The Asia Weblog Awards includes a good list of interesting websites from around the region. It’s had a bit of controversy over exactly what constitutes an Asia blog, but in general it seems like a good idea.
I voted for you.
Thanks, but the most useful aspect of this is the categorization by country, language, etc. The controversey is interesting as well, though full of idiots (we’re no stranger to that phenomenon here, after all).
I think blogs represent the death of civilization as we once knew it. I loathe the things. Narcissism to the nth degree. Me me me. I hate them.
WAIT A MINUTE, added one hour later: Hey, PG, that is mean stuff. I take it all back. Those are amazing blogs, from Thailand, Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Wow, I could read them all day. The pics, the notes, it really is amazing stuff. I take back my earlier criticism and say this: “I have seen the future and it blogs!”
Rocking stuff! Who needs newswpapers anymore or even movies, when we can travel to these countries via personal blogs? Amazing stuff. thanks, PG, for pointing out this entirely NEW WORLD to me. Been living in a cave too long.
Hey Formosa, you should write a blog!!!
Don’t get me started!
(I think to keep a blog you have to be fairly narcissistic and self-concerned, although in a positive way perhaps. I am not that self-absorbed or extroverted that I would ever want to blog in public. I always thought diaries should be private. But the Internet has changed all that. Besides, I am not a very good writer. I can’t think straight or in long takes. If I had a blog, it would look like this. I prefer having a conversation with all you guys than boringly annotating my boring life.)
That said, how do I get started, Brian?
AROUND MIDNIGHT, a late night post:
Wow, this intro the Japan blog is great. I LIKE THIS GUY:
“My crippling sense of self-reverence barely edged out my seething hatred of “blogs”, and the result is this online journal of my non-adventures in Japan. In other words, “BLAH BLAH BLAH Look at ME! I have a WEB JOURNAL! I’m in a FOREIGN COUNTRY! I’m IMPORTANT! BLAH BLAH BLAH”
*NOTE: The events described in this journal are entirely fictional. At least the parts that my mother doesn’t like, and the parts that describe activities that are even somewhat illegal. Or the parts that my superiors might deem misrepresentative of JET or Japan in general. Or the parts I retroactively declare lame. The rest is probably true.”
Formosa is talking about this blog;
kindofcrap.com
Funnier, perhaps, than the webmaster’s own writings are those of a 14-year-old student of his. Up until now I had regarded my gradual hair loss as inevitable and not in itself a bad thing. I learn, however, from Yohei Katazuki’s review of ‘The Matrix’ that I have been mistaken and that my baldness is a sign of true evil:
“Also there is another bad person who pretends he is good but actually he is bald…But anyway this bad person has no hair on his head so he is bald, and he traitors the good people who are Neo’s friends. Because of this I do not like him, but later he does die so things become happy anew…Therefore in conclusion I like this, the movie “the Matrix.” It is very exciting and his graphics and is cool,…Also it features acting.”
joesax: great minds think alike! I read that section by his 14 year old student and loved it. More English teachers around the world should add such sections to their blogs. Good for the kids to write in English, and funny (in an interesting way) to read them.
By the way, his name is Galvin Chow. So is he Chinese-American raised in USA? Interesting dude. Wonder if we can invite him to post here. Anybody know his email address?
Hehehehe… I just added Maoman.org to the list of Taiwanese blogs. Taking my cue from Taiwanese politics, I promise hongbao of $1000 Guanxi dollars to all who vote for the Pan-Forumosa camp (either me or Poagao…) 
If you’re lucky, there’ll be a victory banquet with karaoke and Taiwanese binlang-girl-type strippers… 
I got a mass email last night from Corbett Wall (3q2u.com) urging everyone he knows (and he knows a lot of people) to vote for his site. As for the competition, it’s always going to be about who has the most friends instead of what is really the best one, and that’s subjective anyway. I know I’m not going to win anything; to me the real attraction of this contest is finding new and interesting blogs from around Taiwan and the rest of Asia.
So, er, you don’t want us to vote for you then?
Yes, Paogoa, and props to you for telling us about this link. It really is amazing for all of Asia. I have been reading them all all week and plan to continue to do so thru the Xmas break. Thanks mucho. Yes, the winner is mute, not importante; the important thing is the variety, the diversity, the pan Asian spread. amazing.
You vote for whomever you want to. Isn’t that fair?
Paogao and Maoman - I am interested in why you guys keep a blog. What motivates you? Is it some kind of self-expression? Do you have an audience in mind or do you just do it for the hell of it? If I were to keep a diary I wouldn’t like to put it online, but perhaps you don’t view a blog as a diary in the conventional sense?
Also, why do you thnk other people would be interested to read about your daily doings?
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.
[quote=“Spack”]Poagao and Maoman - I am interested in why you guys keep a blog. What motivates you? Is it some kind of self-expression? Do you have an audience in mind or do you just do it for the hell of it? If I were to keep a diary I wouldn’t like to put it online, but perhaps you don’t view a blog as a diary in the conventional sense?
Also, why do you thnk other people would be interested to read about your daily doings?[/quote]
Pressure from relatives (especially the 'rents) to keep them in touch with the daily going’s on in my life - the stuff that you never say on the phone. I have a somewhat restrained online journal - that is, I don’t mention everything that happens in my life - especially if it involves drunkenness, cannabis, or any other perceived vices. My parents enjoy the text that I post, my friends and other relatives have told me they enjoy the photos. Anyway, as you can tell by my less-than-stellar posting history, it’s not an all-consuming obsession with me. And as far as other people go, I don’t really care. It’s primarily for my friends and relatives outside of Taiwan.
[quote=“Spack”]Poagao and Maoman - I am interested in why you guys keep a blog. What motivates you? Is it some kind of self-expression? Do you have an audience in mind or do you just do it for the hell of it? If I were to keep a diary I wouldn’t like to put it online, but perhaps you don’t view a blog as a diary in the conventional sense?
Also, why do you thnk other people would be interested to read about your daily doings?
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.[/quote]
I’ll pick (b) For the hell of it. It’s not really a diary; I have a private journal I keep at home. The online journal is just public observations, venting, and just for writing in whenever I feel like. I don’t have any illusions about other people wanting to read it, outside of family and friends abroad. For some reason people tend to assume bloggers are tying people up and locking them in a very small room until they read their blogs. Why would anyone be interested? Don’t really know. Don’t particularly care, either. It’s there if you like it; if not, move on.
I’m up to Nov. 17 and I’ve read nearly all of your Australian railway story. Can I get out now? I really need to use the bathroom and there’s roaches in here.