The 11th commandment by Jeffrey Archer

the 11th commandment by Jeffery Archer 

Very interesting book. I actually stayed until 2 am to finish this book although I knew I had to work the next day, I just couldn't wait to read the final chapter.

The story told of an agent from CIA that was leading a double life. He was an assassin and assigned to kill "bad guys" to protect the interest of United States. But he didn't realise that his boss wanted him dead too to protect her own interest. And the drama begins. 

Although this is an interesting read, I feel that America is practising double standard. When someone stays in the way, they destroy them. Just look at the recent Gaddafi case. Maybe he was not a good guy and was a corrupt person, but under his rule, Libyan literacy rate increase from 10% to 90%, the people enjoyed free education, financial assistance for housing, free healthcare, etc. Libyan was debt free too with a lot of resources. However, now after his downfall, the so called heroes "America" controlled the money to provide assistance (loan) back to the Libyan people. If the America wanted to help people, they should provide necessary help to form a democratic government fast, and let the Libyan people govern their own people, resources, etc. 

Another movie is "whistleblower", if the movie is true. Then, what is the use of America? They allowed the military private contractor to smuggle people and even though it was exposed, the contractor could still get the government contract. So, in their eyes, their people are not to be touched, while people from other countries are second rank and can be bought or sold?

My first porridge

I am not someone who likes to cook, the best i can do is to boil all the ingredients until cooked. I felt like eating porridge yesterday and i had green pepper, white radish, lettuce, egg and minced pork. So, I just mixed everything up in the pan and started to cook. However, it was so tasteless, then I decided to add seaweed. The colour became scary green. Still tasteless, I gave up and just poured some soy sauce and fried onion into the pan. Well, it was still palatable although not delicious, at least I didn't vomit it out! 

Reached Tokyo on 11th March 2011 (大震災の日)

I am currently in the attachment program in Japan for 2 years.

Before i came to Japan, I was very keen, even planned to go to Disneyland. (have to report to head office in Tokyo on Friday 11th march and free Saturday and Sunday before flying to Kumamoto, Kyushu). But, unfortunately, on that day itself, earthquake struck and followed by tsunami. So, for the next 2 days, just holed up in the hotel. 

Although i had the comfort of a bed and food and hot water for bath, i was too scared on the first night to sleep, I was fully clothed with socks and jacket at night, So I would be able to run if the quake happened again. And I kept feeling the aftershock. I finally got some sleep on the third night. Felt like a zombie!

On the first day, right after the quake, the hotel staff asked us to stay in lobby. Everybody else just glued to the TV. The tsunami alert was very worrying. From the TV footage, the tsunami really caused a huge havoc. Although my Japanese skill is limited, I could feel the anxiousness from the tone of the TV presenter. I haven't recover from the shock of the earthquake when I heard about the nuclear reactor leakage. I was hoping that my company would call us back to Malaysia. but, of course it didn't happen.

Me and another colleague have our meal in nearby Tokyo station. All the bullet trains and local trains stopped running. So, there were a lot of people camping inside the station. Long queue formed in front of the pay phone because hand phone line was down, long queue formed in front of toilet too. Some even went to the hotel I stayed to use the toilet because the queue was too long. I heard some people walk for 7 hours to reach home. On that day itself, bicycles were sold out. Taxis and buses enjoyed brisk business that day too. Those who stayed too far chose to stay in the hotel, however most of the hotels were full. All the instant noodles and breads were missing from the shelves of the convenience store and supermarket. Almost all the racks were empty.

Perhaps earthquake is quite frequent in Japan, I saw some girls still have the mood to shop for clothes and shoes in the station shops, that time, I was still shaking and having sleeping problem. After worrying for a whole 3 days in Tokyo, finally on Monday morning 14th march, we set off to Kumamoto through Haneda airport. It was so peaceful in Kumamoto, totally different from Tokyo. Thank god!

What a life!