Greenland

I am feeling a bit strange today. Bored with everything. I just want to be alone, go far. Maybe hiking for a long while in Greenland, or something like that.

The MJ memorial

So this was probably one of these nights that half of the world was watching the same thing: in this case the Michael Jackson memorial. After 20 minutes I started reading the newspaper, only watching now and then with one eye, which means I found the whole thing extremely boring. And melodramatic, pseudo-religious and non-honest. ;-)
And anyway, can someone explain to me please why all these black people are so proud of a man who spent half his life to look white?

Bad news

When we went to Portugal, we all noticed that my stepfather was short of energy most of the time. He had trouble walking more than 100 meters or climbing the stairs in the hotel. So when he was back home, he went to the doctor who sent him to hospital where they did some tests and today he got the prelimary results: one of his lungs is operating at only 25% which is caused by either asbestosis or cancer. His entire career he was a load manager in the port cities of Rotterdam, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, and he was exposed to asbestos for more than 30 years. The doctors will do another test next week but it is not looking good. He jokingly asked the doctor "will I ever celebrate my 90th birthday?" (he is 83) and the answer was a clear "no". The doctors will only tell him their prognosis after the upcoming tests, but I am afraid it won't be very long.
He is a good guy and I hope he won't have to suffer much.

Hot in Sitges, hot in Amsterdam

Pffff - it is very hot here and humid. If felt like Singapore when I was cycling home today.
The trip to Sitges was nice. The weather was perfect, around 25C and sunny. Unfortunately, WI had an infection in his shoulder and hand and he had to visit a hospital on Friday, and was feeling bad for the remainder of the trip. Still, we had drinks every day with the gang, late Spanish-style dinners and clubbing until 3am for some of us (like me) and until 8am or 9am for the wilder members of the gang. I liked Sitges which is small enough that you can walk everywhere and big enough that there is a wide choice of bars, restaurants and clubs. And the sea was very blue, the sand very white and the waves very big.
On Sunday we went to see the Barcelona Gay Pride parade - the venue for the after-parade party and events was particularly impressive.
All in all a good trip.

Going to Barcelona / Sitges

Finally! Tomorrow (almost) the entire gang will fly to Barcelona where we will take a train to Sitges, which is the gay friendly beach resort 30 minutes South of Barcelona. There will be some 15 close friends and some 10 fringe friends, so we will be taking over town for a few days. I am looking forward to spending time on the beach, in the bars, eating tapas, visiting the sights of Barcelona and forgetting about work until Monday.

Mixed feelings about China

I am back in Amsterdam after a quick day-flight today - only 9 hours 20 minutes. The project in Tangshan was weird: it is all very old-fashioned there and even our Beijing-based interpreters and assistants were amazed how provincial and backward everything was. There is not much to see or do in Tangshan, and the best hotel is only so-so with inadequate airconditioning, so I was happy to go to Beijing on Friday. Via Facebook DE found out that we would be in Beijing the same day, so I met up with him and his friends WO and RI. They showed me around in the gay-yuppie area of Beijing which was very nice. The modern Chinese are creating a fusion culture just like their counterparts in HK, Singapore and Taipei. We had a great fusion dinner, followed by drinks in a bar called The Boat which is on...a boat, and some clubbing at Beijing's only gay club Destination. As I read before the BJ guys are indeed very reserved, at first I thought it is me, but also WO who is very cute and 20 years younger than I didn't get the attention that he would get in -say- Singapore.
I may have to go back to Tangshan soon. If that is the case I will try to spend a full weekend in Beijing and finally see the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.
But first, my family will be here tomorrow to celebrate my birthday prematurely.

Going to China

Another last minute business trip, this time to Tangshan, China. Later today I will fly to Beijing where I will meet with two colleagues and will go by car to Tangshan. We have a small project there and it is our task if we can get a business plan together to turn it into something big. We will be joined by a few translators / interpreters from our Chinese partner firm - we will see how difficult communication will be but I fear the worst.
I am afraid there won't be any time left to see the Great Wall or other sights - one day I must return to China and actually see something!