The LOLCat competition 2010

Because there is only place for one LOLCat in this town

It was a while ago, when I teased my Mauritian friend Jaimie by saying my cat Mica was a bigger LOLCat than her cat Elle. She of course rejected my statement and said she has the bigger LOLCat. So I proposed a LOLCat competition with the rule of posting 5 funny photos of our cats with funny captions in the style of I Can Haz Cheezburger? website, that made the those funny cats popular and then letting you guys decide which is the biggest LOLCat among these two: Mica or Elle. Easy, right? Just look at the photos here and then hop to Jaimie's LOLCat post and check her photos of Elle and then vote on the poll, either here under my post or there on hers.

Mica

Mica (pronounced Meetsa) is born this year in April, so that makes her only 3 months old. She's very lively and active. Most of the day she's running around and attacking everything that's moving. She's very playful, but she also likes to scratch and bite. And many times she would have her tongue sticking out like a dog, which is pretty funny. She has a very long tail and she's very fluffy. I'm sure you'd love her, if you had her at home. She's adorable. Vote for Mica! :-)

My photos (shot with Nokia E66 cam, hence the bad quality):

Check Jamie's LOLCat Elle here>>

[All photos by MKL, 2010]

Why most men love and most women hate Megan Fox?

I think a part of the answer lies in the question above: Because most men love Megan fox, most women hate her. I think the main reason for the hate is simple: Envy. Women, who are extremely sexy, will always attract the scorn and contempt of other women. Isn't it funny, that we men on the other hand do admire a handsome man's popularity with the ladies, because we rather think what we could do to become like him instead of finding flaws to make him appear as nothing special. In my case, I never envied Brad Pitt at the height of his popularity in the 1990s. I was happy for him, even admired him. He was the male Megan Fox back then, just that he was always the good guy. Megan on the other hand is considered the bad girl by the media. She has tattoos, she has most likely done some surgery, she's blunt and outspoken, never shy to say what she thinks. She's not hesitant to show of her sexy body and be the vixen the media wants her to be. And the men love her and think she's uberhot. And the women hate her and think she's fake. Ok, I'm exaggerating, not everyone thinks that way. But there are many people who react to her the way I described here. I was reading some comments under the video embedded above (which is pretty funny, btw) and here are some typical reactions to her:

Women:

Angeline Jolie is better. Jessica Alba is better. They're so classy and beautiful naturally. Megan Fox looks like a pornstar. [by roseheroine]

I hate to admit, I am jealous of how pretty she is, but then again, she's fake, natural beauty doesnt come with makeup, hair dye, spray on tans, plastic surgery and eye contacts. [by Xrandomnesssable]

Men:

The people moaning about how natural beauty isn't appreciated, aren't naturally beautiful.

Megan Fox is 86x hotter than any of you will ever be, even in your dreams.
[by a155099]

To all the comments saying "she's not hot without any makeup" and shit, f*ck off. I'd f*ck her brains out and so would any straight guy on this planet. [by AnE000002]

To conclude my little observation, let me tell you that I myself am a Megan Fox fan. Hey, I'm a typical guy ;-) I think she's one of the hottest women in the world at this point, only my girlfriend is hotter than her for me (that's obvious). And with all the love for Asian celebrities and models, at this time I can hardly find any girl from the Far East matching up with Megan Fox.

With that said, I urge my female followers to not mind my personal feelings and tell me honestly: Do you like Megan Fox? If you do or if you don't, just explain why, so we can find out why does she divide the genders so much.

[On my blog: Megan Fox straight talk, Megan Fox about white trash]

Taiwan scooterland

One thing that will bother you in Taiwan

Taiwan is scooterland.

So many people ask me: "Man, you're only praising Taiwan! What's wrong with you? So many things are bad there yada yada yada..." I reply: "Huh, what is bad? You have great food, friendly people, hot women, beautiful nature..." And then I'm asked: "How about scooters?" And I'm like: "Oh, that... oh yea, that is annoying. You have a point."

