House Hunting

I have always wanted to own my own place. Whether it is a condo, duplex, a trinity or a house, having something of my own had always been a lifelong dream.

Hanging out with my Asian crew, I've learned that owning properties is how people get to comfortably retire. My friend Alan, his wife and their parents invest to buy properties, spend tens of thousands to revamp and then either sell it for profits or rent it out. His retirement plan is to rent out about 6 properties and get paid a few thousand dollars a month, it's definitely more than my salary for sure. Since everyone is moving into the vicinity of my friend and I do want to be able to hangout with them often without being driven back and forth, I'm looking into the neighborhood in deep South Philly.

The couple is wired into the market in South Philly and every time something come into the market, they get alerted and go assess if that's something with investment potential. After telling them that I'm in the market for my first home, they scouted around and found this little gem with a drop dead price. It's advertised as a 3 bedroom with 1.5 bath for $70,000, less than $300 a month. Just for the price, I should definitely buy it. Alan told me that I could rent it out for at least $750 a month. I mean who could refuse earning $450 more a month?

But when I get there to look at the place, I wasn't exactly thrilled. Maybe it's my lack of house-hunting experience or an eye for things. Yes, the structure was sound but the place looks small and older like something from the era I was born in. I'm not into the wood panels and the old appliance, the decidedly small kitchen, the small linen closet size bathroom that opens to the small living room. The unfinished, bang-your-head-to-the ceiling, creepy, scary-movie-ish basement, ceiling fans from another era. The carpet needs to be changed, the neighbor had broke through the fence so his dog can shit on the backyard. When I'm inside the house, I can't help but feel saddened.

Maybe I'm too particular, I refuse to have a basement that's unfinished. It's a damned waste of space. Alan told me that it's a big hassle to finish the basement since there's no easy way to take the dirt outside but carry it one bag at a time. It's going to be a huge annoyance, so I'm really not inclined to buy it. Another friend that came with us thought he'd buy it to rent out so I politely conceded. I just can't imagine living there. Although walking down the street a couple of houses over, there's a family who renovated the whole thing and looked really nice. Maybe I just didn't have the patience or imagination for this stuff. Anyhow, the house was sold in 24 hours to another buyer, so the house market is really jumping right now.

Here's the listing and additional photos.

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The Cancer Scare

So along with the streak of bad luck, this is what happened to me.

I'm prone to have skin problems in the winter, I don't know why. People usually have more skin issues in summer since you sweat more but not me. And since I've been having more gentleman callers as usual, I''m quite a closeted hypercondriac, I run to the doctor's screaming when I see anything unusual. There are some random pimples which I do recognize. Some small bumps near my hands that appears every so often because I do a lot of dishes sans gloves. A few dots on my face where I see the doctor's for thinking it could be herpes but he told me it's nothing but nervous tics. What the hell is a nervous tic and what kinda doctor would give that kind of diagnosis? I think my doctor is catching on to me being a hypochondriac and he took the time to explain to me the various conditions that I'm concerned about and trying to comfort me with reasons which I really appreciate.

And then there's this: Thank god that I'm a chronic masturbator, I'm pretty in tuned to how my body feels like. and about two-three weeks ago, I noticed that something feels different in my inner thighs. Given that my mother had died from ovarian cancer in her mid-thirties, I was a little alarmed. Maybe not exactly alarmed since sooner or later we'll all have to die from something but I was at least, for a lack of a better word, intrigued. It's not like I'm not feeling well. The doctor says it's probably nothing, it could be a lump of fat which sometimes grow on a human body and it's perfectly harmless, but he ordered an ultrasound anyway. When I got to the ultrasound, it's shaped like a small cheetos, it feels like it's made of plastic, as if someone injected me with a scanning tag in a futuristic sci-fi thriller. I was gonna make a "boy or girl" joke to the ultrasound technician, but he looked a bit stern and made me a bit nervous.

The doctor is supposed to call me or send me a letter with the results and I'm not overly concerned. Considering the alternative, I mean do I really want to be deemed so fat that even my balls are growing fat cells now? How do you exercise your balls that I'm not already doing? I rather have cancer.

