Im Soo-yeon: Skirt or shorts?

Enjoy some photos of this lovely Korean model and vote on the poll

Skirt or shorts? Why? Because it's fun to know... (Photo source)

Korean model Im Soo-Yeon [임수연] is in my opinion a very attractive woman, who can wear almost anything and she'd still look great. She's famous for a very slender figure and long legs and although she's petite, photographers are able to get a lot out of her. According to this Korean source, Soo-yeon (nicknamed Imssu) is from Seoul, a Buddhist, 165cm tall and has 47kg. Her year of birth is not mentioned. Her favorite artists are Big bang and she likes most of the food, especially misu, fried rice and kimchi, but she doesn't like garlic and vegetables in general.

But this post is not only about the model, it's also about a very trivial question for you, dear reader. If you had to choose (generally speaking) what would be more appealing to you:

A girl/woman wearing a skirt or shorts?

It's the ultimate nonessential question, totally insignificant, but I'm in the mood for some lighter topics, where my and your brains won't get overly strained. In my opinion shorts are sexier, but you have to have the right figure and it can be too much for some people. Skirts are more cute.

If you're a girl/woman, do you like skirt or shorts more?

See some of my favorite photos of Im Soo-yeon (sometimes Lim Soo-yeon):

More from the set here>> and here>>

More from the set here>>

More from the set here>>

More from the set here>>

More from the set here>>

Im Soo-yeon is one of Korea's cutest models.

The latest photo set from Dec 2010.

Great boots, right?

All photos from RCA (check for more), photographer unknown.

Some links to Im Soo-yeon's photo albums on Korean blogs:

• DCM: Hat and shorts
• Cherry Picker: Dress and skirt
• Miamor: Yellow top and shorts
• Shoony: In brown with hat
• Onlifezone: Urban hoodie
• Paran: On a rock

New: Dowload 37 photos of Im Soo-yeon here>>

Useful Chinese phrases: Pick-up lines

Today's Chinese phrases will be all about pick-up lines: How do I start conversations with a lovely Chinese woman? I know that this should belong to the beginning of the series, but OK. Better late than never. I must say, these phrases are pretty advanced and complicated, so you need some basic knowledge of Mandarin, before you want to try yourself with these. I started with the basic ones, which I made up myself, the more complicated ones at the end were found online and translated into English by the best Chinese teacher in the world: my girlfriend. Really really thanks this time for translating these quite complicated phrases.

✰ Read also my15 most romantic Chinese phrases>>

7.0 Chinese pick-up lines

哈啰！妳叫什麼名字呢？ 妳經常來嗎？
哈啰！你叫什么名字呢？ 你经常来吗？
Hā luō! Nĭ jiào shén me míng zi ne? Nĭ jīng cháng lái mă?
Hello. What's your name? Do you come here often?

我很喜歡妳的笑容，妳很可愛。
我很喜欢你的笑容，你很可爱。
Wŏ hĕn xĭ huan nĭ de xiào róng. Nĭ hĕn kĕ ài.
I really like your smile. You are cute.

我發現妳在看我。我可以請妳喝杯飲料嗎？
我发现你在看我。我可以请你喝杯饮料吗？
Wŏ fā xiàn nĭ zài kān wŏ. Wŏ kĕ yĭ qĭng nĭ hē bēi yĭn liào mă?
I've noticed you were looking at me. Can I buy you a drink?

我剛來到這裡而且期待認識新朋友。
我刚来到这里而且期待认识新朋友。
Wŏ gāng lái dào zhè lĭ ér qiĕ qī dài rèn shi xīn péng you.
I'm new in town and looking to meet some new people.

我認為妳有雙我所見過的最美麗的眼睛。
我认为你有双我所见过的最美丽的眼睛。
Wŏ rèn wéi nĭ yŏu shuāng wŏ suŏ jiàn guò de zuì mĕi lì de yăn jing.
I think you have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen.

妳對於西方人學習說中文的看法如何？
你对于西方人学习说中文的看法如何？
Nĭ duì yú xī fāng rén xué xí shuō Zhōng wén de kàn fă rú hé?
What do you think about Western guys speaking Chinese?

我正在學中文而且我需要練習。妳認為如何呢？
我正在学中文而且我需要练习。你认为如何呢？
Wŏ zhèng zài xué Zhōng wén ér qiĕ wŏ xū yào liàn xí. Nĭ rèn wéi rú hé ne?
I'm studying Chinese and I need to practice. How do you like it?

我從未如此過，但妳實在太令人驚艷了，我必須要跟妳說話。
我从未如此过，但你实在太令人惊艳了，我必须要跟你说话。
Wŏ cóng wèi rú cĭ guò, dàn nĭ shí zài tài lìng rén jīng yàn le, wŏ bì xū yāo gēn nĭ shuō huà.
I never did this before, but you are so amazing, I had to talk to you.

