Every now and then, I'll be walking down the street or in a store or something, and some Chinese person will come up to me and start asking me something in Cantonese or Mandarin. I say I'm sorry, I don't speak Chinese. And then I feel like an ass for the rest of the day. I think it's pretty embarassing that I can't converse in Chinese. I always feel bad that I can't help answer these people's questions. I'm sure they're asking me because they can't read English or maybe they're tourists or something.
Growing up, my grandma lived with us and she only spoke Chinese. Well, she understand some English, but never really bothered. (Like me, in reverse.) I recall my parents speaking half-Chinese, half-English - you know, Chinglish. And I know that I used to speak to my grandma in Chinese. But I only ever spoke English to my parents. And over time, my parents pretty much just spoke to me in English. So really, the only time I ever spoke it at all was to my grandma. After she passed away, there wasn't a need to speak Chinese anymore, so I didn't bother. Plus, our family speaks a different dialect anyway, so Cantonese is still kind of foreign to me, even though that's what most Chinese people in Vancouver speak. Though there's lots of Mandarin speakers these days too.
I've listened in when my parents chatted with relatives, and so from that, I could pick up some of it. But understanding a language isn't the same as knowing how to speak it at all. I can understand some phrases here and there, but that's about it. Sometimes I can understand what people are saying, but for some reason, when I want to say something, I just can't think of the words or how to put together a proper sentence. My sister laughs at my attempts. She says I sound white, which is pretty damn lame.
However, I do know some handy swear words in Cantonese. hehe. A person always needs to know how to tell a bitch to shut up in any language! lol. (I think that phonetically, it's like this: "Mo cho, say bok poh!") It wasn't until years after my grandma passed away that I realized she had a filthy mouth. There was a phrase I always heard her say that, as it turned out, meant "dirty whore." haha.
Grandma was a tough old lady. Back in the village in China, during WWII, she had to hide out in the bamboo fields when the Japanese invaded. She had my dad (when he was a baby) in one arm and a shotgun rifle in the other. Pretty crazy shit. Stories like that just blow my mind, because it's a completely different life than what we have now. Thank God for emigration!
My dad took me to China with him when I was about 19. We went to his village and my mom's village and it was crazy to see where they grew up. It wasn't like straw huts or anything like that. It was stone houses and everything. Just a very small town, that's all. Very rural. Chickens running around and water buffalo standing around on the road. Very surreal. It made me realize that if my grandfather didn't have the guts to leave, then all of that would've been my life!
Seriously, if they never left, I'd be in a loveless marriage with some gross dude, and I'd be ploughing the rice paddies with one kid strapped to my back, another kid strapped to the front, while my emotionally abusive mother-in-law would be standing 20 feet away yelling at me about what a horrible and useless wife and daughter-in-law I was. I can totally see it. So once again, I have to give my utmost thanks to my grandfather for gettin' on that boat and sailing over to the good life!!! hehe. It's true though. Thanks, grandpa!!
This post made no sense at all.
I see my dad about once a month, usually when we're going out for a family birthday dinner or something. Ever since he had a stroke about 10 years ago, he's had to use a cane to help him walk. He lost use of his right arm, so he can't drive anymore either. So someone always has to drive him places. I usually do it. It's really funny because I've been driving for like 15 years now - and I've never been in an accident or gotten a speeding ticket - but as soon as that man sets foot in my car, he starts backseat driving like nobody's business.
According to him, I turn corners too quickly, I'm not gentle enough with the brakes, and I speed. There's nothing like being reduced to feeling like a 16 year old again. It's true though - no matter how old he gets or how old I get, he's still there to strum my pain about something or other.
Even though he can't use his right arm, he still manages to one-finger type me these emails about how I need to lower my cholesterol, eat more veggies, and exercise more. First of all, it's amazing that he knows how to use the internet. Secondly, I can't keep count of how many e-health newsletters he forwards to me with his added message of "do it!!!" It's pretty funny actually. I always imagine him sitting there, typing with his left-hand index finger with lots of vigor. He sends copies to my siblings too, who are much older than me, so it's even funnier that he's nagging full-grown adults still. But I guess that's the nature of being a parent, right?
