Blog Marco - Marco

Asian Hoidays and Trips

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 18:20:53 -0800

Asia has plenty to offer to the traveller. Great scenery, different and interesting cultures and great people.

I recently visited Philippines and China.

Manila is not so great

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 18:16:18 -0800

Manila is not a very nice place to visit due to polution, traffic and possible violence to foreigners. However, it does hold a charm and a feel for those who call it home.

I feel that Philippines has more to offer once you step out of the Manila/Quezon City precinct into the country side - nice beaches, nice friendly people great tropical weather and nice panoramas.

Random Facts and Figures

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 18:08:40 -0800

Welcome to my random information dumping ground.

This is where I post up:

Random Stuff RSS

Food RSS

Sydney Cuisine RSS

Technology + Gadgets RSS

Health RSS

Electrical Engineering RSS

Sydney RSS

Sydney Events RSS

Chinese Tour - 5 Days

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 17:58:05 -0800

I went on a tour mid 2005 of China - Shanghai and Beijing:

Day 1 - Photos
Day 2 - Photos
Day 3 - Photos
Day 4 - Photos
Day 5 - Photos

Bears and Bicycles

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:11:38 -0700

Teaser:
Bears seem to have an odd interest in bikes, riding bicycles and even perhaps bicycle owners

Image:

Body:

I've got a personal interest in riding bikes. Sometimes I get nightmares of things that can go bad - like this crazy bike crash that happened recently. But of course, you never get your fears the best of you... But there was news recently of a 14 year old girl being attacked by a bear while riding her bike. She was participating in a 24-hour mountain bike race - and in the middle of the night the bear attacked. She called for help through a trusty old mobile phone. The attack was severe - she had head, neck, torso and leg wounds... scary stuff. They said the attack may have been caused by a sow grizzly bear. The bike race itself was an event put on by the Arctic Bicycle Club (about 60 bike riders raced) in Bicentennial Park on Anchorage's east side, borders on Chugach State Park. Wild animals - from grizzly and black bears to moose, wolves and wolverines - frequent the area... Rescuers had to hike in more than three kilometres to reach the girl. When she made the emergency call she had only whispered one word: "bear". Dispatchers, following procedure called back the number and another rider heard the phone ringing, stopped to investigate and spotted the teen off the trail. It's scary stuff... I'll probably won't a bike ride in Alaska... too risky...

What Mobile Phone to Buy?

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:41:13 -0700

Teaser:
What Mobile Phone Should I Buy? Something I Want? or Need? Based on the Model or the Plan?

Image:

Body:

Which mobile phone should I buy? Should I base my decision on the mobile phone model type or the cellphone plan and the amount of credit I get during the usual 24 month contract?

If I base my decision on what type of phone - which mobile phone type of function should I buy and look for? A Camera phone - mobile phone with camera as key feature, although there could be other fuctions like music player, but less advanced? Music phone - mobile phone with music playback capability as key feature, although there could be other functions such as camera / but less advanced? Multimedia phone - mobile phone with equally good functions of camera, music and video? Or a Smart phone - mobile phone with PDA like function?

If I base my decision on the mobile phone plan what numbers and costs should I look at? What will be my usage like? How many minutes will I be talking on the phone? How many SMS' will I send? How much credit will I need? Am I comfortable with a two year plan? What is my budget for a phone? Different mobile phone carriers have different flag fall rates and charge either per second or per 30 second block - perhaps I should calculate which carrier's plan is cheaper depending on how they price their call rates?

Warning! Scam PayPal Email

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:49:53 -0700

Don't get caught by this scam PayPal email... it looks VERY convincing...

From: service@paypal-team.com

Reconfirm your bank account

Your bank account attached to your PayPal account has expired. You need to reconfirm your bank account in order for you to be able to use your PayPal account like before.

To reconfirm your bank account attached to your PayPal account you need to make 2 small deposits of 15.12 EUR and 21.25 EUR into the bank account of the PayPal agent in charge with your account security management. As soon as the deposits are confirmed into the bank account of the PayPal agent in charge with your account security management the funds will be returned into your bank account.
Confirmation of your bank account takes 3-5 days.

The details needed for the deposits are:

Amount to deposit: 15.12 EUR and 21.25 EUR
PayPal agent name: Liviu Rupa
Bank name: Caja Laboral
Bank address: Perez Galdos
IBAN: ES5930350250472500014927
SWIFT/BIO: CLPEES2MXXX

Prank Calls (Again)

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 18:23:25 -0700

I did a post in the past with quite a few funny prank calls and here is another one to add to the list...

This funny prank call video is from the early 90's from public access TV in New York. This guy keeps a straight face while being steadily receiving prank calls for over five minutes and trying to talk seriously about gun ownership. He keeps up a one sided conversation all the while. Hilarious.

Philippine Food Festival Sydney

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 04:28:33 -0700

Philippine Food Festival was CRAP. Rating at a 5 out of 10 (maybe even a 4 out of ten). Around 100 people turned up. This Filipino Food festival wasn't great. The food was bland, dry and very mild in taste. Here's what the flyer claimed the meal was to be: "Enjoy tantalising South East Asian cuisine rich in exotic flavours, specially created by Michel Le Teuff, who will be our guest Executive Chef for this Festival. Chef Le Teuff joins us from the prestigious Travel Cafe Philippines, Makati City. Luscious dishes bursting with flavour will bring the essence of the Philippines to the Grace Brasserie." So where is the "tantilising" tastes we were promised Chef Le Teuff? Where are the "exotic flavours" and luscious dishes?

