RECORD BREAKING STINGRAY CAPTURED IN THAILAND

A mega-stingray was caught in the Maeklong River here in Thailand!

This is part of a program to tag stingrays and check their population. Our hero this time is a Brit dude named Ian Welch -- a biologist and a champion angler. Thanks dude, for sharing your expertise. *wink wink*

The stingray weighs 771lbs and measures 7 feet by 7 feet plus its 10 foot long whip, I mean, tail. It took 13 men and 9 hours to finally land it. I so miss Steven Irwin right now *sigh*

And the kicker was...she is pregnant! You could just imagine how big her boyfriend is! Stingrays of her specie can weigh as much as 1,100lbs. The preggy mom was release a few hours later.

See full story here.

There are still a lot of hidden animals in our paradise. Ones that keeps on surprising us.

Speaking of which, have you heard of that news about a mega-mega-phyton striking fear among residents of a certain river in Borneo? The aerial photo (apparently discovered on Google Earth) is circulating the Internet. Uhm...but that's another story...

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THE TEMPLE OF A MILLION BOTTLES

The Wat Phra Maha Chedi (more famously known as Wat Lan Kuad) in Thailand’s Sisaket Province is the latest addition to Southeast Asia’s official list of eco-friendly tours.


It is made of 1.5 million recycled beer bottles donated by just about everybody who knew what was going on since 1984. Monks of this monastery started using coloured beer bottles as decorations, but people started donating and the inflow went on for the next 25 years.

So... what's a monk to do? Use all donated bottles like there's no tomorrow!


Wat Lan Kuad literally means: “Temple of a Million Bottles” and already making news around the globe. The temple complex has 20 buildings all made of recycled bottles and the monks intend to build more!


Green Heineken *Thank you, Denmark!* and brown Chang Beer *Thank you, Chonburi!* bottles are used to make the walls and roofs. It is all spectacular!


There’s also a mosaic of the Buddha made of recycled beer tin-caps! Amazing, isn’t it? =)

Ok, let's sing together now...

1.5 million bottles of beer on the wall
1.5 million bottles of beer!
You take one down, and pass it around
1,499,999 bottles of beer on the wall!

1,499,999 bottles of beer on the wall
1,499,999 bottles of beer!
You take one down, and pass it around
1,499,998 bottles of beer on the wall!

1,499,998 bottles of beer on the wall
1,499,998 bottles of beer!
You take one down, and pass it around
1,499,997 bottles of beer on the wall!...

Geez! Goodluck!

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EVERYTHING IS SET...WE'RE WAITING FOR YOU

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MISSING SOMEBODY BACK IN BANGKOK

It’s an extended trip for me here. This is supposed to be a 7-day journey but I have to stretch it till the 15th – meaning, I will be spending Valentine’s outside Thailand. *sobs* Here’s an open letter to my baby…



Dear Teerak,

I’m terribly missing you. You know who you are. Look under your foot – I wrote my name on it to claim you as mine. =)

I’m sorry I won’t be home in time for Valentine’s. I really am.

But I’ll send you a hundred roses. And keep one for me. So, you’ll get 99 beautiful red roses.

It may not be enough to say how much you mean to me, but…

... it will say how much I miss you (and how I’ll think of you on Valentine’s while I’m away.)


คิดถึงเธอ,

Pisanu

*** If you miss somebody back in Thailand, surprise 'em with 99 roses this Valentine’s Day. Lots of freebies! Click here to send flowers to Thailand or through the banners on this blog.
Or you can do it for the kids .

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IT ALL STARTED IN MOUNT MAKILING

Mount Makiling is one of Southeast Asia’s sacred/mystical mountains. It belongs to the league of Mt. Agung in Bali, Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai, to name a few. It is located in the province of Laguna in the Philippines.

Legend has it that Maria Makiling was a goddess. FilipinaSoul better describes her here and who could tell the legend better than the great Rizal himself here.

Mount Makiling is a volcano – an inactive one, that is *whew! now I think y'know why I'm here*. Parts of the area are supplied with electricity produced from geothermal heat from this mountain. And it made Laguna the hot springs, mud springs, mineral baths centre and a very popular hiking treks of the country.

I would like to commend the efforts of those responsible for preserving the eco-system of this mountain -- UPLB. Lush forests, fresh air, ancient trees dotted the area and I can still hear the sounds of its’ abundant animals living in it. Considering Laguna is just an hour or so away from overly crowded Manila.

At the foot of Makiling is the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) – where the country’s future environmentalists, agro professionals and livestock moguls come from. The IRRI and Philippine Rice Research Institute are also nearby.

Mount Makiling isn’t just all these...

Mount Makiling is a heritage icon of the Tagalogs (the dominant ethnic group of the Philippines) – this mountain provided them legends and beliefs that made their distinct culture that eventually became the basis of all other cultures of the Philippines.

--Pisanu in Los Baños, Laguna
06 Feb 2009

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THE ENIGMATIC LAGUNA (A Prelude)

Laguna is a mysterious place that holds unknown legends and unwritten history yet to be revealed. This province of the Philippines in Luzon Island has intrigued me for some time now –

An ancient volcanic caldera? Was this the area where a Spanish priest burned the written annals of pre-Spanish Philippines? Who was the culprit? Are there any records of him?

Is this, where legend says, lies a Muslim city that was annihilated and totally erased on the map and history? Was Rizal a Muslim royalty? – So many questions on my book, really.

This is how I see Laguna on Luzon Island. It has so many secrets the Filipinos do not know or choose not to know. This area is one of the Philippines' cradles of civilization and holds the secrets of the true history of the Filipinos.

I know that my readers are expecting a tongue-in-cheek travelogue and a couple of misadventures on this 7-day trip. After all, this is how Laguna is to most Filipinos – a tourist destination. Don’t worry; I’ll feature some of ‘em.

Here’s Pisanu, on a trip to the mysterious and enchanting place called Laguna.

--Pisanu in San Pablo City, Laguna
04 Feb 2009

PERFECT SPECIMEN: Michael Copon

The Supreme Philippine

Michael Copon (born Michael Sowell Copon) is an American actor/model. He was born on 13 November 1982 in Chesapeake, Virginia to a Filipino father and a German-American mother.

Michael was cast by the Fox Kids Network as Blue Ranger Lucas less than a year after he graduated from Deep Creek High School (2001). He quickly advanced from high school senior and defensive end on Deep Creek’s football team in 2000 to print model in Los Angeles to Blue Ranger. He is well known for his role as Felix Taggaro in the hit telly series "One Tree Hill".

More of Michael here...


(Click photo to enlarge)



Eurasians are the hottest people on Earth.

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