Although he strums my pain most of the time, there are other times where he talks about things that kind of surprise me, and make me realize that he's a lot more savvy than I give him credit for. I think it's hard, for me at least, to think of my dad as an actual person, rather than just that guy who nags me all the time. I think I get my stubbornness from him though. That man can argue. But so can I.
I think I get my sense of humour from my mom. She had a weird sense of humour and always cracked goofy jokes. I remember when I was a kid, she told me about some old Chinese saying about cats - that there's nothing colder than a cat's nose, and there's nothing stinkier than cat's pee. lol. My dad told me some other chinese saying, about how human beings have 2 things in common that they need in order to survive: food and sex. Yeah, I remember standing there thinking, ew, my dad just said 'sex' - gross. But he's right, I guess. It's just hard to think about parents as people, with senses of humour, cracking bad jokes just like you do with their friends, and just being regular people. Every now and then, I try to remind myself that.
While out at dinner the other night, I couldn't help but notice these two men sitting at a table across the way from me. They were sort of odd looking middle-aged men wearing almost identical argyle sweaters. They didn't really talk to each other and basically sat there looking miserable the whole time.
I couldn't take my eyes off them, and I couldn't figure out whether they were brothers or lovers. Seriously, I couldn't tell. Who dresses alike like that? Plus, the only people who'd sit together and be miserable like that would have to either be related or else in a loveless, tired relationship. I was fascinated. I nicknamed them Misery & Company.
I really like watching people interact. I tend to notice the way people behave and interact with each other, in both small and large groups. I guess it's why I gravitated towards sociology, psychology, and cultural anthropology when I was in college. But it's interesting to see how different chemistry and dynamics affect relationships.
I just had to know what the deal was with these two guys in their matching argyle sweaters looking miserable together having a steak at The Keg. But I'll never know. My best guess is that Misery & Company are lovers who have outgrown eachother, but are too lazy to break up and find someone else. Settlers.
They looked like the epitome of what I don't ever want out of a relationship. If I ever get like that, then someone needs to give me a swift kick in the butt. That is no way to live life. But it's always good to see people and situations like that because it puts it in perspective, and it's just as good to see what you don't want as it is to see what you do want.
Oh, and I did take a photo of them with my phone (I'm getting creepier by the day, aren't I?!), but the ethical and moral side of me decided it wasn't right to post a photo of people eating dinner like that, as fascinating and fabulously miserable as they were. So you'll just have to imagine Misery & Company for yourselves.
My Food & Travel Writing class went to Blue Water Cafe tonight. We have to review it and write an article for class next week. The meal was part of the class fee, and since I get classes for free, the meal was free for me too. Well, except for drinks, but I only had one glass of sparkling wine (which cost $15!), so it wasn't entirely free, but about as close as you can get at a place like this. A person could set back a few hundred dollars easily.
We had about 12 people or so at a long table and I sat with some really cool people. We've seen each other in class 3 times already but we've never had a chance to actually talk to each other. There's never really time for us to chat socially during class, and we don't have much of a break. But the easiest way to get to know a group of strangers is to sit down with them and share a meal and have a glass of wine or a cocktail. In about a half hour, you'll feel like you've known each other for ages.
One of the people in our class is the PR person for the company that owns Blue Water Cafe, CinCin, and Ouest. So she hooked us up. We had a special menu - we all shared this two-tiered tower of fresh seafood. Actually there were 3 sets of these towers for all of us, so there was a LOT. The girl beside me had similar tastes as I did, so we both had never tried raw oysters before. I really don't understand why a person would ever want to put that in their mouth. Yuck. Gross. Blech.
There were also fresh scallops, mussels, shrimp, smoked salmon, seared tuna, california rolls, spicy tuna rolls. It was a mountain of food. My pictures of this turned out crappy, so I'm trying to get someone in the class to send me their photos of the tower. I felt like the sushi rolls were nothing special.
