Skip to main content

From Borat to Sicko

One was a fictional character from Kazakhstan. He was assigned to US for cross cultural learning. Amid his visit in US, funny things happened and discovered new things: women movement, gay, high class society etiquette, rodeo, Christianity, Hollywood and Pamela Anderson. It tells us the good and the ugly side of America.

Speaking about the ugly side, Michael Moore revealed the truth of America's health care system compared with other countries (Canada, UK, France and Cuba). While every American will need to have a health care insurance, other countries practise universal health care system. Treatment for civilians is free (or at minimum charges) and in UK, they will reimburse the transportation expenses to the patient. The setback is those countries impose higher tax on individual. But at the end, they get a better service. As US is a free trade market, health care has become a profit making industry. How bout Malaysia? Well, we still can enjoy government provided health care system. If you want a better "service", go to the private. But make sure you can pay for it.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The wedding of ....

This wedding has some similarity with ours but, by comparison in every detail, each is still distinctly unique.

Akiu Onsen and waterfall

Again, based on a recommendation from an AI tool, I took a day trip to the Akiu Onsen area using public transport. Visiting an onsen wasn’t really my main agenda—it was the waterfall, Akiu Otaki Waterfall, that I wanted to see. Getting to the Akiu area requires careful planning around the public bus schedule. I took a bus from the Nagamachiminami area. Honestly, I didn’t even know where that was—I just followed Google’s directions. I arrived in Akiu Onsen town at 9 a.m. Just a short walk from the stop, you can enjoy a view of Rairaikyo Gorge. You can basically walk around the whole town in about 30 minutes. Since I couldn’t locate the public bathhouse, I decided to head to the waterfall. Unfortunately, the bus to the waterfall had already left, and the next one wouldn’t arrive until after lunch. Walking there would’ve taken too long—about 4 km, I think—so I had lunch first. After lunch, I waited for the bus to the waterfall. It was truly a great sight. If I’d had more time, I would hav...

Kumano Kodo - Day 2

After a good rest, I departed for Hosshimon-oji. The hotel provided free transit to the Hongu area, so I saved some time waiting for the bus. The plan for the day was a 7 km walk from Hosshimon-oji to Oyunohara. Since my next lodging was in the Yunomine Onsen area, I decided to add an extra walk from Oyunohara to Yunomine Onsen, which was about 2.2 km. At Hosshimon-oji, the trail is essentially a connecting route to the Takijiri trail. The previous stamping station was about 800 meters from Hosshimon-oji, so I made a detour to Inohana-oji. That detour added approximately 1.6 km to my journey, taking about 30 minutes or more. From Hosshimon-oji (after detouring via Inohana-oji), I started walking toward Hongu Taisha, which was about a 2.5-hour walk. Along the way, I stopped to rest and take photos. It was quite a leisurely walk. Part of the trail is paved, while the rest consists of forest paths lined with cypress trees (I guess). By the time I reached the town around Hongu Taisha, it w...