Tag: Romance

My dating experience on Hinge

Disclaimer: This is from my own personal experience and may or may not reflect the experiences of others. I started using Hinge from August 30th until around mid Oct of 2019.

PROFILE

You can sign up an account using only your phone number. Hinge allows you to choose/upload 6 photos of yourself. It took me a while to choose 6 haha. My friends next to me were so impatient.

  • I picked a selfie with my friend (but I covered her face in case it was confusing).
  • I had another full body image of myself so people would have an idea of my physical size (This was the most popular photo. I got the most hearts from this one).
  • There was a photo of me sitting with a bubble tea in my hand
  • I had another picture of myself as Baby Grace from the snapchat filter
  • There was also another photo of me and my brother in the museum of illusions. I was posing in awesome manner (upside down) while he was just standing straight and being boring
  • I also included another group photo of me and my friends failing in an escape room T_T (I WANNA ESCAPE YOOOOO)

I had to choose 3 prompts for Hinge. Prompts are used as conversation starters. The guy/girl may comment on your prompt. However, they cannot have a conversation with you unless you accept/allow them to.

Here were my prompts:

I’m the type of texter who
loves puns. I love English puns, Chinese puns. As long as they are punny, go for it. XD

Together we can…
compose a song together! I loveeee music!!!

The secret to getting to know me is
read my blog. liveandlearn88.com

I like my prompts because I think it makes me more unique and it reflects me well. I didn’t want to be the typical “I like to eat, travel, and sleep” LOL (no offense if that’s what you like).

If you are confused and needs some help using Hinge, visit https://hingeapp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/360001659533-Getting-Started for more information

 

MY EXPERIENCE

I’m told that guys on Hinge get to swipe approximately 5 people a day if they are a regular user. (I’m not sure if it’s the same for females).

Personally, I didn’t actually click like on anyone’s profiles. I only commented on one profile because I wanted to know what a dank meme was.

I didn’t actually have to initiate anything with anyone because I was getting likes every few minutes on the first day I created my profile. At first, I was open to all. But I had to make it super difficult because there were too many people and some guys were so old, they could be my dad. For instance, one guy was 64… uh…

As a result, I made it much harder for people to discover me since I put a deal breaker on age, no one with kids already, no drugs, and etc.

Hinge made me a preferred member for a month because they wanted to encourage me to use the app more. When you’re a preferred member, you can see everyone that has liked/commented on your profile. Otherwise, you would have to accept or reject one at a time before you can view the next person’s profile.

As a preferred member, you also get preferred preferences and you can customize it even more to fit what you are looking for.

 

LUCK

The reason why I have to filter so hard is because there are just too many people. I cannot talk to everyone. Basically, I accepted those who read my blog LOL (I can tell based on their comments) and if they are into music.

There are definitely a lot of guys with potential, but I have limited time and energy. I can only focus on so many before I lose track of the names and get them all mixed up. I cannot talk to a hundred people. I know that a hundred likes doesn’t necessarily mean a hundred options. However, if I accepted and they messaged me, I didn’t want to ignore them. Hence, I just let them pile up.

So as you can tell, online dating has a lot to do with luck too.

  1. Both you and your match have to be using it during the same time span.
  2. The age range is also a huge factor. I had just turned 31 around two weeks after I created my profile. One of my matches told me his cut off was 30. So technically, if I had started using the app in the middle of Sept, I wouldn’t even have popped up in his feed and we wouldn’t have spoken.
  3. Aside from one other person, I only spoke with those who have messaged me within the first 2-3 days that I was using the app. So it’s almost like first come first serve (Sorry if that sounds bad).

  Continue reading “My dating experience on Hinge”

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The Eunuch is Pregnant -Chapter 1

To my dear readers,

I will actually be translating another novel on volare. As a result, this project will be hosted on my site.

This novel is very cute and will get steamier and steamier as it continues. I am releasing 4 chapters all at once. Starting from next week, I’ll be releasing 2-3 chapters a week (depends on how much I can handle). Hope you guys will like it!

