Moving Out

It's not easy growing up in a well ventilated glasshouse filled with food, water and all the other basic necessities of life, and then some.

Especially when you decide to leave it.

Where should I begin? Do I buy or rent? Can I afford either? Do I forward all my mail? Do I take all my stuff with me? What if it doesn't fit? Shit, I know it's not going to fit in my would-be dingy apartment! Should I set up a home phone number? How do I get electricity into the house? What about water? How do I pay for it? How much does electricity and water cost? What sort of furniture do I need? Do I cook my own food? Can I come home for dinner? Can I even come home?

Sigh... So many questions, yet so little guidance. This is the problem with growing up in a glasshouse.

You get too comfortable. You become immobile and reluctant to move.

But I must.

And I will.

As soon as I figure out how much money I need...

Damn Hong Kong real estate pricing to hell!

Manila Hostage Tribute Part 1 of 8

The flags in Hong Kong will be flown at half-mast today in remembrance to those who perished in the Manila hostage situation. Websites across the region have donned black and white motifs as a sign of respect.

As a fitting tribute, Post-80's blog will adopt and combine both these symbolic gestures by changing to a black and white template and posting half a monochromatic symbol each day for the next 8 days: one for each death (including Mendoza).

Symbol #1: Half of Jay-Z's The Black Album

I'm just glad we got to see each other

Talk and re-meet each other, save a place in Heaven

Till the next time we meet forever

- Moment of Clarity

Rest easy for those with family left behind. Closure will be hard to come by, but I wish you all find it in your hearts to forgive and live your lives as the departed so dearly wish for you to live.

Hang in there, for you shall re-meet in Heaven.

Reaction to Hostage Situation in Manila

This is definitely a very sad day for the people of Hong Kong. We have only seen death and terrorism in other countries from afar but when it strikes so close to home, the reaction is one of confusion, surprise, anger and disbelief. Below are some comments I have seen on Facebook which illustrate the emotions going on in our over-populated city right now:

***

It's raining..... Must be sad for those victims. R.I.P.

‎:-( sadden... How can philippine police be this bad!

Still feeling extreme sad and mad.... speechless ...

Wish it is fake news

We should probably having army training in HK, esp for guys

For once, I am thankful for HK police

***

I still remember the morning of September 11. Seeing the twin towers go down on TV felt almost surreal. At the time I did not care to think about the victims or the motive... it just felt so far away on the East coast while I was just waking up on the West. I didn't really feel the impact until I visited the actual site a few years later. I felt a profound sense of sadness and futility.

There was absolutely no way of stopping it. No way of reversing what has already happened. No one we can put the blame on.

At least that is my belief.

Thus, I have a theory. Every now and then, some people will just have to die. It's like an unwritten quota like those traffic police who have to issue however many parking tickets each month. If you subscribe to this theory, then all we can do is be thankful that it weren't us, pay our respects for the victims sacrifice and live our lives to the fullest.

Each and every single day.

As for the victims, there is nothing anybody can do to bring them back. All we can do is wish that their family members will find the closure that they need to live their lives to the fullest.

Each and every single day.

I hope for the people of Hong Kong to keep your hate and anger in check; for the religious to send your prayers to the victims and their family; for the Filipino SWAT team (who're going to get/already getting a ton of heat) to accept my gratitude for saving the people that you have, cos' I know squat about SWAT other than Rainbow Six video games; for the Filipino's in Hong Kong to continue working for us and not leave because we're all mad from being really emotional right now. Y'all are good people and great helpers even if it means we lose access to Central on Sundays.

Peace to all and please like this if you're on Facebook.

Szechuan Women

Had an interesting conversation with my good friend tonight. He's one of the nicest guys I know: successful yet humble, funny yet never demeaning, smart yet hardworking. But the most amazing thing about this marvelous individual: he's SINGLE! Mental ain't it? To find out why, we summarized different characteristics of women from various Chinese-speaking cities:

HONG KONG WOMEN

- materialistic ("So are men! We just don't have the luxury of having someone else get it for us.")

- aggressive

- too smart ("You mean you prefer dumb girls?")

- gold-diggers ("Yeah... but to quote Chris Rock [again]: I'm not saying he [OJ Simpson] should've killed her, but I understand.")

- think they're prettier than they really are ("Amen to that!")

TAIPEI WOMEN

- LOVE ABC's ("Let's go to Taiwan together bro!")

- smart enough to act dumb at the right times ("That's the most advanced demonstration of intellect! Although it's sometimes difficult to tell if they're acting...")

- way, way, WAY prettier than the previous group... ("Amen to that!")

SHENZHEN WOMEN

- gold-diggers

- 'Nuff said ("Amen to that!")

SZECHUAN WOMEN on the other hand...

- Gentle

- Submissive

- Simple-minded

- Good cooks

Notice I don't have any responses to the Szechuan group because I was too busy laughing. Not to mention the "woman" he was describing was 9 years old... I bet he would fall for Congo Women: not only can they cook, they'll hunt down the meat too! Except for the language barrier I suppose...

Although, not understanding what your woman is saying isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Men are quite used to it.

WINNER: