Becomes a fake Swiftie outside Singapore National Stadium yesterday.

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.

Merdeka 118 Tower officially opened.

Merdeka 118 Tower is at last officially inaugurated on last Wednesday, 10th January 2024. With a staggering architectural height of 678.9 metres, the 118-storey megatall skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur is the second tallest building / man-made structure in the world, only behind the 828 metres tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It is the tallest building in Malaysia, having surpassed both the Exchange 106 Tower (453.6 metres tall) and the iconic Petronas Twin Towers (451.9 metres tall).

Merdeka 118 Tower — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star

Designed by an Australian architectural firm, Fender Katsalidis, the tower features multi-faceted diamond-shaped facade that symbolises the multi-racial society of Malaysia. Its form was inspired by the outstretched hand gesture made by Malaysia’s first Prime Minister (Tunku Abdul Rahman) in 1957, when he declared the nation’s independence in the adjacent Stadium Merdeka, which is part of the redeveloping Merdeka 118 precinct.

Groundbreaking took place in July 2014 and the tower topped out on November 2021 with the completion of its 160m tall spire. The tower reached completion in November 2023 and is officially inaugurated by Yang Di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia) on last Wednesday in a ceremony that saw spectacular light and laser show from the tower. It took 10 long years to turn it from drawing board to reality.

I recalled that I do post periodic updates on the progress of the tower while it was under construction several years back in my blog here too. I do constantly follow up with any updates of this tower as I am a fan of skyscrapers. It is finally reaching a historic milestone this week with its official opening. By the way, the Park Hyatt Hotel that occupies the upper part of the tower will only be opened on third quarter of 2024 and the observation deck will only be opened on fourth quarter of 2024.

Still have to wait for a while to personally go up to its observation deck (tallest in South East Asia) and enjoy the city skyline view of Kuala Lumpur from high up there. The views must be insane. By the way, do you know that the tower is actually located right across from my former secondary school; Methodist Boys Secondary School Kuala Lumpur. When I was studying there, it was just a dump site and then barricaded for a few years with no activity or whatsoever. And now, it is the site of one of the world’s tallest structures. What a transformation!

2023 in a glance: Recap of major events that define the year.

2023 is coming to its end. Without further ado, here are the top 10 major events/news that happened this year which has left quite an impact globally and will be well remembered as some of the main highlights that define 2023.

1 – India overtakes China as world’s most populous country

According to UN population estimates, India has overtaken China as the world’s most populous country in April 2023. With estimated population of around 1.43 billion people in India, the country has knocked China off the top spot since record began in 1950. India will likely remain the most populous country for decades to come. China’s population is both shrinking and aging. 

2 – Escalated conflict between Israel and Palestine

In October this year, Hamas group who took control of Gaza strip launched attack on Israel. Israel retaliated with immediate airstrikes and invasions. The soaring death toll for Palestinian civilians, most of them women and children, fueled worldwide complaints that Israel was committing war crimes. Israel denied the charge, arguing that Hamas was using Palestinian civilians as human shields.

3 – Earthquake in Turkey and Syria

Over 59 000 people were killed after a series of devastating tremors hit parts of Turkey and neighbouring Syria early on February 6. Thousands of buildings tumbled down, trapping tens of thousands of residents. Most of the damage was done by the 7.8 and 7.7 magnitude quakes that struck Antakya within hours. It is estimated to be the largest earthquake in Turkey since 1939.

4 – The lost submersible

The Titan submersible carrying five people onboard imploded in the North Atlantic Ocean on June 18. The submersible was part of a deep sea extreme tourism mission to visit the 111-year-old wreckage of the Titanic more than 12,000 feet underwater. After days of gruelling search and rescue mission, officials confirmed that a debris field was found around 500m away from the bow of the Titanic that was consistent with that of the 22-foot submersible.

5 – Coronation of King Charles III of United Kingdom

About a year since the passing of the revered Queen Elizabeth II, the coronation ceremony for his eldest son, King Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla finally took place on 6th May 2023 at Westminster Abbey. The ceremony had a peak UK television audience of 20.4 million, making it the most watched television broadcasts in the United Kingdom in 2023.

