PopSeoul

Sometimes it's nice to have (female) friend totally addicted to korean (so-called) singers. So you can enjoy photos of something related to the super famous (afaik) Rain.

Or, much better, you can enjoy a videao of super straight korean guy showing off for the camera only pleasure...

Isn't it time to come (my) home ?

"Funky honkey, nasty nigger"

What's hidden there?

Date an asian

True

I guess it's just another buzz, there is even a dedicated website, where you can have the lyrics!

Verse 1:
Hey there, my name is Jen Kwok
And I'm here to tell you that dating Asians rocks
They have smooth skin and silky hair
So damn exotic, got that ethnic flair
So sweet and gentle, smell so good
So freaky, nasty, do what you always wanted to
So obedient, they'll please you like no one can
That's right, I'm talkin bout an Asian man

Chorus:
Everyone should date an Asian man
Don't gotta be serious, just f*** an Asian man
At least f*** one, at least, least f*** one
At least f*** one, at least, least f*** one
...

Pretty philosophical, ain't it?

Don't forget the "production stills" gallery with some cuties (?):

Humm...

Neutral wedding in Sweden

It is clearly far from Asia, though many Swedish people track the sun down to Thailand, but still interesting. Sweden is one of the happy few country in the world to have, now, a totally neutral wedding whatever is the gender of the 2 persons to-be-married.

There is no clear separation bewtween churches and state, at least concerning wedding. Although, most (if not all) churches do not celebrated same-sex wedding yet. Hopefully it seems that the Lutheran Church of Sweden is about to allow it. Unfortunately, i can't find any recent english sources about it.

Isn't it kinda fun to imagine to finally get married with your boyfriend in a church? Think about Sodom and Ghomorra ;)

... ok the only interest of this post was to put this cute picture >.<

Special fashion contest

The increasing popularity of homosexual beauty contests has raised eyebrows, with people asking whether or not such events are legal.

That's how start the magificient article of Thanh Nien News (a bit outdated i have to concede). From my point of view, this article could be much worse. The mix between homosexual, transvestite, transexual, sex change surgery, etc is quite common even in western country.

Anyway, what surprised me in a way is the new regulation about:

Not have undergone cosmetic or sex change surgeries

As far as i know it's the first time the law is considering lgbt...queer people. AFAIK, homosexuality is not forbidden as it just does not exist according to 90% of the population thus nobody bothers with it.

The second surprse for me was the "The Prince Style Contest for lesbians" ! What the hell! Where is the gayz contest? Would lesbians still be glamourous in HCMC while gayz are not? Anyway it's not coming anytime soon in Hanoi (vietnamese time scale though... many things go so fast there).

Aren't they "innocent lil' princess" style?

Children with AIDS in VIetnam

Traditional propaganda
(Ma tuy= drug ; if i remember correctly the message says "it's not ok to try even once)

Here's an interesting article about the situation of aids-infected children in HCMC ("the most progressive region in the country in terms of HIV/AIDS advocacy"):

When classes opened across Vietnam on August 17, few students were as excited — or as nervous — as a group of 15 HIV-positive children who had finally been given permission to attend school. For the past two years, the Ho Chi Minh City orphanage where they live had been lobbying to enroll them in a public primary school. Now that the day had arrived, the children were so excited that many were up before the sun, already dressed in the new clothes the nuns had bought for the special occasion.

Full article by Martha Ann from time.com.

A more friendly poster (bao cao su = condom)

A modern poster about getting tested for free (i think)
There are also young people on this kind of poster...all in all it's much more appealing than traditional one but does it work?

Back home

... but not exactly, it's been 2 months since the last posts and some adventures but now i'm back home (country). I should be working here, which is kinda far from what i used to call home 3 years ago (only though i left my "home" more than 10 years ago). I got some strange feelings in this coutnry but mainly i feel "deadish".

cheers?

I like him and you?

Going HK for the week end

Finally my time in Asia is soon to be over for the moment (i hope & think). To 'celebrate' it, i go with a bunch of friends to Hong-Kong for a long week end.

