's been one big tedious and frustrating striptease when it comes to liberalization policies in Singapore. They'll flash a bit of thigh, but then cover up some other spot. So you are hopeful and tantalized for a moment - yay, there's a multi-tier film rating system - and then it stops short of expactations. Ditto with coming up with Speakers' corner and than telling you that a "cause-related gathering" of ONE person outside its parameters can result in a police officer telling yo to move on". Arrrr, maybe Singapore has still some way to go?

SGP = HKG

23 Oct 2010 - People in Hong Kong like to compare. They compare everything and often argue that others are more privileged than themselves or that life is not fair to them. But people also take great pride in the "miracle called Hong Kong", although recently more critical voices about the functioning and the future of the territory are heard. people often compare Hong Kong to Singapore, and of course they argue that Hong Kong is better. Singaporeans seem to be more relaxed about this rivalry, and point out the uniqueness and the comparisons between the two sisters. I came across an interesting article that compares the two, so it also happens here in the Lion's city: Teh Marik = Milk Tea, Universal Sudios = HK Disneyland, Casinos= Macau, Fishhead curry = Curry Fish balls, Kopi = Yuen Yang, MRT = MTR, Geyiang = Mongkok and Love Lettrs = Egg Rolls. The sisters have so much to offer ...

Clean Asia Games?

23 Oct 2010 - The last week has mostly been grey and hazy in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, which is preparing itself to host the Asia Games in November. Hazy days are nothing special, most days are rather grey. But the city Guangzhou Government chose to take a different take on things and launched a massive propaganda campaign  to pronounce the city ready to take on the grand event. Speaking at a press Conference Mayor Wan Qingliang said "Guangzhou's sky is bluer and the water is clearer. Some citizens said they could enjoy the sunshine during the day and the moonlight during the night. Many could even count the stars in the night sky while taking a stroll." People in the audience were shocked and in disbelief. Residents cannot recall any night in the last year when they saw stars shining in the sky in downtown Guangzhou. Guangzhou's rivers are clotted-up and black. Does Guangzhou really need this kind of nonsense to turn the Games into a success. Get real!

5,117 Steps

23 Oct 2010 - People move less and less, and get fatter and fatter. The Western world is affected, but increasingly the phenomena is seen in the East as well, where many people struggle with obesity. Americans do not walk a lot: they prefer the car. The number of steps the average adult Americans walks a day, numbers 5,117 according to a new study. They are outpaced by Australians, Asians and Europeans. Adults in Western Australia average 9,695 steps a day, followed by the Swiss with 9,650. "Five thousand steps is pretty inactive," said David Bassett of the University of Tenessee, the lead author of the study. And just imagine all those mountains those Swiss have to climb while making those steps ...

Inconvenient whistling

22 Oct 2010 - Only in the United States of America, where people can be sued for, well, almost nothing. A man is facing an assault charge for hitting a town hall custodian on the back of the head with a roll of toilet paper, because he was angry the cleaning man was whistling while he worked. Police in Framingham, in the US state of Massachusetts, say Allen Kerner, 55, was in the town hall using the bathroom while the custodian whistled as he replenished toilet rolls. The custodian told police he was in a stall when he was struck. Kerner yelled at him and fled, but he was caught outside. There are probably more serious assaults than being hit on the head with a roll of toilet paper, but with a bit luck the whistling cleaning man walks out with a couple of hundreds of thousands.

Bear on the Loose

22 Oct 2010 - Some news is too good to be true. Singapore authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the Dutch electronics group Philips over their most recent marketing campaign in the city state. In the online video campaign a wild bear appears to be roaming in one of the cities residential areas. Some citizens realized it was a stunt, but the zoo sent some of their staff with a tranquilizer gun on a search for the animal. Philips has apologized for what was in fact a human being in a bear costume. A spokesperson said that the company did not want to cause harm Police said they were investigating Philips for causing a public nuisance under section 268 of the penal code. Unfortunately I did not see the video yet (but would love to), because I wonder what the bear was advertising for? The Philipshave perhaps?

Divorce Record

21 Oct 2010 - After all the happy reports about marriages and weddings earlier this week, it is time for some reality. The number of couples seeking divorce every day on the mainland has reached 4,500, according to state media. The Civil Affairs Ministry said 848,000 couples registered for divorce in the first half of the year, up nearly 10% over the same period last year, the Legal Evening News said. The number of mainland couples splitting up has increased by nearly 8% every year since 2003, when the Government simplified regulations on divorce, the paper said. It is not clear if people also easier get married, and what the main reasons for the increase in break-up's is. Or did many Chinese married couples lead miserable lives, because it was simply too difficult - or expensive - to divorce?