If you stay only a few days in Taiwan, you'll notice that over half of the population rides motorcycles and bicycles or whatever has two (sometimes three) wheels attached to it. The most common among them are scooters. Even though you'll sometimes see a hot girl in high heels rushing by and making you think whoooooaaaaa, that won't make up for the annoyances you'll experience when walking around Taipei's streets, but even more so in cities around Taipei, such as Banqiao and Xinzhuang. While for Malaysian Chinese cars are the most basic means of transportation, scooters are the most basic form of transportation for Taiwanese. And I think when it comes to the number of scooters, Taiwan even tops Italy. No wonder, that Taiwan is along with China and Italy has the most scooter manufacturers in the world (source, 2010).

Young Taiwanese love to ride scooters.

1 It can be annoying

The most annoying thing is, when someone walks slowly behind you on the sidewalk, literally pushing you to either step aside or walk faster. And that can happen many times in just one day. Sometimes it's annoying to go to certain night markets, because scooters are everywhere. And if you're new in Taiwan, you'll need few minutes to cross certain roads, because those who ride scooters won't stop for you, they never stop, they just slow down and you need to imagine that you're playing Super Mario and dodge them as if they were enemies from the game.

Taipei is scooterland, too. You won't see something like this in Slovenia.

But for Taiwanese scooters are much more than just a way of transportation. Scooters are part of life. For Taiwanese, they're convenient, because they're small and cheap. They're like cellphones, everyone's gotta have one, right?

On highways scooters have their own lanes (Photo: Huajiang bridge).

2 Parking scooters

Another thing, that's connected with scooters is parking space. Since there are so many out there, every little corner is sometimes used to park scooters. Maybe some people see a certain charm in that, but for me it's just a lot of metal and rubber squeezed together:

I'm sure this road could be listed in the Guiness Book of Records.

Every small backstreet can be used for parking scooters.

But scooters can also serve as something different than just transportation. They can be much more than that. It may be funny to Westerners to see what Taiwanese do with and on scooters (and believe me, I've seen a lot), but for the Taiwanese people this is normal:

3 Scooters as family vehicles

Seen in Xinpu.

It's not uncommon to see a whole family on a scooter going to night markets, ordering food, eating it on the bike and then rushing off home. The highest number of people I saw on one scooter was 5 (father driving, mother behind and 3 kids somewhere in between). Simply amazing!

4 Scooters for sleeping

This was seen in Kaohsiung.

I saw this guy in the morning around 7am. He must have been so tired, he took a nap on his bike. I only saw that once in Taiwan, but I'm sure it's more common than you think. Taiwanese are workaholics. You'll see guys like him in Europe too, but because they're alcoholics, lol.

5 Pets on scooters

Took this photo in Taoyuan City.

As you can see, not only is this scooter used for keeping the dog on a leash, it's also used as a store room and a hanger. Taiwanese are very practical. And seeing dogs on scooters is common in Taiwan, too. Who knows, maybe they're driving sometimes as well. Woof! :-P

6 Taiwan Scooterland conclusions

I wonder what else are young Taiwanese doing on scooters, if you know what I mean? But I don't really wanna know (actually I do, I'm just sayin'). In case I get some new funny stuff about scooters, I'll update this post, so stay tuned.

Be sure to walk on the side of the road in night markets for your own safety.

So now you know the whole truth about Taiwan. I couldn't conceal it anymore, yes, I'm saying it out loud once again: Taiwan is scooterland! Probably a bigger one than India or Italy! So be prepared when you visit Taiwan, scooters may give you some minor annoyances. Sure, Taiwanese will say: "Hey, scooters are convenient, why all the fuss about it?" But they're Taiwanese, they can't see what you see, so don't argue with them, it's normal for them, they're born with scooters. Just smile and change the topic to food and you'll avoid a punch in the nose (kidding!). Anyway... come to Taiwan, you'll have fun! Bubble tea and stinky tofu are waiting for you. ^_^

Do you have any scooter story to share?

[LIFE in Taiwan][My TAIWAN page][All photos by MKL, 2010]

Historic Gates of Taipei

Part of my Taipei resource

Taipei, the bustling city of today, used to have a wall with 5 gates something over a century ago. What remains today are 4 gates, of which only 1 survived in its original form. All gates were constructed between 1879 and 1884 during the rule of the Qing Dynasty. One gate (namely the West Gate) and the wall were destroyed and removed by the Japanese during their occupation of Taiwan (1895-1945) and was never reconstructed. The CKS government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) modified 3 of the 4 remaining gates in 1966 by changing the upper part of the original gates into a northern Chinese style architecture (supposedly "to make Taipei more attractive to tourists", that worked out well, didn't it?) and that's why there's only one gate in its original form today (namely the North Gate).

