06/19/25 -
A compilation of how people are treated out of state versus in their hometowns:
“I’m 30. Out and about, people think I’m a uni student or something. At home, I feel like I’m almost a MILF.”
“24-years-old, getting called a baby by 70-80-year-olds in the hospital room. I’ve got so much to look forward to.”
“I was born in 2001, the youngest in my whole company. Everyone calls me “kid” at work, and if there’s snacks, they’ll say, “Give some to the kid first, she’s still growing.” If I’m on shift, they’ll still be like, “Save some for the kid, she’ll love this.””
“30 years old, just went back to college, everyone’s saying I’m really accomplished.”
“I haven’t even taught my hometown dialect to my daughter, because I never planned for her to go back there. Girls can only fly high in a big city.”
“I got called brave for being out and about alone when I was born in 2003. When I go home for the holidays, they just ask me why I don’t have a boyfriend yet.”
“Born in 2005, just started working at a hospital, and all the sisters and aunties are all like, “You’re so young!” But at home…I can’t even describe it.”
“At 25, I’m still a little girl at work, but if I go home, I’m a left over woman who should be on my second child now.”
“For me, it’s like, while I’m in my Master’s Degree, my overseas classmates who are all 30+: “Wow, you’re studying abroad when you’re so young! That’s impressive!” Come back to China in Shanghai, “Graduated from your Master’s at 24 years old? And you’re young and pretty and making it on your own in the big city? You’re so awesome!” Go back to Shandong during New Years, “You have a boyfriend yet? Why not? Everyone else is already having babies. Why don’t you want to go on a date? Are you trying to kill your parents? What if you never married? You’re the only daughter they have…””
“Forget 2001, even people born in 1991 are still little girls in Shanghai.”
“2002, graduated uni last years and came to Singapore all on my own. My coworkers all think I’m really impressive, and I make 20K+ a month. Only the people in my village ask me why I haven’t found a girlfriend yet.”
“I’ve been really anxious these last few days because I’m 23 and my family’s pressuring me to get a boyfriend. Now I don’t think it’s that important. I’m financially independent, emotionally independent, and ideologically independent. It doesn’t matter if I get married or not.”
“I have an uncle, and everyone badmouths him for being single at 40-years-old, but I always thought he was really impressive, staying at a top 500 company at his age in a management position, buying a house in a big city all on his own.”
“I work as a wedding photographer, and people ask me how old I am, and I tell them 2005, and everyone’s like, “Wow, even kids are working these days!””
“I’m really happy that I didn’t only get these because I was getting married. I’ve been buying them for myself.” [photo of various gold jewellery]
“I’m 1997 and went to an interview, and the interviewer told me, “You’re still really young, so it doesn’t matter if you screw up occasionally.”
“2000, just started working, and every workplace says I’m really young and brave. Just went home this year, and my relatives are introducing me to divorced guys.”
“2000, on my second year of a PhD degree, and last year, my advisor told me, “You’re still young. You’ve got plenty of time.”
“24-years-old, youngest in my law office, and everyone calls me “little sister”. At home, they’re like, “You’re not young anymore, it’s time to get married.””
“2003, working as a manager in a warehouse, and the trucker uncles call me “little kid” and give me candy.”
“It’s true, in a big city, a 2004 girl is still a kid, and in the village, 21-years-old is the perfect age for marriage.”
“My mom said that 23 is the best age. If you don’t get married by then, nobody wants you anymore.”
A compilation of stories from homeowners’ group chats:
“Our homeowners group chat has two little old ladies who chat every day in there about life and kids and whatever. And for a while, they were both quiet, and someone asked if they were both alive. And a worker in apartment management said that someone pulled them into a private channel for them to chat in so they don’t take up public resources. My mom and I laughed about it for days.”
“Someone asked in my development group chat, “Does anyone have so and so’s phone number?” And a lot of people responded to her. And after a while, she came back and was like, “Thanks for the numbers everyone provided. None of them worked.” Lol.”
“Me too. I kept hearing someone speaking English in the morning, and then I found out someone had accidentally connected their bluetooth to my massage chair.”
“We had a set of rivals in my building that lived above and below each other, who were constantly fighting. One day, the upper floor guy flipped out and exposed the lower floor lady for kissing a stranger at a mall in the group chat. And the couple on the lower floor visibly got less aggressive and much quieter from then on.”
“During Covid, the old lady above me passed away. A couple of days later, one evening, a neighbor asked in the group chat, “Why is there fire in the balcony above me? There’s lots of smoke.” People used to cook on the rooftop for parties, so I chimed in, “Are they having a barbecue?” And the neighbor next door DM’d my husband and was like, “Make your wife delete her message! Is she insane? They’re burning money to the old lady!” Thank God I had time to delete my message.”
