Whale lands on yacht

A South African sailing couple recently had a close encounter with a breaching forty ton Southern right whale off the coast of Cape Town. The whale ended up landing on their yacht. You can read the whole story in the Telegraph or on CNN.com.

Chinglish lesson of the day: Onredeemable

Only in Australia: Customs will ask you if you are carrying porn (and then watch it)

David Parker Brown has noted on his Airline Reporter blog that should you be traveling to the land down under, you should expect an additional question from customes:

“Do you have any firearms? Any illegal drugs? Carrying any items for someone else?” These are all questions that if asked while flying, wouldn’t make you think twice. How about “do you have any porn in your bags? Yes? Well we need to view it” That would make me do a second take.

Apparently, Customs in Australia started asking the question in September 2009. Hence and when filling our your Passenger Card, you are asked if you are carrying any pornography. And if you say yes, then your porn will likely need to be viewed by a customs bureaucrat. Only in Australia I suppose!

Chinglish lesson of the day: The old sick weak disabled and pregnant only

Chinglish lesson of the day: Self-cultivation clubhouse

Public toilet becomes a couple’s dream home

A couple who wanted to enter the Scarborough UK housing market decided to purchase a public restroom and convert it into their dream house. Not a bad idea considering they purchased the home for only 15,000 pounds! You can watch the video here or on Yahoo.

Chinglish lesson of the day: Number one scholar and nonsuch porridge

Chinglish lesson of the day: Nappatizers

A day in the life of a flight attendant trainee

The AirlineReporter blog has recently done an interesting five part series that follows flight attendant trainees with Air Tran. After reading the series, you might be surprised to learn just how complex flight attendant training is, even with Air Tran, and earn a new respect for flight attendants.

Chinglish lesson of the day: Nuclear Area - Wonderful space for individuals

Cheating in China

A recent Associated Press article (“Rampant cheating hurts China's research ambitions”) has noted how plagiarizing and faking results has become so rampant in Chinese academia that some now worry it could hinder China's efforts to become a global leader in science - although it should be pointed out that “plagiarizing” and “fakes” have not hindered China’s ability to become a manufacturing powerhouse. The article is well worth a quick read.

Photos of the world’s most unusual tree houses

Forbes.com has recently profiled the world’s most unusual tree houses. However, these are not your typical backyard tree houses but “a new generation of luxury tree houses is elevating the dream, with designs and prices no sidewalk lemonade stand could finance.” The article also includes a slideshow of tree houses.

Chinglish lesson of the day: Fragrant only then department store

Man tries to crash a plane with his mind

The AirlineReporter blog has reported an unusual incident where a passenger on Qantas flight QF31 from Sydney to Singapore, who appeared to be drunk or high on drugs, thought he could crash the plane using his mind. Taking no chances, flight attendants cuffed the man’s arms and legs for the rest of the flight to Singapore where he was met by police.

Chinglish lesson of the day: Don't shake and flush with water