Wine, Chocolate & Caves – Part III/VI (Margaret River)

June 13, 2016 4 Comments

Taking a road trip with our son, Elkan, and reenacting some of those familiar 2002-shots with our boy standing in front of us was quite a surreal experience. After all, Felicia and I just got married 14 years ago when we had our belated honeymoon in Perth. While many of these attractions remain unchanged, our 12-year-old boy reminds us the passing of time. While age takes a slow toll on my appearance and body, I still feel like 25 deep inside.

Yesterday afternoon, we arrived safely at our 3rd pitstop – Margaret River. It was like a Little Singapore, there were so many Singaporean-travelers here! We bumped into them everywhere – from chocolate factory to caves to Coles supermarket! Singapore should open an embassy here!

We stayed 2 nights at a big cozy 2-bedroom cottage at Margaret River. It consisted of 2 warm bedrooms, a fully-equipped kitchen and a very spacious living room. It was very well-maintained, warm and comfortable.

Day 1 – we visited the wineries and local-food (chocolate, nuts and nougat) “factories” yesterday. Do not expect to see any food production in those “factory” or “farm”, they are actually tourist retail outlets where shoppers get to enjoy lots of generous samplings. Too bad, all of us aren’t wine lovers. Most of these factories closed at 5pm. The sun set early in winter and by 530pm, it was nightfall. The only place to loiter after 5pm was at Coles Supermarket (our favourite evening hangout place) where we bought groceries for our meals.

By 8pm, we finished dinner and we got nothing to do. We were so bored that we played hide-and-seek in complete darkness. The cottage was only big enough for us to play 5 rounds. By 9pm, I worked on my vlog and blog while the three of them watched a horror movie via the large LCD TV through my iPad Netflix.

Day 2 – We decided to drive down south to Augusta and Leeuwin to visit the cape and caves. It started drizzling the minute we arrived at the Leeuwin Lighthouse.

We did so much stairs-climbing today. We took 176 steps x 2 up and down the lighthouse at Leeuwin, 500 steps at Western Australia’s largest cave, Jewel Cave and 320-step staircase x 2 at majestic Lake Cave. Thankfully, all these attractions are naturally indoor. The rain didn’t really dampen our tour.

It will be another 4-hour long drive tomorrow. We will be heading to our 4th pitstop, Albany. The weather forecast doesn’t look very good for now. Hopefully we get sunny weather tomorrow as all the attractions are outdoor. Rain or shine, it will be a wonderful and relaxing road trip for all of us.

Enjoy the vlog and photos. 

Filed under Family, Jo's Thoughts, Travel Tagged with , , , ,

The Road Trip Begins – Part II/VI (Evedon Park)

June 11, 2016 1 Comment

We left Perth City yesterday morning. We were extremely excited and nervous. It was pouring heavily and my 2 lady-drivers were feeling a little worried about the long drive down-south. We will be taking a long 11-day drive looping the western and southern coast of Australia. Being super kiasu, I planned a very relaxing itinerary with no more than 3-4 hour-drive a day. In total, we will cover a distance over 1400km in the next 11 days with 6 pitstops.


The 1999 horrific car accident in Margaret River haunts both Felicia and I till today. It serves as a reminder to us not to take anything for granted. Whenever and where ever we drive on foreign roads,  we remind ourselves to take extra care. Many traveler-drivers lost their lives overseas because they were unfamiliar with the local driving conditions. Since 1999, we never drive overnight and in bad weather. It is just not worth the risk.

So far so good, the weather has been really kind to us. Tracy and Felicia drove smooth and well. The ladies took turns to drive. I played “Vehicle Commander” and guided them on the direction. Thanks to the advancement of GPS-road guiding technology, navigating the roads is such a breeze! Compared to what we experienced 14 years ago, I had to bookmark all the pages in the thick street directory and flipped pages as we crossed from one county to another. Looking back, I was impressed how amazing we were. We were so young and daring!

