"If the world had had to depend on the inventive and constructive ability of women, we should still be sleeping on the plains" - Alonzo Bertram See

***

Baltics trip
Day 9 - 24th May - Sigulda, Latvia; Selected pictures/videos from HWMNBN and YC


YC loves the toilet


nw.t, YC, me and Sara


This would look better if I didn't seem to be grimacing


Krimulda Castle No-gus.


Sadako in Eastern Europe


House of the Dead Zombie


The precipitous Walkway of Doom


Resting from my labours


Sigulda Death March


What you'd see if you killed yourself by jumping off the tower of Turaida castle


Monkeying around in Turaida


Turaida before and after restoration


Riga Night scene

"Eighty percent of married men cheat in America. The rest cheat in Europe." - Jackie Mason

***

Japan trip
Day 9 - 14th June - Kaiyukan; Osaka (Part 4)

The thing about the aquarium's spiral design was that it took you back to tanks you had seen before, and you could see the other side of them or their bottom parts. Furthermore, the audioguide only sounded off when entering a new area, so it was quite quiet towards the end.

The audioguide was annoying because there were basic grammatical mistakes. Another annoying line: 'give birth to lih'v young' (live).


Antarctica was the next area.


King Penguins. At the upper left is a Gento penguin.
Some penguins, like the one in the left foreground, had what looked like barnacles growing on them. Ugh.

This exhibit was cute because it had "snow" falling from an ice kachang dispenser above.

Next was the Tasman Sea.


Crown of Thorns Starfish


Euphyllia Ancura coral


Euphyllia Ancura coral


"Teeth of the ... Pacific whitesided dolphins are not used for biting off their food. They use their teeth to keep their prey without arms" - ???


Pacific Whitesided Dolphins

After that was the Great Barrier Reef.


Coral

Fish inside the Reef are colourful to protect themselves from their enemies: it's harder to see them when the sun shines. This was a surprise, since in nature usually colourful = poisonous.

Then it was time for the biggest tank: the Pacific Ocean (how appropriate):


Manta Rays


Whale Shark

Aquarium website: ""Kai-kun" is a male whale shark... He swims in the Pacific Ocean tank very well."
Damn Japs


Whale Shark 2

The fish swimming under sharks are called "shark suckers". Maybe they get eaten from time to time.


Ray


Ray What probably killed Steve Irwin


Octopus, Kelp Ball, Ocean Sunfish

The Sunfish was something I'd never seen before (well, so was the Whale Shark, but I'd never even heard of the Sunfish and it's definitely more exotic).

The inimitable aquarium website again:

"The popularity of ocean sunfish is as high as the whale shark. Visitors love its innocent charming expressions. At the time of feeding, it rushes to the feeder keeping its mouth small and round eyes wide open.
He skillfully eats a mixture of ground shrimps and squids in small bite sizes. When the feeding time is over, it looks disappointed.
He is usually easygoing and sometimes sensitive. When surprised, it swims at high speed and risks its injuring body by knocking against the display window."

Uhh...

The sunfish is so sensitive they line its tank with a plastic net so it won't bump into the acrylic walls of the tank. Flash photography is also prohibited with it (but that didn't stop many people).

I counted 4 octopuses in the Ocean Sunfish tank. Uhh.


Sunfish


Glow in the dark fish.


The Panama Canal as a barrier for the free flow of wildlife. Somehow I doubt it's so effective.


School of small fish: 10,000 Sardines and Japanese Anchovies

After this the tanks started repeating.


Penguin


Ray resting on ledge


Coral


Diver being the Green Goblin


Chilling on the sea tank floor


Giant Spider Crab from the bottom of the ocean (I swear I had a better picture; I knew I deleted some dups but I thought they were worse, oh well). They keep animals like this by changing the water pressure gradually so they get used to it. Now they're kept at normal pressure.

They claimed eating crab brings fortune. Right.

There was some information panel on distinguishing sharks and rays (including by touch). Wth. Only a blind person can't do that.


Harbour from aquarium


Giant Garouper. Very ugly.