For entrees, we could choose between the sablefish, beef tenderloin, and some sort of vegetarian dish. I got the sablefish, which was very nice, but it was served with pea shoots as the veg, and it tasted like alfalfa sprouts to me, and kept getting stuck in my teeth. But the potatoes were lovely, as was the fish. Nice and buttery texture.
Dessert was a choice of sorbet or a chocolate lava type cake. I got the chocolate. Totally decadent and over the top. I am still so bloated right now that I can't sleep. Was a lovely meal though. And it was nice to get to know these people on a different level than we're used to. One guy is a chef and it's great to get his perspective on things. And honestly, it's nice to be around people who are as psycho about food as I am. You should've seen it - when the food came out, everyone immediately whipped out their cameras and began snapping away. Pretty hilarious.
Here are the only couple of photos that turned out well for me. I'll replace the seafood tower pictures as soon as someone sends me some better ones. Seafood tower with shrimp, scallops, oysters, tuna, california rolls, spicy tuna rolls, seaweed salad, smoked salmon Sablefish, pea shoots, mashed potatoes Chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream, and some weird crispy thing
Be honest. First thing that popped in your head. Funny stuff.
It's interesting how people somehow find hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for an overpriced home in this town, yet they're too friggin cheap to use a clothes dryer. Whenever the sun is out, I'll see my tacky neighbours hang their clothes outside. That's fine, but here's the thing - I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR BRIEFS, BOXERS, PANTIES, BRAS OR ANYTHING RELATED TO UNDERWEAR. Seriously, if you're trying to help the environment, I get that. But go buy a laundry rack and hang that shit inside your house!
The worst part is when you see them hang up the really ratty underwear that's got tears and holes in it, and should've been tossed a long time ago. Do I really need to see that? NOPE. What's funny is that I didn't realize that so many men still wear those wifebeaters as undershirts. That seems so old fashioned and lame.
Anyway, if you're guilty of this, then please do your neighbours a favour and stop. No one wants to see it!
The Verve: On Your Own
One of my all-time faves from back in the day. "Tell me what you've seen. Was it a dream? Was I in it?"
A friend took me out to this Persian place for the most amazing kebabs I've ever had. I wouldn't even call it a restaurant. One side of the place was this large grocery store and bakery, and then the other half of the place was like a sort of cafeteria thing, where they had some food in the window that you could get. But it looks like the most popular items are the kebab plates, which are cooked when you order them, so you have to wait a bit. But it's worth every second.
I've never had white meat chicken that was this moist and flavorful before. I also had this ground beef kebab and it was great too. I opted for a salad instead instead of the rice, and the yogurt dressing was nice and light. Middle Eastern and Meditteranean is sort of similar, and they're quite healthy too. It was pretty much a guilt-free meal. And cheap too. Everything was made fresh and it was worth the trip. I'm going to have to go more often. I probably should've taken a photo of it. I'm bad about remembering to do that. My food & travel writing instructor would be so disappointed in me. I don't even know what the place was called.
That reminds me - on Tuesday, I get to go review Blue Water Cafe in Yaletown - for free! It's part of the class, which is free for me anyway, but we're all going down there and then we have to all review it and write articles. I just hope it's not some set meal with stuff I don't want to eat. I'm kind of particular about certain foods. I don't do raw fish, green onions, fois gras or any other type of internal organ. Not a fan of oysters, or any type of weird mushrooms other than white button or portobello. Also not willing to eat meats like venison, rabbit, etc. But I'm sure this place emphasizes seafood, so I'm fine with that. Can't wait!
My search for the best falafel in Vancouver continues. Grabbed a couple of friends to go try a shawarma and falafel place in Burnaby. It looked promising, smelled amazing in there with the roasted meats and everything. Placed the order and were told that the falafel would take 10 minutes. She had to make the falafels from scratch. When we finally got it, I took my first bite and was disappointed. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't that great either. It was missing the tabouleh or something like that, and there were no onions in it - just lettuce and tomato. Meh. I should've taken a photo, but really, it wasn't even worth it.
Falafel Maison, recommended by Andrea, was way, way better. I think I'll have to go check out that other one on Robson, and would also like to try Falafel King on Davie. The hunt continues.
Better than the original.
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