Archive for June, 2011

Mahjong

June 21st, 2011 by Manda | 5 Comments | Filed in Family

Things I learned while playing mahjong with my family:

  • No way can a half-Asian newbie (aka me) ever beat family members that have been playing (and winning) this game for longer than I’ve been alive.
  • My brother has even less of a chance at beating my family members at this game than I do. Case in point: the one time I won a ton of money one round, he promptly lost it all his next turn (he and I were a team).
  • Never team up with my brother. When it comes to playing mahjong, two heads are not better than one!

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Deadly Bug Bites

June 20th, 2011 by Manda | 5 Comments | Filed in Life

I woke up this morning to find that I’d been assaulted by a deadly, vicious mosquito in the middle of the night.

Let me preface the rest of the story with two things:

  • The mosquitoes in the greater Shanghai area are vicious. Also, it’s been raining like crazy the last few days, although yesterday and today the rain eased up a little. You know what they say; after the rain comes the mosquitoes…
  • I have crazy sensitive skin that reacts really badly to mosquito bites. Mosquito bites cause me to swell up like no other.

The first thing that alerted me to the fact that something wasn’t quite right was the strange sensation I had in my lower lip. It seemed tingly and felt huge. A quick look in the mirror and I discovered that my lower lip had swelled to almost triple its size. My right middle finger has also swollen, to the point where it hurts to adjust the ring I wear permanently on that finger, or to even bend the finger. Also, the top of my right hand as well as my right wrist has swollen almost beyond belief. At least I can bend my wrist, though.

You know what the worst part is? I don’t have any ibuprofen on me (forgot to pack that, all I have is Tylenol which is useless for swelling) and my mom steadfastly refuses to let me take anything to help ease the pain and swelling. She’s all about “letting it heal naturally.” (She’s even gone as far to give me silent treatment when I asked if we had any ibuprofen around.) Well, that’s easy to say when you’re not the one that’s swelling up the way Violet Beauregarde did when she became a blueberry!!

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7 Deadly Sins: Sloth

June 19th, 2011 by Manda | 5 Comments | Filed in Life

I’m taking a leaf out of eemusings‘ book and doing the “7 Deadly Sins” meme. I’m not going to post these consecutively; they’ll pop up every now and then as I please (read: when I have a steady Internet connection).

Day 4: Sloth. Seven things that I neglect to do.

1. Make my bed
Seriously, there is no point to making your bed because at the end of the day you’re just going to sleep in it and it’ll get all messed up again. The only time I ever made my bed on a semi-regular basis was when I lived in the dorms freshman and sophomore year of college, because there would be people zipping in and out of my room all the time. If there are guests/visitors that are going to see my bed then yes, it should be made. Otherwise, I don’t see a point.

2. Keep track of my expenses
This is something I desperately need to start doing. I’ve half-excused not doing it over the last year as I was studying abroad without a job or regular income, but now that I am preparing to move out into my own apartment I really need to start managing my finances far more stringently than I have been.

3. Use body moisturizer daily
I always forget to moisturize my arms and legs after I’m done showering. Everyone knows water dries out the skin, and it’s especially important to remember to use moisturizer or lotion after shaving (legs!). Still, I’m lazy and I just… forget.

4. Water plants
In my ballerina days, I would get lovely bouquets of flowers from family and friends after each performance. I’d stick the bouquets in vases in my room, and then promptly forget to water them. Each bouquet ended up withering and dying before its time.

5. Floss
I see flossing as a time-consuming (and painful) thing to do. Yes, I get there are long-term benefits (like my teeth not falling out from diseased gums!) but… eh, I’m lazy about it.

6. Clean my room
Organization is not one of my strong points when it comes to my living habits. (I qualified that statement because I am extremely organized when it comes to school or work.) In my defense, my room is never dirty – just messy. It’s very much a case of organized chaos.

7. Eat
Honestly, sometimes I just forget to eat. I’ll be too caught up in whatever I’m doing (whether it be something exciting like going on an adventure or something mundane like running errands) and it isn’t until I start feeling light-headed and dizzy that I realize I’d forgotten to eat!

Full list of days below the cut.

(more…)

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