Holiday Photos - Venice Part 2

I took quite a few photos of various places in Venice. It's very limited and I didn't take much of myself or my family in it since all the photos here were taken on my phone. I spent 4 days in Venice, without a phone charger (although I switched it on to take photos and switched it off when I wasn't). Go Motorola!


Arrival, on the boat to San Zaccaria


One of the stations: Tronchetto


The place we stayed at, we had to walk 3 flights of steep stairs which was quite dangerous. Quaint place though.


The name of the place we stayed. We had to walk through this short alleyway to get to our accommodation.


Taken right outside the alleyway. So once we came out, this is what we saw.


The infamous canals of Venice.


The Museum on Saint Mark's Square. Just 5 minutes away from our cosy accommodation.


This is Saint Mark's Square.


One of the many churches in Venice. Also in Saint Mark's Square. Inside, we weren't allowed to take photos and you had to pay to go into various areas. I also helped out a Nun inside! How saintly is that?


The infamous Zodiac clock. The passageway underneath the clock led to...shops such as Gucci, Cartier, etc.


My windblown awful hair. I'm so glad I had it cut when I got back. I bought corn kernels and fed the pigeons (a.k.a. the rats of the sky) when I got attacked by a horde of them. This is the result.


You didn't think I missed taking pictures of the Gondolas did you? I didn't sit in it though, it was like 20 to 50 Euros just to breeze through one of the canals in Venice. Sigh...


Every 10 to 15 minutes walk there's always a statue of some saint or some thing or some one.


The details were incredible. I managed to get a close look at it.


After spending way too much time around Saint Marcos Square, we decided to venture out to another street and got lost. But we did manage to find this War Memorial Site which had a cannon in it. I was stopped from going in any further because we weren't supposed to be inside.


So came nightfall. We ventured onto the infamous Rialto Bridge. Beautiful sight, breathtaking scenery. Made me wish I came with a lover instead of my family.


This is the Rialto bridge. Filled with small shops selling Murano glass, the amazingly beautiful Venetian masks and jewelery.


The scenery was so amazing I had to take one with some of my family members. My dad is in it too! Can you see the black shading on top of my head? That's his finger blocking the whole top.


This is how the Rialto Bridge looks like from below.


Pizzas here are HUGE! And thick. And yummy. I had lasagne the whole time I was there. Oh how I miss the food...


Sunny day in Venice. With uber cold winds blowing in our face sending chills up and down our spines. I miss the weather as well...


Paolo Sarpi. What did I say about statues of people and things being everywhere? It's true. I didn't get to read about this guy though, everyone suddenly just disappeared on me.

So this concludes the tour of my journey in Venice and London. I hope you had a pleasant time going through my pictures! Next stop: Bangkok.

Note to viewers - If you had problem viewing any of the pictures please message me and tell me which one so I can fix it. Thanks!

Holiday Photos - England Part 1

As promised I decided to upload my holiday photos up here. Hope you guys have fun viewing it! Click on the photos to enlarge it.


Arrival



Walking to the underground station


Yummy Mexican food at Camden Town


Yummy Mexican guy at Camden Town (hot!)


Gap @ Oxford Street


My pajama bottoms. I loved them so much I decided to take a photo of it. Can you see my crotch? Haha.


I think this was taken somewhere on Bond or Regent Street. The decoration was exquisite.


Leicester Square. Magical.


Thomas and I at Leicester Square. How I miss my Yau Yau.


The New Year's Funfair!


Crazy rides and crazy games.


My cousin and I. No I'm not crying.



I brought my cousins to the funfair, not once, not twice but three times.


Thomas and I somewhere near Soho.


There was another funfair behind us. I was sick of rides so we didn't get to go on any.


Nelson and I at some bar called...umm...Attic? I can't seem to remember the name of the pub but it was pretty cool there.

Turning Back & Facing Front

1 2 3 4 5 6 9 or 10
Money can't buy you back the love that you had then.