Chapter 1: Transporting through time and becoming a eunuch

Le Yao Yao felt like she was in a tragedy. Regardless of how hard she rubbed her eyes, the reflection she saw in the river was not her actual face.

Despite that, the reflection was a beautiful sight. This person had an oval face, curved dark eyebrows, delicate nose, captivating red lips, as well as a pair of expressive eyes. It was a wonderful combination. It was perfection!

Although Le Yao Yao had seen many gorgeous women on television and magazines, they were incomparable to this beauty!

It took Le Yao Yao a while before she snapped out of it. The reflection may be stunning, but could someone tell her what happened?

It was summer break and she had merely gone bungee jumping with her friends. She had closed her eyes before she jumped. But by the time she reopened them again, she was in this strange place.

Where were her friends? What was this place? Where was she?

Another thing that really bothered Le Yao Yao was that despite how attractive “she” looked, why was she wearing a dark blue eunuch outfit? She had already examined the body. The body of this owner was a female! So, what’s up with that?

Le Yao Yao was shaken and dumbfounded. Then, she finally came upon a realization. She had transported through time!

Oh God! Continue reading “The Eunuch is Pregnant -Chapter 1”

3 helpful dating tips for men (and women!)

helpful-tips

Hello, my dear readers!

This post is based on my own experiences and is biased. Please understand there isn’t something that will work for every single woman/man. My intention is to help you. These tips are for the initial stage when you’re trying to get her/him interested.

1. Ask for her advice 

Oftentimes, guys may notice someone they find attractive but do not know how to approach them without seeming creepy or desperate.

Well, I have the perfect solution for you! Go up to your “target” and ask for her opinion.

Women love to share their thoughts and give advice. Use this to your advantage. For example, you can go up to her and ask, “Hey. I’m debating between this *show her the item* and this *show her the other item*. I would like to get a woman’s opinion. Which would you choose and why?”

Unless you come off as a creep, chances are, she will stop and give you her opinion.

Once you get her talking, it is much easier to carry on the conversation. Notice her body language though. If she looks uncomfortable and wants to leave, don’t push it and just thank her for her time.

(A woman can do this too. It might seem rather bold, but I’m sure most men wouldn’t mind.)  Continue reading “3 helpful dating tips for men (and women!)”

Modern Romance: Too many choices

modern-romance-cover

Today, my post is going to be based off the book, “Modern Romance”. It is a research-based book that is written by Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg. It is extremely interesting and insightful, so I highly recommend!!

Due to the advancement in our technology, it has evolved how we date. Today, we can access hundreds of singles with only a few clicks or swipes. It is honestly too easy. In our parents’ generation, if a guy wanted to ask a girl out, he would either have to call through the landline or do it in person. If we go back to before the invention of the telephone, people had no choice but to do everything in person.

Now, we don’t even need to put in effort anymore. Within minutes, people could message or spam hundreds of potentials. There are so many choices and dating sites/apps allow us to customize and filter what we want. 

Only Asians? Ok. Only women between 18-25? Ok. You get the point.

My friend downloaded a dating app and within a day, she received over 640 messages from men. Can you believe it? If the guys had to call her and start a conversation, how many do you think would actually go through with it?

In addition, my generation is so drawn to our phones that asking people out and/or breaking up with people over text is actually no longer surprising. In fact, research shows that most of the younger generation is ok with it.

So, we have lowered the amount of efforts required for both men and women. Furthermore, we expect more and want more than the previous generations. In the past, people got married because they needed to produce children in order to sustain their farmland. They needed children to do the labour. It was for survival and duty.

But today, we’re not satisfied with just anyone. Our standards have gone up. We want someone who makes us feel complete. We want someone who shares similar interests as us. We want someone who we can’t live without.

Not only that, dating is more complicated because there are unwritten rules that we all follow now. For instance:

Modern romance #3.jpg

But some may say, but Grace, isn’t it better we have choices now? We are no longer forced to marry our neighbours! That is a good thing.  Continue reading “Modern Romance: Too many choices”

Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 88 (end)

To my dear readers,

I’m finally done! I hope you liked the story. If you have read the entire novel, thank you!!