1 List of the historic gates of Taipei

Please click on the photos to read an article about a particular gate.

Beimen.

Nanmen.

Xiaonanmen.

Dongmen.

Ximen.

2 Location map of the historic gates of Taipei

Here you can see where the gates stand today. The West Gate doesn't exist anymore.

3 Timeline of rulers over Taiwan (links to Wikipedia)

Before WWII: [Qing Dynasty 1683-1895][Japanese occupation 1895-1945]
After WWII: [Kuomintang 1945-2000][DPP 2000-2008][Kuomintang 2008-]

4 Related posts and more info (in traditional Chinese)

[Gates of Taipei Wikipedia][Gates overview: 城門的建築型式][Blog post with maps]
[Blog post about history of Taipei's walls and gates][NCYU article about the gates]

[My TAIPEI page][My TAIWAN page][All marked photos by MKL, 2010]

My weird Korea experience

Getting stuck in the subway always sucks

Do you ever remember someone you only met once and never before? Yesterday before sleeping I remembered a girl I only met one time and I'm very sorry for what happened. I feel guilty. It was my second day in Seoul, it was morning, maybe around 11 am. I left my hostel to the nearby Hansung University subway station. I wasn't really familiar with the Seoul subway system, a day before I got stuck at the turnstiles in the photo above. I couldn't exit and was trapped inside. At last someone helped me and I was released. I knew it was my mistake, but nobody blamed me, they were all friendly. One young guy came to me, spoke English and helped me to buy the smart card. I went to the hostel relieved.

Then came the next morning. Same station, same turnstiles. This time I try to enter. I tap my card... Nothing. I tap again... Nothing. So I back off a little and let some people go through just to see how they do it. They do it fast: Tap, push turnstile, walk away. Looks so easy. I try again... and fail! I was frustrated and looked helpless. I stood there for a while, when a young girl, who looked like a student in her early twenties, came to me and offered help. She didn't speak English, I didn't speak Korean, but we knew what the problem was. She took my smart card and placed it on the scanner for me. It worked... but... you only have a second to walk through the turnstile, if not it gets stuck again. I didn't know that and instead of walking through quickly, I was thanking her. When I finally tried to walk through, the turnstile got stuck again. And my card was already tapped. Bummer.

So we stood there briefly and while I was wondering what to do, she took out her smart card, tapped it and asked me to go through. This time I wasn't hesitating, I moved fast. Once inside, I gently bowed, said gomawo and tried to somehow apologize with sign language for troubling her. She just smiled a little and looked for something in her purse. She looked a bit embarrassed. I left to the trains and felt really bad, because I didn't want to bother the locals on my trip.

Of course it was partly her fault, too, because she tapped my card very quickly and I wasn't expecting, that the turnstile will get stuck, if I don't move quickly enough. But how could she have known that? She just wanted to help. And she was immediately feeling bad and used her card for me to go through. It was just an unfortunate situation. Later I was thinking, whether she arrived late to her meeting or whether this situation affected whatever plans she had for that day. I hope not. I also wondered, if she had told her friends about a silly foreigner, who didn't know how to tap the card in the subway and made her come late. I'd love to hear her side of the story. But I probably never will.

That's what I was thinking yesterday before sleeping. What a weird experience. Luckily, that never happened to me again, I had no problems on Seoul's subway in the following days. It was one of the best trips I ever went on. I hope the girl is fine, but I wonder, if she'd ever help a foreigner like me again.

[gomawo means thank you][Photo by MKL, 2010]

Italian bellezza Elisabetta Gregoraci

I always thought Italy has some of the most beautiful women in the world. And I still think so. Like in Taiwan, Italy's TV programs are full of gorgeous ladies. Ok, I admit that the shows are of poor questionable quality, but if you wanna see hot women in skimpy outfits through out the day, tune in to Italian TV. Even their public broadcaster RAI will provide you a daily dose of eye candy. How is all this connected to the hot Italian model Elisabetta Gregoraci, who I want to introduce here?

