Thursday, March 30, 2006

Out with Friends...與朋友的日記 。 。 。 友達との遊び日記


Just posting on some of the things i've been up to for the past few weeks....
On a Friday, went with a Penang friend for lunch at this Japanese place on Flinders Lane. It is VERY well hidden and in fact, the entrance has no signs indicating that there is a restaurant there and so u really would NOT even notice this restaurant if it were not by introduction from a friend. Well, he brought me there and we were lucky that we got a seat cos this place requires booking in advance but i guess the fact that i said お願いしますto the japanese staff there must have helped somewhat in getting a place.....there is no menu in terms of the restaurant has a set menu in advance for every month and u can actually get a copy to see what is going to be served on a specific day cos they only serve a certain set meal on certain days so there is only one choice per day. The day we went, we had the buckwheat noodles with three coloured rice set on offer for that day and it was pretty sumptious....a nice experience given i have never eaten at such a reclusive place with a fixed menu before. We then had chocolate waffles with chocolate drinks at Max Brenner(see pic above!!) and a good chat too....the conversation ranged from women's rights to gays and lesbians and my friend is surprisingly liberal when it comes to both despite being a church going Christian...hehehe, i always seem to bring up topics that interest me in my conversations with friends....

photo i took at Docklands all the cards collected that day

On the 19th Sunday, went to see the Marathon at the MCG with my Taiwanese friend D. We went there early in the morning to catch the marathon runners passing by and i got a pic with them~then after that went to Docklands for the 1st time (yes it was my first time despite being in melb for so long!!!) It was a nice place and we had lunch at this place beside the river called 'Berth'. I had steak which was good given that i haven't had steak in a long time...it was really really cold that day....after we took the City Circle tram and then to St Kilda Sunday Market. Nothing much really but there was a large outdoor screen broadcasting the CW Games there...I had ice-cream at Seven Apples on Acland St and we both bought sunglasses as well...yes i now have this cool looking sunglasses,hehehe....saw these cute gum packs one saying 'Boys are stupid, throw rocks at them' another 'gay gum' ,and another 'I love my penis' , so that was interesting...went to melbourne museum and saw the exhibition on the CW opening ceremony and took more photos and then had dinner at Vina Vietnamese on Lygon Street. Then we went to Crown and Southgate for a stroll, SO CROWDED! The day was a fulfilling one but my legs were exhausted by the end of that day.....

Went to Melbourne Museum to watch the Melbourne Festival Culinary Competition on one of the days. It was England vs Malaysia and guess who won? Malaysia!!!! The English team was just SOOO Bad that malaysia just had to win....i mean the english cook was so slow that the time had to be extended to allow him to finish....

I have something to tell my readers, well i didn't mention it before but....i have a Korean friend!! He is a student here in melbourne studying english and just finished military service in South Korea. I will call him JJ. JJ is from Incheon and studied in Yonsei University in Seoul which is one of the best universities in SK apparently....i have known him for awhile now but just never thought of mentioning him..anyways, we had dinner at Hungry Jacks last week and went for a stroll at St Kilda pier and then went to this nice cafe/restaurant by St Kilda Beach called
'Beachcombe Cafe' situated just outside the St Kilda Seabaths.....we had ice chocolate and garlic bread...anyways the cultural difference b/w us once again surfaced as i found that it was true that korean guys are much more confident with their sexuality cos JJ would often comment on the looks of korean actors like 'he has a good body' or that he wants to know good looking guys...he also explained that in korea, it was ok for guys to comment that another guy was really 'good looking and attractive' from the standpoint of admiration and jealousy. the rationale for wanting to be friends with good looking guys was cos they are often surrounded by pretty girls and so u can get introduced to alot of pretty girls....i had to explain to him that in western and also in chinese culture, men CANNOT say out loud that another guy is good looking and saying he wanted to be friends with good looking men would immediately set off the alarm bells 'he IS gay!' ...so it was interesting this cultural difference...and JJ is NOT gay, he keeps on asking me to intro nice aussie girls cos he wants a caucasian girlfriend... and no, i don't like him 'in that way' despite my korean obsession...when i talk about korean men in my blog, please don't think i would fall for any korean guy cos i am just saying only and i actually think korean men wouldn't be suitable for me given the vast language and cultural difference, its just that i am extremely attracted to them sexually (shy...)but that does not equal to love...and so JJ is just a friend to me, i actually don't even feel attracted to him, which is as it should be, friends shouldn't be attracted to each other 'in that way' anyways....hehe...

more updates coming soon.....

1 comment:

hcpen said...

anon:i think to a certain extent, western cultures are more homophobic...however i think korea is the least open towards gays as compared to the West and even China and Japan cos the reason gays in korea DON'T get beaten up is cos the topic of gay koreans is still SO TABOO that ppl do not want to acknowledge it...if something is not really there, how can u attack it? Koreans have a very weak sense of 'gaydar' and as far as i know just aren't as aware as compared to others, for instance, guys tend to be more physical with each other cos no one thinks anything about it whilst american and chinese guys tend to keep physical contact at a minimum cos they are aware of the 'possibilities' b/w 2 men....examples of exposure in the media is unconvincing given that ALL shows with gay characters in South Korea are AMERICAN shows with WHITE gays which means koreans are aware of homosexuality now and do believe it exists BUT still generally believe that there are very little gay KOREANS and that homosexuality is still a 'western thing'.