Doza

Running will of course get you fit if you stick at it and start small and increase your distance / intensity gradually. Crazy to say it won't.

But I am also a fan of aerobic fitness (interval training / circuits) rather than anaerobic fitness (jogging). Better results in shorter time span. Unless you are training for a marathon.

4 from 5!

Reds were useless. They really are just rubbish.

'Canes win. 1 from 1 so far.....

My Tips:

HURRICANES v CHIEFS at Westpac Stadium, Wellington :: Hurricanes - They have to hit their straps sooner or later. Their lineup is top class and Nonu is on fire.

LIONS v WESTERN FORCE at Ellis Park, Johannesburg :: Force - Close one but Force travel well and have been in country for a bit now. Lions unpredicatable but not enough class.

STORMERS v CRUSADERS at Newlands, Cape Town :: Crusaders - This should be close but who can tip against the Crusaders?

HIGHLANDERS v NSW WARATAHS at Carisbrook, Dunedin :: Waratahs - Too strong out wide.

BRUMBIES v QUEENSLAND REDS at Canberra Stadium :: Reds - Depleted line ups from both teams but Reds are hungry this year.

CHEETAHS v BLUES in Bloemfontein :: Blues - Tough away but Blues are all class.

BULLS v SHARKS at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria :: Bulls - Best game all weekend and real tight but the Bulls at home surely.

Well maybe better for your knees and ankles in the long run but don't you want to get fit?

Getting fit is hard. It takes hard work. It is not a nice feeling to be f**ked and not able to breathe but if you aint sweatin and knackered, you're wasting your time. (just my opinion).

Anyway, is running on a treadmill much softer then the ground outside? Maybe a little bit but get good shoes and you should be fine unless you are clocking up 50kms a day.

Why does running on a treadmill seem so much easier than acutally doing roadwork ?

Are you serious? On the treadmill, the gound conveniently MOVES UNDER YOUR FEET! Running on non-moving ground means your muscles (hamies and glutes to pull, calves and quads to push) have to do all the hard work to get YOU moving. More work means higher heart rate means harder cardio.

There is no point running on a treadmill unless its at least on some sort of incline. Probably from 2 upwards I would think.

Panadda Changmanee, Thailand's national project coordinator for UNIAP, tells the Straight by phone that voluntary migration is also linked to child beggars. A soon-to-be published UNIAP study on Cambodian child beggars in Bangkok found that the majority had not been trafficked, but had rather been forced to beg by their own parents looking for a better life.

“A lot of [Cambodian] parents who bring their own children to beg in Thailand are looking for an alternative for income-generating,” Changmanee said. “People come for a job and find that begging is good business. In one day, they can earn quite a lot of money.”

Changmanee said these parents might earn 20 baht a day (60 cents Canadian) carrying goods from Poi Pet across the Thai-Cambodian border to the market. If they put their kids to work begging on the street in Bangkok, they can make between 300 and 1,000 baht a day ($8.50 to $29). “It depends on the condition of the child,” Changmanee adds. “If they are handicapped, they make more. A mother with a baby might earn more.”

Coming from a very poor country, it's a tempting proposition. “They [Cambodian parents] would earn five or 10 baht to carry many kilos on their head. That's hard work. Comparing this business [begging], they just sit there. That's why it's a very attractive business for the adults.”

Tourists who see these children on the street and give them money unwittingly reinforce the situation. “There is no supply if there is no demand,” Changmanee says. “If you give money, there will be beggars.” She suggests giving food or water instead of money.

UNIAP doesn't have an official opinion on whether or not tourists should give money to individual beggars. According to Stewart, “We don't take a stand on what people should or should not do, because it's such an incredibly personal decision, you can never be sure. But there are alternatives.”

http://www.straight.com/article/western-tr...es-of-poverty-0

More info on the study was also published in the BKK Post last year but can't find it.

Maroon 5 coming in March if you consider it 'rock'.

Honestly, assuming the gym stays open even 1 year - but more likely many more - and you continue going, its a freakin cheap deal.

There is also 1 small point you are missing in all this is that people who work over here don't get paid the same as they do in UK or USA or wherever so therefore the extra money saved from living in a more than adequate 30sqm room is more money to do other things with..

Err...who told you that?! Nearly every teacher (real teacher teaching at an international school) I know is on better money when bonuses included and def better conditions than they would get back home.

Not to mention all the expats on better cash and bonuses from a foreign posting.

One of the highlights of the Super 14 season will be watching the duel between Barnes and Beale for the Wallabies no. 10 spot. They are both cracking youngsters who played their first season last year as teenagers and impressed. Big opportunity for them so step up this year:

BERRICK BARNES and Kurtley Beale will battle it out for the Wallabies No. 10 jersey, according to a keenly interested observer - All Blacks five-eighth Dan Carter.

