As a child, did you enjoy playing traditional games (board games, card games, dominoes, etc.)? Do you still enjoy playing games now? If so, what was and/or is your favorite game?

I didn’t play many board games before coming to the U.S. since mom was never much a player of games. Back then, she was more focused with work and socializing with her friends. She would used to hand me a box of jigsaw puzzle or a doll house and left me to my own to occupy myself. In fact, I often joke to myself that if I ever decide to write a memoir, I would title it “For My Entertainment” because I am the one keeping myself entertained all these years with various hobbies and projects.

After immigrating to the U.S. was when board games and card games dominated my pre-teen years. Every week, my step-father and I would plan on getting up early on Saturdays to break out the Monopoly board and play until one of us gave in or went bankrupt frequently accompanied by a plate of either fluffy scrambled eggs or French Toast for breakfast, courtesy of my step-dad. It was also possibly the only time mom left us alone without arguments.

We even had a special Monopoly game where the games pieces were made of metal (so it’s heavy) and the board highlighted places in places in Austin, Texas – the city I ended up living in for 18 months. Beside Monopoly, we also played the Game of Life and a military strategy board game called Stratego. We played Clue sometimes, if my mom was a willing participant as Clue is a minimum 3-person game, but we mostly stuck to Monopoly, which is my favorite board game, even to this day.

We sometimes played card games, too. My favorite card game to play alone is solitaire, where I would lay out all the cards on the table and re-arrange them the same way I would if I was playing on the computer. My favorite card games to play with others are 21 and Go Fish. My step-cousins tried to teach me poker a few times but I never got the gist of the game.

These days, if I ever want to re-live those days, I’d have them on my phone. You can get just about anything on an app nowadays including card games and board games. Though the phone screen isn’t as big as the actual board game, I can spend hours just playing by myself.