a bit of the paean to intellectual adventure

so i am reading this book In Code by Sarah Flannery and i came across one of this intro puzzler, the buddhist monk puzzle:

One morning, exactly at sunrise, a Buddhist monk began to climb a tall mountain. The narrow path, no more than a foot or two wide, spiraled around the mountain to a glittering temple at the summit. The monk ascended the path at varying rates of speed, stopping many times along the way to rest and to eat the dried fruit he carried with him. He reached the temple shortly before sunset. After several days of fasting and meditation he began his journey back along the same path, starting at sunrise and again walking at variable speeds with many pauses along the way. His average speed descending was, of course, greater than his average climbing speed.
Prove that there is a spot along the path that the monk will occupy on both trips at precisely the same time of day.

So, can you? i did!

yeah… i peeked on the answer >(~.~)<

=P

p.s. my blog’s title was stolen from the front cover of the book.

mouse chase

yesterday i talked about a sad side of life in japan( again my apologies for the sweeping generalization). but a few moments ago, my husband sent to me a link that shows the positive side of the japanese. their tirelessness, hard work and creativity is so undeniable!

so have you ever wondered how does your mouse move? click ME to know how!

why i still long for my country

this entry may be a sweeping generalization but i need to blurt it out.

i have just arrived home from the nearby supermarket and then i was caught by the red light so i stopped for a while. while i was waiting for the walk sign to turn green, i saw this girl riding on her bike ( this is very usual here in japan ) and she honked her bike’s horn to the old lady who is also waiting with me. the old lady was somehow blocking the way but come on, she’s old. her height now is maybe half of her true height because she was already stooping ( not to mention that she is carrying her grocery bag). so the old lady slowly moved on the side.
in a moment, the girl was again honking her horn to the old man who is walking much slower than a turtle. he could not even lift his feet and the cane that the old man was using is very much his third leg. what a brat! and after the brat passed by the old man she even looked back and stared on to the old man! what the!!!???

this is not the first time that i have seen this here in japan. yeah the goverment might have above par benefits for their senior citizens and that the road and other means of transportation may be catering the needs of the old people, but the younger generations here are somewhat changing. far from the japanese whom i have thought of before. well… i know that i will not retire here and i might have no right to criticize them but it’s just that it is sad to think that the elders are not being respected. i know that not all of them are like that but why have i seen it more than twice. ok i would just confess that i am guilty of sweeping generalization.

i maybe looking for a loophole in their society to uplift my pinas. so that i would have a reason to long for my home country. but, atleast, back home we don’t usually place the elders at a nursing home. we provide a space for them in our houses. we do our best to attend to their needs. and they don’t go out alone. and they don’t die alone.
a common pinoy might not have enough money to live comfortably but he could still live happily — because of the family. and the strong family ties may be the weakest characteristic of our society but it is also the strongest one. it is one of the reason why despite all the hardships of living back home is undeniable, pinoys can still smile. =)