Our 1st Stop – Serpentine Falls. 

Felicia and I were here 14 years ago! Thankfully, I just got my first digital camera back then (the 2002-photo was taken by Mannc). Luckily, I managed to retrieve the old photo from my iPhone and candidly replicated a similar shot at the very same spot! Tracy was our photographer and I must say she directed the shot very well! Our 2016-photo looks fantastic!

Next came my drone-therapy. After losing my DJI Inspire 1 mysteriously in New Zealand last June, I suffered from acute drone-phobia (a fear of flying + losing the damn expensive drone). Tracy strongly advised me not to take the drone to Perth. With recent successful flights in my last 3 trips (Xiamen, Bali and Bintan), I decided to tempt fate again in Perth. Honestly, till this day, I still believe the lost-drone incident was due to DJI’s hardware failure. Never my error.

Anyway, I flew in full confidence and ….. it was the smoothest ride ever! The new Phantom 4 is so responsive and good. I did had a very small accident though, I forgot to calibrate my 4th flight and it crashed into our rented car. Hahah. No damage, fly on!

 At 4pm, we arrived at our first pitstop at Evedon Park. We had a duplex lakeside cabin and it was beautiful. Tracy and Elkan loved the place so much. They dropped everything and headed out to the lake. It was so cold, there wasn’t any heater in the cabin and Elkan lighted up his first fireplace with dry woods. Later the evening, Felicia, Tracy and Elkan prepared a very nice home-cooked dinner. Overlooking sunset by the lake, it was just so cozy and peaceful. Sitting by the fireplace, we spent the rest of the night watching Zootopia projected from my Apple iTune.

This is life and I am loving it every second! Always make time for your loved ones. Live, discover, laugh and love! Next stop – Margaret River!

Filed under Family, Jo's Thoughts, Travel Tagged with , , , , ,

Back in Swan River 14 years later – Part I/VI (Perth)

June 10, 2016 4 Comments

Despite it being labelled as a laid-back city of DownUnder, Perth has always been very special and dear to both Felicia and I. Perth was the first city I took my first solo-flight to. And it was the first city I experienced winter and survived a horrific life-threatening car accident. It was the city we got our design degrees. It was also here where I made up my mind to marry Felicia. And we came back 3 years later to celebrate our honeymoon with my sister-in-law Chups and buddy Mannc.

Since then, life has changed so much for us over the past 14 years. You can imagine my joy to be back again! Over the past 10 years, I have been bugging my friends to join me in Perth. I almost succeeded 3 years ago in getting the entire Wahbiang Clan to fly down during the June vacation. I failed and we spent the holiday with a smaller group at Zhuhai instead.


Time is perfect this June. Elkan will be taking his PSLE later this year and he doesn’t have time to fly down to Hong Kong. I decided to take a 2-week off somewhere cold, away from the blazing heat. Last June, we had a great family vacation in New Zealand and I immediately thought about Perth. Best of all, I have 2 drivers this year – Tracy and Felicia! We will take it slow and easy, and spend some real quality time down south.

We flew in separately. Felicia and Elkan flew from Singapore while Tracy and I took a direct flight from Hong Kong. It was so good to reunite with my darlings at the hotel lobby last night! It felt so good to see them here in Perth!

Today, we spent our first day touring the city center – from Hay Street to the Bell Tower. It was unexpectedly cold and windy. At Elizabeth Quay, we spotted wild dolphins! We spent the rest of the day out in the warm sun at King’s Park where Auntie BayBay and Felicia took the car for more test-ride. It is a rented car so they want to practice more before tomorrow’s road trip down south.

It will be a very relaxing 12-day road trip. I planned 6 pit-stops for my little boy and Auntie Baybay! This is their first trip to Perth, I hope they enjoy as much as we do.

With so much free time at night (all shops closing at 5pm), I have all the free time to download the photos and edit the vlog! Stay tuned!

