I ACTUALLY LIKE PEOPLE

While I was walking down the hill with my pipe after lunch an exceedingly pretty woman gave me a very heartfelt "ni hao, hen jiao bu jian" (你好，很久不見). Which indicates three things immediately; 1) She recognized me from someplace, 2) We had spoken Mandarin there, and 3) the impression I made was excellent. The problem in all of that is also three fold; 1) where on earth had it been? 2) Had I really spoken intelligible Mandarin? 3) Good lord, favourable impression? Me?

I tend to think of myself as a rather grumpy goober most of the time. Perhaps I should start considering myself as a likeable old git instead. And the major problem is that I cannot for the life of me remember where we met.

Being warmly greeted by a pretty woman is nice.
If I behave it may happen more often.

My Mandarin is pretty lousy, most of the time in a Chinese context I rely on Cantonese. But in the case of charming intelligent women I will step out of my comfort zone. Problem is that that is thin ice. The borderzone between comfort zone and danger zone is rather slim.


Maybe it was my deodorant. Which is sporty and youthful.
That may have made a positive impression.
Doubtful, but not impossible.


And, speaking of deodorant, I found out yesterday that there is one that smells like snickerdoodle. Why on earth would anyone want their pits to reek of a bakery?
How seriously nuts are people? Americans?

Lunch had been excellent. But I've realized that what this world -- or at least San Francisco Chinatown -- really needs is a place with spicy pork rice noodles, cilantro, slight hint of lemon grass (咖喱豬肉河粉湯 'gaa lei chü yiuk ho fan tong'). Ripe red chilies. It would be something that might give my cardiologist nightmares, but which they couldn't resist sampling often.

If you have it more than once a week you might be dead within a year. Or suffer from gout that goes all the way from the ball joint to the torso. Same with the other great idea I had, namely dried oyster rice sheet noodle rolls (蠔豉腸粉 'hou si cheung fan').



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