User Comments - missgoldfish

Posted on: Counterfeit Money and Driving in China

November 18, 2008, 10:45 PM

It seems to be a habit to drive with one hand on the wheel, the other on the middle of the wheel (where you push to honk.) We were in a taxi once where the heel of the driver's hand was actually IMPRINTED on the horn of the car!!!

Also, I must say, despite the crazy driving (especially in taxis, from my own experience) the driving itself is quite smooth. I was once in a taxi where the driver actually clipped so close to other cars that he had to reach out the window to fix the side view mirror! That time, I just closed my eyes because I was too scared to look ...and if I didn't see anything, the drive itself felt quite normal.

That was also the one time I was scared into reaching for the seatbelt -- only to find that half the seatbelt was missing.

LOL.

Posted on: Moving House and Chinese Wineries

November 18, 2008, 10:15 PM

"When they say no, it just means you have to argue longer."

A classic lesson!! I completely agree!! :D

Posted on: 无论 (wúlùn) No matter...

July 30, 2008, 05:16 AM

Hi Connie: Thanks for the help!

Posted on: 无论 (wúlùn) No matter...

July 29, 2008, 06:31 AM

Does this make sense..?

亲爱的：
无论你真么惨，
别忘了我。。。

Actually you guys did such a fantastic job that I think the only part I'm somewhat sure of is the 无论. I'm not sure if the "亲爱的“ is used like this (I observed this from a Taiwanese drama where the girl addressed her boyfriend, but yeah, I hope I didn't take it out of context and it can be used alone?), and also I'm not sure if 惨 is the right word I'm looking for. Something like, "Dear, no matter how cruel you are, just don't forget me."

I know. It's kind of morbid. And weird...o_o" I promise I'm not using this for evil intent...

Posted on: Fat Camp

July 24, 2008, 12:45 AM

When I went to China, I lost weight rapidly despite eating myself to death every lunch and dinner (breakfast was too rushed to do so as I had class to get to, haha) as well as eating ice cream at every chance there was room in my stomach.

I sincerely think that this happened due to the numerous buckets of sweat I shed every day in the blistering heat, as well as the scenic climb up every mountian, temple, and hot spring, not to mention the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, etc etc etc. The tourist attractions were endless (there seemed to be an endless number of temples and mountians in particular..) and ferocious shopping and bartering every day was also a workout in itself.

I think the weight issue with a lot of young women has a lot to do with the heat in combination with walking/shopping. I do not jest, shopping in the heat was on par in intensity with climbing the Great Wall. ^^v

Posted on: High Maintenance Girls and the Elderly

July 19, 2008, 07:54 AM

I can relate to the "saving face" of the family part of this podcast. When I was younger my grandmother used to live with us. She was around 80 at the time, and we lived in a 2 storey house (is it two storey for two floors and then a basement? Or is it three storey?...anyway..) and we were five kids in the family. Therefore there were 8 of us, and later on we got a small dog as well. Eventually the noise, the stairs and the general disruption we continually lived in got too much for my grandmother and she decided she wanted an apartment in Chinatown that was designed specifically to house elderly Chinese.

This was a big deal, and we were told not to mention any part of this plan whenever we called our relatives back home. We were quite young and didn't know why, but later on I came to realize that it was my father's duty as the son to take care of our grandmother. Her decision to move out would still have put my dad in bad light, despite the logic behind it.

Posted on: Money Values and Beating the Summer Heat

July 18, 2008, 07:09 AM

@ u4132534 - Who says she isn't learning? Like the rest of us, whatever level we may be, we're all on this site to learn more. Lets clarify that this is a Dear Amber episode where, like all other DA eps, we discuss things about China. It's neither a Mandarin teaching lesson, nor does she claim anywhere at all she's fluent. In fact she states her level as "Newbie" on her profile. I therefore find your comment offending and completely irrelevant, not to mention disrespectful. So do, I believe, the countless other people that will read your post.

@mdtubio: That quote describes my entire childhood. Tomorrow never seemed to come, and I was never allowed to buy a bag of chips! But then ten years later we at least got a projector and media room =D! (Although,  we're not allowed to use it unless there are plenty of people watching, lol!)

Posted on: China Fruit and Pre-Marital Sex

July 17, 2008, 06:50 AM

Just contributing my own experience -- When I was in Jinan last summer, many of our university buddies were extremely shy and reserved in regards to treating the opposite sex. I spoke with several girls and they said they were not allowed to date yet, and they were 20. Even at the clubs we went to, the dancing sometimes even only consisted of jumping around (and I guess.. 'wiggling'? Hehe), no grindy and other such explicit moves. Someone DID in fact mention that "kissing was illegal in public", but on further examination I think he meant that it was against the rules or something. I definitely noticed a lot of hidden couples kissing on park benches once it got pitch dark outside

Also, I definitely noticed a difference in Shanghai. When we went clubbing, the atmosphere was quite a lot more physical and "western" than in the smaller cities further north. Even though the girls were not forward (as far as I could see), they were certainly much more receptive/encouraging. The guys were too, but I think there were also a lot of foreign guys at the clubs as well so that may have been part of it..

Anyway, thanks for this episode! It was something I was secretly wondering for quite some time haha!

Posted on: Money Values and Beating the Summer Heat

July 17, 2008, 12:00 AM

I totally agree that ice cream is the way to go! When I was in China last year (learning Mandarin, of course!) I had at LEAST one ice cream/popsicle a day. One thing that I loved about Chinese frozen desserts was how fruity they were. I found this really refreshing, because sweet Vanilla, Chocolate and Caramel flavours were sometimes too thickly sweet to enjoy properly in the ridiculous heat. One that I really liked was something like a peach popsicle, and another was pineapple flavoured with chunks of pineapple in it. There was an odd one in Shanghai that I tried out too, it was something like cream-and-raisin (with real raisins in the hard-ice-cream). It was actually quite good. One I didn't like much though was a pea flavored popsicle... Although the taste was so strange and yet mild at the same time that I couldn't decide whether I liked it or not until halfway through the popsicle, hahaha.