Life's too short, enjoy your while you can.

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Halloween Costume Idea 2010

For two years in a roll now, I've gone to the Halloween Ball happening here in Philadelphia. For my very first costume party two years ago, I went as a Chinese Vampire, I altered a graduation gown into a Ching Dynasty royal official's robe bought some fabric for the edges, a cap, shoes, make up and all to complete the look and I've to say it looked pretty good. Even the Chinese lady at the Chinatown restaurant was quite spooked when me and some friends left the ball and decide to have some late night food.

I guess I was inspired by Project Runway and despite my bad sewing skills, I spent about a week or two gathering materials and it was not really that hard tacking cloth onto cloth and the result wasn't too horrible.



The second year, I went out with the boyfriend and since he decided to be his sexy Wolverine self, I decided I was going to be X-Men's Colossus, capitalizing on my big forehead and short black hair. At the same time, I was inspired by a site or two about duct tape costume and thought it would be a lot cheaper and easier to do. Boy was I wrong.

Maybe I should have planned ahead like the boyfriend suggested but in making the costume at the last minute, it got us both frustrated. I ruined a good belt, my nicest pair of trunks, and got a mild panic attack being in a duct tape girdle. Plus the whole thing came off looking poorly and smelled pretty bad. Never. Again.



This year we decided to plan way ahead. The boyfriend already chosen something ethnic that looks amazing on him and strangely fits his personality. Wanting to match the theme, I'd also be something ethnically I'm not - a Japanese Guy. Concept-wise, I drawn it from animes that I've watch when I grew up, something related to Doraemon or Mr. Ajikko. Like a Japanese vegetable or seafood vendor that looks a little bit like Zolo from One Piece but with a handband and not as sexy.



The look evolved a little after I think about it and afraid that the Halloween Ball people would think that I didn't go far enough and charge me full price for a ticket. I modified it a little to make it more out there.

1. A white headband
2. Kabuki Make Up
3. A Japanese Oni/Hannya/Tengu Mask.
4. A Happi Coat
5. A white buttoned undershirt.
6. A green Haramaki.
7. A pair of black pants that is loose on top and skinny in the bottom.
8. White Tabi socks.
9. Black wooden Getas.

During a trip to my mecca giant Japanese supermarket compound Mitsuwa, I've successfully acquired item 4, 5 and 8 at a steep cost. There are certain nice Japanese masks on Ebay but most of them cost an arm and a leg and all I wanted was a red plastic Hannya mask for one night. I end up buying an OK looking one at a relatively affordable cost.

I'm personally knitting my own Haramaki using a tan cotton yarn. In hind sight, I could have just cut up a sweater that I don't use anymore or go to H&M and got some scarf and roll them around my stomach. The yarns and effort don't come cheap. Even though I found the pants I like on Amazon Japan, I'm a bit iffy buying them online without trying them on, they only sell them in Medium and Large, god knows in Japanese standard I'm probably XL, also I don't think they mail those internationally. I got a pair of black cargos to make do. I also can't seem to find a good large pair of Getas for my large feet. There are brilliantly attractive ones that I don't think will fit. Since Zolo wears boots, maybe I'll do that instead, but then I will have to return my tabis.

For a guy with little to no knowledge about applying make up, it'll be quite hard for me to do a kabuki one a la E. Honda. I wonder how many things I've to invest in to achieve the look. Of course an 80s platinum blond rocker wig will also look awesome with it.



Hope it'll all look good by the time I'm done.



Can anyone tell me if I really have to buy a dozen of make up tools to achieve a similar look?

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The Gay Cruising App Game

Well, like every good slutty gay guys I do have Grindr on my iPod just so I can seek out every gay guy in my neighborhood. Being in the city and living so close to the gayborhood, there are tons of them nearby and now when I go out on the street, I have an enhanced gaydar. I rarely use it to hook up and usually I don't even initiate conversations.

Other than the famed Grindr, there are also lesser known app like DNR Social which is another version of Grindr, I used this one to scoop out the boys in Henderson Island. There's also Scruff which is a cruising app for bears and their admirers and apparently something called Qrushr which made themselves to be the major competitor of Grindr.

Something surprising got to my attention yesterday. Apparently Qrushr has launched another app called Qrushr Girls which to my knowledge is the first Lesbian oriented iPhone cruising app.



And I thought lesbians or female in general is less raunchy than gay guys, I wonder a cruising app like this would work in a community that is less sex-crazed, but if there's a need to have an app so that lesbians can identify one another on the street then more power to them really.

To show you how much free time the boyfriend and I have and how silly we can be, we invented a little game with our iPods. Through making random people our favorites on the app and blocking others, we were able to manipulate people's profile, so the right pictures will end up on top or side by side to one another, which, allow us to combine some image and create some mishmash of longer torsos or super creatures.

Here's what we got so far:








It's not exactly tons of fun, but it's amusing to us nonetheless.

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Another Person's Wit

Saw a person's post on a social networking site and he had posted a few tests and found it quite clever so I wanted to share them with you.

The English language

Let's face it... English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger. Neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England, or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies, while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But, if we explore it's paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea, nor is a pig. So, why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce, and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So, one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends, but not one amend? -If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? If teachers taught, why don't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes, I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. -In which language do people recite at a play, and play at a recital? ...Ship by truck, and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell...? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on... English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. So, why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'Quick'?

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The English language Part II


I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, is taht it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Ptrety amzanig huh?

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Alzheimers Eye Test

Count every "F" in the following text:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTI
FIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS...

How many did you get?

There are actually 6.

Why? Because the brain cannot process the word "of"

(I failed this one.)

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Tricky Arithmetic

This must be done in your head only.

Do NOT use paper and pencil or a calculator.

Take 1000 and add 40 to it.
Now add another 1000 .
Now add 30.
Add another 1000.
Now add 20.
Now add another 1000.
Now add 10.

What is the total?

Did you get 5000? The correct answer is actually 4100.

(I got this one right!)

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The Boys On Henderson Island

The boyfriend and I both own an iPod Touch and being gay men, particularly nosy ones, we do have the Grindr app installed. For the few that aren't gay or haven't heard about Grindr, Grindr is an application that is used to detect other Grindr users sorted by distance. In nowhere does it mention that every Grindr users have to be gay, but it's understood that the primary function of this app is for gay people to seek out other gay people for the purpose of cruising, for sex.

In truth comparing to all the other gay cruising sites, Grindr is already quite demurred. There's practically no nudity involved, mostly you'll see someone in their undies or a naked headless torso featuring the user's head and abs. Two weeks ago, Apple started to clean up their act and now you can't even show pictures wearing only your undies in your profile. No foul or suggestive languages are allowed, it became most PG-13. In fact I was shocked when I first signed in on it to see the lack of functions and pornographic values. I have to say it is fun to see how many gay people are around me and how they look like since being gay is not necessarily an obvious quality, but as you see the people around you are the same every single time the fun of the application wanes.



Over the weekend, the boyfriend told me a new way to play with Grindr. The boyfriend being an Asiaphile, has discovered that a bunch of people would turn off their Location Services in their settings and their location will default to a tiny island in the South Pacific called Henderson Island. You will then find a lot of Grindr users at the same location, most of them Asian from Japan or Taiwan and such. I wonder if these Grindr users are there because they are closeted or too embarrassed to show themselves in their home location, or maybe they are just bored with seeing the same people over and over again and started to use the application as an international chat room. I'm sure there is an interesting sociology paper somewhere in this waiting to be written, and if I were in college taking the course maybe I'll venture on putting a stab in it.



Speaking on Henderson Island, I have no clue why the default location of iPods would be there. The only reason I could think of is that you wouldn't mistaken it as your current location. Henderson Island is one of the Pitcairn Islands located in the South Pacific Ocean somewhere between New Zealand and the coast of Chile, and it's one of the World Heritage Sites designated by United Nations for its uninhabited and virtually untouched by humans. If you see your map showed that you're there, you know that your iPod has made a mistake. I mean, the island does not even have any kinds of wireless access or any buildings for that matter. Once a year, people from Pitcairn Island (the only inhabited island of the Pitcairn Islands) will travel there by boat and harvest some wood, but that's the only human influence to the ground. Some might think that this might be paradise, but a paradise without internet access? I don't know about that.