Sharks and Man (to scale)

At the end was the largest collection of Jellyfish I'd ever seen. You'll see about half what the had (the more interesting half, I'd like to think).


Aequorea Coerulescens. After this I gave up and took videos. They capture the graceful, ethereal movements better anyway.


Jellyfish 1: Rhopilema Esculenta


Jellyfish 2: Chrysaoru Melanaster


Jellyfish 3: Aurelia Limbata


Jellyfish 4: Bolinopsis Mikado


Jellyfish 5: Pacific Sea Nettle

I was thinking that it was strange that it was missing what every introduction to the strange and wonderful world of Jellyfish needs: a Portuguese Man of War, perhaps because it's too big, but I've since learnt that a Portuguese Man-of-War is not a jellyfish! Damn.


Spotted Garden Eel, peeking in and out of the sand. They reminded me of the breast rash larvae (HAHAHAHAHAHA)


Spotted Garden Eel


Mudskippers - out of the mud

They had Banded Archerfish, but no opportunity to let them demonstrate a shot. Aww.


Otter toys


Emotional blackmail

All in all, it was the best aquarium I've ever been to. And I've been to quite a lot. Lucky for Osaka, since there isn't that much to do there anyway (hurr hurr).

"A man thinks that by mouthing hard words he understands hard things." - Herman Melville

***

An interesting survey I got from here and there:

Mingle2 - How Sexually Experienced Are You?8



The numbers seem pretty reasonable, except for "Women"; their database is quite screwy (I get negative values sometimes).

"The great thing about democracy is that it gives every voter a chance to do something stupid." - Art Spander

***

A local media item on the futility of education:


Survey shows UniSIM grads enjoy higher pay between 2002 and 2007

"SINGAPORE : A UniSIM survey has found that half of its students have higher pay after graduation.

The survey was conducted over a five-year period between 2002 and 2007.

Of the 1,000 surveyed, about a fifth moved to a different job within two years after graduation.

Among those who had pay increases, the average pay hike was 15 per cent. But one in five got more than a 30 per cent increment.

Those who found new jobs were paid 21 per cent more. This is more than the 2007 national average of 5.9 per cent."


I'm wondering if UniSIM has been cursing the day they commissioned this study.

If it isn't immediately apparent, the corollary of half its graduates getting higher pay is that half of them either see no pay increase or even get a pay cut.

Given that the cost of a UniSIM education is $14,478 in the January 2009 Semester for a Basic Degree in a non-lab course with government grant, getting a UniSIM degree is probably not a wise choice. This is not taking into account the opportunity cost (in foregone income) of doing one full-time, and even if you do your degree part-time, your employer might dock your pay for taking a day or two a week off work. Not to mention the time and mental energy spent studying in the 4.5 years you take.

This must be why their press release does not provide a link to the full study or statistics.

Of course, 20% moved to a different job within 2 years, but the language there seems (deliberately?) vague; a different job might not necessarily be a better one. In fact, TMM points out that you may be forced to resign because you're overqualified (I don't know how often this happens in practice). Furthermore, the statistic that 20% changed jobs within 2 years is not very meaningful without a similar statistic as a control group, i.e. the percentage of non-UniSIM graduates who change jobs within 2 years. Naturally statistics on this are hard to find, but here's a quote from the book "Japan in Singapore" by Eyal Ben-Ari and J. R. Clammer (from 2000):

"An impediment to developing worker loyalty towards employers is the high frequency with which Singaporeans change jobs. Their ‘job-hopping’ is so famous that passing reference to it brings a knowing laugh from any audience, whether labourers, students or bankers."

Too broad a generalisation? Glad you objected.

A survey in 1998 found 12.12% full-time employees were actively looking for other jobs, and according to MOM data, average monthly turnover in Singapore was 2% in 2007 (and 0.1-0.2% higher in previous years). Some Excel wizardry reveals that, with the simplifying assumption that old and new staff are equally likely to leave, after 24 months (2 years) only 61.6% of the original staff will still be around.

Be that as it may, bear in mind that all this still leaves a significant 30% of UniSIM graduates who apparently haven't (yet) seen any improvement to their career prospects.

