After months of procrastination, I've started another blog (with wordpress) that is meant to cover my "technical" exploits and findings. If that is your cup of tea, please feel free to visit this site here . (Though its currently only about 4 posts strong, I think). :)
I would also like to introduce you to another brand new blog The Art of Living Deliciously written by a dear friend who is currently living in NYC and by the looks of it, having the most insanely busy and wonderful time there. (And everywhere she goes). Nothing has changed! The author was one of the smartest and most fun loving person I've ever known. :)
Anyway, these 2 links have been added to My Blog List on the right for future reference.
News Article taken from the Taipei Times 17th August.
BATTLEGROUND:: Five analysts at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies are keeping a close eye on radical Web sites to see what their next move will be
Nur Azlin Mohamed Yasin spends several hours a day trawling the Internet, but she is not your typical young surfer.
The 24-year-old Singaporean research analyst is constantly on the lookout for bomb-making manuals, video clips of Islamist militants in training and fiery extremist chatter that could hint at an imminent attack somewhere.
From her computer, she enters a world where young Muslims openly volunteer to fight against US-led coalition troops in Afghanistan or learn how to make explosives out of everyday materials.
It is a place where al-Qaeda terror network chief Osama bin Laden is venerated and the three Indonesian men executed for their role in the Bali bombings of 2002 are held up as poster boys for would-be recruits.
“This whole thing is worrying,” she said in an interview, referring to a growing trend of individuals imbibing radical ideas online.
Nur Azlin is one of five research analysts at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies who monitor extremist Web sites daily to get a sense of an emerging battleground in the fight against terrorism.
All of them happen to be women and their collective skills include knowledge of Arabic, Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia — and geopolitical issues.
“After you sit down, think about it and do a trend analysis, you say ‘Oh my God! this is really happening,’” said Nur Azlin, who works for the school’s International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research.
“You can see the radicalization process unfold online,” she said.
There are between 5,500 and 6,000 Web sites worldwide peddling extremist ideas, said the researchers, who work from a spartan office in a suburban university campus.
Nur Azlin is tasked to monitor and analyze Web sites in Southeast Asia, a region that hosts notorious organizations such as the Jemaah Islamiyah movement and the Abu Sayyaf group operating in the southern Philippines.
She estimates that there are around 192 extremist Web sites in the region, many of them individual blogs which have mushroomed since early last year when Internet blogging became popular.
Singapore, a staunch US ally and international finance center, considers itself a prime target for terrorist attacks like last month’s deadly hotel bombings in Jakarta aimed at symbols of Western influence.
Singaporean Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng (黃根成) has warned that “self-radicalized” individuals have emerged as a new security threat.
In 2007, Singapore announced the arrest of five suspected Islamic militants, among them local law lecturer Abdul Basheer Abdul Kader, who allegedly planned to pursue jihad in Afghanistan after getting radical ideas from the Internet.
When analyst Nur Azlin started monitoring the websites in early 2007, most of the content was in the form of articles urging Muslims to fight back against perceived oppression, she recalled.
They were usually accompanied by photos like a child allegedly maimed during an attack by coalition forces in Afghanistan or by Israeli troops in Palestine.
In late 2007, computer hacking manuals started to appear on Southeast Asian Web sites, uploaded by individuals in online forums, she said.
Forum participants, some of whom identified themselves as undergraduate students from Indonesia and Malaysia, urged each other to hack websites they considered to be promoting liberal Muslim views.
“By early 2008, we started to see bomb-making manuals and bomb-making videos,” Nur Azlin recalled.
With the appearance of these manuals — taken from Arabic Web sites — the reaction from forum participants got more virulent, as they goaded each other to take action rather than stay passive supporters or sympathizers, she said.
In one of the exchanges, participants tried to organize arms training, but some said they did not have money to buy AK-47 assault rifles, Nur Azlin said.
A group called Indonesian Airsoft Mujahideen stepped in and offered to facilitate their training using air rifles and paintball machines, which are widely used for play sessions at corporate training seminars in Asia.
“They would rent the place much like a team-building activity,” Nur Azlin said. “They used this training in the meantime that they don’t have their AK-47s.”
Jolene Jerard, 26, a manager at the center, said the analysts compile a monthly report about their findings.
The extremist videos they download — now in high definition and professionally taken compared with the grainy amateurish clips of the past — are put into a database, one of the biggest collections in Southeast Asia.
The center shares its findings and analyses with the relevant government authorities and foreign diplomats visit the school for briefings.
