My 30th birthday in Diamond Tony's 101 Observatory Restaurant in Taipei

Dining exquisite food on top of Taipei 101 with a gorgeous lady

How to put such amazing experience into words? It's impossible. And I don't want to talk too much, let the photos do the talking. But I need to mention how it all started. I just turned 30. And few days ago, before my birthday, my wonderful girlfriend Lily told me, that she plans a big surprise on my birthday. I only knew, that we'll be going somewhere, but I had no clue where. I try to ask many times, but she won't tell or she'd make up something else to confuse me. Today she came to me around midday and we spent the afternoon together, anticipating the evening. She looked stunning, when I saw her. All dolled up in a wonderful dress and high-heels. She was always beautiful to me in so many ways, but today she topped all that and looked more gorgeous than ever.

We took the subway to Taipei City hall station around 5pm and walked around a little. I started to guess all kinds of silly things, like: Are we going to a night club? Will there be naked girls dancing for me? I became nervous. She just wouldn't tell, although I had a strong suspicion, that we'll go somewhere near Taipei 101. And then the clock turned 6 and she told me: We're going on top of Taipei 101, on the 85th floor. I was like: Wow! Amazing! And I started to look up on top of the building. It was a humbling moment. The photo above was taken around 6pm.

We went to the 85th floor of Taipei 101, which is located somewhere in the middle of the last 8th segment of the building (see arrow) very close to the roof. The height is around 370m, the highest I've ever been. The restaurant's name is Diamond Tony's 101 Observatory Restaurant, which serves Italian food. There are two more restaurants on top of Taipei 101: Another one also on the 85th floor, offers Taiwanese food and it's named Shin Yeh 101 欣葉. And above these two, occupying the whole 86th floor, is a Japanese restaurant named XEX. I'm perfectly happy with the restaurant Lily chose, because the food was the best I've ever eaten. More about that later.

How to come here: Go to the MRT Taipei City Hall station and walk south. You'll see Taipei 101 from afar easily, because it's so tall. You have to enter from the Xin Yi road.

Off to the elevators, the fastest in the world!

In the fastest ascending elevator in the world. It was a great experience.

We were taken to 65th floor, which took us about 30 seconds. Then we were directed to another elevator, that took us to the 85th floor, which took another 10 seconds. And then we were there, at the Diamond Tony's 101 Observatory Restaurant or 隨意鳥地方 101 高空觀景餐廳 in Chinese. Because the restaurant has to be booked, Lily's name was checked and then we were let inside.

The entrance of Diamond Tony's on top of Taipei 101.

The bar on 370m.

We were brought to our table for two, the one on the left was ours.

This was our neighboring table. If you get this one, you have a magnificent view.

This one is set for a group of people. Do you see the table setting? Perfect, isn't it?

The first thing we did was taking a look down. I felt like I'm on a plane.

The view of Taipei below was amazing! Don't you agree?

A view to the other side: The restaurant. It was full around 7pm, because of dinner time.

The waiters and waitresses were extremely polite and did a great job. We were given the menu soon after being seated and a glass of water was poured for us. We didn't wait long for the first starter.

1 First starter: Bread and tuna dip is served to every guest as the first starter

2 Second starter: Left is my salad with raw salmon, right is Lily's salad with beef: Delicious!

3 Soup: Left is my creamy mushroom soup, right is Lily's tomato soup (I think). Yummy!

4 Third starter: I thought this was the duck, the main dish I ordered, but it was chicken (I guess). It was very soft and tasty. I loved it.

Lily ordered a prawn with dumplings, that had a prawn inside. It tasted great.

5 Main dish: Finally, my duck. It was really soooooooo yummy, one of the best meals I've ever eaten. The duck was so soft, the sauce was great. And there was a piece of pork and a beef steak in contrast of the soft duck. The steak was raw inside, but yummy. Really an amazing dish.

Lily ordered prawn again. She regretted ordering it twice, but it was yummy nevertheless.

~.~

Then came my surprise: The waitress brought a chocolate muffin for my birthday and of course that was organized by Lily, who had a naughty smirk on her face, when she saw my surprise. She said I had three wishes free, but I should not reveal them. I quickly came up with three things I really wish would happen to me and to give you a hint: One is related to a woman, one is related to a country and another is related to... Can't tell ya! ;-)

I quickly noticed that an "h" is missing. Oh oh, what is that? Engrish on my birthday? Haha. Another reason, why Taiwan needs more English teachers, hehe :-P That was the only 'flaw' of the evening.

~.~

6 Dessert: Both had the same dessert and it was small, simple, but yummy.

On top of that, we also ordered coffee for me and tea for Lily, plus two glasses of excellent Chardonnay to say cheers to my 30th birthday. Food and drink wise it was the best dinner of my life. And of course the I enjoyed the best view and had the best and most beautiful lady by my side. It just couldn't be less than perfect. Sorry for the gourmets among you, I'm not so good with the names of the dishes, I just eat them, hehe.

After the last bite and sip, we took tons of photos like most of the visitors did. There was even a live band playing all kinds of music, from jazzy stuff to some modern hits like Lady Gaga's "Just Dance". It was funny, when I heard Gaga's song, because we have birthday on the same day. I was wondering, how she's celebrating. Does she have more fun than me? Who knows...

A short video to give you an idea of the ambiance in Diamond Tony's 101

The video is not of good quality, but it will give you a little idea of the restaurant.

