Friday 28 November 2008

Not forgetting Congo....

U.N. agency says 13,000 fleeing violence in northeastern Congo have crossed into the neighboring country in 48 hours.

closer to home...

Anti-government protestors forced airports in Thailand to close.

Attacks in Mumbai, India

Click here to read the lastest update on the attacks.



Updates from a blackberry in Mumbai.

France...

I have to admit, I was dreading this trip. As much as I like to fly around the world, spending one week in France is not enough for me. Plus, it`s the middle of the semester. I just have too much to do!!!! And I was really looking forward to spending some time with Lauren, and what better way to do that than to do what we do bestÉÉ some good ol`shopping in France, checking out some hot French `monsieurÉÉ ;P

But, the week is coming to an end. As I`m sitting in Oli`s apartment, looking out the window, I thought to myself, Am I missing out on thisÉ Whatever happened to my alone timeÉ some ME timeÉ I know once the plane touch down in Detroit, I`ll start it all over again, catching up on news, start planning IC news stories, getting the information for my UT Ten News story, homework!! Assignments and quizes to do... sigh...

Here`s a recap of my French Thanksgiving Week.

Sunday
Arrive in Paris at 8 a.m. Met up with my couchsurfing host, Arno, and his friends, Daniel from Melbourne, another Arno, a French and a Korean who does not speak Korean [he`s fluent in French]. I told them the only thing I missed out on from my last trip was going to the Louvre Museum. So, we braved the snow first, then the rain and headed to the Louv. My flight to Nice was at 8 p.m.

My host, Florian came to the airport. He has a small but cozy and really clean apartment.

Monday
I woke up at 7 a.m. and left with Florian, he had to leave for work at 8 a.m. and had to show me where the tram stop is. We had a typical French breakfast! with freshly baked baguettes with nutella and croissant.

I walked along the Promenade Des Anglais and the view was amazing. Everything was perfect until this creepy Italian dude came up to me and tried to talk. It was annoying. Anyways, after I lost him, I found some malls and you know I can`t resist it!

I had dinner with Florian at an authentic Nice restaurant and had some typical local dish and a bottle of white wine.

Tuesday
I said goodbye to Florian in the morning as he left for work, and I slept in, till 4 p.m.! It was greeatttt! I packed and headed out to a hostel near the trains station. I found a hostel for 21 euros a night. There were two French girls from Nimes, and a South Korean girl. It was a small but clean room.

I went out to Checkpoint bar and had three pints of beer and watched football! For some reason, being in Europe always makes me homesick...

Wednesday
I took the train to VilleFranche, a town about 15 minutes away... look out for the gorgeous pictures!!! It was a beautiful day too. I wished I could be there forever... and ever...

Then, I took the train to Monaco. Do you know it`s the smallest country after Vatican CityÉÉÉ I was just amazed at the yatchs... one day... one of those will be mine.....

I felt rich just walking around the Monte Carlo Casino. Stores like Prada, Dior, Louis Vutton, Celine, Burberry, at every corner, cars like Lamborghini, Lotus, Ferrari, Porche parked by the streets like they were JUST cars!!! Elegantly dressed, plastic-like middle-aged European women with their oh-so-precious dogs on leashes...

Thursday
I met up with Oli by the Fountain at Place Massena. Memories from D.C. came flowing back. It was like back in the day. We talked and talked and talked.... and talked... , wishing Jeremiah and Lauren are with us... and he cooked... of course! LOL.... at 4 p.m. we had good pasta and a bottle of wine...

For dinner, we had the amazing Foie Gras, which I had wanted to try forever! Well, since I knew it existed, the texture... it just melts away in your mouth....and the taste... words alone can`t describe them.. you just have to try it!! [just don`t order it at Citrus restaurant in Ipoh]

Then, we had fat duck breast... so good.... with another bottle of wine...

Later that night, we went to Wayne`s bar and met up with Eduardo, Oli`s Brazilian friend. We had a good time. It was ladies` night so with 3 euros, I get unlimited Champagne!!!!

We went to another bar and the three of us ordered the cheapest Vodka [I can still taste it at the back of my throat - ewww] and downed it with O.J.

Friday
It`s kinda windy and cloudy outside... do I want to brave the weather and do something with myselfÉ Or do I want to laze around, listen to some good tunes, and read Homage to Catalonia...ÉÉ

ps. É is actually a question mark. Damn Quebecan keyboards!!

Saturday 22 November 2008

Friday 21 November 2008

Paris, here I come... again!

So, I'll be taking off to France today. But before that, I have a million things I have to attend to. 


Saturday 15 November 2008

Monday 10 November 2008

A shirt in front of the White House states...

Rosa Parks sat in 1955.

Martin Luther King walked in 1963.

Barack Obama ran in 2008

Friday 7 November 2008

what a shame!

As you may already know, I was at the Obama Rally on Tuesday night. A sense of pride took over me, even if I'm not an American, even though I didn't directly contribute to this historical moment, I'm incredibly proud of people, every single one of you who voted for him, every single one of you who may be afraid of change, embraced this, allow this to take place in our lifetime, a change that would lead the country to a better place.

Everyone is watching this election. When I was in Europe over the summer, 8 out of 10 people I've met, be it the taxi drivers, that random dude at the bus stop, the lady next to me in the train, everyone wants to talk American politics. They were so excited and were pouring out every single bit of information they have, proud to be knowledgeable on the subject. People from Malaysia were bombarding me with questions.

A lot of Americans cannot even fathom the effect this will have on the whole world. The butterfly effect this will have on a global scale cannot be denied. Yes, he is no Messiah, he is no God, he is no prophet, he will need all the help he can get to realize his ideals. But, this is a stepping stone, an extremely significant one indeed.

I came across an article and to be honest, I've wondered this since I was a little girl. Can a non-Malay, non-Muslim be the Prime Minister of Malaysia?

If not, why? Are the Chinese and Indians considered immigrants still? Are we not all "Malaysians?" After all these time, after all the contributions non-Malays have to this country, after all the bull shit that says "we are Malaysians, we live in harmony, unlike any other countries in the world, three different races under one roof, we are like no other nation in the world," blah blah blah...

Here's the article.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told reporters late Wednesday that it was possible Malaysia could have a non-Malay leader, saying "it is up to the people to decide."

Wednesday 5 November 2008

I can say I witnessed a historic event!

We drove to Chicago from 3 p.m. on Tuesday and got there are at 7:30 p.m. ET, 6:30 p.m. in Chicago. 

We met up with April, a couchsurfer and headed to Grant Park. The crowd were massive and there was a huge line.

We waited and interviewed some people.

People were climbing trees just to get a good view of the screen where CNN is live and to get an idea of the number of people there. It's got to be way more than a million.

A woman in front of me has a portable TV. OBAMA WON!! she screams.

Everyone was hugging each other. 

We interviewed a black woman and she told me a white person hugged her for the first time in her life, they didn't think she was going to harm them or anything like that.

She said it was a good feeling. 

Right before Obama gave his acceptance speech, Signed, Sealed Delivered were playing. People were dancing, singing, and yelling.

It was an awesome moment.

As he gave his speech, people were teary-eyed, some grinned, some just listened intently.

After that, people headed out. It felt like New Years Eve at the Time Square in New York City. 

Drivers were honking and people yelled "YEAHHH OBAMA"

It was 1:30 a.m. in Chicago. We drove home to Toledo.

We were back at the IC office at 6:15 a.m. and started working on the story.

Look out for our kick-ass story, pictures and videos!!!!