Lunar New Year Feels

BY SARACH AND STEFITH

Note: We realise we always end up posting about big occasions after the fact, or by cutting it very close (like our 2014 year in review). This is because we get so caught up in all the fun and excitement it’s only afterwards we realise we haven’t blogged and go ‘uh oh’.

We’re ridiculous.

The Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year has come upon us with a great shower of yu sheng, pineapple tarts, red packets, lion dances and festive cheer. We’ve both been feeling particularly happy about this Chinese New Year (CNY), largely because our exams are over and we are kissing goodbye to what everyone says is the worst year of our 3-year polytechnic career.

As such, we decided to share with everyone some of our feelings about CNY :3

Our Favourite Aspect of CNY

Sarach: I get to see the entire famz bamz!! Especially those that I hardly meet throughout the year. Friends too, meeting up and catching up. And of course the amazing food and my grandma’s ngoh hiong which I only get during CNY and she makes them by hand!

Stefith: The money. Nah, I’m kidding- I’m materialistic, but not that much. My favourite aspect of CNY is actually the visiting- there are many relatives that I only see once a year during CNY visitations and reunion dinners, so it’s great meeting them all. I’m always especially surprised at how fast the small children grow- like hello were you not like as tall as my knee last year?

Our Favourite CNY Goodies

Sarach: By goodies I think we mean all the tidbits right? I love those home baked things. I find that it’s during CNY where you see all the hidden baking talents. Not that I baked anything year, but I love my Mom’s cashew and macadamia cookies. And also, my Aunt’s butter cookies shaped in a flower and that awesome one small piece of chocolate chip in the middle. Yeah it’s cute ok. And my family friend’s pineapple tarts are so good – shaped uniquely in a rose too!

Stefith: My favourite goodies at CNY are kueh bangkit, kueh lapis, and cashew nuts. I know I can eat cashew nuts at any time of the year, but for some reason they just taste better at CNY. My least favourite goodie at CNY is bak kwa– it just does not taste nice at CNY okay- personally, I feel the quality drops because the companies are rushing to make it for the festive season.

Some Family CNY Traditions

Sarach:
Eve of CNY – Dad’s side reunion dinner, then to my cousin’s house for more food and talk.
Day 1 – People come to me yo. More food and talk and little kids at my place. Which is really nice because that’s where I get to see almost everyone from my Mom’s side and everyone’s just really happy eating and talking
Day 2 – Visiting more houses and more eating and hoping I won’t grow fat for the next few days.

Stefith: My maternal grandma will have us all back at her house the weekend before CNY, and we have steamboat! It’s amazingly delicious. We also have a giant reunion dinner with all my maternal relatives, which is cool too. On my paternal side, we have a special tradition for 初二, which is the second day of the new year. In the morning, we’ll go do some kind of physical activity (it was soccer this year), and then go eat Indian food. In the late afternoon, we’ll head over to my uncle’s house where we gamble, sing, talk nonsense and eat prata and mee goreng. It’s fantastic, and I usually end up drinking more beer than I should.

CNY 2015: How was it?

Sarach: It’s alright. I guess. Nothing out of the ordinary except embracing my inner Aunty with all the nieces and nephews. Oops.

Also, I get to chill and relax unlike last year where I remember rushing to assignments. Gosh terrible time it was. And this CNY being The start of Lent as well, it’s kinda hard to not eat meat last Friday so I guess I’ll have to abstain another day.

Stefith: It was especially awesome, because my last exam fell on the day before the Eve, and let me tell you, freedom tastes so sweet. Also this year, I got to meet a lot of my tiny distantly-related nieces and nephews (my second cousins’ children) who are at the mobile stage, so they can run around the house and talk to you and they’re generally quite cute.

And then they start screaming and shrieking, and Auntie Stefith siams far away.

On my dad’s side this new year was a quieter one, because a lot of my relatives were overseas for work/studies, and also since my grandma passed on, we generally have less people visiting my grandparents’ house now. But we still had lots of fun, and while I don’t gamble (I always lose, so I’ve given up), it was lovely seeing my family enjoy themselves. They even came up with a new chant for Chinese blackjack/ban luck– “picture, picture, lai lai lai, banker, banker, die die die”, in the hope the banker would go bust and have to pay everyone at the table. Such fun.

I had a good CNY, and well, just being with family is always a great thing. (Sarach: same here. :D)

 

That’s our feelings about the Lunar New Year in general (: We hope you had a great new year as well. From the two of us, stay 羊 (young) and fabulous. Have a happy Year of the Goat!

What I Think About Tinder

BY STEFITH

it’s going down, i’m yelling tinder

Answer: Nothing.

