Early Saturday morning was just a normal time for most people in the world, but for those in Chile, it could very well have been the worst day of their lives. Not many months have passed since the killer earthquake hit Haiti, and a lot of people the world over still live in anxiety. You can just imagine what our fellowmen from Chile were thinking when they awakened to a rocking world.

The quake that hit Chile was way stronger than the one that hit Haiti – it measured in at 8.8 on the Richter scale. Seismologists classify this as “great” earthquake, capable of incurring tremendous damages. To date, hundreds have been reported dead in Chile, with the numbers expected to rise.

The extent of the effects of this earthquake is supposed to reach far and wide, though. As a matter of fact, a tsunami was triggered by the tremor. AP reports that waves have already reached as far as Russia and Japan on Sunday – a day after the quake hit Chile. The good thing is that the waves were not as huge as was expected. People were already told to evacuate as early as Saturday, and evacuate they did. Perhaps due to the distance, the waves were a “mere” 4-feet high, which, while causing some flooding, did not really cause much damage. The Japanese government has already lifted the tsunami warning.

Most other countries who are in the path of the tsunami have also lifted their warnings.

Would you pay that much for any dish? I suppose that if you were dining at a 3-star Michelin restaurant, a hundred bucks is not that expensive for a single dish. Then again, it really depends on what you’re eating.

In a Japanese restaurant, you can taste a one of a kind soup – ramen – for $110. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that this price tag is more than hefty for a bowl of soup! Indeed, if you ever go to Japan, you will be able to find bowls of ramen for as low as $10. This is especially true in areas where they sell food on the streets.

So what makes this ramen soup worth the price tag? According to restaurateur Shoichi Fujimaki, his soup is “not really ramen. This is my cuisine, it’s my 25 years of experience distilled into one bowl. This is the only place in the world that people have this kind of soup.” Twenty-five years of cooking experience, more than 20 ingredients, and three days of preparation – all these add up to $110 per bowl.

And what do customers have to say about the Five-taste Blend Imperial Noodles, which is the highlight at Tokyo’s Fujimaki Gekijyo? It looks like they’re loving it despite the price and the not-so-good Japanese economy! By the way, not just anyone can have a taste of this soup. In fact, customers are required to dine at another restaurant (Fujimaki owns it too) and sample “lesser” fare before they can be qualified to have even a glimpse of THE other soup. Nice business tactic, huh?

Eating the meat of dogs is a tradition in certain parts of the world. In China, dog meat is a tradition ingredient in hot pots. With the changes that have occurred over the decades, however, this tradition is in danger.

The government has proposed jail time for people who are caught eating dog meat. The bill has been proposed in alignment with animal rights. Included in the bill’s coverage is cat meat. People who are charged and found guilty can go to jail for up to 15 days. A fine of around $700 is also part of the penalty. Businesses that are found guilty of serving dishes with dog meat or cat meat in them can also be charged under the provisions of the bill. The fine for businesses ranges from 14,000 USD to 73,000 USD.

As expected, this move has stirred up controversy. Pet lovers have taken up for the cause, while others say that the ban is quite unrealistic. On the one hand, some people see the cruelty in certain practices. One such practice is beating the animal (dogs in particular) to death. This is done to force the blood into the meat, making it tastier and richer. On the other hand, some people value the tradition of consuming the meat of cats and dogs. They think that the move to ban such meat is akin to throwing away part of the people’s history and culture.

It’s definitely a delicate situation, and I am glad I do not have to make the decision about it.

How is this possible? According to a recently concluded study, denims just might help save your life in case you get bitten by a rattlesnake. Dr. Shelton S. Herbert and Dr. William K. Hayes from Loma Linda University in California did research on the effect of denim on rattlesnake bites. What they did was to use latex gloves in lieu of human legs (or arms). The gloves were filled with saline solution. They then covered some parts with denim.

