I am back to KL for the weekend. There’s a couple of things I’ve got to do in this brief return trip. I didn’t take any annual leave (don’t have much left and got to save them especially for my company trip and trip to Hong Kong on this coming July) and hence it will be a very rushed travel back to KL this time. It has been quite a while too since I last went back home; which was during Chinese New Year holiday early this year.
Reached home on Friday’s late night after a faster-than-usual AirAsia flight from Singapore. The flight will usually takes 45 minutes but it took only half an hour that day (I guess the pilot is rushing to be back home in KL). Went out to my sister’s salon to get a haircut on Saturday’s morning. Then, I brought my young nephew for lunch and subsequently bought the necessary prayer items for ritual offerings to my grandparents and mom tomorrow.
Had some free time and played rummy with family in the afternoon (and then again for a short while after dinner). It is my favourite pastime with my family. And since it was my dad’s birthday end of last month (and I was not in KL back then), me and sister brought my dad to a buffet dinner at Jogoya Buffet Restaurant at Starhill KL that evening as a belated birthday treat for him. Hasn’t been there for quite a long time by the way. The food were great and I took a lot of plates. The price is a little expensive though; at RM198++ per adult during this Raya festive season. I was so full after the meal.
Woke up super early today at 6am (the Sun isn’t even up yet) to accompany my dad to the neighbourhood market to buy some stuff for the ritual offerings and also breakfast for ourselves. Once my eldest sister’s family and my uncle joined us at our home, we then proceed to the Nirvana Memorial Park (at Semenyih) for the Qing Ming Festival. Today is the last day of the festival and hence we observed much fewer people visiting the memorial park today (which is very good; no crowd and most importantly, no traffic congestion at all leading to the memorial park which is a common and a frustrating sight every year). Reached there at around 8am.
Visited my grandparents’ gravesite first and then to my mom’s gravesite. We finished all the necessary ritual offerings, tomb sweeping and chit-chatting (haha…) a little after 10am. We then went to a seafood restaurant at Hulu Langat for an early lunch at around 11am. Came back home a moment ago, rest for a while and had this time to publish a new post right here right now before catching my flight later in the late afternoon back to Singapore. That sums up my brief return trip to KL this weekend. Most probably will be coming back to KL again next month (hopefully can stay longer too…but without sacrificing annual leave…how…any idea?).
Update on later of the day…
Was greeted with a fascinating view of a pair of rainbow while the plane I was in was making a landing at the Changi Airport early this afternoon. Felt the urge to share some pictures during the flight including the one with the lovely rainbows mentioned earlier.
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all my Muslim friends! May the joy of this festive season light your life with love, peace, and hope. Have a warm and joyous celebration with your loved ones! I always admire the utmost dedication of the Muslims to fast for not only a day or two, but for an entire Ramadan month before Raya.
We only have one day of public holiday for this festival in Singapore (while Malaysia is enjoying two). Hence, we will be back to work tomorrow. That’s ok; at least we have a day off in the middle of the week (making this a less stressful week…haha) and only got to work for two more days and it’s weekend! And this weekend, I’ve got to make a quick trip to KL to pay an annual visit to my grandparents’ and my mom’s graves for the Qing Ming Festival.
And yup…as the post’s title had already revealed; I bought myself a fish as a pet. I suddenly have this urge or passion recently to own a small desktop aquarium tank in my bedroom in Singapore. I immediately explored on products available in Shopee, purchased one and it came 2 days right after my order (that’s very quick!). The small tank also comes with rock white sands, white LED light, seashells and an artificial plant for tank decorations. It only costs me SGD12+ (inclusive of a small bag of fish food and a mini water changer too).
I went to a small aquarium shop near my house early today and look for a Betta fish. The one I chosen is a male, very colourful, has beautiful fins and is particularly active (kept swimming around in its jar). I’m getting you a new home! It only costs SGD15 for the fish and I bought additional fish pellets there for SGD2. I’m calling my new pet fish ‘Chips’ after a quick browse online searching for interesting and simple names for pet fish. Revealing Chips below…;
Currently, the desktop tank is quite small but I assume it’s sufficient to house one small Betta fish (it is at least larger than the jar it is housed in at the aquarium shop). May opt for a slightly larger tank for it in near future. Chips, I hope you enjoy staying in your new home with me. Haha…As this will be my first time taking care of a fish, so I’m a little worried. Anyway, Betta fish are one of the most low maintenance fish you can have as a pet, as they do not require a lot of space, equipment, or attention. So…I think it should be ok.
