Berlin Midnight Meows Sponge Cake

On April 27th, I gathered with a group of Berliners in Moabit, Berlin to gossip about everything (especially our families). We covered topics from broader social issues to the most intimate anecdotes of our lives. While many feel pressured to be cool and unique in Berlin, some of us found happiness in the ordinary. Most topics started with specific cultural backgrounds, but were mostly about how we dealt with absurdity in our upbringing as humans. 
Easter eggs: A lot of personal scandals exposed. No shame needed!

After going through a divorce, I genuinely wish the best for people when they get married—it's no easy journey. Some people had more ups and downs than cryptocurrency. Sorry for always bringing up financial stuff; I'm from Hong Kong and grew up with ticker symbols as my lullaby. Are there any other malevolent kids out there who secretly wished their parents would split? You're not alone. I also shared my ideal type to connect with the socially unpopular crowds.

Hooray! Lunar New Year is finally basically over, so now I am gonna rant about this festival. Honestly, I might just be a lazy shit, so I am always slow with podcast updates. Getting lazy-shamed by comedians is a new experience for me as a cliche workaholic Asian. Have you ever given advice to your friends and regretted it, sometimes even losing friends like this? Also, do you feel like you need to lie to people because you care about their (fragile) feelings?

There are two things I find difficult as a socially awkward introvert - small talk in a work meeting and small talk before sex. Dating apps might have closed the door for some extroverts, but it has definitely saved my ass. People tend to create a stereotypical image of the person they are dating. I was sometimes seen as the emotionless dating machine, while usually, I am just an Asian struggling with memorizing European names.

My favorite topic - how “being poor” is different from “being poor”, speaking from my experience as the "middle class" kid in the working class world. Poor people also need some authentic and diverse representation beyond the fundraising campaigns. No competition here, just remembering what my mom used to say about growing her own food and sharing one piece of meat with her whole family. I can never beat her on that, just like some rich kids can never outearn their parents.

Berlin is getting cleaner, but it's losing a bit of that famous poor and charm. Same story back in Hong Kong. I'm feeling nostalgic for the bustling wet markets where Asian moms scored all their essentials and gossiped, the best networking location for them. Ever wondered why people hold eggs up to the light? Oh, and don't get me started on those adult magazines – turns out they were my first education teachers.