The results were quite interesting. The parts that were covered with denim received less of the rattlesnake venom. In case you’re wondering just how much less, they received as much as two thirds less venom than those which were not protected with denim!

The implications are exciting, to say the least. If you decide to go out into the desert – or wherever there may be rattlesnakes lurking around – then you should throw away your nice shorts and put on some nice comfy denims instead. I can think of other reasons why denims are better – they will protect you from the sun and they will protect you from getting your legs scratched! Of course, in case you do get bitten by a rattlesnake or two, your jeans will absorb most of the venom and perhaps save your life.

Of course, the smarter course of action would be to avoid getting bitten by a rattlesnake, but if that cannot be avoided for some reason, then the jeans will be there to help out, even if just a little bit.

I am sure that Santa Claus (Saint Nick, Santa, Father Christmas, or whatever you call him) has had more than his share of practical jokes in the past hundreds of years. It never occurred to me, though, that he would come out as muscular and naked! Apparently, I do not have as much imagination in me as Barry McBee of Big Spring, Texas.

McBee, who loves to make people laugh, decided to put up a replica of Michelangelo’s David (yeah, that ultra-muscular guy with no clothes on) on his front lawn. Following the spirit of Christmas, he decided to add a white beard and a pointy red hat (Santa’s garb, in case you didn’t get it). All the guy wanted to do was elicit a chuckle here and there, but he got more than he bargained for.

According to city officials, they received complaints from parents whose children were inquiring as to why Santa was naked. Seriously, if I were a kid, I probably would have first asked how he lost all that flab! Anyway, city officials didn’t find McBee of violating any city ordinances. However, in the interest of keeping peace in the community, they asked McBee to “put more clothes” on Santa David.

It seems that McBee is an easy going guy – he gave in easily and dressed his statue with black and white shorts. After all, we cannot have Santa suffering from frostbite, can we? Oh, and just for the record: I think he should have gotten red and white shorts to match the hat!

Photo courtesy of Yahoo News

Before I write anything else, let me say that I am merely re-telling something that I read. By no means am I agreeing to the idea. Now that that’s clear, who do you think are the ugliest people in the world?

If the web site BeautifulPeople.com is to be believed, Britons are among the ugliest people in existence today. This web site is being presented as an “elite dating site,” which only “beautiful people” can join. Talk about discrimination, huh?

Anyhow, the site has presented some figures saying that a mere 1 out of 8 British males and 3 out of 20 females make it past their application. And who makes the decision whether an applicant can be considered a member or not? The application process is actually quite simple. An interested individual has to send a profile picture and a short description. This is presented to the existing members – of the opposite sex only, interestingly. After 48 hours, the members vote on the decision.

On the other end of the spectrum, the most successful men are from Sweden while the most attractive women are from Norway. The web site is accepting applications from about 190 countries from all over the world. It would be interesting to send in an application just to see how you would fare, wouldn’t it?

In any case, this is what’s running through my mind: whatever happened to inner beauty and beauty is in the eye of the beholder? I guess I am behind the times?

Don’t you just hate it when other people on the road drive so badly? I am so bad at parking but I pretty much do a good job while on the road. Still, I haven’t driven in the longest time because of a traumatic “pulling out of the parking lot” experience years ago.

Anyhow, the next time that you find yourself on the brink of being a victim to road rage, bear this in mind: bad driving may be a result of the genetic make up of a person!

No, I am not pulling your leg. A team of researchers from the University of California Irvine conducted a study and found out that there is this gene variant present in people who drive badly as compared to the average person. They made people take a driving test, and those who had the gene variant performed 20% worse! The gene has something to do with proteins affecting memory, which is perhaps why bad drivers “forget” even the most basic of the road rules that everyone should know.

One shortcoming of the study is the fact that the researchers did not look any further than the driving test they used. For example, they did not take a look at other aspects such as car crashes. Also, the results are pretty much inconclusive – another example of potentially impractical information? Then again, if they conclusively identify this gene variant as a reason for bad driving, then perhaps something can be done about it in the future.

Photo courtesy of http://www.csb.yale.edu

No one in his right mind would do this, right? Well, think again! This guy from Lansing, Michigan wanted his 15 minutes of fame, so he stuffed these icky creatures into his mouth.

Sean Murphy, a pet store employee, decided to make a go for a Guinness World Record and put not one, but 16, cockroaches in his mouth. Mind you, they weren’t any ordinary roaches. In fact, they were Madagascar hissing cockroaches. According to Wikipedia, the Madagascar hissing cockroach is:

“also known as the hissing roach or simply hisser, is one of the largest species of cockroach, reaching 2–3 inches (5-8cm) at maturity. They are from the island of Madagascar off the African coast, where they can be found in rotting logs.

Unlike most cockroaches, they are wingless. They are excellent climbers and can scale smooth glass.”

So Sean Murphy got 16 of some of the biggest roaches in the world! He said that each of the roaches were at the very least, 2 ½ inches long. He initially tried for 12 roaches, but he just kept adding one more until he got all 16 in. While the feat has been documented, Guinness says that they still have to verify Murphy’s stunt. Until that has been done, amazing (and disgusting) as it may be, he is not a world record holder yet. He remains undaunted, though, and says that next year, he will be going for 20 roaches in his mouth – alive, hissing, and all!

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

How was your weekend? The chances are that you fared a thousand times better than the Filipinos who were caught unawares by tropical storm Ondoy (international name Ketsana). The Philippines experiences typhoons on a regular basis, and Filipinos are used to constant rain. As such, Friday night even saw a lot of people out partying and welcoming the weekend.

Saturday morning was a whole different story. People in the Metro Manila area experience rainfall like never before, and the floodwaters rose at an unprecedented rate. Rich or poor, it did not matter – everyone was left at the mercy of strong currents. Even huge houses were not spared, with floodwaters covering most of the edifices.

The weekend was definitely a horrific period of time for countless people in the metro. The news of the disaster has spread all over the world, with most of the attention focused on the metro. What many might not know is that thousands more of people are also in similar situations outside of the capital. In outlying provinces such as Laguna and Bulacan, people remain stranded on their roofs and in areas yet unreached by rescue efforts. Everywhere, people are clamoring for food and water, as well as clothes and practically anything that can help them start over.

There are countless volunteers offering their assistance. The problem is the goods are not nearly enough. If you go to the big supermarkets in Manila, you will see bare shelves. Many say they went shopping to donate the goods.

The bottom line is that these people need help, FAST. Splashpress Media has launched our campaign to help in whatever way we can. If you feel that you want to pitch in, please visit our donation page and read more. The Filipino people will surely appreciate every little bit.

The average person has dreams of one day waking up and finding himself a rich heiress or a long lost member of a royal family. For most people, this remains but a dream, but for an embassy worker in Washington, it actually has come true. Peggielene Bartels has been working at Ghana’s embassy since the 1970s.

A little more than a year ago, Bartels got a call at 4 a.m. She learned that the king of Otuam, a town in Ghana about an hour from the capital. As things turn out, the former king was the uncle of Bartel, and after a traditional ritual of determining the next in line, Peggielene became the new “Nana.”

“Nana” is actually the honorific that the people of Ghana bestow upon people of stature. They use it to refer to people like kings as well as grandparents. Now, Bartel is royalty. The decision to take on the responsibility was not that easy for her. In fact, she struggled with it for three months, before she realized that she could not run away from her destiny.

So what is the life of the new king like? After traveling to Ghana for her coronation, Peggielene went back to Washington and resumed her post as a secretary. She does her own laundry, drivers herself around in a 1992 Honda, and answers to her boss. She serves as a “commuting king,” dividing her time between her being a king and being a secretary. She says that when she retires in five or six years, she plans on moving to Ghana and serving as their full time king.

Fairy tales do happen in real life, don’t they?