Reminiscing about life, we ponder over the things that we regret doing. Haunted by the memories of things we've done that we're not proud of or are embarrassed of, I cringe every time I think about these situations. So, if we had the gift of time traveling (many thanks to Hiro Nakamura), is there anything in life you would do over again?

I'm often asked about my sexuality, whether I'm gay or bisexual. I answer whatever they want to hear. To me, my sexuality does not have to be explicit to everyone. And in addition, if I answer wrongly, there'll be a barrage of questions which I rather avoid answering. This got me thinking, if I could travel back in time, what could I have done to change my sexuality?

Maybe it was the constant moving of different countries that made me view relationships and friendships differently. Meeting new people all the time and never having someone whom I can call a friend, it's hard for a guy my age at that time. I was the odd one out, since most of the people during my high school had already established their friendships since elementary and middle school.

Could I possibly change my childhood and be one of the bullies instead of being bullied? During my elementary school days I remember saying "This is my friend." as I hugged my best friend from behind when the kids were telling me I had none. He left a year after that, leaving me to fend off the mean kids by myself.

But I digress, does this really matter? Is the answer to my life's problems as simple as being straight? Is it easier to fall in love when both parties are heterosexual?

It does seem easier at times, just to turn straight and fuck some girl, get her pregnant and live a life of work to support my unborn child and a mother-to-be. Or hang out with straight guys trolling pubs and clubs in order to get laid.

Maybe it is easier just being straight. It certainly is quite hard to fall in love and live a life of monogamy in the gay world of infinite choices.

But I rather live life the way I am now, idealistic as it is.

After all, who ever said life was easy?

Manifestations Of The Mind

I have seen roses damasked, red and white. But no such roses see I in her cheeks.

Tonsillitis has struck and has struck me hard. Causing fever and a major
migraine, I finish off my gym by heading to the doctors only to half pass out in the clinic. Enhancins and Uphamols float in the air for me to consume daily and life has never been so boring the past few days since I've been barred from going to the gym from my GP.

But I digress.

I believe that negativity will manifest itself into harming your body. I held a
lot of angst towards some of my relatives when I was in UK , which I
believe to be the core explanation to me getting sick. For the 3 weeks I was there, I had absolutely no illnesses what-so-ever, not even a cold. Clutching on to the anger towards some of my relatives, I brought it back here without channeling it into something constructive which is why I got sick the very next day. It started off as a scratchy throat and in the next couple of days turned into something else.

Although this sounds like New Age mumbo jumbo, I do believe that the body has a mind of its own. After all people have adapted to moving to different countries with different weathers and different illnesses.

So I am being punished as my negativity and cynicism manifested itself in the form of tonsillitis and fever.

How I miss having someone to take care of me.

Inspiration

It's not easy being right all the time, even though someone has to beCause feelings can be undermined, usually that someone turns out to be me

These past few days I've lost my inspiration to write. My brain isn't functioning at all and I seem to lose my train of thoughts easily. Not being able to put actual thought into words, I decided to get inspired by working at the Petrol & Oil Exhibition as well as attend this event called Suits & Ties @ the attic alone.

At the event I bumped into one of my ex's friend; Adam (not his real name) said hello and asked me what I was doing there. Being a hypo maniac and ashamed of why I was really there I blurted out that I was thinking of doing a review for the attic; which is partially true, since one of my ideas a couple of days ago was writing reviews for various places to go. So I spent the whole night sitting outside, sweating profusely and feeling like an outsider when I overheard a conversation from Adam and his friends. The conversation (I feel bad for listening but I had practically nothing to do) went somewhere between drugs like cocaine and Special K (ketamine) to invitation to sex parties.

As much as I love sex, I rather not get into the messy act of sex parties and orgies. I'm not a saint but the thought of consuming drugs just to get a high and having sex with tens of men in a hotel room is sickening to the bone.

A question came to me during cigarettes and the incessant sip of my Whiskey Sour to cool the harsh hot weather; when did this trend of sex and drugs happen?

That's when it hit me, how Queer as Folk portrayed and inspired the lives of other gay men. I stood up from my chair and looked into the room full of pretentious gay men and wondered how many of them succumbed to the glamourous lifestyle of wanting to be rich and famous as well as consume party drugs and attend events held at hotel rooms consisting of various sexual acts with different men. Not to mention having the body of an Adonis to top it off. I felt like crap in the bar, I felt more myself when I left it.

Note to readers: the attic is located at 61-2 Jln Bangkung, Bkt Bandaraya, Bangsar. Entering the world of chic, the walls are decorated with paintings with splashes of colours (I didn't get a chance to see the paintings up close) and ultra hip furniture. The bar is very art deco and serves killer Lychee Martinis and Long Islands; it's a great place to chill out and have a drink. Check out the various events held at the attic @ [Click Here]

Whiskey Waters & Holiday Flings

London; it's a place where no one cares what anyone is doing and everyone minds their own business. Comparatively to Malaysia, where if two gay men hold hands in public they are instantly gawked at and condemned to the depths of hell by Holier-Than-Thou citizens.

When I was in London, I met a couple of guys which resulted to holiday flings. One of which I held hands with in public whilst walking towards the Underground station. We made out and hugged each other openly and freely when waiting for the train to come and no one bothered. There were no whispers of discontent, there were no cock-staring from by-standers, no one even bothered to look.

Timothy and I, we're an example of a holiday fling. What is a holiday fling you ask? Well let me explain. A HF is a short term relationship with a guy you meet in a different country, since there's a deadline involved (meaning the day when you leave the country) both of you try to make the best out of it.

Sitting next to Timothy, my arms around his waist and my lips either on my glass of double whiskey water or locked on to his lips, I looked into his doe-like eyes and wanted to utter the three words which I knew I shouldn't. It could have been the liquor talking, but the 2 weeks I spent with Timothy was...ethereal and magical.

The thing with HFs is that you're immediately attracted to the guy and since both of you are trying to make sweet lemonade out of lemons, you never get to see his sour side and vice versa. I have had the best HFs whenever I traveled around; I always seem to meet the guy that's totally right for me but the catch is, we live in
separate countries.

Is this a sign from the universe telling me that there are guys out there, just not in Malaysia? Or is the world playing a cruel joke on me?

(Names have been changed to protect identities)

Jet L...A...G 2008

Gentle as a breath wind, full of serenity and joy.

The moment I stepped on to the Boeing 747 plane back to Malaysia, I realized how much I was going to miss London. Spending three absolutely fantastic weeks there including Christmas and the countdown to the new year in my aunt's place, it's such a shame to leave it all behind.

My body is now trying to re-adjust to the time zone here in Malaysia. On the verge of getting sick and feeling light headed (due to the no-sleep-till-9ish policy that I had imposed on myself today); I try to keep myself awake by reminiscing about my holiday in London. I'm still contemplating on whether I should upload the pictures I took since it'll take me ages to resize every picture.

The Christmas sales was wild. Imagine waking up at 5 in the morning just to get the good stuff from various stores; yes, that is what I did. I woke up at 5.30AM with my cousin and my aunt and we hit the stores hard. I was quite disappointed since the research I had done before the Boxing Day sales was in vain; about 80% of the stuff I wanted to get wasn't on sale. But I still did manage to get some stuff, like pajama bottoms. I always wanted a pair.

Apart from going crazy over shopping, there was the drinking at 3PM which made my day. It's fun to drink during the day and not be judged for it, not to mention the guys I met who made it equally as pleasurable.

3 weeks is a long holiday but time passes by so quickly when one is having fun. I do wish I have the opportunity to head over there again. Perhaps...the Commonwealth Visa? Probably. Sometime in the future.

P.S. To those of you who made it this far in reading my rants, Happy New Year. May your year be filled with love and happiness.