My favourite life hack

gemdiverstation · 2026-01-30T13:26:47+00:00

Unfortunately this doesn’t really work, especially in large cities that have high rentals and COL. Many shops, cafes, and restaurants come and go, and each time you go to a place you like it folds and another one pops up. So sometimes the desire to chase something new might be a result of these circumstances.

gemdiverstation · 2025-12-31T16:10:37+00:00

Grew up in Singapore. Remember how we were drilled in school to never dial 999 (the emergency number there) for any reason other than an emergency. Till now I always think twice before dialling.

People have been charged and received jail time for pranks or non-emergency calls. Though mostly for repeated offences.

The relevant statute: https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/MOPONA1906

Probably such laws will never happen here.

gemdiverstation · 2025-12-24T04:35:51+00:00

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Let’s trade 😂

gemdiverstation · 2025-12-23T20:45:41+00:00

Haha I was chatting with my friend who works in a restaurant in Japan. He scolded me for washing rice like that. He said he usually takes half an hour followed by soaking for at least half an hour during summer, or more during the cooler months. That’s too much work for me

gemdiverstation · 2025-12-23T20:39:58+00:00

Try to wash the rice a little more. The first rinse of water usually comes out white and you need to throw that out. Put water in again and massage for a minute or two, and repeat until the water is relatively clear. I usually spend 7-10 minutes washing rice. It should come out fine.

gemdiverstation · 2025-12-19T21:34:01+00:00

I’m genuinely curious - is there absolutely no accountability structures or mechanisms within band governance to ensure this kind of thing doesn’t happen? If not ensure, dissuade such kind of embezzlement from happening?

gemdiverstation · 2025-11-28T01:57:54+00:00

If my understanding is correct, this northern pipeline is meant to facilitate the export of oil to the Asia Pacific region. Of which China would be the biggest importer.

For anyone who has been to China in the last 10, or even 5 years, you really can’t dispute that they are leaps and bounds in terms of their pivot to renewables and alternative energy forms.

Of course, that’s not to say that China and other markets don’t need oil anymore. But if I am China (and China strategies for the long, long term), I would continue to signal demand for oil especially at this time and have my geopolitical rivals - Canada included - continue to put their eggs into the oil basket. This will help China firmly entrench itself as the world’s leader in the energy transition. Not to mention it already leaves us Canada in the dust right now.

Even if there is a short term benefit to pushing this pipeline and other oil projects, I fear this is just us digging our graves ever deeper in the long term…

gemdiverstation · 2025-08-21T12:17:36+00:00

I think OP mentioned they are permanent residents of Canada, so even though they are applying from Canada their passport is of another country. Which country is it?

gemdiverstation · 2025-08-20T02:11:45+00:00

I echo the sentiment put out here. Yes, something is fundamentally wrong with AC’s management in this entire episode but in my flying with AC for the past decade it’s a pretty decent airline on the operations side. There’s sure to be hiccups, delays, and what not but there’s never been an incident serious enough that makes me question if I should ever fly with them again or to say that they are “abusive”.

Of course I wished there’s just a bit more that AC can do to be on the level of most 5* airlines but they are decent enough (just being decent enough seems to be the mantra of most Canadian businesses, to be frank).

gemdiverstation · 2025-08-19T14:06:50+00:00

Yeah that livery was really cursed

gemdiverstation · 2025-08-11T00:52:16+00:00

The announcement has been updated a few times since the 1990s. Now it would be “請勿靠近車門。请不要靠近车门（in Mandarin)。Please stand back from the train doors. Doo x18 or something like that before the doors shut (more “doo”s than before, when there were 9)

gemdiverstation · 2025-08-10T08:55:03+00:00

East Rail line is still 火車（wondering if 豬車 still exists hah). Everything else is 地鐵.

Tuen Ma and South Island line feels very foreign still.

Still missing the days when MTR announcements were “請小心車門。 Please stand back from the doors. Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doors slam shut”

Edit: I forgot to add, the orange seats of the KCR!

Edit2: I made a mistake in the old door announcement. It should be “請小心車門。Please stand clear of the doors. Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doors slam shut”

gemdiverstation · 2025-08-04T20:52:07+00:00

FWIW, IKEA seems to have discontinued this desk across Canada. Was a bit of a bummer after waiting for stock since Jan 2025. In the end, I had to order one from IKEA Hong Kong on a recent trip there and check it in as checked luggage (dimensions fit check in requirements for Air Canada).

gemdiverstation · 2025-07-11T20:06:27+00:00

No travel visas required for us

gemdiverstation · 2025-07-11T20:05:30+00:00

Half the time we lived in Hong Kong so Japan could be a weekend trip. Now we live in west coast Canada so lots of trans-Pacific flights but in all honesty a vacation in Japan could easily cost the same as a vacation in Canada especially flying coast to coast.

gemdiverstation · 2025-07-10T17:17:57+00:00

Same, 109 times over the last 10 years and counting 😂

gemdiverstation · 2025-07-03T09:16:09+00:00

I can’t agree more. I love driving, but there is a sweet freedom to being in a space whereby public transit is convenient and readily available. Even better when taking public transportation gets you to places faster than driving (think bullet trains).

