uny_arturo's Xanga

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:43:10 GMT

Indeed a sad news to publish - this is going to be my final post on Xanga. People who would like to keep in touch with me are kindly reminded to reestablish the connection on Facebook. May I thank you for your long patronage on this site and the best of luck in the years ahead.

Thank you http://www.xanga.com/uny_arturo

My newest banknote collection =)

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:49:35 GMT

Argentina peso

Brazilian real

Yemeni rial

Zimbabwe dollar!!!

Bolivian suerte

Vietnam dong

2008/9 Travellings Wishlist

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:43:37 GMT

Feasible new destinations:

1) Pula; Croatia

2) Prague; Czech Republic

3) Copenhagen; Denmark

4) Gdansk, Krakow, Pozan, Szczecin, Warsaw; Poland

Semi-feasibe new destinations:

1) Sarajevo; Bosnia-Hz

2) Bangalore, Delhi, Janpur, Kashmir, Kolkata, Mumbai; India

3) Bucharest; Romania

4) Moscow; Russia

Hopeless destinations:

1) Ulan Baatar; Mongolia

2) Kampala; Uganda

>>> Last year I made 80% of my wishes come true under the budget of EUR100/trip. So what about these challenging plans in the upcoming year? Stay tuned...

Monday, July 21, 2008

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:06:06 GMT

Inter returned to Pinetina last week and began training for the coming season under new boss Jose Mourinho. Journalists and supporters alike were given a glimpse of the new Nerazzurri. The atmosphere was jovial. Mourinho slouched next to President Massimo Moratti in the dugout. Moratti joked about being late for training. Mourinho laughed. Meanwhile, Adriano played keepy uppy with a pinecone.

One could be forgiven for thinking Inter were resting on their laurels. Their transfer campaign pales in comparison with those waged by Juventus, Fiorentina and Milan. One swallow, namely Amantino Mancini, doesn’t make much of a summer. But do Inter really need to involve themselves in an arms race? The simple answer is no. They, lest we forget, are Italian football’s Jones’. Everybody is trying to keep up with them.

So, while Frank Lampard and Ricardo Quaresma would be nice, Inter’s answer to Ronaldinho is a certain Mr Mourinho. You see one of the great paradoxes in Inter’s recent history has been the perceived ineptitude of Mourinho’s predecessor Roberto Mancini, the man who ended the Nerazzurri’s 17-year title drought and winner of three consecutive Scudetti. The second most successful man to sit on Inter’s bench was always seen as second best.

A tactical dilettante, whose naivety was sometimes hidden by the sheer array of get-out-of-jail talent at his disposal, Mancini lost many a psychological battle with Luciano Spalletti and appeared unable to line-up his charges in anything other than variations of 4-4-2. Mourinho, by contrast, has unveiled the system he intends to deploy as if it were one of Inter’s new summer signings. “4-3-3 is the formation I like most. It’s not a 4-5-1 or a 4-2-3-1. It’s a pure 4-3-3. The challenge consists of defending ourselves with three midfielders and freeing our strikers to attack.”

Mourinho has already started working at compacting the midfield. On Thursday he devised two six-a-side matches adjacent to each other. Mourinho stood in the corridor between the two matches with a whistle in hand. Each team played 3-2-1 and each player was given a number corresponding to his position. At random intervals, Mourinho would blow his whistle and call out a player’s number. The player then had to swap places with someone occupying his position on the adjacent pitch.

The exercise is designed to improve concentration and speed. Such organisation and discipline have been the only things missing at Inter in recent years. And that’s why I believe Mourinho’s arrival at a cost of £7m a season has been the best bit of business this summer.

>>> Check that J out XD

And one more... Arr arr arr XD

Ma che bello

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:01:44 GMT

Benvenuto all'Inter Amatino, pero'...

What made Ibra erect?

Bravo Ryanair!

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:35:47 GMT

London - Dublin for free all year round, GBP10 for tax and surcharges.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:19:11 GMT

Alla fine ho 18 anni...

BIRTHDAY WISH LIST

...those unspeakably greedy ones
1. To conquer Arabic ASAP
2. To get an full scholarship offer to any Ivy League Universities

...those diplomatic one
1. To see a progress in the SOSudan initiative

Practicing Globalization

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:33:24 GMT

10:15 a.m.; Novotel Lotus Bangkok

Today, a Hong Kong student, who is studying in Italy and watching an American TV channel, was putting on a pair of 'made in Honduras' sneakers in a French hotel situated in the capital of Thailand. While the Japanese made television was featuring an economic analysis about the blooming economy of Vietnam, he was not terribly interested and opted to read a 'printed in UK' book regarding an Irish airline. Suddenly, his Finnish designed but Chinese made mobile phone rang. His Bolivian friend would like to reconfirm a gathering before telling his Lebanese-Mexican husband. Before she hanged up, the protagonist received an e-mail from his Singaporean schoolmate, informing him the adoption details of his Western Saharan first year. He then promptly replied with his Korean made laptop to take up the challenge.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:16:16 GMT

Several airlines have reduced frequency for their HKG service. This could certainly be interpretted as the ´victory of CX´ by some Cathay worshippers. Hong Kong continues to function as the southern China getaway, most importantly, as CX suggests, a jumpboard to China.

But if you don´t mind looking up a bit on your map, you would discover that Guangzhou is getting more international connectivity. It has already been a landing spot of Lufthansa and Finnair for a couple of years. What´s more encouraging now, CAN is establishing itself as an African getaway for China. Middle Eastern carriers are even more excited to feed their birds to Guangzhou, thanks to the strong African presence. However, the new Yemenia flight from Sana´a to Guangzhou, via Dubai, hints an increasing Sino-Arab demand.

Its is of no doubt that HKG is doing very well. In fact, it is still one of the best airports in the world. Nonetheless, has anyone started to worry about the status of HKIA in the coming future? We pretty much rely on the kangaroo and Sino-Taiwanese traffic nowadays. Demand for flights between Hong Kong and Japan will remain since the majority of our middle-upper class won´t even bother travelling a bit further to some exotic yet lesser known destinations.

Aviation is a game of supply and demand. When certain blocs of traffic exists, trade and culture exchange between them take place. We can always be proud of having ´most flights to Australia´, ´most flights to North America´; and so on. Well then in the long run, are we Hong Kongers ready to veture to more newly developed nations?

Blame not CX for not trying new routes; it is our fellow arrogant Hong Kongers to blame for not daring to be an adventurer, despite having lots of cash in hand. Remember the days when we open our arms to the world? Now I am afraid our conservative mentality and ignorance is the true poison of the decling HKG.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Wed, 28 May 2008 20:59:44 GMT

Now it's time for London! (Waahhhhhh I dun wanna leave you yet... )