With star pivot Stephen Larkham having left to play in Japan, Carter - who will face his replacement in the Bledisloe Cup - believes the door is open for a number of players to fill the void. He told the Herald he saw Beale, Barnes, Matt Giteau and Julian Huxley as the key contenders.

http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/news/ba...0764169411.html

More less Aussie-centric news to come.

The Dubliner food is very good, but sometimes it feels a little dark and dead in there for breakfast. When the weather is cool, Hanrahans is good as you can sit outside and the food there is fantastic too.

For something lighter than the big English breakfast recomend Crepes & Co, nice ambience outside, and Kuppa also for atmosphere and location.

Bed...

Was it supposed to be funny or make any sense?

I have never visited hill tribes in the north and especially would never visit the long-neck Padaung as I just assumed they would be controlled in some part by tourists operators and didn't like the "zoo" type scenario. But I have listened to arguments that these tribes derive an income from living in their traditional ways and allowing tourists into 'their' villages. Basically "its good for them".

Check out this article on the long-neck women:

Thai authorities refuse to release a valuable tourist attraction, writes Connie Levett, in Nai Soi, Thailand.

Zember was an original poster child for long-neck tourism - at 12, her neck coiled with brass rings, she sat on display at a Bangkok tourism fair - helping to create the buzz that drew gawkers from around the globe.

Now, aged 23, her neck is bare, the rings stripped off in anger after provincial authorities in Mae Hong Son, northern Thailand, refused to let her migrate to New Zealand, concerned about the negative impact on tourism of an exodus of long-neck women....

More here > Sydney Morning Herald

The Blues have finally got a real flyhalf in Nick Evans. Lets see what they can do with him and without McAllistar and Howlette.

All Bok teams will be high on confidence and very hard to beat.

Can't dismiss Crusaders.

Brumbies have a young enthusiastic strong team so could be a danger but won't compete for title.

Waratahs? Could do anything.

So basically.....who know?!?!?! Tough one so bring it on.

Most companies are requesting work attire to be black and or b&w. Christmas / NY parties have been cancelled, the RBSC family day has been cancelled, and other 'festive' events have either been cancelled or the 'fesstive' part of the activities have been severly toned down.

I would just say, don't be going out an celebrating too much publically (although within bars and restuarants its no prob)

Any BOI experts here???

Contact Sunbelt or Subtlet Group or any other reputable consultants.

Its not specifically on the list but a google search shows it either once was or is now being considered - lots of references.

Really BOI status is about convincing the committee your business meets their "criteria" and is somewhat subjective. A former company got BOI status for business that doesn't clearly fit into the description but we convinced them it did in certain ways. BOI is massive if you can get it.

If you can get BOI (Board of Investment) approval you are extempt from this rule. I have heard the establishment of call centres in Thailand may be promoted by BOI as a high value added service industry so long as you are supplying the foreign not Thai market. Look into it www.boi.co.th

Most expats who live in Bangkok do so only because they must, they have no choice in the matter

due to their work (teaching English). It really is a deplorable, overcrowded, hot, smelly dump.

And then there are the expatriates you are likely to meet. Where as previously noted, in Bangkok you will mainly

meet only conmen and teachers ... you can recognize them in the bars as at night's end they will be counting

out their loose change on the bar and trying to decide whether to have another beer and walk, or take a bus home.

This is a load of rubbish. In Bangkok, provided you mix in the right crowds, you;ll find young men and women of all ages and nationalities and careers who love life here. Single or attached there is a good crowd of expats if you look for them.

Forget about the British Club or BNOW if you are younger than 40. Get along to "networking" functions such as that of the European Young Professionals EYP, BKK Young Professionals BYP, and sports / social clubs like Southerners www.southerners-bangkok.com to meet like minded young people in the city.

Life can be very safe and enjoyable here with restaurants, shopping malls, bars, nightclubs and islands and beaches all of high quality.

Roll on indeed.

I think the new rules will aid NSW, and also Brumbies, but I think Brumbies played above their weight last year and may struggle this year although they have a not bad team on paper. Can't see the Chiefs putting together, but the Sharks and Bulls should be strong again provided they get used to the new rules early.

Force could improve again and the Crusaders will be hard to beat with every man out to avenge an average world cup.

Would love to see a dark horse like Force or Cheetahs really improve and rattle some cages - and of course the Reds to stop being so useless.

Tourists are ripped off all over the world

But few countries are worse than Thailand for this...

For a small fee you can transfer between you bank here and your Aussie bank - but your bank here may want to see a work permit and it will come on the radar in Aussie and will likely get taxed - unless you can prove you've paid tax on it already. But you can do a bank to bank.

Haven't seen any Ben Sherman around BKK myself.