There's really nothing to criticize in this restaurant. The waiting staff is polite and works fast and they all speak English. The food is top notch. A small inconvenience are the long dining, which make it hard for two people to talk. But maybe it was because of the music, I don't know. We still had a great time, the food was so delicious, we had no time to chit chat.

Some more photos for you to enjoy:

The great view from the window behind Lily's chair.

Lily taking photos. She used a saucer to bring the camera in a better position. Smart.

One of the best photos of Taipei at night.

Taipei, city of lights.

The table next to us. People enjoying themselves.

The live band with the delightful female singer.

The way to the toilet, that comes with a marvelous view. But I have no pics.

When leaving 101, we were greeted by a full moon.

All in all, it was really a great day, a day I will never forget. I celebrated my 30th birthday on top of the famous Taipei 101, former highest building of the world and current second. Guess what, it was also a first time for Lily to be on top of the building, although she's from Taipei (actually Yingge), but she had to wait all these years for me to finally make it on top of Taipei 101. That's why it was a special occasion for both of us. It was really a day both of us won't ever forget.

Thank you so much, Lily, for giving me the best experience of my life. You made it so special for me, I was really touched. And thank you for the card, for organizing everything and for the big surprise. And thanks for treating me. You're simply amazing and I love you.

[All pics by MKL, 2010][Related: Taipei 101 and my girlfriend's post]

[Price of the dinner for 2: Around 100€]

Lovers in Taipei

Thoughts about my upcoming journey

My days are passing fast lately and my departure to Taiwan is closer day by day. I'm not really nervous or so, but I do think a lot about Taipei and her, about how things will be there, how will I feel and how good I will blend in the new life style and environment. I think I will be fine, I'm actually very postive. But sometimes it feels like when you go swimming and you're afraid to jump into the pool, because you fear the water will be too cold. Of course in the end you jump in and the shock you feared before turns out to be very brief and harmless. Soon you're swimming around and enjoying it so much, you don't want to get out. I'm not sure, if this comparison makes any sense, but this waiting reminded me of that.

Besides waiting, there's really not much going on in my life currently. I mean, sure, I'm making plans, I'm taking care of some things, sending tons of CVs, gathering information... You can never plan too much, but then again, there's only so much I can do now. I need to be there and go to interviews personally. I mean, it only makes sense. They need to see and hear me in real and I have to make a good impression - in real. So I guess it takes a leap of faith to do something like that. Speaking of faith, at least I have a guardian angel there: my girl. She's really so caring and sweet, she's my pillar there, I know I can trust her and rely on her. That gives me hope and confidence.

Do you see the photo above? She sent me this one few days ago. It's two lovers in Taipei and it even looks like he's white like me (click to enlarge). It made me think: Wow. In few weeks I can be at the exactly same spot with my girl. That's just mind-blowing to me. Because every day, when I wake up, I see the snow covering the landscape, it's a long cold winter and so was my love life for a long time. I didn't hold a girl in my arms for exactly a year. It's about time: I need a girl in my arms, her lips on my lips and my eyes lost in her eyes. And that will happen soon. It's a big journey for me, it's a long way to Taipei. But guess what? It's worth it. You know, I'm someone who doesn't just say: "Girl, I'd fly half around the world just to be with you" and then not do it ;-) I do it. I'm doing it. I'm gonna jump in the pool very soon - because she's worth it.

I hate Whites who make fun of Asian eyes

I'm usually not someone who'd like to blow things out of proportion and make a big thing out of nothing, well, at least that's what I think. But I'm gonna use a seemingly insignificant incident to highlight a bigger issue.
Yesterday I've read that the popular American country singer Toby Keith made a silly gesture at a concert in Norway, pulling his eyes back (making his eyes almond-shaped) when hearing the lyircs "yellow" (which stands here for the yellow [East and South East Asian] race.
You can check the video here, the gesture is at 0.24. As usual in America, there will be a group, who will protest immediately, in this case it was Asian American Justice Center, who said:

"Toby Keith embarrassed himself and his country, denigrated the Noble Peace Prize and offended Asians and Asian Americans by using a crude, racist hand gesture." [source]

First I thought: Wow, what was that? Let me see! Then I checked the video and saw that half-second long gesture and thought: Give me a break, that's what all the fuss was about? I'm always very outspoken when it comes to racism (I hate racists!), but saying it was a crude, racist hand gesture goes too far in my opinion. In Keith's case, I certainly wouldn't go that far.

But there were other instances where I wasn't really amused. The photo on the left supposedly shows Joe Jonas from the Jonas Brothers and on the right is Miley Cyrus doing the same gesture a while ago. Not really cute in my opinion, but I would not call it racist either. [But I must add that Miley did apologize after that photo was leaked (bigger version below)]

And then there were many cases of this silly gesture just before the Beijing Olympics 2008, which caused quite a big uproar. The photos on top show the Spanish men's and women's basketball team [no 1, 2, 3] and the one below shows the Argentinian women's football team [no 4] trying to be funny by making their eyes look Asian. The last photo is a bigger version of Miley Cyrus and her friends again.

In my opinion: This is not cute and not funny anymore. I mean doing it as a group photo? Come on, it's just plain stupid. It's taunting and making fun of a certain physical attribute and I think the people on those photos look very immature and silly. What's the point of adults behaving like that? Who thinks that's funny? Well, I don't.

On a personal note: I remember, when I was in Singapore in 2005 and a group of Malay [adult] guys made jokes about my nose and laughing, asking me questions like: "How come you Caucasians all have big noses?" "I don't know, I'm born this way, that's how it is," I replied. I felt very uncomfortable. It's not my fault that I was born White and with a big nose and same goes for Asians being born with smaller eyes. It's not their fault either.

