New Blog "Asia in Australia"

Since I moved out of Bangkok a few months ago, I have decided to shut down this blog. As it goes with blogging, it can be addictive. I had always thought that eventually, I will start a new blog.

Now, the new blog is born and the baby goes by the name of "Asia in Australia".

Here is the link.

The blog is still very young, but it slowly taking shape. I encourage you to visit and have a look.

The content is very different from before, as I try to find a more serious voice and a different point of view. It might be less personal, but I hope through my picture-taking, I can still bring some personal flavour to the new blog.

So, I hope you can make the move with me. From Bangkok to Australia, but never totally leaving my favourite area of the world, Asia, out of sight.

Impressions from Korea 2

This is an ad campaign on the countryside, apparently for potatoes. Question: would you trust this lady in a skirt to sell you potatoes???



This is what the old men in the bakery complained about: young men look like women these days. It's true...although I think this ad campaign is a few years old.

How could this guy be any more gay??? and then the black net shirt....gosh. You can also see in the picture that he couldnt care less about the girl, but rather rather look at the beer...

The same guy....this being Korea I would not be surprised if he actually had a girlfriend. I asked my boyfriend before if he thinks that these girly-looking guys can even (excuse me...) fuck a girl. I speculated that the guy is probably ultra-passive...a straight bottom of some sort.

The boyfriend thought that they might not even have sex...someone who knows Korean men more the I do please explain me this phenomenon of ultra-gay looking guys with girlfriends...

This is the Japanese high school class from Namsan. I was a bit surprised because the boys and the girls seem to come straight out of some porn fantasy...The girls with their mini skirts hugging either other being all "cutey cutey" (god knows how they managed to be cute with a miniskirt at -5C degrees). And the guys with their orange high hair (I could swear I saw some of these guys in a little "movie" before...)

These are our Thai friends....I dont know how words can describe their looks...Both guys were so camp it was not funny anymore...The one on the left came to the toilet straight after I came out. God knows how shocked I would have been if he would have stood right next to me....

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I will miss...

And here I am, sitting in front of the computer with a bottle of scotch whisky finishing it up straight from the bottle. That might be a metaphor.

I am also finishing up my stay in Bangkok. Arrived on the 20th of March 2008, leaving on the 10th of December 2009, something like 21 months in Bangkok. As you might have noticed I am leaving with a heavy heart. I fell in love here, not just with my boyfriend again but also with a city and its people.

I am not a good "good-bye-sayer" but this good bye has been so slow it is not affecting me so much anymore right now. First the boyfriend left two months ago and since then, nothing was like it was before with him. Then, sadly a few days too early, my dear friend Kawadjan left too, without whom Bangkok is a bit dull.

Now, I am having friends coming day by day to pick up things I do not need anymore. Surprisingly, despite so much stuff leaving my condo, it still doesnt look empty...

*gulp* ...one more sip from the whisky.

So what's next? I am flying to New Zealand for graduation this thursday. There, I will meet my parents who are already there holidaying for a few days. Then, we head to Switzerland (with a 23 hour stopover in BKK) where we meet the boyfriend again. I will spend Christmas in Switzerland with the whole family this year, for the first time in 6 years. And....with the boyfriend too.

After that, I am moving to Australia...looking for jobs at the moment. That's the next few months in a nutshell.

Bangkok however does not feature in my plans. Even though part of me always remains here of course, I can not continue this blog. It would not make sense.

I think this blog has been very tied to Bangkok. People who read my blog want to know about Thailand, about Bangkok and probably also specifically about gay life in Bangkok. A "Bangkokbitch" can not blog from Sydney, so this will have to end.

I must say I had an absolutely amazing time blogging. It takes much more time than I thought but I really have to thank Kawadjan from motivating me to start my own blog.

Blogging is about saying something for me. People who have something to say, should do so, and blogs are perfect for that! I have always seen my blog as a mix of personal stories, which were a bit naughty at first and became a bit toned down (like my real life too) later on.

Then, there were some opinions mixed in. They were not always appreciated because I probably insulted a few people. Im sorry for that but when people have opinions, that can happen. A blog is not here to appease people but to state opinions too, even in a gay-themed blog.

I couldnt say what was the biggest "high" of this blog, because every reader will pick out something he (or she) likes the most. Some liked pictures of boys, others liked the naughty stories, most liked personal stories, some liked opinions and bitching and others also liked my travel writings.

And that was the beauty of the blog and blogging in general. It's like the ultimate free market. You can consume for free if and whatever you want. If you dont like it, you can go away within a split-second. You can even leave instant feedback.

For the writer, I find blogging an amazing opportunity too. If you manage to get a few readers you can reach their minds within minutes by writing down your thoughts. And unlike in facebook or twitter you can actually write them out properly. You can also upload pictures and be creative in whatever you want to do.

I personally really enjoyed this and I know that I will continue to blog somehow and somewhere. I am not sure if I will link a possible new blog to this. Probably not but who knows. I must admit, I started liking the name of my blog less and less. It is a fun name and very sticky. People tend to not forget it I think.

But, it distracts from the essence. More than once, people commented and wanted to make a point, but then stepped back and said something like: "oh but you are the bitchofbangkok so maybe that's part of the game or character you are playing".

I tried to play a character at first but I must admit I cant do that. I didnt fake feelings or opinions, I was always myself. What you saw is what I am and I always wrote what I was thinking.

So, I want to say thank you to all the reader that have been loyal. I immensely enjoyed my time and without public, this time would have been wasted. Please keep faithful to my blogger friends and if you feel like it, open one too. It's definitely worth the investment!

For now, I want to say goodbye and if you still want to keep in contact with the old bitchofbangkok, follow me on Facebook. If you want to be in contact with the real me, write me an email. The email is on the top right of the blog.

Have a good time in Bangkok everyone, I will never forget this time!

Alone in Bangkok

I warn you, this is going to be another heavy post.

I have handed in my thesis today, so far so good. I have to defend it on December 18 and then hand i'll be nearly finished. Looking for jobs now...

Actually I am not happy in Bangkok anymore right now. And I am not happy with what I have done in Bangkok during the last nearly two years. I had always thought I am a social person. I usually get along with most people and am quite chatty and I suppose also relatively friendly.

But how can it be that after 2 years of living in Bangkok I am here at home despite really wanting to go out? How can it be that in the next 2 days, I will probably speak to no person except some sales girl at 7eleven?

Well, the two most important people of my time in Bangkok, my boyfriend and bff Kawadjan are currently outside of the country. Then, other friends are busy with their parents and family over the Father's Day weekend.

But these are excuses. I have simply not made many good friends over this time in Bangkok. Time to think back.

I have started here like everyone else does. Talk to a few people on the internet and meet them when arriving here. It was actually quite funny. I arrived in Bankgok at about 1am and was in the hotel by 2am. At that time there were quite some people who wanted to meet me RIGHT NOW. Strange, but I suppose I was fresh flesh.

Then, meeting the first few friends I had made online. Most of them went from fuckbuddy to friends and into oblivion in a few days. With some, I didnt even get to friends. To be honest, I craved sex and being close to someone. I was without it for quite some months before coming here.

Just a few weeks later came the phase of thinking about potential boyfriends. I think that happens with many arrivals here in Bangkok. Although I must say I didnt make the mistake of trying to find them at DJ or at Babylon (although there are certainly nice people in both places).

I like one guy but there was a lot of drama before we were even close to a relationship. That put me off. There was another guy. We had a great time but he was too feminine and that put me off being a top sexually for the next few months. Then there was another guy who lived right next to me. We got along very well too, he slept at my place a lot and went to work in the hotel next door in the morning. Later on there was also a guy who designed baby clothes. I think we liked each other too. But it was nothing serious either. I dont know why but suddenly we didnt meet anymore. Now I lost contact with all of them, which is ok.

By that time, I had already talked a lot to my exboyfriend (at the time, now my boyfriend) who was living in Sydney. He told me he is coming to Thailand to study for a year and basically from the moment he said it I swore myself not to fall in love with anyone until he is here. I wanted to give us another chance.

So I just met people for sex. Sometimes they were friends. I dont remember so well. Some I met at 3am spontaneously, others I went out with them on quite nice dates only to stupidly suggest to "go to my place". Arrived there, we would be bored....and have sex again.

I am not sure if sex destroys friendships but anyway, that's not the point I want to make. I dont even want to think badly about myself for having sex with many people. But, in fact, I just missed out on many other vital things like making friends!

It is actually not so easy. I had a lot of classes and hung out quite a bit with my classmates. We'd always go to Siam together after class and do what Thais love to do: shopping, eat and gossip. But that is not how you make great friends either...

I made good friends with two classmates. One, a girl, lives near me and we meet up quite frequently. I was really moved recently when she invited me to her birthday party as the only outsider (outside her family). It was really nice to be part of her family.

The other one is a gay guy. We were quite close but I dont know why we never became really, really close friends. He was always too shy to ask me if I was busy. And he also lived very far from the city, and then later had a job and I assumed he was busy.

The rest (all Thais) of my class, I was just not interested. They built their own cliques and I wasnt part of that. Apart from school was where I really missed an opportunity to make friends. Just this week I met a friend again whom I met at the beginning. We have similar interests and he studies politics at Chulalongkorn too. He's really involved in NGO work and I should have really gotten involved too.

Chasing boys is really not a good past time...

I had also never met foreigners in Bangkok. How could I? I didnt get involved in anything, I didnt connect with foreigners when I went out. Heck I was even proud of only knowing Thais in the city. But of course, I hardly shared anything with them, so we didnt stay friends.

I had two Thai gay friends. With one I used to play badminton. Then he got a German boyfriend and I wanted to warn him of rushing off to Germany after knowing him for 4 weeks. He was angry at me for that and we never talked again really. We lived near each other in Sathorn and used to just meet up and get a few beers at Family Mart, sit down and talk. It was great fun.

Later, another friend also joined us for badminton. We used to go eat out together too and just talk. that was quite nice....but then things flattened down and when he just kept calling me "fattie", I once threw a badminton shuttle at him and then he didnt speak to me anymore until today.

Then, the boyfriend arrived in Thailand. We spent a lot of time obviously as we became a couple again. I shut off all contact with friends/fuckbuddies because I just simply lost interest in them. since then I have slowly started to talk to people again that I used to get along with, but it's too late now to build new friendships.

In hindsight, the big mistake was to not get involved in anything. No club, no association no nothing. Back in Switzerland, clubs form the backbone of society. Everyone is in a club. Be it the shooting club, the volleyball club, the card came club, the nature and hiking club. Here in Thailand, society is built up differently: first comes family, then comes family, and then maybe old time friends, followed by potential boyfriends and maybe new friends. You dont need to be part in clubs, because you are by default in a "club"....you are in a hierarchical position, which defines a lot of your life anyway. Of course, some people are active in things like Thai dance and music (my classmate), but that's the minority.

And so, I walked through Siam today - alone. There were thousands of people out today. Everyone seemed to have a friend or a partner with them, seemed to enjoy themselves while looking great. For the first time in a few months I actually felt ugly.

I used to walk alone through Siam at the beginning hoping that I could just be with someone or take someone home. Today, it'd not all that different except that I cant take anyone home. So in fact I am even more alone than then.

A lot of lessons to be learned from that. I hope I will learn them for my next stop.

A hot Swiss

Many people would say there are no hot Swiss people, there are only nice and boring Swiss people. Nice and boring this man on the pictures below may be, but he is really good looking I think.

This man is called Stephane Lambiel and is a twice World Champion in figure skating. Is that ringing an alarm bell? Yes I quickly looked at a few pictures of figure skaters and I think they are nearly all gay...

Lambiel is everybody's darling in Switzerland. Old grannies love him because he's a nice, smart and softly-spoken guy. I think they wish they would have son, grandson like that. I am not sure if young girls (and of course guys) like him too, but I do.

He's never publicly come out with a girlfriend and there have been rumours about him being gay. Lets put these aside, I am sure that this young man (he's 25) IS gay.

Do you agree?

Personal regrets and the diversity of humanity

My facebook followers will know it, I have nearly finished my thesis now. Writing a thesis is not a good thing for your social life, I tell you. Writing TWO theses in one year is very bad.

I, with my protestant work ethic have written from morning to evening on these pieces nearly every day in these few months. In New Zealand I stayed at the university from morning to 10pm. Here in Thailand, I stayed at home all day, because there is no way you can work efficiently with Thai friends around. You will end up going to eat, going to SevenEleven, going to buy coffee, gossiping and so on...

So I stayed home. This nearly drove me crazy and my contacts with other people have been limited to chatting and telling each other that we should meet soon. I am a bit sad about that. Now, I am suddenly realising that there are about a dozen people whom I could have made really good friends with, but I just missed the chance.

I hope some of these people are patient and accept my apologies. I have always been too tied up with either the thesis, or my boyfriend that I was just simply too negligent of other parts of life.

I will stop moaning now and take this as a lesson....Our social environment is very important, and the family, boyfriend and a few best friends will not do. We need more than that. I'll try harder in my next destination and hope to come back to Bangkok sometime to catch up on what I missed.

In the meantime, I want to share a link with you. I am a great fan of world politics and also personally like photography a lot. I came across this portfolio of world leaders taken by a British photographer taken during the UN General Assembly.