I originally plan to head out today (it’s a nice Saturday!) but my head was feeling heavy the whole day (don’t know why). Hence, I ended up spending most of the day at home and casually taking multiple brief naps in between. Getting lazy to the max today.
I only left my house today once to get dinner. Since Hari Raya Aildilfitri is less than 2 weeks away from now, it’s the time of the year again for me to check out the annual Geylang Serai Ramadan Bazaar which is within walking distance from my home. It is located around Geylang Serai Community Centre which is near to the Paya Lebar MRT station. The bazaar this year has about 500 stalls (lesser than last year’s 700 stalls) but still attracts huge crowd and is a popular destination for night market food and beverages.
I purposely chose to explore the bazaar way earlier than dinner time at around 5.30pm and the place was already bustling with people. I skimmed around the bazaar to decide what to buy for dinner. I bought Thai fried bananas, mango sticky rice, fried rosti with chilli crab sauce and a coconut juice. (I remember I bought similar stuff from this bazaar last year too…haha!) That’s not a lot of food but they already cost me SGD27. That’s so expensive but understandable due to the extremely high rent for a stall space at the bazaar which made into news every year.
The bazaar sells similar stuff every single year. Sorry Singapore. Night markets in Malaysia are much better with more variety of food and of course way cheaper. Anyway, I didn’t stay long at the bazaar just now because it was way too hot and stuffy inside. Perhaps next time I can go and explore other famous Ramadan bazaars in Singapore such as the Kampong Glam Ramadan Bazaar.
Taylor Swift is in Singapore currently for her 6 sold-out shows at National Stadium for ‘The Eras Tour’ (her 6th concert tour). She is arguably the most famous American singer right now and needs no further introduction. The concert tour which consists of over 150 shows across 5 continents commenced on March last year and will end on December this year. With a global cultural impact, ‘The Eras Tour’ became the first tour to surpass $1 billion in revenue, making it the highest-grossing of all time.
I did not listen to her songs a lot but her songs do give good vibes and are very upbeat. Some of her popular songs include ‘Love Story’, ‘Cruel Summer’, ‘Blank Space’, ‘You Belong With Me’, ‘Shake It Off’, ‘Anti-Hero’, ‘Style’, ‘Lover’, etc. Singapore is her only stop in South East Asia for her concert tour. Yup…she skipped all the other ASEAN nations due to exclusive deal made with Singapore’s authority that has caused displeasure from officials from Thailand, Philippines, etc after the deal was exposed. The deal is somewhere along the line whereby Singapore gave a grant to the concert organizer in exchange that Singapore would be the only stop in South East Asia region for her tour.
Well, I don’t think Singapore is being sneaky or unfriendly here. It is just a smart way of doing business where no one else has thought about it. By doing the shows only in Singapore, many from around the region would flock to Singapore to watch the shows. This boosts the economy and tourism of the country as these visitors would come to spend during their stay here for the concert. Smart move! Many global celebrities were also spotted attending the concerts here in Singapore such as Barry Keoghan, Blackpink’s Lisa, Carina Lau, JJ Lin, Wu Chun, etc.
‘The Eras Tour’ isn’t just merely a concert tour by now. It has undoubtedly becomes a global phenomenon. Me and my friends went over to the stadium area after work yesterday to join the crowd outside the stadium hoping to be catch some of her song performances. Yesterday’s evening was her 5th show of her tour here. The crowd was massive as expected as many couldn’t obtain the tickets for the concert. Many were singing along together with Taylor from outside the stadium.
It was very happening not only inside the stadium but also on the outside. There are many booths selling merchandise of the tour, food and beverages. There were even several street performances to further elevate the atmosphere. Many visitors went prepared by setting up picnic mat and enjoying their time there while listening to Taylor live without the need to fork out money to buy the concert tickets (also it’s super difficult to get one anyway!).
We only stayed there for a while and managed to listen to few of her songs. I became a fake Swiftie (a term that refers to a fan of Taylor Swift) for the day. Haha…We then had our dinner at the Kallang Wave Mall right beside the stadium and left early to avoid congestion at the MRT later on when the show’s ending is near. Although I didn’t manage to watch her concert, but at least I can claim that I have listened to her concert before…haha.
Yup…as the title has mentioned; I went over to Johor Bahru for the weekend with a friend. I think this will be likely a very common activity for me for the weekends beginning this year. It is actually quite convenient as long as you avoid the peak hours when you are crossing the bridge and the immigrations.
Besides that, Johor is a huge state and there’s many things to do, eat, shop and explore there…and it doesn’t hurt that much that all at the expenses are in Ringgit Malaysia rather than Singaporean dollars. Hmm…Malaysian currency has been dropping so much in recent years as compared to other currencies including Singapore. SGD1 now equals to RM3.55. What happened to Malaysia?
Anyway, I reached JB right at noon yesterday and met up with my friend at the Johor Bahru Old Chinese Temple. This popular and historical temple is only located behind the City Square Mall and it was my first time visiting the temple yesterday. There was an on-going dragon dance during our visit. By the way, yesterday was the 15th day of the Chinese New Year festival, marking the last day of the CNY celebration.
I had a lot of meals for the rest of the day. First, a halal dim-sum lunch at AEON Tebrau. Then, I bought a box of bird nest drink (only 4 small bottles and it costs RM118 from Eu Yan Sang) as I suddenly have the urge for this nutritious drink. What an expensive urge. Haha…In the evening, we went to have dinner at Dai Tao Lala Pot at Mount Austin. I have tried its main branch in Kepong not long ago (as recommended by my sisters). The queue was super long as expected and we have to wait for over an hour to finally get a table. Nevertheless, the meal was good but the soup was a bit too salty.
Our hunt for food isn’t coming to an end yet. We went to a nearby dessert shop for dessert (duh…) and then drove over to Taman Pelangi for supper at a mamak restaurant (time for beloved maggi goreng and iced milo…haha…perfect combination!). I was super full by the end of the day. We went for breakfast at the same mamak restaurant this morning before heading to KSL Mall for a quick shopping. Got myself returning back to Singapore during the lunch hour (before late afternoon) to avoid the usual insanely crowded situation at the immigrations on every Sunday.
Last Friday was quite an eventful day for me too. My company organized a Chinese New Year event in the office that day in the afternoon with lunch buffet, gifts distribution and yee-sang tossing.
On that evening, I went for my usual cycling from Kallang’s Stadium to Marina Bay Sands. Mid way during the bicycle ride, I was surprised with a sudden fireworks display over from the nearby F1 circuit (at Singapore Flyer). Then after a quick research, there was actually the annual Chingay Parade that evening. Okay…free fireworks show for me to enjoy.
That’s all for my post today. Have fun for the rest of the weekend.
There is a saying ‘time flies when you are having fun’. It is really true. Two weeks ago, I was so looking forward to fly back to KL to have a long break, celebrate Chinese New Year and go for the trip to Sri Lanka. They were all past tense now.
I went back home feeling slightly unwell in the first couple of days (throat was unwell, runny nose and body felt very hot inside…luckily, it is not Covid). Then, I immediately embarked on a 7-days trip to Sri Lanka with my parents. You can check out my previous post below that summarizes the trip if you haven’t. It was an enjoyable trip (except for a night in a hotel when my room’s TV turned on by itself at around 3am and that freaked me out a little…and I couldn’t sleep for the rest of that night…haha).
After returning from the trip on last Thursday, I spent the remaining days (two days left) in KL resting, went to a friend’s house for gathering (meeting my university friends; I have not met them all together for a very long time),
…played mahjong and rummy with family (it was fun!),
…collecting angpows and made my first visit to my sister’s new house (currently under renovation). My family had a late reunion dinner just yesterday with my uncle right before I fly back to Singapore this morning. The dinner is incomplete without tossing ‘yee sang’.
