This post will be a long one so thank you if you have the patience to get through it 😂 (maybe that should be in the what I’m looking for section?).

About Me

33 M who has been living and working in the CBD for the past 6 years, though have also lived in most areas of Melbourne before that. I’m someone who is on the one hand easy going, but also thinks about things deeply and enjoys discussing things at length with others. Partners have described my vibe as warm, safe, consistent, and overall golden retriever energy.

To round the general introduction out, 177cm tall, weighing 85-90kg with an athletic to solid build, ethnically Chinese, some fluency in Cantonese and Japanese, culturally Malaysian, and Melbourne born and raised.

I don’t like wasting anyone’s time, so counter intuitively I’m going to put my potential red flags upfront:

• Dating apps seem to be a sea of beach lovers, avid hikers, marathon runners, and country-side campers. I don’t mind doing some of these things on occasion, but they’re definitely once or twice a year activities for me, I enjoy being active in other ways (see below). I’m very much a city dweller, and while open to new experiences very much enjoy the lifestyle I’ve built, and prefer to be outdoors for short bursts (2-3 hours) for specific activities. 
• I have strong feelings about liking true crime; I feel (recognising this is an emotive argument) that it is entertainment through the suffering of others. Many of these stories are horrific and involve deep pain, trauma, and loss for those involved. As someone who has lost a lot and been through a lot in life, it doesn’t sit well with me if someone were to take entertainment from those experiences. While I respect people’s right to enjoy what they like, it's not something that I view positively, enjoy, or want to associate with.
• For those looking for something more serious or physical it’s important I mention I’m CNM because I know that it may be a deal breaker for many, but perhaps irrelevant for those looking for friendship or general company.

If I haven’t lost you yet, hopefully something below does catch your attention.

• I’m definitely food obsessed, my Instagram is pretty much a food diary. Living and working in the CBD I love exploring new places as I walk to and from work, and most of my international travels revolve around food places and eating local specialities, which leads me to…
• I love travelling, and generally spend all of my leave outside of Melbourne. I definitely have an affinity for Asia, however I have also travelled to NA, EU, and NZ (I’m aware of the inconsistency in that short list).
• Definitely a science and medicine nerd. Having majored in genetics and microbiology at uni, even though I don’t use it in my day to day anymore it still is very much a first love that I love to read about and explore whenever the opportunity crops up. I also have a keen interest in urban design, infrastructure, and transportation.
• I’m pretty active and enjoy a lot of different sports (? feels weird calling them that); archery, go karting, weight training, roller blading, ice skating, and motorcycle riding.
• The above tend to balance out some of my more sedentary pastimes; I have a reasonably sized board game collection (favourites are Zombicide, Jaipur, Flamecraft, and Hanabi), and while I like both for many of the options following I prefer manga (FMA, Kingdom) over anime (Haikyu, Toriko), TV (B99, Parks & Rec, The West Wing) over movies (Oceans Eleven, Kingdom of Heaven, Red), books (where to start) over podcasts (99% Invisible).
• I enjoy spending time at GLAMR institutions (automatic green flag if you don’t have to Google what they are), and recognise that there is a lot of individual taste involved in what sort of exhibitions people may enjoy. Most recently I was lucky enough to visit the Studio Ghibli exhibition at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore.
• I have a weirdly specific interest in grammar, linguistics, etymology, and am a strong advocate for the Oxford comma. A section of my personal library is dedicated to books on these topics.
• Still consider myself a musician though I rarely play nowadays. Most proficient on bass, but in the past have also played piano, drums, saxophone, guzheng, and ukulele.
• My music taste is all over the shop; Polyphia, Postmodern Jukebox, Frank Sinatra, Ne-Yo, Muse, Slumbering Ensemble, System Of A Down, Elton John, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Pentatonix, Taylor Swift, Yuki Hayashi, the list goes on.
• I’ve dabbled a bit in traditional crafts and have liked what I’ve tried so far; pottery, glassblowing, knife sharpening, and intend to try blacksmithing once winter rolls around again.
• Like to think I keep a pretty decent liquor cabinet, mainly focussing on whisky, reds, and late harvest, while avoiding beer (sorry). Generally drink socially rather than regularly.
• I’m socially progressive (under this umbrella are reproductive rights, LGBTQIA /Queer/GSRM rights, renters rights, and more), flexitarian, environmentally conscious, and a non-judgemental advocate for all of these. 
• On the matters that I feel are individual choice and I don’t advocate on; agnostic, child free, non-smoker, and love pets but don’t have any (4 little urns is enough for me).

What I'm Looking For

I’m looking for people (singular or plural) who:

• Want to do things together, I’m not looking for online-only interactions. Whether this is to go out for a meal, do an activity together, go to an exhibition, explore a new location, get together to share our favourite media, or play a boardgame together, as long as it is inhabiting the same space. Some things on my list to try that I haven’t gotten around to yet: arrow tag; trampoline park, and an inflatable water park.
• Can carry a conversation, who are unapologetically passionate about the things that they like, and will yap about their interests endlessly. Introduce me to your favourite series, your favourite artists, tell me about your niche knowledge, and the things that light up your eyes when you talk about them.
• See food as more than just something to be consumed for nutrition, but also to be deeply enjoyed as well as the experience of sharing food with others.
• Take care of themselves and are reasonably physically active (as mentioned above this doesn’t have to mean being outdoorsy). I enjoy doing things in life, and would like to meet people who can keep up, come along on that journey, and even better if you can push me further to grow.
• Want to make genuine, lasting connections without preconceptions of what that should look like.
• For those that might be interested in something more serious or physical, I’m happy to talk about more intimate topics but prefer to connect on the above points first. While pansexual, I’m also very much demi too and experience a lot more attraction to those that I can bond with intellectually.

What I Offer

• Company on that thing that you’ve been putting off trying for ages, unable to convince others to go with you to, or that you love doing all the time that others might not be as eager to repeat. I’m pretty adventurous and will try just about anything once. Particularly if we connect on shared hobbies, I am always down to spend more time doing the things that we both might love.
• Thoughtful, kind, considered, and intentional company and connection. I like to think I’m quite a well read, well travelled, and well socialised person, able to connect with a wide variety of people on an equally diverse range of topics and interests, and to talk about just almost anything at length.
• If I make plans with you I will keep them barring emergencies, and will be respectful of your time, energy, and mental space.
• A wealth of knowledge about Melbourne’s food and cultural attractions. While definitely not encyclopaedic, I spend a lot of time on foot and online exploring what is happening in our city, upcoming events, new openings etc. If there’s something that you’ve been wanting to explore more, I probably have a recommendation.
• For more serious attachments, I like to think I’m self aware, am an open, frequent, and direct communicator, attentive to feedback, have done the work through therapy (though self improvement is always ongoing), and am an instinctive caregiver, supporter, and will encourage you towards the goals you set for yourself (or help you set them to begin with).

If you made it all the way to the end, thank you for reading! Can’t wait to hear from you interesting Redditors 💛 feel free to include a picture in your message, I’m not allowed to include one in the post but have an Imgur link ready to respond with.