SALTO Inclusion colleague wanted

Looking to replace the 2 SALTO Inclusion girls

2010 will be the year of change for me. I’ll be back at work for SALTO Inclusion (besides occasional freelancing on the beach, I hope) AND we’re looking for a new SALTO Inclusion colleague (full time, starting March 2010):

• someone with experience and vision on Social In/Exclusion and operational skills to run training courses, meetings, a website, PR & communication.

In return you get an exciting international job, making a difference for young people that need it most. You will be working in Brussels (at the heart of the EU) but there are lots of opportunities to travel and a competitive salary for Belgian standards.

• And of course, you get me as a colleague – hehe ;-)
• Deadline to apply 31 January 2010 (procedure attached & below)
• JobVacancySALTOinclusion2010

Abu Dhabi, more boo than be bi

Here we fly - Etihad Airways

It was the first time I flew Etihad Airways (national carrier of United Arab Emirates). I didn’t have a lot of ‘stereotypes’ about the Middle East, except the oil sheiks, and indeed it seemed that’s the people the airline caters for… One group of people they are less welcoming for are gay people though…

Bad hair day: Before > After

I'm still "Same Same ... but Different"

Sometimes it happens… It comes from deep inside… CHANGE. In my case change exteriorised itself in my hairdo. Why not do something compleeeetely different…?

• So not sure you’ll recognise me when we meet next ;-)

There’s more and more of my friends who opt for a hairstyle defying the definition of “short”. Often their hair affair is not dictated by style, but by nature. Let’s say that I belong to the same age-group.

• More pics Before & After below

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The world of Suits & Ties

Is it (still) me?

I was playing with the idea already a long time: Should I ‘grow up’ and buy a suit – for all those occasions of dressing up, without it being carnival all the same (weddings & funerals). When in Poland, 200% supported by my good friend & life coach, who’s living and loving the business world, I did make the jump into this very new world of Suits & Ties, learning all the unwritten rules & revelations. The result (pics below) does look oh-so-cool on me (they say ;-). The cost of this initiation: 300€.

• VIPs also read ‘buying new clothes to sell my soul’

Rainbow Disco Fauna

The amazing & amuzing disco fauna & flora

It’s more fun than watching television. The show is live and unpredictable. And you don’t even pay for it (besides the entrance fee). Yep, I went to a (gay) disco again after being absent from the party world for a long long time (what’s even more: I went in Antwerp and once again when I was in Poland). It does require some sacrifice, because it doesn’t start till 2am, but once the guys get going, there’s no end to the amazement & amusement. Till the lights go on at 6am, which turns this fairy tale into harsh reality.

• PS If you have a categorisation of the Gay world (fun or serious) I would be happy to read about it – Add it in the comments below?

Buying new clothes to sell my soul

The crusade to conquer the labour market

The CV distillation process and copywriter tricks in the motivation letters I sent off were successful as I got a job interview only a week after launching myself on the labour market. Great to get a job interview – but then it all of a sudden dawns to me that I don’t have any job interview clothes! RED ALERT – this was a matter of utmost importance and I summoned all my gay friends to go Suit’n’Tie shopping. Hooray ;-)

• And itthe clothes emergency paid off – as the boss liked me – even though I’m too expensive… What should i do? Any advice? (please feel free to comment below).

Squeezing myself into 2 pages

Jobhunting instead of other hunting...

What could I do about it… After more than 7 quite eventful months, and having gotten used to live in between 3 different houses, spreading out my undies, creams and office stuff effectively over the 3 places, the inevitable happened: I got bored!

So what to do? Before leaving to Asia, I added ‘reconsidering my (professional) life’ to my to-do list. Having worked 8 year in the same job, I think ‘I had taken the tour’ of the organization, as they say in French (seen everything there is to see). So maybe it was time to move on to new challenges?

10 reasons why gay marriage is wrong…

No comment...

Gay marriage in the US* is wrong! (*or substitute by any other country)

• Bonus cartoons below – add a link to your own favourite cartoon in the comment section

1) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

How old is not young?

A thirty something guy

What age does the midlife crisis kick in normally? Maybe it is happening to me as we speak… I already wrote some posts about getting old(er) and now again one. I can feel the time ticking: I feel it in my bones, I notice it in the strength of my glasses (they’re gonna be back soon ;-( and I definitely don’t belong in a dance party anymore.

• Maybe part of becoming old(er) is also complaining about getting old(er) ?

