Bank Holiday!

After that heartfelt, melancholy entry, I thought I'd go back to usual brainfart type updates. Now that I have put my ex in a positive light, I'd feel less guilty in criticising the more difficult moments in the relationship if and when they come up. We just had a nice long bank holiday weekend in the UK, unfortunately it was rain soaked, so it was a nice excuse to stay indoors. :)

Potential Tenants...

So I'm still waiting to complete my house, but interestingly I had an old uni mate contact me asking whether  I knew anyone had a room to rent for her younger sister. I obviously go back telling her that I'll be looking to rent out the 2nd bedroom as soon as I've established my new house. Alas she came back saying the house is too far away for her sister. It's no problem, but it would have been nice to have a house mate already to move in.

No matter, I feel that maybe searching for a house mate might be quite an interesting task. As I will have to advertise and interview potential people. Since a few of my friends have tenants of their own in their flats/houses. It'll be quite good to gather intel and advice from finding a house mate. One of my friends suggest using this as an opportunity to meet new people i.e. a potential new girlfriend. It sounds kinda sleazy and indecent. lol. However you never know who you meet so I'd be going in with an open mind.

The thing though is that I would not want to date my house mate, especially if she was to pay me rent every month. As it could potentially cause relationship issues like. What if she were to ask me to help her out in reducing rent, established living arrangements seems too fast in a relationship. So I'd prefer not to pursue a relationship with a house mate if I can help it. But as always I'd never count anything out, as my emotions can take the better of me.

I would ask, would the criterias be the same regarding a house mate vs a potential girlfriend? Let's say when I do conduct interviews for a tenant, what should the criterias I look for as a landlord? Well....I'd want them to be in a steady permanent job, nice, introverted, tidy and quiet. Now my exes have all been loud and extroverted and they've not worked out. Is that where it's gone wrong? Maybe I should consider the more quiet and introverted type? As the loud and extrovert have all failed. There seems to be an underlying cycle where I find it difficult to talk to the quiet and introverts. For one the introverts rarely go out and meet new people, so how do you meet these types even if they potentially could be 'the one'?

So it seems interviews are a forced siutation where you could meet these types is an opportunity. The moral problem would then lie in deciding whether I should reject the ones I potentially like, not knowing whether it could even work, yet they could be the best candidate for being a tenant/house mate. Sigh... I'll hit that problem when the time comes. It seems ethically and morally wrong in deciding the tenants, as I'd favour female tenants over males... lol. Females are just more reknowned to be more tidier. I know this from experience. I'm quite messy as a male, yet I know I'd tidy my own house like no tomorrow, just cause it's mine!

Little high... little low

Went for drinks and karaoke on Friday, and it felt like the longest time since I've been to karaoke. Actually since the place we normally go to has closed and changed management. The restaurant called Gallery Rendevouz, situated in Soho London was actually a very decent place to go to. Although the songs were not up to date, the system to load the songs was far too simple, (it was basically winamp with a search feature). The main drawing point was that it was cheap. The chicken wings there were also very good, helped too. Strange as it may seem that we would normally just sing the same old songs everytime, but we loved it. It's like an end of an era. That restaurant provided many memories, birthdays, and created many fun, spontaneous late night singing sessions. We have now opted for China City karaoke restaurant.

It was a much more expensive, granted China city has a much larger menu choice and the food is definitely better. In comparison we'd normally have a £10-15 meal before Gallery, and Karaoke would normally be only £5 per person. China City was £30 each for meal and karaoke. So £10-15 difference, which potentially another night out. I've not included drinks obviously but it gives you a picture of why we miss Gallery. Also China City, didn't have Mamas & Papas ' California Dreaming', Aha's 'Take on Me' or The Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing'! Yes the last song is from Glee.. shoot me. It's a great song to sing and have a laugh to.

