Posted on 28/08/2006 by haonowshaokao

It’s been a bit of a chore to write in this journal recently. Not because I don’t want to or that I’ve been very busy but just because I don’t know how to write about being happy and contented without it being boring. There are things that annoy me a bit, as ever, but nothing occupies my mind enough for me to consider writing about it.
Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays are spent teaching kids, which isn’t stressful any more. Other days and nights are spent lying by the lido, going out to restaurants with my girlfriend, drinking beer at the beach bar, occasionally watching DVDs. All great to do and boring to read about.

Entirely unrelatedly, here is a list of the most viewed articles on Wikipedia. This includes in the top twenty alone;

5. List of gay porn stars
6. Sexual intercourse
9. List of sex positions
10. Kama Sutra
11. Pornography
14. List of big-bust models and performers
18. Oral sex

and most worryingly

20. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl

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Posted on 24/08/2006 by haonowshaokao

I think it was two weeks ago now that there was a full moon party at the Sands Bar. I was at the door greeting the foreigners in exchange for beer. Not a bad set-up. John was DJing:

click for much more

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Posted on 07/08/2006 by haonowshaokao

This last weekend was in many ways a re-run of the previous one, but better. I went to Macau again, but this time with company and pleasant weather. I actually bought an MP4 player instead of just looking at them. With this purchase my life feels substantively more complete:

We also returned to the beach bar, but this time John was DJing. The set started a little shakily when one-track into the mix he had to give up the decks to a dance troupe who insisted that “Wannabe” be played for their routine. After they’d cleared off all went well.
Every time I go to this place I like it more. It’s moreorless the perfect bar. Though life was good in this city before, this is the first really decent place to go out at night. We’re having a full moon party there on Wednesday, which should be good. First, though, two full days of work and the rescheduled school zoo expedition.

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Posted on 07/08/2006 by haonowshaokao

I haven’t really written about Kevin (my new flatmate) on this blog so far because I haven’t really had a reason to until today. He’s an immensely large (width-wise) computer geek from (American) Georgia who has a strange lispy high-pitched voice and generally keeps himself to himself.
I hadn’t really clicked with him over the month we’ve had living together, which I thought was due to how infrequently we were both at home. The usual occasion for me to meet him has been when I need to use the bathroom and he’s having his daily 30 minute morning shower.
So yesterday, after four weeks of ‘living together’, I finally got around to having a meal with him. The first half-an-hour of conversation went ok, if a little strangely – his obsession with buffing his fingernails did seem a little odd, but everyone has their little quirks. After the food came, though, he decided to ask my opinion on the homeless. His opinion is, apparently, that they should be shot.
If he’d left it at that it would’ve been bad enough, but for the rest of the meal, the walk home and the following thirty minutes he explained to me his frankly frightening political views and attempted to engage me in the kind of debate with involves putting forward heavily leading questions and accusing your opponent of dodging them for not offering a yes-or-no answer. He’s not too keen on shades of gray at all.
I don’t think I can live with this man.

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The rest of the week

Posted on 04/08/2006 by haonowshaokao

The rest of the week was spent working and occasionally drinking, apart from Tuesday, which I spent by the pool with Mandy. Thursday was supposed to be a trip to the zoo, not as much fun as it sounds as I was due to be supervising 31 children and it was therefore work. At 11pm on Wednesday I got a call informing me that the visit was postponed due to the imminent arrival of Typhoon Prapiroon.
I had a decent lie-in yesterday, then decided I didn’t want to go outside for fear of being blown away. The winds were whipping around my building, knocking branches off trees and flooding the entrance lobby. I did need some food, though, so I at least made an effort to brave the weather. The lifts were out-of-order, so I climbed down the 14 flights, took one look at the raging inferno outside, climbed back up to the flat and spent the rest of the day with bread, peanut butter and DVDs.
This is two minutes walk from my front door:

On the up-side I finally had time to unpack all my stuff.

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Last weekend

Posted on 04/08/2006 by haonowshaokao

My trip to Macau last Saturday was hampered by English-style drizzle, so instead of a two-day bender it was scaled down to a four-hour shopping trip. I’m not somebody who enjoys shopping, especially in the rain, but a good time was had anyway. It’s easy to forget that we are attached to this bizarre half-chinese half-Portuguese city. Every time I go down there I swear I’ll spend more time there and then don’t return for two months. I’d probably be down there every weekend if it didn’t involve changing my money into patacas and going through the most serious border crossing I’ve seen anywhere in the 30 or so countries I’ve visited. Bear in mind here that Macau is still china.
So I did get a camera, and a bargain too. I didn’t get any photos because off the drizzly non-fun atmosphere and lack of anywhere to sit down, and haven’t found a way of putting the photos I’ve taken since online. Soon, though, soon.
After I got back home I went out to a decent new bar on the beach, after getting hopelessly and dangerously lost on the way over. Quite a few of the more social foreigners were there too, so I hung out with them and went to get some street food, then went to bed.
Sunday was spent socialising too – first on an island with a girl (no more details here), then in a Beijing-style restaurant with some other teachers. Had to go to bed early as less than 6 hours sleep makes teaching a gut-wrenching experience.

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Posted on 04/08/2006 by haonowshaokao

First Syd, now Arthur

All the good ones are dying.

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Posted on 01/08/2006 by haonowshaokao

Disclaimer: This entry may be only of interest to Pulp obsessives.

His & Hers, Different Class and This Is Hardcore are being re-issued this year, and the tracklistings have just been announced. Each comes with a bonus cd. I was expecting these to be just compilations of b-sides but instead the powers that be have miraculously decided to include the unreleased session tracks aswell. These include songs like “Watching Nicky” and “We Can Dance Again,” the mere existence of which was hotly debated before.
I’m so excited about this that I woke up in bed yesterday not sure if I’d dreamed it all.

Take a look:

His & Hers
Different Class
This Is Hardcore

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Posted on 28/07/2006 by haonowshaokao

I’m finished for the week now, and thinking of going to Macau for the weekend. Maybe I will buy a digital camera and take photos.

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Posted on 26/07/2006 by haonowshaokao

Also- why do some parents insist on giving their young children rat-tail-hair?

And is this something child welfare should investigate?

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