Finally, a good-looking retro camera for old man like me – The New FujiFilm Instax Mini 90

October 10, 2013 Leave a comment

For years, I didn’t have the courage to bring out my kawaii-looking FujiFilm Instax Mini. Those things weren’t designed for men. I was worried what onlookers will think of me – a big sized chubby old man snapping away with a small girly instant camera.

Finally, FujiFilm answered my prayers. Last week, FujiFilm launched the new Instax Mini 90 in all its vintage glory. When I saw this new design at the Hong Kong Airport duty free shop, I bought it “instaxly” within seconds! This was one of the fastest and most impulse shopping decisions I have made.  I bet this is going to be a sell out – for both women and men! Now, men like me who enjoy instant photography can proudly swing this over our necks and parade this classic-looking camera.

This is more than just an outer-changeover. The new Instax Mini 90 comes with improved features such as auto ambience detection that control flash brightness, a macro mode, and double-exposure shooting, and bulb mode for up to 10 second exposures. Perfect for my next Europe tour this Christmas!

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Jo's Thoughts, Travel

Home Yummy Home

October 9, 2013 Leave a comment

28 hours to be exact. This was my shortest home trip ever. I was so proud that I was able to attend 5 special “yummy gatherings (including celebrating 3 advanced birthdays)” with my closest friends and families.

As usual, I wanted to give my dear folks a sweet surprise with my presence. Trust me, it was priceless to watch their expression every time I appeared out of the blue. They did that a couple of times to me in Hong Kong too. Those surprise appearances are the most memorable. Until now, I remember all of them – how Felicia appeared outside my bedroom door during her Perth university days, how my mum and aunties “ambushed” me at the garden below my office late one night and how cousin Chester and auntie walked into my office on my actual birthday. Those are the most special moments of my life.

This time, my sister and Auntie Amy planned everything for me. My sister tricked everyone to a late lunch at Tampines while Auntie Amy and Uncle Benny picked me from the airport. My mother even thought about organising a “surprise birthday celebration for Elkan”. What she didn’t know was I was going to surprise her later.

Surprise, surprise. I was the victim of my own surprise. I managed to surprise everyone in the family with my sudden presence except the smartest woman in my life – that is my wife! I made one of the most stupid mistakes by making a tele-booking at Jumbo Seafood. I totally forgot that I have transferred the membership contact number to hers. So, when my dear buddy Jimmy helped me with the restaurant booking, Felicia received an auto SMS alert 2 days before I arrived! She knew it all along. The minute I stepped into the cafe to surprise my family, Felicia gave me that sly look on her face.  She handed me her mobile phone and I saw the SMS. At the moment, I knew I was exposed. My sister and auntie shook their heads, clearly very disappointed with my careless blunder. Sigh….Can’t beat my wife in such game.


We had a great 2-hour lunch gathering. It took my family a little while to get used to my new rugged look. We celebrated 3 birthdays in advance for my mum, brother-in-law and Elkan. When we were lighting up the birthday cake, my mother took out a carton of eggs. Most of us thought those were the traditional birthday egg. It was only when we put the eggs in our mouth, we realised they weren’t real eggs! My gosh! My mother mastered the same imitation skills like the Chinese. Her egg-jelly really looked like the real egg! They were so real that my sister-in-law Chups thought they were salted eggs!

Right after my late lunch, I went to visit my in-laws. Later that evening, we planned to have dinner at my favourite Japanese restaurant, Watami at The Central, Clark Quay. When we were at The Central Shopping Mall, I went to fulfil a promise that I made to a friend a year ago. It was one of the top “must-do” items on my list. One of my ex-interns at VOXmedia, Gin Oh (who won 3 consecutive years of Best Singapore E-Commerce Blogger Awards) has opened her own retail outlet “Shinnpark” last year. And I have promised to visit her shop since last Sept. I came by this May but the shop wasn’t open. Fate was kind to us this time. Gin happened to be at the shop and we finally met – after 10 long years since 2003. We chatted like old friends and I was very proud of her success. Best of all, I found something I wanted at her shop! For those who love designer’s goods and Singapore Designs, please go visit her shop at The Central!