In conclusion: I'm not saying all these people are racist, maybe some are, but it's hard to tell based on the gesture, it won't expose them as racists necessarily. In my opinion, this just shows that they're ignorant and silly. I have no other explanation. I have many Asian friends and I'd never do something like that. I know that not every Asian will be offended by this, but some would. Most likely those who lived abroad and suffered real racism and discrimination. I'm sure they won't see this as innocent and cute. I think that, because of the history of racism [especially in Europe and USA], we should be careful how we joke about other races. I've no problem making jokes about my own race, laughing at my own expense. But making jokes about other races is a very fine line to walk, we need to be very careful. Playing with stereotypes is fun, but only to a certain extent.

Ok, this was my 2 cents on the complex issue, now share your views on these things:

• Can we make a difference between Keith's gesture and the others?
• Do you think these photos are innocent and cute or silly and disturbing?
• Have you ever been taunted, because of the physical attribute of your race?
• When is a ethinc joke or gesture funny and when is it inappropriate?

[Sources: Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3 and 6, Photo 4 and 5, Photo 7]

About chopsticks

I mentioned in one of my previous posts, that I collect chopsticks. Let me now introduce to you my chopsticks collection. These chopsticks were bought during my several travels to Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. But the collecting started, when a Japanese friend sent me one pair of chopsticks (hashi in Japanese) and the chopstick rest (hashioki) in a shape of a bunny. Check the pictures below:

1 Sent by my Japanese friend 2,3,4 Expensive ones bought in Penang 5,6 Bought in Hong Kong (came with the 2 ducks) 7 My fav to use, bought a set in Penang 8 Worst quality chopstics, made of plastic
9 Bought a set in Singapore near Sultan mosque 10 I got those at a hawker in Malaysia and kept them

I had my first real encounter with chopsticks when I first traveled to Singapore in 2005. I've been there twice that year and there was quite few occasions where I had to use them. I admit, I was clumsy and failed to grab a piece several times. Whenever someone saw my embarrassing attempts to pick up food, they immediately offered me a fork. But at that time, I was mostly spending time with Malays, so I didn't need to use chopsticks too often and I switched to fork gladly.
That changed in 2007, when I traveled to Penang (Malaysia) for the first time. At that time I dated my ex girlfriend, who was Chinese and I really wanted to learn how to use chopsticks. It took some time, but I eventually mastered it. Then, by being so proud of myself [*Ang moh know use chopstick meh?]. I got so fascinated by these eating utensils, that I started to collect them. And now I even use them at home in Europe, although not very often.
See the pic on the left? I just tried to see, if I'm still capable to hold them right, and guess what? I can! :-) [*So proud of myself again]. I have the feeling I will need this skill next year, when I plan to return to Asia.
Chopsticks are called 筷子[kuài​zi] in Chinese and there's something I've been told one should never do: Never stick them in a bowl of rice vertically, because it resembles incense sticks, that are used for praying! I either put them on top of the bowl or on the chopstick rest, if provided. The basic rule is: Use them to pick the food and eat. Don't make noise with them [*they're not drum sticks!], don't use them to pierce food and don't play with them. Then you should be fine. And if you wanna see how you hold them right, check the gif. image on the right. Can you hold them right?

Now tell me:

• Do you use chopsticks often or rarely?
• At what age did you learn to use them?
• Any funny story regarding chopsticks?

Links: [Wikipedia] Photos: [first 2 by MKL, gif image by Fantes Kitchen Ware Shop]

Love: Teenage dreams vs. adult expectations

A great thing about being an adult is that you become more stable when it comes to love and expectations. I'm now in my late twenties and these are the things that definitely changed since I was a teenager:

1 I won't be in love with someone and not tell them: I remember being a teen and having this 2 years long crush on a class mate. When I finally had the courage to profess my feelings to her, she rejected me. That was painful and threw me even further back. I had some other crushes after that, but I was too much of a chicken to let another girl know how I feel. That changed soon as I became a twen and met my first love. Now, being almost 30, I take the risk quickly. If I like someone, I hint first and if she's responsive, I tell her that I like her. If she also likes me - great. If not - also fine. No big tragedy. In my teen years: A big tragedy!

2 I'm more confident about myself and the way I look: I remember that as a teen I always felt ugly. Well, who hasn't felt that way as a teen, right? It's like the no 1 issue when you're a teen. Seems like as teens we were constantly insecure: One pimple appeared and the whole day was spoilt. One person was spreading a rumour or bitching about you behind your back and you wanted to kill yourself. Yep! Teen years were tough. I can proudly say that I am a happy vet: My wars with my insecurities are over. I do deem myself as somewhere in the middle, though. I'd not say I look like a male model from a Paris fashion show [*I may qualify for the Pasir Ris fashion show, though, hehe], but I wouldn't say I was ugly either. I feel I'm somewhere in between, but I learned to play my charms. I realized that the older you get, the looks become less and less important. Now I feel, if looks are your only asset and you have nothing else, it's just not enough [when I was a teen, it was!]. Now I think a person's character is what makes a person, really. I soooo admire beautiful women (as you may have noticed from my blog), but I always see more than what meets the mere eye. I always imagine that they are kind and polite, lovely, passionate, pure, funny and much more, depends on the photography, the setting and the mood. I like to project my own emotions in them, but I know that I may be wrong. But when it comes to art, there's no right or wrong.... right?

