Amazing Austria
Death – a booming business When the Viennese say “He’s taken the 71“, they are metaphorically referring to “the end of the line” or the Zentralfriedhof (pronounced cen-Trail-freed-hof) Cemetery, which really means that the person has died. The Zentralfriedhof is one of Europe’s largest cemeteries. Beethoven, Brahms, Johann Strauss Sr. and Jr., Schubert, and 1980s pop…
SG50 National Day 2015
Singlish An English friend came to visit some years ago, and she went away thinking that Singaporeans were such loving people… all because we had the habit of ending each sentence with love, or so she thought. What she really heard was… Thank you, lah Too expensive lah Singlish is rooted in Singapore’s short but…
Hungry Ghost Festival
What is Hungry Ghost Festival? How did it come about? Just like how the Americans celebrate Halloween, the Chinese also commemorate a similar fest, the Hungry Ghost Festival (also known as Zhong Yuan Jie in Mandarin), when the souls of the dead are believed to roam the Earth Traditionally, the festival is observed on the…
Intriguing Indonesia
Weasel Coffee Would you pay fifty pounds for a cup of coffee? One of the strangest products of thee Indonesian culture involves the farming of the Asian palm civet which is a small, cat-sized mammal They are fed coffee berries and after they defecate, the berries are collected and washed before grounding them to make…
Dashing Dubai
Dubai’s Postal System If you’re planning to surprise your Dubai friend with a gift this Christmas, I’m afraid you just have to… let him know And ask for proper directions so that package would reach the agreed destination You see… Dubai has no address system, zip codes, area codes or postal system For a package to…
Nam Nam…
Largest exporter of cashews and black pepper Now did you know that Viet Nam is the largest exporter of cashews and black pepper in the world with one-third of the global production The country is also the second largest exporter of rice behind Thailand. So before you dig into your next bowl of rice or savour…
Marvellous Malaysia
1. Known as the “Singing Lawyer”, the “People’s Singer”, the “Patriot Singer” and the “Elvis Presley of Malaysia”. Sudirman was Malaysia’s pride and joy. Word is, the composer, lawyer, writer, cartoonist, entrepreneur and actor was able to sing and sketch simultaneously. He’s Malaysia’s first to appear on the cover of the Malaysian Business and Asian Business magazine and…
Roaming in the Land of the Free…
1.Twitter Now if you thought that Twitter was the best social media platform, the most private ever, wait till you hear this Apparently over in the US, the Library of Congress is keeping an archive of every tweet ever tweeted Why? For posterity! See one of the missions of the Library of Congress is to…
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri
Just in case you’re new to Singapore and your muslim friends invite you over for a makan (food) session… below are some dos and don’ts to note! 1. What is Hari Raya It’s finally the first day of the month of Shawwal… Thee Islamic holy month of fasting or Ramadhan has officially come to an…