Oh and Happy Cannabis Day!

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Out's Power 50

I used to subscribe to Out Magazine just to feel like I'm on top of the gay culture so that I can get a feeling that I belong. But while I can get a glimpse of some beefcake and some funny articles, the magazine has been in financial trouble and shrunk from being a monthly magazine into publishing once every two months and the lifestyle it portrays is one of riches and lavishness that I cannot match. Obviously I don't have the money to buy the latest LV leather gym bag or the palladium Cartier cufflinks that goes so well the new season of Veronique Branquiho shirts. So in the standards of Out, I'm sure I'm an Un-Gay. Come to think of it, the demise of Out Magazine might be from further alienating an already small audience and categorizing them by their income status and only catering to the elite, rich ones, much like the Human Rights Campaign.

In the same spirits, their Power 50 list for this year has came out detailing the 50 most powerful gays and lesbians. Their criterion are influence on culture and attitude, political clout, individual wealth, and a person’s media profile. Here is the list:

1. Ellen DeGeneres 26. Perez Hilton
2. Barney Frank 27. Suze Orman
3. Anderson Cooper 28. Dan Choi
4. Rachel Maddow 29. Chad Griffin
5. Adam Lambert 30. Dustin Lance Black
6. Barry Diller 31. Andrew Sullivan
7. Neil Patrick Harris 32. Alan Ball
8. Joe Solmonese 33. Bryan Lourde and Kevin Huvane
9. Tammy Baldwin 34. Nick Denton
10. Jared Polis 35. Michael Patrick King
11. Marc Jacobs 36. Wanda Sykes
12. Rich Ross 37. Robert Hanson
13. Tom Ford 38. Andrew Tobias
14. Tim Gill 39. Martha Nelson
15. Matt Drudge 40. Adam Moss
16. Jann Wenner 41. Jodie Foster
17. Fred Hochberg 42. Rufus Gifford
18. David Geffen 43. Gus Van Sant
19. Gene Robinson 44. Thom Browne
20. Scott Rudin 45. John Cooper
21. Peter Thiel 46. Jim Nelson
22. Richard Berke 47. Tim Gunn
23. Christine Quinn 48. Brook Colangelo
24. Anthony Romero 49. Simon Halls & Stephen Huvane
25. Lee Daniels 50. Urvashi Vaid

I guess I should be ashamed because of all these people, I don't know at least half of them and then I'm confused, how are these people powerful? Certainly some of them have the wealth to do things, others are famous celebrities. But partners at a successful PR firms or talent agencies, TV and film producers, writers can hardly be called powerful. Even if they can be called powers, they are not necessarily powers that affect the masses. So you are the agent that manages the Jonas Brothers, so what?

Unlike Ricky Martin, Sean Hayes and many others, some of the folks on the list are not even openly gay. And other than the very few on the list, who has openly done anything for gay rights? Most in the entertainment business are afraid that people will see them participating in activism as being volatile and unstable, while others are comfortable sitting in their elite gay chairs just to be worship for their clouts but not doing anything substantial. Adam Lambert frequently appears on the popular American Idol, while he kissed a boy on the MTV award show, he's not exactly being loved for it yet he's 23 positions ahead Dan Choi who's out protesting and letting his voice be heard. Barney Frank is too much into the White House's side to do anything constructive and while Joe Solmonese is supposed to be the largest recipient of donations in LGBT efforts, he only communicates with the elite, rich gays and his agency don't have the initiatives.

Of course after taking the time to read the list I realized that I shouldn't have took it as seriously as I did. I guess it's hard to find 50 openly well-known gay personalities, even rarer gay activists. So where does it leave us? And seriously, Adam Lambert at Number 5?