Managed to catch last glimpse of my porn; the Merdeka 118 Tower before the dinner (as the restaurant is nearby) before I came back to Singapore. Yes…skyscrapers are my porn. Haha…
Back to my Singapore’s home just three hours ago and had to do all the house chores this afternoon. Originally, I thought I could pay a visit to River Hongbao 2024 event at Gardens by the Bay to check out all the CNY light displays this evening. However, the event has already ended yesterday. I also thought I could check out the final dragon drone show at Marina Bay Sands scheduled tonight but it got cancelled suddenly due to ‘technical reason’ by the organizer. Urrghh…too bad; I missed both events…it’s out of my control and I can’t do anything about it. (luckily, at least I got to see the River Hongbao 2024 on-going display setup in the afternoon days before the event officially started couple of weeks ago).
Have to get back to work tomorrow after almost two weeks of holiday. Still felt the holiday wasn’t enough (mostly due to most the time I was already occupied with the Sri Lanka trip). Anyway, few more days and February is gone…and time to start planning for the next trip! Haha…
Light to Night Festival returns this year from 19th January to 8th February 2024. Themed ‘Reimagine’ for 2024 edition, this district-wide visual arts festival looks to inspire audiences to forge deeper connections with art in new and engaging ways. The festival features art installations, light projections on building facade, exhibitions, live performances and various other programmes.
(Image source: “Light to Night Singapore’ Facebook page)
The parts I’m looking forward to see every year are only the art installations and light projections. After finishing my work for the day just now, I met up with a friend of mine and had dinner before going to explore the displays/installations. First, we went to check out the light projections (titled ‘Temple of Love’ and ‘Teo Eng Seng: Living the Life’) on the front facade of National Gallery Building. There is also an installation (named ‘Wings of Change’) over there right opposite the building at the Padang. It is said to resemble seeds but they look like ‘siham’ (cockles) to me…hehe…
After that, we walked over to The Arts House (besides National Gallery) for another light projection (titled ‘Winter Sonata, Summer Mookata’). Here, there is a small art installation titled ‘8-bit Word Cloud’. Next, we moved on to the adjacent Asian Civilizations Museum (just visited this museum two weeks ago) to see a light projection on its sideway (titled ‘Passage’) and saw another light installation named ‘Party Pavilion’.
Following that, we proceed to the Victoria Theatre building to see the last light projection (titled ‘Embroidered Landscapes’). This light projection is the most mesmerizing out of all that we have seen this evening. There is also another art installation over there called the ‘Wayang Spaceship’. That’s it. A quick walkaround the area to check out all these in less than an hour.
As it is weekday today, there isn’t too many people during our visit to the festival area (Singapore Civic District) just now. There was a time of rain before I finished work but luckily it stopped right after.
I just got back home from Johor Bahru. Yes, I went across to JB for the past weekend mainly to do some shopping. I consider it as a trip my early shopping for the upcoming lunar new year celebration next month. Accommodation and transport costs were saved thanks to a friend who stayed in JB and offered to drive me around and allowed me to stay overnight at his place.
Departed from my home in Paya Lebar at 10am yesterday, took a public express bus all the way to JB from Bugis’ Queen Street, cleared immigration and arrived at JB Sentral at 12pm. It all took 2 hours only for the journey (that’s faster than expected). I immediately met with my friend and after having lunch, my shopping spree commenced. Haha….We first went to Johor Premium Outlets (JPO) which is almost an hour drive away from the city.
This is my first time visiting JPO. It is larger than the Genting Premium Outlets but has very similar layout and design. I managed to buy a two-sided jacket (love the design very much), two T-shirts (one for outing and one for sports) and one short for sports. Later in the afternoon, we went to visit a pet’s cafe (Chow Q Cafe) where we were surrounded by adorable cats and dogs.
We then had dinner nearby, returned to my friend’s home for a brief rest and then head out again in late evening for supper. Having supper at a mamak restaurant is the best! Early today, we had dim sum for breakfast before making our way to Mid Valley South Key Mall (my favourite mall in JB) for last day of shopping! Here, I bought two more casual T-shirts (to wear at home only) and one very red T-shirt to wear on first day of Chinese New Year next month. Haha…The priciest item I bought today is a Solvil et Titus watch that costs over RM1k even after 20% discount. I take it as a treat to myself. By the way, I’m also looking for a new pair of shoes but couldn’t find any that I like.