“The cyberdomain is an area where governments have been gradually moving into,” Jerard said.
“It’s a changing threat landscape. I think it is increasingly becoming important and governments are definitely enthusiastic about countering it and putting enough resources in place,” she said.
Cheers to Jolene Jerard, Nur Azlin Mohamed Yasin and all the people who are working behind the scenes to help weed out these misguided thoughts before they blossom into unspeakable atrocities . It has always been my desire to contribute in something as meaningful as this (hehe, since young, I've always wanted to be a police woman and as I grew older, I changed my mind to Computer Forensics/Crime Unit) but alas it was not meant to be. I guess I'm destined to contribute in other ways but who knows....maybe one day.
Note: I chanced upon another blog that I would like to share. Its quite gruesome especially the section on beheading. Do not visit if you have a weak stomach.
I'm getting a LapDawg!!! A Taiwanese/Chinese made one that is. But it still cost me a cool NTD 1850. But I think that's 75% of the internet price (excluding shipping).
I was mulling over it at work and introduced it to my colleague. She decided that she was going to get one too!! Now we are going to get it from Yahoo. Ahhh..I love online shopping.
For some reason, I've been looking forward to this year's National Day Parade. More so than the previous years. Figuring that I would be in Taipei by August 9, I took the trouble to check out beforehand where I could catch the live webcast. Homework done!
However, fate has it such that Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan over the weekend and my flight was delayed. Therefore, I went with my parents to Batam for some shopping and massage. No worries, I was going to make sure I get back to Singapore by Sunday and so I was. Alas! A cruel twist of fate, my watch was on Jakarta time and therefore being one hour behind, I missed the first part of the program!!!
Anyway, at least I was in time to watch part of it and if I wanted, can always watch the repeat telecast online. In a nutshell, I thought it was very well done and at certain points of the show, I had this warm fuzzy kind of feeling and maybe became a little nostalgic of primary/secondary school days.
I admit I love my country...I'm very patriotic. When we talk about how much I love my country, my Malaysian friends wonder if we go through some major brain washing since young for Singaporeans to love our country so. Okay, maybe we DO go through some kind of social conditioning since young but you have to admit it, Singapore has come a damn long way from the time we were booted out from the *arhem* other side.
Although I always kid that I'm allergic to my own country because I always get into these sneezing fits whenever I'm back, (I think its because of the humidity or the trees...who knows!!), but I'm damn proud of some really crazy and stupid things about Singapore.
Yes...even if our wanton noodle is sweet and not salty and we are such a small small small country with no natural resources. Some call us a pimple on the world map. You know what...whatever...this is still the place that I call home.
So what were you doing at 8.22pm? Were you at marina bay or surrounded by a group of people at the supermarket persuading you to say the pledge together. Or were you like me...surrounded by othe nationalities..and resorted to secretly mouthing the words to our national pledge?
Yes, I admit it. I may not be the pioneer generation that helped built Singapore from the post WW2 years but I'm geeky enough to proudly proclaim I love being a Singaporean and my country. (minus the sneezing fits and don't mistake it for H1N1).
Am back in Singapore for a couple of days so you can imagine that I've been eating non stop. Local food, home cooked food and so on. As I'm writing this, I'm actually feeling very bloated from dinner. Hehe.
Anyway, mum took me to Lam's Noodle House at Kaki Bukit Road 3 for lunch one day. We had the set meal which cost about SGD $15.80 (if I don't recall wrongly) which consisted of 2 bowls of abalone dry noodles, a bowl of steaming hot fish soup and a small basket of dumplings.
As you can see from the picture below, though the portion looks rather small, they had quite a lot of different ingredients. Coupled with the fish soup and dumpling, the portion was just nice for mum and me. Note: I love Chinese mushrooms prepared this way!!
Abalone Noodle (Dry)
Fish Soup
Lam's Noodle House was apparently introduced to my mum by my dear brother and then introduced to me. Okay...chain introduction going on here. I've never heard of this place and was really surprised when mum drove me to this obsure industrial park for lunch one day. It was a pleasant surprise.
Note: Besides Abalone noodle, this coffee shop also serves Shark Fin's noodle. Muahahahha. The Chinese in me is smiling....
If you are interested, you can find Lam's Noodle House (Opened between 10am and 11pm) at the following address:
18 Kaki Bukit Road 3 #01-16/17 Entrepreneur Business Centre P/s: You probably know that I don't normally do food blogs so I guess that this one is an exception today. Or maybe there are more to come....who knows...:) Happy eating.