3 I have reasonable expectations for a long term relationship: I admitted many times - I'm a hopeless romantic. Nevertheless, I'm reasonable. I know that, if you want to be with someone long long time, the romantic feelings are not enough. I do enjoy the initial phase of being in love, but that only lasts few months, if you're lucky, maybe a year. But for 5, 10, 20 years or longer, you need to have something more than just a sexual attraction and irrational projections. I try to love the person for who they are, focusing on the character more than the looks. Of course, I can give tons of compliments to the girl I like by telling her she's cute, sexy, gorgeous. Because, frankly, that's how I see her [and the best is, if she has both]. But to seriously consider a woman as my lifetime partner, I focus more on her character. I would want to know stuff like: Are you adaptable and flexible? Are you kind? Are you deep and considerate? What are your interests, passions? Do you cherish family? What are your goals in life? Are you loving and loyal and do you keep your promises? Are you humble and appreciative? If her answers match my expectations, then I will definitely be willing to do a lot to be with her. I'm not expecting a perfect woman, far from that. But after my 3 previous serious relationships didn't work out, I'm just more careful and I guess I've matured. At least I hope so.

How about you? What are your expectations?
How did you change since your teen years?

[Links: Also check Shingo's post on the same topic][Photo modified by me: Source]

I am not a ghost man

I didn't colonialize the East, I didn't enslave the South, I didn't conquer the West.

I was born human. You say I was born white. I may look different than you, but I'm just like you. I don't see colors, I see people. And I'm friendly to anyone who's friendly to me.

It's not my fault that people who belonged to the same race as I commited so many crimes against humanity in the past. It's not my fault that people who belong to the same race as I think they're superior to other races. I won't be responisble for future crimes comitted by people who belong to the same race as I.

I am not an ambassador of my race abroad, nor am I an ambassador of my continent, my country, my hometown, my age group, my gender.

I am my own ambassador.

So how about instead of calling me khawaga, farang, barang, gwailo, angmoh, laowai, atoka, gaijin, kojangi, mat salleh, bule, puti... call me by my name?

[Photo taken in Penang, 2007]

I will fly again.

Like almost every night, I go outside infront of our house and look at the stars. It got colder lately, but I still stand there every night and look up. It's like a ritual before sleep. It's a marvellous display of tiny little dots and I'm always mesmerized by them. It reflects my mood. I'm dreamy. Reflective. Hopeful. I'm captivated by its sheer infinity and I feel so small - my problems, desires, fears and expectations seem so insignificant. Yet, they are there. They are real. That's who I am. And then I see a moving dot. It's an aeroplane. I close my eyes and picture myself being on one. I remember the time when I flew thru the night, everyone was sleeping and I watched over them. I felt at ease.

I miss flying. I miss knowing that I will depart and arrive. I miss the feeling of anticipating the person who waits for me. The fears, the excitement, the shyness, the smiles. I miss being the real me in another country, far far away. I know I will fly again. I feel it. Zewt once said that you need to run towards something and not run away from something. He was right. But it's not easy to do so, especially for those of us, who feel like they have two homes. I think I will always travel. If you think about it - everybody does. The difference is what distance. Some people leave a small trail in life, I feel I'm destined to leave a big one. I'm drawn to the Far East and I don't even know why. Maybe it's a gut feeling. Maybe it's my past life. I just can't explain it. But how many things in life can you really explain? Can you explain love?

Think about it.

[picture taken in Hong Kong, Jan 2009]

Verbal golden shower for phony bloggers

*Bloggers. We're all self-centred sometimes. We're all full of ourselves sometimes. We all write crap sometimes. We all criticize others sometimes...

...but the stress is on sometimes! Heck, if you do that all the time, how can you expect people will like you or that you won't attract haters? What's the point of blogging, if you're always the greatest and everybody else is wrong? Do you think people will like to read your verbal golden showers all the time?

As personal bloggers we are seldom objective, because we don't look for the actual truth, we write from our own perspectives, which are sometimes far from the actual reality. We don't strive to be fair and balanced, why would we? Sometimes we don't reveal everything, sometimes we make ourselves look stronger, smarter, funnier - sometimes we don't want to look vulnerable. That's all fine to me, if it's just sometimes. Everybody does it from time to time. But the personal bloggers I really like and admire (Andhari, Angel, Floreta, Jerine, Nashe, Rica, Sharon and Selvy), never take themselves too seriously. I've seen them vulnerable, I've seen them being sorry, I've seen them admitting their flaws and wrongs (read their TMI Thursdays), I've seen them laugh about themselves. They are never full of themselves!

And that's the kind of bloggers I truly like and appreciate. Because I, too, am as honest as I can be on this platform: I write about my highs and lows, my desires, depressions and happy moments. I can say sorry. I do learn from my mistakes. I'm aware of the things I say and I do evolve. And that's the most important thing. All good bloggers will say: OMG, look at my first posts, how silly they were. Yea, we start randomly, scribble down few emotions and post. But we evolve and mature thru time. And that's how it's supposed to be, if you want to call yourself an adult. Online and offline.

That's why I can't stand people who are always full of themselves - people who always portray themselves as the best and whatnot and everyone else, who disagrees with them (or who even dares to criticize them), will be slammed back. You can deem yourself a celeb, a smartass or a troublemaker, but you're a #loser for me! Don't you see how insecure you really are? By criticizing everything and everyone but yourself, you want to blind yourself from your own insecurities. It's always the outside world's fault and never yours. You think you do everything perfectly and you never understand why people are the way they are and why they react the way they do. However, you are the problem, not them.