Note also that the survey response rate is only 33%, so there's certainly a self-selection effect here: those who did not get a pay raise or change jobs would be less likely to respond to the survey.

So I hope at least half of UniSIM students are really into it for lifelong learning and sense of achievement, as many of the glowing testimonials relate. If not, they better be risk-loving.

"My loathings are simple: stupidity, oppression, crime, cruelty, soft music." - Vladimir Nabokov

***

TMM: it appears to me
that that the most fucked up of SAF
all end up hiden away from the HQs

I was reading threads on EDMW
and it appears
that most of the non compliance

like all MCs need to endorse
weird rules
and stuff

never happen in HQs
but in isolated god forsaken places

Me: that's cos HQs are slack

TMM: hmm

its not about slackness or strictness, but non compliance generally
I think its due to lack or perceived lack of awareness

Me: you know SAF has this loophole right
individual units have discretion

ie they can screw you more than they're allowed to

TMM: lol

strictly speaking, they don't have the discretion if its at odds with directives
its just few people want to challenge them

although I've seen individual units having to 'suck thumb' as ruled in the Military Court of Appeals

its lack of awareness

Me: nah it's called screwing your guys because you think you can

TMM: ahahahaha

yeah
because they don't know better

Me: anyway it depends how at odds with directives it is

like no granting of compassionate leave... that probably cannot do
5.5 day week... for "Training purposes" can lah

TMM: urm

5.5 for training purposes
is only for certain places

although
if they need to call you back
they can

5.5 is only for OCS, SISpec and BMT

but I guess if they want to call you back every Saturday
its within their right

I'm more concerned about calling sick servicemen to return to camp to endorse MC

if the superior insists
he has to arrange transport if the guy is too sick
but most people rather not challenge

Me: oh
so this is one of the rules that's "discovered" in the wake of another death?

but his mc was for hamstring strain
so you can't blame that for killing him

TMM: no no
this is the rule which people aren't aware of

everytime they bitch about having to return to camp on a rainy day with 40deg fever
to endorse MC

Me: well from reading GOM [Ed: General Orders of MINDEATH], I notice there's always a section giving individual units discretion

TMM: I don't blame the SAF for this

ahh
the discretion part qualified in the directive
not to exercise this power capricously
and remind the superior that he may be subject to inquiry...

Me: yeah
who defines "capricious"
pls lah

it's just like abu ghraib
torture wasn't ordered by dick cheney

but the whole culture he bred led to it

similarly in the SAF, there's a slave mentality
and an anti-"chao keng" culture

TMM: but the transport part is kind of free of wriggle room

yeah
there is
sadly

but one has to be informed to protect himself
:(

and most tragically
the people who need to be informed the most
aren't

Me: and how are ordinary people going to know?
only clerks will know lor

TMM: aren't

yeah
its a tragedy

Me: if ordinary slaves ask to read GOM they'll be looked upon with suspicion
and screwed by the system for trying to play punk

TMM: sadly
:(

knowledge in the SAF is a strange, strange thing
even the people on the hotlines don't know much

Me: when I told my counsellor I was banned from the canteen she was shocked
she didn't know about cookhouses

TMM: by the way
the single most important thing they never tell you
is that if you fall sick on leave
you can get MC
and get your leave back

such morsels of information
are rarely publicized

in fact
when you tell the chief clerk you want to claim back leave
they look at you with a strange stare

like
WHY DOES THIS GUY KNOW

but they have to do it
grudgingly

the people who would benefit the most from knowing what is right and what is wrong to do are the least likely to

they just sign charges at the drop of a hat
afraid of even more punishment


HWMNBN: the older i get, the more i realise women are just life support systems for vaginas

i had lunch with *** and *** at this singaporean restaurant

couple of chio singaporean chicks with atas accents were sitting next to us - i think they're the rich father/rich boyfriend travel around types

cunts

listening to the poseur women next to us spaek about their trips to milan, purchasing art, and who's who investment banking bfs worrying about lay offs and misssing on bonus inspied that little bit of misogyny

Me: it's a quid pro quo

...

well men are life support systems for credit cards


Someone: i was instructed to give away vagasil samples away
to only the ladies

lesbian couples which fitted into the butch and femme thingy came in and i keep debating to myself whether i should hand any to the butch?

