life & style // no. 12

Double or nothing

» The perks of having a twin brother

EG Manilag
Staff Writer

 

his article is not about being a twin

like those stereotypical ones seen in
movies—the ones that mess around with
their friends, go to each other’s classrooms,
play make-believe, and do each other's
dirty jobs—we've honestly never tried any
of that. This article is more focused on
appreciation and gratefulness. Having good
friends around is awesome, but nothing
beats the feeling of having an identical
twin brother, and here’s why:

Best friend since birth

This is quite literal. Your twin is your built-
in best friend, especially if both of you are
identified as identical—from matching
outfits to matching everything. My twin
and I grew up with all the love and care
from our parents, and that included raising
us to be there for each other through thick
and thin. We've gone through a lot of
experiences together, but I'll never forget
the time when my twin offered me the
comfort that I never thought I needed. It
was after my four-year relationship ended, I
was very lonely—my pain came from deep
inside and I didn’t know what to do. Then,
just like standing in front of a mirror, I was
embraced by my twin who was suddenly
crying—he just saw through to my soul. I
was emotionally moved, and immediately I
burst into tears too. After all the crying and
sniveling, I felt released—like my heavy
sadness had been lifted from my chest.

My mom also happened to be there at that

moment, and she asked my twin why he
did that. He replied through sniffles, “I
just felt sorry for him.” I love my twin; he
completely understands me. I can truly
say that he’s my BFF and that I can always
count on him.

Instant lifehack

We always benefit from each other in
avery fun and interesting way. Take

this, for example: all my friends are
automatically his friends and all his friends
are automatically my friends. Everything’s
just twice the fun. Also, because we are
relatively the same height and weight, we
can always reference each other’s outfits
for next week’s fashion—it helps decide
what and what not to wear. It’s like having
a mirror everywhere. But the greatest hack
of being a twin is naturally having a longer
lifespan than the rest of the population.

A recent study by PLOS ONE shows that
twins, both sexes but especially males,
have lower mortality rates. “We find that
at nearly every age, identical twins survive
at higher proportions than fraternal twins,
and fraternal twins are a little higher than
the general population,” said University

of Washington researcher David Sharrow.
Statistically, us twins live longer.

You make people puzzled

When my twin and I were in high school,
our classmates would always get our names
switched or even jumbled around— even
though both of our first names only consist
of two letters. This left our classmates
quite confused and embarrassed whenever
we corrected them. They would also be

shocked or disturbed
because we just tend to,
as they said, “teleport.”
For instance, there was
this one time on the first
day of senior high when
my twin’s teacher, which
is also my teacher ina
different class, looked

at me with a seriously
concerned face and asked
me why I was still in

her class when I already
attended her class that
day. I politely corrected
her—and my friends
who had experienced
what she just had could
not stop laughing. It left
her feeling sorry and,

as many before her,
embarrassed. Now, I
don't know if this is a skill
or not, but it’s definitely
funny. This phenomenon is much less
humourous when it comes to being sick
though. On one occasion, my twin had a
fever and had to take medicine three times
a day. During the nighttime, when we were
already put to bed and my mom forgot to
give my twin his last dose of medicine for
the day, she woke me up and fed me the
last teaspoon of medicine.

Makes you better

Competing against each other is generally
wrong, but for twins, it’s a way of bringing out
the best in each other. With my studious twin
around, Iam more studious—and with my

Quick and easy, lime squeezy

» A fabulous fish recipe

David Douglas
Contributor

 

I: happened! You finally have that
cute friend coming over for dinner and
you want to “chefto impress.” Everyone
knows that the key to securing that
special someone's heart is impressing
their stomach. Here is a simple and quick
salmon meal that looks great, tastes
amazing, and only takes 45 minutes in
your kitchen to slap together—
preventing you from neglecting

your guest.

Ingredients:
2 Salmon fillets, skin on
(4 to 6 oz each)
122-16 Asparagus Spears
1/2 Lime
1 Tomato (halved)

1cup Basmati rice
1/4 cup Carrot (diced) - optional
1/4.cup Corn Kernels - optional
1tbsp Fresh Dill (minced)
2tsp Kosher Salt
1tsp Black Pepper
6 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Get your rice started in your rice
cooker—if you don't already have
one, I suggest it. ] converted from
minute rice cooked on a stove a
few years ago and would never go
back. Before putting the rice in
the rice cooker, put rice in a sifter

and rinse well in cold water until the water
runs through clear. This is to remove any
excess starch. The ratio of rice to water in
the cooker is one cup of rice to one and a
half cups of water—add a tablespoon of
olive oil and a teaspoon of salt. I like to add
a little extra salt myself: Add in optional
vegetables. Vegetables add valuable colour
and flavour to your rice. Food that looks
good usually tastes good. Turn on your
cooker, now you have a few spare minutes

to pour your friend a glass of wine. Maybe
put on some music, if you haven't already.
While your rice is cooking, use this
time to prepare the other ingredients.
Ensure that you cut off any woody bits at
the base of your asparagus stalks. Mince
your fresh dill. Halve your lime and tomato.
When your rice is about 25 minutes from
done, the cooking countdown will begin.
Heat a large pan to medium-high heat with
three tablespoons of oil, and additionally

  

 

theotherpress.ca

Illustration by Morgan Hannah

passionate personality around, he can be more
passionate too. Ultimately, we benefit from
each other for the better. Even if we have a lot
of differences now, like different career paths,
we still always share topics in school and we
always listen to each other. I don’t know if I
can ever be alone knowing that I have a twin.
Of course, we have a lot of topics that we
don’t completely agree on, but we keep the
peace by agreeing to disagree. In the world

of twins, fighting is normal, comparing each
other’s achievements is normal, and calling
each other silly names is indeed very normal.
Yet, at the end of the day, we admire, support,
and better each other. I love my twin.

heat a small pan to high heat with two
tablespoons of oil. In the large pan, start
the asparagus first, cook for 20 minutes
tossing occasionally. When there is 15
minutes left on for your rice to cook, place
the salmon in the small pan, meat side
down. Season both fillets lightly with salt.
Keep tossing the asparagus. At 10 minutes,
flip the salmon to skin side down and place
the two tomato halves in the pan, cut side
down. Toss that asparagus. Salt both pans
again.

At five minutes, squeeze your
lime all over the salmon. It will get
steamy and fragrant. While the
fish is wet with lime juice, season
with salt, pepper, and dill to taste
(I like to overkill the dill) and
turn off both burners. Pepper the
asparagus and toss one more time.
The tomato should have a dark
fry on the bottom. As you take
out two dinner plates, the “ding!”
will notify you when the rice is
done. Open your rice cooker and
fluff the rice before serving. Place
a bed of rice on one side of the
plate and put the salmon on the
other side, with the tomato beside
it. Adjacent to the rice, place the
pan-fried asparagus. Serve with
white wine and candles.

Illustration by
Morgan Hannah