Another of Miyazaki’s anime which is as usual very very good – what you you expect! But still I prefer the “lightness” of Kiki my favourite witch 
This is the story of a pretty hatmaker, Sophie, who is put under a spell by a witch which turns her into an old hag but a nice one. So to restore her youghful appearance, Sophie has no choice but to embark on ajourney which sees her leaving her home to stay in a moving castle powered by Calcifer a fire demon – special mention for this guy; he’s like the Jiji in Kiki. The master of the castle is Howl, a very good looking and powerful wizard.
I’ll stop here before turning this post into a spoiler. It’s definitely a must see movie.
Everyday I start my linux box; launch firefox and open my personalised google home page. There I c which new mails i’ve got and check/ upgrade my agenda and add some sticky notes for the day. Usually I’ll have some administratve work to do. So I open Google Docs and write whatever I need and print it while glancing at the latest news headlines.
12 months ago:
I start my PC with the lovely welcome note of windows. I open thunderbird and read/reply to my mail. Any important thing to do is noted down on my desk on some scrap piece of paper. Then I launch MS Word and do the boring administrative work while launching firefox n going through my bookmark of interesting headlines.
These two scenarios show the change that Web 2.o has brought to my computing life. I still don’t do everything online but it looks like one day I’ll just open firefox n do everything there! So rumors that Microsoft is “scared” by Web 2.0 and google are not that farfetched. I’m lucky to have a 24 hour internet connection (though at home it’s the crappy 64K of Nomad i’m still able to use all the benefits of Web 2.0 without too many headaches) and in the near future I c myself going mainly online for everything.
It’s the 3rd time I’ve been tagged and I guess that this time I can’t escape it. So bring it on.
Pseudo? Zetwal
Pourquoi ce pseudo? J’aime bien les etoiles
Dernier coup de coeur littéraire? Ca fait longtemps que j’ai pas lu de livre mais je dirai “To kill a mockingbird”
Anime, manga ou comic US préféré? Rouroni Kenshin (I’m looking for SamuraiX btw, anyone has it please?)
Gouts musicaux? World music, slow rock, pop
Groupes écoutés actuellement? Jean Jacques Goldman
Suis tu la mode? Pas vraiment
Comment te decrirais tu? Lucky Luke style
Comment as tu trouvé ce questionaire? Pas mal du tout
Qui vas tu tagger maintenant? Voyons voir, qui m’a pas tagge (and who can I reach easily)? vicks , selven
Have u heard of the $100 laptop? It’s a wonderful small PC conceived at the MIT lab for developped countries and it is going to be shipped as from this year.
You could wonder: What would u get for $100 (roughly Rs 4000)? But man it’s a real deal; this machine is jammed packed with technology (it especially has wonderful networking capabilities), is so cute that everyone would want one and the most interesting thing about it is since ithas been developped for developping countries, it’s quite robust and its battery can be charged without electricity – pulling a lever does the job!
Some specs: The processor has been designed by AMD, it has 128Mb of memory, it has full wireless networking capabilities, 2 usb ports, no hard disk but 512 MB-1 GB of flash memory (they did not c it worthwhile to have a big hard disk) and it will be shipped with a cut down version of the Linux operating system (free).
So what is Mauritius waiting for to ask for these? What if all ZEP schools were to embark on such a project – the other schools would be jealous of them anad all schools would want to be ZEP then 
. If countries like Bazil, Nigeria and even the USA (yes them too supposedly for some of their states) think that it’s a good idea, why don’t we think the same? Of course, I don’t know about all the requirements (if any) for Mauritius to be elligible in such a project but i think we should very soon enquire about that. After all, are we not trying to make Mauritius an intelligent island and this “one laptop per child” project would be the ideal companion to the IC3 government project where 400 000 people are to be trained in IT over 3-4 years.
It’s a 45 episode anime that tells the story of Youko, an ordinary Japanese high school girl, who suddenly gets transported to another world where she discovers that she’s the queen to be of the kingdom of Kei.
This anime boasts nice animation and a decent story but which I find has been kind of stretched at times and made longer than it should.
The main interest of this story lies in the development of the main character Youko. In Japan, she is a nice and timid girl who does whatever she can to please everyone around her (mum, dad, classmates, teacher,…) . Eventually everyone likes her but is she leading her life or the life the world would like her to lead.
It’s only when she’s alone in the kingdom of Kou and faces rejection because she a “Kaikyaku”, a person who has been blown to the Twelve Kingdoms from Japan. With the help of Rakushun (that saves her from a certain death and changes her heart as well) and the King of the Kingdom of En, she managed to get her throne back from a false queen and there after she sets out to rule her kingdom (with the help of Keiki – a sort of demi god who is her advisor known as kirin) not without having to overcome many obstacles.
There are many small stories in this anime like the story of Taiki a black kirin, the story of the king of En and his kirin and … There are 45 episodes in all but personally I think that it would have been better had it stop at episode 39; the remaining oukepisodes is just a story about the king of En which does not show us more of Youko.
It’s a nice anime which has a very good rating on www.animenewsnetwork.com but for now it falls just short of my top 5 list of anime.
The Cotton Bay hotel is situated in Pointe Cotton, on the north east coast of Rodrigues.
Last time i’ve been there was around 15 years ago and it hasn’t changed a bit; the service is just as good as it used to be and the hotel is as quiet as ever (except for the swimming pool) which makes it perfect for relaxing. However, go on a diet before u go there coz they give u tons of nice food to eat and everything is open buffet.