Nothing quite beats singing your heart out amongst friends. Karaoke may seem daunting for some people, it can open up some people who are closet shower/alone in the car singers. It helps if you're drunk and can sing in tune, but then if you're drunk you don't particularly care. I mean if and when it gets to the high notes for us, we try and fail but with many laughs to be had in the process. So drinking and karaoke work very well in tandem, I love it, and would recommend it to a group of your friends. It's always a great night.

I nerded out over the rest of the weekend. Basically comic books, and the Walking Dead season 2. I finished reading the Infinity Gauntlet, Planet Hulk, and the prequel issues for the Annihilation arch, but also started the Civil War arch in the Marvel universe, it's going to be an epic read. I won't go into that just now as I will probably write a seperate entry for comic book entries as well as the Walking Dead, which I finished last night. Amazing series, even with flaws that I noticed.

That'll do for now. I tend to go on and on about nothing in these posts.

Remember Remember....

I will remember you for the good times we had.
I will remember our first meeting, the only female at a stag do.
I will remember our first dance at the wedding, when we were the only ones dancing completely different to the rest of the people.
I will remember our first kiss
I will remember how I sung to you over the phone, in a toilet, when I was in cornwall on a trip with my friends.
I will remember your constant snotty nose
I will remember our first encounter of your driving that scared me and my friends.
I will remember when we climbed the giant log ladders together, we were very proud of ourselves.
I will remember our trip to Venice when we spend a day to visit Murano and Burano Islands. We stayed to watch the beautiful sunset.
I will remember grossing you out, generally testing your levels of OCD.
I will remember your love for food, and introducing you to Vietnamese.
I will remember your smile, and the way you never liked showing your teeth in photos, because you were embarassed.
I will remember our cuddles in front of the TV, in bed, holding of hands.
I will remember the joy you had in picking on me.
I will remember our shopping trips, and my joke of swatting people out of the way with my newspaper
I will remember your temper tantrums, and although it was difficult then, they're endearing now
I will remember your random hugs
I will remember your face at it's most happiest moments always
Regardless of what has happened between us, I have moved on now, but I will always remember you in the most positive light

Will

Smashing Weekend

I've got a stiff neck today... It's bloody annoying. I was tempted to take today off work, but decided to man up and take the pain. To my surprise, and my disappointment, it actually felt better once I was out of bed. Even though I can move around, my head feels like it's in a permanent fixed position. Much like a Victorian lady, who is practicing good posture. I swear I could balance a bowl of fruit on my head as I walk around. I will probably feel it tomorrow morning as well, but for now it feels better.

Topic for today, are my weekend activities, which resulted in me watching the Avengers, trying to open a bank account and visiting grand parents.

SMASH!

First off. The new Avengers movie is awesome! As much as I'd like to write a review. I won't go into too much detail. For me it's the best film of the year so far. I had watched all the previous marvel movies, bar the Incredible Hulk. However after watching the Avengers I wish I had. I have never been a big of the Hulk fan, even when I was young. I didn't enjoy the cartoons, I didn't make a big deal out of the tv series. I sort of enjoyed the Ang Lee adaptation apart from the ending. In the Avengers, Hulk managed to steal the show for some reason. There was an underlying flawed character, with a monster inside him was really well done by Joss Whedon. He got alot of laughs, he gave me a few scares, he provided awe inducing destruction. He seemed so damn powerful, to the point my friend said he's OP (overpowered).

Not to give Hulk all the credit, Captain America gave me nerd chills when he stepped up to lead the team. Iron Man still provided a lot of laughs with his quick jabs at other people's expense. Thor and Loki provided some great drama. Black Widow provided nice eye candy, impressive fighting sequences, interesting psychological mind games, and she also provided the catalyst of fear from the Hulk. In terms of story plot, it was at it's most basic level, but considering that this is a team origins movie. I think the story can take a little step back to concerntrate on the characters coming together. The sequel will no doubt happen, after I believe more solo franchises. Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Captain America 2 are already in the works. And you know what I wouldn't mind a new Hulk, or Hawkeye/Black Widow movies too.