妳是蔡依林嗎？我能向妳要簽名嗎？
你是蔡依林吗？我能向你要签名吗？
Nĭ shì Cài Yī Lín mă? Wŏ néng xiàng nĭ yāo qiān míng mă?
Are you Jolin Tsai? Can I get an autograph?

妳是模特兒嗎？因為妳看起來就像真的模特兒。
你是模特儿吗？因为你看起来就像真的模特儿。
Nĭ shì mó tèr mă yīn wèi nĭ kān qĭ lai jiù xiàng zhēn de mó tèr?
Are you a model? Because you really look like one.

哇，我從來沒有看過像妳這麼美的女孩。
哇，我从来没有看过像你这么美的女孩。
Wā. Wŏ cóng lái méi yŏu kān guò xiàng nĭ zhè me mĕi de nǚ hái.
Wow. I've never seen a girl as beautiful as you.

妳看起來很面熟，我們以前見過嗎？
你看起来很面熟，我们以前见过吗？
Nĭ kān qĭ lai hĕn miàn shú. Wŏ men yĭ qián jiàn guò mă?
You look familiar. Have we met before?

我曾經見過妳嗎？或許在我夢裡見過？
我曾经见过你吗？或许在我梦里见过？
Wŏ céng jīng jiàn guò nĭ mă? Huò xŭ zài wŏ mèng lĭ jiàn guò?
Haven't I seen you before? Maybe in my dreams?

妳看起來像個仙女，歡迎來到凡間。
你看起来像个仙女，欢迎来到凡间。
Nĭ kān qĭ lai xiàng gè xiān nǚ, huān yíng lái dào fán jiān.
You look like an angel. Welcome to Earth.

我喜歡妳的樣子。有很多女孩都長得很美，但妳看起來很有特色。
我喜欢你的样子。有很多女孩都长得很美，但你看起来很有特色。
Wŏ xĭ huan nĭ de yàng zi. Yŏu hĕn duō nǚ hái dōu cháng de hĕn mĕi, dàn nĭ kān qĭ lai hĕn yŏu tè sè.
I like your look. A lot of girls have beauty, but you seem like you have character.

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If you have some good pick-up lines to share, please add them in the comment section. After the MKL Chinese Language Commission evaluates your suggestions, they may end up amid the phrases above with the credit given to you. ^^v 加油!

If you want to save this page, go here>>

Back to my Learning Chinese page>>

I will fly again.

Like almost every night, I go outside infront of our house and look at the stars. It got colder lately, but I still stand there every night and look up. It's like a ritual before sleep. It's a marvellous display of tiny little dots and I'm always mesmerized by them. It reflects my mood. I'm dreamy. Reflective. Hopeful. I'm captivated by its sheer infinity and I feel so small - my problems, desires, fears and expectations seem so insignificant. Yet, they are there. They are real. That's who I am. And then I see a moving dot. It's an aeroplane. I close my eyes and picture myself being on one. I remember the time when I flew thru the night, everyone was sleeping and I watched over them. I felt at ease.

I miss flying. I miss knowing that I will depart and arrive. I miss the feeling of anticipating the person who waits for me. The fears, the excitement, the shyness, the smiles. I miss being the real me in another country, far far away. I know I will fly again. I feel it. Zewt once said that you need to run towards something and not run away from something. He was right. But it's not easy to do so, especially for those of us, who feel like they have two homes. I think I will always travel. If you think about it - everybody does. The difference is what distance. Some people leave a small trail in life, I feel I'm destined to leave a big one. I'm drawn to the Far East and I don't even know why. Maybe it's a gut feeling. Maybe it's my past life. I just can't explain it. But how many things in life can you really explain? Can you explain love?

Think about it.

[picture taken in Hong Kong, Jan 2009]

Is it fate when two fall in love?

It's probably one of those questions that can't really be answered, but I'll ask it anyway: Is it fate when two people fall in love?

It happens so many times that two people meet, talk, get to know each other. They develop feelings, fall in love and eventually come together, even marry. A classic love story. And then you look back with your partner and you think: It must have been fate how we met and fell in love. This assumption may be right or wrong.

Here's how I see it. Either you see fate in every little thing that happens to you or you see fate only in big things in life. Or you see everything as a mere coincidence. Anything's possible, depends on your perception of reality. But let's focus on fate.

Let's say you see fate in every little thing that happens in your life. Then you're the kind of person that sees signs and deep meanings in things that may be just ordinary to others. I think such understanding of reality can be defendable, if you don't go into extremes and read to much into insignificant things. But then again, what is insignificant? It's a fairly subjective matter and it's debatable as well.

On the other hand, there's people who see fate in big things in life. Those would be occasions where someone's life was instantly changed - like an unexpected death, accidents, sickness, winning the lottery... and most likely in this group as well: Finding the love of your life.

