Recently in Rants Category

I wrote this entry a couple months ago, but never got around to publishing it, haha. I edited a couple of things on the list... Well, here goes. What is it that pisses me off?

1. MSN etiquette
I'm gonna have subcategories for this one 'cause I'm anal like that. This obviously applies to any form of instant messenger... AIM for the Americans, QQ for the Chinese, ICQ for the outdated, etc.

a. Bad spelling, or worse, INTENTIONAL bad spelling. I know you're not a Pulitzer contender, but honestly, does that mean you have to talk like you never made it past elementary? I used 2 talk lyke dis bak in da 8th grayde, and i honestlee thynk that its verii childysh n waystes a helluva lotta brayne powurr juss to sound lyke an idiott. w0rdd. paycee out. Oh... and I'm not unreasonable by the way. If you're ESL, you get a free pass (you may also skip to #2).

b. Obsessive use of the "lol" acronym. I really hate it lol when lol is inserted randomly lol in dialogue lolololol. I don't really understand how "lol"  has evolved from a phrase demonstrating genuine laughter to becoming just a filler to avoid an awkward silence. It drives me insane!

Me: How was your day?
Person: lol

Well. That's good to know.

c. Excessive emoticons. Especially ones that stand for every single letter of the alphabet. There are fonts for a reason.

d. Replying 15 hours later. Constantly. Every day. Hello, what part of instant messaging do you not get? You don't have to be replying at warp speed, but if you're making me wait half a day for a response, I think it defeats the purpose of being available via instant messenger.

2. Bad Photoshopping
Apparently, a lot of people find photos such as the first example to be very, very attractive. Obviously the fact that my nose is gone doesn't matter. The photo isn't edited at all, you're just jealous that I have beautifully defined drawn-on eyelashes. The second photo? Boooooring.

3. Uncreative camwhoring
There are people who post entire albums of themselves on Facebook or whatever, and every single picture is virtually... the... same. Same clothes, same make-up, same expression... Sorry to break this to you, but---to the rest of the world--your photos are really boring. At least tilt your head a little, y'know?

4. Using sexual references to sell... well, just about anything.
As a marketing student, this seriously annoys the crap out of me. Maybe some visuals will help:

Since when did sleazy sex become a mode of comparison for phone and internet services? Sex sells, but it's usually limited to half naked Megan Foxes and the like. I am not impressed.

I'm freakin' tired but I need to get this off my chest.

I'm turning 21 this year, but I feel as if I haven't grown out of these stupid love games. This. Has. Got. To. Stop.

Where's my pride?

I deserve so much more than that.

No more waiting and being pathetic.

It's all or nothing.

Yes or no.

I need to break away from this mess and find happiness :)

I want to re-discover my passions... Art, dance, whatever it might be. No... I will.

So, it's been over a month since I've arrived in Hong Kong... The region is pretty Westernized, plus it's not my first time here, so a lot of the culture doesn't really come as a shock to me. But, there are some.... bemusing things. I came up with a lot, but here's my attempt at truncation:

1. McDelivery

Pretty self-explanatory. Could you imagine how fat Canadians would be if this existed back home?

2. Dessert places everywhere! (this is a good thing :D)
Why don't they have dessert shops at home? Like, every other block? Life is unfair :(

3. But after the desserts, they'll guilt you with their "subliminal' messages

Uh huh. There are weight loss ads everywhere... I've actually stopped at several of them and seriously considered joining one of their programs. All the ads are like "120 lbs to 90 lbs! You can do it!" If they advertised like that back home, I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing lawsuit after lawsuit.... Anyway, Hong Kong girls are too skinny.

4. "Friendly" toilet reminders

As some of you may or may not know, I'll be going to Taiwan for a week (YAYYY!). My aunt helped me book my ticket, and I was told that my flight was going to be 8am in the morning. So, I arranged my schedule according to that... It was not until 1 in the morning last night that I realized my flight was actually at 8 in the evening.

I checked the Dragonair website, and apparently there was a flight at 8 in the morning. So, I decided to wake up early and give it a try anyway. I woke up at 4am (all groggy 'cause I only got 2 hours) and went to the airport... Only to find out that my ticket can't be moved. ARGH WHY AM I SUCH A GENIUS ~!@#$%^&. What a waste of time and energy =(

That's probably the single, stupid-est thing that I've done so far in this trip... Another one would have to be during orientation. When the exchange committee was introducing the history of HKU, a photo of a young man appeared on the PowerPoint presentation. "Can anyone guess who this young man is? He is quite famous".

Being the genius I am, I said aloud, "Tony Leung".... The guy clicked on the PPT and an aged version of the man appeared on the screen.

On Tuesday, I went to my first high table dinner. For those of you who don't know, they are basically fancy dinners that are required for everyone living at residential halls. It was held at Langham Place in Mongkok, and it was pretty elaborate!

Jacky's mum, Rebecca, took me out for dinner the other day... Sushi in Hong Kong is so good! My first time trying salmon belly.
Afterwards, she took me to Victoria Park to check out the New Year Fair! It was so much fun - there was a lot to see and buy in celebration of the Year of the Ox :)
Yesterday, we had our Chinese New Year dinner on a boat cruise :) It was a lot of fun, the food was alright for the price we paid (Only 100HKD!). We got to see all of Hong Kong...