9 Signs You’re in the Hong Kong Friend Zone

Have a crush on your best friend but can’t tell if the feeling’s reciprocated? We have a few uniquely Hong Kong signs that you’re probably stuck in the friend zone.

1. When it comes to texting, they don’t even bother with full sentences — it’s all Chinglish like “hai ah,” “ho ah.”

2. They’re not willing to cross the harbor to hang out with you. “Uggh, it’s too far away.”

3. You’re always the one going to their neighborhood, never the other way round. RUDE.

“Mind coming to Tseung Kwan O?”

“Nah, why don’t you come here again?”

4. When you go hotpotting, they never remember your favorite ingredients. It’s still bean curd and chicken… like every other time…

5. They never offer you the last fishball, egg puff or stinky tofu.

6. You’ve never had desserts soup, tong sui 糖水, together after dinner. All heartfelt conversations start during tong sui and continue into the night.

7. They’ve never almost missed the last train or the last bus to spend more time with you.

8. Despite going out together regularly, you almost never make an appearance on their Instagram.

9. You’ve never boiled telephone congee 煲電話粥, aka talked on the phone for hours. It’s the way many romances begin…