Taiwanese girl travels to Slovenia

Only two more weeks and I see her again

EVA Air on-board magazine featured Slovenia when I flew back home. How wonderful.

I'm so excited :-D My Taiwanese girlfriend is coming to Slovenia very soon! In about two weeks I can hold her in my arms again and spend some time with her. It will be exactly 3 months since I had left Taiwan. I miss her. I have great plans to show her Vienna, Bratislava, most of Slovenia and Trieste in the two weeks she will be here. It will be her first time in Europe and I want to make this trip a truly unforgettable experience for her. I want her to have the best time of her life. Of course that also puts some pressure on me, but knowing how happy she is about small things in life, I hope we can enjoy many simple yet precious moments together. And it doesn't need to cost a lot of money, maybe a candle, two glasses of wine and fireflies will do? I hope so. I won't blog a lot during her visit, I may update with some short posts, in case something funny happens. But I will be blogging about my home country Slovenia a lot after she has to go back to Taiwan. I hope you guys will like it. And some things will be seen through her eyes and I can't wait to see what her impressions of my country (or Europe in general) will be. Wish us luck, peeps. We'll need it.

Do you have any ideas, how I could surprise her during her trip?

[Photo by MKL, 2010]

Modern Toilet in Ximending, Taipei

Or what me and my girlfriend call the shit restaurant*, hehe...

The Modern Toilet (Chinese: 便所主题餐厅) is a famous bathroom-themed restaurant in Taiwan, Taipei. I've written about theme restaurants in Taipei before and I've been in the Modern Toilet before, too. But that one was located near the Shilin Night Market and my girlfriend and I only shared one ice cream. This time we went for a full meal and we were accompanied by the awesome blogger Shingo, his wife and his wife's parents, who came all the way from Singapore to see all the beautiful spots of Taiwan and try some of the unique (and sometimes crazy) food you can find here.

We went to the bigger restaurant located in Ximending, which is the biggest pedestrian area in Taipei. Now you wonder where exactly is Modern Toilet located? Well, if you check their homepage moderntoilet.com.tw you'll find an address and a map, but that probably won't help you a lot. Let me show you how to find Modern Toilet in Ximending:

We went out at Ximen Station Exit 6 (see here) and then walked into the lane on the right (click on my map to enlarge and save it). We were lucky, because my girlfriend, who is a local, brought us to that place, but you can ask some people for directions, if you're not sure. Ximending is full of young people, I'm sure there's plenty of them who speak a little bit English and will help you. Just remember to turn left when you see a 7/11 and Starbucks building.

The first photo above is the restaurant's main entrance. We had to go the upper floors and were directed to our bath tub table.

That's how it looks inside. Pretty crowded, right?

Our neighboring table: The toilet-shaped chairs, we sat on the same ones.

Another photo of the Modern Toilet's interior. Not bad, huh? :)

Shingo's dish came in a mini toilet bowl. That "brown dung pie" is actually just a plastic cover for a small salad.

Shingo's father-in-law had in my opinion the coolest dish: A green toilet bowl with curry, that was still sizzling. That really looked cool in real, because of the color, hehe.

Our dish was also great, albeit less "toilety", hehe. And the drinks came in urinals (尿壺).

The tea inside really looked a little like...... :-P

And you the worst best thing is, you can keep the urinal :-P

In the end, we had dung ice cream, vanilla flavor. It was yummy.

All and all it was a great experience. The food was yummy and all of us had to chuckle few times. I'm happy that I could enjoy that food with Shingo and his dear ones. We had a great time and I'd definitely visit Modern Toilet again. So I definitely recommend you this place.

And to unravel the mystery behind Shingo in my previous post: None of the guys in the photo is Shingo. I think few of you guess it right, kudos to you all. You know me well, hehe. But I took the photo, just a random pic of the Ximending crowd. But regarding Shingo, I think it's better that the mystery behind his identity lives on :-P

Would you go to the restaurant and try the food?

Related: [Sweet Dynasty with Shingo][Wiki][My TAIWAN page][All photos by MKL, 2010]

*hey, even on their hompage they ask "Shit or food?"

Sweet Dynasty 糖朝 restaurant, Taipei

Another foodventure with uncle Shingo

When my girlfriend and I met up with uncle Shingo, his wife and his lovely in-laws (read about it here), he suggested to go to a Hong Kong style restaurant at the Zhongxiao Dunhua road in Taipei city, one of the most famous roads here. It's known as Taipei's fashion street, with great restaurants, bars and shops. We weren't sure about the restaurant's name, but my girlfriend somehow found out the name of the restaurant and she immediately knew where it was. The place is called Sweet Dynasty or 糖朝 (or Tang Chao) and it's famous for delicious food and especially delicious Chinese or particularly Hong Kong desserts. Let me introduce you the restaurant and the yummy desserts we had.

The Sweet Dynasty from the inside: The traditional Hong Kong style is predominant.

There's many main dishes, but we came to try their famous desserts.

Our dish was Sago soup with fresh fruits: Mmm, simply delicious!

I think this one on the left is Tofu pudding with fresh mango. Looks yummy.

Tofu Pudding with red beans close-up.

After we finished the individual deserts, we ordered Tofu pudding in cask.

It says it's for 5 persons. We were 6 and couldn't finish it. It was very yummy, though.

Hong Kong styled tofu pudding: Even my girlfriend said it's the best she ever had.

The Sweet Dynasty is really a great restaurant. I can only pass my judgement on the two desserts I tried. They were very tasty. And Shingo and his dear ones also said they liked the desserts and they came all the way from Singapore to try them. That speaks volumes and also says a lot about the place, since Singaporean's are renown to be great food critics :-) Thanks again for the good company, Shingo and another time thanks for treating my girlfriend and I. You're truly a generous man.

[Modern Toilet with Shingo][Sweet Dynasty hp][All photos by MKL, 2010]

Famous bloggers finally meet in Taiwan: Shingo rocks Taipei with MKL

I met Shingo T! I saw him! Woohoo!

