Interestingly Funny

I don’t know whether posting this article here would be considered as infringement of copy righted work (hopefully not), for it is done only because I love this article and I want to keep it here where I can read it whenever I want to without googling.

5 pairs of countries that Americans confuse

By Arika Okrent | The Week – Tue, Apr 23, 2013

Newsflash: The Czech Republic is not the same as the Russia region of Chechnya

Last Friday, in response to a flurry of social media activity mistakenly identifying the Boston bombing suspects as having a Czech, rather than Chechen, background, the Czech ambassador to the US issued a statement clarifying that "the Czech Republic and Chechnya are two very different entities — the Czech Republic is a Central European country; Chechnya is a part of the Russian Federation."

Nice try, Ambassador Gandalovic, but there are some place names that just sound so similar to us, we will persist in mixing them up no matter how little they have to do with each other and no matter how many times the mistake makes the news. Here are five other pairs of places that people confuse so often their ambassadors don't even shrug at the mistakes anymore.

1.      AUSTRALIA AND AUSTRIA
In 2007 President Bush thanked the Australian premier for visiting Austrian troops in Iraq. But that wasn't just an isolated Bush gaffe. The countries are so often confused that at tourist shops all over Austria you can buy T-shirts that say "No kangaroos in Austria." To be fair, their names are only separated by two little letters, and it's not only Americans that have trouble with this one. At the G20 summit in South Korea in 2010, the world leaders were presented with dolls crafted in their likenesses. Australian PM Julia Gillard's doll was decked out in a traditional Austrian costume.

2.      SWEDEN AND SWITZERLAND
Jessica Alba caught some heat back in 2009 after she told a reporter to "be neutral… like Sweden." Though she defended herself by pointing out that Sweden was neutral during WWII, it brought the issue of Sweden/Switzerland confusion to the fore. The Swedes and Swiss had been complaining for years about the questions they get asked when they reveal where they're from, and they stepped in to helpfully point out the differences: Sweden = Ikea, ABBA, and meatballs; Switzerland = banks, watches, and chocolate.

3.      SLOVAKIA AND SLOVENIA
They both start with "slov" and end with "ia." They both became independent nations in the '90s. They have similar flags. They're easy to confuse. But Slovakia, once part of Czechoslovakia, is up there under Poland, and Slovenia, once part of Yugoslavia, is down there next to Italy. Americans aren't the only ones who get these mixed up. They've been confused by world leaders, Olympic officials, and the U.N. And according to this Slovak tourism site, the "staff of Slovak and Slovenian embassies meet once a month to exchange wrongly-addressed mail!"

4.      URUGUAY AND PARAGUAY
Uruguay has Atlantic beaches, Paraguay is landlocked. Uruguay voted to allow same-sex marriage, Paraguay's leading presidential candidate said he would shoot off his own testicles if his son wanted to marry another man. When John Gimlette wrote a book about his travel adventures in Paraguay, At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig, he probably didn't expect that the publishers' design would put the flag of Uruguay on the spine, but that's how it worked out.

5.      OAKLAND AND AUCKLAND
In this case, it's the cities that are confusing. In 1985, a California college student was trying to get back to Oakland from a vacation in Germany, but ended up on a plane to Auckland, New Zealand. He bought his ticket correctly, but he ended up at a boarding gate for a flight to New Zealand. He heard all the announcements as "Oakland" and responded "yes" every time airline personnel asked if he was going to Auckland. He realized the mistake after the plane took off, and got a free flight back after spending the day in Auckland, which he described as, "really nice."

Please Use Discretion When Reading

I never realize before what a difficult request that is →: asking people to use discretion.

The stupid people should not be asked to use their own discretion. Discretion could only be made by those with enough brain power, experiences, sensibility and a little bit of foresight.

The stupid people don’t have the ability to judge, or to make the correct/right choices/decisions when they are given a certain condition. Their choices/decisions will very likely have dire consequences or cause inconveniences to others.