How about you do a little reflecting on your own actions sometimes?
How about saying a little genuine sorry and admiting your mistakes
from time to time? It wouldn't kill ya, would it?
-----------------------------------------------------------
Heck, I don't care about this kind of bloggers/commentators anymore. I just don't follow them. Everyone can blog whatever they want, they can even write about me. I don't care. There will always be assholes online and offline. Best is to ignore them. Life's too short. Have you ever encountered bloggers like described here? What do you think about them?

*This is not about any of you, my bloggy friends and twiens. It was triggered by various posts I've recently read on some random blogs, but it's not directed to one person in particular. I hope it can be applicable to bloggers in general who behave the way it was described above. [Photo: Source]

My Murtaugh list

The faboulous Andhari asked me, if we could write a blog post with the same topic today. I asked her what would that be? And she said let's write our personal Murtaugh list. I was like: What is that? Well, to put it simply, it's a list of things that you would do when you were young, but now you're too old for them and you wouldn't do them anymore. If you want to find out the whole history of the Murtaugh list and about the name, check this blog. It's explained very well. To read Andhari's interesting Murtaugh list, go here. My dear sis Selvy made her Murtaugh list, too. Check it here and my new friend Wenny made her list here.

So here's my Murtaugh list:

01 I'm too old to watch the Smurfs on TV. [I was hooked on them when I was 12]

02 I'm too old to judge people by the music they listen to. [This is so teenager-ish]

03 I'm too old ask my mum to fetch me from a party. [Oh, that happened when I was a teen]

04 I'm too old to fall in love with someone based only on her looks. [Teeny crushes, right?]

05 I'm too old to get wasted every weekend. [When I was 18, that was my life!]

06 I'm too old to wear a nose piercing. [I had one at 18, I was quite something then :-P ]

07 I'm too old to forget brushing my teeth regularly. [At age 3 I totally didn't care :-P ]

08 I'm too old for one-night stands. [Wait, I never had any :-P ]

09 I'm too old to get upset about what someone blogs or comments about. [I've matured!]

10 I'm too old to get drunk after a break-up. [I miss the teen-years sometimes]

11 I'm too old to be mad at someone for a long time. [I forgive, but I may distant myself]

12 I'm too old to impersonate Michael Jackson moonwalking.

13 I'm too old to forget fixing my hair before I go to town.

14 I'm too old to ride a tricycle. [I drove one at age 4]

15 I'm too old to brag about the amount of ear butter in my ears. [Kids in the 80s]

16 I'm too old to chew gum and make baloons with it. [Kids in the 90s]

17 I'm too old for a tamagotchi. [I never had one anyway]

18 I'm too old to bedazzle my handphone. [And wrong gender ;-) ]

19 I'm too old to hide behind the corner and scare people (and laugh).

20 I'm too old to wear white tennis socks. [So early 90s].

21 I'm too old to laugh at racist or gay jokes. [As kids we thought it's funny...]

22 I'm too old to get fooled twice. [Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...]

23 I'm too old to like just one band and obsess about it. [Like some do with Jonas bros.]

24 I'm too old to believe in Santa. [Hey, I'm almost 30! ;-) ]

25 I'm too old drink whisky and pretend it tastes good. [At 18 I did, maybe now I'd like it..]

26 I'm too old to write another Murtaugh list.

------------------------------------------

So this is it. How do you like it? What would be on your Murtaugh list?

Twitter or Facebook?

If you had to chose between Twitter or Facebook, if you would only be allowed to use one of these sites, which one would you choose?

I'd delete my Facebook instantly! Seriously, what does Facebook want to be? They are shamelessly stealing things from Twitter. I read that they plan to implement something similar to Twitter's @reply, naming it Facebook mentions. When will this stop? When Facebook came out, it had a philosophy to connect people (like ex-schoolmates, ex-colleagues, lost relatives etc.). It was innovative and interesting. And what is it today? A "Twitter-monster" with games and tests and massive picture tagging that's going slightly out of hand. And with photo albums, which is some of their strenghts and something I like. Things like the Chat feature and the Like feature are just redundant in my opinion, because I can chat on MSN or Skype and the Like feature is shallow. It's like for those people who are lazy to write a comment. I admit, I sometimes click like randomly, because I am lazy, too. So what's the point of it?

As for Twitter, I wouldn't want to miss it. It does connect people so much better. It's simple, it's very open, it's like one big community of (mostly) awsome people. I really hope they don't screw up and add tons of useless features, but rather keep it simple. I'm afraid that they will start with ads sooner or later (I still don't know how they maintain the site without them), but I hope they won't be like the out-of-control (and ugly) Google ads. Twitter is so useful to bloggers, I met so many awsome people thru Twitter and I am tweeting like half a year tops, while I'm on Facebook since 2007. I know that after a while these websites lose their initial charm, because we (the users) change, too. We're always overly excited about something new and then after a while we either move to a new hot website or we just become periodical users. Nevertheless, I still think Twitter is so influential and has changed lives of so many people. Hopefully it has enriched their lives. It's really so simple, convenient and addictive.
You gotta love it ;-)

And besides, the world's oldest Twitter user, the 105 @IvyBean104 can't be wrong, right? Ok, I have to admit, she's also using Facebook... -_- I guess Twitter and Facebook are in a love-hate relationship or something similar...

UPDATE: I came accross this touching story about how some Twitter friends helped a girl in need. That shows how awsome 'tweeple' can be :-)

So..., Twitter or Facebook, what would you chose?

