10 Reasons We Love Asean

10 REASONS WE LOVE ASEAN A nipper chromatic utan chills out at Sepilok, East Malaysias serviceman-famous centre for rescured orange utans. Smart, strong and found only in southeastern United States Asia, the orange utan was an indulgent choice to launch our lists of the 40 things we get by most about this region. 1. orangish UTAN Smart, charming and much stronger than they look, orange utans are Asias largest apes. Scientists have discovered that orange utans even have their profess cultures, with different groups developing their own style of tools. Some orange utans have even taught to use soft touch language.There are fewer than 55,000 left in the wild, on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. 2. CORAL REEFS life story gets pretty complicated in Tubbataha Reef Marine Park, Phillippines. With 396 coral, 479 fish, six chisel and two sea turtle species, it has enceinteer biodiversity than any other take down of its size in the world. This World Heritage Site was once thre aten by pollution but the Filipinos are fighting to save it for the next generation to swim in. Tubbataha is part of Southeast Asias coral triplicity, which also covers Malaysia and Indonesia. . ELEPHENT Southeast Asia has marched to war and riches on the back of the elephant. These profound jumbos have carried kids and kings, and are still used for heavy work in Myanmar and other countries. Theyre also worshipped in Laos and Thailand especi aloney if theyre white or albino. Laos used to be called Pathetlao Lanexang, or Land of a Million Elephants, but the region now has fewer than 30,000 in the wild. 4. ORCHIDS What do Queen Elizabeth, Kofi Annan and Laura Bush have in common?Theyre all orchid hybrids that can be found in capital of Singapores famous National Orchids can be found in umpteen parts of the world, Southeast Asia has one of the widest collections. Singapore and Indonesia have orchids as their subject area flowers. These flowers dont just attract bees they can als o be used in food and medicine. 5. KITES Kites have a long archives in Southeast Asia, with the Sejarah Melayu mentioningkite fighting as far back as the 1400s. Each village has its own style, often drawing inspiration from batik designs, architecture or gods. There are fighting kites and singing kites, and giant ones as much as 6 metres in width.Major kite-flying festivals and competitions take present during the northeast monsoon, when strong winds carry the kites even through the night. 6. ROLLER-COASTERS Lifes full of ups and downs in Brunei in a good way. The country holds the world record for the most roller-coasters per person there are 0. 8 for all(prenominal) 100. 000 Bruneians. To join in the fun, visit Jerudong Park, the countrys theme park. 7. BAKILBAYAN BOXES Millions of Southeast Asians live and work in foreign countries, but they dont forget everyone at home. Filipinos working in faraway places love move huge gift boxes to their families.These care packages are c alled balikbayan (meanine returnee) boxes, and contain novelties from the foreign country, uniform food and toys. 8. SMS Southeast Asians dont need a cumulation of space to have a lot of fun. Just look at how wild we can go on our mobile phone screens. teenage Singaporeans won the title of fastest SMS-fingers in the world, not once, but twice. The Philippines, sometimes known as the SMS capital of the world, uses SMS for everything from poetry to political protests. 9. PUPPETS After a hard day working in the rice fields, its great to chill with a fun puppet show.Southeast Asia has a puppet love affair, celebrating it every year with the ASEAN Puppet Festival. Vietnam is famous for its water puppets, with carvel wooden puppets (above) making a splash on the surface of flooded rice fields. past theres wayang kulit the shadow plays that have entertained villagers and kings from Indonesia to Thailand for over 800 years. 10. locution ONE Every year, thousands satisfy their need for speed with the F1 Malaysian majestic Prix, Racing legends like Michael Schumacher have burned rubber on the Sepang circuit. Singapore will have F1 races from 2008.