Posted on

Dear Fat People,

This one’s going to need some insight. So I had a very interesting topic pop up in a conversation the other day which makes me wonder: Is it rude to call someone fat? And does the circumstance change if the person is or isn’t fat? My friend’s opinion on the topic was: “You can call me fat. It’s a fact of life. It’s neither rude nor derogatory”. I could see where he was coming from but I still had a little trouble fully digesting this point of view because my stance on the issue is that it’s rude to call anyone fat, whether the person is or isn’t. My reasoning is that many overweight people, if not most overweight people, are sensitive to their weight. I have seen a lot of friends who are have been struggling with weight loss their entire lives and being called fat doesn’t really seem to do anything except perhaps hurt someone’s feeling or remind them of something in their lives that makes them upset. If someone called me fat back when I was binge eating during exam time, I would be taken aback and also pretty offended. I guess it’s a little different if you’ve reached a certain level of comfort with someone and you guys are open to that sort of communication.

“You fat.”

“Yeah, I know. But so is your mom. ”

I’m not a person to talk to my friends that way but it’s not like I have a problem letting people know that they’ve gained or lost weight. There are a lot of people that I bump into after a few months or years have gone by and if their weight is noticeable different, I will bring it up in conversation.

“You gained a little bit of weight, didn’t you?”

Of course, I only say this when there has been a very drastic difference that’s worth mentioning. Now, to me, there’s a difference between pointing out that someone’s gained weight and calling someone fat. Unlike the former statement, calling someone fat is usually used derogatorily, it would be very likely that it would be taken as so, and it slaps a label on a person. Of course, that’s just what I think, at least.

It was very fitting that Donald J. Trump posted this yesterday:

I had this question in my mind when I wrote my second latest post in which I call someone old and fat. Mind you, I wrote it. It wanted to convey a sense of hostility against them but I would never have the balls to say that to anyone’s face, even for the purpose of joking with a friend. What’s your view on all this? Let me know in the comments.

Posted on

Sulk and Ramen

You know what really sucks? Eating something you don’t enjoy eating, alone. And that’s what I did tonight. I don’t think I hate ramen but it definitely wouldn’t be something I’d pick for a meal if I had the choice. Ramen, bahn mi (also most other cold cut sandwiches), and traditional Chinese food are all at the very bottom of my list for choice of meal. But I was with a couple and I let them have the pick. I never like to choose the restaurant when I’m among friends. I usually feel a lot of pressure to pick something that people are happy with and think I have an easier time adapting to others than the other way around. So ramen it was.

It started off like a typical night but my friends were clearly stressed with some work-related issues that went on today. We were at Ramen Koika, downtown Vancouver. Though I don’t really enjoy eating ramen, I do my best to pick something that will soften the blow. I ordered the Asari Miso Ramen. The picture looked pretty good. It had a shit-ton of clams and had an option to made spicy so it was an easy choice for me. The couple was with, both ordered black garlic ramen.

Noodles came. One of the reasons I don’t enjoy eating ramen is because I have a lot of trouble handling hot (temperature) foods and I usually have to wait a long time for it to cool down before I can start eating it. So I started to eat all the clams first and it took me a while to realized that they fucked up my ramen. They forgot to make it spicy. They had no issue replacing it but they were going to take some time to make me a new one.

“But I ate all the clams already”

“That’s okay.”

I felt a little small victory that I would be able to eat another full serving of clams. By the time the new bowl came, my friends had pretty much finished theirs. One of them continued talking to me but it appeared that there was a bit of tension between the two of them. A bit more time in, they began to argue. It was very awkward for me. I didn’t do much but look down at my full bowl and poke my noodles around. At some time, I broke one of the awkward moments of silence and encouraged my friends to go home and sleep things off because they were clearly stressed. They were going to drop me home initially but I thought it better that they didn’t have to wait around for me and they could sort things out amongst themselves sooner rather than later. They agreed and went home. 