Elisabetta, who was born 1980, started her career as a model and dancer on TV in the late nineties and later played in various films and dramas, even became the Italian Wonderbra girl (which is not surprising) and made various calendars, that became very popular. She was one of those hot girls on Italian TV, that you would just stare at and drool. Let me show you my favorite photos of her:

Elisabetta is 176cm tall and has a flawless body.


One of her early photos. She looks best with wet hair.

Wondergirl Elisabetta Gregoraci wearing the Wonderbra. Simply wonderful.

Hey eyes and lips are some of her trademarks. So is her chest. More lingrie pics>>

Even though she's hot, she preserves the image of the 'girl next door'.

And now you must think: "Such a sexy woman must date the hottest guys. Is she even available?" Well, she's not. In fact, she's married since 2008 and she gave birth to her first child this year. And now you wonder who's the lucky guy she makes happy with her sexy self? Well, he's rich. And he's not a millionaire, no, he's a billionaire! And he's older. Well, nearly twice as old as Elisabetta. Ok, this is him ...and this and this. You're still doubting? Ok, see this (no, she's not hugging her dad) and if you still don't believe me, then this must be it. Yes, she's married to a very slightly older guy, who may not be in perfect shape, but I'm sure he's got a good character and he's definitely a provider. He's the famous Flavio Briatore, the one who had a baby with Heidi Klum and the one with the Formula 1 shenanigans.

Now I ask you: How do you feel about old rich not so good looking men with much younger sexy model like girlfriends or wives?

I say: Live and let live. To each their own. :-)

[Photo: Source 1, Source 2][HQ photos of Elisabetta (NSFW)][Info source]

National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine, Taipei

In honor and memory of the war dead of the Republic of China

The main gate.

National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine in Taipei (Chinese 國民革命忠烈祠) is a special place dedicated to the soldiers of Republic of China (official name of Taiwan today, but the state was founded in 1911), who died for their country in past wars, such as in the Chinese Civil war and few others (more info here). It's a solemn place, but it's also open to visitors, so if you're visiting Taipei, it's definitely one of the places you should see. If you're interested in the history of Republic of China, you should visit the Martyrs' Shrine along with the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. All there places are admission free.

A huge gate at the entrance of the Martyrs' Shrine with a guarding soldier.

The main gate from up close.

The main gate from the inside.

The National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine was built in 1969. The photos here were made by my girlfriend, who visited the the shrine today, but she did not take photos of the main building. You can see a photo here (by H&XL). That building is supposed to resemble the Hall of Supreme Harmony in Beijing. But my girlfriend said it's being renovated currently, keep that in mind, if you plan to make photos of the shrine these days.

On the left photo you can see a soldier guarding the main gate. They have to stand still for 1h hour. No movements are allowed. They only have someone, who wipes of the sweat from their faces. Every full hour there is a changing of the guards ceremony and it's really worth to see. If you haven't seen that yet, check the embedded video below.

The soldiers, who get the honor of being guards at the Martyr's Shrine need to meet some qualifications: No criminal history, at least a high school education, be between 175cm - 195cm tall, weigh 65kg (± 1kg) and need to have a lot of discipline (source). As you may imagine, only the best of the best are eligible to guard one of the most important places of remembrance in the Republic of China.

The changing of the guards ceremony.

Rwo kinds of uniforms, blue soldiers are from the Air Force, white from the Navy.

Changing of the guards (Seen a woman with a baby passing by?)

The shrine is located near another famous building: The Grand Hotel.

I had to post these photos here, because they're really good. Thanks again to my girl, who took the time to visit the place and made these great shots. Taipei is so hot this summer, you can see that in the last photo, but that makes the photos pretty good. Let's take a second and think about those soldiers, who have to stand under the scorching sun of Taipei for a full hour without moving. I admit, I would not be able to do this. I'm not soldier material. How about you?

[Military of the Republic of China][All photos by LilyChen, 2010]

When White guys speak East Asian langauges, it's amazing!

