Os 10 lugares mais poluidos do Mundo

Interessante...
- Lista da Green Cross
- Artigo do China Daily! Se foi publicado no China Daily... imagino que seja ainda pior!

To be or not to Bali

If you'd like to go to Bali for the big waves and party at Kuta, no need to read further.
But if you'd like a cultural experience and the peace and quiet that the island offers, I'd suggest you get off the beaten track.

I'm Brazilian and used to beaches, so the beaches in Bali have not impressed me by their natural beauty. However, I've been to the island three times and would happily go back another many times.
What I love in Bali is the people, the smile, the culture, and still the feel of lost paradise. There is so much more to be seen in the island than the degrading alleys and neons of Kuta. Go inland, stay in a cheaper hotel, get the local taxi, talk to people! Who, by the way, speak English really well.

The first time I went to Bali was one year after the bombings, and the island was still deserted by tourists, except a couple brave Japanese tourists, on "Golden Week" holidays. I'm happy to see that now the economy is back to its full strength and locals are taking the initiative to start their own businesses again.

One of them is Kung Saga. I'd really recommend using him for a tour around Ubud area. He has his own car, speaks very well English, treats you with the typical Balinese respect and beautiful smile, and on top of it all, is a real businessman. He has leaflets and videos that will show you his tours - be it walks around rice paddies or rafting down a river. He's from the region and knows it well (now Bali is receiving more and more workers from the other Indonesian islands, so it is always good to check if you're travelling with a local guide). He's proud of his village and will take you there if you'd like to see the rapids. And, he even has email, but I'd still recommend calling you'd like a quick response.
His contacts are: Kung Saga W., Tel. +62 361 791 2146. kungsaga@yahoo.com

Whether it is with Kung or another driver, don't miss the opportunity to visit the real Bali. And after you feel at ease, loose your guide and just take a walk. I promise you that you won't forget.

Moon festival de novo

2007 passou muito rápido, já é quase Natal! Difícil de acreditar que ja tem um ano que eu escrevi sobre os mooncakes aqui... (para ler o artigo, clique aqui) .

Nesse ano, o festival não foi tão legal porque o tempo não estava bom e tinha muito vento. As pobres das lanternas não ficavam acesas de maneira alguma... mas aqui vai um videozinho do pessoal fazendo churrasco, jogando mah-jong e comendo mooncakes aqui no mercado.

Artigo no South China Morning Post

Food parcels ease burden for Aids orphans on mainland

Last Christmas, the SCMP/RTHK fundraiser Operation Santa Claus raised more than HK$16 million, helping 27 charities realise projects to enhance the lives of children and adults. In this fortnightly series, we revisit some charities to give accountability to our readers and check in with those you helped so much.

Mrs Leung has cared for her four grandchildren since her son and daughter-in-law died recently of Aids. As farmers, they were both infected with the virus in the 1990s after selling their blood to unscrupulous blood traders on the mainland.

The grandmother and the children live in a small brick house with a mud floor in Anhui province. Families in the region generally earn about 1,500 yuan a year growing corn and beans.

“I want them to go to school, and not have to sell their blood like their parents did,” Mrs Leung said.

Recently the Chi Heng Foundation, a Hong Kong-based charity that helps 4,000 Aids-affected children on the mainland, handed out nutritional food bags to many families to ensure that children infected with HIV, or have HIV-infected parents, are provided with healthy food.

Mrs Leung gave a timid smile when presented with a bag full of food. “You will need to help me carry it inside” she said. “I’m an old woman, you know.”

As one of the 27 beneficiaries of Operation Santa Claus last year, the Chi Heng Foundation was able to purchase 10,000 food bags containing nutritious food, including soy milk powder, sausages and enriched peanut oil, as well as stationery for the children. More bags will be distributed for the Lunar New Year.

Due to her age, Mrs Leung no longer has the strength to farm and depends on the foundation’s support to keep her grandchildren at school. “We help the children and their families so they can continue to go to school and do not have to do household chores or to go out to earn money,” said Chung To, Chi Heng’s founder. “This is their only chance to have a better future.”

Anhui province is one of the areas hardest hit by HIV/Aids. Officials say there are more than 76,000 Aids orphans on the mainland.

“Thank you very much for your help,” Wu Qingtang, an orphan who lives with his uncle, said. “I want to learn more English and go to university like Mr Chung To.”

The foundation had special help to distribute the food bags. Thirty university students, also affected by Aids and sponsored by Chi Heng, chose to go back to their villages in the summer. In addition to distributing food bags, they organised tutorial lessons and home visits.

“Sometimes it was hard emotionally, as when I saw a grandfather weep when he talked about his deceased son. We’ve been through this, we know how it feels,” Yu Hong, a student from Henan province, said.

“The children were so excited. Some even came from other villages,” David An, a medical student, said. “The most popular classes were English and music. They love to sing.”

● The names of the villagers and students have been changed.

E a modernidade...

O A380 voando baixo em uma demostração, ontem aqui em Hong Kong. Aumentem o som, porque a musiquinha e os efeitos são fenomenais!



Legenda: é um pássaro? é um avião?

Legendário aeroporto de Kai Tak

O Diabo veste Prada

Ah, se Hong Kong fosse todo dia assim... ninguém na rua...

Favor não cuspir

Mais um excelente exemplo de taxi em Hong Kong

Leia mais em Joe le Taxi.

Typhoon series...

Eu tinha que abrir a minha boca... fui reclamar do tufão, falando que ele estava fraquinho, nem tinha vento... paguei a língua. Taí, o ciclone deu meia volta, volver, e bateu em cheio em Hong Kong. Pela primeira vez vi o alerta T8, que é aquele que manda todo mundo ir para casa... Hong Kong sendo o paraíso dos workaholics, e vidrada em dinheiro, isso quer dizer muita coisa. Engarrafamento, impossibilidade de encontrar um táxi, guarda-chuvas voando na rua e muita gente com raiva da bolsa de valores fechar. Mas muita gente feliz de poder parar de trabalhar às três da tarde numa sexta-feira. Mesmo que seja para ir para casa e ver a chuva cair.

Não tive esse problema, porque estávamos em casa mesmo e como moramos de frente para o mar, deu para prever que a situação ia piorar, só de ver as ondas. O mar aqui é calmo, feito uma piscina. Mas de repente, o Havaí é aqui. Teve até maluco tentando surfar... não é surfista de piscina de ondas, mas quase...

Choveu, choveu e o vento soprou e soprou. Nós ficamos só aqui, na nossa vitrine assistindo. É uma lição de humildade. Só dá para admirar... e se você estiver quentinho e seco em casa... é um lindo espetáculo.
...
Mais sobre tufões em Hong Kong, clique aqui.

Um videozinho que fiz...

O cyclone gostou de Hong Kong

O tal do Pabuk gostou tanto de Hong Kong que foi e voltou!