So there I was. Me, and a bowl of ramen. After my friends had left, every bite I took just got more and more unenjoyable. It’s not like I haven’t had ramen before. I’ve had ramen with friends plenty of times. When they suggest it, I don’t even bat an eye. I guess I’m okay eating something I don’t enjoy as long as the company I’m with is enjoying it. This, however, was the very first time I was alone, stuck with food that I ordered, that I really didn’t enjoy eating. I don’t even know why I continued eating as much as I did. I got to about to the half-way point and then I asked for the rest to be packed up. I don’t even know what I’m going to do with the leftovers tomorrow morning. I think what made eating my ramen even more depressing was that One More Light by Linkin Park was playing. That, and it costed me $18 after tax and tip. Bleh. Get me some French food or something.

Tonight kind of made me open my eyes to how much I’ve kind of been spoiling myself lately when it comes to eating when I’m solo. Generally, I very much enjoy everything I choose to eat and never choose something simply out of maintenance. And I intend to keep it that way. I should never settle for less but I’m such a pushover when I’m with company.

//

People always get really shocked and appalled when I say I don’t like ramen. They just don’t get it. So let me make a case for myself and tell you my reasons:

  1. As mentioned, I have trouble eating hot foods so I tend to avoid meals with things like hot soup.
  2. Ramen is really heavy and I don’t like the bloated feeling after eating it.
  3. It’s high-calorie.
  4. I generally don’t prefer wet or moist foods. That includes things that are steamed. I rather have something with a drier texture like something that’s fried or raw veggies or something.
  5. It’s messy and being a clumsy eater, I always end up staining my shirt.
  6. I rather eat pasta and pasta’s not really high on my list either.
  7. I generally don’t like carbs (that’s another can of worms, ain’t it?)
  8. And I rather eat more meat and veggies than noodles.
Posted on

Trust me, I’m a nice person.

There’s something that’s been on my mind lately. I don’t know if it’s just me but I feel like people have been rather mean to me lately. More often now than ever, strangers will approach me with hostility and aggression offhand when they speak to me. And when I say ‘lately’, I mean in the past year. What I think it is, is the look I’ve adopted. Maybe the tattoos, the hair and the crazy nails make me look like a bitch or something. I’m not sure. But I certainly don’t remember having this degree of antagonism in my life. Everything I wrote in my previous post still holds true; I get more interactions with strangers now with the tats and I can now further affirm that the increased interactions are both positive and negative interactions.

The thing that got me thinking about all this was something that happened to me yesterday. I was on a bus in Vancouver. I had been doing a lot of shopping this week from the Erdem x H&M collection so I had two enormous bags with me. And me, being me, I was also holding a large 15-pound box. I couldn’t handle holding everything on the moving bus so I stood by a seat and put my box down on it. The guy sitting next to my box gruffly said, “People can sit there, you know?”. I told him that I could sit down and hold the box if it made him feel any better. I think it was my attempt at be passive-aggressive. He said, “No, for old people.” To be fair, I was somewhere by the front — not the very front, but all the handicapped priority seats were empty besides one which was occupied by the old fat man scolding me. I didn’t want to argue with him so I picked up my box. It was too big for me to hold with one arm so here I was, clutching onto it, unable to use any bus handles to keep me stable. With giant bags on each shoulder, both larger than me no less, I was performing some balancing act for everyone else on that bus. When the bus stopped to let people on, a young girl, who looked similar in age to me, sat next to him. He didn’t say anything to her. I really wanted to say something to him like, “She’s not old; why didn’t you tell her off?” But I didn’t. I kind of regret it. Fortunately, someone sitting a few seats down backed me up. He asked to hold my box for me even though I declined a couple times initially. I gave up when he insisted that I was going to hurt myself. For the next few stops, I stood there, battling with my typical social anxiety in my head. I was frustrated just looking at that fat old man and the guilt I felt from a stranger helping me didn’t help. A few stops later, the seat beside the man helping me cleared up so I sat down beside him. I thanked him a million times and gestured for him to pass over the box. He refused and was happy holding it for me for the rest of the way. He told me not to worry about that man, that some people were just really inconsiderate and there wasn’t much to do about them. He said it really loud as if he wanted him to hear it. I felt a little better when he said that to me.

