THE LEGEND OF THE FIRE RHINO

Legend has it…that whenever there’s fire in the forest, big or small, a rhino would show up and stomp on it to put it out. The legend is as simple as that. But a few of us knew that this legend came from Southeast Asia.

They are called “Badak Api” in Malay folklore. Badak means “rhinoceros” and Api means “fire”. The Burmese also has a version of it. The “Fire Rhino” legend lived through the centuries.

The British picked up the legend from Malaya and Burma during their colonial occupation. They brought it with them to Europe. The legend even reached Africa in the height of the colonial era.

Most of us have also seen this legend in the movie The God Must Be Crazy – where a huge white rhino diligently stomp on fire started by the Bushman for cooking. LOL! Rhinos became an international mascot for fire fighters and fire extinguishers too!

But do rhinos REALLY stomp on fire?

Well, nobody knows. And that’s a fact!

There are no documented sightings of it in science.
No records, no reliable witness, no VHS tape,
no digital recordings, no 3Gs, no nothing.


Having said that… the legend of Badak Api lives on.

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SUMATRAN RHINO: The World's Most Special Rhino

Can you imagine a Rhino that can swim rivers and seas? They are known to be the “assault tanks” of the animal kingdom but have the agility of a deer? Whoa! This Rhino can run up and down steep hills and slopes, maneuver in the forest with great stealth and loves mangoes!

This is the Sumatran Rhinoceros – the world’s smallest living rhino and one of the world’s rarest mammals! It is said that only 300 of them are left in the wild.

In the early 1900s, these beautiful creatures used to roam the whole of Southeast Asia to the Himalayas in Bhutan, to eastern India, through Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo. But now, they can only be found in Indonesia and Malaysia; in small packets of rainforests in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo. These are the last of the Hairy Rhinoceros – their common name.

They are small, hairy, gray-brown and has 2 horns. They are in fact the only Asian Rhino with 2 horns. Their legs are covered with reddish-brown hair and stands 4’5” tall when fully matured. Baby Sumatran Rhinos are almost completely covered in fur!



The Sumatran Rhino is the most special of all rhino species. Why? Because they are the most ancient and pre-historic of all 5 species in the world. They first emerge 15 million years ago and closely related to the Woolly Rhino but not to modern species. They are living fossils!

The life span of captive rhinos is around 35 years. Captive breeding was set up by Indonesian and Malaysian governments but not very successful. They were declared critically endangered by IUCN in 1996. The number of Sumatran rhinos has declined 50% due to poaching in the last 10 years.

Save our rainforests. Save the Sumatran Rhino.

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*Photo credits: National Geographic, WWF

ISTANA NURUL IMAN: The World's Largest Palace

The world’s largest Royal Palace is found in our neighboring village called Brunei. The Istana Nurul Iman is where the handsome Sultan and his families live *families in plural form, wink wink*. He also uses it for State functions, running the country, or whatever the heck he pleases. The office of the Prime Minister is also here so he can keep an eye on him*self*. LOL!

How large is the “largest”?

The Istana Nurul Iman was completed in 1984. It cost around US$1.4 Billion ONLY (in those days!). The total floor area is 2,152,782 sq ft. That’s 28 football fields! Whoa! And half the size of the entire Vatican City! And if you fancy building a pyramid as big as in Giza… you can fit 4 of those in the Istana Nurul Iman.
It is larger than the Buckingham Palace in London and the Royal Palace in Madrid.

Well… it only has 1,788 rooms to start, thank you very much. The 257 bathrooms would keep you squeaky clean all day. It has a Throne Hall, a banquet hall that can accommodate 4,000 guests; a mosque that can fit 1,500 people. It has 5 swimming pools, 564 chandeliers, 44 stairwells, and 18 elevators. Did I mention central air conditioning? Ok, add that too. There.

I heard the Sultan is not much into cars.

He keeps 165 Rolls Royce’s ONLY. And his collection of custom-made Ferraris, Bentleys, and Porsche says that he really doesn’t like cars much. Oh my god! His world famous 110-car garage is full! Where does he keep the rest? I want his contact number! Quick!

Giddy-yup delight. The Sultan keeps more than 200 Polo ponies in an air conditioned stable within the palace grounds. I wanna know who rides ‘em and where do they dispose tons of horse**** they gather everyday. Ha!

You wanna visit? Dream on dude! ~ The palace is not open to the public. Uhm, well, except on Hari Raya Aidilfitri where it is an open house to welcome Bruneians and visitors for a 3-day chow fest.

