Mark Zuckerberg in Vietnam

Well, who doesn't admire the guy? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can call me whatever you want but I really like him especially now he visited Southeast Asia for Christmas!

And the big kicker is -- Vietnam. Where Facebook is banned and him missing on 87 million Vietnamese.

Mark is seen here riding a water buffalo is Sapa, Lao Cai Province in Dec 26.

Wit his entourage (read as groupies) visiting a minority village nearby.

Whoops! There he is!

Mark and his girlfriend toured Halong Bay before these photos was taken.

[Photos by AP}

Over 200 New Species Found in SE Asia

A psychedelic gecko and a monkey with an "Elvis" hairdo are among 208 new species described last year by scientists in the Mekong River region of Southeast Asia.

The region is home to some of the world's most endangered species, including tigers, Asian elephants, Mekong dolphins and Mekong giant catfish, the group said.

The Mekong flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

In October, WWF announced Vietnam has lost its last Javan rhinoceros, making the 40 to 60 Javan rhinos living in Indonesia the last remaining members of their species.

Some photos of the newly discovered species...

A new psychedelic gecko is seen in Vietnam. 

It was discovered in Hon Khoai island, Ca Mau province, in southern Vietnam.

A limestone leaf warbler (Phylloscopus Calciatilis), so-called because it breeds in limestone karsts in Laos and has a loud, unique call.

A vibrantly-spotted newt (Tylototriton notialis) discovered in Laos. 

A self-cloning lizard (Leiolepis ngovantrii).

A monkey with "Elvis" hairdo is seen. It was discovered in Myanmar.

[source]

SENATOR CAYETANO OF THE PHILIPPINES: Bad Liar or Plain Ignorant?

The Inquirer, 27 Nov 2011 - Senator Pia Cayetano and another insignificant senator wanted a senate inquiry on why the Philippines only landed No. 6 overall in the recent SEA Games held in Jakarta-Palembang.

Her lies (or ignorant comment, take your pick) --

"Our country used to be No. 1 or No.2 all the time in Southeast Asian Games. What happened we are No. 6th?" --

Truth: The Philippines only landed at No. 1 in 2005 when it was held in... guess where? -- in The Philippines. It only landed twice at No. 2 since 1959 (in 1983 and 1991.)

She also calls herself a sportsman. Or whatever. That's why she wanted a waste-of-time inquiry. AHAHA! She only rides her bicycle if there's media covering the event.

Nuff said.

Aaaaannd WE'RE BACK!

SAWASDEE KHRUB! Okay.. okay. we're kinda back from a trip to.. uh... now, where were we?! But we'll let you know in the coming posts.

Though we're back... we're not going to post regular features like the old times. Let's leave that in January 2012. When we do our full swing.

In the mean time, you'll see lots of rants which BISEAN was known for. You\ll love it.

Sofia and I would like to thank those who stayed during our long hiatus. You know who you are. We love you bloggers from the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, US and Indonesia. (we'll they were the ones who left notes while we were gone so, don't complaint if you don't find yours on the list.)

Ciao! And see you... uh.. tomorrow. We're flying to Jakarta.

TALE OF THE TWO FASHION PRINCESSES

If you've heard about this well, who cares? I'm telling it again...


Two princesses walk into a fashion show. Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana of Thailand and Princess Beatrice of York were each seated in the front row of the Elie Saab show in Paris.

But when Princess Sirivannavari approached Princess Beatrice to say hello, she was rebuffed by Beatrice's guard, who told her, "She don't want to meet no princesses. She's sitting here, not getting up." Princess Sirivannavari replied, "Is that the sort of Princess you've got?" and went back to her seat.




[source]

10 BEST UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

The U.S. News World's Best Universities rankings, based on the QS World University Rankings, evaluated schools in countries such as China, India, Singapore, and more, and identified these to be the top universities in Asia.


This list was extracted from 100 Best Universities in Asia -- 


1. NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE, Singapore (Rank in Asia: 3rd)


2. NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, Singapore (17)


3. MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY, Thailand (34)


4. UNIVERSITI MALAYA, Malaysia (39)


5. CHULALONGKORN UNIVERSITY, Thailand (47)


6. University of Indonesia, Indonesia (50)
7. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia (53)
8. Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia (57)
9. University of the Philippines, Philippines (62)
10. Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines (65)

[source]

Calling All Diva-Worshippers of Southeast Asia

We wanted to post this long long ago to settle the score who got the highest tone. Mariah worshippers, Lani Misalucha defenders -- here's the singer who can whistle an ENTIRE song...

Georgia Brown of Brazil


****

INDONESIAN FOLKLORE: Ibu Gogo

These little guys were sighted in Flores, Indonesia, from ancient times to the 19th century. They’re described as hairy and short with big guts. They walk like humans. They are said to have mimicked the words people said to them.

Australians and Indonesians found skeletons of a new species of human at an archaeological site. They were believed to live over ten thousand years ago. The skeletons were about a meter tall.

These skeletons were thought to possibly be the Ibu Gogo of Indonesian folklore. The Ibu Gogo have been used by Indonesians as a scare tactic to get their children to behave. The term “Ibu Gogo” means grandmother who eats anything.

Legend has it that the ebu gogo and the people lived in peace… for a while. The Ibu Gogo started killing crops and the humans’ animals. They fled to caves when the humans started killing them. These caves were eventually set on fire after the Ibu Gogo stole a baby. Some were said to have fled to the Liang Bua caves, which is the cave where the archaeologists found the small skeletons.

Explorers Discover Spectacular Caves in Vietnam

For decades, geologists have known that Vietnam is home to some of the world's most spectacular caves, many of them largely unexplored. Now husband-and-wife cavers have documented perhaps the world's largest: Hang Son Doong, big enough in places to accommodate a New York City block of skyscrapers.

The cave in the Annamite Mountains contains a river and jungle (its name translates to "mountain river cave") and even its own thin clouds, and its end remains out of sight. It's part of a network of about 150 caves in central Vietnam near the Laotian border.

Many more photographs taken in Hang San Doong and other newly explored caves have been published in theJanuary issue of National Geographic and on its website, where you can view larger images. The site also has an interactive graphic of the river cave's path.


By Brett Michael Dykes