And yes! I found my dear old Joey today! It is still drinking at the same spot!

Filed under Family, Jo's Thoughts, Travel Tagged with , , , ,

Auntie Rain Goddess is back!

May 29, 2016 1 Comment

When things keep occurring in the same pattern, you have to believe it is real. Wherever Auntie Amy is, cats and dogs follow. It happened only when we travelled with her on leisure trips. We had some of the most incredible rainy vacations in Taiwan, Xiamen, Zhuhai, Shanghai, Macau, Bintan and now Hong Kong! It is not even typhoon season yet and the last time Hong Kong hoisted a typhoon signal 3 in May was back in 2006! And guess what, the sun came out the minute Auntie Amy flew out today! Fantastic, I have a mutant aunt!

3 days before the arrival of the Wong Sisters, my cousin Leon sent his “deepest condolences” to me. I was chatting and laughing with him about the old ladies. I was fully prepared for the long wet weekend (the endless rain and nagging). Honestly, it isn’t that bad at all. After many years of intense training, I have mastered the skill of noise-cancellation pretty well. In fact, my ears function much more effective than the Bose headsets.

Since the passing of granny 5 years ago, this is the first oversea trip for the Wong Sisters. I was indeed blessed to host them in Hong Kong. I haven’t seen my 2nd and 4th Aunties since my granny’s wake. I had such a great time with the 4 wise dames. They were really kind and nice. Every few hundred metres, they would ask me if I was tired or bored. I was very puzzled why they were so worried about me. I mean, how can I be tired when they were walking at 1km/hour? Perhaps they were dropping hints to get rid of me.

We had 4 great days of fun! In true Hong Kong style, we celebrated Auntie Amy’s <undis6lo5ed> birthday in a private suite with mahjong table and karaoke. Despite my kindness, she only summoned Typhoon 3 the next day!  Come on, I was expecting Typhoon 8 so I can save 1 day of annual leave! Urghhh…

Beside playing Storm/Rain Goddess, Auntie Amy is the key sponsor and organiser for this very rare family reunion. Family means everything to us. This morning, when we were at the check-in counter at IFC, we thought of my late-granny. It was the same spot when I last saw my granny 6 years ago. Family trip like this is priceless. No matter how far these sisters stay apart, I can feel their sisterly love for one another. If only their brothers (my uncles) can join them the next time. Always make time for your loved ones.

I love the old dames. Their endless chatters and conversations intrigued me. No matter how old I am, I am always regarded like a little boy in front of them. By the end of their 4D-5N trip, I was their tour-guide, photographer, waiter and bell-boy. And yes, their favourite and most-doted nephew.

Always happy to host you ladies again – anytime, rain or shine. Just remember to bring the durians the next time you come by.

Filed under Family, Jo's Thoughts, Life in Hong Kong Tagged with , ,

Drone-unfriendly Yangon

February 4, 2016 9 Comments

“DRONE!” an airport staff yelled out. Within seconds, I was surrounded by a group of hostile-looking airport custom officers. This ritual repeated itself from the very first hour I landed in Yangon to the last minute I left the country. The Burmese authorities take drone very seriously. It was as dramatic as having a bag load of drugs or explosives.

I wasn’t alone. While I was debating with the custom officers about their laws on drone (which there isn’t any official law on drone), I was shown a list of drones that were detained by the Burmese custom office over the past 1 month! There were at least 10 DJI drones being detained inside Yangon International Airport right now. I do not blame Yangon for being so strict on drone-flying. There are indeed some black sheep in the drone community who are either dumb or just simply irresponsible.

Honestly, I wasn’t too worried about the detention of my drone. I was only frustrated by the way they handled my case. You see, there were 5 security checkpoints (airport entrance, custom office, departure hall, immigration counter, departure gate) on the way to the departure gate. And at every check point, I had to endure and repeat the same unpleasant tussle. Each officer gave a different reason to detain my drone (detain for investigation, no permit for leaving the country with drone etc). Thankfully, I kept the official release letter from the custom office and I was able to walk away from all these senseless confrontation. Trust me, getting the drone out of the country was 10 times more stressful than getting it detained in the first place.

