Weekend Escapade with Gareth (Pearl River Delta)

September 23, 2012 Leave a comment

Gareth will be surprised to see this blog and all these photos the minute he touches down Singapore. (Good heavens, he is still in the air and I have another 30 minutes to finish uploading this post!)

It was a sinfully long weekend for 2 of us! Sloth, greed, lust and gluttony! We managed to cover all 4 key Pearl River Delta sin-cities within 4 short days (starting with Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Macau and Zhuhai)! What do you expect from 2 most notorious pranksters? It was an awesome escapade of some really hot and heart-pounding actions! We had one of the best brothers’ moments in years!

First stop, we took a bus to Shenzhen for a nice clean spa treatment at our favourite joint “Gold Coast”. We had a sweating good time! Gareth indulged himself in some soothing hot-stones massage while I played table-tennis with a couple of young Chinese dolls. (It was Singapore versus China. Not bad for me, I managed to win a couple of matches for Singapore! Of course, some cried foul as I won over small petite girls.)

Next morning, we took a boat to Macau. This is Gareth’s first visit to Macau and Zhuhai. I promised to bring him to all the newest and biggest casinos. It is the best time to get my dear brother “high”! The devil inside me included another evil itinerary for my good old brother. Knowing Gareth has acute height-phobia, I tricked him to Sky-Walk at the Macau Tower. I wanted to drag him out on the ledge for that “priceless photo moment”! He was about to experience / overcome the fear of his lifetime!

Well, Gareth did completed the Sky-Walk. Shamefully, it didn’t go exactly the way I planned. Gareth walked inside while I took the ledge outside. He broke into cold sweat and he escaped a few minutes before the stunt! In the end, he forsaken me and I have to complete the sky-walk alone. Remarkably, he was able to overcome his fear and walked near to the glass panels to snap some good photos of me. For that, I forgave him.

We didn’t have much luck in Macau. Gareth has absolutely no “Beginner’s Luck”. We did a quickie on the betting tables. We lost everything in just 15 minutes. Thanks goodness, we limit ourselves to just HKD100. Next, most of the places we planned to go were either closed or fully-booked. We have no luck with the Ice World (the show was over) and House of Dancing Waters (tickets sold out). Even the pole-dancing strip bar was closed (before 11:30pm)! In the end, Gareth and I went to catch a very good movie “The Bullet Vanishes” at Galaxy Hotel. Just when we were to leave Galaxy Hotel to our next joint, we bumped into our Secondary School friend, Minjuan outside the toilet! Trust me, it was an amazing moment! And Minjuan’s first words to me were “Why are you still here in Macau? I thought you were here last week?” (mmm…she saw my facebook and blog posting, I guessed. Not sure if she was sent here by my wife to spy on us?)

Having no luck in Macau, we headed for Zhuhai the next morning. There, we found our little shopping paradise! We shopped the entire day. Gareth bargained hard and we managed to get a lot of IT accessories at very attractive prices. We also bought stuffs for our little boys back home ~see, we are such lovely dads. In the evening, we went cycling by the beach park and played an hour of table-tennis back in our hotel. What an unusual vacation itinerary for 2 obese men. Dinner was at a local Chinese restaurant where we had very authentic Singapore craypot Bak Kut Teh! We chilled out at Starbuck Cafe and spent the rest of the night at a local massage parlour.

It was a superb brotherly bonding time for 2 of us. Short, packed and rush but we had so much happy moments together. We chatted so much about our families, careers and the usual men’s stuffs. I am looking forward to our next brothers’ gathering. And next trip, we should get more brothers to join us! Thanks Gareth for the great company! Enjoy the photos and short video! (Haha..Just in time before Gareth touches down at Singapore! )

Filed under Life in Hong Kong, Travel, Wahbiang

Move it, Action! (Video Highlights from Macau)

September 12, 2012 Leave a comment


Thanks to Stephanie, she captured some of the best candid “Action” moments here! Enjoy the video!

Filed under Life in Hong Kong, Travel

笨猪跳!?? (Bungee Jump)

September 11, 2012 Leave a comment


(Photo Taken: Macau Tower, Macau – It is funny that the Chinese translation for Bungee Jump is “Stupid Pig Jump” 笨猪跳. Surely not the version we had back in Singapore. We call it “蹦极跳” But again, Macau is just famous for all the pork buns.)