In total, the photographer publishes 50 portraits and gives a short audi-commentary to every picture. Have a look at this site and find your own leader or your favourite.

Usually, we only hear about leader's policies, but in this case, we can hear a photographer talk about these world leaders' facial features and personal character for once. Interesting.

Maybe without realising it, the photographer has created a celebration of different looks and features of humanity. In my opinion, these looks do not represent power at all but the diversity of humanity.

Here are some highlights:

You can not beat Italian charm and elegance. Silvio Berlusconi.

This man, Rupiah Banda from Zambia has an amazing face, so many crevices and lines.

Lee Myung Bak from Korea. The small eyes with the outer end of the eyelid folded over the eye are so typically Korean.

This is a really beautiful face. Evo Morales from Bolivia. Extremely wide and symmetrical features.

Brian Cowen from Ireland. I'd love to have a beer with this man.

Memories with a great friend

It was not meant to be but today suddenly became a big "good-bye" day.

Earlier this morning the news reached my that my best friend Kawadjan's daddy in the Philippines had passed away. It was shocking news and has deeply saddened me.

Since he would be travelling back home as soon as possible (that being tomorrow), tonight was the last time I saw Kawadjan for many months.

Originally, Kawadjan and I planned to go to Rama XIII bridge near his home, have dinner there and walk around a little bit enjoying the lights and the river. I wanted to see the river again before leaving BKK and this was to be the last time...

But we ended up in Silom with two other Filipino friends (one of them is actually Swiss AND Filipino, so I could even speak some Swiss German). But that is not the point.

The point is that tonight was the last time I saw my friend Kawadjan here in Bangkok. Not forevereverever, but for the last time while I am living here in Bangkok.

I got to know Kawadjan very soon after arriving in Bangkok. We actually met for the first time on April 5 2008 at Saphan Taksin. I think pretty immediately we got along well and had great discussions, even though I talked way to much about myself.

mhmmmm beer lao, my one and only love:)

From then on we shared many great moments, he introduced me to his lovely friends. In the beginning we used to go out to Silom all the time. We'd just get a table in Soi 4, drink beer all night long and bitch and bitch and bitch about everything and everyone. That was sooo much fun.

And then the shopping.....gosh we shopped our asses off. It was JJ market every weekend until we got so bored with it. Then we changed over to Lumpini Night Bazaar until we got bored of that etc....If anyone out there wants to know something about clothes shopping in Bangkok, ask us two, we know for sure!!!

Lately we have been more into the Khao San scene. I'd catch a taxi to Kawadjan's place, we'd get ready and walk to Khao San, eat something at the Khao Gaeng (Rice Curry) place and then hit the Burmese makeshift bar on Rambuttri Street and we drank and giggled and bitched and choz-ed.

My favourite times though were when, sometimes after a night at Khao San, we would grab a beer at the 7eleven (just past the arrogant but divinely cute tea seller) and sit down on Kawadjan's rooftop.

These were among my best moments in Bangkok. The quietness, the lights of the city, the neighbourhood and the cool wind. These were also the moments when we talked a lot about our feelings, ideas, fears or anything else.

The craziest songteaw ride forevaaa

We also went on three trips together: To Sukhothai/Tak, to Sam Roi Yot in Prachuap Khiri Kan province and to the South of Laos last August. All the three trips were extremely memorable. We had great fun together and were a good travel couple I think.

In Tak province, we werent quite sure what to do so we just caught a songteaw to Umphang, which is like the last village in Thailand before Burma starts. That trip took four hours each way and will forever be the most memorable songteaw ride.

There were frogs next to me feet, vomiting ladies next to Kawadjan, little boys sleeping on my lap and a Karen lady who could make it to Paris fashion show with ease...

In Sam Roi Yot, I convinced Kawadjan to rent a motorcycle, and we both had great fun with it. I will never forget the beautiful sunlight when we drove back from the mountain we climbed.

In the South of Laos, we couldnt stop looking at the hot young Laotian boys showering right in front of us in the river. We also biked virtually to Cambodia and slept under a romantic mosquito net.

Anyway, I could go on and on and on. We really had so many great moments and discussions together. and...I nearly forgot it, he also introduced me to blogging. Were it not for him, bangkokbitch would have never been born...

A night at the Burmese

G, I am really grateful for all of this. You have been an awesome friend and I hope we can still spend lots of time together at a later stage in life...

Dont forget to smize and keep posing fiercely with an elongated neck that shows your jaw line!!! Choz!