Me: boo
so sexist

Someone: well.

Me: why not
if they're female

Someone: ha
i tried. some were very turned off

Me: give femmes lor

then other butches might complain right
HAHA

Someone: YES
and then sometimes you wonder to yourself if they are male or female

Me: you're damned if you do
damned if you don't

either way they can call you a bigot :P

Someone: yeah huh


MFTTW: tch! what positive traits do men have?

Me: credit card

MFTTW: .....
SEXIST!

Me: ability to put up with women's bullshit

MFTTW: i also got credit card.

Me: men earn more
and spend less

MFTTW: that's them assimilating the dominant paradigm

the only good thing is that they are stronger so they can open your jars and water bottles for you

anyway men don't spend less. they only spend less to save money to spend on girls. all the other gf-less guys i know spend money on big ticket items that they don't really need.

they just buy fewer things, but the total cost is the same

Me: hurr hurr
attached men spend less, then

aiyah
the only folly of Man is woman

MFTTW: haha yeah having the Y chromosome shortchanges them in terms of genes

Me: yah
very sad

MFTTW: so maybe the natural burden of childbearing falls to women cos men are too stupid to know what to do with it hurhurhuhrur
thus ensuring propagation of the species

Me: haha

MFTTW: anyway this kind of argument is facile
guys are too horny to live without women

so you can go holiday w/o women
but your life will ultimately be meaningless

Me: this is why we have the TENGA CUP

MFTTW: hahahah is that like a fleshlight

Me: better, supposedly

MFTTW: at least when i google tenga cup i don't get a shitload of pron

bloody hell i almost exploded my computer googling "fleshlight" last time

Me: are you sure you weren't looking at genki genki?

"The dog is actually my family pet. I felt terrible watching it vomit from the heat of the studio lights. I vowed never to shoot another film using a dog."

MFTTW: ...........

no genki genki lah.......
damn japs.....
***'s boss, who had a jap ex-gf, told her ***, "japanese women are sexually deviant"


Someone: nvm gabriel

just make sure that when u date a girl
see her at least ONCE sans makeup

dont fall in love with Clinique


HWMNBN: "The government has realised that GDP growth for Singapore doesn't necessarily mean GDP growth for Singaporeans."

If you apply the Singaporean nation state to be a profit-maximising entity
It stands to reason that it should invest in projects that will give a greater rate of return on investment. Like Indians and PRCs who are likely to pay higher taxes if they take on more value-add jobs in Singaopre

"The great tragedy of Science - the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact." - Thomas H. Huxley

***

Human Resources Paid Internship... - "Qualifications: Previous experience in the HR field"
Great. Nowadays even internships need previous experience. Can you say Catch-22?

Guns don't kill black people, other blacks do - "In the sociology of the left, including the NAACP, there cannot be a wound the black community inflicts on itself that is not ultimately the responsibility of malicious whites. To think otherwise would be to "blame the victim."... Unfortunately, as a nation we have become so trapped in the melodrama of black victimization and white oppression that we are in danger of losing all sense of proportion. If blacks are oppressed in America, why isn't there a black exodus? Why do all those black Haitians want to come here? To be oppressed?... An individual black male is eight times more likely to commit murder than an individual white male. Thus, in the most equitable system imaginable, a black male would be eight times more likely than a white male to be executed for murder. In fact, however, convicted white murderers are more likely to be executed for their crimes than convicted black murderers... the proportion of whites presently on death row compared to the total white population is almost four times that of the comparable proportion of blacks on death row in terms of the total black population... The myth of racial oppression, invoked to explain every social deficit of blacks, is an exercise in psychological denial. Crying racism deflects attention from the actual causes of the problems that afflict African-American communities. Its net result is to deprive people and communities who could help themselves of the power to change their fate."