Everyone reads Shingo's blog, right? And Shingo reads everyone's blog, right? ^_^ That's the impression I have, when I browse your blogs. A while ago, Shingo contacted me and asked me, if I was open to meeting up during his trip to Taiwan. And of course I said yes! Who wouldn't want to meet the mysterious Shingo T and unravel the mystery behind his identity? Manju, do you remember, when we chatted on MSN few months ago and wondered, how Shingo might look like? How old is "uncle" Shingo really? Is he really so handsome? Well, I'm one of the few lucky humans, who had the chance to get all the answers of these questions answered in a single afternoon. I feel so honored :-)

If you read his blogger profile, he says:

"A very handsome chick magnet with irresistable charm. Also known to be thick skinned, self-obsessed and living in his own world."

You know, we've met in Taipei's trendy district Ximending and I can tell you, the girls really looked at him a lot. And there were at least 2 girls trailing him all the time. It was amazing. He does have charm, that's really true. I haven't hung out with him so much as to test the thickness of his skin and check, if he's so self-obsessed as he claims. All I can say is, Shingo is really really nice, he always smiles and it's very interested in many things. And he's very generous, he treated me twice, so I want to say thank you again here. Shingo, you are a very nice man. And I must add, that I also met Shingo's lovely wife, who's also extremely friend and his in-laws, who followed us to every spot and tried every food. They were very friendly and in-laws like them are a dream of every man. Shingo is truly lucky ^_^

Ok, for those who are so curious, I took a photo in Ximending and I give you 5 answers to choose. And my question is: Which one is Shingo T?

1 Is Shingo T a Nike fan, who carries the bag awesomely like that?

2 Is Shingo T a fast-paced casual traveler, who loves to wear red?

3 Is Shingo T a hunky muscular young man with a crew cut?

4 Is Shingo T a guy, who rolls up his pants' sleeves, but prefers his tees sleeveless?

5 Is Shingo T none of the above and a totally different guy?

The right answer will be revealed in my next post. :-P And that one will be about the Taipei's awesome theme restaurant Modern Toilet. I will post some photos and write my review and you'll be able to read more about Shingo and the good time we had. So stay tuned for my next post. Here's a sneak peek of what follows...

We had delicious curry from a toilet bowl

Another thing I want to add: A special thanks to my lovely girlfriend, who helped me to guide Shingo around Taipei in that afternoon we spent together. She's really such a great guide and knows so many places. It reminded me of the first days when I came to Taipei, when she showed me around this awesome place. Thanks a lot again. You're great. :-)

So, is uncle Shingo, a lesser or a bigger mystery for you now?

I'm going to Macau!

So be ready to be "Macaoed" in the following days :-P

Picture taken at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei City.

I always wanted to see Macau. During my last year's Hong Kong trip, the 5 days weren't enough to see all of Hong Kong, let alone Macau. But I will catch up soon.

I wanna thank my sweetheart for booking the air tickets and finding a nice hostel for me, booking it and making a map for me to find it. You are just such a sweetie and I heart you so much.

Thanks a lot and see you in few days. :-)

...hello Taipei, Taiwan, Asia!

Hi guys! Sorry for being absent from the blogosphere, twitterverse and facebookland. My trip was quite long and when I finally arrived in Taiwan, I was so eager to see as much as possible. I was really tired, had a slight jetlag, didn't sleep during the flight much. Those 14 hours seemed endless. But now I'm back and as promised, me and my girlfriend owe you a post about how our first day was, especially our first meeting. Let that be your introduction to my Taiwan story. In the days ahead I will write many posts about various things I saw here, from food to sightseeing. I hope I won't get bored with it :-)

FROM HER PERSPECTIVE:

Time really flied so fast, when he told me he started to pack. I still thought it's a bit far for me, but when I heard the exact flight time and how he would reach the airport, I suddenly became aware: "Wow...it's real! He is coming to me soon!" Then the nervousness started.

We have 7 hours time difference, so for me his journey would start around my noon. I couldn't stop checking the clock every hour for that whole day and thinking about what he might be doing at that time.

That night I also couldn't sleep, because I worried about the flight and everything. I believed he would be safe, but I just couldn't stop missing him and worrying, it made me sleepless all night. Finally I fell asleep at dawn...

And then the next day I woke up and realized I have overslept!

When I saw the clock, I was really shocked. I tried my best to be quick, because the distance to the airport is a bit far for me. However, I promised I'll dress up good to welcome him, but I didn't have enough time. I had to put on everything in a hurry, take my four bags and rush to the airport. I knew I will be late. I hoped I won't make a negative impression on him when he sees me.

Then I remembered, that I sent him a Taiwanese SIM card a while ago and told him to use it, when he arrives here. I tried to call him on that number, but couldn't reach him... I didn't know what happened, I felt so nervous and anxious on the way to the airport. Just when I came out from the train station and was about to transfer to the bus, I received a call from the airport. A woman, working at the info point, called me and said that there is foreigner, who said he was my friend and that his phone was out of battery, so he couldn't call me. I told her I would be there soon, in about 15min. After the call I was relieved, but started to feel sorry, because I knew he must've been walking around the airport trying to find me, but I wasn't there.

Eventually the bus arrived the airport. I walked into the hall and quickly saw a blonde man. I thought that must be him, because I saw the same suitcase he showed me on the weekend before on his webcam. I walked slowly and quietly, I planned to cover his eyes from the back and surprise him, but while walking towards him, he turned around and saw me... He caught me. We smiled and hugged each other tight, I felt so safe and warm. Although I was a little shy at first, we were so comfortable with each other very quickly. It felt as if we were a real couple before, no one could've thought that we've met for the first time in that moment.

After the initial greeting, he asked me where to go. I felt a little ashamed, because I didn't have a plan where to go. At that time we couldn't go to our apartmentm, because the owner wanted to clean the room first. We had like four hours to kill. So I decided to leave the airport first. We took a bus to the nearby high speed train station. There were some shops and cafés. We went in one and stayed there for a while. He always held my hand. His hand is nice to hold and it's also bigger than mine. And so we stayed at a café for few hours. We talked, drank coffee, ate some food... I felt I was really with my boyfriend, the feeling was so dreamy and wonderful.

