Living in Chengdu: A Real Day in Summer 2025 | Aleese Lightyear

that the next time I water it, there's going to be some huge gross slimy slug snail that comes out of it. So, over the balcony you go. Now, it's time to do my makeup for the day. It is currently 93° out, so the makeup the makeup will be minimal. I just use my fingers to apply a primer. And I guess I was supposed to put this on first. I like it because it's like a deodorant stick for your face. My next product is this L'Oreal Lumi Gion. This is my favorite eyeshadow primer that I've been using for like 5 years. It's the only one that works for my super

sweaty eyelids. Then I will using my Juvia's Place. Looks like this. Then I will use the Maybelline Sky High Waterproof Mascara followed by I guess this brand is just called MAC. Then I will put on my SPF 30 chapstick because my lips get so sunburned. And then I will put this E.L.F. Glow Lip Oil on top. Do I like this hairstyle? I can't decide. decide. Like I think it's kind of cute, but I also think it's also think it's ugly. ugly. So, this is the outfit for the day. I love these little shoes. It's my first time wearing them. We're going to see if they

make my feet sweat too much, and if they do, they will be returned. My phone, my bag. Oh, it's heavy. I've got my laptop. My journal. Oh, I can't forget. I have a dress that I need to get hemmed. So, I need to bring that with me. So, this is the dress I need to get hemmed. It's too long. And the other day it got caught in the escalator and I washed it hoping that these stains would come out. Guess what? They didn't. So, off to the tailor we go. So, we have to go see if my neighborhood bestie Wong Wong, the sweet dog who lives at the hardware store, is

there? Literally, Wong Wong is the highlight of each and every day. Every time I come outside, I go to the hardware store and I'm like, "Is Wong Wong there?" And he comes out of running. So, let's see if my baby boy Wong is there today. Wangai. Wang. Wang. Hi. Hi. Hi, Wang. Hi. Hi. Hello. Hello. Hello. Up. Up. Good boy. Good boy. Good boy. Wong. Good boy. Wong. Hey, Hey, Wong Wong got a tree. Wong Wong is my neighborhood best friend, right? Wong Wong every day. Every day I come to see sweet Wong Wong. And sometimes I give him treats and I teach him

English. teach him English. The only English he knows is up and down, which is good. enoughy. Honey. Honey. So, now I'm headed to the Taylor's and I know what I want to say, but I have to replay it in my mind and practice a million times because the last time I went to this Taylor, I said exactly the perfect Chinese sentence and they were like ting budong. So, maybe the pronunciation wasn't correct. But what I want to say is my dress is too long. Make it shorter. I guess I should say please. did it. Success. Now that I've left the tailor, I'm thinking

like I could have probably hemmed that myself. I think I only paid about 48 for that dress and it's costing me 30 un to get it hemmed. Not the best of deals, but it's the convenience. This is where I'm going. Um, one of my favorite local restaurants The summer in this city is just unbearable at times. unbearable at times. And the de does not have his AC blowing like it should be blowing. The thing that I really despise about China about China that I think this is purely because I'm an American who is obsessed with air conditioning. The country of China

just has a very complicated relationship with air conditioning. Either there's none at all or it's just not cold enough. And as an American who loves a freezing cold movie theater where I got to wear a winter coat and a blanket, the air conditioning is never I've come to this cafe to do some work because I have some school work. It's, you know, the last weeks of school, so I've got lots of things to grade. And then I've got a doctor's appointment. So, I came all the way down to the high-tech district. Look at the twin towers. They're very cool. They

light up at night. And hopefully I can focus enough to get some work done. But that spicy food made my stomach hurt. So now I'm entering this very fancy mall to go to the bathroom. I definitely could have done this work at home, but I'm the type of person where I am very equally distracted in my own home. I would much rather lay on my couch than like sit at my table and do work. So, I need a change of scenery. I need a place where I'm less distracted and more focused on what I'm doing because I had to put in the effort to come to a place. I already just

feel inherently more focused to get things done. So, no more talking. I have 45 essays to grade. So, leave me alone. Let me do my work. And here goes some time lapses of me doing my work. Dinner has arrived. Dinner has arrived. I'm home from the doctor's. It is 7:15. Usually at 7:30 I go outside and dance and exercise in the park with the aunties. And I want to continue to do that. But I've had such a long day and I got so much grading done and then I went to the doctors and then I was stuck in traffic for 45 minutes that I'm starving and there was no