Sirotan is this CUTE little white seal that loves to disguise himself as other animals/fruits/things. He has got such an adorable face that almost everyone I know is drooling over it. Check out this crazy collection from a certain individual I know. But ya lah, I admit Sirotan is sooooo cuteeee. Haha!
Sirotan can be found at any respectable Mother Garden Stores and cost about 800 Yen for one.
For more sirotan's merchandise, check out this site:
Back in Cairo, Egypt. Landed this morning at 6.50am at the new terminal airport - Terminal 3. Very modern building and has a total different feel as compared to Terminal 1. Terminal 1 feels like....hmm... the pyramids. Full of history and a tad bit dusty! Hehe.
Anyway, I'm openly fascinated by the Arabic language. It goes from right to left and though it looks like scribblings, trust me, its really difficult to try and write. I tried practicing my own name and it looked really awful!!
جايمي تان
Also, check out the screen shots for Blogger and Google in Arabic:
Took the high speed to KaoHsiung (south of Taiwan) last weekend. This is the second time I'm visiting kaohsiung but during this period since KaoHsiung is hosting The World Games 2009, the take away from the trip was slightly different from the first visit! Overall, despite the short stay, it was really relaxing and enjoyable. We took quite a lot of photos and here is a selected few to share (posting photos on blogs can take such a looong time) :-):
Taken outside Taipei Main Station
The theme outside the Taipei Main Station was one of fantasy. You had the cutest chairs on wheels, big tree figures as above and robot soldiers with robot dogs made out of metal. Felt a little like being Alice in Wonderland. Anyway, Taipei Main Station also has an underground mall (which links stations between stations) and its quite interesting with open areas for students to hang around and practise street dance routines. And I must say, some of them are really good too. Love the culture here!
Next to highspeed train.
We took the high speed rail and managed to book the tickets online without any fuss. The journey took about 1 hour 30 mins and was quite comfortable. From Taipei, you can also visit Kaohsiung by the regular train (takes up to 5 hours) or by bus (god knows how long). If you are rushing for time, the high speed rail costs about NTD 1,4oo. That's about SGD $5X (one way). Totally hassle-free. Otherwise, you can take the regular train which will cost much less and depending on the route you take, can enjoy yourself to the scenic view along the way. But I typically take a nap or read a book on the train so the scenic view is lost on me. :P
Big PUHU shoes. Taken outside Dream Mall
Dream Mall is one of the newer shopping centers in Kaohsiung so I did not get a chance to visit it in the last trip. Its very much like Miramar Taipei with a Ferris wheel built on the roof top. The open area on the roof top is like a mini carnival so its interesting to visit it, if you have time. The mall had all sorts of interesting restaurants (will post photos shortly) and little corners for the "trigger happy" tourist such as a coca cola corner, one for paddington bear and so on.
Taken at the Love River
No trip to Kaohsiung can be complete without a walk down the Love River. We were staying in Ambassador hotel (official host to the World Games so there were many atheletes staying there - I saw the Singapore softball team!! Wooottt). We had a fantastic view overlooking the Love River (which I can post up shortly, if I have the time) and were unexpectedly treated to firework displays over at the Fisherman Wharf on Saturday night.
P/s: Its not really a big deal but I'm glad that I finished the race which has been quite the marathon. And ok, I'll admit that, aside from all my complaining, it has been really worth it.
9 papers down. 1 more to go. Tomorrow. All I got to do is to pass so that it will not be another 6 months of waiting for the next round and hell, I really want to go and start on something else.
Almost 2 years in the running. Weekends and weekdays spent going through textbooks and course materials. Juggling between work and studying. Remembering and then forgetting. Time wasted and yet not wasted. Trying to have a balanced life as much as humanly possible. Looking back, it is almost becoming a blur for me and I know that the memories will further fade away. Before all that happens, I will further lament: Where has all the time gone?
I’m ranting because it’s a Sunday afternoon and I’m supposed to feel refreshed and prepared for another week of work. Yet, as you can probably guess by now, I’m tired, stressed out and bored out of my wits. DAMN!
This is all going to be worth it. I can only hope. I’m just grouchy today…believe me – Cramming on Business Law for Financial Services Professional can bring out "certain" feelings in you. Anyway, Res Judicata (The matter has been decided.)
This photo was taken by a wide lens camera from the heli-pad at the Sharjah office, UAE. (Not taken by me...I don't have such a professional camera).
Sharjah can go up to an unbearable temperature of 40 degrees in the day time. The air is so humid that the streets are almost deserted because it is too hot to walk outside. A 10 minute walk from one building to another is best done in a car.