I thought: This man came for me in from another continent so far away from here, he kept his words and our story started with a whole new chapter. I felt so appriciated and thankful.

Time passed quickly and we left the café after 3pm. When we arrived at our apartment and could finally put all our luggage down, we both felt so relaxed. He liked the room I rented for us. The flat is located at one of the very typical Taiwanese areas in Taipei County and he is the only one foreigner there.

After we had some time to rest, he said he doesn't want to sleep, he wanted to go out and walk around. I decided to take him to Ximending. I was a bit unfortunate that Taipei was rainy and cold all that day, but we fearless and went exploring the place anyway. We couldn't walk to many places, but we still tried some yummy foods like a Korean spicy fried rice cake, Indian chapati and a famous Taiwanese rice noodle. I was glad he liked all the food. We are both alike when it comes to food: We can eat a lot of different food.

But after we were full and a bit tired, plus the weather was not good, we decided to return back to the flat and soon after our first and unforgettable day has finished.

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE:

I have no idea when my day really started, because I haven't slept all night on Sunday, because Monday was my departure day. I was so nervous and afraid of oversleeping. The hours passed fast and at 6am I grabbed my three bags and mom drove me to the near by train station. I didn't want to have a big teary goodbye, it was brief and painless. Soon after my train to Vienna arrived. I was a bit tired and had mixed feelings. I tried to suppress my emotions, but after the train started to move and I sat in that booth all by myself in the dark, I have shed a tear or two... Leaving behind my family, my home, my safe environment, my part-time job, even my cat, was not easy. I have no idea, if I will succeed here the way I hope and stay here longer (at least a year), but when I left my home, I left it determined that I will. I want to be ready for that, not for the case that it might be another few months long experience.

Lucky for me, everything went fine. I caught all the trains. The whole procedure at the airport was smooth, from immigration to boarding, we were on time and the EVA Air staff was very friendly. I got a window seat and a nice Austrian fifty-something lady sat next to me. She thought I was Austrian to and spoke to me in German. Since I'm fluent, I replied to her normally. When she asked me, where I was from, I replied I'm not Austrian, but Slovenian. How could she know, we Europeans all look same :-P Anyway, I was happy to have her seated beside me, we talked a lot and it made my flight less boring. I only slept for few hours, most of the time I watched movies. I saw like 5 of them. We had a stopover in Bangkok and when we descended, I couldn't believe how beautiful Thailand is from above. I took out my cell phone and wanted to take some pictures. And then I realized that the battery is out. I was so pissed. That happened, because I listened to music on the train to Vienna. Ah, what could I do. It was what it was. We stayed at Bangkok international for almost 2 hours and then finally off to Taipei. Since I was very tired, I didn't think much, be it about the place I left behind or the place I am about to reach. I just couldn't wait to finally touch the ground and stretch my legs and of course to hold the girl of my dreams in my arms.

It was about 11 am, when we reached in Taipei. It looked rainy and cold from the outside. I followed the procedure and everything went fine. Only my baggage took some longer time, I was worried about her waiting for me too long. Some 30 min later I finally come out to the arrival hall, it was quite big and many people waited for their dear ones. I hoped that she will notice me, one of the few white men who came to Taipei that day. I kept turning my head left and right and I couldn't spot her. Where is she? I try to switch on my Nokia to call her, but fail. The battery only lasted like 10 seconds. I was a bit angry at myself, because I didn't know where she is and when she'll come. Our plan was for me to call her upon my arrival, but I overused my battery (facepalm). Well, I couldn't do anything, I had to wait and hope she'll appear from somewhere. Some 15min later I became worried. I stood near the info point and decided to share my situation with the lady who works there. She helped me by announcing her name in Chinese and asking her to come to the info point. I waited again. Nothing. So I took out my SIM card and asked the lady, if she could put it in her phone and allow me to SMS or call her. She was kind enough to help me. She even called her herself and told her that a foreigner is waiting for her at the airport. I was finally told that she's on the train to the airport and that she'll be here in 15min. I was so relieved. I thanked the lady, took my bags to the entrance she's supposed to appear and waited.

She came on time and suddenly appeared behind my back. I turned in the last moment and spotted her. She was smiling and repeatedly said sorry for coming late. I asked, what happened and she replied: I overslept! Haha.. I thought you are so cute. I hugged her and took her hand. She decided that it's best to take the bus to the man train station, where we would find a café and have few drinks. We had to wait for the apartment to be cleaned up. We had few hours to wait. The café was cozy, we sat on a couch, sipped a coffee, talked, held our hands. She was shy at first, smiled a lot. I was the first one who gave her an unexpected small kiss on the cheek, but she only smiled. She returned the kiss a long while later, when I didn't expect and at that point we felt really close already.

What can I say? She looks beautiful in real, she's a mix of sexy and cute with a body that's nearly perfect! She wore black boots with stockings and a short skirt, a nice white sweater, with her hair falling on her back. She smiled a lot, was very charming. When I walked hand in hand with her, I suddenly forgot everything around me. I just felt: Wow. Is this real? This is real. That hot woman on your right is your girlfriend now. It was just amazing. I was tired and cold, the rain was annoying, but I only had eyes for her.

When we finally reached home, we had some time to relax and enjoy some sweet time together. And then I decided to see some of Taiwan. We went to Ximending, a popular place for young Taiwanese to hang out in bars and clubs. Unfortunately, it was very rainy, we could only take few photos and try some food and then quickly return back home. But it was fun, because it was our first date. I have to tell you, when you walk around with her, it's always fun. She has a professional camera and always snaps many photos. Unfortunately I was so tired that evening, my face looked puffed-up, my hair was messy. I'm actually glad that we didn't take more photos. It's still raining in Taipei for the third day. I think there will be many sunny days to make some awesome pics and I can't wait to go around the city and take pictures with her.

The first day was long, exciting, with some surprises, but with a happy end. We had a wonderful day and a wonderful night. The fairy tale has just begun. Let's hope it continues the same way.

[Related: Bye Bye Maribor][Photo by MKL, 2010]

Bye bye Maribor, Slovenia, Europe...