Despite the ugly episode at the airport, Myanmar left me with many good impressions. This is a working trip, Chowpo and I flew in a day earlier to explore the City of Gold. Thanks to the friendly hotel staff who helped us to plan our short 1-day tour, we managed to visit most of the city’s key recommended attractions – the Shwedagon Pagoda, Bogyoke Aung San Market, Aung San Suu Kyi house, National Museum, Chaukhtatgyi Temple.

Myanmar is a buzzing country with lots to discover. It was unlike anything I had imagined about this place, Yangon is definitely a city in motion. With so many hardworking local and international talents, I have no doubt that Yangon will progress and grow through time. I saw so many Singapore home-grown brands well established here (Charles and Keith, Ya Kun, Fish & Co, Popular Books). There are just so many untapped golden opportunities and best of all, beautiful wonders to discover. I wished I had two more weeks to explore the other parts of Myanmar.

Check out more photos and vlog below:

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Jo's Thoughts, Life in Singapore, Travel Tagged with , , , , ,

Sparkling Surprise at Gloomy Farewell

January 3, 2016 Leave a comment

Just like the foggy weather today, we had a gloomy farewell at the airport. Even though we have been expecting (and mentally-prepared for) this farewell 1-2 weeks ago, tears still welled in our eyes when it was time to say goodbye.

Harshad, Tracy and I planned a little surprise for Felicia at our farewell lunch. Her birthday is just around the corner and we gave her an early birthday celebration. Thanks to Harshad who bought and hid the cake well.

It was difficult for me to shop/buy/hide the present when Felicia and Elkan were 24/7 tailgating me throughout the past 14 days. In the end, I had to disguise the present as my sister’s Christmas gift to avoid Felicia’s suspicion. Luckily, it worked.

Felicia was pleasantly surprised when we brought out the cake and the presents. At least, there were some happy moments to cheer all of us up today.

When it was time to go, Elkan broke into tears. Unlike we adults, a child never hides his true emotion and love. And that’s the beauty of being childlike and pure. Just like those meaningful lines in the story of the Little Prince, “Never lose that childish ability to see what’s really important in life. Sometimes, a silent look or a hug is enough. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” 

I hope my son grows up like the Little Prince. Never forgets the little pure heart inside.

Farewell marks another new countdown to our next happy reunion. Big smile and hugs. See you two very very soon.

Filed under Family, Jo's Thoughts, Life in Hong Kong Tagged with

Warm Farewell, Lucky Find & Joyful Ride into 2016

January 1, 2016 1 Comment

No countdown or staying late for the fireworks, I slept very early on New Year Eve. Mum and dad flew back early this morning. Felicia and I woke up at 6am to send them off.

While many others were still in their beds after last night’s countdown celebrations, Felicia and I were blessed to catch the first ray of dawn on New Year Day. We felt very refreshed and energised. It felt really good.

Mum and dad were already waiting at the entrance of the hotel by the time we arrived. They woke up earlier than both of us. We took a cab to Hong Kong Airport Express at IFC where they checked in their bags.

While waiting for them outside the check-in counters, I went to a nearby bin to spit out the awful phlegm that was irritating my throat (I am still down with this nasty cough and flu). Just before I was about to spit, I spotted something familiar inside the bin.

I recognised the rim of the wheel. It was a hoverboard!

Why was there a hoverboard inside a bin at IFC Airport Express in the early New Year morning? I looked around to check for its owner. No one seemed to be paying any attention to the bin. I was the only one beside it.

Curiously, I took the entire hoverboard out of the bin. It was wrapped in a white cloth. It looked very new and clean except for some slight scratches. Some one had deliberately dumped this. Possibly just minutes before I came by.

