I don’t have a big family in the States. It really only consists of my small immediate family of four. And even then, the only family member D has met was my mom, over a couple of quick meals. So it’s accurate to say that he had no idea what he was in for when I brought him to China. And then all of a sudden, in the span of two months, he met and spent a significant amount of…
The story of how I got peer pressured into getting Lasik eye surgery by a woman I just met
Okay, maybe “peer pressured” is a tad harsh. “Roughly persuaded” is more like it. But the second part is true. I had just met her for the first time in my life, and five days later, I found myself climbing into the surgery bed, shaking uncontrollably, under glowing lamps and strange machines. Less than five minutes later, I walked out of the surgery room sore-eyed but glasses-free. For the first time in over a decade. Wait, I’m getting completely ahead…
Travel wears | street fashion in Taipei
As much as I love traveling with D and have come to rely on mostly each other for company, there are just some roles we cannot fulfill for each other. Sure, he has learned to listen to me whine talk about blogging and pretends to care about recent gossip and even once went to a Hello Kitty cafe with me, but there is one thing at which he draws the line: shopping. No matter what, D cannot make up for the lack of…
Travel plans for summer 2015 revealed!
Some of you may remember that I entered a blogging competition a few months ago, where the first place prize was a trip to Europe. When I entered, I had no thoughts of winning because you still would have to purchase your own flights into Europe, and Europe is still really expensive. But then I was listed as a finalist and all of a sudden, I really wanted to go!! We decided that if I did win, we would purchase our…
Island life
Yesterday was an off day. The morning started off on a stupid argument. It doesn’t matter what caused it, but all you need to know is that I was seriously PMS’ing and D was seriously hungry/under-caffeinated, so that’s never a good combination. We managed to make it out the door and into the seats at one of our favorite cafes, before we decided that we didn’t want to be in each others’ company. So I walked away, and found an empty…
The 4 Hour Body: is this a sustainable diet? (and month 1 results)
The following is a lonnnng post about the slow carb diet. If you’re not interested, skip it and I recommend this drool-worthy post instead. However, if you are interested in losing fat fast while not exercising and still stuffing your face but in a totally healthy way, then read on! Over the past few months, I’ve been feeling down about my health. We haven’t cooked for months (except for the stint on Koh Chang), due to the lack of kitchens and the convenience…
When you spend every minute of every day together
By the end of this month, it will have been an entire year that D and I have been traveling together. That’s almost a whole year of being in each other’s faces 24/7. I can’t believe we haven’t ditched each other in a foreign country yet. Because we really get on each other’s nerves a lot most of the time. After so long of being together day in and day out, certain habits become increasingly annoying, and then we get excessively crabby with…
Lessons from a few scribbled characters
From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank everyone for your support and encouragement on my last post. I feel so loved! And I want to share this little story today for all of you who also have the same struggles and feelings of despondency (thanks for this new word, Bonnie!) This story starts with a fall. It happened on a cold Beijing early-spring morning, when the snow on the ground had just barely melted from that winter. My grandfather was…
Vignettes from two red stockings
I have a very special post today! The following is an article written by my mother, recounting the Christmases of our childhood. The article was written in Chinese, and I (polishing up my rusty Mandarin) slowly read it character by character. By the time I finished, I had a headache from concentrating so hard, but also a smile on my lips and a warm glow of nostalgia for those magical childhood moments. My memories of my childhood Christmases have always been some…
Unplugged
It’s been almost a week since I’ve accessed my email, social media accounts, blog stuff, or the internet in general. 6 days of being completely disconnected from the outside world (except for the occasional Facebook update from D, who has a data plan on his phone). But I swear I have a good reason! Here is where I have been: Okay, not actually in the ocean, but on the island of Koh Chang. We chose Koh Chang for our Thai island experience based…