Dying Salamanders

19 Oct 2010 - It has been some time since I wrote about the Shanghai Expo, which is probably a good sign. However, the Expo got in the news again. Thedeats of 15 Chinese giant salamanders at the World Expo are no big deal, officials said. The salamanders were at the Shaanxi province pavillion for three weeks in August. Nine died then, and six died after they were removed to a "quiet indoor" place in Shanghai - they prefer dark, quiet environment and rapid running creeks with water below 25 degrees Celsius. An official from the Hanzhuong Fishing Affairs Supervision Station sniffed at the death of"just a dozen". Chinese giant salamanders, which can grow to a length of up to 1.8 meters, are the largest in the world and have a history of 350 million years. It seems no difference is made in the valuation of salamanders' (and other?) life.

Money From the Sky

18 OCT 2010 - What would you do if money would fall from the sky? Would you stuff your pocket and run? Ot take an other approach? Unfortunately money does not grow on trees, but it seemed to fall from the sky in the United States city of Indianapolis. Police say three bundles of money feel from the back of an armoured car near an intersection in the city. A car hit one of the bundles, sending bills into the air. Witnesses (so there were bystanders; people just witnessing the whole event without getting directly involved) said about 10 people stormed through traffic to fill their arms with cash dollars. Two others stopped to help collect he money and guard it until police arrived.

SARS Thriller

17 Oct 2010 - Last week Hollywood Director Steven Soderbergh re-created flashbacks of the SARS era in the territory, while filing for his new blockbuster movie Contagion. The action thriller about the spread of a deadly virus starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Marion Cotillard is among the handful production that have been allowed to film in Hong Kong's International Airport's no-go zones. One scene filmed at the airport featured Paltrow and Coutillard playing WHO experts. Earlier last week, both ladies were seen at Aberdeen's Tai Pak Floating Restaurant, which was transformed into a casino set. Other scenes were filmed in To Kwa Wan, Mong Kok and Shek O. Around 300 people were hired for a scene in a To Kwa wan factory doubling as the home of "patient zero". The 300 amateur actors played an army of medical staff who turned up to sterilize the apartment.

Planning Sex

17 Oct 2010 - While the Chinese Government is still in panick how to respond to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to mainland intellectual Liu Xiaobo, who is jailed for 11 years for non-patriotic behavior, I picked up the following article. Three gay men have been sentenced to an unspecified number of years in jail and another was ordered detained by Baixa District Peoples' Court in Nanjing for intending to have sex, Xinhuanet reports. police said they discovered the four men in a hotel room while on patrol in the building. The men were not decently dressed and several unused condoms were found in the room. This raises a lot of questions and concerns: people can easily be detained in the mainland, for example for the intend of having sex? What was the police doping in the hotel? What is "not decently dressed"? And shouldn't the guys be applauded for having condoms available in times of  HIV/AIDS? Wakakaka.

Tea Record

16 Oct 2010 - Sri Lanka is known for its internal conflict, culture and beautiful beaches, but it is also one of the world's leading tea producers. It has now become the scene of one of the world's most bizarre records - the largest cup of tea ever. A giant red mug was filled with more than 4,500 liters of water, 64 kilos of tea, 875 kilos of malted milk and 160 kilos of sugar. It was about three times the size of the previous record, which was set last year. The tea was driven around in Colombo, Sri Lanka's capital, and handed out to locals in small plastic cups. The tea came from Sri Lanka's own estates, and was brewed in a giant urn in a way that is popular on the subcontinent: with lots of sugar and malted milk. A representative from Guinness World Records certified the attempt to set a world record.

Cebu Pacific

15 Oct 2010 - Philippines budget airline Cebu Pacific flew a second regular flight with dancing cabin crew this week. This time they used men instead of women after criticism that the original stunt was sexist. The original dance, videotaped by a passenger, became a YouTube sensation a week ago, with a safety demonstration using female cabin staff gyrating to Lady Gaga. The objective was to let passengers pay attention to the security briefing, as most passengers take the information for granted or doze off. Passengers seemed to enjoy the new vibe - and they paid attention. But several Philippines legislators and the union for the country's flag carrier Philippines Airlines said it was demeaning to women. Cebu Pacific has now shown that men can dance too.