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Case Study: The Other Asian

About a year and a half ago, there's a 20-something Asian guy who moved into my building. He was friendly, around the same build as me. Days in and out, I'd see him hanging around the hall or seating on the stairs talking to various people. Then I'd spot him hanging around the various convenient stores all around my neighborhood, which in itself was intriguing. He said he was a student.

While I was looking to expand my social circles and get to know more people, I thought he could have been my friend, but I also know that these things can't be forced. We say hi in passing but seldom talk, The only time we did was when he was sitting at the stairs right outside my apartment, we talked for about 5 minutes just for me to be cordial and social - a nice neighbor. One night after going to the bar and having a few drinks, I stopped by one of those 24 hours convenient stores to get a hoagie and saw him there, I said hi. I was with the boyfriend and I was a little inebriated and I got his name wrong. He has one of those names that is made out of two different initials and I got one letter wrong. He might have been seriously offended, but he got very rude saying "That's not my name! Go down the alphabet." I have remembered his name since but I detect a slight change of attitude.

Let's say he has a very expressive face. Every time I see him since, he has seemed a bit arrogant or displeased. I usually don't bother with people like that. I remain to be nice and say hi even though it might not be wanted, it's not like I can avoid something living in such close proximity. It's the attitude that kills me. I was going out for groceries and chores yesterday and when I was just about to get out the front door, I saw him and his friends coming in, so I opened the door and held it for them to come through before I go out. Just before I leave, he held the door open and say "Close it gently, my friend." It's not like I was slamming it shut, I just let it go after I crossed, absolutely not unusual for me. And then I hear the sarcastic tone of the "my friend". I was being the absolute gentleman and intentionally held the door open for them, what gives?

The more I thought about, since I tend to be obsessive, the more I think that maybe he changed his attitude after seeing signs that I might be gay. That's the only reason I can think of. I'm not trying hard to hide my sexuality but at the same time I'm shocked that he could be a potential homophobe, just within the building there are at least half a dozen of us gay guys, we ARE living two blocks from the center of the gayborhood. If one really doesn't like the gays, maybe one should not live around this general area.

It does bother me a little knowing someone has ill will against me and to be verbally abused every now and then. I reckon I can talk to him next time I bump into him again but I doubt it will be constructive in any way. Lately, all the anti-gay folks all turns out to be closeted themselves, I don't suppose it's the same situation here and I'm not trying to be a mentor if it is. Maybe I'm all wrong and actually it's my looks that offends him, if that's the case there's nothing I can do. Meh.

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High Demand Asian Guys With British Accents

Lately I've found a few interesting Asian guys in various media so I thought I should share.



Asian guys are very underrepresented in the business of porn, so when one of us decide to do porn we are in high demand. Keni Styles who found himself in one such position is Thai and weighs a mere 130 pounds. Apparently he has already gotten a lot of awards in the UK since he has entered the business. He has a blog here, featuring a lot of his normal life video and that's where I hear his British accent. So far, he's still a hetero porn model with some solo shots on UK Naked Men. Not my cup of tea, but I'm glad to see him representing.



I saw this strikingly handsome Asian guy the other day on Martha Stewart teaching people how to grow their own drugs. Apparently James has made it big in the UK with a TV show and a book called Grow Your Own Drugs. He's Malaysian but grew up in the UK, which explains his sexy accent. He was also spotting a very sexy pencil beard while explaining the benefits of drinking Gingko Biloba tea and making his own habanero pain relieving pads. He's really quite cute.



Speaking of sexy Asian Guys with a British accent, I don't think I can leave out Louis Kwong Jr. who I've found on Flickr, he and his partners snaps a lot of pictures and videos of their sexy, bearish self and their friends. I seriously don't think their is a sexier, cuter, more adorable Asian bear out there. You can see a lot more of Louis here. Louis and his partner lives in the UK, they are both photographers and Louis is also a graphic designer of sort. I'm convinced some drawings in Japan bear magazine G-Men was modeled after Louis. Drooling hot!