Despite it all, don't you think that the view is just so amazing? Its indescribable when you see it right in front of you.
Khan El Khalili is a very important place with historical background. It was a Turkish bazaar during the Ottoman period and was built in 1382 by the Emir Djaharks el-Khalili in the heart of the Fatimid City. Today, it is affectionately called the "Khan" and has over 900 stores selling all sorts of interesting souveneirs to take home. Nearby by the Khan is the Al Azhar University and Sultan Hassan Mosque. Al Azhar University was founded in 975 and is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Sunni Islamic learning in the world. A large proportion of Muslims in Egypt are Sunnis.
I was staying on Zamalek. Its a small island surrounded by the Nile River. I heard that there are over 200 such islands on the Nile River but Zamalek is famous for being the exclusive and rich area. Its also very safe because that's where all the embassies are situated.
Hotel swimming pool and Nile River
View of Nile River from my balcony
Cairo Musuem with amazing collection from the Old, Middle and New Kingdom.
On the platoon boat at the Phaoronic Village
I found the trip to the Cairo Museum extremely worthwhile. It cost about 60 L.E (Egyptian pounds) to get into the museum and another 100L.E to see the mummies. I don't know what possessed me but I HAD TO SEE the mummies and ended up being the only one from the group who wanted to pay and go in. Seeing royal bodies that have been mummified for over 4000 years is quite a strange experience for me. Another place worth visiting is the Phaoronic Village. It gives a nice summary of the kind of lives the ancient egyptian lived thousands of years ago.
Went on a business trip to Cairo 2 weeks ago and had the opportunity to spend a couple of days to see the historical sites.
3 Interesting points to note: 1) The Great Pyramid of Giza (Khufu pyramid) is the only remaining member of the Seven wonders of the Ancient world and was constructed over a 20 year period around 2560 B.C. 2) It has around 2.3 million blocks, each weighing 2 tons. 3) The height of the pyramid was 146 meters but with erosion its current height is 138 meters.
I was very fortunate this trip because even though the operating hours of the pyramid grounds officially end at 5pm, I was able to gain "VIP" access to the grounds after 6.30pm. The good news is that our "crew" (friends and I) had the whole place to ourselves and did not have to fight with the other tourists for that picture perfect moment. :P
I will always remember the day that I visited the pyramids (which all my life, I've wanted to visit) as the same day that Obama came to Egypt and was at the Cairo University giving his "monumental" speech to the Muslim World.
During the hours that he was in town, the streets and offices were closed for security reasons. Business must have been really bad that day at the pyramids because the tourist office made an exception to let us into the pyramid grounds after the official hours at the regular rate. Wooottt!
Here are some photos:
Pyramid of Khafra
Graffitti on Khufu pyramid dating back to 1924!!
Taking photos at some ruins with strong wind blowing at my face
Cool Arabic sign (Parking area for tourist buses). Haha!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Haha....4 days after the AWARE saga at Suntec, I can still feel the energy teeming amongst my friends - some are even talking about volunteering and doing more for the society!!! Amazing.
Just today alone, there are 4 articles in the newspaper. In particular, I like an article titled "A Tale of Two Communities" by Simon SC Tay - chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. In his contribution, he talked about the differences between vertical and horizontal societies, the lessons to be learned from the AWARE situation and also his thoughts on the governing of diversity. I found his article very readable and educational. Read the article - A tale of two communities
I also would like to comment on just one more letter that was sent to the newspaper a couple of days ago. *sorry, a little long winded here*. That particular letter was from a concerned parent regarding the CSE programme. In that letter, the concerned parent's opinion was primarily that MOE has no business in providing sex education programmes to students as this should be done by the parents.
I don't know about you but based on what I understand about MOST Asian families today, sex is still a relatively taboo topic, it is rarely - if ever- discussed at home. AND the fact remains that kids WILL have questions, they WILL turn to and confide with their peers and more often than not (perhaps ironically through peer pressure) they WILL experiment (whether you like it or not).
In other words, if you are a parent that will FIRSTLY make the effort to educate your kids about sex education (and telling them that they can get pregnant by kissing does not COUNT!) AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, have your kids AT THAT AGE listen to you. WELL DONE! You are very fortunate but please note that not every family is like yours.
Note: To supplement this, I am in full agreement with the opt-out option, which is currently in place, on the CSE programme. So my thoughts are that if you are a parent who find yourself surprised and upset with the one and only AWARE "sex educational" programme meted out by Josie and Dr Thio, it really shows that you have not been following up so closely with your kid's progress in school and if you are so concerned, maybe you should. NO ONE ever said it was easy to be a parent right?