I’m really glad that stranger helped me. If not, I think I would have just holed myself up in my place and sulked all night. Experiences like that really get to me. They leave me stressed out and upset for the rest of the day and maybe even for a few days following. I still ask myself why that happened. What was it that caused that man to speak to me that way and not to the other girl, especially when I was clearly struggling? I felt like I was getting picked on. I can totally see people assuming that I look like a rich, spoiled Asian girl who thinks she’s entitled to everything. Is that it? Or am I just overthinking things? I guess it’s a nice thought to believe that I have some control over how people are treating me… I’ll continue about this another time…

Posted on

Dear Marshall,

I got some merch from an H&M-designer collab a few days ago. I’m laying in bed… well, actually a couch… and it reminded me about how we were first in line for one of these in the past at a stupid early time at Dundas-Square. It was the Anna Dello Russo collab and there was that beautiful turquoise luggage set that I really wanted. I was all starry-eyed over the thing and you promised me that we’d get it. They only had one set but you were confident it was mine. It was like you were more eager than me to get it. I remember that look you’d give me; you’d scrunch up your face and make yourself look tough to intimidate and scare people. And it would work. Big guy, scar on the right eyebrow with a mean face. But you were the biggest softy I’ve ever known. And no one ever got to see that side of you.

Clock strikes, store’s opened. I remember you casually sauntering towards it and it was like every one else knew not to mess with you. I just watched you walking back towards me with the thing. This giant man with a ridiculously shiny and gaudy luggage. You weren’t even rolling it. You were just walking with it in hand with the handle unretracted, haha. It was a ridiculous and one of my best memories of you.

It’s funny — you were one of the factors that made me so materialistic. I remember you judging me for my upside-down cat bag that I got from a JJ magazine. “What is this?” I could hear the “you could do better than that” all in your tone. I had never been around a guy that always encouraged me to carry myself in a dressed-up and classy manner. You were playfully laughing at me. Even still from your hospital bed.

You know, I never really understood why you talked to me the way you did. You talked about all the things we’d do when you would get out of there. Did you know? Maybe you didn’t want me to worry but it really misled me and I really had no idea you’d just suddenly disappear. You told me you didn’t feel like seeing anyone the second time I tried to see you. It hurt me but I keep trying to convince myself that you just didn’t want me to see you in your condition. Sometimes when I think of you, I’m just left with a bunch of questions and some doubt. I wonder if you thought about me.

I miss you at random times and it breaks me down a little at times when I least expect it. I’ve been having a really hard time lately and sometimes I wish you were around to show me your mean face that would make me laugh.

Miss you, Andrew.

12:47AM

Posted on

Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, Halloween Horror Nights, Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival 2017

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween. I thought it would be a good time to talk about my experiences at Universal’s and Disney’s Halloween events. So I recently had my second trip in Orlando ever and I still didn’t get the chance to check out the city outside of the theme parks. I don’t know why but Disney has always been a little underwhelming for me. I never got to go as a child so I think for years and years, I really hyped it up and I ended up making it way more glittery and magical in my head. Maybe I would have appreciated it a lot more as a child but for my adult self, it was just a lot of waiting in line for rides that were just okay. I don’t think I’d consider going back to Disney World unless it was for one of their marathon runs, which is something on my bucket list.

There were two unique events that were going on this particular visit that were pretty fun. The first event I got to check out was their Halloween event held at night called the Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom. It was a night filled with Halloween-themed performances, people dressed up, and candy! I don’t know what it is about Halloween but it’s always been my favourite time of the year so having the opportunity to trick-or-treat without being judged with how old I am is such an amazing thing. I got to dress up, so witchy and bitchy, I amassed a ton of sweets for myself. There was one particular thing that kind of sucked about this event and it was, as the name makes it clear, not so scary. Actually, it wasn’t scary at all. The “scariest” thing that happened was them playing the This is Halloween song from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Nothing eerie, nothing spooky, at least to my standards. The vibe was so toned down that it didn’t even feel like a Halloween celebration anymore. There was cherry Halloween music… How is that even a thing? It makes sense though; they do it to accommodate all the young children and to possibly avoid a lawsuit in their hands. I’m not sure if it was worth it. Not-So-Scary required it’s own ticket, close to $100USD on top of the day pass. So if you wanted to spend the morning at Magic Kingdom and experience the Halloween event at night, you’d be spending at least $200USD just in one park.

