Londinium etc. Part II:

Over �Φ~��, our family met the guardian of my lil' bro's friend, a Malaysian-born Chinese who works for the BBC as a news correspondent. We were also introduced to her friend, who turned out to be TV chef Ken Hom [ok, so he's no Jamie Oliver...but he is a good few notches above Yan from Yan can Cook] The two guests, both dressed in beatnik-chic black turtlenecks, were the best-travelled people I've ever met.
Jenny, the news correspondent, has just about visited every country on this planet. Ken spends most of his time living in France, and he entertained us with his ventures in search of exotic and exquisite cuisine. As the jovial dinner progressed, we got to hear the inside scoop on Jenny's news stories.

When asked which was her most memorial project, Jenny recounted her favourite - covering Russia during the transition period between the collapse of the Communist regime and the rise of the new government. Of her many anecdotes, I thought this was the best:

Previously in the Soviet, consumer choice, being the epitomy of bourgeois capitalist ideas, was a concept simply unheard of and was as alien as can be. The news crew decided to set up and film an experiment to see how a bunch of peasant women would react to a choice of soaps. The spectrum ranged from Chanel No. 5 (being the creme de la creme of course) to the skanky, rough Russian standard-issue, manufactured and distributed by Soviet government units.

Producer: "Which soap would you buy at a shop?"
The women were all at a loss. No one knew what to answer and all were baffled. When forced to give an answer, all the women chose the Russian soap.
Producer: "Wouldn't you choose the Chanel No. 5 one?"
Women: "Why?"
Producer: "Well...just smell it!"
So the women all did as they were told. Oh the revelation!!

-CIA = Central Idiocy Agency / Community of Inefficient Agents?-

[By now I'm truly ashamed to be American (even under normal circumstances I won't admit it, but damn my passport)]

As a grad student at Harvard, Jenny studied Management in Govt. Agencies, where she analysed the Iraq-Iran conflict as a case study. Guess what she found?
The American ground communication reports revealed that NONE of the CIA field agents posted in Iran could speak Farsi, the spoken language of Iran!!!
Makes you wonder about CIA's credibility, huh?

I've always been prone to believe in conspiracy theories. After hearing this, it only added to my distrust of American officials' spins on whatever "peace-keeping" they claim to be doing...

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Word on War

Take this with a pinch of salt.
The ex-Gurka chauffeur whom my parents hire whenever they are going to / fro to Heathrow, got word from his buddies who are still serving in the Army, that the date for war against Iraq will be 27th Feb.
Rumour has it that the old deadline was suppose to be 27th Jan, but it got postponed with new inspections etc.
I'm anti-war, but let's wait and see.....