Next Stop – Gareth came by my hotel and drove me to Mustafa where I bought new earphones to replace the one that I stupidly damaged on my flight to Singapore (I plug my earphones into the seat socket and the high voltage burnt the earpieces). It was so good to reunite with my Brother Feng! We were taking shortcuts to Mustafa and accidentally discovered some extraordinary colourful vices behind the back alleys. Later that night, we dragged Lionnel out to have a short midnight supper at Boon Keng Hawker Center. Thanks Gareth for the supper treats and ferrying me around!

The next day, I went to accomplished the work that brought me to Singapore. Just before I headed out to the airport, I went to visit my dear old-&-pretty friend Joanne at Ogilvy Singapore. Just like my family, it took Joanne quite a while to get used to my new rugged look. Anyway, who cares. I was there for the free lunch treat!

Finally, time’s up! I spent my last 3 hours at the airport, ferrying my little boy around the airport on the trolley. I made a couple of calls to a couple of good friends who I couldn’t meet up. When it was time for me to depart, Felicia and Elkan gave me a cheeky farewell at the viewing gallery on the 2nd storey. No goodbye tears this time as they knew they will see me again in another 4 weeks.

This was a very fulfilling and meaningful trip. I left with so much love and happiness. It was as warm and beautiful as the departing shot I took up in the air.

Filed under Family, Jo's Thoughts, Life in Singapore, Wahbiang

Nothing Taboo About (PG Rating -Not For Kids)

October 7, 2013 Leave a comment

With all the publicity and talks claiming this to be one of the world’s most sensational and most provocative shows, “Taboo” didn’t lived up to my expectation. In fact, I thought Taboo was mild, unimaginative and poorly-choreographed. It promised to bring the audience to a different level of secret fantasies, it didn’t even stir my heart by a beat. Despite the close proximity between me and the performers (I bought the VIP seating and sat right beside the stage), there was simply no connection to my senses.

Visually, Taboo got everything right – women in body-hugging leather suits, G-strings and see-through wet coats, men on heels and tight under wears. These performers were good looking and had good athletic bodies. What let me down was the the content. I felt Taboo was a little too savage, rough, unrealistic and acrobatic. I thought I was watching a mild version of Lady Gaga concert and Cirque du Soleil.

Most acts didn’t appeal to me. There was a topless female dancer soaked in thick chocolate fluid, an acrobatic couple performing steamy wet stunts in a transparent bathtub, and an SM Nazi-looking routine. Out of the entire show, I only enjoyed 2 acts – the very booblicious and sexy sword-swallowing girl (she was one of the key highlights of the show) and the amazing pole dancing queen.

My verdict: there was nothing Taboo, sensual or even arty that can trigger any fantasy inside me. Nor the any of the acts were stunningly memorable. I guess director Franco Dragone lost his art here. There wasn’t even one climax moment, the acts were poorly paced, too hyper, upbeat and disconnected. The performers were smiling too much. There were too much singing (song choice was wrong too) and synchronized pop dance routines. At one point, I thought I was watching the return of the Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls.

Throughout the show, the performers tired their best to integrate their acts with the VIP audience. In the dark, the performers sneaked up behind the clueless audience and made small contact. They walked from table-top to table-top and danced around the VIP tables. I don’t think the tease went well. It was more comical than seductive. A couple of times, the female performer ran her fingers into my hair, tried removing my tee-shirt while 2 other guy performers lap-danced another female audience, planted a hard kiss on her cheek and thrusted his crotch right at her face in a very suggestive manner.

Please note that my review here may be very subjective. These performers are very talented and beautiful. For a cabaret, it scored high for entertainment and visual treatment. But i won’t sell this as “Taboo”. It is too misleading. Not worth for MOP1,000/ticket. Perhaps it will be good if they spilt the show into 2 groups: Taboo for Men and Taboo for Women. At least, they can customize the right content to appeal the specific gender. This show is too unisex and general for now.

I guess I see eroticism and sensuality very differently. I don’t mean the crude way. Or maybe I just could not connect with the Caucasian performers. Maybe I am more attracted to the Asian faces. It could be a personal taste and preference. If this is positioned as THE “Show of Secret Fantasies”, I personally expect and prefer the slow, dark, luring, dangerous, sensual, dim, smooth seduction. While the hot steamy bathroom scene does set the right mood but not the SM savage quickies and those 50 shades of grey.

Yes, spanking is not sexy for me. It reminds me of the corporal punishment in Singapore.

