springswallow

[springswallow]

"We strongly support the struggle of the Palestinians against American imperialism and Zionism."

China (year unknown).

[springswallow]

Wa! What first-star treatment! What a class act! What wonderful upbringing and demolition by hers truly! She beams with pride. They grow up and go down so quick. Ah, time... ! Alas! An enemy even to those unfelled by its aging attacks!

It is these memories that keep her preoccupied as they waltz through. This gives her enough time to notice, the—oh, that was a lovely renovation! Construction here, goodness, was it ever-present everywhere? How long has it been since she made it to the island? ... Likely as long as the pandemic itself.

At his accusation, she gasps, and presses a hand to her chest in feign emotional damage. "A vacation, merely?! I would have gone to Hǎinán for that. Unless, of course, you are implying the most soothing of all relaxation techniques... retail therapy... for which I find almost as necessary as meditation itself!"

A clearing of the throat. "In this city that never sleeps / I come to drink and eat / and with family, break bread and be / so that I can ensure a peaceful journey."

springswallow:

A sly smile graces her face, much like a snake in awe of music playing before it. Years of painted skin, lines rehearsed and the occasional verse improvised—yes, she could recognise an invitation for theatrics when she saw it. She would dance along.

The hour is four o'clock. Lightly four o'one by now. Which means it is time… to be a little silly!

“Ah, my hubris has fetched me a hefty penance!” she announces. “I should not have doubted your wisdom. Curry fish balls, tea eggs, pineapple buns. Rù xiāng suí sú, you lead the way. What is the tradition of early risers such as yourself?”

They might even have a DIRECTED BY WONG KAR-WAI pop up at the end of this excursion! What fun!

Does it count as rising early if you haven’t slept? Shìhóng isn’t sure, but he ponders it for about half a second. He drapes an arm around his newfound company and gestures with the other towards the vast expanse of city in the (relatively small) distance. 

“Well I can tell you with my whole chest that there’s a insanely good spot like, maybe a five minute walk from here.” 

He guides her out of the Kowloon Walled City Park, then Carpenter Road Park, with ease, manicured lawns and stone pathways giving way to the electric buzz of Lok Sin road. 

“So!” Shihong starts, giving Chūn-Yàn a playful look. “I know you didn’t come to Hong Kong just looking for me. What, time for a vacation?” 

[springswallow]

A sly smile graces her face, much like a snake in awe of music playing before it. Years of painted skin, lines rehearsed and the occasional verse improvised—yes, she could recognise an invitation for theatrics when she saw it. She would dance along.

The hour is four o'clock. Lightly four o'one by now. Which means it is time... to be a little silly!

"Ah, my hubris has fetched me a hefty penance!" she announces. "I should not have doubted your wisdom. Curry fish balls, tea eggs, pineapple buns. Rù xiāng suí sú, you lead the way. What is the tradition of early risers such as yourself?"

They might even have a DIRECTED BY WONG KAR-WAI pop up at the end of this excursion! What fun!

Oh, did Shìhóng ever miss Chūn-Yàn‘s energy! For once, he bites his tounge-- that the hour of the day can’t kill what’s already been dead for years, and instead his palm connects squarely with his forehead and he keels back a bit, a grand display of piety, although clearly in jest. 

“Gatekeeping?! Me? How could you--”

Smoke curls from his mouth as he laments, and deeming that it’s done it’s duty,  Shìhóng extinguishes his cigarette on the bottom of his shoe, before flicking it away, into a trashcan. 

“I’d never. How the hell could you think that I wouldn’t tell you where you could get the best-- cheapest-- curry fish balls or whatever else you’ve got on the brain, at four o’clock in the morning.” 

[springswallow]

@haknam is up at four o' clock in the morning!

"Killing time!" she repeats. Was there a worse malaise than procrastination or even executive dysfunction in a socialist-market economy? "The utmost irony! It is the hour that is killing you!"

Chūn-Yàn flits underneath him like the bird she is so named. Having immortalish siblings does not stop you from worrying about them when they dangle from trees!

"I could ask the same of you, but there are much more suitable enquiries. Mine is crucial: it has been a stressful commute here, and I am in need of a treat. Abundance spoils one for choice. I have been drifting the streets, unable to decide..."