Though it might not be apparent from my writing I’m one of the most even tempered persons you’ll ever know, in my defense – this is the place where I rant and rave – so when I’m here I either rant or rave. But my patience is sorely tried whenever I have to deal with people who don’t have enough brain.

I know it’s not their fault that they are stupid. They are born with limited brain. And it’s not my accomplishment either that my brain is superior than theirs because I was also born with it.

Nevertheless, they can really irritate you without even trying or meaning to. Knowing that it still takes some effort to remember that they didn’t do it on purpose.

Only after you calm down you can think that the stupid one is you because obviously you’re not clever enough to make thing perfectly clear so that the stupid people won’t rile you with their mistakes.  That it is your fault for not making things easier for them to understand.

The conclusion I get from my experience last night:  I’m the stupid one for assuming that other people will act with discretion.

What made me think that it’s such a brilliant idea to put my phone number on my windshield?

Why did I think that it would be used by the owners of the cars that my car was blocking to call me when they happen to leave before I do (which is not very likely since I leave very early, but just in case because I don’t want to inconvenient others like others had been inconveniencing me).

Why didn’t I think that a stupid security will text me (at 11.30 pm when I was already fast asleep) and called me at the most inconvenient time (at 5.30 am) just to say ‘park your car in neutral’.

Hello?! If I happen to use my Suzuki Swift I’ll park my car in neutral without being asked! But when I use my Toyota Rush which happens to use an automatic transmission I have to park in Park!

And that’s why I leave my number! It’s for the owners of the other cars to call me to move my car out of their way and not for you to text or call me when nobody was being inconvenienced!

Take a deep breath. My bad. I’m the stupid one here. Next time, when I have to double park I’ll write a long letter full of Do’s and Don’t heading with a huge Dear… ..

Review: 007 Skyfall, The Best Bond Ever

I’m not a fan of 007 series so I don’t watch that many Bond’s movies. But among those I’ve seen I have to say that I like Skyfall the most.  It’s hard to pin point exactly what I like about it. So, perhaps I should start with what I don’t like about the other Bond’s series in general.

It’s actually hurting my head trying to think about things I don’t like, because honestly, I find his super power to clean up the world single handedly is kind of awesome.

Hey, I’m one of those very few who actually like A Man Called God (although I have yet to finish it). And talking about AMCG that’s where I finally understand how good looking Song Il Gook really is. Didn’t realize how handsome he was until then.

Unfortunately liking Skyfall doesn’t turn Daniel Craig into a heartthrob for me but it is exceedingly successful in making me think that he is an incredibly awesome Bond. My favorite Bond. And this is from someone who once thought that Pierce Brosnan was the most handsome man in the whole world.

Now, the gadgets. Love them. What? I’m supposed to talk about things I don’t like? And Skyfall doesn’t have fancy gadgets? Oh, I see, Bond only gets a radio from Q. But, whatever, I still think that Skyfall is the best Bond’s movie I’ve ever watched.

And I know I’m supposed to talk about things I don’t like in 007’s series. And I know it’s not fair for me who only saw a few of Bond’s movies to make judgment which one is the best.

But who says you have to watch all Korean dramas to make judgment whether you like them or not? Who says you have to watch every dramas before you may say which one is the best. I say it’s completely okay for one to decide that A is the best among the few one’s saw.

Back to what I don’t like in the other Bond’s movies. It’s the women. Or the Bond’s girls as they call it. That’s the only thing that I hate about Bond’s series. I hate those gorgeous women whose only function is to be bedded by Bond then die or not die. Not that I care.

The problem is those bed scenes have defined Bond for me. Whenever I think of James Bond I think about an agent who sleeps around with every woman he encounters. And I find that rather sad.

How about Skyfall?

The bed scenes in Skyfall don’t bother me because they are totally and completely meaningless. Skyfall doesn’t try to make them into something else. And I love how it doesn’t even try to give those poor women any importance at all.

Although if one may ask why bother to have those scenes in the first place? Afraid to go too far from the standardized Bond’s formula?

Whatever the reasons were, I’m grateful that Skyfall spends more time on much more important things like characters' building.

This is where I get to see James Bond as a man. A man who has feelings. A man who is vulnerable. A man with integrity, a dark past and a hidden sense of humor. 

At last, I no longer see him as an agent who sleeps around with every woman he encounters but as a man whose love for his country, his boss/colleagues is big enough to overcome his personal feelings. 

And I totally love the reintroduction of Q and Moneypenny!  

Who would have thought that a nerdy looking boy is actually Q? And who would have guessed that M’s secretary has actually shot 007 to death? Just love it!

Coach Legacy Leather Candace Carryall

Love, love, love it!

I’m so crazy in love with that mint green bag I called Coach outlet here to check whether they have that one in store. 

I was rather surprised when they said they didn’t have it. How could they don’t have that pretty bag?

Anyway, I made an international call to the States, yeah, I’m that obsessed. 

Unfortunately they don’t do international shipping – at least not to Indonesia. Sigh. Never realize that we’re that backward.

My pretty should I say goodbye to you?

Who Needs to be Wiped Out of the Face of the Earth?

The answer is the warmongers. Any peace loving human being should seriously consider a war against these people. If there are things that really needed to be wiped out of the face of the earth I say wiping these people out is one of our sacred duties.

I have reached my limit when it comes to war. I could no longer follow the details about the fatality in Syria or how many refugees have been exported by that country to its neighboring countries.

I no longer care who’s to blame or what started it all in the first place. I blame the world for doing nothing. For not doing everything it could to stop it from being what it is now. Don’t we learn anything from Iraq?

And as if that’s not enough now we have another imminent war in the horizon.

I’m not Korean, live thousands miles away and have nothing at stake had an attack really occur, well, except for my obsession with Korean dramas and my fear for not being able to watch a new drama, just kidding! Now, seriously, the stance taken by the North bothers me tremendously.

The statement made by the South Korean President that this time around they’re not going to let an attack on Korean soil without retaliation increases my worry ten folds. I understand her position completely. But her neighbor is not sane. A retaliation from South Korea would mean a full fledged war.  And once a war is started it’s not that easy to stop.

I know most Korean younger generation doesn’t believe that the North will attack their country. Perhaps its the same belief that we have here that there will never be a war between Indonesia and Malaysia no matter how bad the relationship between our countries appear to be on the news. Because no matter how many people seemed to be outraged over whatever issues at hand and cry out for war we know that there are many more sensible people who won’t sit back and let this country be led to war.   

The majority never wants war it’s always a selected few who has something  at stake or wants something out of it that propels the rest to this path of destruction.

The world would be a better place if we could wipe out these people, isolated them, or better yet register them into Hunger Game. See how they’ll like that! 

Still In Love with Jerry Yan

It’s been years since Meteor Garden but the love remains. No matter how much I love Joe Cheng and Mike He I still love Jerry Yan the most. 

It breaks my heart to see his teary eyes when he dedicated a love song to unnamed woman during Mayday’s concert last year.

Please sister, whoever you are, please don’t break his heart like that. 

I know rumors are rampant about Lin Chi Ling and how much he loves her. Well, I don’t follow gossips, even about my beloved, but whatever their issues are I hope they could solve it between themselves.

I know real life is nothing like dramas that we watch where we’ll always get a happy ending or get to threaten the writers to give us one. But it’s even more important than dramas therefore there’s more reasons to have a happy ending in our lives.

I hope this year will bring a lot of happiness to Jerry Yan and will give him what is best for him. If that woman is not for him, may he find someone else who’ll bring even more joy than the one he loved before.

Review: The Exhibition of Fireworks

Is there such a thing as too much Kang Ji Hwan? I guess not. The only reason I re-watched the Exhibition of Fireworks was him and the vague memory that I liked the drama.

After spending 17 hours (I didn’t use the magic button and really sat through those 17 episodes) I come to conclusion that the only worthwhile thing about this drama is Kang Ji Hwan.

I’ve got to see him showing off his assets and then… dancing! Seeing him shaking those hips is enough to make me forgive myself for wasting 17 hours of my precious time.

