Another Reason Why We Should Stop Dreaming of a Perfect Body...

... it doesn't exist. Technology does.

Maybe for a few minutes during pictorials,
but it really doesn't exist.

****

Cambodian Pepsi Circa 1975

This is a photo-story of the Cambodian Pepsi Factory built in the 1960s.

When Khmer Rouge overtook the country in 1975, it was total chaos. You can still see on these photos that the factory was abandoned immediately and almost everything remained where it was. Closed, shut and off-limits.

All of the Pepsi staff fled the country but some of were caught and sent to work in the fields. See how a Pepsi factory looked 35 years ago.

Ciggie Boxes in Singapore

Singapore followed Thailand's anti-smoking campaign (since 2004) and came up with their set of collector's item cigarette boxes!

What they don't realize is that the price itself was scary enough.

PERFECT SPECIMEN: Kegan Sean Gordon

A male version of Devon Aoki?

More of him HERE.

****

OUR TREASURES: Marina Bay Sands | Singapore

Singapore has a new iconic landmark to the tune of US$ 5.7 Billion!

The Marina Bay Sands opened last 23 June 2010 and boasts the Skypark cantileverd atop the 3 buildings. I don't know about you but this has got to one of the most spectacular architecture the world has ever seen.

The 3 towers has 55 floors each, total of 2,560 hotel rooms, casino halls, The Shoppes mall and all amenities of a mini-city.

The view from the snake bridge in Marina Bay.

This is the world's largest Infinity Pool; 650 ft above.

The top view of the casino.

How to get there: Get off Promenade MRT Station and follow the signs.

It's just a few minutes walk. Or just keep walking, this landmark can be seen

anywhere where the tourists ply.

Majulah!

****

F1 Singapore Grand Prix | 2010 Season

Grand Prix season starts TODAY!

Racing Schedule here. Official website here.

SEE YOU THERE!

If this is the Official ASEAN Anthem...it Sucks!

Ok, I have to admit; this is the very first time I heard this. Not that I'm not interested, but I just knew there would be a boo-boo in the selection process.

Listen to this first and I'm sure you would agree with me on some of my feedback --






... HORRIBLE, isn't it?

*rant starts here*


What was that all about?!!! Is that all you guys at the Headquarters can come up with? What is this? -- A chorale competition?

You let a "choir" sing the ASEAN anthem like any western group of people doing a western artform of group singing? The way it was sang DOES NOT represent Southeast Asia AT ALL!

We need some leader-shifting! We NEED NEW and YOUNG leaders over there! You old blokes at the HQ need to retire already and listen to your choir songs in Nursing Homes! Horrible, horrible taste!

And WHY IS IT SANG IN ENGLISH? It should be sang in Bahasa! The most widely-spoken language of the region. Aren't we pushing for it to be the official language? Where's your consistency?

I have nothing against choir singing, but this DOES NOT represent ANY of the countries in the ASEAN. Hey, you people at the ASEAN HQ -- you have been wondering for decades why ASEAN never appealed to the majority of the youth...


...well, here's one of the answers. Bodoh!

*Rants ends here*
****

Weekend BlogHop | SeptWk2

This is the weekend post-Hari Raya celebrations across the region. Everybody should be coming back from their 'kampung' by now and I could imagine the traffic back to the cities.

We blogged hopped and not much post-Raya blog posts yet, but here are some interesting ones:


||| Andrew received an email from the Thai MFA to consider cancelling the FCCT press-con.

||| Wise Kwai blogs about Asian film line-up at the Vancouver Int'l Film Fest.

||| Richard Barrow talks about Bangkok's Litter Police and what he thinks about it.

||| Jerrick wrote about Filipino fascinations with white people.

||| Rana Claire talks about blogging on a Sunday.

||| Cheesie posted pics of early Autumn weekend in Japan.

||| John Partick featured Jurong Bird Park man-made waterfall in Singapore.

||| Enigma smelled a hoax with giant fossil viral news on the net.

||| JungleGirl talks about walking and hiking.

||| Michael Yon Online tackles counteracting corruption with one cell phone in Afghanistan.

||| Kenny Sia wanted a happy ending massage.

||| Lizzy blogs about cute, adorable ducks!

||| The WakeUpProject (which I follow) gives insight on streamline media manipulation of news.

||| Wall-e listed 6 reasons why young men won't marry.

||| Sanjay Basu posted the new SG$ 50 feature variety.

||| Geek Papa featurs Allods Online in the Philippines.

||| Emjhay, Javan started a blog this week.

Have a powerful week and stay safe!

PERFECT SPECIMEN: Venus Raj

Major, major beauty.

Click here

PERFECT SPECIMEN: Anthony Thornburg

Exotic.

Click Here.

TRAVEL+LEISURE: World's Top 10 Cities

Two of Travel+Leisure Magazine's Top 10 Cities in the World are in Southeast Asia. It just so happen that the Top 1 and 2 are in Thailand! Yey!

Bangkok is the World's No. 1 City destination according to 16,000 voters. The northern Thai city of Chiang Mai came in 2nd. Last year, they were voted 3rd and 5th respectively.

This great news was a big boost to the morale of Bangkokians after the 10-week civil disorder that rocked the city. The poll stopped a few days before it happened.

Incidentally, the T+T also listed the Top 10 Cities in Asia: Bangkok (1), Chiang Mai (2), Siem Reap (4), Hanoi (8) are Southeast Asian cities that made it to the list.

Here is the full list of the World's Top 10 Cities.

****

Weekend BlogHop | SeptWk1

Bunch of interesting posts this week.

David Poarch reminiscing his adventures in Manila.

Franx Budi talks about aligning a relationship with the Law of Attraction.

Matt The Lost Boy posted some of his photos in Bangladesh.

Don Schumann posted photos of improvised traps during the Vietnam War.

Nguping Jakarta is an 'overheard' blog around the city of Jakarta.

AJ Matela tells us why no one wants to date him.

Cumi&Ciki had some fun with friends at Max@iHaus.

Daucus Sebastian posted controversial photos that shocked me and rants about it.

Geisha rants about the recent hostage-taking tragedy.

Bryanboy embedded a video of his two heroes - Marc J & Anna W.

Jake confessed about his fetish.

Johan writes about rice pudding and his day.

Fanzi tells the storyline of an upcoming video/film he would star in.

TAO tells us why capitalism doesn't work.

GFNI talks about exporting Indonesian Convenient Store brand "Alfamart".

Fable Frog rants about house chores.

Happy weekend, Southeast Asia!

Mount Sinabung Erupts After 400 Years

Mount Sinabung on Northern Sumatra Island in Indonesia erupted early this morning at 2:15am local time. No historical records of its eruption patterns although crater activities has been observed since 1912. More than 12,000 people has to be evacuated as a precautionary measure of the government.

Mount Sinabung (Gunung Sinabung in Bahasa Indonesia) is 8,071 ft high and the nearest city to it is Medan. Only 1 death; a 54-year-old man died due  to respiratory complications while evacuating his home.






****

YOUTH OLYMPICS 2010 Final Medal Tally

The inaugural Youth Olympics held in Singapore has ended. Ninety-seven countries (out of 203) won at least 1 of the 623 medals to be won during the games.

How did our young athletes fared? But first, lets have a look at the Top 3 which looked like an Asian powerhouse:

1. CHINA: Gold 30, Silver 16, Bronze 5, Total 51

2. RUSSIA: Gold 18, Silver 14, Bronze 11, Total 43

3. SOUTH KOREA: Gold 11, Silver 4, Bronze 4, Total 19

Here's what our young athletes was able to accomplish:

 14. THAILAND: Gold 4, Silver 3, Bronze 0, Total 7
 41. VIETNAM: Gold 1, Silver 1, Bronze 2, Total 4
 62. SINGAPORE: Gold 0, Silver 2, Bronze 4, Total 6
 65. MALAYSIA: Gold 0, Silver 2, Bronze 0, Total 2
 84. CAMBODIA: Gold 0, Silver 0, Bronze 1, Total 1
 84. INDONESIA: Gold 0, Silver 0, Bronze 1, Total 0

No medals for the Philippines, Laos, Myanmar, Brunei and Timor Leste.

ขอบคุณครับ | Terima kasih | Cám ơn | Thanks to our young Olympians!


See y'all in Nanjing!

****

A Mysterious Record of Events in 1593

Here, I bet not a lot of you in the Philippines know about this... one of the earliest recorded story of what seem to be like what we modernly call: a "jumper".

Gil Pérez was a Spanish soldier of the Filipino Guardia Civil who allegedly suddenly appeared in the Plaza Mayor of Mexico City (more than 9,000 nautical miles from Manila, across the Pacific) on October 24, 1593. He was wearing the uniform of the guards of Palacio Del Gobernador in the Philippines, and claimed he had no idea how he had arrived in Mexico. Some historians doubt the accuracy of the story, which does not appear in writing until a century after the supposed event.

Perez claimed that moments before finding himself in Mexico he had been on sentry duty in Manila at the governor’s palace. He admitted that while he was aware that he was no longer in the Philippines, he had no idea where he was or how he had gotten there. He said that moments before he arrived there, His Excellency the Governor of the Philippines, Gomez Perez Dasmariñas had been killed by Chinese pirates. He explained that after long hours of duty in Manila, he felt faint, leaned against a wall and closed his eyes; he said he opened his eyes a second later to find himself somewhere different.

When it was explained to him that he was now in Mexico City, Perez refused to believe it saying that he had received his orders on the morning of October 23 in Manila and that it was therefore impossible for him to be in Mexico City on the evening of the 24th. The authorities placed Perez in jail as a deserter and for the possibility that he may have been in the service of Satan. The Most Holy Tribunal of the Inquisition questioned the soldier, but all he could say in his defense was that he had travelled from Manila to Mexico “in less time than it takes a cock to crow”.

Two months later, news from the Philippines arrived by Manila Galleon, confirming the fact of the literal axing on October 23 of Dasmariñas in a mutiny of Chinese rowers, as well as other points of the mysterious soldier’s fantastic story. Witnesses confirmed that Gil Perez had indeed been on duty in Manila just before arriving in Mexico. Furthermore, one of the passengers on the ship recognized Perez and swore that he had seen him in the Philippines on October 23. Gil Perez eventually returned to the Philippines and took up his former position as a palace guard, living thenceforth an apparently uneventful life.

****