Earth to Ch|na! You haven't answered his second question!

"Perhaps you are, as the youths say... gatekeeping?"

Look, she has a history of rebellion and revolution. Fire cannot kill a dragon, gates cannot hold back a nation... the poets have done this for us already.

[springswallow]

Phillipa Soo as Chang'e in OVER THE MOON (2020) dir. Glen Keane

[springswallow]

I know, wrong holiday, but I still love this song and it’s about the moon. 

[springswallow]

fc: Liu Shishi (刘诗诗)

ethnicity: Hui Chinese

[springswallow]

doodled yanyan in some peasants clothing from late republic/early communist era and song dynasty 🐦

reference for song dynasty peasant's hanfu here

[springswallow]

Yes! Similar! But only allow it to rest for 20 seconds before pouring the rest. This allows the grounds to be hydrated and fills in any air holes. Then, the rest of the water can be poured in. It should take only 4 more minutes for the rest of the brew to complete.

Culinary art, food science... truly, this has all bases covered!

[He takes out his phone and begins taking notes]

Is it like a pour-over, then? You pour some hot water on, wait for it to soak, and then add the rest? What does that do for the grounds?

[springswallow]

I am always dwelling in the future relative to your timezone, but your recognition of one aspect of my foresightedness is appreciated! Listen closely...

Vietnamese ground coffee beans are pressed into a phin, or a filter, and wet at first with boiling water. After some seconds pass, you must add the rest of the water and allow the rest of the grounds to have the water dripped through them. I prefer to have my condensed milk waiting to meet it from the very beginning, resting at the bottom of my cup for optimum sweetness. Then I simply mix in the boba and enjoy.

What's Vietnamese coffee? What makes that different?

Clearly you're out here living in the future of caffeine and I am desperate to learn.

[springswallow]

Iced coffee! And Vietnamese iced coffee, no less. It is delicious with boba, especially served with condensed milk.

You must inquire with these shops on whether or not they have this option. If not, I will have to make it for you myself. But be forewarned. You may be awake for hours and hours after.

Wait, hold up.

You guys put boba in coffee? How long has that been a thing? All the boba shops around me only serve tea, which I refuse to interact with based on principle.

[springswallow]

哎呀！！！I meant no disrespect to the Empress of All Caffeination herself!

Iced coffee can only be substantial in one case, and in one case only! And that is: if you pair it with tapioca pearls. Protein, fat, and carbohydrates. And a little treat on the side. Ideally, an egg tart.

Iced coffee is more than a "hydration substitution". It's a meal substitution.

And I will not hear her name slandered in this way.

[springswallow]

It is scientific, my friend! Tea is water with steeped leaves. Coffee can be hydrating, surely, but coffee has many other material components—sugar, caffeine, creamer, syrups, milk—with only a fraction of water content. And it can be dehydrating as well.

... So! You have had many cups of coffee as your hydration substitution, I imagine. Or is this reality?

Tea but not coffee? That seems kind of arbitrary.

[springswallow]

... Something tells me our definitions will differ.

Water and tea. Coffee does not count.

What do you consider hydration? Just pure water?

[springswallow]

Qi Baishi

Chicks and a Grasshoppers

The work is on display at the ’: From Carpenter to Master’ exhibit at the Seoul Arts Center.

[springswallow]

Oh, I see... They are not a girl band, but rather, a group of superheroes? ... 有趣！

I knew the Marvel franchise had ended, but it sounds as though you are trying to revitalize it. I look forward to your proposal of a movie script if you have not written one already. I expect only the highest quality!

@springswallow

*taking notes* So you have made your HIGHLY classified forces into *checks same notes* a broken-apart girl band? ------------ Kinda! Basically, yeah. With all sorts of abilities. Angela is able to go into, like, a Matrix-esque Bullet Time with hyper-reflexes. Rita's immune to fire, Mary can see in the dark, Jessica shoots lasers from her toddies. Bioengineering and human experimentation are WILD, dude. . . .

except, uh, we didn't engineer Jessica's thing. She just does that. We don't know why.

She just started doing it. Also she speaks backwards now? Like, eyes roll back, speaks in tongues, froths at the mouth, fires lasers from her chest.

We do not ask about Jessica.

[springswallow]