Tagging Game!
Tagged by languageramblings
Rules:
Post the rules
Answer the questions the person who tagged you made up
Write ten questions yourself
Tag ten people to answer your questions
Lol first time I’ve done one of these~
1. Happiest moment this year?
Probably when Stanislas Wawrinka won the Australian Open in January and I spent the next week internally screaming STAN WON THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN. Good times. I started rooting for him last year during my HSC (i.e. Higher School Certificate aka the end of my secondary education) when I grew very emotionally invested in his performance, because in some ways his successes kept me afloat when everything else was falling apart.
2. Last song you listened to?
Place de la République, Coeur de Pirate.
3. Favourite travel destination?
I hardly travel, to be honest. I can count the number of countries I’ve visited on one hand: China (since Hong Kong is technically part of China…), Singapore, New Zealand and Canada. The only place I’ve been to regularly is Hong Kong, and while it’s not the best travel destination (in my opinion) it does feel a little like home. Actually, I guess I’d call New Zealand my favourite travel destination. I’ve been to both North and South Island and South Island is the prettier one by far, with all the Lord of the Rings filming locations haha. There’s so much greenery and life, and the countryside feels purer and less industrialised than in Australia.
4. If you had one hour to do absolutely anything you wanted (including activities that would break the laws of physics), what would you do?
Hermetically seal myself into a little bubble and just read as many books as possible. Travel back to the beginning of the universe and watch its development on a sub-atomic level, because why the hell not.
5. Weirdest dream you’ve ever had?
I’ve had so many dreams on so many levels of weirdness it’s difficult to choose one that stands out. One of my more recent dreams (probably provoked by MH370) ranks up there in surrealness. My family and I were preparing to travel somewhere via airplane and we were looking at a Wikipedia page about our flight. The events described in the article had not yet happened so basically we were seeing our future – there’d been some mechanical issue shortly after take-off, which translated into catastrophic engine failure just over our destination airport, resulting in a massive crash with no survivors. Despite all that my family were determined to travel anyway. The logic was that we should accept our imminent deaths with dignity and not run away like cowards.
6. Novels, short stories or poetry?
ALL THREE. I just wouldn’t be able to choose between them. Poetry was the lifeblood of my childhood before I started writing (or trying to write) novels. I only started reading short stories properly when I had to write an 8000 word one as part of my Major Work last year. Obviously, reading short stories was necessary to understand the form, and now I actually prefer them to novels (although there is always room in my heart for lengthy epics). While I never really read short stories I did write them, at least in the past when I had more free time and motivation.
7. Have you ever seen a total lunar/solar eclipse?
No.
8. What’s your favourite word in any language?
I don’t know why but I’m very fond of dédaigneux (adj) (French) just because it sounds like its meaning (disdainful). Also taquiner. In English I like defenestration. Can’t really think of a word in Chinese so I’ll just mention my favourite four-character-saying, 飲水思源, literally: when drinking water think about its source, meaning: don’t forget your origins.
9. Paper books or e-books?
Paper books by a mile, although I appreciate the mobility and convenience of e-books. There’s nothing quite like having the book in your hands (or conversely, having the ability to throw it across the room). Besides, each book has its own scars, scratches and bent page corners; sometimes little notes scribbled in the margin and words underlined in red, all of which give the book a character outside of the ones between its covers.
10. What would you stay up to 3am for?
Realistically, a last-minute university essay. But I’d also stay up to work out various philosophical conundrums that only ever seem to strike at 3 in the morning. (Contemplating the mysteries of the universe is something best done in the dead hours of the night. Or during dinner. It's one or the other in my experience)
Ten questions
Where is home for you?
Favourite poem?
A fictional universe you’d like to live in?
Fiction or non-fiction?
What is your favourite season?
Is there anything that keeps you awake at night?
What is your proudest achievement this year?
If you were a cat, what kind of cat would you be?
The longest flight you’ve been on?
The most spectacular place you’ve been to?
Bonus question: Is Schrodinger’s Cat dead or alive?