Chand Baori is a famous stepwell in the village Abhaneri near Jaipur in Indian state of Rajasthan. This step well is located opposite Harshat Mata Temple and is one of the deepest and largest step wells in India. It was built in ninth century and has 3500 narrow steps and 13 stories and is 100 feet deep.
The price of rat meat has quadrupled in Cambodia as inflation has put other meat beyond the reach of poor people, according to Reuters.
A kilogramme of rat meat increased to around 5,000 riel (USD1.28) from 1,200 riel last year. It’s still cheaper than other meat though… beef for example costs about 20,000 riel a kilogramme.
Some communities in Asian and South American countries have long history of eating rats or other rodents, but food shortages and inflations have pushed others to try rat meat in recent years.
Earlier this month, a state government in eastern India encouraged its people to eat rats in an effort to battle soaring food prices and save grain stocks.
Sometimes it’s hard to relate to poverty around the world. Here we are, using high tech gadgets and surfing the web while at other corners on earth people are eating rats because they can’t afford other meat… and it’s far from being the worse scenario yet. It’s kinda sad actually.
Warner Bros has filed a lawsuit against Mumbai-based Mirchi Movies related to the title of its upcoming movie “Hari Puttar - A Comedy of Terrors”, which Warners feels is a bit too similar to its “Harry Potter” franchise [more on THR]
Hari is a popular Indian name while Puttar means son in the Punjabi language. It’s said that the storyline doesn’t relate to Harry Potter at all… and judging from the poster alone, I would have ruled that Mirchi is the winner for the lawsuit.
However, I can’t deny the probability that the Indian movie maker is being opportunistic for publicity, which they managed to get it now regardless of whether it was intentional at the first place.
The third season of The Amazing Race Asia (TARA) is set to premier on September 11, 2008 on AXN Asia. The franchisee of the popular US reality show is gaining popularity among Asians since making their debut in late 2006 and is back for good.
Hardcore Amazing Race fans might not like TARA for the fact that they are overusing celebrity participants to boost the ratings, as some fans felt that reality shows are meant for ‘real’ people.
Regardless, the strategy seems to be working well for AXN. The likes of Thai actress Paula Taylor and Pinoy model Marc Nelson seemed to gain lots of interest for the race in season two… and it’s not surprising to see that TARA3 is loaded with celebs’ participants yet again.
Among the notable celebrities are Malaysian TV hostess Bernie Chan and actress-producer Ida Nerina, Australian-Filipino model Geoff Rodriguez and Russian-Canadian Miss Universe 2005 Natalie Glebova who run for the Thais (her husband is famous Thai tennis star Paradorn Srichaphan) etc.
The fun part for me about TARA is the variety of people from different nations. The ‘usual suspects’ are from Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
A Korean pair is joining the race for the first time in TARA history… gone were the Indonesian, Japanese and Australian team, which I hope they will be back again next season.
Allan Wu again the host. Hoping for a good race and entertaining show.
Ly Thai To (974-1028) was the founder and first emperor of Ly Dynasty (1009-1225). After ascending the throne, he moved the capital to Dai La (which he renamed as Thang Long) nearby present-day Hanoi, which eventually resulted in the founding of the current city.
The statue of Emperor Ly Thai To in Hanoi
The monument is located at Indira Gandhi Park nearby Hoan Kiem Lake.
Didn’t know that Pepsi is selling purified water until seeing it in Hanoi a week ago… the name of the brand is Aquafina; and it’s probably one of the two best selling bottled water brands in Hanoi.
Must be the healthiest drink from Pepsi…
Aquafina is currently distributed in just a few countries, namely USA, Canada, Turkey, Vietnam, Pakistan and India. In case you are wondering… it taste like water, yada.
Dayana Mendoza from Venezuela was crowned as Miss Universe 2008 in Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 13.
Asians didn’t perform well in the 2008 contest with only one contestant making it into last 15. Riyo Mori from Japan was the 2007 winner, with another three Asians (India, Korea and Thailand) making it into the last 15 last year.
Musiri, a remote town in India’s Tamil Nadu state, has launched a scheme to promote hygiene in rural areas by paying residents to use public urinals.
People relieving themselves in the open is a common sight in India’s rural towns and villages, as basic sanitation still eludes millions. [Reuters]
Not really sure about the exact pay, but it’s reported that they would get close to USD1 a month for doing so. Sounds like a small sum, but it could mean something in poor areas… besides, no harm is done for using proper sanitary system.