7 Things About Me – Interests, Preference, Struggles

Back in August, Delta Deathstorm from The Dead Books tagged me to do a 7-things-about-me post. Before I knew it, it’s almost been two months! My apologies for the late response, Delta! Thank you so much for the tag!

1. I love spicy food

Back home, we have a sauce dish of chili sauce or sliced bird’s eye chili in soy sauce accompanying most meals. Sometimes, we even have spicy food for breakfast.

So, when I’m in the States, I practically put hot sauce or red pepper flakes in everything. I can eat non-spicy food, but I’d very much prefer it spicy.

That said, I don’t have an insane threshold. I like my food to have a kick, not a bite. No Carolina Reapers or ghost pepper for me, but I’ll try them out of curiosity. Just a teeny bit.

2. I struggled with social anxiety for a long time

I didn’t have a name for it back then. With the exception of my immediate family, people made me uncomfortable. Right from the beginning, I was afraid of teachers, I felt distant from aunts and uncles, and I was constantly insecure in school.

It took me years to be able to do things most people took for granted – like ordering food and going to the restroom in school… I went to school in a uniform so worn it was translucent because I didn’t dare to buy a new one on my own. Every day was spent in fear of getting called upon by the teachers to answer a question.

But I survived! I found out I had social anxiety when search engines became a thing. I think I used yahoo back then? It didn’t make things easier, but at least I understood why I was that way.

3. I love horror movies even as a child

Growing up, my family didn’t control what movies I watched. Whatever they watched, I watched, regardless of film rating. I was always there when my siblings watched horror movies. And I LOVED IT. Nothing beats the skin-crawling excitement of being spooked together in the safe confines of home.

There’s a price though. I’ve lain awake for hours in my bed, staring at my toys convinced that they’d start moving any second. Or that something will manifest from the shadowy gap between my bed and the wall to grab me… But that has never stopped me from watching a horror movie.

In retrospect, it was probably cathartic for me. I had a lot of suppressed fears from school after all.

4. I’m a sucker for ghost encounter stories

Similarly, I love it when family/friends/colleagues gather to share ghost stories. I always find that the atmosphere around us changes when someone’s sharing their ghost story to a group – it’s almost like the energy becomes charged. But it’s just me getting excited listening to something creepy.

Taoists in the region believe the gates of hell open and spirits are free to roam the earth during the Lunar 7th month. I don’t share that belief, but I think that’s the best month for ghost stories! The superstition makes the entire experience even more thrilling. It’s like our version of Halloween! Except people believe in the 7th month.

5. I don’t like theme parks or amusement parks

The horror! Yeah, I’m not fun. I remember the first time I took a small pirate ship ride at a temporary amusement park. Mom told me not to scream on the ride or I’ll puke. So I didn’t scream even though I was freaking out. I didn’t puke, but I hated it. I tried a rollercoaster ride years later. Both times, I felt like I was sliding out of my seat the whole time. So I’ve stayed away from thrill rides since.

Seeing or taking pictures with cute or popular things doesn’t do anything for me too. So there’s nothing for me to do at theme parks or amusement parks. I feel like I need to apologize for being such a killjoy!

I do, however, enjoy parks. You know, the kind with trees and grass.

6. I can’t do somersaults

I’m an extremely non-physical person. We had gymnastics lessons in school once, and we had to do somersaults. Nothing fancy, just a roll. I couldn’t do it. Every time I tried to do it, a sense of disorientation overwhelms me. I even practiced at home!

There’s something about having my body flipped that rattled me. I like to think that I’m just very sensitive, but I’m probably just very fearful in nature. I guess you know why I can’t deal with thrill rides now.

7. I had a million interests

Before the blog, I had a million interests. I guess it’s part of being a Gemini. So many things catch my curiosity… often momentarily. I enjoy crocheting, dabbled in doodling, lettering, and coloring. Oh, I even felted for 2 days.

When I was younger, I took singing lessons and tried to teach myself to play the guitar. Let’s just say music isn’t my strongest suit. I also tried to learn Japanese, then Spanish, but decided it’s too much work when I still have a lot of space for improvement for my existing languages. I did pick up Cantonese though, since it’s close to Mandarin.

My biggest interest of all is words. Sadly, my English sucked growing up. So while I’ve kept a diary since I was 12 years old, I’ve never tried writing properly until this year. I hope I’ll stick to it!

Since I started this blog, the interests have taken a back seat. No, they’ve kind of been in the trunk…

In summary, I was a fearful child who loved horror and is afraid of somersaults. I grew into a boring adult who never feels bored because I have a million interests. That’s me in a nutshell, a walking irony. And I love spicy food.

I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know this female specimen a little better. This has been so fun to write! Thanks for reading!

And do head over to read 7 interesting things about Delta here!