Now, the Halloween event at Universal was a completely different story. They hold Horror Nights on the weeks leading to Halloween. (This is also an evening event with a separate price tag, around $65, depending on what tickets are available). Now, I don’t get scared by these sort of things; it’s really hard to get me to jump or react in a haunted house but I have to say that the haunted houses at Universal are CRAZY. I’ve been to the Horror Night event in Singapore but it has no comparison. The ones in Orlando are all based on horror movies like The Shining, American Horror Story and Saw so it was really cool to see these and kind of be within them. One of the most memorable things was being about to see The Purge enacted in person, with an auctioneer selling people off. A cool thing about the houses was that the actors had recorded sound effects or recordings from the movies that they would jump out at you with, at an extremely large volume. I guess that’s bad news for people who are bad with jump scares. My favourite part of this event were these scare-zones where actors would just wander within or stake out to scare you. I’m like the only small Asian girl in all of the park so of course, I was everyone’s target. I kind of felt like I got the full experience because of it, haha. But I also felt a little guilty that I couldn’t give the actor’s a reaction that they wanted to get out of me. So between the two Halloween events, Universal definitely takes the cake unless you’re like four.

The other unique Disney event I got to go to was Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival. You pay the regular day-pass ticket price for the event but all the food and wine needs to be purchased. So like the other parks, it’s a day of lining up but this time it’s to spend money food.  The lines weren’t bad but being in line is definitely the majority of the experience. Still, I’d say it’s a pretty cute event and definitely meant for adults. They gave us a little passport to keep track of what food you’ve tried and from what country. Epcot normally has eleven pavilions for countries including Japan, Canada, and Germany, but for the Food and Wine Festival, they added way more countries and had a total of 39 different themed food areas that you could purchase from. Completed the passport, of course. Not only because I’m a glutton but mostly because I’m kiasu (afraid to lose in Singlish), and I don’t like to lose a challenge. The dishes averaged around $6-8USD which is not bad but when you’re trying to try something from each kiosk, it adds up. But they were impressively pretty yummy and I’d say it was worth it to check out.

The thing about Orlando parks and their events is that they’re so expensive. If it’s not spending money just for getting in, it’s spending money on overpriced food, a Fast Pass because the lines are unbearably long and you can’t see everything otherwise, or another ticket to allow you to check out another area of the park on the same day. Fortunately I had some friend-perks but it still ate up lots of cash and a lot of time waiting in line. If I had to choose on picking a vacation for myself, I would definitely choose going to an exotic city over going to Orlando parks. It’d be cheaper, less tourist-y and more exciting in general. I do have to say that I haven’t been to either Universal or DisneySea in Japan so I’d like to check those out.

Posted on

What’s in my carry-on bag?

I’ve been getting some good reception on posts concerning travel so I’ll try to post a little more of them. Thanks for the support! Today, I’m posting about some of my favourite nifty things I like to keep with me for my flights and my adventures in general. The things you’ll see in common here are small compact items that have great use. There’s no denying I’m a materialist and I like to seek out the best of the best for the things I use in my everyday life. Most of the items are a bit on the pricier side but they are definitely worth every penny to me. I tried to find everything in Canadian prices to the best to my degree but some items are only available to buy in other currencies.

The bag itself // Studio Settlement Tarpaulin Backpack in Cloud Pink by Herschel, $149.99CAD: While I have several different bags that I use as my carry-on, the is one of my favourites. It’s water-resistant and the zippers are specially constructed to keep your things dry from the elements. I admit, pastel pink is a poor choice of a travel bag colour but I couldn’t resist! Fortunately this bag comes in many other colours including black, grey and “cinnebar”. They come in a larger mid-volume size for the same price.

What’s inside // Jump Cable by Native Union, $49.99USD: This compact little baby is a 2-in-1, working as a connecting cable and a battery.

Unlike power banks, the Jump cable charges itself after the device is fully charged. I love to keep this around as emergency power for my phone. It gives an approximate 25% charge for my iPhone and it’s compact enough to be put in a pocket. It comes in lightning and micro-usb connection and includes a limited lifetime warranty.

Astro E1 Power Bank by Anker, $17.99USD: One of my biggest fears is a dead phone while travelling but with this battery around, I have nothing to worry about. Built with advanced high-speed charging technology, this external battery is very compact yet high capacity at 5200mAh and it allows me to fully charge my phone two times over while I’m on the move. It comes in white, red and blue and it also has a 18-month warranty.

