The Kiraly Baths, Budapest

So I am back from Budapest. The weather was better than expected so I was able to spend a lot of time outside soaking up the atmosphere and sights of the city. Walked a lot on Saturday and took a Danube cruise today. Also on Saturday I went to the Kiraly Baths. The place looks as if it hasn't been cleaned since 1874, and it is also one of these places where you think: "if I am the youngest and cutest one around, there must be something wrong here." Needless to say that nothing happened. This blogger does quite a good description of the Kiraly baths. On Friday evening I was too tired to go out (and I enjoyed reading my very good book until late anyway), but on Saturday I managed to stay awake and go to Club coXx. Not a bad place, they have a huge darkroom and there were quite a few good-looking guys. Anyway, again nothing happened as the 2 Asians that I liked were too young for my taste and they didn't look at me anyway. Not sure if I decided that they were too young before or after I noticed that they were not interested. Hehe.

Going to Budapest

In 2003 - 2004 I flew Cathay Pacific many, many times from Amsterdam via Hong Kong to Hanoi where we had a project. I have spent my last CX miles on a Malev Hungarian Airlines ticket to Budapest and today is the day! I have been to Budapest in 1981 and 1987 (during communist times), and the last time was in 1996 with my American friend TR. The city should have changed after 18 years of capitalism and 3 years of EU accession. The weather forecast is not good, so perhaps I'll spent some time in Budapest's famous baths?

5% fall asleep during sex

Another interesting survey today showed that 5% of Dutch women fall asleep during sex. Well, that would never happen between gay men, and definitely not with a sexy man like me. Hehe

Feeling good, looking good, or just cheapskates?

A survey indicates that Dutch people spend very little on body care products. I am not surprised as I myself spend close to zero on those kind of products. When you feel good inside, you don't need to spend money on the outside. Or am I just a cheapskate?
Anyway, had dinner with MI at Thai restaurant Sawadee Ka which is owned by CH. He took good care of us. The conversation flowed well; we talked about work, travelling, friends and politics. We cycled home very slowly and I marvelled at the cool and calm evening skies.

你叫什么名字?

Yesterday my beginners course in Mandarin Chinese started. We are a group of about 20 students. To my surprise a third of them are ethnically Chinese - born here and not speaking a word of Chinese just like me. The teacher is a youngish woman from China, I don't think she is very experienced and her Dutch is so-so which is not ideal as she can not explain everything easily. I always believe that to study a language as a beginner it is better to have a teacher from your own country (non-native speaker of the foreign language), as they know much better what is difficult for the students and how to overcome these difficulties. When you reach a more advanced level it is better to have a native speaker as a teacher.
Anyway, it was funny to see that the teacher expected more from the ethnically Chinese people in our class. You could see her think: "Of course these hairy big-nosed white devils don't know a word of Chinese, but these Chinese people should know more." After a while one of the Chinese guys got irritated and snipped to her: "If I spoke Chinese I wouldn't be here, or would I?"

The Netherlands is world's biggest producer of animal porn

I learned something new today: we are even more degenerated than I thought......
"The Netherlands is a hub for the animal porn industry. Sixty-five percent of animal pornography is coming from this country. Currently sex with animals is only a criminal offence if it is evident that animals are suffering and animal abuse is proven. Labour party Member of Parliament Harm Evert Waalkens wants this legislation scrapped and bestiality to become a sex offence. “It is simply in violation of the prevailing morals,” Waalkens said. The distribution of photos or films of bestiality via the internet is not yet a punishable offence either. This also holds for the possession of films and photos as these kinds of images were never regarded as a criminal offence."
By the way, my apologies to CO for borrowing this picture.....

Restaurant Het Tuynhuys, Amsterdam

I have been a bit of a lazy blogger which was caused by lots of work, lots of alcohol and a new activity. (more later) The weekend was for the lots of alcohol part, especially Friday evening which caused some inactivity on Saturday, and Sunday evening when I had dinner with GO, WI and KA at this restaurant. Once a year the more expensive restaurants in Amsterdam open their doors for people who want to eat well for not so much money. It is hugely popular and GO booked a table several weeks ago. The food was OK but nothing special, and because it was cheap we could afford to drink lots of wine. I vaguely remember French-kissing some guys in the bar later that evening, and I clearly remember taking a taxi home in the middle of the night. Good that work was so busy on Monday otherwise I would have fallen asleep behind my computer.