Alterity | Jakarta and Bali

My mind is still spinning with the Monty Hall Problem. The problem is easy to understand but the solution is completely counterintuitive. It’s really weird – maybe we are just hardwired to be stupid. Try the problem yourself and see if you are stupid too. But even if you are, don’t get too upset about it – you are in good company and virtually EVERYONE unfamiliar with the problem will get it wrong – even if they have a bloody Phd or MBA after their name! In fact this is a good problem to give to people who claim that education is everything. It is not. Education is, of course, important but it’s far more important to be actually able to think . After all, there are many educated idiots out there: you know the sorts of people I mean – the buffoons in suits that say that stock prices and house prices will always go up… Yeah right… Roll on 2009… Okay, let’s get down to the problem which refers to Monty Hall, the host of a TV game show called "Let's Make a Deal". The game sho...

I take a pretty skeptical view on most things - especially when it comes to stuff like UFOs, Bigfoot, ghosts and the paranormal. But not when it comes to Santa Clause. Proof that Santa Claus exists: 1) It’s been mathematically proven that he could theoretically deliver all the presents. Yes, there are 2 billion children in the world but Santa doesn't have to worry about Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist children. Hence, his workload is reduced to just 378 million children. At an average of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. Now he’d have to be fast, but he could visit them all – if he moved at the speed of sound (340.29 m/s). 2) Multiple sightings of Santa have been reported over the years. 3) If Santa didn’t exist, then who bought the presents and ate the mince pies left outside? 4) The mail service delivers the letters children write to Santa Claus. If Santa Claus didn’t exist, the letters would be returned and marked “return to sender”. 5) Reindeer can f...

Huang, a Kappa girl in a Shanghai department store, is bored with her less-than-demanding job. And she wants more money. So what does she do? Well, she makes a 12-minute porno flick and then posts it up on the net for all to download, hoping that her fame – or notoriety – will allow her to sell interviews for up to 30,000 yuan each. But things don’t go to plan and the Shanghai cops eventually track her down and arrest her. But does the Shanghai girl really count as a bona fide kappa? Well, I’ll let you decide. Huang, the Kappa girl (Shanghai version) Kappa girl by gamera1985 . Note: Kappas are legendary creatures; a type of water spirit found in Japanese folklore. The most notable feature of a kappa is the water-filled depression on top of the head which is otherwise covered in scraggly hair. As you might expect, Kappa are mischievous troublemakers and they have a taste for young children. Sometimes, though, they befriend humans in exchange for gifts and offerings, especially cucumbe...

> Never assume anything or U make an ASS out of ME. This is just too hilarious to pass up. Take a look at the front cover of the latest issue of the journal published by one of Europe’s most prestigious scientific research institutes: Well, it’s all very well to come up with some nice Chinese calligraphy to illustrate a special China edition of the publication, of course. But not when you can’t be bothered to find out what the writing actually means! And what does it mean? Well apparently: "Our mama sans, Ga Mei and KK, present you with young and beautiful girls. Stylish and good mannered beauties from the North [of China]. Sexy and hot, young housewives. Flirty and enchanting, available today." Hahaha! - the calligraphy was originally an ad for a Hong Kong strip joint!!! All very bizarre. But at least we now know the sorts of places that these scientific types like to visit when on their escapades overseas. And no wonder they plan to visit Bangkok on their next “scienti...

Now this is a turn up for the books : Jesus wasn’t born in December after all – it was June! Yep I know what you’re thinking - but this isn’t the silly season and the facts come from some reputable scientists who have used computer technology to recreate the exact positions of celestial bodies over the Holy Land in 2 B.C. using St. Matthew's Gospel as a reference point. "Venus and Jupiter became very close in the year 2 B.C. and they would have appeared to be one bright beacon of light," Reneke was quoted as saying by the Telegraph on Tuesday. He said the three wise men may have mistaken the bright light as one star, which became the fabled Star of Bethlehem that guided them to the birthplace of Jesus Christ. Based on the astronomers' chart, Reneke calculated the date of the planetary conjunction to be June 17, 2 B.C. and not December 25, the traditional Christmas Day celebrated by Christians. So what does this mean? Well, quite simply, white Christmases are out. But ...

