Photographer/Journalist.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/31/1995.
27.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Allen Wen on Jul 16, 2016 23:13:31 GMT -8
Allen laughed lightly and replied, "Well if you ever actually go into clothing design professionally, maybe someday I'll be doing photoshoots for your line. That sort of thing is a lot of what I do now."
Then, Allen focused on taking pictures as Samnang went back to skateboarding. It was interesting to watch him build up to the trick, and he managed to snap several good pictures of Samanang in the handstand. When Samnang was done, and came back down and was slowing down, Allen applauded and said, "That was cool. I've got a few good pictures off it too."
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Starbucks Manager.
Heterosexual.
Single.
04/11/1996.
27.
Rat (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Samnang Yun on Jul 19, 2016 9:21:54 GMT -8
Samnang paused, smiling widely. "Sweet!" He said, wanting to see, but figuring he'd do a few more tricks first. He gathered up momentum again before doing a few more tricks, though none quite as a elaborate. He gave Allen a quick glance when he was about to do another more advanced trick, to make sure he was ready, and this time doing a slight spin with his handstand. After that trick though, he went back down to the middle of the ramp, hopping off his skateboard with a kick to catch his skateboard.
He walked over to Allen, a light smile on his face. "Can I see the pictures? I'm curious." He requested playfully. "Also I'm really thirsty, and didn't think to bring any sort of liquid, so if we could find some nearby, I'd be okay with that.
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Photographer/Journalist.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/31/1995.
27.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Allen Wen on Jul 20, 2016 22:12:28 GMT -8
As Samnang worked his way through different tricks, Allen focused on snapping as many pictures as he could at good moments. He figured there would be a fair amount that wouldn't come to much among the photos he took, but that was one of the major advantages of digital. He could take basically as many photos as he needed.
When Samnang came back down, he managed to catch a photo just as the skateboard hit his hand, and he smiled as the other man walked over to him. He replied, "I think I've got some pretty good shots in there. I can definitely show you, but if we're going over to find something to drink and sit down for a bit, it's probably easier for me to show you there, and then I can sift through the less good stuff to show you the good stuff."
He carefully put the camera in it's carrying set up, making it so that he could head somewhere, and asked, "Is there somewhere good to grab something to drink around here?"
He continued, "One of the huge advantages of digital photography is that I can trial and error this as much as I need to, so I definitely took three or four times more photos than I might have with film, which means more to sift through, but also more chances of a really good photo. There are a few that I saw the preview of and new were good, but I need to flip through them. You definitely gave me some good stuff to work with."
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Starbucks Manager.
Heterosexual.
Single.
04/11/1996.
27.
Rat (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Samnang Yun on Aug 2, 2016 18:14:00 GMT -8
Samnang grinned. "Awesome!" He said in agreement about the digital photography talk. He looked around, trying to remember what was around. "Um... there's a couple restaurants that way," He began, tapping his chin as he looked in a direction, He turned slightly, looking down another street. "There's a boba tea place that way, but it's a fair walk before we'd get there, and ain't nobody got time for that, so... skip." He mused aloud, trying to play it off as he didn't want to walk far rather than fearing Allen wouldn't be able to walk that distance. He turned again, smiling and nodding. "And... my work is right there." He said with a laugh, pointing to the Starbucks sign visible at the end of the first block. "Down for some coffee, or are you one of those 'only tea' drinkers?" He asked, recalling their first meeting and how he had gotten tea. But he wasn't sure if that because of the asthma attack or not.
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Photographer/Journalist.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/31/1995.
27.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Allen Wen on Aug 7, 2016 22:06:04 GMT -8
Allen looked thoughtful for a second. He said, "I'm honestly not terribly fond of coffee. And for the most part I'm a bit picky about tea. I don't go into Starbucks often because of it. If you're interested, there's a Chinese bakery not that far away, though the boba tea place, I know, and that's not too far a walk for me today."
He paused and added, "The first day you met me, I'd had a rather bad basically asthma attack, and it was mostly because I made an error in judgement. It's not terribly likely to happen again any time soon. I regularly take several mile long walks, and while my immune system is pretty messed up, I'm not precisely fragile."
He wasn't sure that Samnang had meant it that way, but he'd gotten that feeling, the one that friends sometimes seemed to get after they'd found out how sick he'd been, and he wanted to cut off that sort of treatment at the pass. He drew out another pause for a bit, then said, "I can find something at Starbucks though, if you'd rather."
