Blog Marco

Hunedoara (German: Eisenmarkt; Hungarian: Vajdahunyad) is a city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. Hunedoara Castle was the place where Vlad Dracul the Impaler (aka Dracula aka Vlad III of Wallachia) was imprisoned 7 years by Matthias Corvinus (Matthias Kiraly) king of Hungary (aka "the renaissance king") after he was deposed in 1462. The castle received its shape (the way it looks nowadays) mostly in the period between the 15 and 17th centuries. The castle is considered the most impressive and best preserved gothic castle in Romania. The castle is also properly called the "Hunyad Castle". The castle is a relic of the Hunyadi dynasty. In the 14th century, the castle was given to John Hunyadi knyaz Serb, or Sorb by Sigismund king of Hungary as severance. The castle was restored between 1446 and 1453 by his grandson John Hunyadi.

The Castle is known both by the name Corvin's Castle and "Hunyadi Castle". "Hunyadi" is a more internationally recognized name for the same family, "Corvins" being used mostly by Romanians. The Hunedoara Castle is a 14th Century Gothic castle (with Renaissance and Baroque architectural elements mixed in). It was built on old Roman fortifications, on a strategic position, on a rocky cliff at the exit of Zlasti river from a small defile from Poiana Rusca Mountains. Hunedora is evocative, with three huge pointed towers, a drawbridge and high battlements. Five marble columns with delicate ribbed vaults support two halls (1453), the Diet Hall above the Knight's Hall below. The castle wall was hewn out of 30 m of solid rock by Turkish prisoners.

With all the news about the swine flu virus ravaging over the world plastered everywhere, I wonder what the difference is between an endemic, epidemic and a pandemic. (By the way, the photo has a random influenza virus illustrated in brown and the cilia from your lungs in blue)

An endemic is an infectious communicable disease (such as colds, influenza, measles, mumps, tuberculosis, pneumonia, smallpox) that exists permanently in a particular region or population. An epidemic occurs when this disease attack "a lot of" people at about the same time and may spread through one or several communities. A pandemic occurs when an epidemic spreads across the world.

The World Health Organisation has raised the pandemic alert level from phase four to phase five, signalling that a pandemic is "imminent". Here are the six different "pandemic influenza phases" defined by the WHO:

Phase 1: A virus circulates among animals but with no cases reported of infections in humans.

Phase 2: An animal flu virus is known to have caused infection in humans, and therefore considered a potential pandemic threat.

The Gaza Strip is a coastal strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea, on the South-West border of Israel, bordering Egypt to its West. It is about 41 kilometres (25 mi) long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres (4–7.5 mi) wide, with a total area of 360 square kilometres (139 sq mi). The area is not recognised internationally as part of any sovereign country but is claimed by the Palestinian National Authority as part of the Palestinian territories. Since the June 2007 battle of Gaza, actual control of the area is in the hands of the Hamas de facto government.

The Gaza Strip was promised to the Palestinians in 1948, it was captured by Egypt in the Middle East War, and was then captured by Israel in the 1967 War. It is currently under Palestinian rule, though it seems lately to just be falling apart.

The Gaza Strip in History

Here are some more trivia about the Gaza strip you may want to know about: The first mention of the city of Gaza was in the 15th century BCE where the Torah and the Old Testament has the story of Samson and Delilah.

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...

Why do you participate in Outdoor activites?

I like to participate in outdoor activities because...

I feel more in touch with myself then
It helps me to relieve stress and refocus
It’s an escape from routine & gives a sense of freedom
It gives my family bonding experiences and an opportunity to grow closer
I enjoy facing the challenges that outdoor activities pose
It’s an opportunity for me to enjoy some time to myself
I enjoy competing against myself more than competing against others
I really enjoy socialising and meeting new people
I feel I share a common bond with others who participate
I enjoy competing against others more than competing against myself
I crave excitement and to get an adrenaline rush
I enjoy exploring places and having new experiences
Of the “natural high” and feeling good
I enjoy experiencing nature and it’s beauty
I’m motivated to test my skills and push myself

I remember this being reported some time ago: about scanning machines which can "see" underneath clothing. And now, they've been installed at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York (JFK). "For now, the scans will also be voluntary. Flyers selected for a secondary screening after passing through the metal detectors will have the option of stepping into the wave scanner, rather than undergoing a physical pat-down." I would rather get the pat down instead of having to step into this machine. Who knows what the long term effects are of having been exposed to these waves? Also what about people's privacy? Personally I've been used to pat-downs. While traveling in the Philippines, for years they have already been patting down everyone at the airport (I remember being searched at least four times before I stepped into the aircraft) and they also pat down people when you enter in any of their shopping centres or their public trains (Yep, you get patted down and your belongings looked at before you enter a train station.

According to Hollywood, you shouldn't travel to these places. Repeat. Don't travel to these places. Never ever visit these places.