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The Things People Do For $5

A friend that dabbles in the stock market has told me that during the depression that the only stock gaining way is the stocks of dollar stores. I thought that makes sense, although these days the dollar stores can't really live up to its name anymore. While there are some things that are still sold for $1, most things are beyond. Five Below are more like it and even then there aren't a lot of quality things to choose from. Occasionally, I would go there for some small boxes of Lego to fuel the boyfriend's obsession or find some cellophane bags to put baked goods in for friends. I like to browse but there's not much there for me, $5 can't really get you much but maybe I've spoke too soon.

Well, some applications on iPod and iPhones are cheap and interesting, especially a lot of games. But what's more is a website called Fiverr full of people trying to sell different service for $5. There's a guy willing to take a picture of him standing in Times Square holding up a sign with your message and send the picture to you for $5. If your girlfriend is angry at you and you don't know why, there's a girl willing to give you a female perspective for $5. Send your picture to this guy and he'll draw you a cartoon version of yourself. There are people from China, California, Colorado, Las Vegas willing to send you a postcard of their cities for $5. Do you want a personalized friendship bracelet? A business card especially designed for you? A company logo? A poem? Rap lyrics? They are all available for $5! I guess in a tough market every $5 helps.

I wonder what services can I provide for $5. Certainly I can cook for someone for $5. Of course that doesn't include the cost of groceries and for $5, it better be something simple and fast. I can knit a thin scarf for $5, maybe fold some origamis or make a rope doll. I have volunteer to teach people computer programs before and I certainly can do that again for $5 a head. Maybe help people with their homework, write a birthday card poem or translate some things in Chinese. Since there are still people getting Chinese Characters for tattoos. Maybe I can recommend and write out Chinese Characters for people to use.

What will you do for $5?

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Random Thoughts 3/5/2010

Just realized today might be someone's birthday, though who it is I can't remember. Nowadays you really have to be on Facebook for me to do anything about your birthday and most of the time you'll just get a congratulatory wall post. It also reminded me that I need to put everyone's contact information on my iPod Touch. I've already started to type shopping lists in it, waste some electricity but save some paper. It's like the debate between paper or plastic bags, which one is worse for the environment. There are really no concrete answers, are there? A good memory might be the better answer equivalent to bring your own backpack. But while I have a backpack, I don't have a good memory. Most of the time, I'm like the dude in Momentum.

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I don't think I can make it happen but someone has to do a GLBT-specific version of Wikipedia. I thought I'd call it Gikipedia (Geekypedia) but that should be it's own entity. We need an encyclopedia of information pertaining to gay sex, gay TV shows/characters, GLBT lingos, porn stars, cruising sites and locations, politicians and everything else under the sun. Wikipedia helps with most things but not in its entirety and certainly won't go into the nitty-gritty. Porn stars should have racy pictures and measurements, you know, the embellishments. Maybe it should even exhaust the discussion board on each locations ala Craigslist or another cruising site that shall not be named. Unlike Wikipedia though, I think it should depends a little more on advertising revenues more than donations, and also a logon might be required to view the contents. Imagine how useful it'd be to have just one authoritative place to look up everything when you first came out.

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I posted this strange thought on Facebook but here it is again:

Diva Plavalaguna is actually a Na'Vi from Pandora, she's just a polyglot that attended Juiliiard.

Of course, there is no need for a thought like that but I don't even know why but I really liked her in Fifth Element, probably because I was taken by Inva Mula Tchako's voice and the fantastic blue imagery of Plavalaguna. Plavalaguna is blue and much taller than your normal human being, she's also in a crusade to save a planet, has 6th sense and got a lot of tubes on her head. I'd love to figure out how to make a costume of her and wear it for Halloween. Though I'm sure a lot of people will mistaken it for a character in Avatar.

Yeah, I just wrote the sequel! Not I just have to think about where the Smurfs come in.

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I got invited to an Oscar viewing party in which each guest is to bring a dish that is from a movie, new or old. I don't think a lot of specific food dishes are mentioned in films. The most common on is probably burgers, from your Royale with Chesse in Pulp Fiction to Supersize Me and the Harold and Kumar White Castle films, also Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear flipping burgers in Stuck on You, I submit that burgers are the most popular food featured in movies. I could go the obvious route and make some sweet breads and fava beans or bring a bottle of Chianti but then the friend who invited me is vegetarian, who's also giving up bread and dairy for lent. If I'm going, I might just make a Ratatouille with pasta and call it Pasta Primavera so that can scratch their heads for a while. This "Up" cake is also a serious contender.