Mini USB-Lightning Cable by Panasonic, 1,880Yen: Bought this itty-bitty cable from BIC Camera during a recent Tokyo trip. It’s only 5cm long, making it very compact and very convenient to carry around whenever I need to connect my phone with a battery. Its short length also helps prevent against cable breakage.

Annika Hanging Garden Travel Wallet by Ted Baker, 89Pounds: Not only is this wallet super cute and feminine but it has a ton of card slots, eight to be exact, and several compartments to help keep me organized. Inside there are designated sections for boarding passes, receipts and other documents. It means never ever having to fold a boarding pass ever again! It comes with a passport holder and there’s even a compartment for that, making the passport removable when it’s in need. It’s really handy being able to keep my cash, cards and passport all in one place. This particular floral design is out of production but every season they have different designs to choose from. Made from 100% bovine leather. [photo not mine, will replace soon!]

Garavani Rockstud Card Holder by Valentino, $340.00CAD: When I’m doing some shorter trips, I like to ditch my large wallets altogether and just carry the essentials in this beauty. Made with quality calf leather, it has four card slots and a main slip compartment for a few bills, receipts and other small slim items. It comes in a varying colours depending on the season. Made in Italy. [not happy with this photo; will replace soon]

Le Petite Prince Diary 12-Month Daily Pocket Planner, ~$22.00CAD by Moleskine: I’m a type of person that prefers pen to paper over typing into my phone or on a computer so this pocket planner is just perfect for me. This is a daily planner, allowing me to write in my varying day-to-day schedule in detail. There is also a monthly section at the front so I can plan far down the road. The Le Petite Prince cover was limited for 2017 but they have new limited covers every year including a Star Wars one I got for myself for 2018.

Classic Sport Ballpoint Pen in Transparent by Kaweco, ~$30.00CAD: Yet again, another compact item for the trip. Since I’ve always got to carry around a pen for custom forms, I thought it better to get something sleek and classy. This was actually a replacement for my Swarovski Crystalline pen which I had lost but I love the Classic Sport a hundred times more. It’s a pretty steep price for a pen but as with most luxury items, the quality of it is simply marvellous. It’s lightweight, and made of a high-quality plastic resin barrel and the retraction movement is as smooth as butter — it’s pretty cool! The Sport is made to keep the original octagonal design that Kaweco developed in 1955. It utilizes a D1 international ballpoint refill so it will be easily to replace when it’s time. Made in Germany.

SoundSport In-Ear Headphones by Bose, $99.95CAD: These headphones are designed specifically for vigorous exercise and it works perfect for my runs wherever I am. The sound quality is astounding, keeping me pumped and pushin’. It’s sweat-resistant and there’s an inline mic/remote that lets you easily control volume, skip tracks and take calls without having to reach for your device. The silicone tips are designed to improve in-ear stability, increased noise reduction and for a comfortable fit. When you purchase these headphones, they come with all small, medium and large tips for varying ear sizes. Comes in a variety of colours and Bose offers a 30-day free trial for this product.

12-inch Macbook, 512GB in Rose Gold by Apple, starting at $1,729.00CAD: I’m not going to pretend I know much about computers so you can check out the link I’ve posted. All I know is that I love my lightweight rose-gold thing of beauty.

Wool Laptop Sleeve for MacBook 12-inch by Pack & Smooch, $90CAD : Bought this laptop sleeve a long while ago when they were only available on Etsy and since then they’ve become an Apple store product. It’s not surprising considering its fine quality. It’s made of 100% Merino wool so it’s super soft and the grip pad is made from vegetable-tanned Italian leather. There is a storage compartment that is great for storing a USB-C multiport adaptor and other small items. One of the coolest things about this case is that it’s designed to allow you to charge your laptop without taking it out of the sleeve. When Pack & Smooch designed this case, they had the Macbook’s thinness in mind so like it, the sleeve is made to be thin but with strong magnetic closures. Pack & Smooch makes a variety of laptop cases in different sizes as well as other high-quality products such as phone cases, mouse pads and bags. Made in Germany.