We went to watch a movie in the mall too after that. It is a Malaysian Chinese film called ‘Abang Adik’. I have heard many positive feedbacks towards this local film and it had also won best actor for the main lead actor at last year’s Taiwan Golden Horse Awards. After watching the movie, I fully understood why the actor (Wu Kang Ren) won best actor (thanks to one particularly emotional scene in the prison…opps…little spoiler there). The movie is a bit slow but the last segment was quite saddening (got me holding my tears). A very decent, down-to-Earth and loving local production.
(Image above from IMDB)
Had a super late lunch after the movie and then my friend dropped me back at the Immigration Building at around 5pm for me to return to Singapore. Very busy and chaotic crowds at the immigration building as expected. Arrived home after over 2 hours (also a little faster than I expected too since there’s such long queue to catch for a bus at the immigration building). Quite a rewarding weekend for me (managed to buy a lot of stuff…my wallet hurts…haha).
2023…hmm…so much happenings and memories. This year has been particularly intense and tough but at least it’s now going to be over soon. For me, 2023 is filled with huge emotions, work overloads, exciting trips and invaluable life lessons. There were so much ups and downs this year that had changed me to be hopefully a better person.
I began year 2023 at Sydney in midst of a vacation in Australia right after me and my friend completed our working holiday in New Zealand in second half of 2022. Witnessing one of the world’s largest and most famous new year fireworks over at Sydney Harbour Bridge was truly a memorable sight to kickstart 2023. It was one of my lifelong wishes too. Right after Sydney, we went to Perth and I got the chance to revisit this city where I used to spent two years (2016-2017) for my postgraduate study. Got to revisit my Curtin campus, met with my friends who are based in Perth, and even explored the Rottnest Island.
I then came back home to Malaysia right on time for the Chinese New Year celebration near end of January with my family whom I have not met for a long time. I then joined my parents for a guided trip to Hokkaido, Japan during the CNY holiday. It was freaking cold and there’s really nothing much to see besides than snow and snow. Would definitely come back to Japan in near future to visit other more interesting places.
Right after that, I moved back to Singapore in February. I found a new room to rent, got Covid-19 for the second time and resume my job as an architectural executive in March this year. Time to re-adapt to the working life in Singapore and get back to reality after having been away for so long and spent so much of my past savings on the working holiday and vacations. To stress it again; I never regretted for my big decision in 2022 to drop off everything and head out for the working holiday.
From end of March to mid April, I experienced one of the toughest times of my life. A depressing personal issue happened for the first time and broke me. It left me with extremely heavy heart for weeks…even months. Fortunately, I had a few friends whom I trust and they were willing to lend their ears and support for me through the dark time. I knew I had to get back up myself too. I am still healing till now, but at least it slowly gets better and I’m sure it will.
In April, I have learnt to cycle after taking a private lesson. This has since become my favourite thing to do weekly (although I’m still not pro at it). My usual routine on Friday or Saturday’s evening now is to cycle from Kallang’s Stadium area to Marina Bay Sands and then back to the former. The views along this route never fail to amaze me. In this month, I was also excited that my favourite singer/actress over the years, Sammi Cheng has finally won her first best actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards 2023 for her performance in ‘Lost Love’.  
In May, I decided to go for an impromptu trip to Dubai just to clear off my head and to attempt solo trip for the first time. It has also been my wish for a long time to visit this city to check out its remarkable architecture including the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest man-made structure. It was a packed yet enjoyable trip. Also had a one-day trip to Abu Dhabi during this vacation.
In June, I went over to Marina Bay weekly to check out the National Day rehearsal fireworks (yes…I love to watch fireworks!). In that month, I also went to Johor Bahru to play go-kart (for the first time) with my colleagues.
In July, I was supposed to watch the concert of my favourite Cantopop singer, Sammi Cheng in Hong Kong with my sisters. However, her concert is postponed till July 2024 as she was down with Covid-19 and could not perform. As we have already paid for our flight and hotel, we still went ahead for the trip. We were greeted with typhoon once we landed. Fortunately, weather slowly got better and we still managed to visit and eat at a lot of places. We also had a one-day trip to Macau.