I turned it on and stood on it. It worked perfectly! A pity to leave it inside the bin. Well, finders keepers! I will most likely keep this in the office.

When my parents and wife saw me standing on the hoverboard, they were extremely surprised. My dad immediately warned “Later, it will explode!” 

I suspected the owner planned to check the hoverboard onboard the plane but was rejected as all airlines forbid any electric-vehicles/hoverboard on flight (due to the danger of large lithium-ion batteries). There have been more than 10 cases of hoverboards explosions and fires. It must be a very heart-breaking dump for the owner, especially when the hoverboard was well-protected by a bag (and it looked so new and clean). I felt really bad for him/her to discard something like that on New Year Day.

If my logic is right, then there will be many new hoverboards or segways being discarded at the check-in counters. The airport may be a good place to start hunting for discarded goods. (There are already many expensive lighters, perfumes, liquors being thrashed at custom check-in every day. I wonder what happened to these discarded items?) Maybe someone should start a “Cash-convertor” stores at all customs.

It was a quick and warm farewell. Mum’s teary but she hid it well. And I spotted it, ha! Sigh, I will rerun the same heavy-hearted farewell 2 days later when Felicia and Elkan are flying back to Singapore. Damn, I really dislike farewell.

Felicia and I came back home before 9am. I decided to surprise my son with my new find. It worked! His expression was priceless! (See video below)

Since it was New Year Day, we decided to do something different, new and healthy! We spent the rest of our day cycling from Tai Po Waterfront Park (大埔海濱公園) to Shatin. The weather was fantastic! It was sunny and cooling! Believe it or not, this is our first time cycling together in Hong Kong! This is a great place! I love the scenery and the cycling route. I never expect Tai Po Waterfront Park to be this beautiful!

In total, we cycled close to 20km (3 hours). It was very crowded this afternoon, there were a few near-accidents due to those reckless overtaking bikers.

What an unusual New Year Day for me! Previously, the house would be very empty, cold and quiet by now as Felicia and Elkan used to depart before the new year. This is the first time in 10 years my entire family is with me on New Year Day!

Summing it up – A warm reunion and farewell, a lucky find and a very very happy, sunny ride! Guess 2016 will be a lucky, smooth and joyful year for me! Happy New Year to all!

 

Filed under Family, Jo's Thoughts, Life in Hong Kong Tagged with , , , ,

No more work till 2016!

December 22, 2015 2 Comments

Today marks the first day of my year-end vacation! This is the day Elkan has been looking forward to for the past 5 weeks in Hong Kong. Days waiting for dad to come home after work were dreadful and disappointing. Often I came back home exhausted and late, leaving very little bonding time with him.

So both son and dad are going to give poor mummy a free day to do her own things today. Finally, Felicia is free to do her shopping without baby-sitting my grown-up prankster. Like most boys at his age, Elkan hates shopping. I can understand that. Even at my age, I am not so sure if I have the same stamina to company any lady to shop. It is not about the waiting, it is the endless fruitless walking and browsing.

Late last night, Elkan and I planned to wake up at 6am this morning to jog around Victoria Harbour. We both played games until 1am and all of us overslept. Yes, we are simply too lazy. No excuse at all, we decided to go for a late jog and do some household chores for mummy.

10 minutes into our journey, I changed my mind. I told Elkan that I have a better idea than jogging. He was worried.

“Huh?” he sighed. “Don’t tell me you are going to shop again?”

“No,” I quickly comforted him. “Daddy is going to bring you to a new place!”

“But I still want to jog!” he insisted. “And I am hungry.”

We took a long walk to IFC and walked towards the Central Pier. There, I pointed to the Ferris Wheel and winked at him with an “evil, sly” smile. His face brighten up immediately and nodded!

“Yes, yes! Now, that’s a good idea daddy!” Elkan exclaimed in excitement!