199 Million Vehicles

15 Oct 2010 - The number of vehicles on mainland roads has hit 199 million, as was yesterday reported in the SCMP. The 199 million include more than 85 million cars, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Public Security yesterday (it is a bit unexpected that this Ministry made the statement - the Chinese leadership must be concerned about the dangers of all those vehicles on the roads?). The Ministry's definition of motor vehicles includes motorcycles, tractors, trucks and cars. A total of 205 million mainlanders have learned to drive (or at least they have passed the test). Of these, 144 million have learned to drive cars, the Ministry said. The number of vehicles on the mainland is increasing at a rate of more than 20 million a year and the number of drivers is growing at more than 22 million a year. China overtook the United States to become the world's largest carmaker and market last year.

Quote of the Day (23)

14 Oct 2010 - Today the world celebrates the miracle rescue of 33 trapped miners in Chile. The miners emerged like clockwork in their Phoenix 2 rescue capsule, happily embracing wives, children, mothers and the Chilean President Pinera. The men were trapped for 69 days in a chambers 625 meters underground. It was touching to see the happy faces of the miners, and it was sometimes amazing how fit and healthy they looked after their ordeal. Rescued miner Mario Sepulveda said "I have been with God and I have been with the devil. I fought between the two. I seized the hand of God, it was the best hand. I always knew God would get us out of there.". Tribute also goes to the Chilean and international rescue team, who did an amazing job.

London scam

14 Oct 2010 - It has happened to most of us: at a certain moment in life you fall the victim of a thief, are pick-pocketed or otherwise cheated. Three Brits found a very cunning way to scam Japanese tourists, but have now been jailed. It was reported that the group particularly targeted Japanese or other Asian tourist and managed to trick more than 100 innocent victims into their scam. The group targeted tourists at attractions like the British Museum and the Oxford Street shopping area. One, a woman, would pose as a tourist and ask a genuine visitor for directions or to take a photo for her. Other gang members would then approach and pretend to be police officers and demand details of the tourist identity and credit cards. The woman would comply and encourage the genuine tourists to do so as well. The group would then take the cards and withdraw cash or make expensive purchases. Be warned.

Monkey Chasers

13 Oct 2010 - A few days ago (see 3 Oct 2010) I shared how monkeys assisted the Delhi police in helping chasing thieving monkeys away. Maybe this is something for Taiwan. A Government-sponsored programme to boost employment has been set up and 'monkey chasers' are now being recruited. The programme is set up in Kaohsiung city in southern Taiwan, and a salary of NT 17,600 (HKD 4,420) a month is offered for staff charged keeping the primates from developing too disturbing behavioral patterns. "The monkey chasers will tell people not to feed wild monkeys, as that will lead them to develop abnormal behavior such as grabbing people's food or invading homes. Maybe this is also something for Hong Kong's Tsuen Wan Country Park?

Malaysian addicts

12 Oct 2010 - So ... , in a few days I will move to Malaysia. What to say about my new homeland? The BBC published the results of a study that indicate that Malaysians are the worlds most serious social networks addicts. The BBC reported that a TNS report revealed that - on average - Malaysians have the highest number of "friends" on online social networks. The report found that Malaysian have on average 233 friends, with fellow Asian nation Japan at the bottom of the list with only 29 friends. China also scored low with only 69 friends, but then again China has a lot of people who are not yet active on the internet. The TNS report also revealed that Malaysians spend on average nine hours per week on social network platforms - another world record. Malaysians spend more time on Facebook, Twitter and others than on e-mail, and the possibility to have mobile internet connection greatly enhanced their participation. I just checked and I have more than 350 Facebook friends, so I will fit in nicely.

Mc Wedding

12 Oct 2010 - More about weddings. From 1st January selected McDonalds restaurants in Hong Kong will offer a wedding banquet service. Instead of traditional - and pricey - banquet food like shark's fin soup, abalone or roasted pork skin,  McDonald's Hong Kong will offer a fast food variety of French fries for starters, sundaes and milkshakes for dessert, and strictly soft drinks only for the wedding toasts. Showpiece is the wedding cake, which is specially made with apple pies, burgers of your choice and even filet-o-fish. Ronald MacDonald is available to increase the happiness (or horror) of the moment. "Traditionally weddings use cherries for the newlyweds to eat together and kiss. We will have French Fries for them to kiss", says Helen Cheung , director of corporate communications at McDonald's Hong Kong.