In August which is somehow a very happening month, I got free tickets from my landlord to Singapore’s 58th National Day Parade and I watched it with a friend of mine. It was a cool experience. Also in this month, I joined my company’s trip to Phuket, Thailand with most of my colleagues. I have been with the company for about 5 years and this is the first time I’m joining their trip (also note that no company trip for past few years due to Covid-19). I realized that 2023 is the year where I had the most oversea trips (at 5; Australia, Japan, United Arab Emirates, China and Thailand). Also in this month, I got to finally cast my vote for the first time in a state election (in Selangor).
In September, I got my new iPhone 15 Pro to replace my previous iPhone 12 Pro which ran out of storage. Continuing from this month to October and November, I was mostly occupied with work (been staying back in the office or even worked on weekends for submissions). During these months, I also have this interest to explore parks or nature reserves around Singapore (to get the stress out of my work and to be at peace with myself and nature).
In October, I went to the much anticipated Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Singapore with my friends. It was really fun (not the queueing part of course) and the haunted houses were cool. The next day, we were up for a visit to Mandai Bird Paradise too. Not to forget that in November, I went to visit Genting Skyworlds Outdoor Theme Park for the first time while on a trip to Genting Highlands with my family and my eldest sister’s family.
In December, I celebrated my 32nd birthday with my friends at Johor, had a fun Christmas office party in middle of the month and visited the popular annual Christmas Wonderland event at Gardens by the Bay. Recently I brought my parents and my eldest nephew to travel around Singapore before coming back to KL on Christmas Day with them for my one-week long holiday at home due to office closure.
That’s it for the recap or summary of my somehow exciting life in 2023. This particular year really taught me to be wiser, more accessible, accept things as they are and to learn to love myself more than anyone else. I also have been to a lot of new places and trying things for the first time this year. Well, it’s never too late to attempt on new things or challenges. It really is one of the most unforgettable years in my life. I’m wishing for a much better 2024 with more ups than downs hopefully.
The annual Christmas Wonderland event at Gardens by the Bay is back in conjunction with the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays. The event entered its 10th edition this year and hence it’s the biggest of them all. This is my fourth year visiting this event (first visit in 2019 and subsequently for every following year except for last year as I was on working holiday in New Zealand + vacation in Australia).
To be honest, the light installations are more or less the same to what we have seen in previous years (reusing back same decorations like the illuminated Spalliera at the centre of Supertree Grove). However, I do noticed that the Walk of Lights’ tunnel this year is very much longer and features more mesmerizing LED visual transitions. The event also features carnival games, live performances, and festive dining and shopping.
As usual, there are opportunities to meet and have photo with Santa Claus and be dazzled by falling snow (falling foam actually) at the end of each musical and light show (happening few times daily) at the Supertree Grove. The show (called Garden Rapsody) is a bit mediocre though (doesn’t feel festive or lively enough). By the way, the admission ticket that I bought also include entry to the Supertree Observatory. This is my first time going up to this observatory at the top of one of the supertrees. From up there, you get awesome 360-degree view of the city.
As expected, the crowds were huge on this evening. I couldn’t imagine the size of the crowd in the coming weekend as Christmas Day is getting closer. I’m likely to be coming back again on the next weekend to bring my parents and nephew to visit the event too (they are coming for a short trip next week and they have not been to this event before).
Me and my friend were there for about three hours today. Most of the time were spent on queueing for photo-taking with Santa Claus and at several light installations. Before that, we had dinner at the newly renovated Satay by the Bay nearby and watched ‘Wonka’ film at Suntec City earlier today. This musical fantasy movie was quite fun and light-hearted. Recommended to watch during holiday season this year.
Before ending the post, I also would like to share some pictures taken during my company’s Christmas party in the office on yesterday’s afternoon. We enjoyed the buffet lunch, alcohols, gift exchange, and a team game to build the prettiest gingerbread house. There was also a lucky draw (but no luck for me though for every single year). I had a good time. We only need to work for half-day yesterday…so that must be a good time. Haha.
That’s all for my post today. It’s already nearing 1am now. Got to go to bed.
Vincent Loy's Online Journal 