So with this new found enthusiasm on the whole comic book super hero genre. I've been looking into the best comics for each of the characters to to catch up on. I've never been into the western comics, as I've really only read the japanese manga comics. So this is new territory of geekdom for me! I have managed to locate Planet Hulk, World War Hulk, Infinity Gauntlet, Annihilation, Captian America Vol 5 1- 33 and the Thanos Imperative for the time being. Looks like studying for me is going to take another step back....

Free Money

Also attempted to open a bank account at Bank of China on Sunday. For those who don't know. Hong Kong is giving HK $6,000.00 to every Hong Kong Citizen.  Everyone that has a Hong Kong ID with 3 stars is eligible. Funny considering the world is in full of debt. Hong Kong seems to have too much money and is giving it away. I suppose this would actually boosts the economy within the country as well. Anyway to collect the money, you need to either fill the forms and collect it in Hong Kong, or you can nominate a Hong Kong bank account and transfer it there. Even though the $6k is probably an equivalent to a free flight to Hong Kong, I decided it would be best to transfer the money over. Especially considering that the money could go towards more furniture. And as I can't say no to free money, a bit of effort to open an account is worth it.

I'm glad the bank is actually open on a Sunday, considering it's pretty non existent in this country. I suspect it's probably due to the demand from the local chinese community, but this also means it's extremely busy. It was pretty much a failed attempt for me, because I didn't have an appointment, not only that I didn't have all of the documentation necessary as I needed proof of address. This was also a cause for concern for my grand mother, who also wanted to open up an account. It's just unfortunately that she doesn't have proof of address, because my grand father's name is on most of the bills, and her bank account is a booklet, so she does not receive any statement via the post. Luckily she does received some annual statement, but she has to wait till May for it.

Grandmother advice

So visiting grandparents and the obvious discussion came up of what happened with my ex. I didn't really talk about it, but her advice was to find a girl not as smart as me. Ahem....  I'm not sure if it was an insult to me, or to my ex. They obviously assume that it was a factor in the relationship.  I mean intelligence does play a factor in choosing a partner for me. Only to the point at the very least that I'm able to converse with them, otherwise I'm pretty open to the level of intelligence. ....Oh grandmother, still in her old ways.

It does put something in perspective though in terms of compatibility. If anything it's insecurity. It's not nice feeling stupid, I was probably quite condescending, or patronising at times to my ex. I'm ashamed of it now, as I did it without realising. Maybe there's a sense of insecurity, or I'm just being an ass hole in feeling superior. I don't know, I mean I'm not even that smart but these are life lessons I suppose. I'll try to be more considerate. I mean if I were to make quick jabs/ quick corrections I'd try to make a joke out of it, or be more playful when saying it, and try not to embarrass them entirely. I have a friend that corrects people all the time and it gets to the point where we tire of it.

Courting back in the days may have been simpler, but now there's more equality. Females are not just trophy wives any more, they have careers and are just as smart. Males also need to be able to groom themselves, look after themselves, be able to cook for themselves. As much as I still like to spoil my girlfriends, I also expect them to be more humble about it, rather than expect to be treated. I'm still a little old fashioned, but I'd like to think I'm the best kind of old fashioned. :p Saying all this, having a sense of humour is still the top in terms of attractiveness for me.

Overall a good weekend from the usual of just staying in playing games and watching tv. Even though I still love those types of weekends.

Admitting Wrong

Time for a more solemn entry for the weekend.

Couples will fight no doubt about that, I've not come across any couple that has never had an arguement with each other, ever. Relationships can be a struggle sometimes, it's how you deal with disagreements, resolving them and moving on that's the challenge.