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Weird Apartments

I don't remember where I found this post about the world's weirdest apartment buildings. Apart from the noise which rarely happens in well built ones, I really do enjoy living in an apartment buildings. You always know that there are people around you and it makes you feel safe. When you have good neighbors, it even gives you a sense of community within the building.


Habitat 67, Montreal, Canada

Habitat 67 was built in 1967 as part of the World's Fair exposition in Montreal to demonstrate living habitat in the future when people will be forced to live in high density condition. The project was designed to create affordable housing with close but private quarters but demand's for the building's unit has since made them very expensive. There are 354 solid cubes constructed on top of each other and coalesced into 146 “square” residences, each equipped with a garden. I think I passed by it once on my way to a nearby casino during my visit to Montreal once.


Suite Vollard, Curitiba, Brazil

Designed by architect David Fisher, Suite Vollard was the first apartment building with floors that can rotate 360 degrees. Built in 2001, Suite Vollard stand 15 floors in height and 11 of those floors can turn clockwise or counter-clockwise, turning a full 360 degrees in one hour. Apartments in the building sell for $400,000 each.


Rødovre Sky Village, Copenhagen, Denmark

During the research on this building, I happened to stumble upon the Netherlands-based designing firm MVRDV who have designed one of the most jaw-dropping designs I've ever seen. The Rødovre Sky Village illustrated MVRDV's specialties in stacking. The 116 meter tall tower accommodates apartments, a hotel, retail and offices. A public park and a plaza. The building leans and hangs in order to create space for sky gardens. This stackable building is flexible to fulfill market needs, all the units can change their purposes. It's very Lego-like.


Turning Torso Building, Malmö, Sweden.

Right at the time that I'm reading the Kurt Wallander series recommended by Sue. A lot of storylines happens around Malmö. The Turning Torso building was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and opening in August 2005. The building reaches 54 stories tall and 623 feet in height, the second tallest building in Europe. Each floor consists of an irregular pentagonal shape rotating around the core and forms a 90 degree twist on the whole building.


Urban Cactus Building, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Europe seems to be the haven of interesting architectures. The Urban Cactus is a housing project accommodating 98 units in 19 floors. The riverside location dictates a lot of greens to be used on the building, the design on the curvy terrace provide space to appreciate gardening and the outdoors while also provide great views and sunlight. Too bad these don't spin around.


Elephant Building, Bangkok, Thailand

Elephants are Thailand's national symbol, so it's only "natural" for them to build a building resembling the creature. The Elephant building or "Chang" building consists of 7 parts and 32 floors of living, office, recreation and retail space. Although, does it really resemble an elephant?


Nagakin Capsule Tower, Tokyo, Japan

Nagakin Capsule Tower looks modern but it was actually built in 1972. The building houses 140 prefabricated modules that measures 8ft x 12ft x 7 ft. Each module functions as a small office or living space, The compact apartments included a wall of appliances and cabinets built in to one side, including a kitchen stove, a refrigerator, a television set, and a reel-to-reel tape deck. A bathroom unit, about the size of an aircraft lavatory, is set into an opposite corner. A large circular window over a bed dominates the far end of the room. It was meant to be a flexible system where the user can add or subtract a module base on their needs but the building has fallen to disrepair and the occupants are voicing for it to be torn down.


Container City, London, United Kingdom

At the end of its lifecycle, shipping containers are repurposed, joined together and stylized to form housing units. The benefits of using these shipping containers include the material are made of high strength steel, it's environmentally friendly, the installation might only take days, it's low costs and it can be altered easily into various shapes to satisfy consumer needs. Container City 1 as seen in the picture took only 5 months to complete and it's made of 80% recycled material. Check their website for more pictures and information.