Okay, I kid. Maybe not ‘nothing’, seeing as I do have opinions on everything and anything,

Before we go any further, just let me make a declaration – I don’t have a Tinder account. I live the Tinder life vicariously through my friends, who gleefully spend hours swiping left on everybody who crosses their path. Okay, sometimes they swipe right as well, but apparently, there is a strange satisfaction in swiping left with great glee.

Like I said, I don’t have a Tinder account, but some of my friends seem to get a massive kick out of it.

First things first, what is Tinder?

Tinder is a dating app, which allows you to filter other people by age, gender and location. You are then presented with names, photos, ages, and short bios. Looking through the photos, you swipe left if they don’t meet your standards, and swipe right if they do. Tinder only allows people to chat if they’ve both swiped right on each other’s profile- so if you get a match with that hot guy you went ga-ga over, rest assured he thinks you’re pretty cute too. Probably.

Additionally, Tinder works using your Facebook account, so everyone you come across during your happy-swipey-journey is probably separated from you by no more than two or three degrees. That means they’re probably not a creepy serial killer!

Yay.

Given the ability to filter by location and judge people based off their looks, Tinder was, according to what I’ve found on the Internet, used a lot for hookups and one night stands. I’m not sure if that’s what happened in Singapore, but the app has certainly evolved.

Right now, it’s a dating app. Remember those dating agencies like LunchActually? Well, this is something like that, but compressed into something handy on your smartphone! People use it to find potential partners, or heck, even just potential friends. Also, really: physical attractiveness is often the first trait people notice, so the whole judging people on their looks and stuff isn’t really that shallow. It’s actually something that is kind of wired into our DNA. But that’s a blog post for another day.

Of course, as with all dating apps, you’re going to encounter your fair share of creeps and crazies along the way. One of my friends has had notoriously bad luck with guys on Tinder thus far- all the guys she’s found cute (i.e. she swiped right) have turned out to be chauvinists or jerks. There was even one guy who straight up asked her for her height and weight- like hello, unsubtle much? And another one who was pretty much just looking for a hookup because he said she “turned him on”.

Actually, I think it was the same guy. Bleargh.

But don’t worry- if Mr Hottie turns out to be Mr Total Asshole, you can always unmatch him and he’ll be gone from your life forever.

All this doesn’t answer my main topic of conversation: what do I think about Tinder?

In my opinion, it’s simply the next stage of evolution in the human courtship process. Given all the new technology that abounds, it simply makes sense to make use of gadgets and gizmos in the pursuit of your one true love. Additionally, people are leading busier and busier lives- they don’t have the time to go to a party, or to a club, in an effort to expand their social circle. As such, dating apps provide them a solution to their time-strapped search for their soulmate.

By all means, give Tinder a whirl. From what I hear it’s worth a shot. Not that I’ll ever use Tinder, but I won’t judge you if you do.

Alternatively, just have fun swiping left on everybody you see. There’s a strange sort of joy in doing so. I think it’s because you get to judge all these people (much joy) and it makes you feel like a higher power.

Also: if you’re meeting up with someone on Tinder face-to-face for the first time, go to a crowded, well-lit, public place. Go with a friend. Bring the pepper spray.

Whatever it is, stay safe, folks! Happy Tinder-ing.

19 Reasons Why Stefith Is Awesome

BY SARACH

It’s the my blog-buddy / supderduperamazingfriend / other-half-of-the-crazy-duo’s birthday today!! Having known her for at least a year and a half now, Stefith means so much to me and without her, I wouldn’t know what I would have done during my life in poly so far. So here’s some special 19 ways this cray cray, shopaholic girl is awesome, because it’s her 19th birthday.

1. She gets my jokes
2. Whenever I see her I fell happy bc I have a friend yay
3. Listens to my countless rants without ever complaining
4. We sleep at the same time
5. We wake up at different times
6. We’ve managed to run a CCA without scaring everyone away
7. She gives me advice on how to handle troublesome people
8. Her lameness (same level you see. Okay maybe mine higher)
9. Her hugggssss
10. How we can just sit at a cafe (or bar) and talk for hours about anything and everything
11. My (online) shopping buddy
12. Introduced me to the world of Zalora and more
13. How we both secretly want to be popular
14. Being there for me when I’m lost and lonely, not knowing what to do
15. She is so smart.
16. She understands how I feel
17. And will punch people for me
18. She plays along with my meows and bloops that it has become our own thing
19. Just being Stefith and being someone who has gotten so important to me

Thank you, Stefith for all the times we’ve had together and for making my life so much better. Not to mention without you, we wouldn’t be running this amazing blog which we have managed to sustain so far!! Here’s to many more birthdays spent together, and many more conversations about shipping and life.

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN!