On Ethics and Moral Dilemmas

So for various reasons, I have been thinking about ethical questions lately. Part of the reason is my work, and another part of the reason is a book I am reading (of which a review will be written soon). In any case, I find myself thinking about ethics questions quite often nowadays.

Travel 2.0: Scratching Beneath the Surface

I have come to the realization lately that somehow, my travel priorities have changed. I was gazing at our rather massive collection of guidebooks at home, and at some point, I realized that there's a wealth of information in these books that haven't been touched at all. Primarily, because they contain a lot more information about a destination than what could be digested in the time we were there, but also we have been visiting new destinations more often than visiting destinations for a second time around. So I wondered, why not come back?

I am not a Travel Blogger: A Case Study in Oslo

Sometime during the summer last year, some article appeared in the travel blogging community that somehow ruffled quite a few feathers. Apparently, one travel blogger "completely hated Oslo" and published an article about it. It garnered plenty of reactions, including some that were rather aggressive, so the travel blogger in question took the post down. Nevertheless, there are some copies floating around and if you just search for the phrase I mentioned, you'll quickly find which article I am referring to. Anyway, I happened to be in Oslo recently, and I must say, it was a totally different experience. The experience I had was more positive, and I must say, it strengthens my reasons why I am not a travel blogger. It gives me more reasons why I just shake my head when I read the majority of articles travel bloggers write.

When Berlin was Warmer than Mallorca

So it's warm again. People are outside again. And things are colorful again. It's already May, but actually, the weather transformation has already started a few weeks ago. In fact, during the last days of March, there were times when Berlin was very warm, in fact, warmer than Mallorca. And that was just something else.

"We're not in Kansas Anymore!"

A few weekends ago, I took the train to get out of Berlin a little bit in order to visit a friend, who happened to be living in Sachsen-Anhalt, about three hours away by train. Sachsen-Anhalt is one of the 16 states that make up Germany, and while I have been there before, my previous visit was relatively short (just a day trip to Lutherstadt Wittenberg) to actually allow me to explore it. This time I had a weekend, and I had enough time to check out two towns. I must say that what I saw was a stark reminder that Berlin is definitely unlike the rest of Germany.

The Letter and Spirit of the Law of Wikipedia

I had an episode recently with Wikipedia which sort of reminded me why I am not a Wikipedia editor anymore. I used to be a Wikipedian, and I edited mostly articles that had something to do with airlines and aviation, updating articles when new developments happened in this industry. I did it for a few years, I even had my own user account, until I stopped since I started not liking the attitudes of other editors. This was back in 2005 to around 2008. And recently, I had an experience which sort of reminded me the whole thing.

A New World Order?

The world seems to be shifting to the right recently. There's Brexit, there's the election of Donald Trump, there's the rise of populist parties in Europe, and there's the rise of the neo-Nazis hiding under the banner of the "alt-right". Sometimes one might think about these things, and conclude that the world is a scary place to be in.

Life in a Bubble

Recent events this year have made me realize how fragmented our society is, and how much we don't know life outside our own inner circle. It seems that everyone of us live in a little bubble, and we rarely venture out of it. And because we don't venture out of it, we fear what is out there, we fear the unknown. And this fear has scary repercussions.

Food Theatre

For the past few years, I have learned how to appreciate food. And it's not just about eating it. There are aspects of food and dining that has less to do with taking in sustenance, but more about the experience. And I encounter this totally different aspect of food whenever I eat out in restaurants and try their tasting menus. It is not something I do often, but rather more of a once-in-a-blue-moon basis.

The Lobster

I rarely blog about film, since I rarely watch them. And during the rare times that I watch movies, for the most part, they only serve as entertainment, and aren't profound enough to ruminate and have thoughts about. But sometimes, there is the rare occurrence in which I find a film that really makes me think, and sometimes I have some words I want to write about. This is the case with the movie The Lobster, which we watched recently.