Camera Lenses and Phone Case by Moment, various prices: As I mentioned in a previous post, I love having an alternative to lugging around a heavy professional camera and the gear from Moment allow me to take awesome shots, quick and easy. Their newer lens models mount right over the camera of the new iPhones and dozen of Android phones. If you use an iPhone 6/6s like I do, you can use a specially designed case to attach the lenses. Small enough to be put in a pocket or small purse, they’re easy to bring anywhere and everywhere. They have a telephoto, wide, macro and fish lens available and all of them have a 12-month warranty.

Round FlashSunglasses with Lilac Mirror Lenses and Gold Frames by Ray-ban, $190CAD: One of my favourite gifts to help me blend in with the hipsters, wherever I need to. The lilac tint is just too cute; it’s a subtle but a truly unique touch to my outfits. Always comfortable on my face or whenever they’re just sitting on top of my head. The mirror lenses themselves have high shine and have a coating that helps reduce glare. The one-way mirror also helps hide my tired travel eyes when I come out makeup-less from the plane. Ray-Bans sunglasses come in a variety of lens colours or frame colours and will vary in price.

Have any other travel topics or other topics in general that you’d like me to cover? Submit them here. In the meantime, pack well, travel well and you’ll hear from me soon.

Posted on

Mormons and Mountains: thoughts on Salt Lake City 

For a long time, I’ve wanted to go to Salt Lake City. Most people go to check out the mountains and the national parks but I’ve always really wanted to go see the Mormons. I’m serious. I’m not religious but I’ve always been a little fascinated with religion and enough to take a ton of university courses on it. One of my final papers was on the culture of Latter-Day Saints.

I saw my first Mormon, in missionary uniform right at the airport after stepping out of the plane. He had the typical white dress shirt, black pants with a little black name tag that said Elder whatever-his-name-was. It kind of set me up for an expectation that there would be a lot more Mormons in uniform walking about but I didn’t see anyone else other than him at the airport.

So I was at the pick-up zone and I requested for an Uber ride for me to get to my place from the airport. The driver I got turned out to a very sweet lady who helped me deal with my luggage. When I got into the backseat, I heard that she was playing a very different kind of music at a louder-than average volume but I didn’t mind it. She got into the front, started driving, and we had the typical Uber chit-chat. I started to see all the mountains which were right by the city and they were stunning. They were very different from the mountains on the Canadian West Coast which are very green and eternally ice-capped. These ones were dry at this time of year and had a dusty orange-y clay colour that kind of served as a nice background that enhanced the colour of the Autumn leaves. In between the chit-chat, she’d sing along to the music.

“You’re the one true thing I know I can believe in. You’re the things that I desire you save me you complete me.”

It wasn’t radio music. It was much more mellow and it was definitely being played from a CD because the next song had the same singer. I had a feeling it was religious but I wasn’t sure. A couple more songs in, I had an even stronger suspicion.

“Heaven bend to take my hand and lead me through the fire.”

Out of curiosity, I used SoundHound to tell me what I was listening to. Turns out it was Sarah McLachlin. Prior to this Uber ride, I had no idea who Sarah McLachlin was. I’ve heard the name in passing but didn’t really know what kind of music she sang but being in that 45-minute Uber ride, I really got to know who she was. And though Sarah McLachlin does not claim she is religious, her songs sound oddly Christian. My first hour within Salt Lake City definitely had left me with a strong impression of mountain and mormons.

The main thing to see within the Salt Lake City was Temple Square. Because the entire city is architecturally designed around the Church, this complex is right smack in the middle of downtown. Even within the city, I didn’t see as many uniformed Mormons as I had expected and though it didn’t look like the musical cast of Book of Mormon, it was really easy to pick out who was Mormon based on how they dressed. If I had to describe it in as few words as possible, I’d call it conservative-preppiness. The men were usually clean cut, clean shaven, in fitted dress shirts and nice shoes. The women tended to wear skirts that go past the knee, with either boots or short heels. Both usually look like they came straight out of church and maybe it was coincidence but their shoes would always stand out.

Temple Square, typical Mormon dress.

I strolled through this area for a while and though I was too shy to go into any buildings like the visitor center, I spent a lot of time looking at the Mormon statues. While I was studying one of them, I saw a missionary smile at me from a distance and walk towards me. I couldn’t help but panic and I quickly walked away because I was afraid of any sort of conversion speak.

