Geography Lesson 002 - Middle East

Okay, I decided NOT to blog too much about nuclear power today (because of some reasons that I will not share here) BUT I do more or less know the meaning of "katak". Well, katak means FROG in malay. Ahh!! Now we know!!!! Things are starting to make a little more sense now, aren't they? **Thank you Meilin for this precious information. I will endearingly nominate you as my walking Malay dictionary from today onwards. :P
Hehe, let me also share with you that while I'm writing this blog, Meilin just made a really funny comment about her friend. And its really funny because of the way she said it. (P/s: Meilin is one of my housemates). She asked her friend:"How come you don't learn how to use internet banking and still go to the bank and queue up to make bank transactions?? So aunty!!" Hahahhahaha....damn, I love my housemates.

Well, since I'm a little brain dead today. Drowsy from all the flu medication and very tired because I'm sneezing every 3 minutes, I won't blog about anything too "geeky" such as the entropy theory or my ideas on how nuclear power should be shared by the country/region. But I do want to sneak in a tiny little comment that I was very happy to read an article in the Today newspaper by Mr Bernard Baker (director - Public Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs). In his article, he suggested that ASEAN could "play a stronger leadership role to ensure safety and other legitimate concerns are adequately addressed at a regional level". He cited nuclear power and the haze as examples. Mr Baker also argued that such an approach "in no way derogates the soverign rights of the countries concerned". He ended off by saying that ASEAN should set an example for other regions. *clap clap clap*
For more information: ASEAN and nuclear safety

Okay, before I start on our geography lesson 002, I would like to congratulate my housemate Jomin and my colleague Johann for being the only 2 persons that I know that got all the answers correct for my questions on South East Asia. Very impressive indeed!! Note: Both their names start with "J" so perhaps for potential parents out there. Erhem...if you want your kids to be good in geography then if the first letter of their name is "J", it might be a better bet. :P


There are 22 countries in Middle East. Middle east is also known as West Asia. The countries in alphabetical order are:

Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen

Okay, anyone notice that Palestine is not mentioned in the list of countries? (I was a little surprised myself in the beginning.) Also, if you ever wondered why there seems to be alot of fighting going on in Middle East (almost Israel vs everyone else) and you dig in a little deeper, you will be "in" for a wonderful and fascination history that goes way back...........