Yup we're screwed

HK Observatory will be hoisting typhoon signal no. 9, this afternoon, then 10 later? I don't even know if I've been in a 10 typhoon.

Can't my hair look like this more?

Typhoon 8 Day

Super cute cat outside this restaurant near my apartment building. There are quite a few stray cats in HK I've noticed, as well as cats adopted by street-level stores.

Today is the fourth day in HK this summer of typhoon signal no. 8, which means no work/school. And it's oddly nice this time, because our publication was supposed to be done by today and it was major crunch time, but because we knew today would be no work, everyone worked at breakneck speed yesterday (Thurs) to finish everything. So September issue is done and we get a three-day weekend yay. So I can blog and listen to the Mix and eat junk food and read and not be stressing (except about the weekend which I find SO stressful. Every weekend should be typhoon 8).

Shite, I love listening to the Mix stream in the morning here, meaning nighttime in Chicago, because there's no talk. I love mainstream American pop rock. Like just now they played Spill Canvas's "All Over You." I like that kind of song. And Rihanna's Umbrella, I used to hate it, but I love it now because it reminds me of... I dunno, it makes me happy. Just now they played Viva La Vida, and I actually know multiple people who are obsessed with that song. OK, now it's Pink. I love Pink, because I'm a dork. Ooh now it's Lifehouse, whom I only have lukewarm feelings toward. I mean yeah their songs are "nice" but nauseatingly cheesey and technically simplistic.

People send me all kinds of random stuff at work (by courier! People use courier here like it's free or something. I know, it's because HK's so small and labor is cheap, but still). A few days ago I got, of all things, VODKA. Snow Queen Vodka to be specific, which is from Kazakhstan. Well I can probably tell you everything there is to know about Snow Queen Vodka from Kazakhstan now, so it worked, but the thing about those little bottles of alcohol are they're so cute. Miniatures rock! Ooh yeah, that's me at work, I am a Post-It fiend.

Shut up

First thing I can't stand about the Olympics coverage: the use of the term "country team" or "national team" in Chinese ("Gwok Ga Dui") - even on the news. It's so dogmatically patriotic and ignorant-sounding. UGH. It's as if the Chinese team's name is "Country" not "China." Just feel like they are shoving it down my throat.

Thing I miss most about good ol' NBC Olympics coverage: the super cheesey montages about the athletes. Every single one is a tear-jerker. And I miss American gymnastics, which they don't cover extensively here since they're so busy with China being the greatest country in the world.

Second thing I can't stand about the Olympics coverage:

"Liu Xiang couldn't run, China is heartbroken." W T F ? For reals? This is, like, irresponsible headline writing. Although this sentiment has been reiterated ad nauseum, which I find to be total BS, what does one celebrity athlete's performance have to do with the psyche of a country of over 1 billion? And don't go around telling me how to feel with a sweeping statement. What about the 40+ gold medals? Suddenly no one cares that "China is the best country in the world!" because one dude can't run? Everyone had been made aware that he was injured! Helloo?

Ugh.

Took this pic yesterday, which has some of the most beautiful objects created by humankind: lanterns in the shapes of goldfish, rabbits, flowers, etc., for Mid-Autumn Festival.

Problem is, it seems like when I have to write about something (I write for a tourism magazine, you see), it suddenly becomes a groan-inducing subject. I would still love one of these lanterns and hang it up all year round, except right now the sight just makes me go... UGH.

My story is on the "new" traditions, meaning plastic lanterns with lightbulbs, which are grrr hard to find right now and it's been a bitch trying to photograph them.

possible transgender.

There are several questions about my company / job / “work situation” that are often swimming around my head which I haven’t gotten around to asking anyone, or find it inappropriate to ask out loud, from the mundane (Is our office’s only bathroom unisex or is there a men’s bathroom of which I am unaware?) to the obvious (Am I underpaid?). Some are skill-related questions (There’s a difference between “specialty” and “speciality”?!) which I should be able to answer on my own. But the biggest question of all… Is the person who sits two cubes from me a man or a woman??? I have been wondering about this since day 1 and plan to find out when I hear someone refer to this person as “he” or “she” in English, since there is no delineation in Chinese. I’ve collected evidence over the past two months, and just when I’m sure this person’s a woman, new findings arise that make me think “man for sure.”

Email from V. Li... 2 days ago

"Vanessa, I am so, totally convinced about this. (Well you know me, I am hyper.) We should host a radio show. It'd be so easy. Let's just have a show where we simultaneously discuss/slag off pop culture (both US and HK "culture") OR a girls' show that's like gofugyourself but in audio. (Okay that's hard cuz discussing fashion w/out pictures is hard, but maybe we can slag off HK's ppl obssession with labels and getting the latest gadgets like iPhones or something). WE SHOULD DO THIS. We have a moral duty. It would be our call.

Argh I so want us to have a radio show right now."




(And this conversation went on and on. This is just the beginning of how we will be famous or infamous or just lame!)

The goal, Olympics, cubes, free stuff, hair flowers, bars

I failed at July's Goal of the Month. It's now my goal of this weekend.

Yup I AM excited about the Olympics. Slightly. Except unfortunately I am sitting in a cubicle on Friday evening, waiting for the opening ceremony to start at 8 p.m. before I can actually leave for the bar (long story). I might go shopping (read: kill an hour at HMV).

At least I have a really high cubicle. I think I have the best cubicle in the office. My boss and the company owner have offices with doors, but as far as cubes go, mine's the best because it's one of only 3 high-walled ones in the office. As in, the walls are a lot taller than me. All the others are really low, and the designers have no cubes at all. And the reason it's the best high cube is because one of the other high cubes is laid out in a way where people can see the person when they walk by (whereas no one can see me unless they actually step into my cube), while the third high cube sucks because TWO people share it, AND it's next to the pantry (which I always find sketchy considering the prevalence of cockroaches in HK). OMG that is so crappy.

Ooh but I'm a little excited because this super expensive cosmetics company sent me (actually the previous Editor) like HK$2500 worth of face stuff for no reason other than a glimmer of hope that I'd write about them. Like a good employee, as stipulated in my contract, I handed it over to my boss, who said I could keep it. Yays!

Something I came across at work while going through the hundreds of product pics those companies send me... Chanel, love, love, love this:

So back to the Olympics. I am conflicted about my plans for tonight. Because it involves bars and clubs. Hmm. I've pretty much decided to go home without the clubbing/drinking/losing my voice part and hang out with Korben, so. Everyone I talked to all seem to be watching the Olympics at home, but I have to go to a bar, sort of (long story), argh.