Cameron Highlands-Gunung Irau

I was supposed to visit Singapore during this Raya Haji holiday. But a last minute cancellation by one of the guys ruined the plan. So I was left with only a few days to come up with a surrogate plan
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Gunung Irau is the ninth tallest mountain in Malaysia, only 80 meters lower than the tallest peak in peninsular Malaysia, Gunung Tahan.

The Twisted Minds of Republicans

America is supposed to be the most powerful country on Earth. They have the strongest minds in science, the best research facilities, top universities, and the dumbest of politicians. Looking at the nonsense uttered by republicans I can't help but wonder how on earth these douchebags got their votes.

Why Is The Elephant Tusk So Valuable?

New York Times reporter Jeffrey Gettleman reported that in 2011, there were 38.8 tons of elephant tusks hacked off 4000 dead elephants worldwide.

That's a very frightening number--4000 dead elephants from an estimated 500,000 elephants left in the entire world today. Putting that into perspective, it's like 56,000,000 people getting killed for their teeth.

Image: treehugger.com

 Why on Earth would anyone want an animal's teeth? Elephants don't brush their teeth.

福州--月圆人团圆

我的贯藉是福州闽清。
我公公婆婆在战乱期间为寻求好日子不惜背弃家园远赴南洋。听说我婆婆当年才十几岁，从我祖屋到福州城需要走三天，然后坐船到香港一个月，再等下南洋两个月，全程三个月。
我老豆就是个念旧之人。这次回乡终于把我们全家人带回祖墓去扫墓，顺便与福州的亲戚共度中秋。

How Many Viruses Are There Around Us?

The fact that we're constantly surrounded by viruses and bacteria is nothing new. But exactly how many?

A team of Korean scientists set up some traps to catch viruses and bacteria floating in the air. They set the traps in Seoul, in an industrial complex in western Korea, and in a forest. Their work was published in the August issue of The Journal of Virology.

Virus. Image: ucmp.berkeley.edu

Based on their study, they found out that the abundance of airborne viruses exhibited a seasonal fluctuation. The abundance increased from autumn to winter, and decreased toward spring.

The Pharaoh's Serpent

I stumbled upon this video on Youtube and I was like: what-the-hell-is-this?

And by the way the person who uploaded this must really learn to edit his video first. The real meaningful part of the video didn't begin until about the halfway point.

Tail Wind And Phosphorescence Strips

As a Sarawakian studying in Peninsular Malaysia, I've flown a lot over the past six years. But on the flight en route to Kota Kinabalu last week, I heard for the first time something I've previously only heard on films and documentaries--tailwind. 

We were about to land at the Kota Kinabalu airport at that time--in fact we were already so close to the ground I could see the bodies of individuals walking on the road--when the pilot suddenly pulled the aircraft upwards again. He then announced that we couldn't perform the landing because of the strong tailwind.