114 - Sans, Saints and Ports

 There's a game that I've played around seventy times - and the challenge of the game lies in naming all the countries you possibly can. For me, it no longer is about the number of countries I manage to get, but a race against the clock to try and beat my own record of guessing all 195 nations correctly in 4 minutes and 8 seconds. (If you'd like to try, here's a link.)

This winter holiday, I decided to take advantage of the extra time I have and learn all 195 capitals. (Again, if you'd like to try, a link) I only have around 15 African capitals left to memorize, and then I will have them all down. I am surprised at the number of countries that have a capital city beginning with 'B'. (Just to illustrate: Baghdad, Baku, Bamako, Bandar Seri Begawan, Bangkok, Bangui, Banjul, Basseterre, Beijing, Beirut, Belfast, Belgrade, Belmopan, Berlin, Bishkek, Bissau, Bogotá, Brasília, Bratislava, Brazzaville, Bridgetown, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Bujumbura.) It annoys me greatly, as you can imagine.

My next venture will be to study a great number of the islands, rivers, lakes, seas, bays, streams, gorges, dams, volcanoes, mountain ranges, deserts, forests and rainforests in the world, then to memorize the three largest metropolitan cities of each and every country, then to familiarize myself with all the UNESCO sites around the world, and finally, to know the detailed geography of a handful of countries like the back of my hand, possibly just the G8, perhaps the G8+5, perchance the G20, maybe the G77 - Hell, maybe all of them.

Why do I want to do this?

I don't know. This is just one of those things that people do for no reason because it makes them feel good. Who knows whether one day this might come in handy on an everyday basis, or whether I will never implement this knowledge before the day I die.

Who cares?

It's fun to me.

47 - Got an award, so I guess it's time for some honesty

Argentum Vulgaris gave me an award (here), and I proudly present it to you on the right sidebar. I actually like the, uh, rules of this award because I can already feel, at this stage of the post, that I will be able to finally blog properly again. What I mean by the word 'properly' is complicated, but I think I'm implying that I will be able to display some honesty again, like back in the day when I used to do that more often, instead of going out to get drunk before every post, before posting pictures and videos.

Oh, but whatever. I must first accept the honor, so thank you, AV. Then I must list five people who I believe deserve to receive this award, share ten facts about myself and then provide a meaningful quotation. So here it goes:

If you receive the award, please copy and paste the image and incorporate it somewhere in your blog.

I want to bend the rules a bit. I want to give awards to five people who I think already have a lot of recognition and deserve to carry an extra badge on their blog. I also want to give awards to five other blogs that I just don't think get read enough, but I consider awesome, and really enjoy. So ten altogether, aren't I generous?

The Famous:

1. Mike at 365 Sonnets
   
2. Alan at Laid Back Think Tank
   
3. hrix at moonless night
   
4. A struggling writer at My Writers Blog
5. The Short Stick at The Patsy Log

The Awesome:

1. gaf85
2. J.J. at The World according to J.J. in L.A.
   
3. Randa at 365 Days
   
4. AV at Nether Region of the Earth
5. My dear friend, Sarah, at Swing Life Away
   

My ten facts (here is the honesty I mentioned):

1. I grew up in Hong Kong, I've lived my whole life here. Even though I know it so well, even though I love this place, even though it will break my heart to leave, once I depart from Hong Kong, I've decided that I will never, ever come back.
   
2. I actually don't have a 'happiest' memory. I have problems being happy, in that I've never experienced a happiness that didn't have a catch, that was without conditions.
   
3. I lose my appetite and I can't sleep whenever I get majorly depressed. There was one point in my life where I went for four days without any food or rest. I got really sick, not to mention I was utterly miserable throughout.
   
4. I've only ever fallen in love hard for one person - a boy, by the way, who was straight.
   
5. When it comes to games, I love Pokémon and Neopets more than anyone will ever comprehend. On my Xbox, I play Burnout, Halo and FIFA. On my NDS, I play Bomberman, Mario Kart, Frogger, Harvest Moon and Final Fantasy Tactics. I play word games like Text Twist and Boggle. I also play online poker and mahjong with my family.
   
6. In the past five months, I have watched 304 Friends episodes. Since it began airing in 1993, the count is probably in the thousands. I love the show and will continue rewatching it for many years to come.
   
7. I lie a helluva lot.
8. I don't love either of my parents, although, I care about my mother and thank her for everything she's given me.
   
9. If I could be anywhere in the world, I would be lying on a sunny beach in the Caribbean.
   
10. In the past six years, I have had crushes/feelings for 195 people, at various extents, in many different ways. Even though it seems like I hate the world, and cannot even find it in myself to love my parents, this tenth fact about me tells you that I, at least, want to like people. I, like many others, am in a search for love.
    

My quotation:
"If tequila was water, and I was a duck, I would swim to the bottom, and never come up, but tequila isn't water, and I'm not a duck, so give me the bottle, and shut the fuck up."

41 - The Fourth Picture.

So I was tagged by Alan, creator of Laid Back Think Tank, Robot Nine and Balloon Release, in this post to partake in a little game where you go into your computer, find the fourth file, find the fourth image in that file, and post it on your blog to talk a little bit about it. And here it is:

That picture up there, my friends, is a picture of a banana caramel chocolate ganache tart. Saved in my 'Dessert' folder, it is the fourth image and appears amongst many, many other photos of cakes, ice creams, tarts, pies, crêpes, mousses, cookies, pastries, puddings and trifles. I'm sad, pathetic and hungry, so I stare at these images to satisfy my insatiable appetite late at night.

Many of the pictures in this folder come from a blog called Cup-Cakerie, a blog that highlights many cakes and cupcakes, all home baked by a 32-year-old mom living in Bangkok, Thailand. ...I encourage you all to pay that blog a visit to drool.

As for the four people who I tag:

Argentum Vulgaris, creator of Nether Region of the Earth, Nether Region of the Earth II, Tomus Arcanum and Things That Fizz and Stuff. I know he will find the time and just the right image to take part in such a thing while he's working at the office in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

J.J. at The World According To J.J. in L.A., obviously in California, USA. My resident taggeficiary whenever it comes to any of these tagging games. Often, when my life seems like too much to handle, I like to go to her blog for something 'normal'. No, not 'boring'. I mean honest, homely and simple, free from strife, with just a touch of sarcasm. (J.J., all you have to do is tell me that you don't want to do them and I'll stop tagging you :P)

Vivienne, maker of Vivienne in Wonderland, half-Spanish, half-German, grew up on the Canary Islands, lived in Switzerland and currently lives in London (phew...). As I understand it, she hardly posts any images, but I want her to because I think it would make a wonderful change. :)

eC at Thumbs Up, Feet On The Ground, from Roc-Town, Minnesota, USA. Known for her unique, charismatic and youthful blogging style and her new-age haikus, I nominate her solely for her hilarious teenage flavor alone.

Voilà.

38 - I'm not a boy but I still had fun today

I'm not very good at being a boy. I'm a guy that loves to hug, hold hands, talk on the phone and take long walks on the beach at night. I love passing judgment on fashion, food, acting, writing, literature, celebrities and, of course, others (That means I'm a gossip). I don't like sports like rugby, football and basketball. I don't know anything about guns except for what a pistol, a rifle, a machine gun and a shotgun each look like generally. I have no clue when it comes to cars and their stats either, aside from the different brand names and where each car company has its headquarters. When it comes to games, in general, gore, blood, shooting, violence is fine with me, good and intriguing, in fact, but I have very particular taste and I don't turn on my XBOX a lot. (In case any of you game, I like Burnout, Halo and Fifa. And yes, that's all.)

That's not to say I don't have any boyish qualities. I'm a gentleman who holds the door open and tucks in a lady's chair on formal occasions. I work out, and can lift most heavy objects. I pay way too much attention to my hair. I love meat in any form, cooked in any way. I love making the fire for a good old-fashioned barbecue (well, I can usually make a better fire than anyone else). I love to go bowling, play golf and shoot some pool. I used to get into some really bad fights with boys, and I'm sorry to say that I resort to violence when people push my buttons hard. I get mad, I'm unreasonable at times and I'm selfish. But, at least I respect my mother (most of the time) and I am practically an older brother to my three cousins. I hang out with a bunch of dudes in school. Girls have had crushes on me and I have fallen in deep, deep love with girls before too. This duality in my personality is definitely a result of my bisexuality.

Anyway, so, today, we had two hours of basketball for Sports. I used to be in the basketball team a few years ago but that's all. I'm very good at scoring long-range baskets (freakin' insane at them), but I am utter crap at everything else. My dribbling was awkward. I didn't look before I passed. I ran offside twice in just five seconds.

However, there are two guys in my class that treated me like one of their own (they were on the team for four years) and they gave me a few pointers. I was able to try hard, bring back what I learned from being in the team, and have a lot of fun. I typically would hate basketball, but damn, I was a guy today. We played some games and I scored seven baskets. I ran around, I shoved the opponent without appearing like I was committing a foul, I had more testosterone pumped through me than I've ever had in years.

My days have been good for nearly two weeks now. I'm thankful for that and 2009 is getting off to a good start.