We hopped on the Ferris Wheel and had the entire gondola to ourselves! It went 3 rounds before we alighted. While on the Ferris Wheel, we saw the AIA Christmas Carnival. I told Elkan we can do some sports inside the carnival. The weather was excellent and there wasn’t any crowd at all! What a perfect day to go to the carnival!

We spent an hour inside the carnival. We ran around freely and there wasn’t any queue at all. The rides are pretty expensive but we had great fun! Both of us love the bummer-car a lot. When I suggested to play one more round, Elkan rejected me. He said it’s too expensive and we should just skip it. Aw…he is always so thoughtful and lovely!

We decided to keep our little getaway a secret. We came back home and didn’t tell Felicia anything about our little adventure. She only found out when she saw the video I posted on Facebook. See below.

Later the evening, Felicia planned a little Christmas Surprise for everyone. She invited all of Elkan’s favourite aunties and uncle – Harshad, Chowpo and Tracy to a little Christmas Game at Causeway Bay – LASER-WARS!

We have no idea what’s going to happen. I thought it was the “Escape Room” game that we have played 2 years ago. When we were told the game only lasted 12 minutes per session, we were quite disappointed at the short length of time. We were very wrong. Thankfully, it is only 12 minutes. I certainly wished for much shorter game play.

This game is super intense and chaotic! I totally underestimated the toughness of this point-&-shoot laser sport. I was already breathless just 5 minutes into the game. It was super-tiring and back-breaking.

Unfortunately, Felicia booked 2 games for all of us. By the end of the first session, Elkan topped the chart with the highest score. Chowpo was awarded with “Trigger-Happy” title while Felicia won the “Sharp-Shooter” award. We took a 15-minute break before re-entering the war-zone again.

What a happening and exciting first day of vacation! Tomorrow is another big day for me! My mum and dad arrives in Hong Kong and we will be heading to our old ancestral home at Taiwan, Jinmen Island. It will be another one week of excitement and adventure with the old folks.

Filed under Family, Jo's Thoughts, Life in Hong Kong Tagged with , , ,

The tears behind his debut TV drama (Updated)

December 21, 2015 3 Comments

“Is that Elkan on TV?” 

Since the sequel of the Dream Makers aired on Singapore TV 2 weeks ago, Felicia and I received many messages from our friends and relatives asking if our son acted in the drama. Yes, that is indeed our little prankster, Elkan.

The story began almost 7 months ago (May 2015) when Elkan was attending a 30-week acting course for children. Thanks to his teacher, he was invited to an audition for a MediaCorp Channel 8 drama. Felicia and I had no idea what role Elkan was auditing for. All we wanted was some new experience for our son. Nothing more.

The next day, I received a note from Felicia that Elkan was selected for the role. I was delighted and asked about the role. She said the crew was looking for a child to act in several crying scenes for the drama and Elkan passed the test.

“Wow, how did he convince the casting panel?” I asked.

“He cried. Really cried, real tears,” Felicia answered.

“Wow…amazing, how did he do that? It must really difficult to get him crying in front of the strangers,” I exclaimed. “Did they ask him to use the eye-drop?”

“Not really, it was you,” she said.

“Me?” I laughed aloud. “Must be one of those episodes when I was scolding and yelling at that naught boy, right? Oh dear, the crew must be thinking what a cruel dad I was!”

“No. I told the crew to ask Elkan to think about you. Especially those sad farewell moments at the airport. He cried immediately the second they asked him about you.” Felicia said. “He misses you a lot.”

My heart sank instantly and guilt filled my soul. Tears blurred my vision. I couldn’t carry on the conversation. I remembered vividly the scene outside the moving taxi. It was making an U-turn outside Times Square, heading towards Central.

Felicia’s words rewinded in my mind for many days. I never knew the impact I had on my boy. It was really bad.

Like the old Chinese proverb “人生如戏 戏如人生”，Elkan’s character in the show mimics our situation. In the show, Elkan’s mum (played by Huang Biren) left the family to pursue her career. In our case, I park my wife and kid in Singapore while I pursue my career in Hong Kong. The difference is we meet as much as we can and we treasure all the time together. Absence doesn’t divide us, it bonds us stronger and closer.