[Photo: Source]

About Facebook friends and their babies

*Disclaimer: I wrote this post in a cynical and sarcastic way, inspired by Seinfeld's nihilism and seasoned with my recent bitterness. Keep that in mind.

I recently added many old schoolmates on my Facebook. There were so many requesting to be my 'friend', I just couldn't continue ignoring them. So I created another account just for them. First of all, why do so many people I was never close with, want to follow my daily life, rummage thru my photos, be my 'friends'? Didn't they get the hunch by me virtually ignoring them in real life for almost a decade? I'm not gonna update anything on my second account but just upload photos from my travels and let them wonder. Yes, that's how I roll, hehe. I still have my old (main) account where I only add people who I feel comfortable with. And guess what, most of them are from all over the world. Yes, in this phase of my life, I only befriend like-minded people and not those who just happen to live in the same town like me. And some people from here, who happen to be my friends, don't use Facebook (weird). But thanks to the internet, I can have 2 identities and nobody can do anything about it. Yes, I am very selective.

Well, what actually made me write this post, was the fact that so many of my old schoolmates have babies and they post pics of them on Facebook. I mean, why would they do this? Why? First of all, I would never put a photo of my (future) baby online. I mean, what will these 'babies' say in 20 years? Do we have to document someone's life online since their birth? What happened to the old classic phot album? They are humans and not objects and since they're incapable to tell wheather they want to be exposed online or not, I would never put their photos online. Secondly, every baby looks the same. So what's the point to let others see a baby? Can't you just write 'I have a baby, it's healthy and it looks like any other baby' on your wall and get on with your life? Wouldn't that be enough?

I mean, where is the time when people, if they really wanted to see your baby, came to your home? Is this so 20th century? [*Am I too sentimental?]

I mean something like that on the clip below, from Seinfeld:


I feel like some people post the pics of their babies like trophies, like Look at me, I am not yet 30 and I have a baby! I accomplished something! I am mainstream. Are you? Well, I am not. I could be easily, but since I was always a skilled master of *cough... I mean, I was always careful, so I just happen not to be. Which can be an accomplishment far bigger than the opposite. Then again, what is mainstream these days anyway? Men in twenties 'having babies' seem to become rare recently. So maybe I am mainstream.

I really don't know... maybe I'm bitter now, but once I have a baby myself, I will be like them: An overly excited parent-freshman, who will post hunderds of photos of his newborn and prouldy tweet: My baby made his first poop. #proudparent #baby #random and then soon after post another tweet: Please follow @littleMKL #FF. Hehe, who knows. We'll see in few years ;-)

Now, what do you think? Baby photos online, pro or contra and why?
Not being a parent in the twenties, pro or contra and why?

What does blogging mean to you?

Ever since I've read Andhari's brilliant post about blogging, I keep thinking about it. She really struck a chord with me and wrote about so many things I totally feel the same way. Apart from her being an accomplished blogger and me blogging more or less since this year (I blogged before, but not so much), the things she said apply to me as well. So, if you're a blogger, read thru her post, she makes excellent points and you will learn so much from her (as I have).

I guess every blogger asks himself this question at one point: Why do I blog? And sometimes, if I drill very deep, I can't seem to find a definite answer. Seems like all of us kinda start quietly and carefully and without knowing we all of a sudden have readers, followers, even friends. And we're just like Wow! I totally did not expect that! And in my case, I really didn't.
There's so many reasons why I started to blog. I had like 2 waves, where I suddenly felt the urge to write: one last year, one this year - each time after a break up. I guess blogging seemed like a therapy for me. I instantly realized how good it felt when I wrote things off my chest. I remember how I used to have a book as a teenager, where I wrote in poems and things that happened in my life. It always felt like my private shrink and I cherished it (I still have it, but it's worn out). Didn't we all, who blog today, have something like that in the past? That means that we always were bloggers, we just didn't have the platform (internet) to connect with other like-minded people.
I think blogging really changes a person. It changed me. It helped me a lot. And the most rewarding thing about blogging for me is meeting new interesting people. Blogging connects. Of course one also encounters morons, but don't we all encounter them in real life, too? It's funny when I look back, how important page impressions or hits were for me. And I still see people who are totally focused on them. If they blog for money, that may be one of their objectives, but that was never the case for me. My blog will always remain ad- and advertorial-free. All of you, my dear readers, who left so many comments recently, made me realize that hits don't really matter. Really thank you guys. I prefer quality over quantity (I try my best) and I don't post like 2 times daily anymore, but rather once in a while. And it feels so much better. It's liberating. But people blog for various reasons and have all kinds of objectives. I don't judge you. I won't ever tell another blogger what and how to blog, even if he makes a fool out of himself. I'm doing my thing and the blogosphere is like the universe. There's enough space for everyone.
And yes, I admit, I really like it when you guys give me feedback. It keeps me going, it makes me think, it makes me want to improve. At the same time, I don't feel pressured, but rather reassured and confident, that I can scribble something and make people smile, wonder, think (even if it's just for a day or for a moment). Blogging is about giving and recieving. And I'm always giving a part of me to you. I'm always putting a lot of thought in every post, even if it seems the silliest post you've ever read. Because I always try my best, even when I'm trying to be funny. I'm aware of my flaws, but I know all of you are forgiving, because that's how our kind is. And if sometimes something I write upsets you or if it just doesn't seem to make sense to you, stop for a second, take a breather, pull your head back and try to see the whole text like this:


And then you'll realize: It's just letters! Is it really worth to get upset over a combination of letters? No, it's not. It really is not. Because in the end, you will have to switch off your computer and go back to reality and deal with your own real life issues. So will I. I think blogging can be part of one's life but not be one's life. I've been thru that, too and I've learned my lessons. Especially the part that we shouldn't take everything too seriously online. And mostly it was my "bloggy friends" who taught me that (special thanks to Jerine).