10/10/10

11 Oct 2010 - Tens of thousands of couples went to their marriage registry on the mainland yesterday as they did not want to miss the once in a century 'lucky date'. More than 9,000 tied the knot on the 'triple lucky' day in Beijing alone, with some having to wait in line from 1h30 am onwards. Registration officials say there is a growing trend to pick wedding dates that match auspicious numbers, particularly dates where all the numbers collide. Some couples even negotiated for the 10h10 am spot. In many cities authorities set out special measures to cope with the additional work pressure, as the workload was sometimes more than ten times compared to average sundays. In Xian, where 3,000 couples wanted to get married, authorities stopped divorce proceedings to give way to the happy marriages. Hong Kong also had its share of lucky date marriages, but things were not as crazy as in the mainland.

Shooting fugitives

11 Oct 2010 - People do all kinds of crazy things for entertainment and there is money in practically everything. These two rather general statements to introduce the story about German student who has created a computer game giving players a taste of life as an East German border guard shooting political fugitives fleeing to the West during the cold war. The game caused outrage with victims' relatives and in German society. Those of us who grew up in the cold war era or who have visited Berlin's checkpoint Charlie or other border crossings can empathize. Jens Stober, the student involved, was not impressed: "It is a novel way of encouraging young people to take an interest and coming to terms with recent German history". This fall Germany celebrates the 21st anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall. There must be other ways to commemorate than silly computer games.

John Lennon's Birthday

10 Oct 2010 - Yesterday a monument to remember John Lennon has been unveiled in Liverpool by his first wife Cynthia and son Julian on what would have been the Beatles' 70th birthday. The statue is intended to act as a shrine for fans who want to pay tribute to Lennon in his home city. In the shape of a globe with doves flying above, it is also designed to be monument for peace. The global birthday celebrations will include a performance by his widow Yoko Ono in Reykyavik, Iceland. In New York, Lennon's original band the Quarrymen will headline a concert and fans are gathering to pay tribute to the star in Central Park. The area in the park is known as Strawberry Fields, near the spot where Lennon was shot in 1980.

Kimchi crisis

10 Oct 2010 - South Koreans love their kimchi. Kimchi is a local dish made of fermented vegetables, mostly cabbage, with varied seasonings. However, the price for Chinese cabbage has recently soared. Not too long ago 2,5 kgs of cabbage did 2,480 won (HKD 16.87) on the local markets, but now one needs to pay up to 11,500 won. The rising prices have resulted in a kimchi crisis. Company cafetarias have reduced the amount they offer workers and some restaurants charge for refills - which was unheard of until recently. Chinese cabbage needs steady, cool weather to grow ell. But this year's rain and heat has ruined many crops in China. The farmers are suffering valuable income, but the South Koreans are suffering an identity crisis.

Mayonnaise on the Road

9 Oct 2010 - Since the movie "Pulp Fiction" the world knows that the Dutch love their fries with mayonnaise. A few years ago I found out - to my big surprise - that the Japanese also enjoy their bit of mayonnaise. However, sometimes the mayonnaise distribution does not go as planned. A load of mayonnaise recently fell of the back of a lorry in japan and caused an eight-vehicle pile up, leaving three people injured. The accident, involving a motorcycle, two trucks and five cars, closed parts of a two lane highway for five hours in Hyogo prefecture, a police spokesperson said. Luckily nobody was seriously injured. The spokesperson explained  "What probably happened is that cars travellling behind the truck squashed the bottles of mayonnaise, spreading it on the road. The ingredients of eggs, vinegar and oil mean it is more slick and dangerous than snow."

Great Picture (22)

8 Oct 2010 - As mentioned a few days ago, I love pictures that tell a story. Sometimes the story is crystal clear, but it is even better when there is something to guess. I picked up this picture from the internet (sorry - the photographer was not named) and it is a typical picture that made me think. The symbolism is rather obvious: stormy weather ahead. Will the ship continue its course or change direction? The captain seems pretty determined to sail on, and the ship seems sturdy enough to weather the stormy seas.

Earthworms

8 Oct 2010 - I have reported earlier that the Chinese city of Guangzhou is getting ready for the Asia Games in November, but things never go as planned (as the organizers of the Delhi Commonwealth Games have painfully discovered). Hundreds of thousands of earthworms have crawled out onto the streets of Guangzhou, sparking fears that they could be harbingers of an earthquake, the Guangzhou Daily reports. Earthworms were found crawling out from the soil and many died on footpaths on Monday and Tuesday. They were found in various parts of the city, including the Yuexiu, Huadu, Liwan and Baiyun districts, but Li Jianxiong, a local earthworm expert, said the phenomenon was mostly triggered by climate change.