At AUD$45 a head at this buffet meal we were expecting much more from an international imported chef. I wasn't even "full" (busog). Compare this with a really tasty meal at Dampa in Paranaque (which is just a stone's throw away from the international airport). We were able to feed three people there for only $40. Or how about the masarap (tasty) lechon from cebu?. Hell we fed 5 people for only AUD$15 and we were soooo full then. Perhaps we should have just ate at one of my usual restaurants near UTS or just venture to Newtown for some exotic tastes from all the Thai food out there.

Whats So Good About Battlestar Galactica?

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:19:36 -0700

Teaser:
Whats So Good About Battlestar Galactica? A remake of a series, this is a highly successful Science Fiction TV show

Image:

Body:

Battlestar Galactica or BSG for short, is a franchise of American science fiction films and television series, the first of which was produced in 1978. Season 2 of the reimagined series was rated by TIME magazine as the best TV series of 2005. It was that series which raised many discussion points relating to life, philosophy and religion among watchers. It is the title of series of book adaptations, original novels, comic books and video games have also been based on the concept. A reimagined miniseries aired in 2003, with a 4 season television series starting in 2004 and continuing onto 2008-2009.

All of the Battlestar Galactica productions share the same premise: In a distant part of the universe, a civilization of humans live on planets known as the Twelve Colonies. In the past, the Colonies have been at war with a cybernetic race known as the Cylons. With the help (knowing or unknowing) of a human named Baltar, the Cylons launch a sudden sneak attack on the Colonies, laying waste to the planets and devastating their populations. A few thousand of the human survivors flee into space aboard any spacecraft they can reach. Of all the Colonial Fleet, the BSG appears to be the only military ship that survived the attack. Under the leadership of famed military leader Commander Adama, the Battlestar Galactica and its crew take up the task of leading the ragtag fugitive fleet of survivors into space in search of a fabled refuge known as Earth.

Last Supper Art Gallery

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:17:03 -0700

The last supper was a meal depicted in the bible and a scene depicted by Leonardo Da Vinci. It is said that the scene portrays the reaction by each apostle at the moment when Jesus had said that one of them will betray him that night. You will notice that the 12 apostles have different reactions and are grouped into threes... The first group of three: Bartholomew, James, son of Alphaeus and Andrew are all are surprised. The next group of three are Judas Iscariot, Peter and John and have very varied expressions. Judas is the one carrying the small bag which may be the sack of silver given to him as a reward for the betrayal or a symbol for his position as treasurer of the group. Also to note is that he is the only one with an elbow on the table which traditionally us a sign of bad manners. Peter looks angry and is holding a knife pointed away from Christ, perhaps a preview to his violent reaction in Gethsemane during Jesus' arrest (he cuts a guards ear). The youngest apostle, John, appears to swoon. After Jesus (the centre of attention) there is another group of three: Thomas, James the Greater and Philip. Thomas is upset, James is stunned and Philip appears to ask for an explanation. Finally, Matthew, Jude Thaddeus and Simon the Zealot are in discussion, probably to ask if Simon has any answers.

Battlestar Galactica Spoof

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:13:31 -0700

Fans of the TV series Battlestar Galactica will enjoy this spoof opening credits in the style of TV comedy series The Office.

Giant Squid in California

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:21:28 -0700

Teaser:
Old photo but here are Giant Squid in California

Image:

Body:

Here's something I dug up from the Internet that's a little odd. Here are some giant squid found on California beaches back in the summer of 2002. Usually this jumbo squid, aka Humboldt squid or Dosidicus gigas is found along the Americas from Peru north to Baja California. However, warm water events such as El Niño can extend the range of these squid to Oregon. The first reported squid stranding was on July 18, 2002 at Swami's Beach in Encinitas, California, USA, where approximately 200 squid were found over a mile stretch of shore. Their mantle lengths ranged from 16 to 24 inches, and they weighed between 2 and 2.5 pounds. On July 25, several thousand squid beached themselves at La Jolla Shores (pictured above), about 15 miles north of San Diego. Scientists believe they squid were following prey, possibly grunion, a small fish, and washed ashore alive but were unable to get back into the water and died. City work crews were called to help remove tons of dead squid.

Car Bike Crash

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 06:07:07 -0700

Here is a picture of a car smashing into a group of bike riders. It looks like something out of a cartoon but this is in fact a true occurrence. The photograph shows a car ploughing into cyclists in a race along a highway near the US-Mexico border. One bicycle rider was killed while 10 were injured. The 28-year-old driver was apparently drunk and fell asleep when he crashed into the cyclists, said a police investigator, Jose Alfredo Rodriguez. The driver, Juan Campos, who said he was a US citizen living in Brownsville, has been charged with killing Alejandro Alvarez, 37, of Monterrey. Authorities said the accident happened just 15 minutes and 11 kilometres into the 34-kilometre race - billed as a family outing - on Monday morning along a highway between Playa Bagdad and Matamoros. The accident is similar to one involving the Australian women's cycling team in Germany in July 2005.

Bill Henson Artwork

Tue, 27 May 2008 22:30:11 -0700

Teaser:
Some of the controversial Bill Henson Scandalous photos

Image:

Body:

About Bill Henson controversial photography art. I'm not going to add too much subjective commentary here - mainly because I don't have any to add - I'm more of a practical person - I see things as they are most of the time. Controveries aren't new to the art world. Although I do find it fascinating to hear/read other people's subjective commentary about Bill Henson's artwork and other art in general... Anyway here are some of his photos and related commentaries which I found scattered on the WWW.