Okay, so I've been watching the latest videos that have been posted online. Firstly, I am so glad to see ladies from different background, religion (muslim, christians YES!!), different hair color (haha) all stand up and take their turns at the mike. I always thought that Singaporeans are shy by nature so I guess they must feel quite strongly about this to have such a reaction that day. And perhaps, it is exactly BECAUSE they feel so strongly about it that I think the atmosphere became a little too emotional and to some people very rowdy and "unruly".
While I found certain actions of a few very vocal "old guard supporters" distracting and to a certain extent regrettable, I can understand the pent up frustrations that they brought to Suntec on that eventful day. (a little bias here...i admit)
As far as I recall, since the "crash and burn" press conferences by the new guards, virtually nothing else has been said as they continued their stealth operation of spending money they weren't supposed to spend and practicing "exclusiveness" in exco meetings (by not being upfront about their arrangements and thus making it even more difficult to reconcile differences between old and new guards). Once again, I find what they did to Chew I Jin downright deplorable. Josie herself could not have summarized it any better as she described in her own words, how she "kept a stoic and dignified silence". *Hah!
The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back must have been the way they spent the SGD 90K after being in office for a month. It really reflected in their lack of experience to run such a non profit organization as compared to running a corporate. (Hate to say, I TOLD YOU so)
In fact, the way things were played out that day, I might have gotten pretty riled up myself. Heaven forbid I sit there patiently to listen to Dr Thio's self promotion speech. Her "I'm so charmed that you put me on page 73" performance can still give me a stitch from all that laughing.
Okok! Sit down and shut up, Have respect for your elders, I'm on Page 73...has now become iconic phrases for that eventful day, its even COOL to have them printed on your shirts. By Singaporeans...For Singaporeans. Since 70% profit goes to Aware, I might consider getting more than one for myself. So much fun! -
The AWARE saga in Singapore has dominated the headlines for several weeks now and anyone following the affair can get easy access online to press conferences on YOUTUBE, articles from newspapers and opinions from individuals (not confined to Singaporean youths) from all different walks of life. Therefore, this particular post of mine is most definitely very "late in the game" but I feel compelled to blog about this before the EGM that is happening tomorrow. Come what may. If I were in Singapore, I would most definitely be joining my friends at Suntec city in a show of support for the OLD guards and since I can't be there, I can only contend to show my support in a more "online" manner.
In my humble opinion,
Organizations like AWARE should be run by honest, passionate people with the skills and integrity to achieve the organization's stated vision and mission. And though my life has never been impacted much by anything AWARE has done in the past 25 years at least they did not create the kind of doubts as the current exco's has. The old guard's integrity was never called into question, the new guard's actions are in my mind, downright deplorable.
Singapore has had more than her fair share of organizations gone wrong and my belief is that left unchecked, this will sooner or later end up very much like what has happened before....an organization deviating from its ORIGINAL purpose, operating under much false pretences. Non profit organization intending to serve the community but run like a corporation by a group of people with hidden agendas.
In the case of AWARE, and as demonstrated by the new exco's last press conference, it is turning from a secular-intended organization into one that is not so secular, run by individuals who fully intend to force their religious beliefs and standards onto as many people as possible. "Elitist" who feel that they have found the answer/meaning to life, people who think that they are morally better than others. Last but not least, Christians who give christians a bad name.
Before I get too fired up on this topic, since there are already plenty of information online, I will not choose to reiterate them here. However, if you are interested to find out more, I would gladly like to point you to 2 sites that I found are worthwhile to visit: 1) http://we-are-aware.sg/ 2) http://sdhammika.blogspot.com/ by Shravasti Dhammika -a Buddhist monk for 32 years and the spiritual advisor to the Buddha Dhamma Mandala Society in Singapore.
I think my stand on the events unfolding is clear enough but now I'm going to take a step back and marvel about the "change" in the air.
Back in junior college, I recall a very angry principal who requested everyone in the school to write a 5 page essay on the "dangers of apathy" or face the consequence of eternal detention. :) As students, we held "secret" discussions on whether we would deliver on the essay and at the final hour, we finally took the path of least resistance and submitted a half hearted attempt at best. Seriously, we couldn't care less.
