For those of you uninitiated in Chinese gambling games, Mahjong is one of the most popular.
As Poker is to white people, Mahjong is to Asians. 
Mahjong Solitaire (or Shanghai Solitaire) can be played online, which is where I found it, completely independent of Ang. I’ve gotten so addicted to it I can’t stop, and I have to peel myself away from the computer to make dinner. sigh.
Yesterday I told Ang about my new addiction, and asked him if he knew how to play.
Ang: “Nope”.
Me (incredulous): “How come? You love poker!”
Ang: “I was never allowed to play when I was growing up – it was a gambling game for men.”
Me: “Doh. right.”
Well, thankfully Shanghai Solitaire is not a gambling game, it’s a matching game. Which I love, being slightly obsessive compulsive about matching things. (A post for my other blog, naturally. lol)
If you want to play, you can try it here. But watch out – once you get the hang of it you might not be able to stop!
There’s this Indian game where you flick a ball with your fingers (I can’t remember the name right now – maybe someone here can help?). I got totally addicted one night at a party – but the in-laws don’t have this game and I’ve never gotten to play since! Probably a good thing for them though because I’m like the game Nazi (according to Saresh), and I’d just make them play every time I was over there. LOL
By: colorblindcupid on June 18, 2008
at 7:59 pm
CBC,
We used to play a similar game as kids, may be it is the same? It is called Goli. And you are right about parents being not so hot about the game. There was mild betting involved, such as betting a gooseberry and such. Keep in mind a gooseberry cost 10paise then which was a lot for a kid or even adult to bet on before the “economic boom”.
By: Sooraj on June 18, 2008
at 8:55 pm
Sorry – it wasn’t a marble, but little discs you flick (I forgot). Saresh says it’s called Karims – but we have no idea how to spell that. I Googled all kinds of variations of the spelling and came up with nothing (except a lot of things that have nothing to do with this game! LOL).
If you know what it is and how to spell it, please let me know! I’d like to have my own. It came with a game board, kind of a large wooden box.
By: colorblindcupid on June 19, 2008
at 1:35 am
May be it is carroms? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrom
By: Sooraj on June 19, 2008
at 2:16 am
My in-laws have a carrom board floating around their basement. I’ve never played it, though.
I actually have an antique mahjong set that belonged to my great-grandmother. I don’t know how to play it for real, though. I only know the computer game.
By: D on June 19, 2008
at 2:33 pm
Yes! That’s it! Thanks.
By: colorblindcupid on June 19, 2008
at 4:14 pm
I have been addicted to Mahjong Solitaire since 7th grade. It was a game already installed on the Windows system at school, and I have been addicted ever since. No, I don’t want help getting over my addiction muhahah.. I don’t gamble though LOL.
By: ara0062 on June 21, 2008
at 9:54 pm
CBC, was the little disc game called tiddlywinks? My grandparents had a game in the closet that my brother and I would play when we were kids. It was from when my mom was a kid, and was called tiddlywinks. We’d flip little discs of different colors onto a multi-colored bullseye, trying to get them into the little pot in the center.
By: ara0062 on June 21, 2008
at 9:59 pm
Gotta love this game.. hahah.. so addictive yehyeh
By: marrubou on November 15, 2008
at 8:59 am