And then we have to clarify: What is the love of one's life? We all have different criteria for that. Some people live for the moment, change partners like it's the most natural thing. They can have multiple relationships, marriages, affairs, flings and still feel good about themselves. That's totally legitimate - to each his own.

I (on the other hand) am just not that kind of man. I always get attached to the woman I love, that's why I'm looking for something long and lasting. I know this romatic concept seems to be outdated these days, but as I said many times: I am a hopeless romantic. I still hope, wish, anticipate that one woman who would be with me for a long long time or as we usually say in a poetic way: Forever!

But you can never know. Life has so many unexpected twists and turns. Who knows, if I will have these romantic expectations in 10, 20 or 30 years. But I need to live thru to that age, I need to find what I am looking for now, at this point of my life. You can't jump over to the next step. You will likely trip and fall.

But if one day when I'm old and if I happen to be married for a long long time, I will put my scepticism aside and I'll say to my wife: You know, when we fell in love and married so many decades ago, it must have been fate that brought us together. Now I know it. Because you are the love of my life, you made me happy like nobody else, you completed me and you lasted with me almost all my life. That's where I do believe in the concept of fate.

How about you?

[Photo: Source]

Verbal golden shower for phony bloggers

*Bloggers. We're all self-centred sometimes. We're all full of ourselves sometimes. We all write crap sometimes. We all criticize others sometimes...

...but the stress is on sometimes! Heck, if you do that all the time, how can you expect people will like you or that you won't attract haters? What's the point of blogging, if you're always the greatest and everybody else is wrong? Do you think people will like to read your verbal golden showers all the time?

As personal bloggers we are seldom objective, because we don't look for the actual truth, we write from our own perspectives, which are sometimes far from the actual reality. We don't strive to be fair and balanced, why would we? Sometimes we don't reveal everything, sometimes we make ourselves look stronger, smarter, funnier - sometimes we don't want to look vulnerable. That's all fine to me, if it's just sometimes. Everybody does it from time to time. But the personal bloggers I really like and admire (Andhari, Angel, Floreta, Jerine, Nashe, Rica, Sharon and Selvy), never take themselves too seriously. I've seen them vulnerable, I've seen them being sorry, I've seen them admitting their flaws and wrongs (read their TMI Thursdays), I've seen them laugh about themselves. They are never full of themselves!

And that's the kind of bloggers I truly like and appreciate. Because I, too, am as honest as I can be on this platform: I write about my highs and lows, my desires, depressions and happy moments. I can say sorry. I do learn from my mistakes. I'm aware of the things I say and I do evolve. And that's the most important thing. All good bloggers will say: OMG, look at my first posts, how silly they were. Yea, we start randomly, scribble down few emotions and post. But we evolve and mature thru time. And that's how it's supposed to be, if you want to call yourself an adult. Online and offline.

That's why I can't stand people who are always full of themselves - people who always portray themselves as the best and whatnot and everyone else, who disagrees with them (or who even dares to criticize them), will be slammed back. You can deem yourself a celeb, a smartass or a troublemaker, but you're a #loser for me! Don't you see how insecure you really are? By criticizing everything and everyone but yourself, you want to blind yourself from your own insecurities. It's always the outside world's fault and never yours. You think you do everything perfectly and you never understand why people are the way they are and why they react the way they do. However, you are the problem, not them.

How about you do a little reflecting on your own actions sometimes?
How about saying a little genuine sorry and admiting your mistakes
from time to time? It wouldn't kill ya, would it?
-----------------------------------------------------------
Heck, I don't care about this kind of bloggers/commentators anymore. I just don't follow them. Everyone can blog whatever they want, they can even write about me. I don't care. There will always be assholes online and offline. Best is to ignore them. Life's too short. Have you ever encountered bloggers like described here? What do you think about them?

*This is not about any of you, my bloggy friends and twiens. It was triggered by various posts I've recently read on some random blogs, but it's not directed to one person in particular. I hope it can be applicable to bloggers in general who behave the way it was described above. [Photo: Source]

What do you see in her?

What's the 1st thing that comes to your mind when you see this picture?

[Model 丁晗 Ding Han, Beijing: Source]

How to attract the Chinese woman of your dreams?

*Seriously, I have no clue how you do that. You won't find an answer on my blog, I am no seduction expert. But you even may have other questions like: Why do Western men manage to attract Chinese women? How to attract beautiful Chinese girls? How to seduce Asian Women? How to date a Chinese girl? How are Chinese, Japanese or Korean women in love and marriage? Heck, you may even have questions about flings, affairs or mail order brides or even sex. But as I said, you won't find answers about these matters on my blog, I don't have an Asian singles blog, nor do I post Asian or Chinese singles dating personals.