way I was going to go exercise in this 98°ree weather. So let me show you what I got. This is a restaurant down the street from my apartment. It's called Baky Panini and they just make Italianstyle paninis. Boom. Boom. A very simple salami sandwich. Salami, mozzarella, arugula, roasted red peppers. It is 7:23. The ladies are going to start dancing in 7 minutes. 55 un for a sandwich like this. It's a bit overpriced, but we don't get good Italian or even American style sandwiches in Chungdu. So, yeah, all of these ingredients on themselves are very hard

to find. Yummy, yummy in my tummy. This is going to be the first time I've ever filmed myself square dancing with my actual camera and my tripod. I'm very nervous about it because my tripod's not very big and like my plan is to put it up against a tree tree cuz the tree is kind of my spot and like the crew knows that's kind of my spot. But I hope that like no one takes offense or gets annoyed or feels weird that like the foreign girl brought her tripod. But yo, I've been dancing with the crew for over a year. So, did you have a good day? See you soon,

buddy. I got to go dance. I'm already late. You want to come with me? No, you can't. can't. I'll see you later, buddy. It is still 93° out. 93° out. Oh, honestly, exercising in this weather is dangerous. But I've got my water. I've got my towel. I've been doing this in this type of weather for over a year, so my body is well adjusted. And I can see the girls already. Now that the sun has set, the people are out and so is this mini night market. You can get your cell phone screen here fixed or you can get a new cell phone case. Here you can just buy

hats, belts, bras, shoelaces, zippers, socks, hair clips, fans, washcloths, lighters, brooms, washcloths, lighters, brooms, everything. Here you can also buy some of the exact same stuff that the girl right next door has. Um, I don't know what is going on here. I don't know whose stuff this is, but it's pretty cheap. I don't know who wants that creepy hat. Oh, she's got pretty flowers. pretty flowers. Oh, she's got lilies and lotus flowers. Wow. Wow. And she's got Oh, these are nice. are nice. And it don't stop. We got even more. the potato lady. She's

always out here with these old potatoes. Usually after my square dance with the ladies, I walk across the street, as I'm doing now, to the mall to go to the supermarket because 30 minutes before the supermarket closes, a whole bunch of stuff goes on sale. They've got fresh cut platters of fruit. They got meat. They got bread. They got cakes. They got wine. All types of things go on sale. Well, the wine doesn't go on sale, but it's already cheap. But my goal is always to get the fresh cut fruit because I hate buying a full cantaloupe, watermelon,

pineapple, whatever it is, and cutting it up myself. And here we got even more food stands, but we don't have time to look at them because I got to get the fruit. I forgot to mention that all of the hot food also goes on sale at this time. See, they got the fried chicken on sale. 30% off. There's a discount, but there's like none in here. none in here. This is not even worth the 30% off. 30% off of what? Oh, 30. Be quiet. No thanks. thanks. No, none of these ones are on sale. None of these ones are on sale. Oh, okay. This is the only one. The jack fruit

that's on sale. 30% off. 22.90. I like jackf fruit. I'll get this. Now, let's look at the flowers. I know I just saw flowers on the street, but you can get really nice bouquets here for cheap. And they also go on sale. See, I see the sale ones right here. Look at that. that. 40% off. 40% off. 20 quai. Yes. This is cheaper than the ones on the street. the street. Yes, I want this. It's beautiful. I think this one is more beautiful. and then I'm going to brush my teeth and go to bed. It's been a long day. I do a lot every day. This is just my normal life

life doing a lot. Thanks for spending the day with me. It's been a while since I have filmed a day in the life video, but today I was just in the mood and hopefully I'll be in that mood more frequently because I had a lot of fun filming this video. And I definitely need to get more footage of me square dancing because I will need to make a whole video about it obviously because I'm sure you guys have lots of questions. Especially when I was like, I've been doing this for a year. You're like, huh? You've been square dancing out there with them ladies for

a year? Sure have in this 90 degree weather, 100% humidity. I don't know how I do it. My body has just adjusted to the Chungdu environment. Thank you so much for watching. Drop some rainbows in the comments if you made it this far in the video. Happy Pride and uh you know what it is. Alis year over and out.