This will be my last post before Taiwan. Now I really need time to prepare everything for my upcoming trip and to say bye to my family and friends. I will be less online in the next days and in case you don't hear from me, please assume that I'm fine. Either I'm in the air or already walking around Taipei with my girl. Most of you will be able to track everything on Twitter and Facebook. Anyway, for my last post, I decided to do something special. I asked my girl to write about how she imagines our first meeting and what she expects and fears the most and I will write about the same topic below her part. Most of you know, that we've found each other online and chatted for many months, but we've never met in real. And after I'm safe and sound in Taiwan, we will write another post and tell you what really happened :-) I assume you won't get something like that to read any time soon, so I hope you enjoy these two posts.

EXPECTATIONS, by her:

I was asked to write about what are my expectations for the first meeting at the airport? Well, that's a good question. I don't have a lot of experience of welcoming friends at our main airport, and I only went there twice. So when I thought about it, this came to my mind:

- How to take buses there?

- Where will be the meeting point?

- What should I wear?

- Should I give him a hug first and then kisses on his cheeks like Westerners always do in the movies?

Hard questions.

I have to say, I didn't have any Western friends before I got to know him. When it came to foreign friends, I only had some from Japan and China, but I didn't need to pick up any of them at the airport. Most of the times, when I met them, was in a group along with several other friends and someone else would welcome them at the airport and bring them to a restaurant, where held a welcome party for them. But this time I have to do it all by myself. And since I'm so unexperienced, my expectations are very basic:

- I hope I don't get lost at the airport and that everything goes smoothly.

- I would like to wear long boots, a short skirt, with perfect make up and hair. I'll try my best to look hot. But I wonder, if the high heels would make me walk like a duck and I also hope that my new boots won't give me blisters.

- I'm still thinking about how to welcome him: I should give him a hug first, right? Then kisses? Friendly kisses on the cheeks or a short one on the lips? If the kiss is on the lips, ehm, that would be our first kiss (shy). OK, whatever will be, I hope I can do it well.

- My bags. I'm just not able to bring only few things anywhere I go. Even on a 2 days short trip I would bring big travel bags! Imagine me waiting for him and wearing high boots, a short skirt and with 2 bags? And he said he would only bring a backpack! I wonder who will welcome who at the airport? That would look like he's picking me up! So I hope I manage to bring fewer things with me this time.

In just few days I will meet him in real! Some of my friends ask me: "You must feel excited! Are you nervous?" I reply: "Yes! Of course." But I don't feel nervous because of him, I'm nervous, because it's my first such experience.

I'm already nervous now.

EXPECTATIONS, by me:

I must say, unlike her, I've done something like that before. Most of you know, that my ex was from Malaysia and so I was in this kind of situation few years ago. The only difference is, that I am a bit older and more experienced in travelling and meeting people, especially around some parts in Asia. It's true, I've never been to Taiwan, so the first fear that comes to my mind is the unfamiliar airport. But from the information I have, it's very modern and visitor friendly and I guess, it can't be that different from Singapore and Hong Kong. All I need to do is pass the immigration, find my luggage and spot her among all the people who wait for their sweethearts at the arrival hall. I told her, she better spot me, because while there will most likely be only few young blonde men, I'm expecting a lot young Taiwanese girls waiting for someone. And I guess I will be the one, who swings his head like a mad rooster all over the place, hehe. Maybe I should just keep my calm, walk slowly and let her find me? I shall see. Maybe I will pass by her and she'll jump on me from behind? Or maybe cover my eyes with her hands and ask: "Guess who?!" Haha.. No idea. I guess I need to pay close attention and start spotting cute girls right on [a skill I've mastered to near perfection by now, hehe]. Anyway, I think we will be fine. I will hug her when I see her, but I'm not planning beyond that, what happens happens. The more plans you have, the more likely they fail [oh, yeah, I've been there...]. I don't really worry about our first meeting, we're so close already, we'll be fine. My real worries are that I won't miss a train or the plane, that everything goes smoothly at the two immigrations and that my luggage won't be lost. I hope there's no delays, no bad food [ok, how could that be, EVA Air is Taiwanese!]. Anyway, my flight will be nearly 15h long and I really wonder, how I will be able to take that. I flew the longest from Paris to Singapore, it took me 13h and it seemed endless! And now even longer? Wow. I just hope I will be able to sleep a little, best would be 8h, but if I manage to sleep for 6, I will be happy already. It's funny, I can sleep like 10h straight in my own cozy bed, but I always have a hard time sleeping on airplanes. Of course coach is not same as my bed, but well. I still see most people dozing off easily and I'm one of the few who keeps turning their head around wondering how can everyone sleep but me. Ah, whatever.

To be honest, I have real fears, but those go beyond the flight and first meeting. Will I be able to get a job? Will I find one fast? Will I be able to perform well? It's a totally new life I'm about to start and so many things are unknown. If I was the old me, I might freak out, but the new me tries to be optimistic. I say to myself: "At least I'm trying. My worst case scenario is coming back from Asia in 2 or 3 months, because I haven't gained ground there. But even in that case I will have one of the most awesome times of my life." So there's will be no regrets. We'll see what happens. I hope I can be as bold as the tiger :-)

Au revoir!

[Related: Hello Taiwan!][Photo by MKL, 2010]

How do Malaysians anticipate Chinese new year?

And what could you do while waiting for that reunion dinner

1 You could sing Chinese new year songs


2 You could play football with a lovely Chinese girl


3 You could ask Malaysians about the meaning of life


4 You could make Chinese new year cards

But be careful, if you have a dog, he may not be amused,
if you spend too much time with your cat:
.
.
.
.
.


Happy Chinese new year,
my lovely Chinese friends from all over the globe!

新年快乐! 恭喜发财!

Ok, the pics above were obviously meant as a joke. Do you really want to know how Malaysian Chinese celebrate new year? If yes, then please check the photos I made last year:

✰ Photos of my Chinese new year in Malaysia, 2009 ✰

*How will you celebrate Chinese new year this year?

>>Bonus<<

[Sources: Video via Vampie][Pic 1: Xiao Wei, Pic 2: Funky Downtown, Pic 3: Funny Free, Pic 4: by Lily]

My resolutions for 2010

Or the things I hope to accomplish in 2010.

