Ai-Men Lau 劉羿雯
@aimenlau
🇭🇰🇲🇾🇨🇦 | Information Operations and Transnational Repression Research | formerly at Alliance Canada Hong Kong and Doublethink Lab | she/elle | views are my fault
My silly little hobby of perusing Canadian Facebook Marketplace to see what quirky (or frankly unhinged) things people like to sell unearth these gems today Vintage Hong Kong Manhuas from the 80s-90s
I loved Everyday Movement by Gigi Leung (translated by Jennifer Feeley) and its realistic exploration of how 2019-2020 HK protest, radicalism, and politics collide with the mundane everyday lives. It was almost too painful to read at times.
Note to self, when AllTrails said the hike was hard and they meant you’ll be clinging to a rock on a knife’s ridge for the last km of the hike questioning your life choices Mount Lady MacDonald completed ✔️
I find reaction channels pretty baffling and primarily a parasocial phenomenon, but hadn’t quite realize how bizarre the content has gotten
I have to say this thumbnail on a video promoting secession narratives is hilarious to me in so many ways
Not only is it a ripoff, it’s just lazy and irritating writing/narration. I reported the podcast, but I am annoyed that I had to. I think that we’re now just going to have sift through all this AI slop everywhere now.
Pretty certain I had my first encounter of Gen AI in podcasts. Wanted to catch up on The Rest is History and when I searched for the show, “ The Rest is History Stories” hosted by Dr. Nathan Pali came up instead. I was confused so I googled him and found this on Reddit
If you read Canada’s Explore Magazine, I wrote for their Spring issue about hiking in Taiwan and the unexpected 🇨🇦 connection. I chatted with Ontarian co-founder Michael McCreesh about Parkbus Taiwan, a spinoff of the Canadian company Parkbus, and connecting visitors to Taiwan’s Great Outdoors
Hong Kong is fine to welcome Andrew Tate to run amok in LKF, but it will bar journalists/human rights defenders and issue bounties on pro-democracy activists living overseas. Tate's charges include rape, human trafficking, sex with minors, and bodily harm. Image credit: @hongkongggag.bsky.social
My next job I want is to crochet these cute red beanies for Japanese statues
Not sure I’ll do this again, but went to a rave in an abandoned hotel in Taoyuan. Turns out, we raved in one of the top ten haunted places in Taiwan (十大猛鬼酒店)? For any fellow horror enjoyers, here to report no spooky vibes or ghostly encounters, just a cool venue
this was such a fun sweater to knit and my first cable sweater project. Looking forward to my next one
It is the same (or similar!) to the iconic Irish Fisherman/Aran sweater Steve McQueen wore in The Thomas Crown Affair
After a year of battling my perfectionism, frogging then refrogging the same sleeve thrice, and worrying about the fit, I finally knitted a recreation of the sweater Pierce Brosnan wears in Noble House
I’m just mulling over the last bit of this: “if you care about helping eat well from home, you should advise them about how to prep one ingredient proteins and veggies with salt/pepper/butter/olive oil.” You can pry my affordable condiments, herbs and seasonings from my cold dead hands
For those in HK space and not on the other cursed site, Shibani Mahtani announced she has been laid off by the Post. I'm angry and heartbroken for her. A significant loss to journalism
Not the best, not the worst, but it definitely won’t be appealing to anyone who thinks coriander tastes like soap. Also it was an unsettling green
50) Bunny by Mona Awad Despite the glowing reviews for this gothic horror and comedy, I struggled with this one. If I had taken a creative writing class in uni, I think I would better understand the satire, but nevertheless an entertaining read!
49) Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green Fascinating dive into the history of Tuberculosis & how it has shaped and been shaped by wealth, racism, and innovation. Green breaks down medical terms into accessible language and rips into the institutions and people who could solve TB, but won’t
48) Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry Don’t think I wouldn’t recommend this book for anything groundbreaking or profound, but certainly ticked off the boxes for just being cozy and cute. A predictable romance with a dash of mystery.
47) The Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red by Martha Wells A security robot hacks his software, gains free will and just wants to watch his favourite TV series. What an entertaining sci fi novella that examines the ways human social dynamics and interactions are fickle
46) I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki first by Baek Sehee After learning of the passing of Baek Sehee, I got around to reading this book. Too painfully relatable and felt as if I was reading my own thoughts as she reflects on depression, low self esteem and the ways we self sabotage