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Overview

  • 0 references
  • Fluent in English; learning Manchu, Spanish
  • 36, Female
  • Member since 2014
  • No occupation listed
  • No education listed
  • No hometown listed
  • Profile 35% complete

About Me

ABOUT ME

IF YOU'RE ASKING ME FOR A COUCH: PLEASE START WITH READING THE COUCH INFORMATION SECTION CAREFULLY AND IN FULL!

Short story of my life is that I'm born in Singapore and stayed there for 2/3rds of my life, and then the remaining 1/3rd (and counting) here in Shanghai.

I currently work as a courier. Please do NOT ask me to recommend you or anyone else as I'm not in a position to do so and it's awkward for me to have to reject your request. It's kinda my dream job and I hope to keep on doing it as long as I can, despite the fact that some might say that this's a waste of my academic qualifications and it's not a stable job (both opinions are valid).

I moved to Shanghai for my studies in Sep 2003. I started as an undergrad student at Shanghai Conservatory of Music, majoring in traditional Chinese instrument performance.
In Sep 2008, I gained admission to Fudan University's English-taught Masters programme, majoring in Chinese Language & Culture. Since then, I've been heavily involved in the activities of the university's Chinese orchestra, currently still serving as its vice-president, though I'm now alumni.

Before I came to Shanghai, I'd never been to China before. In fact, my only trips out of Singapore were to Malaysia, Japan and North Korea. I've since then travelled extensively in mainland China, as well as trips to South Korea, Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Germany, Hungary, France, Morocco, Malaysia, Sweden, Mexico, Australia, India, Portugal, Thailand, the USA, Argentina, Qatar, Italy, Macau, Poland, Slovakia etc.
Travelling in the well-known as well as the off-the-beaten-path nooks and crannies of China, sometimes solo, I've been privileged to see a China that I believe many international students and expats in China don't.

--end of official CV blurb, start of ramblings--

Well, below are some thoughts that I jot down here from time to time which kinda describe me. Reading them might be helpful if you intend to surf with me (especially), or host, or just meet up.

* I usually like to spend time with my hosts and surfers when in the house. However there're just times (especially when I'm the host) when I don't really feel like interacting very much. Sometimes it's just me, or sometimes I'm just not really motivated to talk more to you (maybe you don't interest me that much? unfortunately). The latter can especially happen if you've been surfing longer than expected.

* If you cannot be bothered to read my profile and send me a copy-paste CSMail or CouchRequest, be warned that you will receive a rude answer from me as you haven't been polite enough to read before contacting me -- I do when I write to other people! If you're lucky you'll only get ignored. Sorry but I no longer have time to entertain random people who're interested in meeting just any human being and not me as a person. If you think I'm close-minded and unfriendly as a result of this then it's just as well that we do not meet.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm usually happy to meet up for a chat/tea/meal/stroll in my neighbourhood if I'm in Shanghai -- sorry, I usually prefer not to go downtown. :) I can work with meal budgets of generally 10-50 RMB/pax, with a preference for around 20-30 RMB/pax for a meal. It makes me uncomfortable to eat with someone who's on such a shoestring budget that you cannot afford 10 RMB for a meal. On the other hand, I cannot afford to be spending more than 50 RMB on a regular meal, most of the time.
I don't usually go for gatherings as I don't function well in "mass group" kind of gatherings, I prefer to meet in groups of 2 to 6 people.
CouchSurfing is NOT a dating/"hook-up" site and I DO NOT appreciate any CSers thinking otherwise.

Interests

Interests
No.1 on the list is travel, of course! I'm quite a history/culture bum, and love going to museums -- though not the ones that look like someone's dusty, abandoned storeroom. However I've also learnt from recent experience that going to museums where I can't understand the exhibit captions (due to language barriers) can be quite disappointing.
Scenery is also a plus with me, but I'm not very athletic and hate climbing! But for a good view I can always consider. ;) I was about halfway up the Dom in Koln when I thought to myself "why did I think this is a good idea?!" ROFL!