Cubic Houses, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Rotterdam asked renowned architect, Piet Blom to design housing on top of a pedestrian walkway back in 1982. The design ended up being these cubic houses that resemble trees. The houses contain three floors:

* ground floor entrance
* first floor with living room and open kitchen
* second floor with two bedrooms and bathroom
* top floor which is sometimes used as a small garden

The walls and windows are angled at 54.7 degrees. The total area of the apartment is around 100 square meters, but around a quarter of the space is unusable because of the walls that are under the angled ceilings.

I find this even more disorienting than the rotating floors.


The Interlace/OMA, Singapore

The Interlace designed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture is a soon to be realized addition to the Singapore landscape. The project is comprised by 31-six stories high apartment blocks "interlacing" and forming hexagons to maximize vegetation and outdoor recreational spaces. The project will house a total of 1,040 apartments of various sizes. The Jenga looks alike certainly doesn't look very aerodynamic, I wonder how it'll "stack up" to the typhoon ridden coast of Southeast Asia.

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Working Men Breaking Barriers

In tough times, people get creative to think of new ways to make money. Old barriers are broken, new challenges are taken upon. Remember last month, Nevada's Shady Lady Ranch has anointed the country's first legal male prosti-dude, a 25 years-old ex-marine named Markus. Standing at 5'9", Markus is reportedly well endowed. The dude looks pretty good physically, facial features can be overlooked but apparently the guy is a douche... New York Post sent a reporter to check the guy out and it has met with some quite hilarious results. The dude compared himself to Lady Gaga, Moby and Van Gogh (for being an artist), then compare himself to Rosa Parks (for breaking barriers). Other than the egocentricity, he's also quite inexperienced when it comes to dealing with women and goes by the stereotype that women mostly just want companionship much more than sex. Markus requires $500 cash advance for any booking, though he only sees female clients "Because..." as he so skillfully put it, "my sphincter is not for sale."

And then there's this...



Jockstrap maid service. I guess it's really not a new concept, I think in the gay newspaper you can find people offering cleaning service in the buff for a slightly higher price. It's just that this one is better organized and have posted pictures so you know how the goods look like in advance. I have to admit that I was a little curious about that. It's constructive and erotic at the same time. Since cleaning and dusting is the task that I dread.

I have hired a guy once upon a time to clean my place, the guy was more than happy to get naked after he cleans and that turned into a very short term affair that ended eons ago. Nowadays I clean my own place, maybe naked at times but even though they don't have a representative here in Philly, I don't think I can be a jockstrap maid as my next career, or rather, no one would hire me with my clothes off. A friend asked me to teach him how to make cheesecake and that reminded me that my mom and her sisters have been instructors for housewives who want to learn how to be beauticians and florists alike, so maybe that's in my genes. Though nowadays, you'd have to be a chef or at least have a diploma of some kinds before you begin. Being ogled by elderly ladies is quite creepy and being naked in the kitchen is very dangerous.

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1000th Post!

Yeah! Post 1000! I'd like to take the opportunity to thanks my friends, readers and the occasional passer-bys and in some case, stalkers for reading this little blog right here. We're all wasting our time one way or the other, but at least we're having fun doing it huh, gang?

This whole thing started when one friend decided to start a blog talking about her emotional life and I thought, hey, maybe I can write some stuff too. It was very arbitrary, but I'm glad to have made some friends throughout the year doing it.

Again, thank you! Hope you've enjoyed!

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Testing The "All Babies Are Cute" Theory

From the National Geographic series and Channel 4 using ground-breaking photographic techniques, plus state-of-the-art graphics, 4-D scanning techniques and the most sophisticated natural history models ever, we have images from a documentary called Extraordinary Animals in the Womb.


We have a kitty here.


A Puppy.


Looks like this one could be a sharpei.


A baby kangaroo in the pouch.


A baby elephant


Baby emperor penguin that looks almost like an alien.


Another penguin, still quite alien/monster-like.


A Parasitic Wasp's Larvae


Scary baby shark.


A cute dolphin.

For a brief video of the program, click here. Aren't they cute? Hope that put you in a good mood for the weekend.

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