All I can give you here is a simple advice: Learn Chinese! Learn the language, communicate and be yourself and all the questions you asked, will be answered.

And if you happen to look for some great chinese phrases, check my blog series about

Learning Chinese.

You'll find Chinese phrases and dialogues that you can use for writing text messages, emails or casual conversations. Please give me feedback, if my phrases helped you.

Thanks and 谢谢 for dropping by.

*Disclaimer: This post is intended to for SEO ;-)

Learning Chinese: Going to the cinema

The topic for today will be going to the cinema together with your crush or girl of interest. This time it will be a very formal description, so please don't expect a very casual dialogue. This part was put together with my dear Chinese teacher Lily, who not only translated everything, she also added her own ideas for the dialogue. So thank you very much, I really appreciate it. And I hope these phrases would be useful to those who plan to invite a Chinese girl to see a nice movie. Good luck!

[Voice file with pronounciation here and (here) - by Lily]

6.0 Going to the cinema

First you call her or message her:

你想看电影吗？
Nǐ xiǎng kàn diàn yǐng ma?
Do you want to see a movie?

是的，我想看电影。
Shì de, wǒ xiǎng kàn diàn yǐng.
Yes, I'd like to see a movie.

你想看什么电影？
Nǐ xiǎng kàn shénme diàn yǐng?
What movie do you want to see?

我们可以看爱情电影吗？
Wǒ men kě yǐ kàn ài qíng diàn yǐng ma?
Can we see a romantic movie?

当然，我很乐意。
Dāng rán, wǒ hěn lè yì.
Of course, it's my pleasure.

Besides the cinema, you can also invite her out for dinner.
You'll find the suitable phrases here.

---------------------------

At the cinema:

让我们先买票吧。
Ràng wǒ men xiān mǎi piào ba.
Let's buy the tickets first.

好的。喔，队伍很长，我们必须等上一段时间。
Hǎo de. Wō, duì wǔ hěn cháng, wǒ men bì xū děng shàng yī duàn shí jiān.
Yes. Oh, the line is long, we will have to wait a while.

是的，今天很多人。
Shì de, jīn tiān hěn duō rén.
Yes, there's so many people today.

请给我两张爱情电影的票。
Qīng gěi wǒ liǎng zhāng ài qíng diàn yǐng de piào.
Two tickets for the romantic movie, please.

你想要吃点食物或饮料吗？
Nǐ xiǎng yào chī diǎn shí wù huò yǐn liào ma?
Do you want to have some food and drinks?

我想要一杯可乐跟一袋爆米花。
Wǒ xiǎng yào yī bēi kě lè gēn yī dài bào mǐ huā.
I want a cup of coke and a package of popcorn.

让我们走去找位置吧。
Ràng wǒ men zǒu qù zhǎo wèi zhì ba.
Let's go and find our seats.

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After the movie, you may ask her these things:

你喜欢这部电影吗？
Nǐ xǐ huān zhè bù diàn yǐng ma?
How did you like the movie?

我很喜欢。你呢？
Wǒ hěn xǐ huān. Nǐ ne?
I liked it very much. And you?

我也很喜欢。
Wǒ yě hěn xǐ huān.
I liked it, too.

If you want to flatter her, use these phrases.

---------------------------

And then it's time to part:

谢谢你和我出来。
Xiè xiè nǐ hé wǒ chū lái.
Thank you for going out with me.

我希望我们很快能再见面。
Wǒ xī wàng wǒ men hěn kuài néng zài jiàn miàn.
I hope we meet again soon.

不客气，我到家时会打电话给你。
Bù kèqi, wǒ dào jiā shí huì dǎ diàn huà gěi nǐ.
You're welcome. I will call you when I reach home.

好的，再见了。
Hǎo de. Zài jiàn le.
Ok, bye bye, see you.

[Photo: Source]

Always be positive!

My life is lately a little different than it used to be. I remember writing about an up some 1 month ago. That up was short lived and an emo phase followed soon after. But today I can say that in the recent 2 weeks I'm feeling great :-) And there are several reasons for that. Mostly it's because I changed my perception on things. I know when people are emo, they take every single thing so seriously. I had my share of these days, especially on some rainy August days. And I did write some posts or comments that I really regret writing. But hey, I am just human, I make mistakes. But more important is that I learn from them and that I can apologize sincerely.
And so it happened that I slowly crawled out of my depressing period and just today realized how much more optimistic I am. Of course I didn't do that all by myself, far from that. It's because of people who came into my life unexpectedly and taught me a lot of new things, shifted my views and put back a smile on my face. You know who you are and you know you mean a lot to me. And even if it seems too good to be true, I'm living for the moment. I'm truly positive. It's so easy to fall back into emo mode, that's why I'm enjoying my happy days as much as I can. I even got some awsome new Twitter followers, among them the Singaporean celebrity blogger Dawn Yang, who not only follows me, but even tweets/DMs back sometimes and I don't have a clue how come. I've been following her blog for few months now and sending her some tweets and I guess she liked it. I'm happy that she follows me back, because I like her and I think she's an awsome girl. In addition to that, our (read Slovenian) most famous and popular blogger Had also started following me on Twitter and I have no idea why, but it feels great, too. Twitter and blogging really connect people and it's very easy. Here's how I do it. If you want to befriend people,

