Single and desperate

I was going to write an article about fads and stereotypes but lately something else has been on my mind. I'm going to whine about the lack of my love life again. If you are not interested in reading yet again about the absence of romance in my existence, please go somewhere else...

Still here? Then let's begin...

I use Facebook far too often. Unlike other people who seem to use this social networking site for means other than social networking, such as playing those blasted applications involving mahjong or planting crops, I actually follow how my friends are getting along in their lives. I always feel left behind when I compared my life to my friends and colleagues. Not a day goes by when I see another person I know putting his or her pre-wedding photos up and I have to fake some congraulatulations for them, when most of all I feel envy and depression. Other people are announcing they are pregnant and others are stating they have broken up.

And what am I doing? My state is similar when I rub my shoes against the carpet - I'm static. I'm in the same state I was ten years ago, just fatter and actually have a job. I'm twenty eight years old, never had a girlfriend and I'm still a virgin, which irks my fragile male ego. I hate to use a feminine phrase but my biological clock is ticking. I thought by this age I would be married but now I don't feel my chances of meeting somebody are getting better.

I work most of the time and spend most of my free time at home. I don't like going out that much, since I hate the social life in Hong Kong. I have reduced the amount of alcohol I drink. All this significantly reduces the chances of meeting somebody. My hobbies are not great ways of socializing either. I spend most of my time cooking at home and I like to watch movies by myself, either at home or in the cinema. I don't go to exercise much and most of my keeping fit, if I'm actually bothered, is cycling (again which I do on my own) or going to the driving range - something which I do on my own and not really a sport which women engage in.

I could look to my circle of friends but most of my friends are doctors and I don't really want to hook with somebody in the same field. No offense to all my doctor friends but most of us are quite boring. I would like somebody who can talk about something other than their patients or the latest advancements in the medical field. That also rules out nurses, no matter how cute or sexy they are.

What also limits my options are my criteria. I do have very selective needs as such. I would like to meet somebody who has a similar background to me (Western upbringing, broad views) but in Hong Kong, meeting somebody like that is very difficulty. With most people having a Cantonese background, finding a lady I like is similar to sieving for gold in a river.

I'm starting to get desperate now. I'm rating all the women I meet into categories. I've started signing up to online dating sites. I'm contemplating starting to do some exercise, not for my health but in the hopes of meeting women by either going to the gym or making me slightly more attractive. Yet I'm still to cowardly to look through those online dating sites and ask somebody out.

At the end of the day, despite all the criteria I have put out and all the restrictions I have put on myself, everything boils down to one factor - I like her and she likes me. Simple? I wish it was.