So, apparently I’ve been taking waaay too much chocolate during the last few days in Vancouver – no thanks to my aunt’s seemingly endless chocolate supply and not to mention how chocolate is really, really cheap here.
It was during two of these chocolate-gobbling sessions where I noticed that there are many ways I can perceive situations, especially concerning other people’s intentions.
Scenario 1
En route to Whistler Mountains with the rest of the family in a rented jeep, my aunt was passing chocolate supplies around as she normally would during a long road trip.
I received a packet of Maltesers (mmm, one of my favourites). In front of me, the younger cousin had just received a bar of Lindt 70% dark chocolate.
A coupla’ seconds later, the younger cousin turned around and offered to trade his chocolate with me.
“Brenda, you want?” he asked, holding out the Lindt bar. “I know that you love dark chocolate!”
I was really, really touched at first – because he remembered that I love dark chocolate more than any other types. (And men in general are really good at forgetting these things.) So I accepted the Lindt bar and began chomping gleefully.
Nomming my chocolate bar and gazing out at the scenery outside, it suddenly struck me that I had conveniently overlooked one fact – that the younger cousin hated dark chocolate, but also loved Maltesers … quite possibly more than I do.
So, there are two ways of looking at this.
A. The younger cousin offered his dark chocolate to me because he knows that I love dark chocolate and that I would definitely enjoy it more than he would.
B. He offered to trade his dark chocolate only because he himself hated it, and wanted Maltesers instead.
Mmm, something to think about.
Scenario 2
A continuation of Scenario 1. So, I’ve finished gobbling up the last bit of the Lindt bar just as the jeep pulled into the petrol station for a gas top-up.
As the younger cousin hopped off the jeep to the convenience store at the gas station for a top-up of munchies, I requested that he help me get another Lindt bar. Ten minutes later, he returned and passed me an extra-large bar of Lindt 70% dark chocolate, two times the size of the standard bar I was munching on before.
So I expressed shock, because I definitely couldn’t finish all of it. “It’s okay, eat it slowly,” was his reply.
Again, there are two ways of looking at it.
A. He bought the extra-large chocolate bar because he knows I love dark chocolate (as in, seriously!) and so, decided to get me a supply that can last me a couple of days at least.
B. He bought the extra-large chocolate bar because it was much cheaper to buy in bulk (or larger sizes), rather than a single, standard-size Lindt bar. So he saves money that way, just in case I end up asking him for even more Lindt bars.
If the above scenarios happened to you, which one would you choose?
For me, I chose option A for both – because despite how the younger cousin has his share of annoying (and occasionally, selfish – but who doesn’t?) moments, I know he really, really, really cares for me a lot and would basically go out of his way to make me happy.
If he is in the mood to, at least. Heh.
[Written at 2.20 P.M. (17th May) Singapore time, 11:20 P.M. (16th May) Vancouver time.]
With repeated nagging from mum to abstain from ice-cream prior to the trip (because she’s oh-so paranoid that I’d fall sick), I did my best to. It was a really trying experience, though – because I really love ice-cream and temptation was everywhere.
But now that I am finally in Vancouver, and presented with Sara’s old-fashioned ice cream, I jumped in with a scoop each of cotton candy and cookie dough.
Oom, nom, nom, nom.
It was yummy, by the way. Tasty, yet not too sweet.
Extremely friendly ice-cream for my slightly diabetic grandmother too. (;
Vancouver’s really nice so far. We’re surrounded by snow-capped mountains visible in the distance from almost all directions. Weather’s pretty awesome too – a good respite from the recent sauna-like weather we’ve been having in Singapore.
I found myself automatically waking up at 5 this morning as the sun was streaming in through the windows (the sun rises really early here in the summer) and couldn’t get back to sleep. Gotta’ start getting used to this, man – I’m going to have to deal with light in my face for the next month or so. (I am too used to sleeping in dark environments.)
We’re driving down to Seattle tomorrow for some good, solid factory-outlet shopping. Whoopie.
So, I was supposed to have a meeting at 3ish today and the other person forgot. (Tsk. Heh heh.)
But all’s good anyway, because I have a mountain-load of stuff to do on my list and some free time will always be nice.
I got drenched making my way here, but it’s all right. I’m surrounded by people. Some noise in the room is always welcome, unless it borders on the point of being a major distraction – think wailing kids. Yes, that kind of extent.
And there’s free air-conditioning, electricity and wireless access for me to use!
Oh, did I mention that I got wet in the rain?
My shoes feels all slooshy, and my jeans were sticking to my legs like crazy. Plus, my umbrella was so abso-teeny it wasn’t enough to cover me and humongous haversack.
And well, I was also tilting the umbrella such that it covered my haversack more than me (because my precious ol’ laptop was in that haversack) – not that it helped, though, because the haversack was still soaking wet anyway – so yeah, you can add that on to the list of silly stuff I’ve been doing in recent days.
I am craving chips. Sour-cream and cheese Ruffles’, to be precise.
And I should be doing my work now.
Maybe I’ll get my chips later. Hmm.
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