That summer holiday, we had one of our happiest holidays in New Zealand! Felicia and Elkan had to fly back to Singapore 1 week earlier for the shoot. As the show required Elkan to cry in a couple of scenes, I was worried about his mental state. Thankfully, the crew and his teacher were very kind and encouraging. He managed to finish all 7-8 scenes in 12 hours. We were told to catch his debut in December.

Being abroad for so many years, I have not watched any Singapore Channel 8 for the past decade. It was only 3 weeks ago when I read about the drama “The Dream Makers II (志在四方II)“, I realised Elkan was indeed very lucky to act alongside Singapore’s veteran actor/King of Caldecott Hill, Li Nanxing (李南星) and actress/Meryl Streep of MediaCorp, Huang Biren (黄碧仁).

Thanks to my son. I fell in love with Singapore Chinese drama once more. I have been watching Hollywood and Hong Kong dramas and realised Singapore drama has improved so much! It is indeed a very emotional and powerful show. I love the characters played by Jeanette Aw, Zoe Tay and Rui En. Just so addictive.

Certainly, Elkan is less excited than his old dad and mum. Afterall, he isn’t from our era. Elkan was more interested in the camera equipments than his old folks’ idols. And “fame-chasing” isn’t something in his mind. All he wants is to have fun and experience new things. He is more worried about facing his school mates when school reopens in the next 2 weeks.

So, here’s me – a very proud dad, sharing my son’s debut (and maybe his last) reel! Enjoy! I am sure his grandparents will be thrilled! I remember my first school holiday job working in my dad’s timber factory. This is certainly a more meaningful one for my boy! While there is both sweat and tears in his work, I hold his emotion dearest to my heart.

This blog is dedicated to Elkan’s best friend, Harshad who sees the rockstar in my boy since the first day they met. Harshad is also one of the reasons why we sent him to the acting school. And big thanks to his teacher for giving him this priceless experience! And big hugs to mummy for enduring 30 weeks and 12 hours of companionship.

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

Er…what’s the name of this toy? 风火轮, 電動雙輪平衡車, Hoverboard, Mini Segway or WTH?

October 21, 2015 Leave a comment

Since the day we brought this toy into our office 3 weeks ago, I received so many notes from interested parties where to get this unnamed toy/vehicle. I prefer to call this the “HoverWheels” or a “H-Cruiser” as it is shaped like letter H with one wheel on each side. However, it is more popular known as the “Mini Segway”, “PhunkeeDuck” or “電動雙輪平衡車” depending on which side of the globe you are residing in.

Originally designed and produced by a company in 浙江 city (Zhejiang China) sometime mid of 2014, this vehicle created a storm and fever in the United States after Justin Bieber, Jamie Foxx and Jimmy Fallon were seen cruising on them. By early 2015, the fever spread from the USA back to Asia. Sadly, there isn’t any official name (read story here) or inventor’s credit for this toy and you can find over 20 brands and 100 online shops selling them. Most users call it a “Mini Segway” as it uses the same design and user-logic as the original Segway. 2 days ago, Xiaomi (the Chinese phone company that bought over Segway) launched the new Ninebot Segway.

Is it easy to handle?  Yes, for someone who can’t balance on skateboard, I must say this is a very easy wheeled-board to handle. (My 11-year-old son took less than 10 seconds to master it!) Most people take less than 3 minutes to master. All you need is to stand firmly still on the board, lock your knees and let your mind guide your path. Many users suffered the scary “wobble effect” on first trial. Don’t worry, it is common (happened to all 90% of first-time users). You do not need to tilt or apply too much force to cruise on it. Don’t get too impatient to speed off, just let your mind and body move the vehicle slowly.

