Rudy Yuan’s Streak oF BluE

-= POST I: OPEN RELATIONSHIP =-

As a lot of you know, “open relationship” is a choice available in Facebook (or probably some other networking sites) for relationship status.

A lot of people have been using this option while, I guess, without knowing the true meaning of it.

I think the REAL Open Relationship is pretty uncommon in Asian countries, yet lots of Asian Facebook users often opt to choose this as their relationship status.

I don’t have any prejudices towards them. Maybe they’re indeed in an open relationship… or maybe they just have the wrong idea about it.

– starting from this point, all accusations (save for facts and quotes) are strictly my opinions –

Many people, especially those of Indonesia, might consider the term “open relationship” as that they are open to or ready for new relationship, or in the process of seeking a new relationship. It’s probably like, “Duh, I’m so bored with my GF, I want to break up and find a new one”

or

“I’ve been single for so long, it’s time for me to find a relationship with someone”

It’s not entirely wrong.

But it’s wrong if they’re apparently single and opt “open relationship”.

Check the web for Open Relationship definition, like in Wikipedia.

“An open relationship is a relationship in which the participants are free to have emotional, spiritual and/or physical relationships with other partners. If the couple making this agreement are married, it is an open marriage”

and here’s another one from Urbandictionary:

“A relationship in which two people agree that they want to be together, but can’t exactly promise that they won’t see other people too. Basically, to have it all: a significant other and the freedom to hook up with other people. Common during college for many post-high school relationships.”

See?

If A and B are in an open relationship, it means that they’re in a relationship, WHILE both (or one) of them are also seeing other persons (usually for sex).

So, if you take ‘open relationship’ the wrong way, and you set it as your status, please change it before I offer myself to you. You can break someone’s heart.

But if you’re indeed in an open relationship, don’t hesitate to give me a call. I like it dirty.

-= POST II : DOWN TO EARTH =-

This is also a commonly made mistake.

Some networking profiles have people who describe themselves as DOWN TO EARTH  (I’m proud and shameless to announce that it is usually dating sites in which I participate “simply to observe” lol), of which people are usually mostly Asians.

Down to earth probably elicits a notion of humbleness, humility, modesty; as opposed to ‘up high in the heaven’, which gives the notion of pride, prominence, etc.

Despite that it really sounds so, DOWN TO EARTH does not mean that at all.

Here’s the definition of Down to Earth from Merriam-Webster:

1:practical (down–to–earth traveling tips)2:unpretentious (surprised to find the movie star so down–to–earth)

And Encarta Dictionary describes Down to Earth as practical and realistic. And its thesaurus gives “practical, realistic, sensible, matter-of-fact, pragmatic, no-nonsense”. (and fyi, nothing about humbleness)

And this is an example of down to earthness from Urban Dictionary:

Down to Earth Person: “I’m not paying $92 for that sweatshirt just because it’s designer! That’s crazy!”

(which makes me not a DOWN TO EARTH person. LOL)

So if you’re humble and want to be flagrant about it, stop using Down-to-earth to describe yourself, or worst, others.

===

I wrote this because I hope nobody would make the same mistake as I did. Cause, yes, I have also had the wrong notions about those phrases. But at least I don’t use them publicly until I find out what it means. Be down-to-earth guys!

Sharing empowers knowledge!

Beijing’s main airport is called Beijing Capital International Airport, which was definitely a big airport. Its International Terminal 3 was the second largest terminal in the world after Dubai’s International Terminal 3 (Wikipedia).

So, on one of my flights from this Airport, I got a chance to look at the Terminal 3E. It was definitely huge. I had no problem reaching the designated gate for my flights after I passed through the immigration since there were lots of signs to guide me. But as I got bored waiting in one of the many gates in the 3E terminal, I decided to take a walk and got lost! I had never got lost in airport before, even if it’s new to me, like the one in Hongkong or Guangzhou. Even I spent one and half hour of walking through the terminal, I had the nagging feeling that I had not seen it all.

–00–

In that day in the terminal, I overheard something interesting.