If I’ve learned anything from the past, it’s that it’s really hard to say ‘no’ to a Mormon. For my university paper, I chose to study Mormons, because I knew they’d come straight to my house instead of me having to go to them. Yes, I was interested in studying their beliefs and culture but my laziness was kind of an added factor for this religious group to be my pick. No shame. They assigned me to the closet church within the vicinity of my neighbourhood and that church assigned two sisters to me who came to my house the day after I had sent in a request to speak to someone. When they came in, they introduced themselves to me, told me a little bit about their views and even let me keep a Book of Mormon. They were wonderful people. I kept in contact, going on a couple of church visits with them to further my research but sometimes they’d call me just to check up on me and ask me how I was doing. Close to Valentine’s day, they had decorated the door of my house with foam hearts with little notes on them saying “We love you!” “Good luck on your exams!” Even though I made it clear that my interactions with them were strictly for my paper, they were always eager to convince me to get baptized. And though I continually told them that I didn’t want to be, I spent a lot of time with them even after I had completed the paper just because they were just so kind and it was hard to ever turn them down.

Apart from a stroll in Temple Square, there wasn’t really much else to see in the city. Everything that was worth seeing was within that area or close by it. Utah’s house of government, The Capitol Building was a block down. Their third biggest landmark or attraction within the city was probably the Trolley Square, a mall. Perhaps the only thing that might be worth taking a long walk to is the Gilgal Sculpture Garden where I found their prophet Joseph Smith’s face on a sphinx. Bizarre. I went during the night and because they didn’t have any sort of lighting there, it was kind of creepy.

SLC’s food scene was pretty surprising. I had some amazing hipster dinners and for such a religious city, they also had a number of really cool cocktail bars. I was only able to do one hike on my week there to Grandeur Peak. I was a little nervous while I was climbing it because it was very rubbly, very steep, and I didn’t pack my hiking shoes. I could imagine myself rolling all the way down if I had ever tripped and since there weren’t many trees or the like, nothing would stop me.

The thing that really surprised me about SLC was that everyone was happy with where they live. They loved their city. Most of the people that I talked to weren’t even Mormon or religious; they were just really happy with the small-town vibe and the access they had to the mountains and the wilderness life around them. I had a chat with someone I met who told me that it reminded him of his super religious hometown in India which, like Salt Lake City, was surrounded by mountains. He told me that though it was a religious city, there was a sort of counter-culture that existed within it. It was nice being in a place where people constantly told me that they couldn’t imagine themselves living anywhere else.

Posted on

Why I blog.

Something you may not know about me: I’m actually a pretty cynical, negative and hateful person. It may not seem like it, but I bottle up a lot of things that make me unhappy. I can’t help but lay awake in bed thinking about all scummy people in the world. And I’m not talking just about people that have personally done something to me. I’m talking about people who are just bad souls in general. The scamming buddhist monks at Union Station and scamming black history guys at Dundas square, the people who rip off other people’s IP work, gay-haters, people who are just fake. FUCK. They all make me so angry. When I’m sitting still, those kind of things take up my thinking space and just waste my energy. I ponder about how people get that way or how those people can live with themselves, etc. I can’t help it. I’ve been trying to change that part of me and writing, kind of like a meditative activity, helps me move away from all that. Writing isn’t the only thing that allows me to do that; it’s actually being productive in general but whenever I’m required to sit still for a while like on a plane, airport, or selling things behind a table, it’s the best available option for me.

I’ve actually been writing journals and logging ever since I was in elementary school, around 7th grade. I think getting an agenda in high school kind of further spurred it. From dream journals, to Livejournal, to food blogging, to personal blogs on Blogger, I’ve never really been away from it. I don’t know why I ever started or kept it going but I’m happy I did. It really puts into perspective how much I’ve changed as a person when I look back at my old writings. I had been the most prolific during high school and early years in university, when I was logging every single day. When I read those writings, everything is different: the way I wrote, the things I wrote about, even the pen strokes themselves.

Some major differences I found: I used a lot of exclamation marks and emoticons; I didn’t really write about how I was feeling or what I thought of things, I just kind of recapped what I did, what I ate, and who I was with; and things definitely seemed to excite me easier (explains the emoticons). I guess I’m becoming a little jaded from simple things and I’ve been chasing some sort of adventure high.

