audacity of hope: Part II

its 6 am in spore. I have been awake the whole night. As usual traveling back home from europe is the most excruciating for me when it comes to adjusting back my body clock. I arrived at the hotel Hyatt at 7 am yesterday and went straight back to bed. I didnt really sleep on the plane despite the fact that the business class which SQ calls Raffles class is probably the best business class of any airlines. I only got up at 4 pm that day. the jet leg is always worst coming back. for me it normally takes 2 to 3 days before I get over it.

well back to the US presidential campaign trail. my own audacity of hope is who ever wins the US presidential election can ensure real peace to the whole world. call me an idealist and yes I am hoping a lot out of Obama. Am I? I dont know. He looks like the kind of guy who can deliver. I dont think Mc Cain will bring peace to the world. Being an army man and a POW during the Vietnam war, his political rhetoric seems to be bent on the "bush doctrine" another saber rattling war mongering hawk! and Sarah Palin? this is a woman who is so proud that his eldest son is going to "aairaaak" (well this is how she pronounces Iraq)..the trouble with americans is, more than half of them dont travel outside of the USA. give them a gun the first time they get out of America  and when they see a bearded arab man, they would all think its Osama bin Laden!  

 I really like Obama, he is half african whose biological father was a kenyan and his stepfather was an Indonesian.  So I am hoping that he will be that bridge between the USA and to the rest of the world.

To be continued..

audacity of hope: Obama will win come november

Im thinking on what to write as my last entry before I leave Vienna..at 3 am in the morning i feel the brain is slightly frozen not by the late summer early morning breeze outside but rather by the sharp hunger pangs that I have been having since I last took my meal. I better hit for the "maggi" that my minnieMe packed in my suitcase as I am really starving... I know its not healthy..oh well I wont find any food joint opened at this wee hours, would I?

 I switch on the tv and all I could see is  the Republican Convention on the news.  Sarah Palin nominated to run as VP side by side with Mc Cain..who is she I wondered..now I promised that this blog is a not so serious side of me..so mr stercus refrain yourself from politics !! 

can you really avoid not talking about politics especially american politics or at least form an opinion on who would win come november?  well, unless of course you had been spending your summer in Mars, the race to the white house between the democrats and the republicans is everywhere on the tv and its hard for anyone not to make an opinion about it. I was watching the democrats convention last week and now its the republicans' turn. alas, the great american showdown is now for everyone to see! I must say this is one of the greatest american export to the world its brand of democracy between the liberals and the conservatives.

I was at this souvenir shop and saw some nice mugs with some caption that says "there are no kangaroos in Austria" now I thought that is hilarious.  I was thinking if I could send one to Bush, that would probably be a good way of telling him that he needs geography lessons. I recall when Bush was in Australia, he was attending this APEC convention ... he said it was OPEC. Then he referred to the Australians as the Austrians! (duh!)

now I have a business idea..make mugs with caption like this..

"Hello ! There are no deserts in Brunei!"  would that sell?  i find it a little offensive when you get people and say to my face "oh it must be hot living in a desert"  or "isnt your country close to Saudi Arabia?" (hello do I look like an arab to you?)

I am trying to think hard what Bush introduced to the world that I think is worth remembering..peace? nah..what did he introduce to the world?"the bush doctrine"  if you have military might, forget about diplomacy.."you are with us or against us"..

to be continued....

last day in Vienna

ah finally its Thursday.. (sigh) its my last day here..I will be checking out tomorrow morning and leave for Brunei via frankfurt and take a SQ flight to spore. I have to get up early at 3 am. I will spend a night in spore to get a connection to Brunei. Honestly, I really cant wait to get home. Not that I dont enjoy Vienna (its really a beautiful city), I feel that I have been away from home for too long this time. Before coming here I was already away in Msia for almost a week and spent only 2 days in Brunei. that was the longest time that I spent away from home since I took over the new post.  I am posting a pic of my room. I really like the hotel.  The building is I think a theatre and only a stone throw away from the hotel. I will post some more pics on my fb. 

meeting at the 3rd capital of the UN

lunch time day 2 of meeting. Like I promised before, here is a photo of the UN building. this is just one tower and there are actually 3 towers like this one with a circular building in a middle. The UN building looks like a 3 rimmed sports wheel from the air and each tower is probably more than 5o storeys high. It is a massive compound and I must say I was over awed looking at how massive the building is.

I am also posting my pic on my first day at the meeting. I told you I looked like a "cowboy sasat"..the 3rd pic was taken just a min ago before the lunch break. it was quite an intense discussion that we had. I guess as someone once told me is that when you put lawyers on the same table the only time they dont want to dispute is over the legitimacy of their own birth!

Beautiful Vienna

ahh..day 3.  day outside looks sunnier and beautiful. Got up @ 230 am this morning for sahur but didnt have any appetite. so as usual I checked on the net and managed to chat with MinnieMe (been missing her a lot). 

today will be day 2 of my meeting.  It has been a very interesting one. of course I cant say much about it here but meeting in the 3rd capital of the uN has been a real experience.  The un building is very impressive. it houses the UNODC, UNIDO and the Atomic Agency (IAEA) amongst others.  No the picture on the right is not it! I dont know what that is but it used to be some block's residence which now turned to some sort of a govt building.  Most building here are old but very beautiful. I actually do not mind coming here again but for the expensive hotel rooms and costs of food here. they cost an arm and a leg I must tell you..a decent dinner costs me nearly 60 euro for 3 yesterday. and my room costs about 245 euro (thats more than $500)..

DEad pan jokes

my lil princess says I do not make funny jokes..I guess you be the judge. here goes:

Joke 1:

What not to say to the nice policeman:
I was going to be a cop, but I decided to finish high school instead (lol)

Joke 2:

Your mama is so fat, the horse on her Polo shirt is real (ha

hahahhaha)

Joke 3:

Maths problems? Call 1-800-[(10x)(13i)^2]-[sin(xy)/2.362x].

Joke 4:

 man speaks frantically into the phone, "My wife is pregnant, and her contractions are only two minutes apart!"
"Is this her first child?" the doctor queries.
"No, you idiot!" the man shouts. "This is her husband!"   --hahhahahaahha

Joke 5:

Why is it good to have a blonde passenger?
You can park in the handicapped spots.

I thought these jokes are funny.

Finally Day 2 @ 6 PM:

Finally my bag arrived at my door @ 6 pm..I cant describe how elated I was to see it. Should I seek compensation from the airline for "pain and suffering"? at least they should compensate me for the embarrassment that I had to endure coming to a formal meeting looking like a cowboy! and the cost of the shirt that I had to purchase..what do you think?