The most uncomfortable taxi ride EVER

So I had to go to a meeting yesterday with my boss, so we went to catch a taxi.  All conversations were held in Cantonese, unless in bold (English). Warning: A lot of expletives used. Kids, press the big red x in the top right corner.

The following occurred between 2:00pm and 3:00pm. Events occur in real time.

Boss:     Nathan Street please.
Driver:  OK Boss.

10 minute later and some boring conversation I had with my boss, which we held in English…

Driver: You two not from around here?
Boss:     Right, we moved here from abroad.
Driver:  So do you know what this street is famous for?
Boss:     Portland Street… famous for hookers…
Driver:  HAHA even you know this? You come here often?
Boss:     No… but it’s a common fact…
Driver:  You tried any?
[by the way, my boss is the Chief of Economics in my company, has several degrees, masters and PhDs…]

Boss:     … No..
Driver:  Fuck man, I do it all the time. $300 (around USD40 I guess) a pop.
Boss:     Oh? So expensive?
Driver:  Fuckkkk man, that’s what rising prices does. House prices increase, so do hookers! Back in the day, only $200. Now $300. How can I pay? Need work overtime. Motherfking economy screwing us taxi drivers.
Boss:     … Where are they from?
Driver:  Them bitches? Local man. I only do local. You know local? I speaku engrish – local. But they blow so fast as if they have appointment to make. Only 30 minutes and I be getting rushed out of the room. 30 minutes! $300! Damn this shit.
Boss:     I heard there a lot of Russian prosititutes?…
Driver:  No  dude. They all in Macau. Them whores are expensive. $1000. 1000 dollar ah.
Me:        (quietly) I suppose you learnt your English from the Russians..)
Driver:  What you say kid?
Me:        … that orange car is so ugly.
Driver:  Them fucking pricks with their ugly ass sports cars, can’t do shit. What a waste of a car. That’s not a car. That’s a fucking orange with wheels.

[Orange sports car cuts us off and stops in front of traffic to let someone off]
Driver:  Motherfking kids. Think they the shit. (sticks head outside window and flipping them off) GET THE FUCK OUTTA MY WAY ASSHOLE. LEARN TO FUCKING DRIVE.
Boss and me: …

Driver:  Damn assholes, I’d kill them if I could.
Boss and me: heh.. heh.. heh………
Driver:  Hey kid, where you lived abroad?
Me:        England
Driver:  You like French girls? What they like?
Me:        Umm.. skinny…
Driver:  What about English girls?
Me:        Umm… big…
Driver:  LOLOL. True that.  Do white chicks like china sausages?
Me:        … I don’t think it’s their preference…
Boss:     What’s Chinese sausage?
Me:        He means Chinese guys…
Driver:  Chinese sausages. Chiiiiineeeeese sauuuusages ah. You know? Penisuuuu
Boss:     Oh.
Driver:  LMAO. I know one fact though, Japanese girls like black sausages. Blacku sausagy. LMFAO

Boss:     … are we there yet?

asiaWHAT!

www.asiawhat.com – coming soon!

More details in near future…

i’m a twit(ter)

Only 3 years late, I’m now on twitter: @qoobie23 – is that how you post user names?

Just when I got my facebook jargon on lockdown, I now have to deal with “tweets” and other crazy words and procedures.

WTF is a “trending topic” and these # signs everywhere.

Screw work -  next 2 hours I’ll be with my sensei to learn the ways of the twitter.

Wikipedia, here I come.

shining inheritance

Ack! It’s not available on aja-aja! And there are broken links on mysoju.com.

Where to watch?…

I have Return of Iljimae to tide me over, and I l definitely watch God of Study when subs are out.  Maybe Pasta, since I like cooking.

2009 – you’ve been good

Almost every other blog out there is doing some sort of “BEST OF 2009” post, so let me be a sheep and do one myself.

Qoobies Best of 09 KPOP Awards

Best Artist
G-Dragon

Best Group
2PM

Best Newcomers
2NE1, 4minute, After School, BEAST, Lady Collection, Maydoni

Best Songs (no particular order, one song per artiste)
SNSD – Gee
2NE1 – I Don’t Care
Taeyang – Wedding Dress
2PM – Heartbeat
Park Bom – You & I
Kim Tae Woo – Love Rain
4minute – Won’t Give You
After School – Because of You
Hwanhee – Bring it Back
Epik High – Wannabe
2AM – Time for Confession
Super Junior – Sorry Sorry
Brown Eyed Girls – Abracadabra
SHINee – Please Don’t Go
Maydoni – 7 Teen
LeesSang – Girl, Unable to Separate – Boy, Unable to Leave
Baek Ji Young – Don’t Forget

Best Albums
G-Dragon – Heartbreaker
2PM – 1:59PM
Hwanhee – H-Soul
Wheesung – Vocolate
2NE1 – 2NE1
Maydoni – 7 Teen
Untouchable – Quiet Storm
Brown Eyed Girls – Sound G.
Super Junior – Sorry Sorry
Lady Collection – Lady Collection
Kim Taewoo – T-Virus
4minute – Musik
Epik High – Map the Soul

Best MVs
2NE1 – Fire
2PM – Heartbeat
G-Dragon – Heartbreaker
Brown Eyed Girls – Abracadabra
Epik High – Wannabe
LeesSang – Girl, Unable to Separate – Boy, Unable to Leave

Drama
I haven’t been a huge follower of K-dramas (I’ve seen less than 10 my whole life), although that will change as I’m on a rabid download spree. Recommendation welcome!

In 2009, I’ve watched Cinderella Story (not sure why I even bothered), IRIS (very entertaining, although the last few eps were a huge let down; they either should of added a few more episodes to flesh out the story, or end it earlier) and You’re Beautiful (wasn’t going to watch this as it looked too “teen” and “cute” for my usual tastes, but so many people recommended it. Good recommendation! Park Shin Hye ^_^).

I am about to begin Return of Iljimae, and plan to watch Shining Inheritance after, since it has won so many drama awards in 09.

Variety
As I understand little Korean, the shows that I can watch it limited to the ones that are available on youtube/download with subs.  Family Outing is my no.1 variety show.  I’ve been a huge follower of the first series of couples of We Got Married, but interest has died down.  MNET Scandal seemed to have some promise, in at least we can expect to have crazy fangirl complaints; but that was a letdown too.  Other shows I watched/followed include Intimate Note, G7, Star King, 2NE1/Big Bang TV.  I wish there was a site which keeps track of all the episodes and where I could watch/download them…

Looking ahead to 2010
The Return of the Jedi Jaebum. Comebacks/LPs from:Taeyang, Big Bang, 2NE1, 1TYM, Se7en (basically YG family), Tasha/T, May Doni, Hwanhee, Hyori, BoA.  More material from the many newcomers of 09, such as BEAST, MBLAQ, 4minute, Untouchable, f(x).  Less freaky gifts from netizens to their idols.  Return of X-man alumni HaHa and Kim Jong Min. Movies/dramas/variety/eye candy which feature either Park Shin Hye, Ha Ji Won, Jun Ji Hyun, Park Bo Young, or better yet, all of them together. Anything with Kim Sooro – God of Study is a good start for 2010. New Cha Tae Hyun movie?

And of course, a new blog site. Damn will I ever be able to make it?

2010 – let’s hope for a even more exciting year for k-entertainment!

happy new year!

New Years Resolution? I’m not one who usually makes resolutions, but I want 2010 to be a new beginning for me, a time for reinvention.

Happy new year to you and I hope this year will bring your even more peace, love and music then 2009!

x

proof that women can’t park

From BBC news:

A shopping centre in China’s Hebei province has built a car park with wider spaces that it says is designed especially to suit women drivers.

The women-only car park in Shijiazhuang city is also painted in pink and light purple to appeal to female tastes.

Official Wang Zheng told AFP news agency the car park was meant to cater to women’s “strong sense of colour and different sense of distance”.

The parking bays are one metre (3ft) wider than normal spaces, he said.

The Wanxiang-Tiancheng shopping centre had also “installed signs and security monitoring equipment that corresponded more to women’s needs“, he said.

The Global Times website says female parking attendants have been trained to help guide women drivers into their parking spaces. The bays also have extra lighting.

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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

ninja qoobie needs this!

a tourist-y weekend in hk

My best friend who’s Mongolian (we’ll call him Bob cuz it’s easier to type ^^) came to visit me in Hong Kong last weekend. I’m posting some pictures of our little tourist style weekend to give you a glimpse of what Hong Kong offers. 

golden disk awards

Been following the 24th Golden Disk Awards (Korean Grammys kinda).

Exciting stuff!  Actually not sure if the show is finished yet, but so far, this is definitely SME’s night.  SuJu has already won 4 awards, including the Daesangs.  SNSD and SHINee won too.  Whilst I’m a big YG fan, SuJu deserved the awards.  They had a massive year with Sorry Sorry and It’s You.  Same with SNSD and their GEE and Tell Me Your Wish.  What did surprise me however was no award for 2NE1, as they definitely owned the second half of 2009.  Anyway, good show overall – much more exciting and glamorous then the MAMAs to be honest.

Son Dambi looked stunning – but what did she kill in order to get that atrocity that is hanging off her?!

“HyunA shii – what are you in this evening?”
“My bathing suit! TeeHee ^_^”

The tramp, the hobo, the dork, and mini Crown J

Legs Legs Leggity Legs. *giggle*

Looking good guys.

A lot of awesome performances this evening, like SuJu, SNSD, Davichi, Son Dambi, Epik High..

I’ll just post this badass performance by 2PM to whet your appetite, go find the rest on youtube! BTW, check out how they freak the shit out of some of the other singers

HyunA and Jiyoon were so cute, dancing along to Heartbeat!  I know I rag on HyunA a lot, but after watching her on Invincible Youth, she’s mega adorable and innocent. Although she’s supposed to be an entertainer, it’s still a shame she has to put on a front and act so slutty/overtly sexy when performing.