Royal East India Trading Company - "The Royal East India Trading Company employs over 75,000 employees across the world. If you have experience in overseas exporting or agricultural transports, please contact our human resources team. We are also currently recruiting skilled developers and artists for the Facebook application outreach program... In addition to trading fine textiles and teas, we also now manufacture Facebook applications."
HAHAHAHAHAHA

The Silent Scream of the Asparagus - "You just knew it was coming: At the request of the Swiss government, an ethics panel has weighed in on the "dignity" of plants and opined that the arbitrary killing of flora is morally wrong. This is no hoax. The concept of what could be called "plant rights" is being seriously debated... Switzerland's enshrining of "plant dignity" is a symptom of a cultural disease that has infected Western civilization, causing us to lose the ability to think critically and distinguish serious from frivolous ethical concerns. It also reflects the triumph of a radical anthropomorphism that views elements of the natural world as morally equivalent to people... We live in a time of cornucopian abundance and plenty, yet countless human beings are malnourished, even starving. In the face of this cruel paradox, worry about the purported rights of plants is the true immorality."
Carrot Juice is Murder. For once I agree with someone from the Discovery Institute!

Virgin Galactic rejects $1 million space porn -

"Unidentified party offered big bucks to film porn participants in zero gravity"
It'd be cheaper to do it in those planes that plunge from a great height to simulate zero-gravity.

You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations - "Our patience with forming interpretations and reinterpretations of others' behaviour is not unlimited. The time comes when we lose interest in trying to understand, and conclude that another person is behaving in a way that is simply unacceptable. This paper explores the narratives that go with immoderate indignation, even for those best versed in the idea that they should attempt to understand the perspective of the other. The paper offers a reflexive comment on the difficulty of analysing such a topic, on the grounds that the phenomenon under discussion can debilitate analytic writing. Three narratives are discussed in which one person was seen as behaving in a despicable way by others. The description and analysis of the narratives are used to offer a narrative understanding of the process by which some people become indignant with others. It suggests a narrative construction of how sense is made of indignation, particularly in cases where two narratives come up against each other. It concludes by considering how the process of being indignant can produce conflicting emotions of joy and guilt for those involved."

Fire engines 'used to cruise for girls' - "One crew was secretly filmed allowing young women to climb into the cab of their fire engine in Newcastle upon Tyne. They are also reported to have been seen driving through the streets at night "shouting and leering" at passing females."

What We Stand For! « Christian Nymphos - "We are women with excessive sexual desire for our husbands! There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, God wants us to be madly in love with our husbands. He wants us to keep that fire burning in our marriage beds! We have the Song of Solomon as a perfect example of a Christ honored union where the two people are obviously intoxicated with each other."
GAH

The End of Art - "Traditionally, the goal of fine art was to make beautiful objects. The idea of beauty came with a lot of Platonic and Christian metaphysical baggage, some of it indifferent or even hostile to art. But art without beauty was, if not exactly a contradiction in terms, at least a description of failed art... By universalizing the spirit of opposition, the avant-garde’s ­project has transformed the practice of art into a purely negative enterprise, in which art is either oppositional or it is nothing. Celebrity replaces aesthetic achievement as the goal of art... These days, the art world places a great premium on novelty. But here’s the irony: Almost everything championed as innovative in contemporary art is essentially a tired repetition of gestures inaugurated by the likes of Marcel Duchamp, creator of the first bottle-rack ­masterpiece and the first urinal fountain... W.H. Auden thought likewise: “There can no more be a ‘Christian’ art than there can be a Christian science or a Christian diet. There can only be a Christian spirit in which an artist, a scientist, works or does not work.”... The subjugation of art—and of cultural life generally—to political ends has been one of the great spiritual tragedies of our age. Among much else, it makes it increasingly difficult to appreciate art on its own terms, as affording its own kinds of insights and satisfactions... Without an allegiance to beauty, art degenerates into a caricature of itself; it is beauty that animates aesthetic experience, making it so seductive"