Chapter 88

“She came to give me an invitation.” said Lian Feng.

“What invitation?”

“Ever since the former Martial Arts Leader Qin Hao Tian was killed twenty five years ago, the martial arts circle has been missing a leader. This time, Sword Spirit Hills is organizing a general convention to select a new and suitable leader to lead the heroes.”

Oh, I see. So he’s not looking for trouble. Lin Shan sighed a breath of relief. But very quickly, she realized something: “What did you say the former Martial Arts Leader’s name was?”

“Qin Hao Tian.”

Lin Shan was shocked and her mouth was wide opened like an O shape: “Qin Hao Tian? Qin Yu? Could they be….”

“You’re correct.” Lian Feng nodded, “Twenty five years ago, Ji Hong Lin used poison and killed off Qin Hao Tian’s family. She took Qin Hao Tian’s infant son and adopted him as her child. Three years ago, Qin Yu finally got his revenge for his parents.”

After hearing this, Lin Shan deeply sighed. She actually had no idea why Ji Bai Yu suddenly decided to switch sides when they were in the stone chamber. Now that she realized he had been suffering in silence for years, she couldn’t help but admire him.

“So, are you going to go to the convention?” Lin Shan asked. Based on martial arts abilities, Lian Feng was definitely not under Qin Yu.

Lian Feng shook his head: “Didn’t I already tell you? I have no more ties with the Imperial court and Jiang hu. All I want to do is….” When he got to this part, he paused and looked at Lin Shan.

Lin Shan’s face immediately turned bright red. Her heart felt like it was going to burst: It’s over! We’ve already been married for awhile, yet he only needs to look at me and I turn so fluster! Ah, how embarrassing! Continue reading “Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 88 (end)”

Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 87.

To my dear readers,

Happy New Year! I’m so sorry for being so slow. I wanted to finish this in 2016 but it’s already 2017 and I still have one more chapter. *sigh*. Anyhow, the author did a total switch so I hope you’re not too unhappy or unsatisfied with the chapter. At least, it’s not a tragedy?

I wanted to finish it but I don’t have enough willpower and brain power. I’ll attempt tomorrow night (no guarantee).

Chapter 87

Three years later

“Mother, child wants to practice wu wu*. Child wants to practice wu wu…”

“Practice martial arts? You can’t even talk properly. Go go go. Go play elsewhere! Don’t hinder your mother from making money!” Lin Shan impatiently waved her hand as she continued looking at the accounting book.

The little boy continued to pull on the corner of her outfit: “Mother, child wants to practice wu wu..practice wu wu…”

Finally, Lin Shan snapped: “Lian Yun Cheng! If you keep bothering me, I’m going to tell Boss Huang to bring Ru Hua over to play!” The little boy stared at her blankly as he turned and wobbled away.

“Miss!” Xiao Lu saw this and couldn’t help but comment, “Young Master is so small, why are you scaring him? It’s not like you don’t know Boss Huang’s daughter always kiss our Young Master whenever she sees him. Yesterday, Young Master even cried because of her!”

“WHAT?!” Lin Shan was shocked, “That Ru Hua dares to eat my son’s tofu?”

“Not only Ru Hua. Yesterday, the wet nurse took Young Master to watch a sideshow and he was ambushed by the Young ladies. Aside from Boss Huang’s, there were also Boss Qian’s, Boss Li’s, and Boss Yang’s daughters….”

“Are you kidding me?” Lin Shan exploded, “How dare they eat my son’s tofu? They don’t want to live anymore, huh!? That’s it. I’m going to go and hunt them down!” Lin Shan slammed down the accounting book and stormed out.

Xiao Lu rushed behind her as she yelled: “Miss, don’t go out. There’s a bunch….”

Lin Shan didn’t care. She lifted her sleeves and was about to reason with the mothers. But the moment she came out, she was surrounded by all the mothers. Continue reading “Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 87.”

Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 86.

