Where Is Your Conscience?

Have been observing the tainted milk case in China. The Melamine which has been detected and “known” in the production and to the authorities surprisingly was not curbed in the very early stage. What a shit bureaucratic and corrupted system. The head of the Chinese agency that monitors food and product safety has resigned amid the scandal. Does it help?

This case certainly tarnishes the image of China food products, “unsafe” and “poor” will be labeled. To the people add this Melamine into the milk, where is your conscience?

Photos Uploaded - Hungary

Photos of Hungary trip are available in my Travelogue.

Damn Lehman & AIG

The recent financial storms are staggering… Lehman Brothers filed bankruptcy, the turnabout rescue of AIG by the Fed, the merger of Lloyds and HBOS, Russia stock market shut for 3 days after plunge, Morgan Stanley is in talks to sell part of its stakes… any one of these news would have shattered the financial industry in the normal days, but they all happened concurrently within a week.

To prevent the disastrous financial turmoil worsening, US swiftly introduce measures to rescue the teetering global markets, with Central banks inject huge capital to reinstate the confidence of the investors. Major share markets bounced back today, how long would it last? If the root problems are not tackled, the effect would fade soon.

The present financial system has to be monitored and controlled, short selling should be curbed. The share market is not a safe heaven for investment, but a huge gambling pool instead.

Damn Lehman & AIG… made me lost in my investment!

Spirit

I came back to the hostel (in Budapest) late night on Friday, met 3 Norwegian young men in the same dorm. Seriously they asked if I felt safe in this hostel, I replied absolutely yes. “No no no… I don’t mean security… I mean if you observe any spirit in this grungy building.” They showed me a photo taken in the room, with 1 suspicious blurry white spot on it, apparently that was no mirror reflection. Anxiously they explained acc’ to the Norwegian folklores, the white spot indicated spirit was present while the photo was taken… They were disturbed… grrr…arrhh….

To pacify their concern, I convinced them I had never heard of such case in the hostel. Acc’ to the Chinese folklores, the spirit would avoid naked body. I suggested they should sleep in nude to scare off the uninvited. But I didn’t tell them what if the spirit was a gay?? They end up went out for weekend happy hour and returned the next morning.

I like these 3 guys… so funny and friendly.

Hungary - Bits and Pieces

Have just returned from Hungary 1 week trip yesterday. Probably I had visited Prague and Rome earlier and over expected the same from Budapest, I was slightly disappointed instead. I don’t mean Budapest is not interesting, the city is just lacking of monuments or structures or tourist spots that could drop my jaw.

Budapest was a combination of once 3 towns (Buda, Obuda and Pest) till 1873.

Budapest boasts the 1st underground on the Europe Continent. The Metro wagons are though not new, but absolutely efficient, so as the other public transportation means.

I was staying in the tourist area 1 block away from Danube River, of course most of the restaurants and souvenirs were over pricing, easily EUR 15 for a simple meal. Some distance away less touristy, a meal between EUR 5-8 could be dealt. I really missed the goulash soup!

As usual, gypsy was not welcomed by the Hungarians, the same comments I heard from Bulgarians.

The radio stations were suck. Boring music!

Some huge shopping malls to fulfill shopaholic, it seemed to be always crowded. The sales was going on and I bought 2 shirts, 2 shorts and a pair to shoes with great discount! I wanted to buy more but I know my knapsack could fit in no more.

I bought some salami from the market near to the hostel. Later on I found the same salami at Tesco for almost ½ price! The money is 1 thing, but I didn’t like the feeling to be slaughtered!

People are so friendly, especially in the scenic town Pecs. I loved their smiles.

Waiting For A Change

The return of Anwar to the politics on 26-Aug-08 and becoming the leader of the opposition coalition (People’s Justice Party) has granted him a step forward to topple the incumbent government. While the ruling party (mainly UMNO) is nervously holding their seats tight, the Prime Minister still couldn’t control his dogs giving racist talk publicly of which dangerously humiliating the Chinese ethnic and destabilizing the social integrity. It definitely aggravates more hatred to the government!

Anwar vows to seize power on 16-Sep, 2 weeks from now. Most likely the PM won’t hand over the power easily, reckon he would dissolve the parliament and push for another election again (last election was 08-Mar-08). This option will be both time consuming and costly, of course eventually paid by the civilians’ tax.

I’m waiting for a change… to better or worse, no one could tell, but at least the government has to understand the meaning of democracy.