livin the plaza life

i learned a new term from my cousin over thanksgiving - it's called "the plaza life." let me explain.

the day after thanksgiving, a few of my cousins and i went to hang out in the neighborhood i grew up in. as background, this town is often referred to as the suburban chinatown - there is a plaza, in fact, that we call, "The Great Mall of China." common things for the young cool asian kids to do are: go get boba milk tea at the local tea house (it's quite the hipster scene. the one i went to had a poker game going and a 16-screen tv wall playing music videos), play pool, karaoke, race cars. these are not stereotypes. this is what i go home to. yes, it's true.

anyway, there was nothing to do the night after thxgiving, so i thought i'd give the plaza life a chance with a few of my cousins:

- hit up the local hipster tea house. the waiter didn't understand my broken chinese, i didn't understand his broken english. there was laughing. from him. about me. i think. yum pudding jasmine milk tea drinks as i poured through some of those $12 hk fashion magazines they have on their shelf. their clothes are so much cooler than the ones in american fashion mags. i like.

- my cousins are trying to figure out who the pop star is on the big 16-tv screen thing. i finally take a closer look. oh. my. god. it's my friend justin with those back-up dancers. what???!!! it all makes sense. i forgot, but he quit yahoo (where i used to work) a few years ago to go become a famous pop star in hong kong. and now he is. no joke. proof: my cousin's friend at the tea house had one of his songs as her ringtone. my roommate's friend has been in love with him for the last 3 years. he's done a kfc ad. his concert sold out in minutes. need i go on. my cousin andrea, an aspiring hk pop star herself (okay, not really), goes bananas and wants me to text him right then and there. surreeeeaaal. http://youtube.com/results?search_query=justin+lo

- we decide to ditch the hipster tea joint and go sing karaoke. as i walk back from the bathroom just in time to catch my cousin singing (and dancing) to some backstreet boys, i realize that we're the only group who is singing english at this karaoke place. my cousin decides to hit up some chinese song by some dude she's in love with that she thinks is dreamy. he's not so hot, but cool video. and cute girl in video. now she's dreamy. ;)

- my aspiring hk pop star singer cousin convinces the girl at the cashier counter that she is part of the hong kong student association at UCLA and just didn't pay her dues on time (apparently, members get a discount here. random.) 10% off. sweet!

- okay, it has been an interesting night, but i'm ready to hit home. the plaza life wasn't so bad - kinda fun actually. i hung out with the hipster kids drinking some pudding tea. discovered my friend is an international pop star. did some back-up dancing to my cousin's version of some black eyed-peas song. got my usually grumpy, distant and quiet cousin to bust out on a couple of songs. quality fam time.

funny that i grew up around this, but since i left for college before all of this really developed, i never was a part of it. it's kinda weird to see your hometown so differently. wonder how that would have made a difference. maybe i'd speak better chinese, hah.

i may not do this every night, but i think i hang with the plaza life...in doses. ;)