When East Asian guys speak European languages, it's not. Why?

tysstyle - Canadian guy speaking Mandarin

MrHarlequin2009 - French guy speaking Japanese

trueheart101 - Canadian guy singing in Korean

Have you ever noticed, that if White guys speak one of the big East Asian languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese or Korean), it's totally amazing. Everyone's like: Wow, impressive. Dude, you're so cool. And of course many East Asian girls would say it's so cute to see a White guy speak their native language, even if it sounds broken or the knowledge is limited. A little effort from White guys would massively increase their chances with East Asian girls.

On the other hand, if East Asian guys speak one of the big European languages (such as English, German, French or Spanish), it's not seen as amazing at all. Nobody's like: Wow, impressive. Dude, you're so cool. And of course most of White girls would not think it's cute to see East Asian guys speak their native language. If it sounds broken or the knowledge is limited, it would rather appear funny than cool. East Asian guys can put a lot of effort in learning a European language, however that won't increase their chances with White girls.

How come there's such a big difference?

[Photo by Lawel Style]

Back to the White guys, who speak an East Asian language perfectly. Do you know Mark Henry Roswell? He's probably the most famous Westerner (a Canadian) in China and he's speaking Mandarin like a native speaker. Everybody knows him under the name Dashan (大山, lit. "big mountain"), check this amazing video. Then there's Julien Gaudfroy, a Frenchman doing stand-up comedy in Mandarin. Or Pierre Deporte, the first White guy (he's also French) who starred in a leading role in a Korean drama. It was called Tamra, the Island, aired in 2009 (*video with Pierre's fluent Korean). Of course there are many more Western guys, who speak one of the East Asian languages and they're not famous. You can find a lot of them on You-Tube, such as the two funny guys on the video below. So what's your opinion on Westerners or Whites in particular learning East Asian languages. Is it for the career? Interest in culture? Looking for love or sex?

A famous blogger interviewed me!

I should have told you this before, but I was scared. I'm still electrified from what happened. But now I feel brave enough to tell you: I was interviewed by a famous blogger, by the fantabulous Johana Hill, the sexy blogette from the island O'luv. Let me tell you, how it all went down. Those who read Johana's blog, know how hot she's is and how many guys go woooooooooooh when she passes by. Then you can imagine how I was nervous, when I saw her curvaceous self approaching me in her killer heels. She opened the big gate of her villa by herself and I was surprised, that she told her security personnel to back off. She walked slowly and gracefully towards me, I was trembling and sweating from every pore. She gave me three air kisses on the cheeks and then gently took my hand and walked me to her interview room. We sat on stiletto shaped pink chairs, she crossed her legs slowly and I asked her to bring a towel, because my sweat was like a shower to me. She chuckled, when she saw me frantically wiping my face, then put on her sexy glasses, lit herself a cigarette and started to read the first question to me. I totally cramped, started to stutter, the situation was killing me. But since I've agreed to do the interview, I had no choice, I had to be strong and make it through alive! I tried my best to give some good answers to her killer questions. If I did well, I don't know... You can find that out for yourself, the interview was published here.

And don't forget to follow Joahana Hill. She's awe-sum! :-)

Photo sources: [1, 2]

How to trick people into thinking you're good looking

A hilarious and intelligent video by JennaMarbles

This video has over 3 million views at this moment and I'm sure it'll become even more popular in no time. JennaMarbles, the creator of the video, is really hilarious and although she's very funny, she does make serious points. Her point is: These days almost every girl can look hot, if she has good make up skills and fashion sense.

What do you think on the issue? Most of you would probably say you prefer a natural look. But then again, natural could also mean naked or with a leaf in front of your private parts ;-) I think once mankind started to take daily baths, combing and/or cutting hair and wearing clothes, we bassically said Eff you, nature.

Chinese blogger 妮妮 is a great example of extreme makeover (source).

I don't really feel turned off by fake eye lashes, dyed hair and a lot of make up. It all comes down to how it's done. And of course I still need to like the girl, when she removes everything. When it comes to my girlfriend, she looks good with heavy, light or no make-up, because she's naturally cute. But if the difference was as big like in the case of a Taiwanese blogger or the Chinese girl on the photo above, then I'd say "thanks but no thanks." :-) How about you?