Fast forward to the present day, I see my friends openly debating on this topic and willing to "blow" a perfectly good Saturday afternoon cooped up in the EGM of some organization because they feel like they need to make their voices heard. I'm really quite impressed as with the Obama campaign where young Americans not only went out of their way to vote but also volunteer their precious time to do their part at the campaigns. Same group of friends...different perspective in life. Like I said, I wish I could be there with your gals.
Sure......., I still have friends who couldn't care less. Some feel that this matter has been blown out of proportion (of which I sometimes find myself becoming a little offended as I do not understand why they do not see the dangers of - give these fundamentalist an inch and they demand a yard).
However, at the end of the day, I understand that each of us are entitled to our own opinion and we should learn to "agree to disagree in an agreeable manner". This is in contrast to what I feel the current exco (loosely term - the church goers of COOS) of AWARE is doing.
I think it is so ridiculous and deep down inside find it quite so amusing. I must imagine that they thought that they would get away with their cleverly thought out "stealth operation", that like my principal, they thought that singaporeans wouldn't care. I believe the tables have flipped against them for now they can only contend to play the victim and try to garner support from fellow church goers. I refuse to believe that Christians will support just for the sake of supporting this. Like I said, a small group of christians who give christians a bad name.
*** EGM VENUE is now at SUNTEC CITY CONVENTION CENTER, HALL 402 *** Official notices from AWARE states that Registration will begin at 12noon. Bring your NRIC for admission.
Okay! Just got back from the gym so while cooling down I decided to update my blog for your reading pleasure. :)
First and foremost, a little on my whereabouts: Got to Jakarta this morning and decided to head to the 24 hour gym here. After having "excused" myself from the gym for the past week or so (and the only real exercise that I have been doing is focused around the jaw muscles), I have got no one to blame now that my muscles are screaming blardy murder after a mere one hour in the gym. :(
Okay next up.....how about some random pictures taken from my trusty SANYO. Hmmm...As some of you may know, I'm not a "trigger-happy" sort of person. In spite of that, I steadfastly lug my SANYO around with me during my business trips. The picture I take are very random...you know...no theme...whatever captures my fancy at the moment. So today, at 2am in the morning, I shall select a couple to share in my random post for the day.
The following pictures are taken in the Taiwan airport eons ago.
Picture taken outside the store promoting "Hakka" delicacies.
Next time I'm there, I'll be sure to pop by and try some out.
Hello Kitty Telephone Booths in Taoyuan Airport.
Mmmm.....Feels like Disney land all over again.
Hello Kitty World Clock
My 2 years in Taiwan has got me convinced that the Taiwanese just love the cute stuff. Top of their list has got to be the Sanrio cat Hello Kitty! Hello Kitty's fans are not restricted by age..young and old alike. In fact, my colleague, mother of 2, loves the cat so much that her little corner in the office is like Sanrio cat-dom.
Thus, I wasn't that surprised to find a section of the airport designed with the Hello Kitty theme in mind. There was also a Hello Kitty playground, Hello Kitty souvenier shop, Hello Kitty lounge, Hello Kitty internet corner and Hello Kitty holding room. Wow!!
Anyway, if you ever go to Taoyuan airport, remember to check it out!
This book has been laying on my shelf for months and all I know of it is: 1) It comes recommended by my brother-in law as light reading 2) It is a fictional story based on the idea of Rapture - a prophesied event in Christian eschatology which gathers Christians for the second coming of Christ.
A little unsure on how I would take to this "light reading" Christian material and frankly a little overwhelmed between work and textbooks, I had never done more then afford the book a cursory glance every once in a while and if ever I was looking for some light reading material, my hand would miraculously pass over it.
Anyway, for some strange reason, I decided to pick it off the shelf and have a go at it. Deep down inside, I had already sounded myself out to put the book back on the shelf if it ever got too "preachy". If I enjoyed it, I would read on.
With each turn of the page, I found myself drawn into the fast paced story, not unlike one that is written by Tom Clancy or Stephen King. Sure! Along the way, there were some Christian teachings here and there but it was just enough to plant an idea and make you want to find out more. Within several hours, I had finished reading the book.
Some research on the internet found that 'Left Behind' is a series of 16 best-selling novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins and even though the New York Times' Bestseller's list does not take Christian bookstore sales into account, in 1998, the first four books of the series held the top four slots simultaneously. Impressive!!
Judging by how much I enjoyed reading the book, I would truly recommend it as a book that is worth considering even if you are a non Christian. In fact, I believe that the next 15 books would be on my list the next time I head down to Borders.
Now, I just need to force myself to stop procrastinating and finish reading those dreaded textbooks!
http://www.lapdawg.com/index.html
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