“相亲”相爱？— お見合い？？！！

Turning 30 and being single is not a crime. It is a disaster.

This trip back home comes with lots of expectations from my old folks: marriage, having a family and breeding. Like many Chinese parents, my parents are 'obligated' to secure a great family and make sure I give birth to dozens of piglets, after having a good career.

It was a friday morning when I was trying to get some good sleep after a whole night out clubbing, my mom was chasing me out of bed because we were supposed to attend a lunch invitation from her old friend. From the very beginning I smell something fishy about the whole idea. First, she normally would rather I get more sleep. Secondly, she acted weirdly when I said I would skip the lunch thingy. So, decided not to disappoint her, I gave in and followed her to the lunch date at one of the business building owned by her friend.

Attending the lunch with us was my little brother, who happens to work for this big company. We were invited to the penthouse on the top floor of the building. Came along with her friend was her children, a son who is also working in that company, and a daughter who happens to work nearby. A very friendly lots. Though my mom insisted that she plays no part of setting up the meeting, I can tell she knew it all along. OK, setting me up with girls, man, are you still in the 50s??!! I thought to myself.

But I was glad to be there. As I spent most of my life with my own circles of friends, it is great to know some from my parents. I did not know my mom used to have such close friends and hearing stories from them actually gave me a chance to know my mom better. The kids are really sweet people. Though coming from a rich family, they were not the snobby nor pretentious type. Had a great time eating Tiewchew porriage. I went to meet a friend to catch up, and then meet up with mom and dad for a dinner with my dad's friends. Then I was off to clubs, as it was a Friday night...

I used to laugh at people going for set-up dates, or Omi-ai in Japanese. Never thought I would one day try such myself. It was a great experience, but I would rather D.I.Y. Well, it doesn't hurt to try new stuffs. Just hope my mom isn't encouraged to do more of these. LOL.