The Silver Tassie Hotel, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, Ireland

So here I am Wednesday evening in this hotel just North of the town of Letterkenny. The trip is nice: the weather has been good (for Ireland) with lots of sunshine and almost no rain. Driving here is fun because there are so few cars on the road and the scenery is very nice. Few people live in this part of the country and they all seem to live in beautiful houses. Thanks to my tax money, Ireland is now the 2nd richest country in the EU and it shows when you see all the new mansions that have been built. Tomorrow Ireland will have a referendum on the new EU constitution (which may not be called a constitution) and everybody thinks the vote will be a big "NO". Our only complaint is the quality of the food: too greasy, too big portions and quantity over quality. Travelling with old people is very relaxing: everything is done in the slow mode. Quite nice for a week!

Going to Ireland

Tomorrow morning I will be flying from Rotterdam Airport to Donegal, Ireland. I am taking my mom, my stepfather and OS on a one-week fly-drive trip through Northern and Western Ireland. Earlier this year, when my mom and stepfather were visiting, they were quarrelling about the trip they wanted to take to Ireland. My mom wanted to join a group tour, but my stepfather refused saying "I am not going to sit on a stupid bus with old people". (he is 82, she is 78) My mom is afraid that she'd be left alone again in a foreign country if something would happen (my dad died while on holiday with my mom in Mexico in 1993), so I thought if I join them that problem will be solved. OS has had a difficult year so he deserves a trip as well, moreover he had an MRI scan this week and the doctors found something suspicious which means the entire medical circus will start again when we get back. This will not be the most exciting holiday I have ever had, but it will be good to spend time with the family.

Singapore boys get new uniforms

From 30 June 2008, Singapore Airlines male cabin crew will take on a fresh look, wearing a new uniform, which will complement the legendary sarong kebaya worn by the airline’s female cabin crew. The new male cabin crew uniform is the creation of veteran French fashion designer Christophe Galibert, artistic Director of Balmain Uniformes. The fashion house was appointed for the redesign of the uniform in 2006.
Said Mr Galibert: “In designing this new look, our main aim was to retain the legendary elegance of the Singapore Airlines male cabin crew but at the same time make it more consistent with the iconic creation of Mr Pierre Balmain’s sarong kebaya. Our challenge was, therefore, to find a matching smartness and unique sophistication for the male crew uniform.” The new uniform comprises a single-breasted navy blue suit (jacket and trousers), sky blue shirt and striped tie. The tie colour differentiates the four ranks of crew.
This is the first time I hear about SQ male crew's "legendary elegance". Though I must admit that in the 1990's, I have known a few SQ guys up-close in Amsterdam, and more recently in Singapore my SQ-friend DE gave me many moments to remember.....
Anyway, don't you agree the new uniforms are a bit boring? The old light blue ones looked quite good on guys with a darker complexion.

Getting high and saying goodbye

Around lunchtime today, I was suddenly feeling hyper-active, almost high. I even went outside to get some fresh air, and did not have a clue why I felt so excited. It was only late in the afternoon that I found out about the reason for my energy: I had been drinking the strongest coffee I have ever had. Normally, I am the first one to arrive in the office and I brew the coffee in the morning, but this morning my colleague TA arrived early and she made the coffee. I can tell you: it was strong, very, very, very strong. I hope I can sleep later tonight.....
Today was the last day that our secretary SU worked for us. She is amazing and by far the best secretary I have ever had: clever, intelligent, hard working, cheerful, pro-active, funny, simply the best. She will be going to New York to study business English for a few months, and as she is overqualified to be a secretary she will not return to our company. Saying goodbye to her, I felt a bit sad. Like sgboy wrote in a recent blog-entry, many people that we like to stay close to are moving away. Well, that's life. We found another student, MR, to be our secretary. She is from Sydney, Australia. Strange to hear a strong Ozzie accent in our office; we are working with lots of Brits and Americans but we don't often hear the Australian accent.

Centraal Beheer Commercial: Acupuncture

Another commercial from the same insurance company. I hear "ang mo", is it filmed in Singapore?

Dutch insurance commercial - Adam and Eve

This insurance company is known for its funny commercials. "Call us if things go wrong".

Way too feminine and perfectly masculine

We all have our different tastes and we should thanks the gods for that. Friday evening in the bars RO brought his friend AT for the second time. AT is quite cute, he is from South America and has lots of Indian blood, but he is a bit too feminine for my taste. RO told us that he is not allowed to see, let alone touch, his cock. He wears a string during sex and all RO is allowed to do is fuck him hard. Even RO was complaining about it.....
It was a good night out with everybody there, and I had a long conversation with RM playing wise uncle. RM is (too) desperately looking for a boyfriend and gets disappointed every time meeting men who want sex but not the rest of it. So I told him to enjoy life and one day, he will find someone trustworthy and sweet. He is only in his mid-20's so he has lots of time.
Yesterday had a long chat with EY who is so totally my type, masculine, cute, perfect clothes. We only met once but he is perfect in looks and behaviour. We both can not easily host so our next meeting must be arranged well in advance. I was happy to learn that he is also looking forward to it.