To my dear readers,

Sorry I have been so slow. I ended up sleeping the entire day because I wasn’t feeling well. This chapter is super short. I know you guys are probably freaking out by the end of it but don’t worry. Remember, it’s a comedy! There will be a happy ending.

Chapter 86

Uh… Lin Shan didn’t know what to say. She felt torn on the inside: True. Without the Ruler’s seal, they wouldn’t have anything to trade with Ji Hong Lin. How would she get rid of her poison then?

Just as the two of them were being indecisive, a voice interrupted the silence.

“No need to think. I am going to take the item and your poison will remain! You two will die here! Muahahahahaha….”

Lin Shan could recognize Ji Hong Lin’s monstrous voice right away. Ji Hong Lin appeared at the entrance where they came from. Her face was also ashy as she stood from above.

This proves that what they show on TV was fake. Regardless of how “boss” you are, when you’re going through a dirty hole, you’re still going to look like shit.

As for Ji Bai Yu, he was standing behind his mother as he shook off the soil. It looked like he didn’t care to get involved.

Lin Shan realized the old witch must have discovered their tracks early on and purposely used them to find the national treasure. Thinking of this, she quickly reacted as she tightly hugged the Ruler’s seal: “You old witch. If you dare to even touch a piece of our hair, I will shatter this seal!”

Ji Hong Lin’s expression instantly darkened when Lin Shan called her an old witch. She gritted her teeth and threatened: “Go ahead and shatter it. This seal is the lifeline of this dynasty. If you shatter it, you will be condemned in history.”

“Don’t try to scare me. I don’t believe in these stuff!” Lin Shan refuted as she lifted her arms.

Ji Hong Lin could tell Lin Shan was actually going to do it and panicked: “Yu-er!”

Ji Bai Yu immediately leaped into the air to steal the item. He was very fast. Before Lin Shan could react, Ji Bai Yu’s fan and sword was already flashing in her face. It looked like the item was about to be taken away when Lian Feng stepped in and blocked his moves. In a blink of an eye, the two of them were fighting in the stone chamber. Continue reading “Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 86.”

Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 85

To my dear readers,

Merry Christmas! I hope you guys are having a wonderful time with your loved ones. Unfortunately, there is only one chapter today. It takes too much brain juice from me so I’m too tired to think. Nonetheless, I hope you like this chapter.

Please support me if you enjoy my work!! ❤

Chapter 85

Lin Shan was stunned. She rubbed her eyes and closely examined the Heaven stone. After being soaked in the salty cabbages, the four words actually appeared like a map!

Could there be a secret chamber? The two of them exchanged glances. Lin Shan was the first to speak: “In order to prevent them from doing bad deeds, we should first go and check out the place before giving it to Ji Bai Yu. What do you think?”

Xiao Lu muttered on the side: “Miss. You clearly just want to find the treasures for yourself. What a hypocrite….”

Lin Shan: “…..”

Since Lin Shan was so stubborn, Lian Feng ultimately decided to check out the place first. It wasn’t that he was greedy, but since the map was the late Emperor’s remnant, it was most likely a very expensive or prized possession. If Ji Hong Lin was going to use it to do harm, both of them would feel terrible.

Therefore, the two of them followed the map and quickly arrived at the Eastern forest of the Imperial city.

Lin Shan was familiar with this forest. Last time, she was here during the Equestrian competition. This was where she fell into a hole with Du Hao and almost lost her life. She never expected to be back again. Although she looked the same, she was no longer the Song Luo from before. Lin Shan felt a bit moved as she stepped back into the forest.

The map she was holding was what she had copied down last night from the Heaven stone. Perhaps because it had already been decades, a lot of the area already looked nothing alike. It took the two of them a very long time before they were able to somewhat figure out where they were. By then, it was almost noon.

From her bundle, Lin Shan took out a snack to nibble on as she analyzed the landscape around them. At this moment, her elementary countryside emergency knowledge finally came to use. If the leaves and branches were dense, that was the south side. If the leaves and branches were sparse, that was the north side*.