6 – Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games

Originally scheduled to take place in September 2022, the 19th Asian Games (Hangzhou 2022) finally took place from 23rd September to 8th October this year. Asian Games is the world’s second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games and Hangzhou was the third Chinese city to host the Asian Games, after Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010. Host nation, China topped the medal tally with 201 gold medals.

7 – ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ and Michelle Yeoh at the 2023 Oscars

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’, a 2022 American absurdist comedy-drama film became the biggest winner in 95th Academy Awards held in 12th March 2023. The film won a leading 7 awards out of 11 nominations including best picture. Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian to win the Academy Award for best actress in a leading role. So proud of her as a Malaysian on winning the Oscars. This critically acclaimed film is also currently estimated to be the most awarded film of all time.

8 – Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency

The World Health Organization ends its declaration of COVID-19 being a global health emergency, but continues to refer to it as a pandemic. The coronavirus outbreak which began in late 2019 has already claimed lives of over 7 million people. Thanks to widespread distribution of vaccines, the pandemic is considered to be brought under control in recent years. Tourist arrivals to many places have also returned to pre-pandemic levels.

9 – Deadly train collision in India

On 2 June 2023, three trains collided in Balasore district in Odisha state of eastern India. A total of 296 people were killed in the crash and more than 1,200 others were injured. It was the deadliest rail disaster worldwide since the 2004 Sri Lanka tsunami train wreck.

10 – Global warming intensifies as world temperature reaches record high

The world’s oceans reach a new record high temperature of 20.96 °C (69.73 °F) in August 2023, exceeding the previous record in 2016. July is also the hottest month on record for globally averaged surface air temperatures by a considerable margin (0.3 °C). On top of that, on 17th November 2023, the global average temperature temporarily exceeds 2°C above the pre-industrial average for the first time in recorded history. 2023 has become the hottest year on record.

Other key 2023 events that aren’t listed above are the renaming of Twitter to X in July, the ‘Barbenheimer’ phenomenon in July due to simultaneous release of two totally opposite films (Barbie and Oppenheimer) that prompted unusually viral responses, continued Russia’s invasion of Ukraine throughout the year, Hong Kong flooded by ‘once-in-a-century’ rainstorm in September, all-year domination of Taylor Swift in music from her chart-topping songs to the highly publicized sold-out shows in her global ‘Eras Tour’, and Disney celebrated its 100th anniversary in last October.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Yes! Managed to buy tickets for Sammi’s HK concert this July!

I’m so excited this morning! Today is finally the day when the online public sale of admission tickets for Sammi Cheng’s concert on this coming July at Hong Kong Coliseum starts. The aim to watch her concert in Hong Kong is already fixed in my mind ever since she announced late last year that she will be holding her 11th solo concert tour in July 2023.

Her tour this time is called ‘You & Mi Sammi Cheng World Tour’ and will begin in Hong Kong with 13 shows (originally planned to have only 8 dates but 5 more shows were added later on due to overwhelming response in the priority sale for specific bank card holders earlier). The tickets are priced at HKD1080, HKD680 and HKD380. Although I have been her fans for over 2 decades and I have watched three of her past concerts at Genting Highlands before (last one being in 2015), but I have never actually watch her performing at her home turf in the famous Hong Kong Coliseum (or commonly known as Red Hall).

The online public sale today commenced at 10am. I was working but I was already standby with the ticketing website on my office desktop once I reached my office couple of minutes after 9am. However, as soon as the clock reaches 9.57am, one of my superiors called me for a quick discussion. Haiya….Once that was over by 10.01am, I immediately get back to my work station and clicked on the purchasing page. I was already in a queue with over 80 000 people ahead of me. I was only late for like 2 minutes. What the heck!!! At that moment, I felt so defeated. With only 64 000 tickets available to purchase out of her 13 shows (with a huge portion already reserved for organizers earlier), it would be impossible for me to get any with that many person ahead of me (and one person can buy a maximum of 4 tickets). There was also some technical glitches with the website (very much expected due to extremely high traffic to the website) this morning that made me felt worst.

