Posts Tagged ‘lol’

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Cavemen and Fire

June 16th, 2011 by Manda | 2 Comments | Filed in Family, Travel

“Our family is like cavemen and the camera is fire.”

So said my wise brother during a two-day family excursion to Guangzhou. The amount of time spent in front of minor sights with various combinations of people and different cameras used (since, in today’s digital age, it made more sense to use every camera in possession to take photos, rather than stick to one camera and share the photos with everyone at the end of the trip) was headache-inducing. There is a reason for the Asian tourist stereotype of taking photos for every little damn thing encountered.

I’m seriously thinking of investing in a green screen and presenting it to my family. It’s not like they are concerned about the sights; the photos are all about the people and have little to no focus on the background. A green screen would take care of everything.

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The Underachievers

June 14th, 2011 by Manda | 6 Comments | Filed in Family

There are two cousins on my mother’s side that are the closest to my brother and I in age. This is both fortunate and unfortunate: fortunate because we all get along really well and have lots of fun when we get together, and unfortunate because it is too easy to compare our accomplishments (as we are in such similar places in our lives. Comparisons are inevitable when part of an Asian family, but it’s kind of pathetic when you come off as the underachiever because you actually are one in comparison. Take note, for example:

  • Cousin 1: Multilingual (Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, English, Shanghainese). Certified to give piano lessons at age 15. Youth Group leader. IB student. Slated to receive a bilingual high school diploma. Athletic.
  • Cousin 2: Multilingual (see languages listed above). Qualified for the official Shanghai youth soccer team. Youth Group leader. Guitarist. Very athletic.
  • Brother: Bilingual (Cantonese and English). Maintained aquariums as a hobby. Knows how to drive manual. Certified lifeguard.
  • Me: Trilingual (Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, English). Slated to graduate from college in a year with a bachelor’s degree. Baker. Accomplished cross-stitcher.

There is one thing my brother and I have undoubtedly in our favor, however. We are taller. (Lame, but we take what we can get.)

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On Good Travel Companions

May 2nd, 2011 by Manda | 1 Comment | Filed in Friends, Travel

While sitting on a 9-hour bus ride from Luang Namtha to Luang Prabang:

Friend: Who was in that sex scandal again?
Me: Sex scandal?
Friend: Yeah, that sex scandal.
Me: …Edison Chen?
Friend: So not Eason Chan1, right?
Me: No, it was Edison.
Friend: Cool.

The fact that I was able to pull the right answer to his particular question out of thin air (we had been sitting in silence beforehand and earlier conversations had absolutely no context relating to sex scandals) shows that he and I are often on the same wavelength without needing to verbally communicate. This is why he is my favorite person to travel with – we just get each other.

Quick update regarding my travels: Laos has been fun so far, but I’m excited to move on and head into Vietnam. My adventures in Laos include hiking through the jungle, staying overnight at an Akha tribal village, sailing down the Mekong, and tomorrow I’m going to see motorbike through Phonsavan and see the Plain of Jars. Then, off to Hanoi!

  1. Eason is one of our favorite Chinese singers. [↩]

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