What surprised me about this club after arriving in the late hours one wet and windy evening was how dark it was in there. I mean sure all nightclubs are dark but it wasn’t till I noticed some girl’s face about three centimeters away from mine that I realized I hadn’t gone into a empty club but a pretty full one! After a while my eyes adjusted a bit, and even without the nightvision goggles, I somehow managed to get to the bar. Yep, it’s dodgy in here alright. Not the place to invite the mother-in-law - although her better half might have his curiosity piqued! Big mammas circulate like opportunistic vultures helping the older men to order their finger-licking-good fried chicken; rooms (apparently) upstairs at cheap rates. The place at the weekends practically never closes. Mostly pros but some freelancers. I met a housewife who – I later found out – was wearing a wig. Pill pandemonium. Worth a visit just to know places like this exist. Otherwise you simply wouldn’t believe it… ATLANTA ...

It’s easy to be a cynical bastard in a cynical world. Often we forget that there are people far worse off than us and that they don’t get held back by mere inconveniences, such as, er, having no arms! And it’s not as if lovely Jessica wanted to paint pictures by using her mouth to hold a paintbrush either. Oh no. Because this lass from Tucson, Arizona has only gone and become the world’s first person without arms to receive a pilot license! So well done Jessica. Talk about setting your sights high!

I’ve never liked living in high rise towers. It is the dislocation from land that I find unnerving, a sort of suspension in space and the prospect that the plug could be pulled at any time and we would come crashing down to the land far below us. A sense of community is also lost: at ground level you are part of a social system but 16 floors up you are far removed from the social interactions taking place down below. But as the global population continues to increase it is inevitable that more and more people will have to live in such buildings. In 1800, there were less than 1 billion people on planet Earth. Today there are 6.7 billion (see the latest figure in real time here ). And by 2050, there will be an estimated 9 billion people on this planet! So more apartment towers will be needed. And as we take to vertical living, our habits change. In the old days it was street running and running around football stadiums the wrong way. But now it is running up tower blocks in a new sport...

Technically, of course, not possible. But I did it a number of years ago after the pressures and stresses of the rat-race in London were starting to take their toll. My body needed a change and so did my mind; and the prospect of sipping Singapore slings in balmy Singapore proved too good an opportunity to pass by. I left my home at some ungodly hour, and began the long walk to Heathrow Airport, some 10kms from my house, half an hour by car but about three hours on foot. The planes never seemed to be far away when I was a kid - in fact when Concorde used to fly over the roar was so loud that the house would literally shake - but it was still a fair old walk to the airport. The posh tree-lined streets of suburban utopia soon gave way to busy highways, and subsequently I reached the more gritty area of Feltham, just a few kilometers from the airport. Now this being the pre-Bin Laden era, the airport security guards weren’t too perturbed by my presence – today, of course, you’d probably...

CLUB 36. Well, what can you say? The only club in Jakarta that gives you real bang - or should that be Bangkok? – for money. Yes, it’s a small fish in the Chinatown nightclub fishpond compared to its more illustrious peers - Stadium , Crown , Sydney , etc – but CLUB 36 has still managed to acquire LEGENDARY status thanks to its easy going vibe and thrilling sexy dancer performances. In operation since 1993, CLUB 36 is located in the Jayakarta Hotel on Jalan Hayam Wuruk. Although the club doesn’t have a dress code as such, I’d strongly recommend you dress to impress. Appearances go a long way in Indonesia and looking sharp can pay real dividends – or so I’ve found :) It costs Rp75k to get in but you can redeem the entrance ticket for your first drink. To book a table the minimum charge is at least Rp1 million. Prices are moderately high, but not always outrageously so. A 75cl bottle of JW Black goes for around Rp 750k and a pitcher of beer around Rp200k. Some of the cocktails are mind-b...

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro > Hunter S. Thompson It’s one thing for a woman to want an ex-husband’s child but it’s another thing for a woman to want the child of an ex-husband three years after his death . But that is apparently what Anita Thompson (former wife of Hunter S. Thompson) wants. "We knew that one day, because of our age difference, Hunter would die and I would still be alive," she said. "We had hoped that I would have children and that they would be older by the time Hunter passed away, but we weren't blind to the fact that Hunter was 35 years older than me. It wasn't a constant discussion but it was something that we had considered." And it’s far from being impossible as wacky old Hunter had the foresight to get some of his sperm frozen (semen cryopreservation*). Apparently life wasn’t good enough for him – Hunter killed himself – but he still thought it would be good enough for a prospective offspring – even if he would ne...