Holidays and holidays are Two

Civilisation - or complication in Oporto

After roaming around the Portuguese countryside with the Belgian friends, we had deserved a bit of leisure and luxury in the city, and the closest city around was Oporto. So up North we went, stopping for some sparkling wine-tasting on the way there, and we arrived in a super-modern apartment located in the centre of the city – for almost the same price as the B&B where we stayed at the river. So that made me think about different approaches to holidays…

• What are your minimum requirements for sleeping? A mattress on the floor or 4 stars in your room?
• What do you (not) eat? Eat as the locals do or eating pizza and McDonalds?
• How do you find your way around? Ask the people or take on the challenge of map-reading?
• What to visit? Get a taste of the atmosphere or does something need to be happening? Visiting people or places?

Whatever it be, going on holidays with friends or partner is the best way to get to know them (and either get into big fights or have a lovely time).

• Many pics below!

Kaupthing goes Keytrade – I got my money back

Bye bye Kaupthing Edge super accounts - never again

It only took them 10 months since October 08. Finally I got my money back from the Icelandic bank from Luxemburg: Kaupthing. They went bust in October last year when the bad banking dominoes started toppling over dragging down half of the economy and financial markets. After negotiating with Libyan sheiks and British millionaires, they decided to sell the Kaupthing leftovers to another (dodgy?) bank:

Hello Keytrade - but not for long (but thanx for saving my savings anyway)

Keytrade (with only half of the interest rate left over ;-( Then it took another month for the European Commission to decide if this was a good idea (giving people their savings back) according European rules and only last week they decided to give them a green light.

• So all of a sudden I have money again!
• Any suggestions what I should do with it? Buy a house (well, a small part of a house)? Where? Go on a world trip? (oh yeah, I just did that…)  So what else?

Make your own Champaign

Explosive RED sparkling wine

My sister and her family live in the Dao wine region in the interior of Portugal. I’m normally not a red wine person, but still I got the hang of a good glass of Dao with a (fatty) Portuguese meal. So I thought it would be nice’n’cultural to go and visit some Dao vineyards and cellars…

Hm, Portugal is not France, the only place to find wine in Portugal seems to be in the supermarket. But I didn’t want to give up on the idea and did the impossible (despite the fact that the municipal internet service had categorized all websites about wine as ‘Drugs’, and thus blocked access to them): we found a family winery that was willing to welcome us. It wasn’t Dao, but lovely sparkling RED wine (never had that before) and they even explained us how to make it: (see also Wikipedia)

Here it goes:

Playing with kids – playing with fire

How sweet, how treacherous...

I did study educational sciences, but this definitely doesn’t prepare you for dealing with kids. I was thoroughly put to the test at my niece’s house, baby-sitting (after the mum-sitting) their 2 lovely but strenuous daughters (6 and 8 years old). As a friend of mine put it (and I couldn’t agree more): “mothers should automatically be granted sainthood once the kids are raised and leave the house”…

• So what would you do with the kids in the challenging situations below?

A bit of Asia travel stats

What does it take to travel Asia?

Did you ever wonder how much traveling in Asia costs? How many people you meet? What it takes to get there? How many borders you cross? What your trip is composed off?

For me it was: 126 days, 40000 km, 8 countries, 20 flights, 34kg luggage, 170 blogpages, 8 SIM cards, 8752 pictures, 10 currencies, 3x diarrhea, 6 books, 16 languages, 8500€,…

6 months of traveling through Asia…

An overview of my trip:

Bye Bye Philippines - The End of 6 months traveling

• A bit of Travel Statistics – how much & how many?
  .
• Top 10 most surreal moments
• Top 10 new experiences
• Top 10 nicest moments
• Top 10 dangerous moments
• Top 10 monuments to see
• Top 10 quaint picturesque places
• Top 10 best food
• Top 10 useLESS-useFULL things
  .
• 21 June – 22 July: visiting my sister in Portugal – shall I write some Portuguese stories? YES – read them here
• 12 June – after 3 flights and 24 hours traveling I am back “home” (whatever that is)
• 10 June – back to Manila from El Nido airport (or should i say air-pasture?)
• 9 June – a pilipino goodbye present – one last sizzling sunset
• 8 June – going for island hopping and my first time snorkeling!
• 7 June – moving up North to magnificient El Nido beach – but getting there in the rainy season is a bit of a challenge crossing rivers and skidding into a ditch and toppling over – youtube videos here
• 6 June – Visiting the world’s longest underground river – another Unesco World Heritage site
• 5 June – bye bye Boracay beach – hello Palawan island and Puerto Princesa – trying out a Dorm (one last time)
• I gave up waiting for the sun, so I went swimming in the ocean in the rain – loooovely
• 31 May – a little week at the paradise beaches of Boracay – unfortunately it is rainy season… – but great sunsets (pics here)