• be just yourself - be honest, mean what you say
• be positive - instead of criticising, focus on the good points
• be loyal - if you follow someone, be there for them if they need you
• try to give good advice - but put yourself in their shoes
• be patient - don't rush, focus on quality not quantity
  

That's how I do it lately and it works. It may stop, it may change... But that's how life is: full of ups and downs, constant changes, people come and go. But some things always stay the same, some people will always be there for you even when the majority leaves you behind.

When you stand in rain and need an umbrella, they will hand it to you.

So be positive, give and recieve, don't look for trouble. If people offend you (offline or online), be above it all, don't feed the trolls, you can be so much classier than them. Ignore them, block them, delete them. If I can do it, you can do it, too. :-)

It's all in our minds.

[Photo Kang Yui: Source]

My Murtaugh list

The faboulous Andhari asked me, if we could write a blog post with the same topic today. I asked her what would that be? And she said let's write our personal Murtaugh list. I was like: What is that? Well, to put it simply, it's a list of things that you would do when you were young, but now you're too old for them and you wouldn't do them anymore. If you want to find out the whole history of the Murtaugh list and about the name, check this blog. It's explained very well. To read Andhari's interesting Murtaugh list, go here. My dear sis Selvy made her Murtaugh list, too. Check it here and my new friend Wenny made her list here.

So here's my Murtaugh list:

01 I'm too old to watch the Smurfs on TV. [I was hooked on them when I was 12]

02 I'm too old to judge people by the music they listen to. [This is so teenager-ish]

03 I'm too old ask my mum to fetch me from a party. [Oh, that happened when I was a teen]

04 I'm too old to fall in love with someone based only on her looks. [Teeny crushes, right?]

05 I'm too old to get wasted every weekend. [When I was 18, that was my life!]

06 I'm too old to wear a nose piercing. [I had one at 18, I was quite something then :-P ]

07 I'm too old to forget brushing my teeth regularly. [At age 3 I totally didn't care :-P ]

08 I'm too old for one-night stands. [Wait, I never had any :-P ]

09 I'm too old to get upset about what someone blogs or comments about. [I've matured!]

10 I'm too old to get drunk after a break-up. [I miss the teen-years sometimes]

11 I'm too old to be mad at someone for a long time. [I forgive, but I may distant myself]

12 I'm too old to impersonate Michael Jackson moonwalking.

13 I'm too old to forget fixing my hair before I go to town.

14 I'm too old to ride a tricycle. [I drove one at age 4]

15 I'm too old to brag about the amount of ear butter in my ears. [Kids in the 80s]

16 I'm too old to chew gum and make baloons with it. [Kids in the 90s]

17 I'm too old for a tamagotchi. [I never had one anyway]

18 I'm too old to bedazzle my handphone. [And wrong gender ;-) ]

19 I'm too old to hide behind the corner and scare people (and laugh).

20 I'm too old to wear white tennis socks. [So early 90s].

21 I'm too old to laugh at racist or gay jokes. [As kids we thought it's funny...]

22 I'm too old to get fooled twice. [Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...]

23 I'm too old to like just one band and obsess about it. [Like some do with Jonas bros.]

24 I'm too old to believe in Santa. [Hey, I'm almost 30! ;-) ]

25 I'm too old drink whisky and pretend it tastes good. [At 18 I did, maybe now I'd like it..]

26 I'm too old to write another Murtaugh list.

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So this is it. How do you like it? What would be on your Murtaugh list?

Lee Hyori: Cosmopolitan photos 2009

I won't say much, because I am speechless. This is Lee Hyori, Korean superstar, one of the hottest women in the world, and the one on my header pic. These photos were made in September 2009. [That guy is so lucky!] Enjoy!

[Exceptional women][My HYORI page][Photos: Source]

About autumn rain

Is it a coincidence that rain rhymes with pain and sun rhymes with fun? Is it a coincidence that rain resembles tears?

I don't know why autumn rain makes me melancholic. I'm tired today and it's been raining all day and it may continue so the next two days. When you're alone, weather matters. A sunny day will make you forget all your fears and insecurities, a rainy day will make you face them. Rain makes you stay inside. You gaze out of the window and you contemplate: Why am I confined to this little space? I want to break free, I want to leave, I want to go far far away... I want to escape gloominess and run away from my inner demons. I just want to be happy.

