Bali Blues

Monday morning in Bali. Arrived here on Saturday after spending 3 wonderful days in Yogya. We did two long day trips there and saw the Borobudur, Dieng Plateau where we did a nice hike, we visited Prambanan temple extensively and also toured the Yogya Kraton (sultan's palace). So if you think this is a fuck trip you are completely wrong. Also went out to Hugo's Bar where there was a 8 person band, about 20 staff and 3 customers - us. But fortunately on Friday there was a monthly gay group meeting in the bar of our hotel so we managed to meet some locals and other gay visitors.
Bali is nicer this time than I remember. The bars were packed on Saturday and we had a great time partying and dancing. GI was the first to take his shirt of - and he was very popular as a Thai visitor. Kind of a novelty I think. We are going to Komodo tomorrow to see the dragons (if our flights get confirmed) which should be interesting. So if I am not eaten by the dragons I'll report again later this week.

The advantages of speaking French

Hello everybody from Yogyakarta where we arrived this afternoon. Where did I leave you? Ah, I remember in sex-less Bangkok. Well, on my last evening there after the great dinner and drinks with CW I met up with my old friend DL and although he has grown chubby and he has piercings in the most unusual places, after the Singhas we had sex. So. Now you all know it and can sleep well again. Happyamsguy had sex in Bangkok.
So yesterday we went to Kuala Lumpur because the cheapest and easiest way to travel from Bangkok to Yogyakarta is with Air Asia via KL. GI had never been to KL so he enjoyed seeing the Petronas Towers. After dinner we went to Blueboy which apparently is the only gay bar open on a Tuesday. It was very quiet, I chatted to a tall Chinese guy but after he volunteered his sexual preferences I left him alone. GI was dancing topless and we were all drinking too much (we spent every single ringgit we had on us). There was another short very cute guy dancing shirtless, he was naturally muscular (not gym muscular) and totally 100% cute. He was with a few local friends but mostly keeping to himself and dancing intensely, and totally ignoring us. Around 230am I was almost ready to call it a night when he gave me a little smile so I walked over and introduced myself. He asked if I speak French so I said "Oui, je parle Francais" and from that moment on he changed totally. He couldn't stop telling me how French is so romantic and his favourite song is "Ne me quitte pas" by Jacques Brel of which I happen to know all the lyrics so I sang the song for him. He is a mixed race Filipino living in KL (mixed Japanese/Indian/Filipino/Spanish). Later after the bar closed he wanted to speak more French in my hotel room, and MA said this morning at breakfast he had never seen such a big smile on my face so I also must have enjoyed the French conversations.
Now we are waiting here for BA to arrive from Bali - he is an Indonesian living in Amsterdam who happens to be on holiday in his home country and will join us for the next few days.

Tired in Bangkok

It is very hot here in Bangkok and I have been tired and sleeping a lot. MA and GI are spending most of their time romantically together so I have been able to read and relax. Also of course I have been overeating can't get enough of the Thai food. CW came out and he mentioned I rescued him as he was about to become old and depressed at home. We danced in DJ and it did him visibly good. He is going to cook dinner for us tonight to which I am looking forward. This must be the first time that I didn't have sex while in Bangkok - well 24 hours to go so I still have a chance.

Breakfast in Singapore

I am at Changi Airport, Singapore, after having breakfast with ER. So sweet of him to wake up at 6am to come and see me. It was very nice to meet ER after exactly one year - how time flies and what a pity we don't live closer. Good to know that I'll be back in Singapore within 2 weeks. The flight from Amsterdam was good - plane was only 2/3 full so the seat next to me was empty which greatly improved comfort. See you all from Bangkok!

IT IS VACATION TIME!!!!!!!

My bag is packed, the house is clean, and I am ready to leave tomorrow morning on SQ323 to Singapore. I am so happy I can leave the office and the stress behind, it is long ago I was so stressed and tired. Even today there were a million things to do and the moment I closed the office door behind me I felt so relieved. My bag is just under the 15kg Air Asia limit. I will be doing 8 flights in 17 days of which 4 will be on Air Asia, 1 on Garuda and 3 on SQ. MA is bringing his laptop so I may update my blog once in a while when he allows me to play with his computer.

Travel news

Tonight we had a small goodbye party for MA and JE, who are flying to Manila tomorrow. It almost got out of hand as we were drinking like it was a Saturday, not a Tuesday. But I was wise and was the first to leave around 1045pm. After all, I have one full and busy day of work to do before it will be my turn to leave for warmer places. I will meet MA this weekend in Bangkok, it felt a bit strange to kiss them goodbye in a bar in Amsterdam only to meet each other a few days later in Bangkok.
The euro is very strong against the US dollar and many Asian currencies! I hate shopping but I must buy some clothes in Bangkok or Indonesia which will pay for the trip. Meanwhile, according to this Reuters story American tourists in Amsterdam have problems finding a place where they can exchange their US dollars.

Old friends or new friends?

As a Cancerian I am known to hold on to the past. So while planning my trip to Asia I was thinking about "old" friends first. Isn't it much nicer to meet old friends instead of having to hunt for new? Today I received an e-mail from one of my Thai friends who wrote: "Am I now not too old for you and shouldn't you be meeting cuter guys here?" No, my dear CW, I know I am going to have much more fun with you driving around in your Beetle, admiring your garden, having a shower on the roof terrace of your house. All so much better than taking a younger man to my hotel room, having to worry about my money and valuables, and facing the question if I have some money "for the taxi". I'd rather grow old with my friends.

How to waste a day

After, again, a very busy week I rushed to Amsterdam's Central Station on Friday evening to meet a fellow blogger who shall remain nameless. We (I?) decided to go to a Greek restaurant which was not bad at all, and the conversation and the wine flowed very well. The nameless fellow blogger insisted that I show him The Cuckoo's Nest and, shock horror, also wanted to get a joint - actually two joints. It all went downhill from there: we went to Soho, smoked a joint, met CH, FR, RO, MA and a few others who all were buying drinks for us (it was FR's birthday!) and after coming home smoked another joint. The blogger who shall remain nameless had to puke that evening, and I was sick most of Saturday and puked only on Saturday afternoon. A full day wasted. Fellow blogger, I know that you will be reading this, if you want to add to the story please go ahead!

Short men and tall women are more jealous

Short men and short and tall women are the most jealous in their sexual relationships, a study carried out in Spain and the Netherlands was Friday quoted as saying. More wasted resources on a study that proves what we all know already. For instance, even Wikipedia has this piece: "For most women, the height of a man is a major factor in sexual attractiveness. The greater reproductive success of taller men is attested to by studies indicating that taller men are more likely to be married and to have more children, except in societies with severe gender imbalances caused by war.Quantitative studies of woman-for-men personal advertisements have shown strong preference for tall men, with a large percentage indicating that a man significantly below average height was unacceptable." I have never regretted being tall. Hehe

US legislator's hate speech

This is Sally Kern, a Republican politician from Oklahoma, spouting hate about gay people. "You know, homosexuals are worse than terrorists"

The ultimate turn-off

Here's a politically incorrect question: anyone who is surprised that this most unattractive guy is of a certain racial background?

When urgent isn't urgent any more

So today more work was piled onto my "urgent to do" list, and I went to my boss asking "so which one of these urgent tasks is urgent?" In other words, which client is worth most to us so we'll make him happy? Later, my boss started mumbling about "the timing of your trip which is not very convenient" but I stopped him immediately. I need a holiday! Now! Well, six more work days to go but not a single day more.

Shame on the Dutch and the Brits

A gay teenager who faces being hanged if sent back to Iran is a step closer to being forced to return today, after the Netherlands followed Britain in refusing his appeal for asylum. Mehdi Kazemi, 19, came to London to study English in 2005 but says he later discovered that his boyfriend had been arrested by the Iranian police, charged with sodomy and hanged. He claimed asylum in Britain, saying that he feared for his life if he returned. However, his case was refused late last year, so he fled to the Netherlands. A Dutch court today, however, ordered him to return to Britain, leaving the teenager once again facing deportation.
The Dutch court ruled purely based on the fact that the UK was the first European country that was responsible for his asylum request, and the Iranian teenager will not be badly treated in the UK. As if a possible extradition to Iran by the Brits is not "bad treatment".
Shame on the UK and the Netherlands for not protecting innocent people against an evil regime.

Pffff - what a week

It is long ago I had such a busy week. My bosses were both travelling and they dumped all work on my plate, so every morning I had 50+ e-mails waiting to be dealt with. Non-stop work with overflows in the evening. In addition:

Monday: It was restaurant week (cheap deals at quality restaurants) so the gang went to Tatin. The food was good and the Sicillian wine was better. Not the best idea to drink lots of wine on a Monday. I don't know why but we talked about who had sex with famous people and it turned out WI was Benny Neyman's boy friend when he was 17 and KA even had sex with two famous Dutchmen. Which famous person did you have sex with?

Tuesday: MR and RB came for dinner and to introduce their cute little daughter ML. She is adorable.

Wednesday: Had a meal with AY (advising her on her career) and watched the movie Vera Drake. Nice.




Thursday:





Went to see Varekai, the Cirque du Soleil show. Impressive acrobatics and totally worth the (expensive) tickets.

Friday:

ST and JP came for dinner, they are a (straight) couple I know from University. Recently, I am socializing with straight friends more often. Their children are now teenagers and they have time again to go out for dinner and drinks.

I am exhausted and should go to bed. Needless to say, I didn't have time to exercise at all this week, so I should change my dating profiles to "ugly fat bear with glasses, but good job and making euros, looking to meet intelligent, friendly and cute man for quality time in SE Asia soon."

It was a windy weekend in Europe......

You don't want to be on that plane

Good to have friends

We must all realize how important and nice it is to have friends. Friends, of course, come in all kinds of varieties. Like this weekend for me: yesterday was out and chatted with CH and FR about their trip. CH was getting drunk and also getting touchy-feely and he suggested when FR went to the toilet that we should meet in private soon. Also met HU from Taiwan who used to live in Amsterdam, then found a new job in Switzerland and now was back (holiday only) in Amsterdam again. Good to see an old friend after a long time. Also TO the Japanese came back to Amsterdam after only two months - he must like us so much! Today had a long chat with ER which left me confused. Distance makes things more difficult and modern technology can only partially bridge that gap. After the chat went out again and was joking with DA in the bars - he is a cute blond 20-something and we always joke how much we want to have sex with each other. And was talking with BR about how much he wants to pay me for sex (if you see us you'd know this is totally ridiculous) and with EL how he is enjoying life after he broke up with his boyfriend. Even if some of the friends won't ever see me again if I am sick or poor, as long as they want to spend quality time with me I am grateful to them. Friends rock!

Ong-Bak: Muay Thai warrior

KE is back from his trip and yesterday we watched a DVD he had brought back from Thailand. Ong-Bak is a typical Thai fighting movie, which to be honest is not normally my cup of tea, but this one was very well done with excellent action scenes and a reasonable story. And it also helped that actor Jaa Panom (Tony Jaa) is cute in his white singlet. Part of the movie is set in Bangkok's Kao San Road where I stayed for a few weeks on my first back packing trip to Asia in 1987. Three more weeks and I will be there again!