Spiciest Instant Noodles Mukbang

In my blog post “A-chomping and A-munching” published September 25, 2020, I had touched upon this food-porn thingi from Korea called “mukbang”.

It’s actually a live-streamed eating show where the host referred to as a BJ (“Broadcast Jockey”, a unique-to-Korea term for a vlogger) binge-eats while narrating and interacting with their audience – although, these days, it’s more usually an uploaded video.

I read that food culture runs deep in Korea. And the popular theory is that mukbang began thanks to increasing loneliness of single Koreans in a digital age. 

In South Korea, eating out is mostly a social activity, and it’s rare to eat alone. But, with a growing number of Koreans living alone, they end up pretty much being alone and so, they turned to social media. So, this may be a reason why Mukbangers began to film themselves for others, and why viewers enjoy watching them eat. Especially live, where they can leave comments and interact. 

But it's pertinent to acknowledge that the mukbang phenomenon has spread beyond Korean shores – and the world has embraced it enthusiastically. Methinks, it has got more to do with the enjoyment of witnessing someone else’s enjoyment up close. 

Anyway, here’s an enticing and enjoyable mukbang video featuring a Korean – she calls herself Kakak Korea – who tries the spiciest instant noodles available in Malaysia.

I honestly find it super engrossing:

And I must confess that she makes me want to give these cup noodles a go too!

These noodles in their order of appearance are Mamee SLRP Kari Extra Pedas, Maggi Pedas Giler, Daebak Habanero, Daebak Ghost Pepper and Samyang Foods Hek Buldak Bokkeummyun (Nuclear Fire Noodles).

I must try them, I must!

North Koreans' Reaction to K-pop

I chanced upon this video on the Boing Boing website – it spotlights North Koreans’ reactions to seeing a K-Pop show for the first time in their lives. 

I read that they liked it, like really liked it – but their excited expressions are apparently everyone else's flatlining in a coma expression! 

And I gave a ha-ha. Sorry, I was not laughing at them; it is a personal joke, that's all!

 

Okay, I'll let you in on it. It reminds me of my own seemingly blank expression at stand-up comedy performances. Most of the time anyway.

The said gig happened in April 2018, and was covered by CNN.

The 2020 US Presidential Election: Still No Winner

 

A tight race supposedly!

49 Million Cases

 

49 million coronavirus cases globally! 

Covid-19 spreads with unabated vigor! Europe especially is reeling from the pandemic. And, of course, the US too. 

Check out the Top 12 worst-infected countries – they contribute 70.9% and 74.5% of cases and deaths worldwide respectively:

 

China which has more or less contained the disease is hell-bent on ensuring it remains safe! The country is making its already stringent border restrictions even tougher. Starting Friday, travelers from the United States, France and Germany will have to take a blood test that looks for coronavirus antibodies, in addition to a nucleic acid test for the virus, Reuters reported. Hmmm, I wonder why there's no mention of Spain and UK. 

Yesterday, Celtic suffered a home defeat with a humiliating Europa League Group H collapse against Sparta Prague. 

The Czech side arrived decimated by illness and injuries, besides lacking match practice given their domestic league has been suspended. And yet, they gave Celtic a 4-1 drubbing. 

Our only goal came from Leigh Griffiths in the sixty-fifth minute. 

This loss leaves Neil Lennon's side bottom with one point from three games.

WSD 2021 Promo Project

As part of WSD 2021’s promotional activity, World Speech Day Global called for micro videos to be produced and posted on social media. The idea is to spread the word around and promote and publicize World Speech Day 2021. 

Of course, we are supporting this initiative – so, please do check out one such clip from Fazlina Fadzil as part of the WSD 2021 promo project:

 

A special shout-out to everybody who submitted their videos to us! Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

If you wish to view our collection of promo videos, please go to our YouTube channel "WSD with Public Speaking Trailblazers" – they're all there! 

At the time of posting, we have so far amassed 5 videos. And more to come.

#unexpectedvoices #worldspeechday

Coronavirus Numbers Make Malaysians Edgy

Malaysia's coronavirus numbers are making us edgy. As it is, the country is seeing four digits for 3 days consecutively now. 