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Travel

Action Heroes Conquer SinCity!

September 11, 2012 Leave a comment

Alright. Budget cut. No fancy overseas trip this year for our team building. We decided to plan our Team Building Day somewhere closer to home. We couldn’t think of another better destination. Certainly not Shenzhen or Lama Island. Macau seems to be the perfect choice. It is Asia’s most flamboyant SinCity and I am sure there is a place for Action Heroes like us.

At first, I was skeptical about this destination for team building. It was just a short 1 day + 2 nights trip, how is it possible to achieve any decent team bonding? Surely not card-counting over blackjack tables. Or pimping our younglings. Thanks to Chowpo, Mayee and Kelly, they made Macau as exciting and meaningful as our last team building trip! Thanks to the generosity of the team, Felicia and Elkan were able to join me in our team building trip.

First stop – Macau Tower. This is where notorious Edison Chen broke the world record attempting the world’s tallest bungee jump back in 2006. Nope, we were unable to attempt any record-breaking stunts (thanks to the budget cut, we can’t afford the HKD3,000/head jump). Instead, we suspended ourselves, like puppets out on the ledge 233m above ground. The only things which prevented us from doing our own free-fall were two 1cm-thick ropes. It was a walk of faith. We could trust no one but the ropes.

Elkan, being the youngest and smallest-sized in the group, was instructed by the guide to lead the SkyWalk. Having no concept of fear, he was like a hyperactive monkey out on a leash. He was screaming in ecstasy, jumping and running freely out on the ledge.

For the some of the other adults (I was forbidden to mention any names), fears and anxieties sipped in. High life at the top of the world wasn’t as glamorous and indulging as they expected. I was thankful for this experience. I witnessed the weaknesses, strengths, courages and transformations of my team. And how they overcame fear with courage and determination. It was this moment when all of us stood as equals, watched each other’s back and walked the talk together as one united team – under the rain on the pinnacle of Macau. Bravo!

After our successful (disruptive and noisy) stunt outside the tower, we went a storey down to the 60th floor to enjoy a sumptuous lunch at 360° CAFÉ – Macau’s highest revolving restaurant. It was certainly a much more relaxing and cozier way to enjoy Macau. I am sure David, Wing, Mayee, Clara and Stephanie fully agreed with me. Opps, I wasn’t allowed to mention any names.

Our next stop – Casino Wine and Gourmet on the 59th floor! We grouped ourselves into 3 teams. Each team was given a bag of chips. We were given 1 hour to win as much chips as possible. The team with the most chips win! There were 3 casino tables in the room. For each station, we were asked to taste different types of wine or cheese. Through tasting, we have to bet our chips on the right answer to win! It was certainly not an easy task for the Asians. (Harshad and  I cried “Kelong”!! This game is 100% setup for the Guai-Los to win!). My team decided to focus all our resources on one particular table which gave us the best winning chance. Our strategy paid off! The team of Hongkies, Singaporeans and Indians won the English-French team by a big margin of 9,000 dollars! Sweet!

Our last stop just before dinner, we “chilled out” (literally) at Asia’s largest Ice World at Venetian. Under -15 degrees Celsius, we braved through the 45-minute exhibit. It reminded me of the Harbin trip we had last Christmas except this time, I was in shorts and sandals. Even with the blue overcoat, it was freezing cold! For a minute, the team packed ourselves in a small igloo. It was so warm and cozy inside. The igloo actually worked!

Dinner was at a Brazilian restaurant, FogoSamba where it offered “eat-&-drink-all-you-can”. The “eat-all-you-can” offer didn’t really appeal to me. After 5 servings of roasted meats, I decided to call it a day. It was just too stuffy and oily for me. For once, I complained having too much meat and I went to get more vegetables to balance off the meaty meal.