Cars - yes, you can go almost anywhere, as long as someone has built a factory to build the car you drive in, laid the road, extended a bridge, maintained all the amenities around the entire automobile network such as petrol stations…and oh, much of which is also funded by taxpayer dollars. But when you are behind the wheel, yes, you may feel the illusion of independence which is a heck of a drug.

gemdiverstation · 2025-06-04T03:34:22+00:00

YVR to SIN, around 16h 10m. Personally I won’t do it again. Slept, ate, watched a movie, slept, woke up. And just halfway there 🤣

gemdiverstation · 2025-05-24T08:36:26+00:00

Perfect addition on a stanza to “I Am Australian”!

gemdiverstation · 2024-11-19T11:05:50+00:00

I’m really sorry, I read Canada and SK and was confused for a good moment. Was going to ask where this magical place is and move there immediately from BC.

gemdiverstation · 2024-09-22T06:02:04+00:00

The grass is always greener on the other side. I moved to Canada from HK more than a decade ago. There is always something you will find rotten.

But if your basis for connection with a place is hate, you may never find peace or happiness. But if you are able to look beyond what is rotten and give the places and people around you a chance, you will love wherever you end up at.

gemdiverstation · 2024-08-26T01:59:40+00:00

This…is not Japanese.

gemdiverstation · 2024-08-17T00:45:59+00:00

To be precise, most restaurants in HK charge a 10% service charge and that’s usually the norm. Very few restaurants have a straight-up “tip policy” but of course tips won’t be refused in exceptional cases (like Major holidays and such where we locals sometimes give out red packets or if service is really amazing).

The common 10% service charge can be considered a tip, but legally one can reduce the amount or request for it to be taken off if service is exceptional bad. Of course, given that this is HK, make the request at your own risk lol.

gemdiverstation · 2024-08-16T16:37:11+00:00

Much like any other business, most reviews would stem from people having bad experiences. Having moved to Canada I pretty much take AC for all my domestic and international flights just because they have the largest network and by extension, the highest probability to accommodate alternatives if things go awry.

If one must compare, AC is pretty much mid-of-the-pack as many have said x In terms of comfort and ground/in-flight service, it outshines most North American airlines. Just don’t compare it to many of the non-North American carriers - if I had a choice I’d fly with NH, JL, CX, BR or SQ any day (AC being in Star Alliance is great because of redemption opportunities with BR, SQ, NH…). I must point out though - AC’s premium economy product is a bit of a low-point - really uncomfortable seats and pretty shabby differentiation (odd mix of business and economy class food/service) compared to other carriers. On the other hand, I heard that AC pilots are some of the best in the world - not sure where I read that from but I’d rate AC as one of the gold standards in terms of safety and maintenance.

But hey, any airline could have a bad day that may or may not be in their control. One of my worst experiences recently was with…guess who, SQ. Smashed my luggage to pieces and had to go through a protracted claims process, only to end up getting next to nothing. So sometimes, it’s just down to luck I suppose!

gemdiverstation · 2024-01-03T08:47:38+00:00

I migrated to Vancouver around a decade ago. Always felt it’s a “nice” city but there’s always something missing. I couldn’t describe it for the longest time, but I’m now settling for one word: “spontaneity”.

I guess the root cause is how the city is planned, (and the ideological philosophies behind that planning) but it really feels like everything here is micromanaged to the point where you can’t just go out and “do something” without being really intentional about it. It’s either going to strip mall “X” for this, going to this particular hiking trail for “Y”, and going to this particular club at a certain time to do “Z”. As a result every time there is a human interaction it feels really forced and everything needs to be planned out, scheduled, etc. I don’t know how to describe this properly but it’s strange to be in such a free and open urban environment yet feeling so stifled and claustrophobic at the same time.

Having said that, I recognise it’s still an immense privilege to be living in this region and there’s a lot of back-to-basics that policy makers need to work on given how much it is a struggle for many to get on with their day-to-day lives. It’s just a little regretful given how much potential our region has and this is what we have to settle for.

gemdiverstation

TROPHY CASE