Should There Be A Speed Limit On EDSA?

EDSA is the infamous main highway in Metro Manila, Philippines.

This is where the true test of driving skills lies.

Senior Deputy Minority Leader Roilo Golez: Traffic on EDSA has improved a lot with vehicles moving at around 60 kph per hour these days.

MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando: Actually, it's more than that. You can drive as fast as you can.

[EDSA is horrendous for its traffic both day and night. So many cars, I tell you.]

Golez: It's very reckless and irresponsible on the part of the MMDA chair to say that.

Golez--getting personal now: I just don't like what he's doing. His pink signs, for instance, are a visual pollution. Only he benefits from them.

No crossing the street! It can cause your death!!!

ORDER!!! The laws are solutions which should be learned and followed.

Watch the pink line!!! Don't block the pedestrian walkway.

This bus has overstayed in this stop. Take the next bus instead.

Pinoy Drug Mules In Shanghai

I was surprised to read about this in a Chinese blog-

A 33-year-old Filipino woman has just been arrested Tuesday for trying to smuggle an undisclosed volume of heroin at Pudong airport. This follows last September when a 25-year-old Filipino man was also arrested in Pudong for sneaking into Shanghai with 1.2 kilos of heroin in his hand-carry luggage (!!!).

Walao~

Read more about it here and here.

PUNISHMENT: Death Penalty for drug traffickers!

Oh, Those Darn Chinglish

We've heard of Singlish, Manglish, Taglish.

But Chinglish--so shiok one!!!

Like, let's make demo, ha?

Really meh???

Some more, please, now na.

Found in Guilin's airport

Ok lah? Like that lor!

How To Play "Pua Tiong Chiu"

The Mooncake Festival is already way over. But my friends and I still celebrated it last night with a game of pua tiong chiu.

For reference, please look over this post first.

Khengsiong asked earlier, what is pua tiong chiu??? How is it played???

This exciting game originated from Xiamen in the Fujian province. It was invented by Ming Dynasty General Zheng Chenggong to relieve the homesickness of the soldiers stationed in Xiamen. They were fighting the Dutch that time for the return of Taiwan.

Come Mid-Autumn Festival, people admire the full moon, eat mooncakes, and get their china bowls and dice for some dice gambling!!!

Basically, there are 6 dice involved. There are 6 ranks of awards which correspond to the titles of the honorees during the ancient imperial examination in China.

Note that the imperial examinations were very important then. This would mean great honor for the family and not to mention a change in social status.

Zhuang Yuan or First Place Scholar is the highest award in the game. To win this title, the player has to throw a combination of at least four 4's out of the 6 dice.

It is believed that the the Zhuang Yuan (in the dice game) will have good luck throughout the year. [The person is certainly quite lucky to throw that kind of rare combination!]

The best and highest combination is when all 6 dice produce all 4's.

The prizes are ideally mooncakes of different sizes. But times have changed, and people have tweaked the rules a bit.

These were our prizes last night--

I didn't get Zhuang Yuan this time which was 600 Pesos.

Instead, I got the second prize, not bad already--a big slice of chocolate cake and Starbucks gift certificate!

And that is how you play, in a nut shell, Pua Tiong Chiu.

Macau Wedding

I went to Macau some weeks ago with my mum and sister.

One of the best parts of our Macau trip (beside$ money, money everywhere due to the big and gorgeous and not to mention rich gambling hou$e$ all around) is visiting the Ruin's of St. Paul.

The Ruins is called such, because that's all that's left from the original Portuguese St. Paul's Cathedral.

At the time the cathedral was built, it was the biggest in Asia. It was eventually destroyed by a fire in 1835.

The Macau government has recognized the significance of the place, and now, the Ruins is included in the list of World Heritage Sites.

Everything is so beautiful! The place is reaping of history and culture!

We even got to steal photos of a couple doing a photo shoot for their wedding (or probably not for a real wedding--a magazine feature maybe?)

But nevertheless, I was just amazed at the classiness of it all.

Up next...Spot the Philippines' Next Top Model~~

It has been a tradition to throw coins at the top most window for luck!

So when I slaved to the top (coming from the stairs at the side), lotsa coins to my picking! :P

Book Of The Bunny Suicides

Kids, don't do this at home--seriously.

With the rampant adolescent suicides occuring in Shanghai, this comic has been banned already

which was believed to have some psychological effect on the reader.

The bunny is crazy.

I don't find it funny.

Don't Need Your Ruby Shoes Here

These are just oh-so pretty!

Not sure though if these are very functional. :P

With the Paralympics Games ongoing, China has also made some major renovations and additions in making the streets more disabled-friendly.

So these yellowed and patterned lines supposedly can be felt by the walking sticks of the blind.

Or not necessarily walking sticks, because the patterns can also be felt by the feet.

Hard to follow these ones in Xian though. Doinky-doinky-donk...my head is spinning.

Germany Says Ni Hao!

I totally missed the Paralympics opening ceremonies last night!!! :((

I was feeling really, really sick. After watching the flags come out, I just closed my eyes and went straight to Dreamland.

Darn, darn, darn...missed that one...and I even heard that last night's was better than the splashing 08-08-08.

Adolescent Suicides

I've been reading a lot about adolescent suicides in China blogs--most of them from Shanghai.

From Shanghai Daily.

From China Daily.

What can we do about them?

Don't want to kuai anyone. But who's to blame for these increased incidents? And what can we do to prevent any future events from happening?

In the past, most child suicides occur amongst uni students. Heard many from Japan--probably from too much school pressure. I'm not kidding.

School culture in Japan (at least from those that I've read) is really, really different.

But now, the suicide victims are becoming younger and younger.

What's The Deal With New Singaporean Star??

The latest celebrity buzz to hit Merlion state is that Gong Li switched nationalities (from Chinese to Singaporean) and didn't even appear in the oath-taking ceremony.

Of course, I am shocked to discover that. [The switching part, not the not showing up.]

She has a Singaporean husband so that must be the reason for the switcheroo??

Or are there any advantages to being a Singapore citizen?

Or maybe she finally took this video to heart!!! Hahahaha...I just love this clip!!!

Some people are taking the issue further. Like the oath-taking ceremony is the most important part and she didn't show up??!!

Well, whatever, I don't really care. As long as she appears in quality movies.

Paralympics Games

The Beijing Paralympics will be officially opened this Saturday. I'm really excited about it. It's not that hyped as compared to the Summer Olympics last August. But it still has the same value.

I'm particularly curious about the special games in the paralympics.

Have you heard of wheelchair tennis??

It has the same rules as for the able-bodied tennis players. The only difference is that the ball is allowed to bounce twice.

Really cool, I think.

And there's wheelchair fencing too!

My friend Kaklong plays fencing in the US, but she has full use of her arms and legs.

And of course there's swimming, Chinese ultimate sport--table tennis!!!, archery, and others!

Everyone in Beijing is preparing really hard for the paralympics!

Here's Jiang Xintian, torch lighter, using sign language.

I wonder what new controversy or what nots will arise in the games.

Sexy Cakes

Mooncake Festival is around the corner again. Would you like to try these cakes?

Sexy cakes from Hong Kong's 奇华. Only HKD 55. So cheap or not?

When is the Mooncake Festival??? Mark your calendars!!! September 14, 2008.