And Selangor in particular continues to cause prickles of disquiet. Already, it has been bragging three digits for five days in a row. Sure, it’s not as bad as the situation in Sabah but surely, we can do better than this!

On another note, Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud (right) complained on Wednesday that the Health Ministry do not share granular data on Covid-19 with Selangor. 

The state executive councillor in charge of Selangor’s public health, unity, women and family development said this leaves the state in the lurch, forcing the state government to play a guessing game in curbing further infections. 

The Ministry of Health had defended the move, saying they would only share processed data for better coordination. 

This is hogwash. State governments need the raw data so they could do modelling and trace where the infection started, besides coming up with their own precautionary measures for the public. Different states have their own peculiarities and must be managed differently. 

Controlling the spread of Covid-19 depends upon sustained cooperation across all levels of government, both federal and state. With data-sharing, we build community trust, which is necessary to beat the virus. 

At times, I wish the Health Ministry Director-General (right) would not be so stuck up and standoffish.

48 Million Cases

We’ve seen 1.2 million Covid-19 deaths.  And we have gone past 48 million cases worldwide. Actually, 1,230,114 fatalities versus 48,414,593 infections, according to the Worldometers website.

From these two sets of numbers, the CFR is calculated to be 2.5%.

The CFR or Case Fatality Rate is the ratio between confirmed deaths and confirmed cases. It can give us a sense of how threatening Covid-19 is – by checking CFRs of specific "danger" zones.

At the global level, I'll be looking at countries. Specifically, the nine countries that have registered more than a million cases todate:

FYI, Malaysia’s CFR is only 0.8%. 

Anyway, life must go on. 

If there’s one thing I’ve learned these last eight months is that as long as we abide by the SOPs, i.e. wear a mask and keep to social distancing – we really should be alright. My opinion only.

The 2020 US Presidential Election: The Story So Far

Rule nothing out!

Johor Ops Nab Poachers

In August, Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar had expressed anger over poaching activities that are still going on in the state forests. (Refer to my blog posting “Rampant Poaching in Johor” published August 15, 2020). 

Yesterday, Malaysian newspapers reported that under Ops Khazanah, six men had been arrested by the authorities in a joint operation between Malaysian police and the Wildlife and National parks Department (Perhilitan) for being involved in illegal poaching activities, as well as possessing homemade firearms. 

In the latest sortie on Tuesday on a farm in Ladang Landak in Paloh, they apprehended a 57-year-old man and seized four homemade rifles, 95 live ammunition and two mobile phones. And they found deer meat as well as what is believed to be the claws of a tiger. 

On October 21, they zeroed in on a house in Taman Seri Jaya in Kluang and the raiding team nabbed a 31-year-old and confiscated three homemade air rifles, caches of ammo and two long machetes. 

They also impounded a deer head used as a trophy, two musang pandan (Asian palm civet, scientific name: Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), two monkeys ("No info on monkey species"), four burung bayan nuri (long-tailed parakeet, scientific name: Psittacula longicauda) and two budgie birds ("Aren't these birds native to Australia?") which were placed in different cages.

 

In a separate operation on the same day, they busted three men, aged between 22 and 51, in Taman Seri Jaya, Pekan Nenas and at Ladang Pulai, Kulai. They sequestered three homemade air rifles, an electric saw, a meat shredder, a vernier caliper, scales, two containers of iron bearings and supposedly, the tails of wildlife carcasses suspected to be jungle fowl (Genus: Gallus). 

Further investigations led to a sweep of Taman Seri Jaya, Kluang where they detained a 32-year-old on October 25. 

The cases are being investigated under Section 8(a) of the Arms Act 1960 with possession of a homemade rifle, Section 36 of the Arms Act 1960 for possession and importation of imitation arms and Section 69/60(1)(a) of the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 for keeping wildlife.

According to The Star Online, the authorities inspected 34 premises that stored and sold exotic animals in Johor between August and October. And they collared 16 people under Section 60(1)(a) of the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 as well as confiscated nine weapons including eight homemade firearms. Five of them have been charged under The Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971 and Arms Act 1960. Additionally, the police also revoked 823 hunting licenses so far this year. 

It would seem that the Sultan must continue to put pressure on enforcement agencies – to get things done.