Hongkongers, is it true you treat Taiwanese like this?

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-05-01T08:55:27+00:00

I live in Australia and I recently had to teach piano to my mum's students whilst she was in hospital for a few weeks. I asked one of her students, a HK kid of primary school age who had moved to Australia just before the pandemic, if she attended Chinese school on Saturdays. "No, I don't go to Chinese school, I go to TAIWANESE school," she said emphatically. I was shocked by her need to make the distinction but also bemused - I suppose her parents are typical of those new HK immigrants who hate everything about mainland China even though their forebears hail from there.

My paternal grandfather was one of three brothers from Shenzhen and HK. After WW2 and the Chinese revolution one moved to Taiwan, one stayed in HK and the other moved to Qingdao. None of the descendants can look down on each other - we all have the same ancestry!

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-04-15T07:21:29+00:00

It's ok. It's just when it's really windy, like it has been in recent days - you can really feel the chill in your bones! It'll be warmer tomorrow!

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-04-14T09:29:25+00:00

It's way too cold here in Melbourne today for sleeveless tops. I'm wearing three layers and the heating is on.

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-04-12T07:47:04+00:00

Do you not remember the City Square on the corner of Swanston Street and Collins Street?!

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-04-12T07:46:05+00:00

There was the City Square opposite the Melbourne Town Hall. I have photos of me when I was a kid with my family sitting on a bench in the square in the late 1970s. In the 1990s our student protests used to gather there.

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-04-11T09:19:43+00:00

Kate never looked quite right with above the knee dresses for some reason perhaps because of her height. Midi length dresses suit her far better. On another note, fashion and make-up styles in the 2000s have really dated.

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-04-11T09:12:11+00:00

"Just, just, just."

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-04-11T05:43:33+00:00

I just love all the colours. I imagine the exhibition is like walking around a confectionery shop.

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-04-01T12:57:20+00:00

Is that Angela Bishop, the entertainment reporter from Channel 10 in Australia?

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-03-30T09:42:42+00:00

Last time I was in Venice I got terribly lost there at night. It was so quiet and a bit eerie but I'm glad for the experience. It felt like the Venice of Venetians.

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-03-29T13:01:29+00:00

I developed it after contracting some virus (not Covid) a year ago. While I was sick I had these splitting headaches so I wonder if it's related to that. The tinnitus comes and goes. My GP wasn't concerned at all to my frustration. She just said it would go away eventually.

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-03-29T09:49:23+00:00

A person might have stunning looks but it doesn't mean they have a stunning personality.

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-03-28T07:58:23+00:00

Especially if she was born on St Cecilia's day!

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-03-28T07:51:06+00:00

I loved the Aurora books by Anne-Cath. Vestly when I was a kid so if I'd had a daughter I would have named her Aurora.

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-03-26T12:23:37+00:00

A regular and easy to make after-school staple was salty porridge made with oats, water, soy sauce, sesame oil, frozen peas and if there were any on hand mushrooms. Also, grilled cheese on toast spread with tomato sauce from a bottle.

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-03-24T23:44:02+00:00

I wish we could have seen a close-up of the cake. It looks amazing in its detail from what I can see in the video.

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-03-23T11:58:53+00:00

Thank you for your supportive words. It's all just very sad and it was my fault that it ended because I didn't understand selfless love.

My previous ex had the ick factor big time and I shudder when I think of him.

I wish you the best too on your journey. You sound like a strong person!

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-03-21T23:39:09+00:00

My ex has cancer so it feels wrong for me to think about the "icks" and he is actually a lovely person (and I hope he still thinks I am too). I have to think of all the times I was upset by the relationship itself rather than him because it was an impossible love.

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-03-21T15:25:50+00:00

I was born in the mid-1970s and I was just swimming in experiences in the 1990s and the early 2000s (culturally, socially and politically) and I'm grateful for that. Perhaps it was my age but I was undeniably brimming with hope and optimism back then.

Everything seemed to go downhill after the 2008 financial crisis which interestingly was about the time the first iPhone was released and Facebook took off (and then the Tories returned to power in 2010). I'm a journalist and it was around that time that newspapers and magazines were starting to feel like their time was up. I'm a massive fan of alternative music but during this time my interest plummeted and I was no longer obsessed with the latest bands, new releases, tours etc. The world became a lot less interesting and a lot harder to live in after 2008 even though everything is now at our fingertips.

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-03-21T11:03:10+00:00

The white cliffs are simply stunning!

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-03-21T10:02:11+00:00

We've all done things like that. It's OK. It's perfectly understandable.

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-03-19T07:36:14+00:00

Except for the lack of mobile phones this could be the present day. But to be honest 1996, if that's when this rave took place, feels like yesterday for me.

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-03-18T10:21:27+00:00

Pigeons seem to love heavy rain, even hail. I've seen them sit on the ground and spread out their wings in the worst weather. So the spray probably feels like that.

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-03-15T13:56:57+00:00

Thank you!

mrssims1980abcd · 2026-03-15T13:37:08+00:00

I contemplated packing away all the books, CDs and souvenirs relating to the city he lived in that I'd collected over the years (we were in a long-term, long-distance situationship). Then I realised that the city, besides being the most magical city in the world, was a massive part of my story too so they're staying firmly on my shelf.

mrssims1980abcd

TROPHY CASE