Although, they are not gay, i'll be there with my boy friend and i plan to do one "gay places evening". Thus i checked a bit utopia and... wahoo! The city is just a bit bigger than Hanoi (8millions vs 6) but it's so full of gay or gay-friendly places! Even more than the Bangkok listing!

Anybody knows why? It could be it's a trendy place and many gays go there for working or leisure? Despite the chinese environment it's unofficially open?

A kiss in HK (it looked so cute to me... i hope i can do the same there ;-) )

In order to make this post a bit more informative, an edit:
It's easy and cheap to go HK from Hanoi though it's a long journey:
* Hanoi -> Bangkok at 9pm (perfect if you leave work at vietnamese hour like 5 pm), arrives at 10:45pm. There are some cheap hotel close to the airport
* Bangkok -> Macau: You got a flight at 7 am, arrives at 10am.
* Macau -> Hong Kong: there is boat transportation evry hour but i don't know the price yet.
* Bangkok -> Hanoi: flight at 6:45 am, arrives at 8:35, you can be at work at 9:30/10 am

Hanoi - Bangkok can cost around 100$ and Bangkok - Macau also 100$ which sum up 200$... if you take it at least 1 month in advance (imho). The hotel in Hong Kong look impressive but not as cheap as Vietnam or Thailand, the cheapest are around 60$/night.

You can also go direct to HK from Bangkok but the flight time is bad for short trips. Another possibility is to fly direct from Hanoi. There was a promotion at vietnam airlines for 350$ including 2 nights in a 3 stars hotel but you fly in the middle of the day... For non promotional, i have no idea but i would say at least 400$.

Formalities:

Most westerners can make their visa on arrival in Macau or Hong Kong. Vietnamese have to make it before departure and it can be such pain, especially if you are from a northern province... It seems that a visa for Hong Kong is sufficient to enter Macau (as it's not possible to do a Macau visa in Hanoi, according to my bf).

Kebab & traffic light

After 2 boring motorbikes post, here is a funny one (still related to motobikes). I took these pictures a few days ago.

Kebab-bike

Connected traffic light (you can check it on Dai Co viet")

You can find more funny traffic pics @ pinkvn. By the way, don't think it's special pics, i (and all long term expatriate) have seen most of these situations.

Top-notch bikes (2)

I realized i should have done an introduction which i will call "Vietnam and motobikes" as i got too accustomed to vietnamese way of moving. Unfortunately for you, i will do it later!

If you remember, we stopped at a very 'nice' purple minsk... Now let's head toward really cool bikes:

Yamaha Nouvo LX (how stylish!?)

I used to have one and it is one of my favorite bike. It's heavier than smaller bikes but still light (for me), not too expensive, fast, maneuverable (so important in traffic jam) and convenient (it has a box under the seat big enough for my helmet). The only drawbacks are it uses a lot of gas when you go fast and it's "gay" according to my bf (wtf?). Actually it's "gay" for (some) straight as i didn't notice a peculiar use of this bike by gay (though my ex gay housemate rented one >.<).

Yamaha exciter (and not so exciting dude)

This motorbike is faster, more aggressive but has no big box under the seat and is clutch based. It has one advantage and one (big) drawback: you can make it scream and drive n a sporty (deadly?) way but you have no protection for your foot (rain and in case of accident!). I might buy it someday...

After two Yamaha bikes it's time to talk about some Honda. By the way the first one are known to be more aggressive bikes while the latter use generally less gas and people think they age slower.

Honda - Future (no cookie, no dude)

Convenient but clutch based, "so so style" but not ugly, fast enough but gas saving here is the Honda Future. A nice bike if you don't look for something classy but nice for both city and country side (though even the nouvo is able to go countryside... i did a week trip with it next to China). Unfortunately for some vietnamese chicks it's a "xe om motorbike" (it's worth mototaxi).

Honda Air Blade (and a dude but who cares?)

Very nice in my opinion as it has a kinda aggressive look but not too much and it has a convenient seat box, no clutch and it's a honda (thus gas saving). It's the same class of the exciter but looks more "adult": it's not a small bikes looking over aggressive.

That's all folks!
(for the moment)