Storytelling

We are writers of all levels – beginners to published. And we meet at STARBUCK at IFC (P2 Shop2097-2098, International Finance Centre), Central for fun writing and sharing sessions! We all write a one-sentence prompt, then each select one at random. We write something based on the prompt for 45 minutes, after which, we share our work with each other and discuss as desired. Of course, sharing is optional but encouraged. (Feedback is always polite and respectful.) Alternatively, you can bring your own project(s) to work on in the company of fellow writers (published and yet-to-be published). You can share your project(s), too, if you want. It's all about creativity and productivity in a supportive environment! Any questions, just reach out to our organizers through Meetup.

**Details** Welcome every Expats, Foreigners and Non native speakers of Chinese. You can choose the language you like to learn ( Mandarin/Cantonese ). We have both Mandarin/Cantonese tutors, and all of them are native. Please fill in the following form(for the first time only) and RSVP to join. ***Walkin to join*** We meet every week in a group of 20 - 30 people. We will have nearly half of people are native speakers. There are professional and native Mandarin tutors from Hong Kong Mainland Student Association(msahk.org). Thank you for their help. Hard copy of notes are not provided. You may download and print yours from the links below or just bring any notes you like. ***Mandarin Basics*** [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Chinese_(Mandarin).pdf](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Chinese_(Mandarin).pdf) ***Cantonese Basics*** https://www.cantoneseclass101.com/cantonese-word-lists/?coreX=100 ***Venue*** Prime Lounge, 17/F, Tower 3, CHINA HONG KONG CITY, 33 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui · Hong Kong Some info about the venue: * Water provided for free and you may bring your own drinks * You can come straight right up to Times Square through Causeway Bay station Exit A, ***Contact***(Whatsapp Group) [https://chat.whatsapp.com/By08XQzNs2y1SbRyOh613t](https://chat.whatsapp.com/By08XQzNs2y1SbRyOh613t)

$20 for 2 hours

我地唔打錢, 打名次開心玩! 活動會track winning % (Win定義: 正數得分) 及第一名總次數. ⚠️⚠️⚠️ Hi 想提提大家只要響Meetup報咗名，我哋就當你會準備出席。如果嚟唔到麻煩廿四小時之前撳返not going. 大家都知道麻雀三缺一係玩唔到，如果任何人放飛機，另外嗰三個出席嘅朋友等同白行一趟, 所以我哋係一定會踢。用嚟保障返出席嘅朋友。 遲到⏰少少ok, 但半個鐘以上亦會被放進黑名單. 將心比己，大家都唔想去到發覺唔夠腳 / 大家都唔想準時到但係要坐響度等人半粒鐘 🙏 埸費: $100 (a free drink is included)[第一名回贈$20, 第二名$10. 比賽成績會計落我哋嘅小聯賽. 年終會有兩個冠軍🏆奬: (1)勝率冠軍 (2)第一名次數冠軍. 獎品會於我地Whatsapp 群內公布. (1)勝率: 勝率=勝出次數/參賽次數。（勝利定義: 得分係正數） 一年嘅賽季會分成四個quarter, 一月到三月為之1st quarter. 四月到六月為2nd quarter 如此類推。每個quarter會逐次加一埸參賽場次作為計名次門檻。例子：四月份開始，勝率計算只會計參賽咗兩場或以上嘅玩家。七月份只會計參賽咗三場。十月份計參賽咗四場。所以年終總排名每個玩家需要最少參賽左四場才符合計算資格。 (2) 第一名冠軍: 簡單計每局第一名次數最多者. 🔔 報名參加Meetup活動, 當系統問你"Are you bringing anyone"時, 如果你祗是一個人來, 毋須㩒+1 (+1代表會帶朋友來的意思). 🔔我哋嘅活動主持人有時會因為工作或者學業關係臨時嚟唔到，Meeple Tree 保留臨時更換主持嘅可能性。🙏 🔔本會因放飛機(活動開始前24小時內退出者)被移除人數: 102 🔔Follow我哋IG: mtboardgame / boardgame_hk

In the busy Central & Western District,we provide you with a quiet and cozy corner. You can sit, relax and unwind,or pick up a brush to paint and create freely. No skills needed, no experience required.Just come to de-stress and enjoy your peaceful time. 在中西區鬧市裡，留一個安靜又溫柔的角落給你。 你可以靜坐、放空、休息，也可以隨心拿起畫筆，自由畫畫、創作。不用技巧、不用基礎、不用趕進度，只為療癒、減壓、陪伴自己。 Fee: HK$180 per person 費用：HK$180 / 位 Included: · Free basic art materials (paper, paint, brushes)· Quiet seating, lighting & air-conditioning· Self-guided painting & relaxing (no instruction) \*RSVP your spot by Whatsapp: 4449 0049 包含：・免費使用基本畫具（畫紙、顏料、畫筆等）・安靜座位、燈光、冷氣・純放鬆、自助畫畫，無教學 Included: · Free basic art materials (paper, paint, brushes) · Quiet seating, lighting & air-conditioning· Self-guided painting & relaxing (no instruction) \*RSVP your spot by Whatsapp: 4449 0049 Whatsapp 預約: 4449 0049 **Event time:** 9:00pm-12:30am 時間: 晚上9:00pm-12:30am **Venue:** Suite 903, 44-46 Bonham Strand West, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong 地址: 文咸西街44-46號903室 For more info, can check our IG: Midnight_bliss_studio or website: https://midnightbliss-studio.com/

Talk 1: **Typesetting PDFs with Web Standards** Speaker: Daniel Cheung Generating PDFs is a task every developer eventually faces, yet what looks easy often becomes deceptively challenging. Even something as simple as adding a footnote can be outright impossible or is painfully manual in many libraries. This session explores common challenges, unpacks the underlying graphic design principles that shapes corporate branding, and introduces Vivliostyle, a Web-Standards based library that enables developers to use HTML and CSS to create polished PDFs with professional design precision. Talk 2: **Instead of Another CRUD App, I Let AI Run My Homelab** Speaker: Evan Chan Description: In a 10+ node homelab of sub-$50 boards, overnight autonomous agents tackle increasingly wild problems — recovering corrupted Windows via a $11 DIY IP KVM, reverse-engineering IR protocols, generating bilingual subtitles, installing Linux entirely over SSH, and more, underpinned by a philosophy that trusts AI with real SSH access, and governed by rules and damage control, not restrictions. This talk walks through what happens when you stop asking AI to write boring boilerplate and start giving it interesting problems at the boundary of what's possible. Along the way, I'll introduce a second kind of agent that produces no code at all, which might just matter more. Venue Sponsor: **TEKsystems** is a global business and technology services company, partnering with market‑leading enterprises to achieve their business transformation and customer experience goals. With over 40 years of operating history, we leverage our global scale, combined with deep local delivery expertise, to solve complex business challenges, strengthen operational resilience, and bring our customers’ strategic vision full circle. TEKsystems operates across 100+ locations in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, deploying 80,000+ consultants annually at 6,000+ customers, including 80% of the Fortune 500.

This is a fun quiz with varied topics, but it normally does not have many sports questions. Team can have up to six. I need to book tables ahead so please RSVP early if possible.

***Date & Time***\*: Friday 24 April 2026, 8PM\* **Meeting Point & Venue**: about 8 minutes from exit P3 of Tsim Sha Tsui (exact location shared after RSVP) **Discounted price for promotion**: HK$238 per person includes one drink, snacks, rental of a space (NON-REFUNDABLE) **Vibe**: Relaxed group play with social twists for mingling and laughs **Why Join**: Experience mahjong in a friendly way, with chances to mingle, challenge via speaking \*\*RSVP Now \*\*— limited to 8 spots (2 tables) Meet for a casual mahjong session with added fun. Group will play Hong Kong-style mahjong, with basic rules for beginners. Mingle between rounds, challenge others with speaking skills like friendly trash talk, poker face or storytelling to psych out opponents. #HongKongMahjong #CasualGames #ExpatNight #LocalFun #MahjongHK #SocialGatherings #FragrantHarbourVibes #GameNightHK #CulturalPlay **Photo Consent Notice**: By joining, you consent to photos/videos from the event being used for future promotions. If you'd rather opt out, let me know!

For our fourth book, we have the acclaimed bestseller which explores why the curable disease of tuberculosis is still endemic in much of the world. 'AN ACCLAIMED BEST BOOK OF 2025: NPR, Scientific American, Science News. Goodreads Readers’ Choice Nonfiction Winner. Tuberculosis has been entwined with hu­manity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it. In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John be­came fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequi­ties that allow this curable, preventable infec­tious disease to also be the deadliest, killing over a million people every year. In Everything Is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world—and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.' This book is available on Kindle. For international delivery you can find it from Blackwells and it may also be available at the library or an English language book store. We are a "real" book club, which means we do read the book before the meet-up and discuss it. New members are always welcome. We need to notify the venue about how many will attend, so please make sure your RSVP status is accurate. Hope to see you there!

## Entropy This week, we’re chasing the quiet poetry of decline, decay, and disorder. Your challenge is to document the slow unraveling of structure — the inevitable shift from order to chaos. **In the street, nothing is permanent.** It’s in the surfaces. In the street messaging. In the tension between what was and what remains. **Entropy tells stories.** Of time passing. Of decay — and the tension between resilience and fragility. Of human effort against inevitable nature. Of care and neglect. Repair and ruin. Memory and erasure. **What to look for:** * Peeling paint, cracked concrete, crumbling brick * Rusted gates, corroded metal, rot, and patina — texture! * Nature reclaiming the manmade — growth through fences and walls * Closed shops, empty lots, forgotten corners * Visual metaphors — a fraying rope, a collapsing box, a weak lightbulb * **People existing within these spaces** **And don’t ignore the fading voices of street messaging:** Literally information breaking down. That’s entropy in its purest form. * Torn posters layered into abstraction * Half-erased graffiti and peeling stickers * People navigating past walls of posters * Safety warnings sun-bleached into near invisibility * Slogans fractured by wear and weather * Weathered shop signage missing characters * Words dissolving into texture **Tips** * Get close — textures are everything * Use light to emphasize cracks, erosion, and shadow * Look for contrast between old and new * Try black & white for a timeless, moody feel **This isn’t about ruin porn.** It’s about awareness and observation. Respect for time and was once and what remains. Finding beauty in places overlooked. **This could be treated as still life's or the human relationship with these special surroundings.** Entropy is not the end. It’s evidence. **MEET-UP DETAILS:** TIME: 3:00 PM LOCATION: **YAU MA TEI MTR D, STREET LEVEL** ### **REGROUP AT 4;30 PM:** NOT JUST COFFEE MAN HOO COURT, 448-452A NATHAN RD, YAU MA TEI Please stay a while to share your experience, thoughts, and maybe some images while grabbing a drink (or more). **AFTER ALL THIS:** Please post 5-10 of your images from the shoot (depending upon turn-out). And PLEASE, be a participant in commenting on other images. Gut reactions and general comments are always welcome. Comments can be subject-related, but better are those that address image-making. It's part of the process and valuable for your fellow photographers. Remember to be considerate of a possible wait list, and be sure to mark "won't attend" at least 8 hours before the shoot if you sign up and need to drop. Repeat offenders will be dropped from the group.

Hi there everybody! We invite you all to come enjoy Peng Chau island to our next movie night on 26th of April. This time we will watch our first Bhutan movie. We have chosen the movie called 'Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I Wait' (2016) from director Khyentse Norbu: he chronicles a sacred jungle ritual whose masked, anonymous participants seek after complete self-knowledge. The movie will have English subtitles. If you want to watch a Bhutan movie for the first time come and enjoy! We will start the movie at 7pm till 9pm in a terrace in Peng Chau. There is a ferry at 5:50pm from Central Pier N6 and arrives in Peng Chau at 6:30pm. I can meet people at the pier at 6:30pm. Or if you want to spend the day in Peng Chau and meet each other afterwards that's also fine! Please let me know if you are coming beforehand so we can prepare for us to meet and take you to the address. We want to encourage discussion about the movie and its theme afterwards. We will prepare some questions so we can debate about it together! You can bring your own food too. Also if you have more ideas on how to make our experience more fun, feel free to share it! If you have any question you can message me :) Hope to see you soon! MOVIE TRAILER>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqM2Q87nQYY

Try new games, meet new people, and find out what story games are all about! Explore the reaches of space! Witness kingdoms rise and fall! Create and explore tragedies! All within a single game night. We play story games like Fiasco, Kingdom, Polaris and Microscope that encourage everyone at the table to participate creatively. We also have one-shots of indie, OSR, and narrative-focused RPGs such as Apocalypse World, Dread, Lady Blackbird, and Old School Essentials! Everybody's welcome! It doesn't matter if you've never tried story games before or never played roleplaying games at all! Just bring your brain and a good attitude and come try it out! *** **IMPORTANT** * When you arrive look for the marked Story Games Columbus Tables. Each table will have a separate game. Seating is on a first-come-first-serve basis. * If all tables are full, look for a Facilitator. We will find a way to get you into a game! * There is a flat $3 cover charge for events at Tabletop. *** **Facilitators!!** Please arrive early so that we can get you set up with a table. Please reach out to me ASAP if you would be willing to help facilitate. You can reach me on the SGC Discord here - https://discord.gg/jUTvWUu

Love getting lost in a good book? [The Book Loft](https://www.bookloft.com/) of German Village is an iconic independent bookstore packed with hard-to-find literary treasures! This isn’t your run-of-the-mill bookstore; it’s a 32-room literary wonderland that would make even the most seasoned bibliophile’s head spin (one of the largest in the country)! **MEET**: We'll gather outside the storefront and then start browsing... **DESSERT**: We'll grab some famous macaroons to start our foodie tour. [Pistacia Vera](https://www.pistaciavera.com/) is a delicious bakery and cafe in the German Village. This charming shop is especially known for its classic macarons. **LATE LUNCH:** *After we browse the bookstore maze, let's gather for the best traditional Jewish deli in town, [Katzingers!](katzingers.com) Choices include stacked Reubens, hot pastromi on rye, chicken salad, macaroni salad, knish, chicken soup, NY cheesecake, and dozens of other sandwiches and sides!* **PARKING**: Street parking all around here. Check the parking time limit. The bookstore and the foodie stops are all on 3rd Street within 4 blocks on the same side of the street.

AI is changing how art is made. But when does it stop being your work and start being the machine’s? This month we're going to be doing a panel with with digital image, music, and written word artists, talking about at what point, while using AI in the creation process, does the work become not the artist creation? We encourage audience participation during this event that will be moderated by Chris Slee. Whether you’re deep in the field or just getting curious, come connect with others building and exploring AI in Columbus. Sponsored by [Transform Labs](https://www.transformlabs.com/services) Sign up also accessible via [Transform Labs Luma](https://luma.com/55umjqta)

The topic for May is "Ink" Speak Easy: true stories, told live. The idea is simple: an audience, an open microphone, and great stories. Hilarious, gripping, poignant- it's up to you. Audiences are invited to come to listen or come to tell as folks from all corners of Columbus offer their stories live on stage! Held at Wild Goose Creative's warm, intimate space, this night of tales occurs on the 3rd Thursday of every month. Doors open at 6:30 pm, show starts at 7:00 pm. Please arrive early if you want to tell, as we generally only have room for a limited number of tellers, and the sign-up sheet has a tendency to fill up fast. Formed around the idea that people need stories--they're what hold and draw us together--SpeakEasy celebrates the strangeness and commonness of being human. And in a world of smartphones, Facebook, Twitter, and more . . . it gives people a real, breathing, in-person way to connect. The night is geared for true stories of all kinds, taking the best tales told around kitchen tables, in darkened pubs, on the street corner, and at late-night parties and giving them an audience. Speak Easy is also a great outlet for performers, writers, and artists looking to share their favorite stories and perfect their skills. We strongly encourage tellers to please tell the story rather than read it so we keep within the spirit of good storytelling and stay engaged with the audience. All are welcome. Hang around after the show for a drink and build community!

Let’s meet and share our thoughts about Carson McCullers’ novella, The Ballad of The Sad Café.