It’s definitely very different from the writing that I do now. More and more, I think I’m getting in touch with my emotions and who I am as a person. It hasn’t been until the recent months that I’ve used writing as something that keeps me both distracted and on track but it’s been really fulfilling since I started. I’ve noticed that I’m slowly getting better at writing which pretty cool. It takes me less time to find the right words and the right sentences to convey what I am thinking and it’s also helped me improve being able to recap things and have nice writing flow. I wish I was more eloquent in person but I’ve been slowly trying to work on that as well.

I definitely recommend writing as an outlet for creativity, getting in tune with yourself and maybe like me, just to keep things off the mind. What I’d really like to do for myself is set more time to write about my travels as they happen so I can have a better account of things. Fortunately, I’ll most likely be able to do that within the next few days and weeks. I’m writing from Salt Lake City right now and I’m on my way to trek up the mountains. I’m pretty excited. Portland and Vancouver will be next on the list. So check back soon if you’re curious about those! From Mormons to hipsters to Asians, this is going to be a blast!

Posted on

An experience with racism

I tell this story a lot so I thought it would be nice to finally put it in writing. I love Vancouver as a city — the mountains, Stanley Park, the food scene and I have some pretty cool friends there. But the thing is that I’ve experienced more direct racism there than any other city in the world. It’s strange. Living in Toronto my whole life, my impression was that the same kind of multiculturalism and acceptance of diversity would span over and across the country. Sure, Vancouver is multicultural as well but it’s not the same kind of multiculturalism that you’ll see in T.O. It has a very dense Asian population but it’s like the Asians are all segregated. The Chinese hang out with the Chinese; the Koreans hang out with the Koreans, etc etc. I’m speaking generally, of course. I think the reason for this is that there are a lot of fresh immigrants that tend to stick within their own cultural group and speak their native tongue over speaking English. In other words, there are a lot less white-washed Asians like me. Maybe I just spent too much time in Richmond. That’s the Markham equivalent of Vancouver. (And for those not from Toronto, Markham is popularly known as the Asian district.) Regardless, it definitely feels like there is a lot less intermixing of cultures over there and that might be the cause of cultural tensions and racism to occur. That’s my guess.

Anyways, this was one experience: I was on the SkyTrain. I don’t exactly remember where I was going but I had a long trip so I was sitting by a window, book in hand. There was a woman — Caucasian, early 40s — sitting in front of me. She looked a little disheveled and was being a little loud so I overheard about how she was lost and that her phone was dead and she was trying to get in touch with her sister. The guy sitting beside her kindly offered his phone for her to use. She used it for a long while but after getting frustrated at her sister on her phone, and when she realized she wasn’t getting any more on track, she just gave the phone back and suddenly started acting frantic. She got up and suddenly yelled, “Where is this train going?!” No one seemed to answer her so she looked around to pick on someone.

With the commotion going on, I had been watching her and I realized I hadn’t been reading my book or minding my own business when I made eye-contact with her. My natural reaction was to shift my eyes downwards towards my book. “You, where is this train going?” She was talking to me. I told her I didn’t know where the train was going because I wasn’t from the city. She instantly became furious and yelled at me, “You live in my fucking country. You tell me where this train is going now.” I was speechless. I didn’t even know what to say except say, “I”m from Toronto”. At this point, everyone else on the train was as appalled as I was. People were ready to back me up but thank god the train came to a stop the next few seconds because she felt like getting off for whatever reason. But before getting she yelled “Chink, chink, nigger, spick!”, pointing at random people in-between. She left everyone on the train kind of shaking their heads and shrugging at each other. The woman did seem a little inebriated. But drunk or high, it was no excuse for her behaviour. It’s surprising to me how people can still feel this way in this day and age.

People tell me that I should let sleeping dogs lie. That’s probably why I attract all the crazies. I swear one day I’m going to get stabbed from pissing off a hobo. It’s just hard for me to pretend people don’t exist when they talk to me. I always speak back or make a gesture for “no, sorry” when someone on the street asks me for change. I’m told I should just look straight, not make eye-contact but something in my head tells me that I’m more likely to set someone off by ignoring them than acknowledging their existence… I know it’s dangerous to interact with sketchy people but at least I have a funny story to tell later, haha. Someone mentioned that I should start writing about my crazier, more unexpected experiences so I might do that within the next few posts.