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Starbucks Manager.
Heterosexual.
Single.
04/11/1996.
27.
Rat (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Samnang Yun on Aug 11, 2016 9:25:37 GMT -8
"Oh, no, now you've got me curious about this Chinese bakery. I think I've been there, but I've never actually had their tea; is it good?" He noticed a bit of what seemed like annoyance, and he hoped he hadn't offended Allen in any way. He bit his lip momentarily, looking down at the ground before back up to Allen with a grin, "Miles, huh? I'm sure I've done that before, though usually if I'm going further than around the block, I'll drive or use my skateboard, depending on if my brother's stolen the car. That's pretty impressive though. Even without a car, I'd probably suffer through the public transport before walking that long, especially in the summer heat."
He brought the skateboard behind him, holding it with his hands behind his back in a relaxed position. "Alright then, I'll let you lead the way! Maybe after, if we still want, we can go to get boba tea. Though I don't know that we'll want to." He grinned, letting out a breathy laugh, "And trust me, just because I get a discount, doesn't mean I'm not tired of eating or getting drinks from Starbucks. I've been there... Jeez, three years now, just about. My brother works at the Safeway near my store, and I tend to go there for lunches because of how tired of Starbucks I am. Even my family doesn't like me bringing home leftover pastries anymore." He said, laughing outwardly at the thought.
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Photographer/Journalist.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/31/1995.
27.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Allen Wen on Aug 24, 2016 1:01:46 GMT -8
Allen began to lead the way towards the Chinese bakery, and he told Samnang, "Yeah, their tea is pretty good. It's good, loose leaf, so the real stuff."
He paused carefully looking for cars at the crosswalk before continuing, "I most of all go there for the pastries though, and the tea goes well with them. Also, I wasn't able to go for a little while during the worst of my medical issues because my doctors wanted me to stay away from all animals and kids as much as possible, but now that things are more stable, and they've done a bunch of allergy tests, I'm good to be around cats again, less so with dogs, and even less with kids, but the bakery has cats. Two very adorable cats."
He laughed and added, "My mom would bring me pastries from them sometimes even when I was in the hospital though, they're kind of comfort food. Delicious comfort food. They were a welcome relief from hospital food."
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Starbucks Manager.
Heterosexual.
Single.
04/11/1996.
27.
Rat (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Samnang Yun on Aug 26, 2016 18:56:44 GMT -8
Samnang nodded in understanding. Comfort food was always nice, though he didn't have anything in particular that came to mind when he thought of it for himself. He was sure he had something, though he shrugged mentally and figured he'd think about that more later.
"Cats are cool. Growing up I always wanted pets, but when there's six kids in the house, pets kind of don't have any sort of priority." He frowned. "Though I tried again once my oldest brother went to school, and still couldn't get a pet. Possibly because I was aiming to get an $1000 German Shepard puppy, but, eh, details." He said with a light laugh and a shrug.
"The real stuff." He said finally with a bark of a laugh. "My parents only ever get 'the real stuff.' I'm pretty sure working at Starbucks was my first encounter with pre-bagged tea."
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Photographer/Journalist.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/31/1995.
27.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Allen Wen on Sept 2, 2016 21:22:49 GMT -8
Allen laughed and said, "My mother, she always gets proper tea as well. I think I was very confused in middle school or high school the first time I saw a friend make tea with a bag. It was maybe a little bit silly of me, but I was twelve at the time, so I think I can forgive my own silly confusion."
Allen nodded and said, "I didn't have pets as a kid because some of my health issues made it potentially awkward, and we lived in a lot of pretty small apartments that didn't necessarily want us to have pets. I vaguely remember having a cat when we still lived in China, but it didn't come with us to the US, and that was a very long time ago now. I keep trying to talk my mom into getting a cat, but she's still on the fence about it, and I don't want a cat enough to move into a place alone to have one."
As promised, the walk there wasn't long from the park, and Allen pointed to the sign as they drew near, taking a few longer strides so he could grab the door to let Samnang in first as his sort of guest, "Here we are."
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Starbucks Manager.
Heterosexual.
Single.
04/11/1996.
27.
