We built ships to sail out and discover the world. If we could defeat Spain, the biggest empire in the Western world, then for sure we could achieve much more. But where did it go wrong for us in the 21st century?
Author Archives: stefan struik
Stop poisoning your body!
You want to eat healthily and honestly. But not everybody wants to give up on sweets. In the last fifty years, we tripled our consumption of sugar. Tripled! All Americans are weighing now 12 kilos more than they did 25 years ago. One of the main reasons was the anti-fat rage. And the food industryContinue reading “Stop poisoning your body!”
Kidnapped by an airline
I was kidnapped. Not by a confused man, not by ISIS but by a company, an airline company; and even worse: one of the highest rated airline businesses in the world, Qatar Airways. To put nice things first: I always had excellent experiences with Qatar. It is a very convenient airline. The crew is veryContinue reading “Kidnapped by an airline”
My name is Kirk, James Kirk
Is seeking the final frontier and trying to cross it, seeking the love that will absorb all boundaries, seeking the power that will unify us all, the ultimate message of the best sci-fi series of all time?
Flying furries
from misplaced sexual obsession about Furries to Furries as a form of art.
Vietnam: sipping and gossiping
Last week I went on a Saturday morning in district 7 of Ho Chi Minh City to a coffee shop that was opened only three weeks before. It was 9 o’clock in the morning, and the place was packed. If this were the only coffee shop in the neighborhood, I wouldn’t have been surprised, butContinue reading “Vietnam: sipping and gossiping”
C’est la vie? No way!
Yesterday I flew back to Phnom Penh from a one day trip to Singapore. Next to me sat Abhinav, an Indian finance manager of Mondelez. Mondelez is at the moment the largest company in the confectionery industry. Kraft and Cadbury joined forces in 2012, and this giant rose up. Apparently with a lot of internalContinue reading “C’est la vie? No way!”
Sorry, it is cacao, not cocoa
Until 1755 British people spoke of cacao, just like the rest of the world. So, why did they change their pronunciation of this magical food? How popular was chocolate actually in 1755? Probably more widespread than you would have expected. Nobody had ever seen a chocolate bar yet. That would still take another hundred years.Continue reading “Sorry, it is cacao, not cocoa”
Will chocolate become illegal?
What is the definition of a drug? Medicine or other substance which has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body. Well, there you go. Then chocolate clearly is a drug by those standards. It not only makes you feel better, but it also improves your memory and stimulates your abstract thinking.Continue reading “Will chocolate become illegal?”
Did I just create a border conflict?
Never knew I would be responsible for starting a border conflict where both borders would refuse each car and motorbike to cross. Last Monday we needed to go to Vietnam to collect cacao pods for our new cacao nursery. Although I had the right forms to cross, the Cambodian officers advised me to add moreContinue reading “Did I just create a border conflict?”