Food, glorious food! I love sampling local food wherever I travel, and always try to look up the local specialties and recommended eating spots. My favourite ingredients (cooked in any way) are potatoes and cheese; I stay clear of coriander (cilantro) and celery, and avoid bell peppers as much as possible. No insects in my diet either... eeks! :( As for fruits, I love durian -- in any form as long as it's not rotten!
Unfortunately I can't cook (unless you mean stuff that you just add hot water to ie instant noodles) -- but I can help with cutting, chopping and cleaning if you don't mind that I'm quite a klutz.

Scrabble and other board/card games are a hit with me! So if you're an avid fellow gamer, please look me up! I'm especially keen to play Scrabble somewhat competitively, as it's difficult to find comparable players in mainland China.

Music is another of my passions. For more details, please refer to the Music section below.

When travelling, I also like to take some time to write and send postcards, to myself and a few close friends. I'm pretty fanatical about getting them posted in the city which they're from, so sometimes when I can't find stamps or a mailbox they end up waiting months for me to visit that city again and bring them back there to be posted. Those whom I write too usually find copious essays squashed into the available writing space.

Oh, I also like collecting Hard Rock Café T-shirts. In fact, they're almost the only new clothes I've bought in some time. My favourite is one that I bought in Macau, not really a T-shirt but a more girlie top. Another obsolete souvenir is the one from Mexico City, I almost went to refund it but refunds were, strangely, not permitted at this particular outlet. A year later, I found that it had closed, so it was lucky I didn't refund it!

Chatting with friends and reading in English are also good ways to spend my time. However please note that I do NOT enjoy discussions/questions about my Chinese name, my work (most of the time) and religion/politics/Tibet (really not interested, nothing to do with the Chinese government).

  • insects
  • culture
  • writing
  • performing arts
  • dining
  • cooking
  • cheese
  • dieting
  • clothing
  • politics
  • reading
  • traveling
  • stamps
  • music
  • surfing
  • rock climbing
  • history
  • religion

Music, Movies, and Books

Music
I play a wide variety of traditional Chinese music instruments, mostly plucked-string. I enjoy listening to Chinese orchestral and instrumental music -- Western classical music tends to put me to sleep, unfortunately. I also write rearrangements, the best effort so far is this one: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTg4ODI0Mjc2.html
I also love musicals and my favourites are Miss Saigon, Evita and Les Miserables. I've only been able to see Miss Saigon and Phantom of the Opera in person though.
As a spin-off, I also really enjoy listening to the fantastic voice of Sarah Brightman. Favourites among her songs include La Pasione and A Question of Honour.
I also like some Chinese pop songs, though perhaps a bit outdated. I like going to karaoke, if you're interested we could always try to get enough people to go together.

Books
Reading for leisure/enjoyment will definitely be in English. I do understand Chinese, but I read much easier and faster in English.
I enjoy Harry Potter be it in print or on screen -- as long as it's in English. I also liked George Orwell's Animal Farm, and would be keen to read Iris Chang's Rape of Nanking.
The only Chinese books I'll pick up of my own accord are travel guidebooks -- I especially enjoy the ones by Taiwan and Hong Kong publishers.
However, I do sometimes make exceptions to the "no Chinese" rule. I enjoy the novels of Lu Xun, and Bai Xianyong's anthology Taipei People. I've read these with English-Chinese translation.

Movies
I tend to go for films that have some travel, historical or musical background. I don't enjoy scary/ghost movies at all. Here're some of my favourites:
- Les Miserables (2012 version)
- Up in the Air
- 跑吧孩子 (watched this Singaporean adaption of the famous Iranian film 4 times in the cinema!)
- Evita
- Amadeus (watched countless times onboard planes)
- The Soong Sisters
- Letters to Juliet
- Phantom of the Opera

TV
Travel and food programmes are definitely my cup of tea, especially food-cum-travel programmes by Taiwan and Hong Kong TV.
As for drama serials, I like anything produced in Hong Kong. I also like certain Taiwan idol dramas (eg MVP Lover) and some mainland Chinese drama serials, mainly the period dramas. In English, the only one I watch is The L Word; for Korean ones, I've only watched Dae Jang Geum. I don't watch Japanese ones at all.

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