Rat (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Samnang Yun on Sept 8, 2016 17:38:23 GMT -8
Samnang nodded, "Yeah, that's understandable. My friends growing up somehow were always Asian, so they were in the same boat as me when it came to tea. I think Z-my best friend, I think he was the first one to not be fully Asian-ified when it came to tea, and didn't realize why I was so appalled with the tea at Starbucks. I had always assumed it was because of his preference for coffee and just knowing any better." He furrowed his eyebrows, "But thinking about it, he has loose leaf tea at home, too. He just doesn't drink it often."
"Yeah, one day when I can get my own place, I'll probably have a pet. I've wanted a big, shaggy dog." He said with a laugh. "They just seem like great pillows."
He smiled as he looked at the shop, nodding. "Mmhmm, I have been here. But never tried their tea." He confirmed. "I always came for their New Years Pastries and that um... I forget what it's called, but the fish with red bean..?" He said, cupping his hands like he was holding one.
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Photographer/Journalist.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/31/1995.
27.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Allen Wen on Sept 13, 2016 7:21:25 GMT -8
Allen looked confused for a moment, muttering, "Bean fish... bean fish?"
Then a realization occurred, and he told Samnang, "Oh, those are a Japanese pastry. I forget what they're called too, but they only have them right around the new year because people kept asking for them. I've never tried one here because it's not really what this sort of shop is about or for. There are different Chinese pastries for the new year, though they have some things in common."
Allen ushered Samang into the the shop, saying, "Here we can get you some actual Chinese pastries. There are some that I can recommend, but you should look at what in the case looks yummy to you first."
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Starbucks Manager.
Heterosexual.
Single.
04/11/1996.
27.
Rat (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Samnang Yun on Sept 17, 2016 6:59:23 GMT -8
Samnang winced a bit, "Ah, my bad. I feel like I knew they were only Japanese but since they stocked them I just kinda assumed they were also a Chinese pastry..." He said, poking his pointer fingers together and looking down ashamed. He looked at the case, his smile returning. "They all look good, which one's your favorite?" He said after contemplating for a while, looking to Allen as his question ended.
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Photographer/Journalist.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/31/1995.
27.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Allen Wen on Sept 24, 2016 15:58:40 GMT -8
Allen made a small humming noise, clearly thinking about it and said, "You know, picking a favorite is hard. It sort of depends what you're in the mood for. Some of the things that I go to the most are anything coconut or lotus seed. I like red bean a lot too, but that's just a sort of normal staple. On the rare times I'm in the mood for something with meat, they've got curry chicken steamed buns which are pretty good. I've heard that their barbecue pork buns are great if you do pork. If I want something sweeter than what I usually go for, they've got sweet pineapple custard buns that are amazing."
He pointed to things in the case as he talked about them, smiling at the owner as she came over, clearly waiting for them to have a chance to decide. One of the cats appeared from the back, a big black long hair, and came to twine around Allen's legs. He reached down to pet the cat in greeting before adding, "What sorts of flavors do you usually like? I can give a better recommendation from that."
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Starbucks Manager.
Heterosexual.
Single.
04/11/1996.
27.
Rat (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Samnang Yun on Oct 7, 2016 18:21:55 GMT -8
"Hmm, I am definitely more of a carnivore than you, but anything is fine. Coconut sounds good. So does that sweet pineapple custard one. Oh, kitty!" He said, squatting down to get the cat's attention. He held out a hand, letting the cat sniff it before petting it softly. "Hi kitty, aren't you cute? They have a cat?" He cooed, looking up at Allen for the second question. He returned his attention to the food, though he didn't stand up straight, "Um, anything really. I'm not a super picky eater, though I'm not too crazy about sour flavors." He said simply.
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Photographer/Journalist.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/31/1995.
27.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Allen Wen on Oct 15, 2016 11:22:40 GMT -8
Allen laughed and said, "They've got two cats actually."
He thought over Samnang's comments about the foods and then said, "In that case, I suggest a BBQ Pork Bun, a Coconut Bun, and a Sweet Pineapple Bun to start, unless that sounds like too much, and then you can see if there's anything else that you want."
He stared at the case himself, deciding on a coconut bun, a lotus seed bun, and a white bean mooncake with egg yolk for himself. He looked over at Samnang and said, "Do you know what you want, or should I order for myself first? I'll get a pot of tea for sharing."
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