I for one am not the best person to be giving advice in resolving relationship issues, but having experienced it first hand from an argumentative ex. I've come to realise it's simply to be able to admit wrong that is the toughest test for anyone. Even myself, when I think I am right, I will fight my own corner. However I'd like to believe I can admit wrong, it just can still take time to get there. This is all well and good if the answer has a right and wrong outcome, it's the grey areas that are hard to resolve.

Especially in a relationship when feelings are taken into consideration. My ex would eventually fall on the why are you arguing with me are you trying to make me unhappy? For my ex, there was a sense of obligation that she felt she had from me. I was obliged to never shout at her, I was obliged to forgive her easily, I was obliged to never be mad at her. Yet she was obliged to do all those things to me. Equality in a relationship is important, and yet from me I didn't mind if I did more for her, just as long as she was happy, because that was all I cared about, that she was happy. She used this against me and it worked most of the time, as I would be upset at myself if I cause her to be sad, angry, or disappointment in me.

How do you combat that? It's a no win situation. When someone is competitive, argumentative, always wanting to be right. Are these healthy attributes? ....I can tell you it was a struggle.

She wanted me to literally do anything for her. She had insecurity problems that lies deep. A little spoilt maybe.... it didn't help that I spoilt her too. Yet no matter what I did it was never enough to prove that I loved her..... There were also trust issues. If there was anything I wouldn't do for her, she couldn't accept it. Where is the reason? Where is the equality? ....She drove me crazy.

Relationships are tough, and I believe people can overcome problems, but if someone is unable to compromise or be reasonable, how can they be together. I tried, and maybe it could have worked, if either of us changed. I could have given in all the time, and let her control my life, it would have made her happy, although it wouldn't have made me happy about myself, it would make me happy seeing her happy. You either accept and sacrifice certain criteria and work towards a reasonable solution for both parties to be happy or to end it. We ended it.

Is it just sticking to your principles? Is it being stubborn? Maybe it's selfish? Possibly all, regardless whether it's being right, you have most likely hurt each other at an emotional level and that really you are both right and wrong. The hardest part is admitting you are wrong. However, maybe it would be easier to think that there is a possibility that you are wrong, and that's the first step. And this goes to life in general and not just being in a relationship.

Religious beliefs, work processes, management, politcal systems. If people can stop believing in absolutes, and think in terms of possibilities, it could be a start in being able to get along with each other. Thinking the possibility that there is no god. Thinking that there is  possibility there is a God. Think in terms of their perspective, and the reasons behind it.

Yet, even by doing so, you can't count out generally bad people. Vindictiveness, selfishness, greed, jealousy are other aspects which can not be helped. Sad as it maybe, as long as there are humans and inequality, there will always be conflict. Even love can create bad emotions. For me there will always be a glimmer of hope in human compassion, as long as people are able to talk and understand one another and not just dismiss someones point of view.

Hmmm... I promise a more positive outlook in my next entry about my ex, because I don't want to provide a bad outlook on her. I will describe the fun and great times for being in a relationship, of which I still miss.

Zerg Rush!

A quick one today. Google has some crazy little easter eggs when you type certain words into their search engine.

'Do a Barrel Roll' try it and see...

And today they have a new one. Type in 'Zerg Rush' into google and see what happens. Given that I am a starcraft fan, this is amazing to me. Small little google 'o's come rushing in from all angles to destroy your search results, and you have to click on them to kill them before they destroy everything on screen.

I believe it's impossible to beat this, as you just get overwhelmed, I love that there is an APM counter in the corner to show how fast you are, much like how in starcraft in how they determine if you play fast or not.

Very similar feeling in an actual game of starcraft where you're just overwelmed with zerglings. Hence Zerg rush. As a Zerg player, this is obviously so awesome to me, even I sometimes zerg rush my opponents as a legitimate strategy, which does work on occasions.

Google has always been a fan of gaming, and eSports has definitely grown. If Google is helping promote starcraft in providing a fun little game, but also educational in familarising the world with a popular starcraft term, it can only be a good thing. Dispite your privacy disputes, I still love you Google! GG indeed!