爱 Rain has no effect on me when I have my loved one beside me. I imagine snuggling on the couch, wrapped in a blanket and watching TV... It may be the most boring scene ever. You know, slippers on the floor... dreamy eyes, cracking bones... On the other hand: Giggling, tickling, rubbing the cheeks, kissing... And it can rain as much as it wants! I couldn't care less! [I need you in my life.] Because I want to see the glow in her eyes, when I intertwine my fingers with hers and pull her near to kiss her. I want her to change my four-seasons mindset into life.

怼 I have once been broken up while walking outside and it suddenly started pouring like doomsday. We ran back to her house, she gave me a towel and I wiped off the rain from my face. Soon after, her father drove me to the train station and I never saw her again. I once drove someone to the airport and it was raining a lot. We were hopeful. I never saw her again.

Ah, rain. we're in a love-hate relationship.
But my tears always dry. So does the rain.

[Photo: Rain outside my house]

Communication is the key to solve every problem...

Two people, two genders...

Far far away from each other...

Communicating in a foreign language...

Light words become heavy, emotions boil...

Explosion, sadness, withdrawal...

Peace, reflection, regrets...

Return to communication...

Apologies, smiles, hope...

Happiness, confidence...

Hope again.

[Photo: Source]

Learning Chinese: Taking her out for dinner

My Chinese lessons are back, because I'm eager again to learn more. I'm sorry for the long break, but I do wonder if anyone followed. Well, who knows, maybe this will be useful to someone in the future. It certainly is useful to me. This time we will focus on taking the girl out to dinner. These phrases are more casual in the beginning and romantic at the end. It's more about the procedure of going to dinner, but I won't give you advice for flirting with the girl here. Please go to this post, if you're planning to flatter her while dining.

[Voice file with pronounciation here (or here) - by Lily]

5.0 Taking her out for dinner

妳愿意和我出来吃晚餐吗？
Nǐ yuàn yì hé wǒ chū lái chī wǎn cān ma?
Would you like to go out for dinner with me?

是的，我愿意。
Shì de, wǒ yuàn yì.
Yes, I'd like to.

妳想在哪里碰面呢？妳想在哪里见面呢？
Nǐ xiǎng zài nǎ lǐ pèng miàn ne? Nǐ xiǎng zài nǎ lǐ jiàn miàn ne?
Where do you like to meet?

在中央车站。
Zài zhōng yāng chē zhàn.
At the central train station.

什么时间？
Shén me shí jiān.
What time (do you like to meet)?

七点。
Qī diǎn.
At 7 o'clock.

---------------------------

Inside the restaurant

妳想吃什么？
Nǐ xiǎng chī shén me?
What would you like to order (eat)?

我想吃炒面。你呢？
Wǒ xiǎng chī chǎo miàn. Nǐ ne?
I would like to have fried noodles. How about you?

炒面很好吃。
Chǎo miàn hěn hǎo chī.
The noodles are delicious.

你喜欢你的水饺吗？
Nǐ xǐ huan nǐ de shuǐ jiǎo ma?
How do you like your dumplings?

他们也很好吃。
Tā men yě hěn hǎo chī.
They are delicious, too.

我吃很饱。
Wǒ chī hěn bǎo.
I am so full.

你想散步吗？
Nǐ xiǎng sàn bù ma?
Do you want to go for a walk?

我可以牵妳的手吗？妳的手很温暖。
Wǒ kě yǐ qiān nǐ de shǒu ma? Nǐ de shǒu hěn wēn nuǎn.
Can I hold your hand? Your hand is warm.

你今晚看起來真美，我想吻你。
Nǐ jīn wǎn kàn qǐ lái hěn měi. Wǒ kě yǐ wěn nǐ ma?
You look so beautiful tonight. I want to kiss you.

谢谢妳给我这个美好的夜晚。
Xiè xiè nǐ gěi wǒ zhè gè měi hǎo de yè wǎn.
Thank you for the wonderful evening.

明天晚上再见了。
Míng tiān wǎn shàng zài jiàn le.
Let's meet again tomorrow.

[Pic: Liu Yi Fei, Chinese translation by Lily]

Twitter or Facebook?

If you had to chose between Twitter or Facebook, if you would only be allowed to use one of these sites, which one would you choose?

I'd delete my Facebook instantly! Seriously, what does Facebook want to be? They are shamelessly stealing things from Twitter. I read that they plan to implement something similar to Twitter's @reply, naming it Facebook mentions. When will this stop? When Facebook came out, it had a philosophy to connect people (like ex-schoolmates, ex-colleagues, lost relatives etc.). It was innovative and interesting. And what is it today? A "Twitter-monster" with games and tests and massive picture tagging that's going slightly out of hand. And with photo albums, which is some of their strenghts and something I like. Things like the Chat feature and the Like feature are just redundant in my opinion, because I can chat on MSN or Skype and the Like feature is shallow. It's like for those people who are lazy to write a comment. I admit, I sometimes click like randomly, because I am lazy, too. So what's the point of it?