Don't Travel to:
10. Antarctica, as depicted in The March of the Penguins (2005)
9. Kazakhstan, as depicted in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
8. Colombia, as depicted in Romancing the Stone (1984) and Collateral Damage (2002)
7. Texas, as depicted in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
6. Brazil, as depicted in Turistas (2006)
5. Burma, as depicted in Rambo (2008)
4. New Mexico, as depicted in The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
3. Mexico City (Mexico) and Caracas (Venezuela), as depicted in Man on Fire (2004) and Secuestro Express (2005)
2. Slovakia, as depicted in Hostel (2005)
1. Sierra Leone, as depicted in Blood Diamond (2006) and Tears of the Sun (2003)

Shouldn't USA (especially New York, Las Vegas...) be in the list too? I mean, of all the crime (Law & Order), murders (CSi), gangsters (GodFather Trilogy), disasters (The Day After Tomorrow) and monsters (Ghostbusters) that happen in the USA from the silverscreen.

Its no secret - everybody knows which seats on the airplane are the best seats. It's first class, then business class then there's coach aka economy class. Most of us have to travel economy class. Again - its no secret which seats are the best seats in economy class - the exit rows and bulkhead (the front) seats are the bes because they offer the most leg room. Aisle seats are great too (Have you watched those comedies when someone had to get up over people just to go to the bathroom?).

But no. There are other best seats in economy class. So if it isn't the bulkhead, the exit row or aisle seats, which are they? In every plane its different because of the different configurations for different carriers.

Won't it be cool if passengers can invoice the airlines for being late? Well it may become a reality for Australians under new laws proposed by the Government. Foreign airlines will have to pay up to $8000 a person for delayed flights, $1800 for lost luggage and $180,000 compensation for injury or death in a plane crash.

The changes, introduced to Parliament by the Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, yesterday, would bring Australia into line with signatories to the Montreal Convention, an agreement between 86 countries.

"The new scheme makes it easier for Australians to seek fair and timely protection," Mr Albanese said.

Under the old system, a passenger who lost their luggage would have to prove the carrier was at fault. If Australia ratifies the convention, the same passenger would receive up to $1800, no questions asked.

"So for your thousand-dollar bag you'd get your money back straightaway, no ifs or buts from the airline," a spokesman for the minister said. "It reverses the onus. If the bag is worth more than the threshold, it would be the airline that would have to prove it was not at fault."

Travel | Marco's blog | add new comment | read more »

Submitted by Marco on Fri, 21/03/2008 - 2:38pm.

How exciting. Have a watch of these crazy crosswind airplane landings. I wonder if you were a passenger on these planes would you have noticed the plane wasn't landing straight?

Japan Airlines Boeing 747 crosswind landing Hong Kong. Filmed from the checkerboard used for the approach into Kai Tak. Overshoots and then lines it up just to get caught in the wind...again. Unedited. You can hear another enthusiast in the background with a scanner.

Korean 747 Extreme Landing. A Korean Airlines 747 performing an extreme crosswind landing at the infamous Kai Tak airport of Hong Kong. The aircraft busted several tires.

Crosswind Landing Testing. This is a pretty cool video of a 777 & 747 SP landing in a cross winds down in Brazil. This little item shows the Boeing factory determining the demonstrated crosswind landing limits on the 777 and the 747SP. The engineers make educated guesses, but then the test crews have to go actually prove the numbers. They sneak off to Brazil to do these tests at a certain remote BAF airbase famous for its continual atrocious crosswinds... Should the gear sideloads be excessive and fold one up, there is nobody there to take nasty pix for the Airbus guys to wave around in the press...

I'm running the Sydney City2Surf (a 14km fun run) this year on Sunday, August 12th and I'm fundraising for my favourite charity Gawad Kalinga. Gawad Kalinga is all about addressing the issue of poverty by providing housing, services and building communities in Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Cambodia, East Timor, India and South Africa. You can donate some money to the charity by credit card or paypal. Or you can pledge some money by just getting in contact with me.

You can find more information about Gawad Kalinga at this new blog I set up.

This package travelled right through airport security in Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) last Monday when I was travelling back to Sydney. All the tight security measures like this and like x-raying shoes and this small amount of liquid gets through... It contains a used toothpaste tube with about 10-15mL left, two containers containing moisturiser and gel, two sample packs of lotion about 5mL each and a 15mL lotion bottle as well as my toothbrush. I normally pack this in my checked baggage but I guess I forgot that I placed it in my hand carry temporarily so I could brush my teeth at the airport.

With new airport regulations you cannot bring many liquids into the aircraft with you. From memory, you can bring in a 1L clear plastic bag with small containers not exceeding 100mL but the containers cannot be half-empty. There are special conditions for baby foods, etc...

Back in February, when I travelled from Manila, Philippines back home I forgot to pack a liquid bottle of insect repellent in my checked baggage. They confiscated the bottle off me.