Luckily, I did ask my eldest sister to help to buy this morning too since she will be going with me for the concert along with my second sister and her partner. She came prepared with two phones, one laptop and one iPad to try to snap the fast-selling tickets. And yup…she managed to purchase 4 tickets priced at HKD680 each for the show on 18th July (Tuesday). She immediately told me the good news and I’m so delighted! Can’t thank her enough! Once I got into the purchasing page some 10 minutes later, all the shows were already sold-out with no option to purchase seat with any prices on any dates. The website then made an official statement an hour or two later that all the shows are sold out. My sister was so lucky. By the way, we will only be able to collect the physical tickets once we arrive at Hong Kong close to the date of the show that we purchased.

And yup..I will be going to watch her HK concert and it’s now confirmed that my next travel destination will be Hong Kong on this coming July, exactly two months from now. Haha…Perhaps I will include one day trip to the neighbouring Macau as well since I have not been there before (I have been to Hong Kong once back in 2006). I have just returned from my solo trip to Dubai two days ago (and had already been to Australia and Japan early this year) and now I have to start planning for another one. My life is mostly about travelling this year, I guess…Haha…it is undeniable that travel is great! I hope more and more good news like this one today will come rolling to me for the rest of the year.

Like what I mentioned earlier, this will be my first time seeing my idol performing at the four-sided central stage in the Hong Kong Coliseum. Can’t wait for it. With this 13 shows planned, this would push her total number of shows held in Hong Kong Coliseum to 115. She is already the third female artist with most number of shows in that famous venue, only behind Paula Tsui and the late Anita Mui. With 115, she will also join the list of top 10 artists with most number of shows in Hong Kong Coliseum. What an achievement! Also let’s not forget she had won 4 best actress honors from her critically acclaimed performance in the film ‘Lost Love’ early this year including from the prestigious Hong Kong Film Awards.

She recently released a new song with spectacular MV that involved over 100 dancers and was shot in Taiwan last year. The song is very catchy and I quite like it. It also features a new young artist, Jeffrey Ngai who is an actor, model and singer that does the rap part/English part of the song. You can have a listen to the song below from YouTube:

It has become a very common occurrence nowadays that concert tickets in Asia were all snapped up very quickly for any popular singers recently. Earlier, I was informed of news that Jacky Cheung’s shows planned at Singapore had been extended to 9 dates and all were sold out immediately. Same to Aaron Kwok’s coming 3 shows at Singapore as well. Then, Eason’s shows at KL last weekend were also sold-out quickly according to one of my friends who did attend his concert. And then, news came out yesterday that Coldplay concert at Malaysia in this coming November sold out immediately too once the tickets are released. Everyone suddenly have huge interest on watching concerts and the singers are making big bucks!

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Cycled all the way to Bay East Garden last evening and then went to visit Sentosa Island today.

It has already become my routine every Friday’s evening to head to Singapore Sports Hub for cycling…or to be exact, to polish my cycling skill. I am still far from being a confident cyclist and hopefully in less than a month, I will be much better in controlling my ride. In fact, I even fell down once yesterday during a ride when I tried to control riding through a path with obstructions. Hope no one sees that…haha.

My ride didn’t just stop around the Sports Hub area last evening. I took the initiative to ride all the way to Bay East Garden yesterday. I was doing fine as the path is wide and there weren’t too many people as it was already quite late in the evening. Most importantly, I manage to get some fantastic views of the Sports Hub from Tanjong Rhu Promenade and the entire Marina Bay from along the waterfront of the Bay East Garden. You can view the entire Singapore city skyline from here including some famous landmarks like Marina Bay Sands, Singapore Flyer and the Gardens by the Bay’s conservatories. Both of my legs were pretty sore last night as it was the first time I rode this far (about 10km).