As for Twitter, I wouldn't want to miss it. It does connect people so much better. It's simple, it's very open, it's like one big community of (mostly) awsome people. I really hope they don't screw up and add tons of useless features, but rather keep it simple. I'm afraid that they will start with ads sooner or later (I still don't know how they maintain the site without them), but I hope they won't be like the out-of-control (and ugly) Google ads. Twitter is so useful to bloggers, I met so many awsome people thru Twitter and I am tweeting like half a year tops, while I'm on Facebook since 2007. I know that after a while these websites lose their initial charm, because we (the users) change, too. We're always overly excited about something new and then after a while we either move to a new hot website or we just become periodical users. Nevertheless, I still think Twitter is so influential and has changed lives of so many people. Hopefully it has enriched their lives. It's really so simple, convenient and addictive.
You gotta love it ;-)

And besides, the world's oldest Twitter user, the 105 @IvyBean104 can't be wrong, right? Ok, I have to admit, she's also using Facebook... -_- I guess Twitter and Facebook are in a love-hate relationship or something similar...

UPDATE: I came accross this touching story about how some Twitter friends helped a girl in need. That shows how awsome 'tweeple' can be :-)

So..., Twitter or Facebook, what would you chose?

[Photo: Source]

What kind of recession is this?

Sometimes I don't understand the times we are living in. It's the sort of times when the media says there was a new case of swine flu and people start wearing masks.

So now I'm seriously wondering about this recession. They repeatedly said it's the worst recession since the 1929 Great recession. Really? How come that the iPhone sells like there's no tomorrow? From what I learned from history books, people in 1929 literally starved in huge masses! Yet these days I still see people continuing their lives the same way as before. And here's the problem:

Those who fared well before the so called "recession" are still doing well. And those who struggled before, are in the same position now or even worse.

As for my country, the recession began years ago. Slowly and subtly, affecting the middle class. It's so hard to find a good job as a young person these days. I'm talking about a job that would give you the chance to start a family, buy a house and a new car. Everything is so expensive these days! No wonder so many people have children when they're over 30 and still many live at home, because rents are very high. The rift between the poor and the rich is getting bigger and bigger and nobody was doing anything about it all these years!

Those who do well, don't care about it. And those who don't do well are too weak to help themselves.

People in the West are becoming more and more indifferent. That's no wonder, since we have to compete with others everywhere! You study, you compete. You try to find a job, you compete. You have a job, you compete again. It's a vicious circle! We're becoming very selfcentred, it's always me me me... Is this capitalism going too far? When did the solidarity and sympathy get lost? And what will we learn from the so called "recession"?

I don't think we've learnt much so far, because after the initial shock (driven by the media), we fell back into our daily routine and try to make the best of it. We just think I hope the recession doesn't affect me, I don't care for the rest. Because that's how it is in 2009. And we can only do so much to change the status quo. We just have to make the best of it.

[*I wish all of you good luck and hope that the recession doesn't and won't affect your lives.]

About Facebook friends and their babies

*Disclaimer: I wrote this post in a cynical and sarcastic way, inspired by Seinfeld's nihilism and seasoned with my recent bitterness. Keep that in mind.

I recently added many old schoolmates on my Facebook. There were so many requesting to be my 'friend', I just couldn't continue ignoring them. So I created another account just for them. First of all, why do so many people I was never close with, want to follow my daily life, rummage thru my photos, be my 'friends'? Didn't they get the hunch by me virtually ignoring them in real life for almost a decade? I'm not gonna update anything on my second account but just upload photos from my travels and let them wonder. Yes, that's how I roll, hehe. I still have my old (main) account where I only add people who I feel comfortable with. And guess what, most of them are from all over the world. Yes, in this phase of my life, I only befriend like-minded people and not those who just happen to live in the same town like me. And some people from here, who happen to be my friends, don't use Facebook (weird). But thanks to the internet, I can have 2 identities and nobody can do anything about it. Yes, I am very selective.

Well, what actually made me write this post, was the fact that so many of my old schoolmates have babies and they post pics of them on Facebook. I mean, why would they do this? Why? First of all, I would never put a photo of my (future) baby online. I mean, what will these 'babies' say in 20 years? Do we have to document someone's life online since their birth? What happened to the old classic phot album? They are humans and not objects and since they're incapable to tell wheather they want to be exposed online or not, I would never put their photos online. Secondly, every baby looks the same. So what's the point to let others see a baby? Can't you just write 'I have a baby, it's healthy and it looks like any other baby' on your wall and get on with your life? Wouldn't that be enough?