Event management internship... - "Qualifications: Impeccable morals."
HAHAHAHAHA

Overcome the effects of circumcision with SenSlip, the artificial retractable foreskin - "Being circumcised affects the natural operation, appearance and sensitivity of the penis. During recent years much medical research has been carried out in several countries into the function and purpose of the foreskin. There is now conclusive medical evidence that a circumcised penis with the glans exposed has less nerve receptors and is less effective than a naturally covered penis. Over the years the exposed glans becomes less sensitive. There is well-documented evidence which shows that this can, and often does, have a disastrous effect on sexual performance, its consequences, and ultimately, on self esteem."
Say No to Male Genital Mutilation

Spare Me the Sermon On Muslim Women - "Being a Muslim woman is a joyful thing... Rapists are punishable by death in Islamic law (and yes, an atavistic part of me applauds that death penalty), which they certainly are not in any Western legal code... Yet even all that gorgeous history pales when I open my closet door for the evening's pick: teal georgette, pink-and-beige plaid, creamy fringed wool or ice-blue organza? God, why would anyone assume I would want to give up such beauty? I love being a Muslim woman. And I'm always looking for my next great polka-dot scarf."
Unfortunately not everyone is as lucky as her. There are many who are forced to wear the veil. What they want is CHOICE, the choice that she has. It's almost hilarious how she gushes about Saudi laws for women, if it weren't sad.
Muslim friend: she glosses over lots of issues..better ye t never mentions.the same religion that offers a woman her right to an orgasm..also expresses that she's been given 9 parts of desire..compared to a man's one part..off lah the paraphrase of the hadith..or was it 7..neways..n dat has been repeatedly used to justifiy fgm in muslim countries.its abhorrent.

"I'm glad I didn't have to fight in any war. I'm glad I didn't have to pick up a gun. I'm glad I didn't get killed or kill somebody. I hope my kids enjoy the same lack of manhood." - Tom Hanks

"Self-growth, adventure and camaraderie" my foot

Addendum: Keywords - my son, manly, my children, I hope my sons, I hope my son

***

Οὐδ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἔτι Ζεὺς ἴσχεν ἑὸν μένος, ἀλλά νυ τοῦ γε
εἶθαρ μὲν μένεος πλῆντο φρένες, ἐκ δέ τε πᾶσαν
φαῖνε βίην· ἄμυδις δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἀπ᾽ οὐρανοῦ ἠδ᾽ ἀπ᾽ Ὀλύμπου
ἀστράπτων ἔστειχε συνωχαδόν· οἱ δὲ κεραυνοὶ
ἴκταρ ἅμα βροντῇ τε καὶ ἀστεροπῇ ποτέοντο
χειρὸς ἄπο στιβαρῆς, ἱερὴν φλόγα εἰλυφόωντες
ταρφέες· ἀμφὶ δὲ γαῖα φερέσβιος ἐσμαράγιζε
καιομένη, λάκε δ᾽ ἀμφὶ πυρὶ μεγάλ᾽ ἄσπετος ὕλη.
Ἔζεε δὲ χθὼν πᾶσα καὶ Ὠκεανοῖο ῥέεθρα
πόντος τ᾽ ἀτρύγετος· τοὺς δ᾽ ἄμφεπε θερμὸς ἀυτμὴ
Τιτῆνας χθονίους, φλὸξ δ᾽ αἰθέρα δῖαν ἵκανεν
ἄσπετος, ὄσσε δ᾽ ἄμερδε καὶ ἰφθίμων περ ἐόντων
αὐγὴ μαρμαίρουσα κεραυνοῦ τε στεροπῆς τε.
Καῦμα δὲ θεσπέσιον κάτεχεν Χάος· εἴσατο δ᾽ ἄντα
ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ἰδεῖν ἠδ᾽ οὔασι ὄσσαν ἀκοῦσαι
αὔτως, ὡς εἰ Γαῖα καὶ Οὐρανὸς εὐρὺς ὕπερθε
πίλνατο· τοῖος γάρ κε μέγας ὑπὸ δοῦπος ὀρώρει
τῆς μὲν ἐρειπομένης, τοῦ δ᾽ ὑψόθεν ἐξεριπόντος·
τόσσος δοῦπος ἔγεντο θεῶν ἔριδι ξυνιόντων.
Σὺν δ᾽ ἄνεμοι ἔνοσίν τε κονίην τ᾽ ἐσφαράγιζον
βροντήν τε στεροπήν τε καὶ αἰθαλόεντα κεραυνόν,
κῆλα Διὸς μεγάλοιο, φέρον δ᾽ ἰαχήν τ᾽ ἐνοπήν τε
ἐς μέσον ἀμφοτέρων· ὄτοβος δ᾽ ἄπλητος ὀρώρει
σμερδαλέης ἔριδος, κάρτος δ᾽ ἀνεφαίνετο ἔργων.
Ἔκλίνθη δὲ μάχη· πρὶν δ᾽ ἀλλήλοις ἐπέχοντες
ἐμμενέως ἐμάχοντο διὰ κρατερὰς ὑσμίνας.