She was mumbling north and south and didn’t realized Lian Feng had came up next to her.

“What are you looking at?” He asked.

I’m trying to figured out the direction.” said Lin Shan, “Look at the trees. The dense part facing the Sun is south. That means, east is that way. We can’t go wrong if we head east!”

“Let me see.” Lian Feng took the map from her and instantly his brows started to furrow. Continue reading “Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 85”

Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 84.

To my dear readers,

I have never released two chapters together. This is the first time. Translating is hard work so please support me if you can. The story is almost over. I’m going to try my best to finish the story before the year ends.

Chapter 84

“I said I was making an assumption. You don’t have to be so worked up about it.” Song Lin Feng stated.

Lin Shan was so mad that she wanted to bite him, but Lian Feng stopped her.

“Song brother.” He said, “Regardless of whether it’s true or false, I was never part of the Palace to begin with. Now that the Eldest Prince is no longer a threat, my mission is complete. My only wish right now is to be with the one I love. I don’t want to meddle in the Palace’s affairs any longer. Pretend what happened today was a dream. We never came here and we will never return. Please help us take good care of your parents. Farewell.”

Then, he grabbed Lin Shan and left.

Lin Shan knew Lian Feng’s mood was awful. Thus, she didn’t say anything else as he pulled her out. But by the time they exited the residence, Lin Shan couldn’t help but comforted: “Don’t listen to my brother. He might look like a decent man, but he has a terrible conscience. He saw us together so he purposely wanted to make you angry….hey, stop walking so fast! I can’t catch up. Hey!”

She was careless and almost tripped. Fortunately, Lian Feng’s arms were quick and managed to stop her fall.

“Are you alright?” His expression looked a bit softer.

Lin Shan nodded and whispered: “Are you mad at my brother?”

Seeing how careful she was being to avoid making him mad, Lian Feng realized he was losing his cool and forcefully smiled: “Don’t over think. It has nothing to do with your brother.”

Lin Shan was stunned. She quickly blurted: “Do you actually think what he said is true?” A moment later, she kind of regretted it and added in, “I think he’s just making it up. Even if the Emperor was cruel, he wouldn’t do that to his son. Blood is thicker than water….”

“Blood is thicker than water?” Lian Feng bitterly responded, “See what he has done to the Princess and you can tell he is cruel.”

Lin Shan didn’t know how to respond. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. Continue reading “Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 84.”

Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 83.

To my dear readers,

I have asked Amery nicely to postpone his maintenance on his site for a few more weeks. Therefore, you guys can read the first 12 chapters now (if you’re a new reader)! Thank you Amery for being so kind!!! By the way, this chapter isn’t that great (too serious).. so I translated the following one as well. It will be released shortly.

Chapter 83 

That’s right. The Emperor is the key element to everything. Song Lin Feng icily laughed: “Do you really think the Emperor is honestly so foolish? He is extremely clever….”

Song Lin Feng started from the beginning. As Lin Shan listened, the story started to unfold.

Although the Imperial court appeared to be calm on the outside, there was actually a lot of internal conflict. Basically, there were three groups in power. The leading group was definitely Team Du Ye. This team mainly consisted of old officials and counsellors. They had a lot of power to rally supporters and often used their accomplishments for the late Emperor to get their way. Even the current Emperor didn’t dare to mess with them.

The next group was Team Du Hao. Most of the people in this group were the younger officials and counsellors. They had their own beliefs and were adaptive and innovative. However, they lacked strength. Without the Emperor backing them up, they would not be able to exist.

Under these circumstances, the third group was definitely crucial. It turned out the third group was Team General Yang Sui.

Yang Sui was born in the Capital. For many generations, his ancestors were Generals. By the time he had gotten the position, Yang Sui was at the highest position that had ever been. He had the biggest military power and he had cultivated countless of military leaders. Currently, all of them had very important positions in the Imperial court.

If we include Yang Sui’s military power with his leaders, it would represent more than half of all the military power within the Imperial court. Plainly speaking, the Emperor wouldn’t dare to touch the man. Continue reading “Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 83.”