I mean, where is the time when people, if they really wanted to see your baby, came to your home? Is this so 20th century? [*Am I too sentimental?]

I mean something like that on the clip below, from Seinfeld:


I feel like some people post the pics of their babies like trophies, like Look at me, I am not yet 30 and I have a baby! I accomplished something! I am mainstream. Are you? Well, I am not. I could be easily, but since I was always a skilled master of *cough... I mean, I was always careful, so I just happen not to be. Which can be an accomplishment far bigger than the opposite. Then again, what is mainstream these days anyway? Men in twenties 'having babies' seem to become rare recently. So maybe I am mainstream.

I really don't know... maybe I'm bitter now, but once I have a baby myself, I will be like them: An overly excited parent-freshman, who will post hunderds of photos of his newborn and prouldy tweet: My baby made his first poop. #proudparent #baby #random and then soon after post another tweet: Please follow @littleMKL #FF. Hehe, who knows. We'll see in few years ;-)

Now, what do you think? Baby photos online, pro or contra and why?
Not being a parent in the twenties, pro or contra and why?

What does blogging mean to you?

Ever since I've read Andhari's brilliant post about blogging, I keep thinking about it. She really struck a chord with me and wrote about so many things I totally feel the same way. Apart from her being an accomplished blogger and me blogging more or less since this year (I blogged before, but not so much), the things she said apply to me as well. So, if you're a blogger, read thru her post, she makes excellent points and you will learn so much from her (as I have).

I guess every blogger asks himself this question at one point: Why do I blog? And sometimes, if I drill very deep, I can't seem to find a definite answer. Seems like all of us kinda start quietly and carefully and without knowing we all of a sudden have readers, followers, even friends. And we're just like Wow! I totally did not expect that! And in my case, I really didn't.
There's so many reasons why I started to blog. I had like 2 waves, where I suddenly felt the urge to write: one last year, one this year - each time after a break up. I guess blogging seemed like a therapy for me. I instantly realized how good it felt when I wrote things off my chest. I remember how I used to have a book as a teenager, where I wrote in poems and things that happened in my life. It always felt like my private shrink and I cherished it (I still have it, but it's worn out). Didn't we all, who blog today, have something like that in the past? That means that we always were bloggers, we just didn't have the platform (internet) to connect with other like-minded people.
I think blogging really changes a person. It changed me. It helped me a lot. And the most rewarding thing about blogging for me is meeting new interesting people. Blogging connects. Of course one also encounters morons, but don't we all encounter them in real life, too? It's funny when I look back, how important page impressions or hits were for me. And I still see people who are totally focused on them. If they blog for money, that may be one of their objectives, but that was never the case for me. My blog will always remain ad- and advertorial-free. All of you, my dear readers, who left so many comments recently, made me realize that hits don't really matter. Really thank you guys. I prefer quality over quantity (I try my best) and I don't post like 2 times daily anymore, but rather once in a while. And it feels so much better. It's liberating. But people blog for various reasons and have all kinds of objectives. I don't judge you. I won't ever tell another blogger what and how to blog, even if he makes a fool out of himself. I'm doing my thing and the blogosphere is like the universe. There's enough space for everyone.
And yes, I admit, I really like it when you guys give me feedback. It keeps me going, it makes me think, it makes me want to improve. At the same time, I don't feel pressured, but rather reassured and confident, that I can scribble something and make people smile, wonder, think (even if it's just for a day or for a moment). Blogging is about giving and recieving. And I'm always giving a part of me to you. I'm always putting a lot of thought in every post, even if it seems the silliest post you've ever read. Because I always try my best, even when I'm trying to be funny. I'm aware of my flaws, but I know all of you are forgiving, because that's how our kind is. And if sometimes something I write upsets you or if it just doesn't seem to make sense to you, stop for a second, take a breather, pull your head back and try to see the whole text like this:


And then you'll realize: It's just letters! Is it really worth to get upset over a combination of letters? No, it's not. It really is not. Because in the end, you will have to switch off your computer and go back to reality and deal with your own real life issues. So will I. I think blogging can be part of one's life but not be one's life. I've been thru that, too and I've learned my lessons. Especially the part that we shouldn't take everything too seriously online. And mostly it was my "bloggy friends" who taught me that (special thanks to Jerine).

And that's the point for me (besides being my therapy): to learn and evolve. Each friendship I made thru my blog is really precious to me. Even if I'd make just a single good friendship, it would be worth all the effort I put in here. Because good friends are hard to find.

Blogging is my therapy. And I think I want to remain in therapy as long as possible.

And what does blogging mean to you?

[cartoon source]

Precious bit

The most precious thought
lost in her luscious lips,
my tears fall - drought
on her finger tips.

She deserts me, at last,
precious bit - gone too fast.

by me

[Photo: Source]