Asian Conversations

over YM with a Thai AM who came here last March..

ava: you've been w/ d company for 3 months already, right?
natawun: 4 months already na
ava: are you using the tagalog "na"?
natawun: no, it's a Thai "na"
natawun: like the SG "lah"
ava: oh.. ok
natawun: u hv "na" too?
ava: yes, and dt wld be redundant bcoz "na" means "already"
natawun: our "na" doesn't have any meaning
natawun: oh.. so, "i have had lunch na"
ava: :))
ava: if you say dat, ppol will either laugh or frown at you
natawun: y? what's wrong?
ava: the phrase construction is correct... but dat's wt we call coñotic
language here
natawun: confuse me more please..
ava: hmm.. im trying my best to explain
natawun: hahaha
ava: it's how some rich ppol wld talk
natawun: hahaha dt is so me..
ava: yeah.. hahaha


over lunch with a Korean AM last April..

jiyoen: why do you say "ok lang" instead of just "ok"? what does "lang" mean?
me: hmm.. [thinks hard]
me: it's like the "lah" in singapore. we just add it because "ok" is very
short.
-end of conversation-
(ang hirap i-explain e! hehehe)

me: what soap operas do you watch? a lot of them are famous here..
jiyoen: i don't really watch local ones
me: so, what do you watch?
jiyoen: desperate housewives, csi, prison break..
now we're talking!)


while walking around greenbelt with the SG trainer who is here in manila..

robin: wo lei lah.. [talking to himself]
me: what did you say?
robin: wo lei lah..
me: oh, i know that.. [thinks for a moment]
robin: "wo" means?
me: "wo" is "I"
robin: yes. "lei" is?
me: hmm.. "tired!" you are tired already?
robin: how did you know that?
me: i took level 1 Mandarin. ni lei pu lei? (literally, "are you tired or not
tired?")
robin: correct. you're good.


over dinner with the same SG trainer..

me: i forgot the word.. (i wanted to say "sayang")
robin: what word?
me: are you kidding me? i said i forgot the word and then you are asking me "what word?"
robin: [laughs]