“Hold on, hold on, lemme drop the latest gossip. A certain family in a certain building in my development likes throwing poop. His household poops into plastic bags and then throws them downstairs. Some of his downstairs neighbors have been hit a couple of times. Or he’ll throw his poop in front of the building. Apartment management, district office, and the police have all come, and the other residents have formed a hunting team, but none of them could catch him. To this day, we still don’t know which unit it is, and poop is still falling out of the sky.”
“The neighboring development has a pregnant lady who’s also obsessed with throwing poop. She thinks the street stalls are too noisy, even though she lives above the 10th floor and there’s no way they’re so noisy that she can’t live with it. And they’re only open from 8-9AM to 8-9PM, so it doesn’t affect sleep either. She’s demanding that no one is allowed to open a street stall and she’ll call apartment management to chase people away, no matter how tries to mediate it. So every morning, she throws her fresh poop from up stairs and a lot of times, it falls on the poor stall owner’s stall.”
“There’s a homeowner in my building who kept complaining about noisy toads at night, noisy birds in the morning, noisy cicadas during the day, people walking their dogs, kids playing in the park, snails everywhere after rain, etc. Until someone got pissed off and told her to go live in Heaven, it’s quieter there.”
“My husband bought some stinky tofu to fry at home, and the whole group chat started flipping out. A unit on the 20th floor said that their whole house smelled like shit, and other homeowners say they’re smelling it too. And worse, the unit on the 20th floor is the parents of my kid’s classmate. We didn’t even dare say anything, we just threw the rest of the tofu out.”
“Reminds me of my childhood. We lived in standalone units back then, and when my mom fries stinky tofu, the street, the whole row of houses, it all smells like shit. Every neighbor will come by my family and ask what we’re doing. My dog is the most excited about it. He’s sniffing at the kitchen with all his might. Thank God my mom only ever did that once.”
“I’m gonna list some of the most overrated Japanese food. These are all the favorites of PUA lovers.
Ramen: Japanese flour doesn’t have enough protein in it, so there’s no chewiness at all. And there’s no soul in Japanese noodle soup, only grease and salt. And they even expect you to loudly slurp the noodles!
Tonkatsu Ramen: This is a huge red flag. I don’t know if you’ve ever had authentic Tonkotsu Ramen, not the type that’s been adjusted for Chinese tastes. Before you even talk into a Tonkotsu Ramen place, you smell the stench of pig. There was a Hakata Ramen on the B1 floor of the Shanghai Metro-City Shopping Centre, and every time I get near, I have to flee. I used to think this chef was just bad at his job until I came to Japan. Holy shit, all Tonkatsu Ramen tastes this way! Gamey and stinky! It stinks so much, I don’t understand how Japanese people can handle it when they can’t even handle perfume. And I have a good friend who loves eating Tonkatsu. I never eat fried food, so I never knew what it tasted like, but every time I see him, I want to sniff him for the stench of pigs.
Sushi: What’s the point of getting a tiny bit of rice and shaping it into a square and tying food to it and dipping it in soy sauce and wasabi? Isn’t that just soy rice? And you have to eat with your hands? I guess Indians might be into this.
Cooked fish: All cooked fish in Japan are usually grilled, without any marinading. It’s all dry and chewy. And if it’s been marinaded, it’s either way too sweet or way too salty.
Soba Noodles: No flavour. No texture.
Bread and pizza: Same problem with not enough protein in flour.
Japanese Soup: It’s all just soy sauce soup, so watery there’s no point in it. No wonder Japanese people don’t even drink the Ramen soup.
Tempura: Cover healthy food in flour and deep fry it until it turns into junk food.
Crab Legs: They come in super expensive gift boxes but don’t taste as good as Chinese crabs.
Okashi: Traditional Japanese snacks sure look pretty but they taste awful. They’re so sweet. You’re better off with western snacks.
Chicken: Japanese chicken doesn’t taste like chicken at all. And from the smell, none of it is fresh. Forget about chicken soup.
Sukiyaki: It’s sweet hotpot. Even Korean Budae-jjigae is way tastier and more colourful than sukiyaki.
Veggies: There’s not a lot of variety in Japanese veggies and they’re bad at cooking them.”
Comments say, “Some of this hate is pretty unreasonable.”
“Full of radiation!”
“Good post. I think the only stand out thing about Japanese cuisine is sashimi+wasabi. The only true Japanese cuisine is either super sweet or super salty.”
“There’s no cooking technique at all, it’s just about the quality of the ingredients itself. And they like to sell it for way too much. I guess they’re good at marketing.”