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Jo's Thoughts, Life in Hong Kong

Teleported to Magical Dragon’s Treasure (Macau City of Dreams)

October 7, 2013 2 Comments

With more than 6 hours to spare before our show, Taboo, I decided to visit the Panda Park in Macau. Tracy and I decided to take the local bus as it was difficult to get a cab during the Chinese Golden Week. Unfortunately, that was the wrongest decision we made that day. We missed our bus stop and alighted at some remote location of Macau. Unable to get a cab, we ended up walking 2km back to City of Dreams.

Since we had no fate with the pandas, we decided to catch the award-winning 360° “Dragon’s Treasure” show at City of Dreams Bubble Theatre. We paid MOP$50 each (Free ticket for every MOP$200 spent at City of Dreams). We entered one of the world’s largest projection dome theatres (measuring 27m tall, 40m wide) and it was free standing format so audience can walk freely to watch the 360° projection show.


It was a very entertaining and unexceptional 3D projection show! Fantastic audio and visual effects! Throughout the 18-min show, the audience were teleported to different magical worlds of dragons. Worth every cent and expect 100% multi-sensory experience! A must visit for all new visitors to Macau.

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Life in Hong Kong, Travel

Spirited Away at the City of Sadness – Jiufen, Taipei

October 2, 2013 4 Comments

I cannot remember when was the last time I visited Taipei. Or what brought me there. It is good that I keep a blog. Within seconds, I got my answer. My last Taipei trip was almost 3 years ago – with Hovman! (It was the day Mrs Lee Kuan Yew passed away). Instead of switching screen to continue writing this new post, I spent 1 hour browsing the old blogs of 2010. Time flew so quickly and it was only when I read the old blogs, I realised so many major life episodes happened since my last Taipei visit.

There have been many small changes around in Taipei. The airport had completed its new facelift less than 2 years ago. I thought I arrived at a different new terminal. New Taipei taxis are equipped with multiple innovative external cameras that alert drivers of potential “blind spots dangers”. Newer and bigger condominiums sprouted along the streets. The city seems greener and cleaner without the massive road construction blockage of 2010.

3 years seem like a long time. I couldn’t remember some of my favorite dining haunts. By sheer luck, I managed to find my way back to one of the first fancy restaurants I visited back in 2007 – The Herbs Villa. The night markets (通化街夜市 & 士林夜市) and Ximending (西門町) remain the same. Most of the major malls (Sogo, Eslite, Bookstore, Taipei 101) stay unchanged too. With only 2 short days, I decided to visit a couple of places that I have never visited.

First stop, I made my way to the top of Taipei 101. I wanted to experience the “Ferrari” of all elevators (world’s fastest elevator at Taipei 101) and to capture the sunset view of Taipei city. I arrived at the tower 30 minutes before dusk. Unfortunately, my journey up to the top deck was delayed by a long queue of Chinese tourists! It only took the world’s fastest elevator 37 seconds 382m up to the 89th storey but it took me 45 minutes to clear the 50m queue. In the end, I didn’t get my sunset and the rain clouds blocked most of the good views. What a pity.

The next day, I booked a “Spirited Away” tour to visit a northern coastal town of Taiwan – Jiufen (九份). I have no luck with the weather. Despite sunny blue sky weather in Taipei, it was stormy wet at Jiufen. I had lots of expectation of this place. It was an old gold town littered with rich Japanese and Taiwanese history. It was said that the enchanted town in animation “Spirited Away” was inspired by the meandering Japanese and Chinese-styled buildings of Jiufen.  It did strike a close resemblance of the animation except the lanes were cluttered with bargain-hunting tourists. I wished I have more time to explore this place at dusk when there will be much lesser crowd. This place was full of characters with lots interesting shops and different local delicacies to try. Jiufen was the venue where the award-winning (Venice Golden Lion Winner) film “A City of Sadness” (悲情城市) was shot. Given the history and setting of this place, on second thought, the rain and mist set a very nice ambience for my first visit to this “city of sadness”. (Thanks Brandon for reminding me that!)

Strange but true – this was my 8th trip to Taipei but the first time I explored the “rustic sites” outside city (excluding my past trips to Taichung, Kaohsiung and Kenting). I will be making more frequent trips back to Taipei in 2014 (since it is only an hour away from Hong Kong) to explore the northern and western towns of Taiwan. Accommodation and food are fantastic and value-for-money. Best of all, Taiwanese are extremely friendly, chatty, honest and warm.

Filed under Life in Hong Kong, Travel