I went to Sentosa Island today particularly to visit the Fort Siloso, a military museum in the form of a park at the west end of the island. I had been to this place several years ago with a friend but we didn’t manage to tour the entire place and were very rushed as our visit was near the closing time. Hence, this visit is to ‘complete’ the tour and to reminisce the past. The main highlight of the place is the Fort Siloso Skywalk which offers spectacular views of the island and its beaches, cable car, architecturally-intriguing apartment complex named Reflections at Keppel Bay that appear like dancing towers, Tanjong Pagar Port and Singapore CBD from afar.

After touring the Fort Siloso, I continued my walk to the beaches located on the west side of the island. I then went over to the Resorts World Sentosa area where the casino, Universal Studios theme park and SEA Aquarium are located. Didn’t enter any of those places though; just a quick walk around while snapping some interesting shots will do. As it is no longer free to take the Sentosa Express monorail to travel to Sentosa Island from Vivocity shopping mall, I chose to cross over via walking through the Sentosa Boardwalk including the return trip.

That’s it. I don’t think my legs can take it anymore with all the walking today and cycling yesterday. Haha…The weather also isn’t pleasant (being way too hot nowadays). Will just stay at home mostly for Sunday tomorrow for a rest (my legs will surely thank me!). By the way, I’m off for an impromptu trip next week! It was a sudden oversea trip thought of just two days ago and then I have decided to go for it. Hope everything will be smooth. More on that in my next blog post about the trip when I return.

Expo 2020 Dubai opens after being postponed for a year.

After being postponed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Dubai 2020 World Expo finally opens on 1st October and will run until 31 March 2022 for a period of 6 months. This is the third world expo I have covered in my blog after Shanghai 2010 and Milan 2015. If you do not know, world expo is a large-scale international exhibition designed to showcase participating nations and organizations and is held once in every five years at different host cities.

It is a global event similar to those huge international sporting events like the Olympics but received way much smaller attention. World Expo certainly deserves more publicity as it involves large-scale participations and efforts especially by the host city to prepare and build a dedicated area for the various pavilions. There are also some very cool architectural highlights in each and every world expo not to be missed.

The main site of Dubai 2020 World Expo is a 438-hectare area located between the cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It has a masterplan that is organized around a central plaza and enclosed by three large thematic districts. Each one is dedicated to one of the sub-themes of this expo – Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability. 192 countries participated in this expo alongside with over 20 other participating partners and organizations making it the second largest world expo ever (behind Shanghai 2010).

Here are some of the cool architecture or attractions from the expo:

Al Wasl Plaza – the central plaza of the expo that features the world’s largest projection dome. The dome is made up of trellis of steel frameworks weaved into the ringed logo of Dubai 2020 World Expo.

Expo Entry Portals – They are the gateways to the expo site woven from carbon fibre to create 21-metre-high mashrabiya-style lattices. Mashrabiya is a traditional architectural element in Islamic design, encompassing latticed screens often showcasing intricate and complex geometric patterns that shade exterior windows and balconies.

Expo 2020 Water Feature – Giant sheets of water tumble down 13-metre-high vertical walls like a waterfall. By night, the water will defy gravity and flow upwards. Visitors can walk to the base of the falls to see how the water disappears through the stone. At the feature’s centre is a “mysterious circle of fire” that produces enormous bursts of flames in hues of red, green and yellow.

Terra Pavilion

Alif – The Mobility Pavilion

United Arab Emirates Pavilion

United Kingdom Pavilion

Russia Pavilion

Japan Pavilion

Singapore Pavilion

Australia Pavilion

Austria Pavilion

Korea Pavilion

Poland Pavilion

Saudi Arabia Pavilion

Pakistan Pavilion

France Pavilion

Malaysia Pavilion – leaving the last for my country. Won’t miss it.

There are quite a lot more interesting pavilions in this Dubai 2020 World Expo but I just couldn’t feature all of them here. The next world expo will be at Osaka, Japan in 2025.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Today marks the 20th anniversary of 911.

On this exact day 20 years ago, the world was stunned by a series of coordinated terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda on the United States that caused the deaths of 2977 people and the collapse of the iconic twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. When it happened, it was already evening over here in Malaysia and I only learnt of the news the next morning when my dad who went out for work called my mom (me and my mom at home) to turn on the TV for some sort of a breaking news that appeared throughout almost all channels.