Leaning to the Right

A couple of months ago, I was on my way home, during the evening, from work. I was about to descend to the metro station platform, in Stadtmitte station. As I was descending the stairs, I saw the people who just got off the station and were exiting, climbing up. At the end of the small parade of people were four people who I thought were peculiar. It consisted of an elderly German couple, negotiating the staircase by climbing slowly and holding on to the handrails. And immediately behind them were two guys, definitely foreign-looking, relatively well-dressed. I initially thought that they were family, and perhaps they were heading to the theater, after all, there are a bunch of theaters and concert halls nearby. However, I immediately saw that something different was happening. The two foreign-looking well-dressed guys in the back were trying to open the elderly man's backpack. They were pickpockets!

Looking Back: Year 2015

The Year 2015 just ended. And I am still here. So let me review what happened here during the past year, by giving an overview post. This is the sixth time I am doing this: I have been doing this since 2010, and I think it's a good way to wrap up the year.

Children and the Religious Decision

I recently came across this article, which reports on a court in Canada ordering a couple in British Columbia not to talk about religion to their granddaughter. The couple happens to be Jehovah's Witnesses, and based on the report, they have been insisting to take their four-year-old granddaughter to church. The mother, on the other hand, who happens to be the sole guardian of the granddaughter, thinks that her daughter can choose her own religion when she gets older. Of course, there's conflict. The court ruled in favour of the mother, ruling that the grandparents shouldn't be allowed unsupervised visits to their grandchild because of their insistence on talking religion to their granddaughter.

Counting vs. Seeing

A couple of weeks ago, I was in a party and I had a discussion with someone there about travel habits. We were talking how our travel habits have been changing as we age. Before, when we were younger, we somehow had the urge to simply visit places as many as possible. So, if it's your first time to Europe, then you probably would do some itinerary involving just the major cities, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Istanbul. But as we get older, we tend to like slowing things down a bit.

Living Positively

This post is about a discussion I've had with someone recently about world events. See, if you always read the news, then there is a possibility that you would imagine that the world is a bad place. With all the bombings happening, all the developments that ISIL does in the Middle East, all the economic woes that are occurring due to the Greek crisis, and all the aggression that Russia is doing, one would think that we are hopeless and we live in a bad world. But is that indeed the case?

The Psychology of Defeat

So this past weekend, there was a very publicized boxing match between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. And as anyone who has been following the news has already seen, Pacquiao lost the fight. I am not a boxing fan, and therefore I really couldn't care less about how the fight went, but I still couldn't avoid seeing the news coverage about this fight, both before and after. And what really amazes me are the reactions of people after the fight, especially those who were rooting for Pacquiao, mostly, reactions from Filipinos.

Selfies, Food Porn, and Social Validation

One day last summer, I was invited to join a bunch of Berlin folks to an event in a local restaurant. There was a new restaurant that opened, and so as part of a social network centered around restaurants, services, and other providers, I was invited to this event. It was an event sponsored by the restaurant, which recently opened within the year. So about twenty or so people were gathered in this restaurant to sample and try the offerings of this restaurant. While overall, I liked the experience, there were actions of my fellow guests that sort of raised a question in my head. And it has something to do with selfies, as well as taking photos of food.

So You Wanna Be a Couchsurfer?

Last July, I wrote about how I invited a stranger to stay over in my flat for a few days. Yes, I am a Couchsurfing member, and though I already knew the existence of this concept a long time ago, I only implemented it recently. As in within this year. And ten surfers later (and yes, I have had the chance to be a surfer myself when I was in Yerevan, Armenia), I think I have an idea now on who would be my ideal guest.

Sex and Selfishness

The other day, I was in a bar. I was chatting with an American girl, an Icelandic guy, and a German guy. And as is typical whenever there is alcohol involved in the conversation, every now and then, the conversation topic goes to sex. And somehow, as we were earlier discussing altruism and selfishness, the question that appeared was whether sex is a selfish act or not.

Barefoot in Tübingen

I was in Tübingen last June, for the third time. This was because there was a conference in which I participated; and so I was there again. Unlike my previous visits, however, it wasn't in the middle of winter. And perhaps because the weather permitted it, I saw so many people walking barefoot. I saw so many of them that I really wondered what was going on.