Once you got the hang of the control, you will be able to move yourself in the direction your mind tells you. Don’t over compensate the thrust as it will throw you off balance. Just be calm, very still and sense the “pressure” to move. A lot of users tend to over-lean forward/backward on their first attempt. Always have someone beside you to hold you. One advise – NEVER embark the vehicle when it is off. Always turn on the vehicle before stepping on it! And always disembark from the back of the board. It is much stable we find. 

Comparing this with electric scooter or skateboard – It is more fun, cooler (watch the cool segway dance below) and addictive to ride on this. This becomes a “bonding toy” between colleagues in our office. It brings people together! We had so much laughter and fun cruising on this. It is like a brand new stress-reliever, just hop on and wheelie free!

Where can you buy one? In Singapore, you can order online at Falcon Website at SGD699. However, do note that this toy comes in many other configuration and price range depending on the specs you wanted. Most of them comes from China-factory-direct and it is advisable that you consider these buying tips before making a purchase:

1) Size – It comes in 5 different sizes – 6,7,8,9,10 inches. For better balancing, I recommend size 8,9,10-inch for adults.

2) Battery – It comes in different capacities – 10km, 15km, 20km, 25km. The weight will affect the distance it can travel on a full charge. If you are heavy (say 70kg to max weight of 100kg), it is advisable to get the 20km configuration. Do also note that there are 2 types of batteries – China-made and Korean-made. If you want to have a peace-of-mind, always request for Korean-made-imported batteries (from LG or Samsung), it is only RMB80 difference. Most take around 1-3 hours for a full charge.

The only problem is (like the original Segway) once the batteries run out, it becomes a heavy 12-15kg liability that you have to carry. So always watch out for the distance and the battery warning signal. Unlike the electronic scooter or skateboard, you can still ride on them manually even if the battery is flat.

3) Power – It comes in 250W and 350W. The higher the power, the stronger it can overcome steeper slopes and uneven terrain. Some sellers try to confuse with 700W engine – actually what they meant were 350W-twin-wheel power. So, do ask if you are unsure.

4) Wheels – It comes in both solid rubber and air-pump wheels. The air-pump wheels help to cushion the vibration over tougher terrains like sand, grass and gravel paths. So far, only 10-inch board comes with air-pump wheels. The others come in solid rubber wheels. Watch the terrain test by another user below.

5) Colours & Designs – There are just too many variations. Some even comes with colourful LED lights, remote switches and bluetooth speakers. It is a personal preference and it won’t impact much on the cruising experience or performance. Currently, many sellers on Taobao and EBay are offering generation 3 or 2015 edition. So, do get the latest model.

6) Weight – From 10kg to 17kg. The weight increases according to the specification. Double-capacity batteries weigh more than single-capacity model. The larger the size, the heavier. No matter what configuration, it is not a light vehicle to carry once the battery is flat.

7) Speed – 10km/hour to 16km/hour. So far, I haven’t seen any model going faster than 16km/hour. Some models come with a beeping warning when users cruise at the highest speed. At 12km/hour, it is pretty insane and difficult to make a sharp turn. So, always cruise with care to avoid injury.

8) Price – from USD200 to USD1,500! Don’t let price, brand and outer design/colours fools you. Always check and compare the internal specification before committing. Even the picture looks the same, it doesn’t mean the internal configuration is the same build. Always chat with the seller to find out more.

If these are too much for you to consider, you might just want to wait for the new Xiaomi Ninebot Segway! (九号平衡车) Taking pre-order on 3rd Nov 2015. However, it only accept orders in selected China cities.

If 2014 is the Year of the Drones, I bet 2015 is the Year of the Mini Segways or Hoverboards! You must give credits to the Chinese – they have been inventing really cool stuffs lately! Guess we will be seeing lots of these unnamed vehicles on the road after Christmas this year! For those who have Taobao Accounts, you might want to go to this shop (click link) to browse!

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Jo's Thoughts Tagged with , , , ,

← Older posts

Newer posts →