What's in a name? - Istana means "palace", Nurul means "light" and Iman means "believe".

The Istana Nurul Iman –
Treasure of Brunei, Pride of Southeast Asia.

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SHAME, SHAME, SHAME...

Excerpt from the opening speech of Dr. Surin Pitsuwan – the Secretary-General of the ASEAN – at the opening of the “ASEAN Awareness Survey” Discussion...



“My initial perusal of the draft report found a few surprises, concerns and disappointments:

• the most common attitude towards ASEAN was “positive”;

• over 75% of students agreed with the statement “I feel I am a citizen of ASEAN” They may not know yet that the drafters of the ASEAN Charter felt that ASEAN was not yet ready to recognize the ASEAN “citizenship”, the way the European Union does recognize European citizenship; thus the ASEAN Charter is silent on the ASEAN citizenship;

• the positive sentiments were strongest in Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam. I guess they are newcomers and get a lots of benefits by joining the group;

• the positive sentiment was weakest in Myanmar and Singapore;

• only 38.6% of the students in the Philippines could correctly identify the ASEAN flag -- this is quite serious, considering the fact that the Philippines was chairing ASEAN in 2006-2007, when this survey was conducted.

• and worse, only 38.5% of the Thai students knew the ASEAN flag. I am afraid I have a lot more public information work to do in my own country, Thailand !” *end of quote*


The “Awareness of ASEAN” survey was carried out in 2007 at 10 universities in 10 ASEAN member nations. The Top 3 countries that are knowledgeable about the bloc are Vietnam (96%), Laos (93%) and Cambodia (92%). Myanmar is at the bottom with only 9.6%.

And for the rest of us? What a shame.

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PERFECT SPECIMEN: Katreeya English | แคทลียา อิงลิช

The voice. The talent. The waist-line.

Katreeya is a very popular singer/actress/model in Thailand. She is Thai-English. She was born 4 September 1976 in Oxford, England to a Thai mother and an English father.

Kat (as she is famously known) returned to Thailand with her family when she was 14 and started a career in acting. She became a model afterwards and eventually became an instant pop superstar when her debut album sold over a million copies.

The whole of the country talked about Kat when the media unofficially declared her as Thailand’s sexiest – Kat released a music video sporting an outfit bearing her super-flat tummy and uber-narrow waist-line!

More photos of Kat here...

(Click to enlarge)



Eurasians are the hottest people on Earth.

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WHADDA?!...

Maybe some of you have noticed the Medal Tally right up there on the right hand side corner of the screen – the BISEAN [Sx] Games.

What the f*ck is it?... EXACTLY! It’s about f*ck.

Well, we started a little game among BISEANers who among us can sleep with the most number of gorgeous people in 2 weeks. Hey! We need to occupy our time! You got better idea? – None? So shut up. *and if you do, I don’t wanna hear it =)*

Anyways, none of us can go out partying alone. There’s a buddy system implemented to validate the “claim” for the day. Cheaters would be stripped, castrated and fed to the metrosexuals. *Eeew! Yuck!*

The winner would get bragging rights for the whole year and get to slap Mrs. Shinawatra on the face (optional, of course).

The gold, silver, and bronze medals are all explained right under the tally.
Any questions?

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REVISITED: Ase Wang & Peter Corp Dyrendal

"Flawless Romance" photo spread.

LIPS vol. 9 no. 8 October 2007

More photos here...


(Click image for bigger view)



Eurasians are the hottest people on Earth.

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*Photo credits: LIPS Magazine

PERFECT SPECIMEN: Mark-Paul Gosselaar

Zack has SE Asian blood?

Mark-Paul Gosselaar is a famous actor in America. He rose to fame starring in a hit TV series like “Saved by the Bell” as Zack and “NYPD Blue”.

Mark was born Mark-Paul Harry Gosselaar on 01 March 1974 in Panorama City, California. His father (Hans) is Dutch and his mother (Paula) is Indonesian-Dutch. His family moved to America from the Netherlands before Mark was born. He is the youngest of 3 siblings.

Mark started modeling when he was 5 years old doing TV commercials. Not until he was 15 he got his first big break as the star of “Saved by the Bell”. He is now married to Lisa Ann Russell since 1996 and have a son named Michael Charles (born 2004) and a daughter named Ava Lorenn (born 2006).


More photos of Mark-Paul here...

Mark-Paul's official website.

Eurasians are the hottest people on Earth.

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