Time flies! Wow! I can't believe how fast it goes. Do you also have that weird feeling where you're not really used to the new year? 2010. I can't relate to this number yet. Maybe because 2009 was so eventful and full of changes. And 2010 so far is just boring, cold and full of snow. And that's how I feel these days: Bored, empty, have no particular ideas what to do or what to say [or blog...].

And so I played around with Photoshop in my previous post and asked all of you, how you would interpret that image. Guess what, I had no idea what I was trying to say. I was so random. But I must say you guys were very creative and really inspired me with your interpretations. I liked the one from Adamantixx the most, when he said: Your blog began in a small and quiet way, the ? signifying your beginnings and each new stage sees you getting bigger, bolder and better! I do think that's part of blogging, beginning, growth and improvement! Yay! But if [*huge stress on if] my creation is art, then of course, it can have many interpretations, so all of you are right in your own way and get a big thank you from me. You guys are awesome [*also because such a random post generated comments, hehe].

But one of you seems to know me most. That's my friend Shirley. She totally nailed it, when she said: What I really really see, is a very bored Nino :P or a crazy one. not sure! It's amazing how well your readers can know you :-)

Ok, enough about that. I actually wanted to write my resolutions for 2010, since everyone's doing it. My friend Manju inspired me with her lovely post [here] and since I don't have any ideas, I decided to write about my hopes, dreams and plans for this year. Most of these things will happen, some may not, but that's ok. As many of you may know by now, I've met a wonderful girl last year and we've been chatting and getting to know each other for many months and eventually we fell in love. I plan to meet her next month [*romantic, huh?] in Taiwan, her homecountry, work there and be with her. So it's no surprise, that all my resolutions are related to her and that wonderful Asian country. Here's what I want to do this year:

✰ Fly to Taiwan, stay and work there the whole year.

✰ Do a good job and have a good and interesting life in Taipei.

✰ Have great new relationship with many happy moments.

✰ Make new friends and be accepted by my dear's parents.

✰ Travel across Taiwan, explore many parts of the country.

✰ Spend my 30th birthday on top of Taipei 101.

✰ Buy my own set of mahjong and find people to play with.

✰ Save money every month, even if just a little.

✰ Make my blog grow, keep current readers and attract new ones.

✰ Do a Vlog in Mandarin and also have more Taiwanese followers.

✰ Learn enough Mandarin to be able to have normal conversations.

✰ Try new food in Taiwan [stuff I never tried] and blog about it.

✰ Have a short trip to Tokyo [but that's probably gonna happen in 2011]

✰ One day watch movies all night and eat yummy food with my girl.

✰ Learn from past mistakes and be strong when facing criticism.

✰ Be able to say it was one of the best years of my life on Dec 31.

Wow, will I really be living in this awesome city?

How do you like my resolutions? :-)

[Photo: Source]

A year in review: My blog year 2009

Watch out, I'm rambling, it's long ;)

1 My beginnings

I think, since 2009 is nearly over, many bloggers will write their year in review. And so will I here. Well, where to start. I've tried blogging in October 2006, but lost interest after a month and deleted the blog. Then came March 2008 and I decided to start blogging again. I don't know, whether that was a blessing or a curse to you, my followers, but I must say I do enjoy blogging ever since and you, the readers are a big part of that. In 2008, my blog was more of a diary and I didn't update a lot and also didn't have any readers. But it was still fun to add my 2 cents on various issues. Then came this year: I returned from Malaysia in February and started to blog more passionately, updating a lot and commenting on other blogs. At that time my blog's name was Nino's World. I was heart-broken and blogging was a kind of remedy for me, even if only temporarily, it did help me make it through the hard times. I got few followers and blogging seemed pretty much fun. Until there was an 'incident', where I was dragged in and suddenly haters were directed to my blog, bashing me in the comments. I did not seek trouble, but trouble found me. I guess this sums it up the best.

2 A new bloggining

It stressed me out so much, that I deleted my old blog and started a new one naming it My Kafkaesque life. I imported all the old posts, but the URL was new, the design was new and at least in the beginning, I was more anonymous, but I'm less so today. I left all the drama behind and I found back to my old self. Because I used to be bitter at times, I was negative and moody. Blogging wasn't really fun in July. But it all changed end of August. I stopped following people, who didn't do me any good and I found new ones, who made me feel like I was reborn - and of course the biggest part of this happiness belongs to my sweetie. So I can say I'm happy since end of August and I'm trying to take things as easy as I can now.

3 About following

Those who I follow, probably know, that I'm a very supportive and loyal follower, but I also stopped following people, who didn't give back enough in return or who tended to be too negative sometimes. It doesn't mean I don't like them or that I completely stopped reading their blogs. It's very rare, that I delete a blog from my Google reader. I love reading blogs. But now that I have so much more followers, I do take care of them first. My time is limited, I can only give back so much. And I think everyone does that: The blogosphere is huge, new people come and go, but some stick around. And those who do, you need to cherish them, because they make blogging so much more fun. I really treasure you girls and guys, a big fat thank you!

4 About followers

But there's also people who followed me for a while and then stopped. I thank you, too. I have no idea, why some stopped following me, but I guess the reasons are similar to the ones I have, when I stop following other bloggers: They bore me, I don't agree with what they write or how they comment. That's all legitimate and ok. That's a solid part of blogging and I'm not mad at anyone, who stopped following me. I don't try to be interesting to everyone and I don't take blogging as a popularity contest and I know some won't like me or just misunderstand me. That's just very common here. But I do have to say, that some who stopped following me, did surprise me and I was disappointed for a while. But new ones started following and I got used to that constant changing. Then again, blogging is not everything in my life. Lately I don't write so much about my private life [I merely hint], although a lot of interesting things are happening. On the other hand, my blog's motto is scribbling about everything and judging by the poll [previous post], most of you like my blog this way. So I always have something to blog about and I don't need to write a diary :-)