In the morning, it’s English breakfast (beacon, egg, sausage, roasted potatoes, baked beans) + juice, toasts, fruits (the pineapple is lovely). At around 4:00, u’ll get 2 pancakes and at 7:00 is the apero – the rum with honey and lemon is particularly good. Dinner is an array of dishes but I’d recommend the starters and dessert; the main course is so so.
Note: u’d better take your apero with u to dinner coz anything u have to buy any drinks u want.
There are quite a few activities that are organised at the hotel like diving and at night, during the week end, there are shows.
Also, Cotton Bay is within Walking distance to Trou D’argent. Trou D’argent is a pure white beach surrounded by rocks and it’s one of the main attractions of the island. It’s one of the must-see in Rodrigues. If you decide to walk back to Cotton bay, u r in for a treat. The landscape is awesome; there are white beaches and rocks that have been eroded by the sea and whatever I can write here cannot describe what you are going to see. It is simply one the best parts of the island I’ve been to after Ile Cocos.
Let’s be honest for once. Mauritius is a multi-racial country ans we are “multi-racists” except for a few exceptions. It’s true that we all live in peace and harmony (there have only been two major uprisings where religion has been the cause in about 40 years) but nevertheless we like to keep to ourselves and to our small group. We do have friends that are of many different religions but deep down inside we know that they are different. In other words, most Mauritians are racists!
But there’s hope. There are a few who r genuinely not racists and the new generation of Mauritians seem to care less about religious differences apart from some desperate cases – God is so so unfair; he gives a decent brain to very few people and leave the others to b sheeps with no brain coz if u do have a brain and do use it to think, u will realise that u could have been born in any religion (or ethnic group) and u despising people of the other religion is down right stupid. Moreover, biologically there are no more differences between people of different religions that between people of the same religion.
Anyway, so for real Mauritians who are not racists, where do we fit in Mauritius? We would not join groups like Hindu House, L’Union Chretienne,… . So why not create a new group of our own where the way to get in is just by proving that you are not a racist but a true Mauritian. We’ll need to find a decent name for it – Mauritian Union sucks
So who’s in? As any decent association, we’ll need to have a president, vice-president, treasurer,… and hold regular meetings
P.S. How will u know if u r not a racist and can become a member of Mauritian Union:
- Do you wonder; is he a Hindu / Chinese / Christian when u c someone?
- If yes, sorry mate, u r out
- Do you have friends of all religions?
- If yes, u r cool
- Would you mind your son/daughter/bro/sis marrying someone not of your religion?
- if yes, sorry mate
- Do you believe that all people are the same no matter what religion they are?
- if yes, u r cool
I hope u understand, we can accept only pure Mauritians
This is the supposedly “second” main attraction of the island but I beg to differ!
Cavernes Patates is a cave that winds its way for 600m underground. The western part of Rodrigues seems to be of coralian formation – I have no confirmation of that; it’s just a guess.
The cave is nice to visit, there are many stalagtites hanging from the ceiling and stalagmites that form intricate shapes which are create interesting shapes when a light beam is shone on them in the right direction. Our guide was very eager to tell us about the different shapes (cat, map of Rodrigues, virgin mary,…) that reside in the cave … but that’s it!!! No information whatsoever about how the cave was formed, what type of rocks and/or minerals are in the cave,…
Basically I came out from a nice underground walk not knowing anything about the formation of the cave which is very sad.
Moreover the guide was speaking only creole and some tourists were totally clueless about what was happening! It could have been such a better experience had the guide been given some training and it would be the de facto second most interesting experience after Ile Cocos.
Also, you need a permit to visit the caves. The permit is easily obtained from the Rodrigues assembly for Rs 200 (for either 9:30, 11:30 or 14:30 visits) and you can take up to 30 people with you.
This has got to be the nicest place you can go to in Rodrigues.
It’s a small island about 3 – 4 km off the west coast of Rodrigues and by pirogue, you’ll take about 45 mins – the time required to catch 2 fish – to reach there (depending on the tide of course).
The main attraction of this island is that thousands of birds that live there – there are birds everywhere and some trees seem to have more birds on them than leaves. Our guide told us of 3 species, “la vierge” which is immaculately white, the “yeye” which is greyish on top and white on its belly and the “mandarin” a greyish bird which is by far the most common. When I was there, it was the nesting season; the birds were either sitting on their eggs or looking after their youngs – which means that they were a bit aggressive – and those they are nexting everywhere, in nest on trees (obviously) but also directly on the ground or on branches without any nests!
The beach round the island is superb white sand surrounded by a turquoise sea – it’s hard to resist a dip in that (but there’s a nicer place to dip – just continue reading) and occasionally, there are shoals of small fish swimming one from the the beach; it’s just wonderful to walk through them.
Lunch was “rougaille” of octopus with grilled fish (BBQs are not allowed on the island since it is a bird reserve).
On leaving Ile Cocos and if you are lucky the tide will be low and if that happens, man u r lucky!!! You will be taken to sand dunes (next to Ile aux Sables, the latter is a nature reserve which is strictly forbidden) that emerges at low tide. It’s the perfect place for a dip. You simply can’t find better than that!!! Forget the nicest beaches or the nicest swimming pools in any hotel, this is THE place swim or to simply lie down – it’s a natural Jacousi. We stayed there for nearly one and a half hour (and my back got badly burned as a result, so don’t forget the sun cream) lie down and swimming (for the first time I saw a living “Koki Bonheur – it’s like a snail “.
But beware of one thing, leaving your shirt or towel on the sand dunes is a bad idea. It will get wet and you’ll have to dry it on your way back
So, this is the destination that you should absolutely not miss if you go to Rodrigues.
