LumDimSum on Nee Hao

LumDimSum speaks to Nee Hao – an online magazine about British Chinese culture – from Chinese food to events, music, community, sports, art and work experiences.

Nee Hao features LumDimSum on living and working in Beijing together with one of my articles “Business is Business” – a piece I wrote about the skewed mentality of people who only think “business”.

For the Full Article, Click here.

25 Things I Bet You Never Knew

About LumDimSum: 25 Things I Bet You Never Knew

1. My love in life is fresh fruit, fresh fruit juice, and smoothies.  My first job in college was at a smoothie store in Isla Vista, Santa Barbara called Blenders where I was definitely the best smoothie maker and I indulged every day in the goodness of smoothies.  I plan to do big things, you’ll all see some day.  Maybe not this year, but mark my words, it will happen.

2. I’m petrified of snakes, worms, eels, things that are slimy, long and slithery. I can’t even look at them in books, on the TV, or on a computer screen. In high school, my dad had to go through my biology book and cover all photos of worms with post-it notes so I wouldn’t scream every time I flipped a page to find a picture of a worm or snake. Needless to say, my teacher exempted me from dissecting the earthworm. I realize it’s completely irrational but it’s still my biggest phobia and fear in life.

3. I want to see the world, visit every country, see different cultures, people, ways of life, learning new phrases in different languages.  I like to know specific details and fun facts about other places that you can’t learn from reading a book or research. ex: I went to Bali and learned that every home, store, doorway left a little woven bowl of crackers/crumbs on their doorstep in the morning as a religious offering that the stray dogs would come by and eat throughout the day.

4. I have the worst sense of direction, which sucks because I like to travel.  Lindsay knows this from experience, and anyone else I’ve traveled with.  After the Olympics, Kat and I went to SE Asia and basically we were the blind leading the blind but somehow we managed to survive 2 weeks in Bali and Thailand!  I’d like to think my sense of direction has improved, but then again, I’m probably just kidding myself.

5. According to my dentist, I’m more evolved than most of the human race – I have no wisdom teeth. 

6. As much as I love living in Beijing, I eventually want to live somewhere where I can hike up a hill to watch a beautiful, vibrant sunset and fall asleep to the sounds of waves crashing outside of my window every night.  I miss living oceanside DP, Santa Barbara.

7. My bar name was Lana.

8. I eat so many bananas I think I could turn into a monkey.  I like fresh bananas, banana pancakes, banana and peanut butter on toast, dried banana chips, banana bread, and above all else: banana and nutella crepes/thai pancakes.

9. I’m proud of the fact that I went skydiving in Australia 14,000 ft. AND I got over my fear of swimming with fish by also going scuba diving and snorkeling in Cairns.

10.  I’m not proud of the fact that I love pop music – yes, I rock out to Britney, JT, Christina Aguilera and yes, I love the Backstreet Boys.  As a teenager, I was in love with Nick Carter and most embarrassing of all – when they came to Sacramento for their concert tour, I paid an obscene amount of money to see their concerts on both days (it was the same thing).  I’d like to think that because I also like Tupac, Sublime, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I win back some cool points.

11.  I played the piano for over 10 years – from age 5 to 15 – and I was very good.  I would like to go back to playing again someday.

12.  I was a cheerleader in high school and I was the flyer (the girl who got tossed in the air).   Even though I was underage and did it without my parents’ permission, I decided to pursue a career in cheerleading – I went to audition to be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader.  I was selected out of 30 people to go on to the next round of auditions and although it my dream to become a professional cheerleader at that point, it didn’t last long after that. wow, i don’t think i’ve told many people that before.

13.  The older I get, the more I crave sweets and desserts.  I could eat a million dan tas (aka Chinese egg tart dessert), any sort of baked good (cookies, cake, muffins), and I take credit for introducing to the menu at Med in Block 8 and now at All-Star the Chocolate Lava Cake – aka Chocolate Explosion – chocolate cake filled with hot fudge and served with vanilla ice cream and strawberries.

14. I like to read in bed before I fall asleep.

15. I can’t watch horror movies – it all started with the movie Congo and the last one I let myself see was The Ring (freshman year in college) and I was scared out of my wits for 2 months.  I get way too emotionally involved when i watch scary movies and I refuse to subject myself to anymore haunting images, I’ve realized that it just isn’t worth it.

16.  I have never and will never smoke cigarettes – not even a puff.  That says a lot for working in nightlife in China and being around it a lot.  I hate the smell, I hate how the smoke irritates my eyes, and I think it’s the stupidest, most repulsive and disgusting habit and i think the world would be a happier, healthier place without cigarettes.

17.  I think the more blush I apply, the prettier I am.  When you see me out with bright red cheeks, it’s probably because I’m tipsy and I keep going to the bathroom to put on more blush.

18.  I have a thing for accents. British, Scottish, South African, Australian, whatever, it’s hot and I only wish I had a cooler one myself.

19. I’m partly OCD.  I have a strange compulsion to clear empty plates when eating family style (or dim sum) and refill empty glasses.

20. To me, the biggest compliment is when people tell me I’m good at my job.  I work hard at it and I work long hours. It has pretty much consumed my life, but its OK because at the end of the day, I like to be busy, i like to be productive, and I love my job.

21. I find everything about surfing culture completely fascinating- from the sport itself, as a hobby that becomes a way of life, a passion that gets people to wake up at the crack of dawn every day, the idea of immersing yourself in nature, the technicality and art and style and talent and strength and fitness involved…ok, and I admit I love surfers in general.

22. I can’t dive.  Anything other than feet first in water seems like an impossible feat.

23. I’m happiest when I get to dine out with friends. I love to eat out, try new restaurants, I love food in general and I love having quality time to catch up with the people I love. Good food combined with good company is an unbeatable combination. And watching a movie afterwards is always an extra bonus.

24. Since the 5th grade, I have kept diaries that I wrote in almost every day until last May 2008. For so many years, I wrote because it was a form of expression, documentation, a way to vent, to release, to explore and analyze ideas, emotions, actions.  I don’t know if I will start writing again, but I do know that someday I will eventually want to go back and reminisce and read them all…and then burn them.  i wrote for myself and never with the intention of allowing any other eyes to read them but mine.

25.  I’m a hopeless romantic. I believe in fairy tales, I’m a sentimental dreamer and I believe in love.