Ketsana Tropical Storm

First of all, my sincere condolence to all of the Philippines and Vietnam people who are affected from this trenchant storm.

Sometimes, an event like these, reminds us of just how small the world is. And just how bad it can be if Mother Nature is pissed.

Philippines are often thought to be far away from West Malaysia. Yet, just as the tropical storm Ketsana hit them, it’s very apparent that we are just a pinch away from each other. Right now, as I write this, a weird weather looms Kulim.

The raining pattern is totally different here. Weird actually. It rains mega heavily for a few minutes, then stopped totally. Like TOTALLY. Then it rains again after a few minutes or hours. This is the second day, on my count.

So far, there are ZERO headlines on this from our politicians. I think there should be a heads-up of some sort. We know very well that Ketsana has moved from Philippines to Vietnam. And we've already could see the weird pattern here.

So, just to be safe, even in Malaysia, if I live in a land-slide prone areas, I’d get the heck out. At least until Ketsana is totally gone.

3rd Oct 2010 update: The weather in Kulim has been very stable and quiet for the past two days. It's a tremendously good news.

Top 10 Must-Avoid Travel Destinations

Here's a list done by Costas Christ, Editor of Global Travel, for Peter Greenberg's Don't Go There! book. Here we go, brace yourself:

1) Cancun, Mexico
2) Santorini, Greece
3) Orlando, Florida
4) Kuta, Bali
5) Dubai, UAE
6) Myanmar
7) Antartica
8) China Beach, Vietnam
9) Costa Rica's Over-developed Coast
10) Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

Of course, the editor gave a brief justification on why these were chosen. Read more about it at NatGeo website.