5 Fun facts about 2009

1 Infamous Chinabounder commented on my blog: See here.
2 Singaporean celebrity blogger Dawn Yang commented: See here.
3 My most popular post was 7 Things about me you didn't know: See here.
4 Most interesting comments were on Asian Women/Western men: See here.
5 Most hits from Google got my post about Elly Tran Ha: See here.
6 Most controversial post: About Dawn Yang [I deleted hate comments]: See here.
7 My personal favorite post is How should a man be in 2009: See here.
8 Old posts I'd recommend to read again [click on the links]:

- Brad Pitt lecturer in Seoul and Tokyo [this was supposed to be funny, I made it up!]
- No urinating in common areas in Hong Kong [interesting stuff from my trip]
- Get a brain, morans [Banners, where the English is misspelled, mostly by Americans]
- Chinese girl at the temple [A sexy girl I saw near a temple in Malaysia]
- Did Susan Boyle freak out? [I annoyed my friends on twitter with this #fail]

6 In conclusion

It was an interesting blog year, with many ups and downs. I was misunderstood and complimented many times, people followed and stopped following. I wrote brilliant stuff and I wrote rubbish, I wrote great comments and I wrote comments I am ashamed of now. I was involved in controversies and nontroversies and I apologized more than once [and I would still do so, if I know that I did something wrong]. Well, that's life and that's how blogging is ;-) Let us not forget, that all of us are human and we can make a mistake or two now and then, it just shouldn't become the norm. However it was: It was exciting! :-) And I hope that 2010 will be an equally exciting blog year for all of us. There are a lot of changes coming up in my life - in few months I will be blogging from Asia. Hope you guys will like it :-)

And now I'm tagging everyone to do the same post like I did: Sum up your blog year like I did here and you can be sure I will be eager to read about your experiences and also I hope you highlight your popular posts and old posts worthy to read again.

Thanks and good luck! :-)

Your MKL

Slovenian football fairy tale continues!

.................Slovenia - Russia 1:0.................

Tonight was an awesome night. My country Slovenia played against Russia to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. All the pundits clearly favored Russia, who has an excellent national football team full of renowned stars. We were clearly the underdog, but we knew we have a big heart and a strong desire. And yes... and yes... we won! We qualified! Woohoo!

See the photos below (and go over them with the mouse):

Comparing to Russia, we're a dwarf.

The game took place in my hometown, Maribor.

Many Russian fans came to see the game.

Even the Russian president paid Slovenia a visit.

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich flew in with a private jet.

At this point the Russian president was still happy.

The game was great. We played better and we definitely deserved to win.

Last 10min were nerve-racking, I couldn't watch... But at last, we won!

A dream came true! We're going to Africa! An unforgettable night!

Those who follow the Worldcup qualifications know how I feel now :-) I'm not really a proud person when it comes to national pride, but this truly is a big accomplishment for our national team and I can say I feel a bit patriotic tonight. I will sleep with a big smile on my face.

Links: [RTV, 24Ur, DELO][Can Slovenia Win the World Cup? article]

Friday the 13th thoughts

Hola peeps!* How was your week? Mine was quite busy. So many birthdays, so much happening, on- and offline. My mum had birthday few days ago! Yay! My crush had birthday few days ago! Yay! My sister and two friends will have birthdays in few days. And guess what? Today is my ex girlfriend's birthday. Yes, the one with whom I broke up this May.

So it's 6 people I know having birthdays within one week [666 The number of the beast? <- that was so random].

Maybe Friday the 13th is affecting me, but even if it wasn't this infamous day, you can imagine I had a lot on my mind lately. Especially yesterday, I was moody and had a headache, was nervous... and that continued until late night, because I had a hard time falling asleep. There were also some developments behind the scene that made me nervous yesterday, but I can't blog about it. I suspected a certain someone [who I definitely don't wish to check on me] found their way on my Twitter and Blog. Thanks to Feedjit (right sidebar below) I could confirm it was that person. I hope it was just by coincidence. But if it becomes regular spying, I'll just have to be careful about sharing my private life here. I'm already restricting myself and write a lot about non-private matters.

Speaking of which, I have a lot of buzz on my blog lately. And it's not because of some great posts I wrote, like this one, but it's because I wrote about two curvaceous Asian beauties Elly Tran Ha and Yao Yao. Google brings so many people on my blog, who search for these two women, but what do I gain from this? More hits! But I don't have any ads, so I don't really care... Although if I think right, people find the information they seek. So I guess I make some people happy after all. Making others happy is my pleasure :)

I hope this weekend will be laid back and relaxing. I'm sick of drama, headaches and confusion. I need to find my way back to my old happy self. So, how was your week?

*stilettoesque

[Photo: Source]

I was there, when...

Here's another awesome list for you. I was watching TV and they showed some events from the past years. And that reminded me, that I am residing in this world for nearly 3 decades and a lot of things happened during this time. So I wanted to make a list of 8 world events, that happened in my life time and affected me somehow, can be literally or just emotionally. Here they are:

1. Slovenian independence (1990/91): My small country Slovenia was part of a big multi ethnic country Yugoslavia, but 1990 we voted for independence and majority was for an independent state. I was too young to vote, though. In June 1991 we became independent and a 10 days long war started. I remember hiding in the basement of our block, while tanks rolled through my hometown. That was a scary moment, but lucky me, the war was over very fast and I didn't see any shooting or killing... Pheew...
2. Guns 'N' Roses (1992): I remember that at age 12, suddenly all my class mates defined themselves by the music they listened to. You could choose among rock, metal, punk, grunge and rave or techno. I was pretty late in that regard, but one day a friend borrowed me a cassette of an Guns 'N' Roses album and I copied it and listened to it every day until I knew the songs by heart. Yea, that's how we did it. I really liked their songs and then I was one of the rockers. And in my heart, I'm still a rocker, although I don't classify myself anymore, I like all kinds of music, even pop, yes, even Asian pop. But at that time the music you liked defined you. It was serious business, hehe.
3. Total eclipse of the sun (1999): I remember, it was August, I was home alone and I went out and saw how the sun got slowly covered by the moon and how the degrees dropped. Wow, it was definitely a goose bumps moment and I'm so glad that I've experienced this in real. Kinda made me feel how small and insignificant we are compared to the planets, stars and the whole universe.
4. Millennium (2000): I remember, how hopeful and anxious people were in 1999 anticipating the year 2000. We all thought it will be a new Millennium, although it actually started in 2001, but nobody really cared. That 2000 was really a magic number for all of us. We felt like we'll suddenly be in the future, that everything will be so advanced... well, nothing really happened. I remember, how some people were afraid that the whole internet might crash, haha... That was funny :P
5. 11th September (2001): That was really scary! I was 21, at home watching CNN, like I always did. It was 1pm here when it happened, suddenly the changed to breaking news and talked about an accidental plane crash. I remember how confused everybody was (including me). When that second plane crashed, it became creepy. What's going on? What's happening? Someone attacked America? Will there be war? I was seriously nervous. Then the twin towers collapsed and my heart was pounding like crazy. I was sooo pro America soon after that, we all were... then Bush screwed up... -_-
6. Tsunami (2004): Ok, that was equally scary like 9/11. It happened just 1 month before I planned to fly to Singapore (and Asia) for the first time, in the region, so to speak. The images of the casualties and all the destruction, especially in Banda Ace, were excruciating. Another moment, where mankind saw how fickle nature can be and how powerless we really are on this planet.
7. Barack Obama's historic win (2008): I followed US elections almost a year, I was for Obama since he started his campaign in 2007, I always watched his stump speeches, followed the campaign, the ups and downs up to the election day, where I stayed up until 6am to listen to his victory speech, which really really gave me goose bumps and I probably teared up a little. It's a moment where one just had to be alive and hear that speech live (even if on TV). And I'm not disappointed with what he has done so far, I mean, look at his plate and look what Bush has left behind.
8. Death of Michael Jackson and Twitter (2009): Ok, his death didn't really had such a big effect on my life, but it was definitely a shocker. I will always remember the day it happened, because 25 June is our independence day. It's also the first time that something major happened and I found out about it on Twitter's trending topics. It was quite an emotional day for the whole world. I had the feeling we were a bit united for a short while by looking at his fans from all over the world how they loved him and his music. And it was the time, where I realized that Twitter has become such a powerful news source. It definitely changed internet and affected my life a bit this year.

Ok, this is my list and it's gotten quite long :) I dare you to make your own list or just comment here in my comment section and tell me which events in your life time had the biggest effect on you or your life.

[Photo: Source]

Obama won the Nobel peace prize!

This was just wow! Barack Obama won the Nobel peace prize 2009! I happened to watch it live on TV, when they announced it and I pride myself as being the first who broke the news on Twitter (I'm so FOM, I know, hehe). Anyway, the initial reactions on Twitter were funny, like: "What did he do???" Duh! Imagine Sarah Palin near the Oval office? Ok, joking aside, let's see some tweets:

• PepeEdwardson WTH! US President Obama received Nobel Peace Prize???? No year in oval office and....? Whtas Wrong Sweden!?

• Syler_mi4 #Obama is first US President to win a nobel prize while still in office. not to mention that he hasnt completed a year in office.

• Karmapriya U.S. President Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy.

• karr1 Why O Why did we give #Obama a #Nobel price? He hasn't done anything special yet, has he?

• kimbabim Obama just won the Nobel peace prize? Wow. Crazy. Didn't expect that at all. Isn't that a little early? #obama #nobelprize

• mainewolfie CNN Breaking news - President Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. FOR DOING WHAT??

My point of view: First of all, who cares why? Seriously. It's not Obama's "fault" to get this award. If you have complaints, send them via Oslo. If I was American, I would be proud. I mean, it won't hurt your country, will it? It can only make your image abroad better. You were pretty much hated by all over the world during Bush's 2 terms. Plus this award may be like a reminder for Obama to keep his promises and end wars and don't start new wars and to engage in peace efforts in Israel, Darfur and elsewhere in the world. It's a good signal. But I can imagine the rightwingers freaking out and finding new ways to mock Obama.

Anyway, congratulations mr. President and congratulations USA.

Madonna showed us the finger!

Madonna decided to cancel her concert in Slovenia

Madonna was supposed to have a concert in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on the 20th August. Guess what? She could not sell out the place! Out of 15.000 tickets, only 7000 were sold to date. So she announced yesterday, that the gig was canceled due to "unexpected logistical problems." Hahaha. What a lame excuse. They even made jokes on German TV about her, that she's too old to attract Slovenians to come on her concert. There's some truth in it. And I have to add something to our defence: When our best band Siddharta plays an open air concert, it's always sold out. Few years ago, they had 30.000 people on a gig, a record number so far for Slovenia (we're a small country of only 2 million people). We're just very picky when it comes to music. And we don't fall for those old stars now coming to our country, but when they were younger and at their peak of popularity, they didn't care about us. There are many jokes about this cancellation circulating here and most of the people are happy that she won't perform. We're weird. I guess some other nations would go nuts, if she had a concert there.

What do you think? Would you go on a Madonna concert now?

[Photo: Source]

Laura and Euna are free!

Ok, I need to let it out! I've been blogging about this case ever since it started few months ago. I was really so touched by this few months ago, that I felt I need to write something. These two lovely Asian American women, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, two journalists, who were snatched by the North Korean border and sentenced to 12 years of gulag, are finally free! Thank you, president Clinton and whoever was behind this, probably vice president Gore and president Obama and many others. I hope this is a start of better relations between Norh Korea and USA and that the tensions ease a little. Not only because I want to go to Korea next year, it's because the whole world gains from peace. I hope things really improve. I can't wait to hear the first words from Laura and Euna about their ordeal and their stay in Pyongyang. I want to see how they reunite with their families and I want to hear what is their take on the North Korea-USA relations. It is truly a happy day. And on top of it, it's president Obama's birthday. I'm sure the women will feel like they are born again. It's just unbelievable. Let's hope they reach safely in USA.

[Photo: Source]

Kidnapping and murder near my house!