"Save a little money each month and at the end of the year you'll be surprised at how little you have." - Ernest Haskins

***

Baltics trip
Day 9 - 24th May - Sigulda, Latvia (Part 2)

It seems, in the Baltics, that it's culturally acceptable to ask strangers on the street for cigarettes and not smoke them immediately.


Next, we went to see some old caves.


The failure of "Do Not Vandalise" signs. The oldest we saw was from 1971.


Small cave: Maza Ala

Next was the big cave.


Very screwed-up story.

"LEGEND ABOUT THE ROSE OF TURAIDA

During the Swedish – Polish War the secretary of the Turaida castle called Greif found a baby girl near to the Turaida castle. She was half-starving and almost dead. He adopted her, baptised and gave her name Maija. She grew up and was a beautiful and honest maiden. Victor Heil, the gardener of Sigulda, fell for Maija. In the evenings they met in Gutmaņa cave.

In August 1620 Maija got a message from Heil where it was said that she had to come to the mentioned cave in the afternoon because he was going to be busy that evening. Maija went together with the Greif’s eight years old daughter Lenta to the cave.
In the evening Heil ran to Turaida and let know that Maija had been killed. Lenta also had not returned. The local judge got the news already the same evening and in the next evening he arrived in Turaida.

Heil was suspected as a murderer although he was known as an honest man. The Lord of Turaida Shildheim who was ill then let the judge know that he should pay attention to two Polish army deserters Jakubowsky and Skudrītis. They had been in service for two years in Turaida and were known as drunkards and imps. Skudrītis had visited the Lord of Turaida and wanted to give a testimony about the case.

Skudrītis was called to the court immediately. He told that Jakubowsky fell in love with Maija just after he had arrived in Turaida. Three months ago he had talked to Maija and had promised to marry her. She refused and told him she was engaged to Heil.

Jakubowsky was a very angry man and longed for revenge. Then he explained Skudrītis his idea. He wanted to lure Maija to Gūtmaņa cave. Both of them should rape the virgin there. Jakubowsky was the one who had sent the false message. Both had run to the cave and hidden in bushes.

When Maija had arrived, Jakubowsky placed himself in front of her and has told his evil intention with bad words. The young girl had tried to resist but Jakubowsky was very strong and threw her down.

Then Maija bagged him to let her free. For that she would give him a magic scarf that protects man from all injuries. If he doesn’t believe it, he can try to strike her with his sword. Jakubowsky had his sword with him and he stroke in a moment. Maija fell down and blood started to come out of her neck. At that moment Skudrītis heard scream behind him. It should have been the small Lenta.

After the murder Jakubowsky got very upset, ran into the forest and forbade Skudrītis to come close to him. This morning he has found him hung in the forest.

The guiltless Viktor Heil was let free immediately. Skudrītis had been in prison just for four months because even Heil and Greif asked to let him free."



More information about Gutmaņa cave, the biggest cave in the Baltics. The oldest inscription now is from 1667.


The biggest cave in the Baltics is kind of like the biggest farm in Singapore


Inscriptions. The latter is the more accurate colour.


Inside. One guy went to drink the water, but I wasn't a local (or a Malaysian), so.

On our way to Turaida Castle, we saw a wedding procession stopped by a witch:



It was an extremely long trek (some of it uphill) to the compound with Turaida Castle.