I was only 10 years old back then but I remembered it very clearly. I watched in horror as images and clips of the planes crashing to the towers and their subsequent collapse are played. They are unforgettable. It is still so heart-wrenching to listen to the released audio recordings years later from those people trapped in the hijacked planes or the twin towers before their final moments. Seeing videos zooming in onto the people who stood right by the broken windows for fresh air and to call for help on the upper floors of the twin towers are truly distressing. And some of them jumping out of the building to their deaths. How can people be this evil and do this to them?

Four commercial airliners were hijacked. Two crashed onto the World Trade Center, one crashed onto the Pentagon at Washington DC and another one crashed onto a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania due to the passengers’ attempt to regain control and foil the terrorist’s aim to crash the plane into either White House or US Capitol at Washington DC. It was a day of terror and darkness for America and the 911 attacks remain the deadliest terrorist attack in human history.

20 years have passed on but the memory of that fateful day remains. National September 11 Memorial and Museum is built over the former site of the World Trade Center. Two giant sunken pools with man-made waterfalls sit at the footprint of the former twin towers. The memorial symbolizes the loss of life and the physical void left by the attacks. The waterfalls are intended to mute the sounds of the city, making the site a contemplative sanctuary. The names of 2983 victims (including 6 that were killed in 1993 World Trade Center bombing) are inscribed on bronze parapets at the perimeter of the 2 pools.

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A museum is also built nearby as part of the memorial and it houses over 14 000 artifacts, 40 000 images, over 3 500 oral recordings and 500 hours of video. The most striking redevelopment of the Ground Zero is the new One World Trade Center building. Completed in 2014, the tower is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex and soars to the height of 541 metres (1776 feet high which is a deliberate reference to the year when the United States Declaration of Independence was signed). 1WTC is currently the tallest building in the US.

A moment of silence for those who lost their lives in the 911 attacks. We all shall move forward, much stronger and united against terrorism.

‘No day shall erase you from the memory of time.’

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Awesome time at 4 days 3 nights’ ‘cruise to nowhere’ on board World Dream.

In the blink of an eye, my 4 days 3 nights cruise is over. I have disembarked from the ‘cruise to nowhere’ this morning and had just returned home wishing to have spend more days in the ship rather than returning so quickly to land and reality. I had an awesome time and experience on board the ship, which is named ‘World Dream’ and is owned by Genting Cruise Lines. It really does felt like I have went for a short travel or getaway with my friend.

1st Day (Sunday, 1st August 2021)

It was quite a long process for checking in before boarding the ship in the early afternoon at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre. First of all, we have to undergo an antigen rapid test (swab test that is much less intrusive and painless) at 1pm and wait for about 30 minutes before getting the result. It was of course a ‘negative’ result and only then we will be allowed to complete the check in procedures. There were various stops for Covid-19 checks, baggage check, immigration clearance, Tracey token (it is something like a TraceTogether token to be carried all the time in the ship) and cabin card collections, etc. However, the process was easy and quick. We managed to board the ship and enter our cabin (is a balcony stateroom) at around 2.30pm.

We immediately make booking for the pool and jacuzzi usage and to the 2 complimentary shows through the Dream Cruise mobile app due to the very limited capacity caused from the current Covid-19 restrictions. We watched both the shows today; ‘Vision’ which is a magic show by an European illusionist and ‘Faith’ which is the cruise’s signature show that features dances and artistic performances. Each of the show is 1 hour long. They are quite entertaining but I don’t quite get the storyline of the ‘Faith’ show.

We explored parts of the ship before calling it the day. By the way, due to current Phase 2 heightened alert in Singapore, we have to resort to having our meals only in our cabin. Limited variety of restaurants and food options during this period and only takeaways or room delivery is allowed. The food quality can be better from the free-of-charge restaurant (only 1 free restaurant this time). We also did tried on the food from other restaurant which we have to pay and those are unreasonably expensive.