It was a sad sad day today. Willy was kidnapped and murdered. The suspect is unknown, but according to my investigation, he is a tom-cat between 2-10 years, sneaky, fast and merciless. He must have surprised our cat Pacha, while she was not paying attention to her newborn: Willy. [See photos below]

My sister managed to snap few pics of Willy today. Let me tell Willy's life story. Willy was 2 days old. All of his life he spent in a box. He was a single child. Because we gave his mum, Pacha, hormonal pills that prevent pregnancy, she probably lost the ability to get 4 or 5 kittens like usually. That's why she only had one kid: Willy. We wanted a cat few months ago, so mum skipped the pills for her. Soon a lot of tom-cats from neighbouring houses started to come and made her pregnant within a week. 3 months later Willy was born. That was on this Monday. We were so happy, because we wanted a male cat and Willy was male. And he looked so cool. The fur was unique: Dark brown on top, then striped on the belly with the color changing to light grey. I imagined how I will raise Willy, play with him, spoil him and cuddle with him... I love cats. We have two females, so another male would be perfect. Willy seemed perfect. But...
...kidnapping and murder occured near my house! Tonight! It started with gusty winds, then lightning and heavy rain. Suddenly I heard a scream through that heavy rain noise. I asked my mum what it was. I checked outside, it was the cats. OMG! First I thought it's our two cats fighting, but that seemed very odd. I had to check. I took a torchlight and went out. It was scary, because it was lightning near by and just a week ago a lightning struck near my house and shut my internet down for 1 week. I was brave. I was bold. I was stupid. But I had to check.
The crime scene was following: Pacha in distress and confused, Misha came around the corner in a sneaky pose. I shone some light in the box where Willy used to lay: It was empty! OMG, Willy is gone! I told my mum and sister. We went to check around the box and around the house. Willy was gone. I went further to the main road: No sign of Willy! When I came back, we started to blame each other about whose fault was it that Willy was gone. Our argument was pointless. Willy was gone and so were our hopes and dreams we put in the little guy. I told my mum that there is no real safety for a young cat here. Our cats are outside at night, danger is present all the time. I really don't know how Pacha couldn't secure and protect Willy. That sneaky little bastard who took Willy, I hope he's happy now. Mum said that tom-cats sometimes kill the babies so that the female would mate again. Well, you made a bad move, buddy. I think mum will put pacha back on the pills and you won't be able to empty your bean can in her bowl. And if I spot you sneaking around our house tomorrow, you can bet I will chase you like there is no tomorrow. You killed Willy! You escaped today, but there's always a tomorrow. I'll getcha, you betcha!

R.I.P. Willy. We didn't have enough time to become close, but you grew on me, Willy. I dedicated a whole post to you. Who does that, Willy? Who does that for a cat who was only 2 days old? I do. I do because I am a good person. And you will always and forever be rememebered, Willy! [Unless Blogger goes into bankrupcy and it's taken down.]

A new bloginning

This is a new beginning for me as a blogger. I changed my blog title, my blogger name and the blog URL. I wanted to change my blog skin for a while now. I tweaked here and there on my old one, but I was never really satisfied.
I left my old blog behind, but only the platform. All my previous posts were imported here, so it's basically a new design with old content and a new direction. Sooner or later one has to improve and mature and now is the right time to do that. I was drawn in a conflict I did not really want. I have expected something to backfire, but not in a way it did. It was way beyond appropriate and acceptable and that was my point that I defended. Well, I felt like my old blog was being ransacked by an angry mob only to find something agaoinst me and to portray me in a negative light. I'm not afraid of that, but I am ready and I want to be one step ahead. For me the blog name is not important and the hits I got from that controversy are also not important. I do appreciate my followers, especially those who give me feedback. I will continue to work on my blog, because I love blogging. But I noticed that lately I was negatively influenced by other bloggers. I need to stop with that and return to my roots, when I wrote about things that really interested me, things that really mattered and still do. Quality must overtake quantity again. Sure, I'll still write about everything and some posts will be better, some will be worse, but I know one thing: I will stop caring about other bloggers. I was always like that and I fared pretty well, I never had any problems. Most important is to acknowledge one's mistakes and to find out the reason. I did so and I know I won't repeat my mistakes again. And it's sooooo refreshing to just get rid of so many creepy followers, who read my blog daily and never responed or the readers from my native country that I hoped won't read my blog, because I don't want them to read my blog. I know some will find me, I will get new weird followers, but now I am prepared well. I am one step ahead. I learned a lot in the recent weeks and especially days. Now I need to implement that.

Wish me good luck.

MKL

Michael Jackson dead! Unbelievable.

One of the best artists of all times, Michael Jackson, died! Unbelievable and shocking news. I was watching CNN, when I heard he's been sent to hospital. Then they announced he was in a coma. And suddenly I see on Twitter: Michael Jackson RIP on top of Trending Topics. I complained, because CNN said he's not dead. Then they announced it, too: King of pop is dead. Wow... Twitter was constantly over capacity, Wikipedia has problems. People flock in masses to that hospital in L.A. I mean, it all came so out of the blue! What a year. People die like it's Judgement day or something.
Well, he was King of pop! I've been very young, when Thriller came out, but throughout the eighties, they played it over and over. But I remember when Bad came out. I was 8 years old, but that Bad video was unbelievable. The way he danced and dressed up was so unique, you just couldn't be not impressed. And then the moonwalking. Tell me someone who did not try to moonwalk? He was just so unique, he could never be copied or surpassed by any other pop artist. Thriller will always remain the best selling album of all times, especially because people are buying albums less and less. My favourite Michael Jackson songs are: Billie Jean, Beat It, Bad, Smooth Criminal, We Are The World, Wanna Be Startin' Something, Man In The Mirror, Black Or White, Who Is It, Jam, Remember The Time, Say Say Say... OMG, it's like every of his 3 top albums (Thriller, Bad and Dangerous) is like all songs were hits! Sadly his downturn started after Dangerous. History was not bad, had many hits, but I felt it's just not as good as the stuff before. I really lost my words now... He was really such a great artist since his childhood. A genious. And all people can be proud of him, not only blacks, who are probably particularly proud.

Thank you, Michael Jackson, you will remain King of Pop forever.

Rest in peace.

[Photo: Source]