Now, what is this drama about? Simply put: it’s a bunch of clichés we’ve found in most dramas such as:

1. Brothers in love with the same woman.

2. A heroine who is dumped by her lover/fiancé after she sacrificed so much for him.

3. A world class bitch.

4. A noble idiot.

I don’t mind clichés and I never demand for originality because I know how hard it is to be original when the drama land has used almost every plot available out there.

But to have them all written into a nonsensical story that even I with my love for Kang Ji Hwan couldn’t bring myself to love his character Na In Jae is just too much.

I don’t think I get Na In Jae.

Is he a man who falls in love with his sister in law (Park Eun Hye’s Cha Mi Rae) but then realizes that he falls for another girl (Han Chae Young’s Sin Na Ra)? Or is it his guilt for his brother’s death that forced him to marry Cha Mi Rae? Or does he love them both?

I don’t get the cultural context either that it’s such a taboo for him to marry that world class bitch. She’s not really his sister in law. She was only engaged to his late brother. That’s all. They weren’t married. And the big brother was already dead.

Whether she slept with him is beside the point (although judging from her character, the bitch was probably jumped the poor guy every time she needed distraction).

And I am dissatisfied with how this drama doesn’t clearly deliver the message about Na In Jae’s feelings. What? They do? How? That drunken scene where he murmurs I miss you Na Ra? Meh!

I normally squeal with delight when watching ‘revelation scene’ but when I watched that scene I was like: ‘Really? That’s all you can do show?’

Am I supposed to take that as a sign that he loves Sin Na Ra and not the bitch he wants to marry defying his mother, defying all reasons? I refuse to do so.

Not when he never shows any preference for her over that sister in law of his. He would do anything for that bitch. All she has to do just ask. I think even if she asks him to kill Sin Na Ra he will do it just to please her.

No one will be able to convince me that he does that because he feels guilty for his brother’s death. It’s hard for me to erase the image of his smile while he waits for Cha Mi Rae to come to their engagement party.

If you insist that he does that out of guilt out of pity. Then all I can say is that Na In Jae is not the noble idiot. He’s the idiotest male lead in kdrama land. Ever.

There’s nothing noble in marrying a woman who killed you big brother. There’s nothing noble in marrying this scary deceitful woman who lies to everyone who loves her.

There is nothing noble in marrying a bitch who slept around with another guy then told you that she has your baby. There’s nothing noble in hurting the woman who you love and has done nothing to deserve you hurting her like that.

How could Kang Ji Hwan end up with this disappointing character is beyond me. And then there’s Han Chae Young’s Sin Na Ra, our heroine. Sigh.

She’s supposed to have brain. But she ends up being a thirty year old who fails to fulfill her parents’ dreams – because she’d been slaving away for the man she loved and being abandoned by that very man.

Then when she falls in love with Na In Jae, he is also stolen by the same woman who steals her first lover. And what irk me the most is that she never once slaps that bitch!

I would feel so much better if there was a cat fight or a pulling hair scene or a swearing session where Sin Na Ra does the pulling or the swearing.

The most hated scenes:

1.      When Kang Ji Hwan’s character Na In Jae waits for Cha Mi Rae then smiles as he thinks about he’s getting engaged to her in just a few minutes.

Dude, you just told Sin Na Ra last night that you love her so how could you attach yourself so readily and happily to Cha Mi Rae? And how could you still insist on becoming her husband after the bitch told you that the baby she’s carrying is not even yours? Noble idiot? Nope. Just idiot.

2.      When Sin Na Ra keeps asking Na In Jae whether he loves Cha Mi Rae or not.

Girl, you have asked him that question a million times before! Stop it already! He doesn’t love you. At least not enough to choose you over that bitch you treat so well.

You should stop making threats about getting your men back. The only way you’ll get them back is if that bitch tells them she doesn’t want them any more.

Honestly, you’re the sorriest heroine I’ve ever seen!

ps: I hereby declare that I don’t like this drama as much as I think I did before.