2nd Day (Monday, 2nd August 2021)

We started the day by playing two complimentary virtual reality (VR) experience games. The games are free because they are covered from our purchase of the ‘Dream Boys’ show which will happen on the next day. The free VR games were quite lousy and quick though. It was my first time playing VR game too.

We spent most of the afternoon resting in the cabin and watch live broadcast of some sports in the on-going Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. In late afternoon, we then proceed to dip into the jacuzzi and played the water slides. The ‘easy level’ water slide was already quite scary and thrilling for me.

I tried my luck with roulette at the casino on board the ship for an hour and won 100 dollars. Well, that was good to pay off part of the extra charges I have to bear for the cruise. I then went to play live Bingo game in the evening (30 dollars for one set of games that comes with 3 tickets). Didn’t have any luck on this one though.

3rd Day (3rd August 2021)

It was the day for most of the outdoor activities that we wanted to play. First, we went to the ropes course that ends with a zipline suspended above the ocean. Our over one-hour wait for this activity is very much worth it. Even the unusually brave uncles and aunties are attempting this. We also played the table tennis and I watched my friend attempting the rock climbing wall.

We played another Bingo game (still no luck and didn’t win anything) and went for a brief window shopping in the ship. We also spent quite a lot of time today just resting in the cabin and watching movies and the Olympic channel. We took the opportunity to catch the sunrise and sunset moments today too but the overwhelming clouds were blocking the beautiful views today.

In the evening, we went to catch the 5-minutes laser display show at the main pool deck before attending the ‘Dream Boys’ show which is our last activity on board the cruise. It costs 60 dollar (for front seat) and 50 dollar (for back seat) per pax and it features muscular and sexy men performing seductive moves and acts. This show will be particularly hot for the ladies. This is my first time watching this kind of show too (only for people above 18 years of age ya…).

4th Day (4th August 2021)

There is no more activity for the guests today as the ship will reach the port at 9am and we have to check out and disembark immediately after that. We had to settle all our bills, return the Tracey token, go through the typical immigration clearance and baggage check. We get to keep our own cabin card. It was a very quick and smooth disembarking process (took only 30 minutes).

That’s all for the highlight of my ‘seacation’ (sea+staycation). I won’t mind going for it in near future especially when Covid-19 restrictions are much more less severe. I am glad that I tried almost all the activities on board the ship (skipped those Japan-themed workshops and classes only and missed the live music performances), watched all the shows, and also had the chance to perfectly rest, chill and just enjoy the moment with the sea breeze and view.

Time flies very quickly when you had a good time. This is true. In total, I spent about 500 dollars (per pax) for this trip. The amount is still considered reasonable and above all, it is a much needed getaway for me to destress. In conclusion, I had an awesome and unforgettable experience on board World Dream ship during this 4-days 3 nights ‘cruise to nowhere’ trip. Worth it. Go try if you haven’t. I do recommend it.

Top 10 Tallest Buildings In The World (as of April 2020)

It has been quite some years since I last made a check on the list of tallest buildings in the world. When I researched on this topic again recently, I was quite shocked to see many new buildings popping out in the top 10 list. I do periodically write a post on this topic once in a few years and I think it’s time now to write another one for the updating purpose.

Now, each of the present top 10 tallest buildings in the world is at least half a kilometre tall. That’s 500 metres. About a decade ago, a skyscraper is sure to join top 10 list when it reaches beyond 400 metres mark. Now, that is no longer possible. Once the tallest building in the world, Taipei 101 is now at the very last spot in the top 10 standing. Burj Khalifa still maintains the title of the world’s tallest building (also world’s tallest man-made structure) for a decade since 2010 when it is first completed. 9 out of 10 skyscrapers in the top 10 list are in Asia. Well, that is not surprising as many countries in this continent observe huge growth and high demand for construction of tall buildings especially China.

Here’s the current top 10 tallest buildings in the world (information correct as of April 2020, information comes with building’s name, city, country, height, number of floors, and year of completion). Do be reminded that this official list is obtained from the international governing body in worldwide tall buildings called ‘Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’ (CTBUH). This list does not include telecommunication or observation towers, antennas, masts, non-habitable structures and buildings which are still under construction. Only completed buildings are qualified to the list.