And that's the point for me (besides being my therapy): to learn and evolve. Each friendship I made thru my blog is really precious to me. Even if I'd make just a single good friendship, it would be worth all the effort I put in here. Because good friends are hard to find.

Blogging is my therapy. And I think I want to remain in therapy as long as possible.

And what does blogging mean to you?

[cartoon source]

Precious bit

The most precious thought
lost in her luscious lips,
my tears fall - drought
on her finger tips.

She deserts me, at last,
precious bit - gone too fast.

by me

[Photo: Source]

How should a man be in 2009?

Dear women,

40 years of feminist movement and with help from Karl Lagerfeld, you managed to finally make me insecure about my masculinity! I watched TV today and I saw the new photos of Karl Lagerfeld's muse Baptiste Giabiconi - IN STILETTOS!

So I went online and found these pics here. Please check them out and tell me what do you think. I really don't know what to make out of this. I know it's art and I can see some deep meaning behind it, nevertheless, it made me think about the modern man.

I was always for the equality of the sexes and I think that the feminist movement was necessary and mostly good. You know I love women (you can read here). But as much as I am happy that modern couples have relationships, that base on equality of the sexes with the female sexual liberation and as much as I appreciate that modern societies strive to give women equal opportunities and wages, I am somehow feeling uneasy about the trend in recent years, where a handsome man is more and more portrayed as feminine, ambiguous, metro. And that's for me the side-effect of the women's struggles for equality in recent decades. I mean, what is the metro trend anyway? It's probably a scheme by the multinational corporations to sell more beauty products to men by making them more feminine (or gay [*not that it's something wrong with being gay]). And the magazines and fashion designers go hand in hand with them. Money (read business) is the easiest way to set a trend. And the consequence of all that are insecure straight men, who are afraid to be who they are and try to be someone they're not. Ok, I am exaggerating a bit and maybe I am not really that isecure because of Giabiconi in heels, but you get my point. There is some truth in my reasoning, isn't it? I mean, sometimes it seems that you (the women) want a guy who's sensitive, thoughtful, soft, but when it comes to picking-up women (and sex), you always chose the hairy animalic muscular macho, who has the swagger with the cool (sometimes even ignorant) attitude [*Ok, again, I am clearly exaggerating, cuz not every woman is like that.] :)

So women, make up your minds! How do you really want us to be in 2009? Because when I see these male models, I sometimes feel like they're from a different planet. They don't reperesent me. I still don't understand why fashion designers use Kens and Barbies to promote their (in my eyes mostly) dubious collections for the modern man and woman. It just doesn't make sense to me. If you sell a product to real people, make real people wear your products. And I really wonder, after they made women insecure (even skinny girls think they're fat!) and after they recently transformed a big portion of men into metros (yes, some of us use creams and make-up [*not me!]), who will be next on their list? Pre-teens? Toddlers?

When will we stop them?

Love is...

My previous post made me a little sentimental. It made me think about love, about the various situations I felt love and I shared love... read through and share with me some of your memorable moments.

Love is giving and recieving. Love is watching him sleep. Love is making him coffee. Love is playing games on the PSP and competing with him. Love is the satisfaction you feel when you see how he came. Love is when you share a cup of noodles. Love is when you watch a movie on a laptop together. Love is the 68 he gives you. Love is the hug you give him before he goes to work. Love is when you hold him from behind when he puts on his shirt. Love is holding hands. Love is a smile he gives you when he returns home. Love is kissing his cheek when he's watching TV. Love is caressing his hair. Love is telling him he's handsome. Love is when he buys tortillias chips for you. Love is whispering "I love you baby" in his ear. Love is sleeping side by side. Love is being loved. Love is the only reason to live.

Love is giving and recieving. Love is watching her sleep. Love is making her coffee. Love is playing games on the PSP and competing with her. Love is the satisfaction you feel when you see how she came. Love is when you share a cup of noodles. Love is when you watch a movie on a laptop together. Love is the 68 she gives you. Love is the hug you give her before she goes to work. Love is when you hold her from behind when she puts on her make-up. Love is holding hands. Love is a smile she gives you when she returns home. Love is kissing her cheek when she's watching TV. Love is caressing her hair. Love is telling her she's cute. Love is when she buys cupcakes for you. Love is whispering "I love you baby" in her ear. Love is sleeping side by side. Love is being loved. Love is the only reason to live.

What is love for you?