The hottest World Cup girl 2010

Vote for your favorite World Cup girl

This year's FIFA World Cup was the biggest event of the year. And just like on any event of such magnitude, the World Cup brought us amazing images to our living rooms, images we will never forget. It weren't only the games, that got all the attention, there was so much going on around them. And there was one thing that stood out this year: The beautiful women. I don't remember, if we ever had so many hot WAGs, celebrities, models or just cute female fans supporting national football teams or individual players.

I chose 5 women, who really stood out for me, be it for the publicity and attention they got from the media or online or simply for their outstanding beauty or hotness. See the girls below and vote on the poll, so we see who will become MKL's hottest World Cup girl 2010.

1. Sarah Brandner, Germany

Photo sources: [Photo 1][See more photos of Sarah Brandner>>]

Sarah Brandner (born 1988, biography) is a German model and current girlfriend of the German national football player Bastian Schweinsteiger, (born 1984). With her striking 181 centimeters and blonde long hair, she stands out as one of Germany's hottest WAGs. Many people say Schweinsteiger is a lucky man and probably punching way above his weight with her.

2. Sara Carbonero, Spain

Photo sources: [Photo 1, Photo 2][See more photos of Sara Carbonero>>]

Sara Carbonero (born 1984, biography) is a Spanish TV presenter and journalist and current girlfriend of the current Spanish national goal keeper Iker Casillas (born 1981). Sara was a reporter at the World Cup and caught a lot of attention, not only because she's Casillas's girlfriend, but because of her amazing beauty and her especially beautiful eyes. A year before, she was voted Sexiest Reporter in the World by FHM USA. And after Spain won the World Cup, Iker and she gave us one of the most romantic moments in sport history (see video here).

3. Larissa Riquelme, Paraguay

Photo sources: [Photo 1, Photo 2][More photos of Larissa Riquelme>>]

Larissa Riquelme (born 1985, biography) is a model and an actress from Paraguay. She rose to fame during the World Cup by placing her cellphone between her breasts (which some sources say was a publicity stunt), while cheering for the national team of Paraguay. When Paraguay faced Spain in the quarter finals, she offered to run naked through the capital Asunción, in case Paraguay beats Spain and moves on to the semi finals. That did not happen, but she still did a nude photo shoot, you can see the photos here (NSFW!). She's 170cm tall and curvy (duh!).

4. Yolanthe Cabau van Kasbergen, Netherlands

Photo sources: [Photo 1, Photo 2][More photos of Yolanthe here>>]

Yolanthe Cabau van Kasbergen (born 1985, biography) is a half Dutch/half Spanish soap actress, TV presenter and a model. She is the wife of the Dutch national football player Wesley Snijder. She was voted Sexiest Babe of the Year in 2006, 2007 and 2009 by FHM Holland. It's no wonder, that Wesley turned a Catholic for her, before they married. I mean look at her, who wouldn't? With her 176 centimeters, she's taller than him (he's 1.70m) and definitely one sweet eye candy.

5. Unknown Korean fan, South Korea

Photo sources: [Photo 1, Photo 2][More photos of cute Korean fans>>]

This girl from South Korea caught my attention, because she really stood out among all the other cute fans. I have no idea how old she is or if she's known (if anybody knows her name, let me know), but she's was definitely the hottest fan from Asia at this year's World Cup. My Korean friend Juno told me, that during the World Cup many Korean girls try to get caught by photographers and the media in order to become popular. Well, in this case, she succeeded with me. She got my attention pretty fast. How about you?

Voting is closed by Dec 31st 2010. If you can't vote here, please vote here>>

I must say my personal favorite is Yolanthe Cabau van Kasbergen [bonus] Even though her name is hard to remember (or pronounce), she's for me the hottest woman of them all here and my personal hottest World Cup girl 2010. A very close second place takes Sara Carbonero, who seems to be the most down-to-earth among them all, the best wife material. She's really likable and her eyes are amazing. My number three is the unknown Korean girl, who seems to be the cutest of all the women above. My number four would be Sarah Brandner. She really looks hot on some photos, on some other's she looks pretty normal. But who knows, she might look stunning in real. But still, she's my no 4. And last but not least is Larissa Riquelme. She's sexy, but not really my type.

How did you vote and why?