10 – Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan (508 metres, 101 floors, 2004)

9 – CITIC Tower, Beijing, China (528 metres, 109 floors, 2018)

8 – Tianjin CTF Finance Centre, Tianjin, China (530 metres, 97 floors, 2019)

7 – Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre, Guangzhou, China (530 metres, 111 floors, 2016)

6 – One World Trade Center, New York City, USA (541 metres, 94 floors, 2014)

5 – Lotte World Tower, Seoul, South Korea (555 metres, 123 floors, 2017)

4 – Ping An Finance Center, Shenzhen, China (599 metres, 115 floors, 2017)

3 – Makkah Royal Clock Tower, Mecca, Saudi Arabia (601 metres, 120 floors, 2012)

2 – Shanghai Tower, Shanghai, China (632 metres, 128 floors, 2015)

1 – Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE (828 metres, 163 floors, 2010)

My country’s famous Petronas Twin Towers which are once the tallest buildings in the world too are now at 17th place. That’s quite far behind. Nevertheless, they are still the current tallest twin buildings in the world, at 452 metres tall each. Soon, we will see a skyscraper in Malaysia to appear again in the top 10 list with the expected completion of Merdeka PNB118 Tower next year (2021). The tower, located in Kuala Lumpur will be 644 metres tall with 118 floors when completed. It will be ranked 2nd tallest in the world, just behind Burj Khalifa. As of today, the core of the tower has reached 112nd floor.

Seeing Burj Khalifa holding the record for more than a decade now, I’m starting to hope that some day soon, another taller tower will take the title from it. Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower will be that tower possibly. The 167-floors Jeddah Tower will be 1000 metres tall (that’s 1 km!) and is currently under construction. However, there seems to be little to no progress to its construction in the last few years due to financial reason. There is no estimated completion date for this massive megatall and its fate is still uncertain for now.

(Images in this post are from various online sources. Buildings’ information is from CTBUH as highlighted earlier)

We have the new worldwide box office champion! ‘Avengers: Endgame’ dethroned ‘Avatar’ as the world’s highest grossing film.

After three months in theatres and a re-release, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ finally succeeded on taking the No.1 spot from ‘Avatar’ as the world’s highest grossing film of all time(not adjusted for inflation). By end of today, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ would have grossed around US$ 2.790 billion, which has already exceeded the US$ 2.788 billion that ‘Avatar’ has collected previously.

‘Avatar’ has been on the throne for about 10 years now and finally, another film has the ability to snatch the title away from it. ‘Avatar’ and ‘Titanic’ (both were directed by James Cameron) have been sitting comfortably in the top 2 positions for a long time and now James Cameron has to settle for the 2nd and 3rd place. Well, there is a chance that the sequel to ‘Avatar’ may be able to take back the crown later.

But for now, a huge congratulation to Marvel Studio! After an absolutely insane worldwide debut (grossed over US$1.2 billion in its opening weekend alone – this is already a record), the movie dropped significantly in its box office sales week after week due to heavy front-loaded factor and intense competition from many other famous movies releasing within the same period. Then, the hope of seeing the movie taking down ‘Avatar’ is getting slimmer as day goes by. However, Marvel did a huge trick and offered a re-release and it successfully boosted the box office sales of ‘Endgame’.

And yup, ‘Endgame’ is now officially the world’s highest grossing film of all time (not adjusted for inflation). It looks like the movie will end its run at an impressive figure of US$2.8 billion. So far, the movie has grossed over US$ 850 million in domestic (US and Canada) box office (second highest domestic earner, behind only ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and over US$ 1.92 billion in international markets (also the second highest international earner, behind only ‘Avatar’). But when you add the total up, ‘Endgame’ prevailed at the top.

After this impressive box office performance, many may wonder if there is possibility for another movie in the near future to break past the unprecedented US$ 3 billion milestone. The coming sequel for ‘Avatar’ or perhaps a totally new masterpiece just like how the ‘Avatar’ first came out in theatre and stunned the world with its massive box office intake.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)