Why I love and adore women

Women are wiser than men because they know less and understand more.
(by James Thurber)

Women in my childhood

I love and adore women. I can really say I am blessed (or cursed) by and with women. I have two sisters and a very awsome mom, who is more like a friend than a mother. That goes back to my childhood. I was always closer to her than to my dad. When they divorced (I was 7 years old), I had to live with my father in town and went to school there, while my sisters moved to the countryside with my mom. I had a very tough time with him. Especially the adolescent years were bad. My father used to beat me and humiliate me and his (at that time new) girlfriend was not very nice to me either. I've been totally shy during my early teen years and had very low self esteem. At the age 16, I decided to run away. I planned it for a long time, but many times my atempts failed, because my father intimidated me. But I eventually fled and it was the best thing I ever did. Of course my father was furious, but I didn't care anymore. I moved into a big old house with 3 women. Life was so much different from then on. Of course, there were problems, but nevertheless, I learned so much for my whole life. I have to say I enjoyed being the only male among them. That had a big influence on my life after, because I started to hang out with girls more than boys. In secondary school, all my best friends were girls and I learned even more about women during that time. I just connected better with them. It seemed like whenever I started a friendship with a guy, I eventually got disappointed. That happened a lot of times when I was in my secondary school. These were shallow guys, talking dirty, looking down on women, objectifying them or just rambling about irrelevant things that didn't interest me.

Women in my adulthood

During my time at the university, I also had many female friends. I studied outside my hometown and I was a bit lost in the big city: Most of my schoolmates came from all over the country and I didn't really connect well with many. But the few among them were all women. Also during this time, I met my first big love. It was probably the strongest feeling I ever felt for someone, which is usually the case with every first love. But most of these relationships fail and mine wa no exception: The girl crushed my heart by cheating on me and breaking up. That was the moment when I realized that women don't fumble when it's over. Once they make up their mind - it's over. At that time it was a big shock for me and I had a pretty rough time picking up the pieces of my shattered heart. It completely changed my life: It made me travel and led me to Asia, to my surprise. I dated 2 girls from that part of the world. I thought that my last one, a Chinese Malaysian, will be the one. When I met her, it was a big surprise for me (or maybe it wasn't?) when she told me she had 7 sisters! Seven! At that moment, I didn't know wheather it was a curse or a blessing for me. But when I got to know all of them, I really felt blessed. I connected with all of them very well and they really loved me. And all my previous experiences came in very handy. Yet... it wasn't enough to keep the relationship. Honestly, we seldom fought, we had lot's of fun moments, but we just weren't right for each other. Small things added up to the final break up. Anyway, I really treasure the whole experience and not only understand women better, I also had the privilege to peek into the world of Asian women, who subsequently became another big interest for me (as you can sense on my blog). And now I am here, single again, blogging, trying to figure out what to do in my life, planning my next steps. And I am blessed again. I met some great people, who follow my blog. And yes, it is no wonder, most of them are women. I think one can never learn enough about women, that's why I love to read your blogs, ladies... and love to drop some weird comments sometimes, hehe. Forgive me, please ;)

Women, my conclusions

For me, almost every woman is a treasure. When you unlock that box, you will get pearls and jewels, a beauty so radiant, that you won't ever forget. I really cherish the unforgettable moments I had with the women I adored. And it's not just the amazing skin-on-skin moments that nearly made me lose my mind, no, it's the times when I layed in bed and watched a movie and she layed on my chest. It's the time when I watched over her when she was sleeping and kissed her on the forhead and she didn't even know. It's the time when I teased her, made her laugh, saw the glow of happiness in her eyes. It's the time when I walked with her hand in hand, it's the kisses good-bye, the last hugs, tears... I've been thru so many kinds of emotions with women, that also includes the arguments, the sulking, the break-ups and the pain they induced. Nevertheless, the good predominates over everything else. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing a girl happy and making her happy. I've seen this, from very close to afar. And that's something that makes me really confident: Even though my relationships failed, I know I can make a woman happy. I can! Because I used to and I will be doing it once again. I think I understand women as much as a man can, because you can never fully understand a woman, of course. That's why I always try to give them the best I can, because I believe in what Oscar Wilde said so brilliantly: “How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being.” So, to all of you ladies out there, please have a high standard when it comes to guys, because you deserve the best: Only the best is good enough for you.

I have a crazy stalker!

Can you imagine someone on another blog talking shit about you while hiding in anonymity?

That's happening to me lately. And he (or maybe there's more people) is posting some lies about me, some supposed information about me and using somebody else's blog as his homepage. And of course he has a big mouth while hiding in anonymity. What a moron. What is obvious, though, he went thru my whole blog and he thinks he knows me and what not. He's a crazy stalker!

Then I saw on my Fidjit, that some people are coming here from a 'certain' blog lately. I checked and saw that somebody wants to stir up controversy again (probably the same stalker!) by commenting trash and linking to my blog. I'm like are these people serious? All I can say is that I feel pity for you, whoever you are.

And now I'm already starting to get comments on a certain post I wrote. I tell you something: I won't publish your garbage, so don't even try. This is the last time I am writing about this, because I won't feed into another controversy, I will just ignore you and continue blogging and commenting on various blogs like I used to.

ANOUNCEMENT: And there's another thing I will do. I have many posts to publish, but I'll publish them later some time. I think it's better to post like once in 2 or 3 days instead of daily or more posts at once. Of course, if I feel the urge to write something instantly, I'll do that. This is just because now that I'm having so many blogs in my reader, I realized that if someone posts every day, you just can't follow or respond to every post, especially if you are busy. Or you may just browse thru or read sloppy. Besides, I have a lot to do lately, so this serves me well.

Happy blogging everybody. See ya.

[Photo: Source]

1 Is soup food or drink?

2 Are socks clothes or shoes?

3 Is Australia a continent or an island?

4 Are fish swimming or diving?

5 Is Twitter a curse or a blessing?

6 Are men the weaker or the stronger sex?

7 Is god christian or muslim?

These are some random questions that troubled me today. Can anyone answer at least one of them and explain to me, because I am not very bright. Thank you :)

[This is just for fun, don't be too serious.]