Friday Five 16-June-2023

thefridayfive 

1. Can you diagram a sentence?
It's something I'd really like to be able to do easily. How would presentations be so much more concise if I could infograph data. Sadly, I just don't have the creative capability to do that easily and quickly. I know we should not have wordy slides, and I'd like to be able to diagram or infograph them, but for the life of me, I couldn't. Sad.

2. What word do you always spell wrong, no matter what?
Definetly "alot". I know it's "a lot". But I just keep typing it as "alot". For your reading pleasure lol.

3. What word always looks like it's spelled wrong to you but isn’t?
I grew up learning British English, but the world seems to be intent on using American, so a lot of those color/colour, neighbor/neighbour, and the like would stump me for a second or two. I also have a particular anxiety when I have to use the word "mold/mould" and would fret about which is the "container thing" and which is the "fungus"

4. Do you have any little memory games when it comes to similar words, like principle and principal?
Probably had more of that stuff before... now if I'm on the fence about a word usage I'll just google it.

5. Was grammar something you enjoyed or detested in school?
English grammar was always straightforward, so I enjoyed it.
Japanese grammar was also easy enough. At least the everyday level. (I still know nothing of the keigo-level Japanese). Just remember a set of sentence structure and verb endings for the tense you want to use and that's it. During my internship in Portugal, my cousin's Japanese teacher (that was doing a language exchange; she learned and practiced Portuguese from my aunt, and then taught and practiced Japanese with my cousin) commented that I knew a lot of sentence structures and verb endings. I only kept having to check the dictionary for the actual verb.
Portuguese was always flakey, but since I mainly only speak with family so there was never a need for complicated grammar. But, I do notice that I also know some complicated grammar without actually knowing that that's some grammar. Stuff like we'd never managed to learn at school but somehow I'm able to say it (probably from listening to the elders speaking amongst themselves) and then they ask "How do you know how to use it that way?"
I'm not even going to attempt explaining German grammar. I'll just bulldoze through a sentence and cross my fingers and hope the other party understands me.
Cantonese? LOL. The ongoing joke is there's no real grammar in Chinese. It's fun.

F.riday5.com | Euphemisms for romance repurposed for food

1. What do you eat when you need something hot and heavy?
There's a Japanese restaurant nearby my office, they have a spicy miso udon that, despite my not being really able to hold spicy food, I would order that in winters when it's cold.

2. When did you last go to bed with something edible?
Never. I brush my teeth after my shower at night, and after teeth brushing, it's no more food.

3. What’s an enjoyable meal that requires you to get busy?
It's not that I do not like seafood (lobster, crabs, shrimps, the like), it's just that I don't really like getting my hands dirty, especially if I'm eating out. If I'm at home then fine, I'll eat all that. But when I'm out, I don't like to get my hands dirty.

4. With which dining establishment do you think you could go steady, at least until the end of the year?
Does the company coffee shop count? Ever since I got duty meals in my benefits plan, so say.... some 5 years or so ago, I've been eating at the same place.... and will probably continue. I do once in a while go to another restaurant and sometimes decide to order takeout from outside places (but not covered by my benefits plan).

5. With which snack would you like to have a summer fling?
Well, with the parents going on holiday, so nobody lording over the dinner menu, I'm going to execute my plan of veggie dinners or no-carb dinners. I like carbs. I love carbs, but I've been meaning to cut carbs from dinner, but then Dad would make stuff like Spatzle or pasta or sinfully good mashed potatoes, and Mom would make really good fried rice........ so yeah. I can get my carbs in breakfast and lunch, and always have a bit of it during lunch (stuff tends to come with fries). Will try that out.

"Otaku" stuff

ah. Well. Yeah yeah. I hardly post about these anymore.

So when Suara announced her Taiwan/Hong Kong tour earlier this year, it was just when Macau finally "unlocked" the borders and I was all "ooooh! A REASON to go Hong Kong!" So, I got myself a ticket. It's a 7pm concert, and at the time I wasn't sure what time it would end, and back then ferry service between Hong Kong and Macau was still shakey, so I went all out and even booked a hotel for the night.

It was all so exciting back in January.

Now that it's tomorrow I have to go to Hong Kong... I.... don't really feel like it.............................................

Ooooops.

LOL.

Sis initially said she'd like to meet up in Hong Kong on the following day, and I said sure, I'd bring her to the place where I bought my jade bangles so she can get hers as well. But just a couple days ago she said she's changed her mind and she not going. Duh. Had I known that earlier I probably would have arranged some activities. There's this Chocolate village thing that I probably would need an entire day as it's out in Ngong Ping (somewhere far from downtown) and I would need to take that cable car I was always curious about. But now it's too late to arrange for those. So. I'm now thinking, what is there to do on the second day with my overnight bag and all that.

Guess I should hunt for a nice lunch place and then find a bookshop or something to sit in and wait for the return ferry (tickets are non refundable/non changeable and such)

And then last night I saw on Facebook that Masami Okui is going to some anime game con in Shenzhen.

(iframe embed doesn't seem to be working on DW.....)

I'm tempted to go, but then July it's gonna be tough. The parents are going to be out of town. I'll need to stick to the morning and night dog walk schedule. It's good that it's Sunday so at least Sis would be home to see to Max for his mid-day toilet break. But I'm still on the fence about it.

I could take the ferry to Shekou, but then IN Shenzhen I'm not sure anymore. The subway/train? Not sure. Taxi? Dunno. Also, payment! I still need to test my Alipay settings (another long story).

She's going to be there for goods sales and some signing. But, so what? I can bring the latest album to her to sign. But then... after that.... so what...? I already have a signed letter and postcard from her.

Why am I so apathetic LOL. Have I lost my passion, my fire for adventure?