I was walking through a long hallway looking for my gate when I saw two men walking in front of me. One was Indian and the other was Chinese, but I concluded both were of Singapore nationality.

Indian: Wait, I need to rest my arms and feet. This airport is crazily gigantic. (He was carrying a baggage at that time, dragging it with him all along)

Chinese: (laugh) okay. Yeah, they surely built this huge.

Indian: Yeah. The way they do things is when they build something, they do it grandly. This airport is no exception.

Chinese: Yeah. In contradiction though, we in Singapore try to make everything compact (this of course refers to the little land Singapore has)

Indonesian (oh, who was I) in his heart: Wow, we Indonesian also build compact utilitarian sad cheap(?) buildings! Despite the fact we have relatively big landmass.. We just don’t have many financial options.

Oh God, how sad is that? There were free drinking water dispensers all over the airport, while we couldn’t even find automatic vending machine anywhere in Jakarta (just recently in busway stops, which you still have to buy through the operator).

And even though Singapore has a compact airport, it’s still much better and bigger than Cengkareng.

What happened to our country? What’s the huge natural and human resources doing?

I’m not nationalist. I just wonder where we got it all wrong.

And don’t you dare reply me with the philosophical motivational (accusatory) responses like: it should start with you, what have you contributed?

*KICK

I haven’t lived my life in regretful ways. I could say I had averagely done my best in life: getting the right friends, getting the right educations, getting the right laptops, getting the right cell phones (all is probably exaggerated).

It doesn’t mean that I always get the best in life. My friends are not definitely the best. (TS is a pedophile. MA is a pee-in-a-bottle person. GC is a little bit too good at accounting. R is pervert. ETC)

And MIT is surely much better than my college. But I’d say that I went to my college without regret. Now, if I look back to times I have spent in that college, with friends and everything, I’d say that I don’t regret that I didn’t go the NTU or MIT instead (speaking like I ever had any chance in gettin into any of those.. lol).

I’d say the same about pretty much everything. I put what belongs to the past in the past. Regretting is getting me nowhere.

But if I had given the chance to change something in my life, there would be some several of these:

1.Change my name

I would gladly have a surname! Officially I am registered without any surname.

This has been a source of problem to me especially administratively. Imagine you discuss about someone in a scene like this.

“ Do you remember Rudy? The one that’s excessively handsome back in the high school”

“Which one? There are 3 Rudys back in high school. Which Rudy?”

“Aah, he doesn’t have any surname!”

Bug me…

But well enough, people sometimes know me by nickname and recently by the name I added myself for distinguishing myself. But it doesn’t help when I have to deal with things like buying things online, applying for Visa, opening new bank accounts, etc.

2.Change my birth date on my birth certificate

Not many people know this, but I have different birthday date. I was actually born one month earlier than the date stated in my birth certificate. It has something to do with my parents’ fault in late registering my date.

Imagine a scene like this.

… I was visiting a foreign country alone. I met a friend who was in the same batch with me during out training days in Singapore. And we were booked in the same hotel so we went quite frequently together for dinner. I would sometimes take my passport out to ease the space in my pocket. He would take a look and make a mental note that my birthday, the official but not a true one, was coming near.

In the untrue official birthday, he surprised me by buying a cake, in getting which, I know, would have cost him quite some trouble. He didn’t speak the country’s language, and the countrymen spoke little English. And he brought all the candles and birthday paper crown. And he lighted the candles for you and made me make wishes and blow all the candles. What was I supposed to say? That it was not my birthday? That it was a month ago?

It is a true story.

3.My friends

I’m kidding. LOL

4.My parents

LOL. I sometimes imagine what if I were born out of a super wealthy family. I could and would do so much in life that I hadn’t had chance to. Like, owning a Super Nintendo during childhood, going yachting, had a superhuge house, had an early knowledge on sex practice (wrong, i DID know it early), etc.

But I love my parents. They’re the best. And if I had lived differently, I wouldn’t have this awesome character as I am having right now. lol

5.Enough!