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Asia is a melting pot of different cultures, religions and values. Ever since Marco Polo made his way to this part of the world, people had their own ideas, misconceptions or prejudices without even knowing some basic facts first hand.

Some of those prevail even today, especially about mixed relationships.

With this I mean relationships between Asian and Caucasian women or men.

Everyone heard those kind of stories of bald, old, fat foreign men flocking to Asia and soon be seen hand-in-hand with an exotic beauty. Sooner than later they will buy a house and a pickup truck for their ‘new-found family’. A bit later they are back were they were before - just stripped of their money and other belongings. Need an example?

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written by Chris

Today is the 5th anniversary of the Bali Bombing in 2002, where 202 people got killed. It was a sneaky attack, with a suicide bomber storming into the Paddy’s Club in Kuta, setting off his TNT-filled vest, devastating the Club. The survivors who made it to the outside weren’t better off:

Outside was a parked Van, filled with TNT and other explosives (fertilizer), which detonated just a short time after the first bomb. 164 foreigners and 38 Indonesians, who were in Paddy’s Club, the opposite Sari Club, or were simply walking along the road - were either killed instantly or died from injuries, received during those deadly blasts, still days and weeks later.

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written by Chris

If you think in stereotypes - religion is one of the thinnest ice to walk on. Watching the World News these days, it’s hard to not think in stereotypes, as you could come to the belief, that all Muslims preach Jihad against Christians, Christians can’t accept the existence of other religions besides their own and Jews still feel like the whole world has sworn against them and is up to eradicate them completely from our planet. Hindus don’t care about anything; if their neighbors are slaughtered or murdered, no worries - they will be reincarnated in a better form anyway. Buddhists are generally negative and only think about collecting money from their followers, to build new Temples and Pagodas - they will let everyone else in your Buddhist Community know, if you didn’t give anything this time; making sure, that the bad karma gets you in the end. How does that fit with the eradication of all greed, hatred and egoism?

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written by Chris

I know that religion is a controversial subject but a powerful force in the lives of many. Just sometimes a little prayer is all that it takes, right?

Here we go again. Oha - I’m proudly presenting the official prayers for all major faiths, to prevent your aircraft from crashing down.

It’s up to you to decide, if you prefer to pray - or crash (sleep) it out in your seat until you arrive.

These ‘Invocations’ were taken from the Inflight Manual of Garuda Airlines; but I’ve seen them with most Middle Eastern and some Western Airlines as well (only English texts here):

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written by Chris

In Thailand’s current political arena, things don’t look so bright after all anymore - just 6 months after the ‘bloodless coup‘ over there. Of course Tourism seems to look stable and the Sex Industry isn’t effected at all - as usual.

After the first doubts, if Thailand has a democratic future; the view of the Thai People obviously changes, they demand more clarity on how things will progress further. There are even the first demonstrations in Bangkok and the reputation of the Coupsters vanishes more and more.

Will there be truly free election again soon?

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written by Chris

Ogoh Ogoh monsters are colourful monster sculptures, which are made from bamboo frames and paper mache.

They are made in the form of creatures of the underworld known in Balinese as buta-kala. The creatures are based on characters taken from traditional myths and legends, however in modern times many also take the form of modern characters, including even people in the media or in the government.

Before the Hindu new year, Nyepi, is celebrated in the spring by a day of silence - you can find Ogoh Ogoh *everywhere* in Bali.

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written by Chris

There is definitely something going on in Rome. I know, the topic is a bit far off from this site, but I couldn’t believe my eyes when reading this. Is there really some movement in these old halls, amongst this stiffness and under those religious stolas? Okay, I don’t mean this kind of movement, but you get the picture:

Roman Catholic church to review total ban on use of contraception in bid to curb the spread of Aids

ROME - The Roman Catholic church has taken the first step towards what could be a historic shift away from its total ban on the use of condoms.

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written by Chris