There was still quite a stretch left, when we saw this sight. We briefly considered running up the slope as a shortcut, but decided against it.


Rose of Turaida memorial (refer to screwed up story earlier)




Turaida castle, with the best condition of the three in the area. It dates from 1214 but what we see is restored.


Main watchtower

We climbed the main watchtower.








River

The place also had some exhibits on its history and that of the area.


Knights on a "tapestry"


Teutonic Knights in Livonia on the attack


Crossbow copy


18th century sundial


"At the present day, Turaida is one of the most extensively studied and best preserved monuments of medieval architecture in the Baltic"
Again, this is like saying that Singapore is the most civilised country in Southeast Asia.


Dungeon mockup


I was looking at this "tapestry", when my Sixth Sense noticed a *wrongness* about it. After some staring, I sensed what looked like wax figures of 2 women behind it, and tried to stare harder to figure out what they were wearing, when one of them said "hello".

They found ceramic bottles with the "Bitter Wasser" brand at the site. Hah. No pisswasser, unfortunately.




Bricks with animal footprints.


Bailey


"Batter" (sloping base) for castle defence. Stones dropped from above would bounce off the batter and hit attackers.


Blurb about the well. For some reason I didn't snap the well itself.

We then took a bus back to the terminal.


CCTV in bus terminal. This was notable because you had to pay 10 sant in entrance (gah!) fees and for the sign about a CCTV (so people didn't wreck the toilet?)

Cappy brand fruit juice is not bad. Apple/Pear was very good, and Peach/Melon not bad.

Thanks to the cable car not being in operation we didn't have time to visit Cesis. Oh well. So we took the bus back to Sigulda.

We'd seen Playboy in Lithuanian and a few softcore magazines in Lithuania. We didn't see similar materials in Latvia, but the bus driver hung a card with a topless blonde by his seat.

The bus driver was crazy. Despite the outside temperature being a very pleasant low 20s, he turned on the bus heater, which was just beside my feet, so I wasn't able to sleep on the way back. He certainly got me hot and bothered.


"Military Quality" stewed hen and stewed beef in a Riga supermarket. Maybe in Russia "military quality" is a mark of excellence, I don't know.

MFTTW: i think they have access to fresh meat in russia lah

Me: with worms right

MFTTW: ..........
how come got german words
it's leftover from ww2 issit


Cute pig

Since a lot of people and sources had recommended Cili Pica, we tried it. It had the most number of pizza varieties I'd ever seen:


Mincemeat


Deep Pan


Pork


Beef


Chicken, Seafood


Vegetarian, various


Various


Heinz stay clean cap


Cili Soup. It was literally (American) Cili soup; one of the few menu items living up to the "Cili" name.


Meza (sour cream, dill but no potatoes [HAHA]; it's under Deep Pan pizzas), Olympica (the one with nothing on top; it's under mincemeat pizzas) and Mafia (Beef)

Their idea of stuffed pizza was a normal pizza with another layer of dough on top of it. Gah.

We were bored so I took some pictures of my hair:


Split ends. I find that it's impossible to get good split end pictures on Google Images, so here're some.


Cream pie


Curd with raspberry


"Food supplements
The Special cosmetics
The Special goods
Functional food"


Night scene outside terminal

We then hunkered down in the terminal to wait for the overnight bus to Tallinn. We patronised an Internet for a while till closing time came and we were chased out, and policemen took our place (?!). I swear it's a conspiracy: they close earlier so the policemen can while away their time.

Lo and behold, the bus was operated by Eurolines, my favourite bus company. The bus left on time this time, but the driver turned on the aircon and heater at the same time. Wth.


Quotes:

[YC while waiting for the overnight bus to Tallinn: I wish we had women] I wish we had women. [Me: Do you want LDPVTP here?] I said women... the only thing LDPVTP... the only thing LDPVTP has in common with most of the female gender is all the negative traits and the XY chromosome. [Me: What positive traits do women have?] Chioness. That's about it. [Me: That means most women are chio] ... chioness and a vagina... and to make things worse for women, not all of them are chio. (XX)