It was a superb team-building day. Overpacked with activities but the programmes were all very very interesting, refreshing and meaningful. Felicia, Elkan and I took the 1030pm ferry back to Hong Kong right after dinner. Thanks David and the organising team for planning such a wonderful trip for the company and my family. I look forward for another great year. And next time, we shall conquer Mount Everest/cage diving/dance with the crocs and bet on the different Indian curries and durians. Just let Harshad and me do the planning.

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

Eat, Play, Love – with Felicia and Elkan

September 9, 2012 Leave a comment

10 good days. Sweet, yummy and delightful. Felicia and Elkan packed our small apartment (and my big tummy) with so much love and joy. It will take a couple of days to readjust back to my lazy monotonous expat life.

Felicia spent her first night in Hong Kong cleaning up my messy apartment (and granted me a “visa” to celebrate Harshad’s birthday across the border). When I came back the next morning, it was a completely different apartment – everything was so sparkling clean and tidy. My table was stacked with new copies of 8-days magazines and Singapore newspaper. She brought so many yummy ingredients from Singapore. Over the past 1 week, she cooked many of my favourite Singapore dishes – Black Carrot Cake, Ice Glass Jelly Drink, Almond Jelly, Hokkien Fried Noodles and Mee Rebus. One one hand, she was asking me to lose weight. On the other, she pampered me with all my favourite high-carbo food.

While Felicia was taking care of my tummy and heart, Elkan was terrorising my mind with his endless pranks. He was the complete opposite of his mum. I couldn’t keep up with him anymore. He tore the places apart with his loud noise and messiness. He was so into the recent pop songs – Gangnam Style, Last Friday Night, Part of Me, Price Tag, Whistle, Payphone). Poor boy, he is too tall and big to share bed with Felicia and me. He volunteered to sleep on the couch. The living room was littered with his toys. He “invaded” all my new gadgets (AR Drone, Jawbone Jambox, Sphero, Gopro) and “confiscated” a couple. He blasted our quiet mornings with his shower-time concerts and he “vandalised” the glass walls of the shower room with “invisible” soap-drawings (only visible under hot steam). He drew hearts and scribbled love notes on the walls – for us to discover. Creative, lovely and cheeky.

They joined our company’s team-building trip at Macau. Thanks to David’s generosity, he paid for all our accommodation and food at Macau Galaxy. Felicia and Elkan attempted the SkyWalk with the team. Elkan and Felicia were the first ones out on the ledge – 233m above ground. I was so proud that my boy didn’t chicken out. He was fearless (perhaps no concept of danger). While some of the older adults were struggling with the height, he was jumping and swinging freely on the ledge. We had a great time at Macau with my colleagues. Elkan made new friends (dumping his best buddy Harshad). And yes, he terrorised almost all the pretty girls and old men in the group.

On our last day at Macau Galaxy, Elkan asked for a dollar coin. He said he wanted to make a wish. To my surprise, he made a noble wish. Closing his eyes and praying sincerely, Elkan wished for “I wish for happiness everyday”.  A very wise, “sustainable” and priceless wish, I thought. I expected him to wish for an iphone or something short-term. His wish is certainly far better than a toy or a passing fad. I patted his head and gave him a big warm hug.

Our 10 good days are coming to an end. Felicia and Elkan are packing now. We are heading out for breakfast and leaving for the airport. In another 6 more weeks till we eat, play and love again.

Filed under Family, Life in Hong Kong, Travel

Australia Trip Video HD (2011 June)

July 30, 2012 2 Comments

Yes, I know it is one year late. I have been too lazy to edit and put these footages together. Here is something special for the family (and Lionnel’s girlfriend, Joey! Now, you know what you have missed! You should see how Lionnel was tortured by Tracy at 5am at Gold Coast!). Guess it is a good feeling to watch this video 1 year after. Well, at least it is nicely edited and it is in HD quality! So enjoy.

Filed under Family, Travel, Wahbiang

A Walk in the Gardens by the Bay

July 3, 2012 2 Comments

I am so glad to be back in time to visit the newest Singapore’s attraction, Gardens by the Bay. Opened on 30th June 2012, the world’s largest column-less greenhouses (Flower Dome and Cloud Forest) attracted over 100,000 visitors in the first two days. The iconic egg-shape domes possess both external and internal beauty. As today’s Youth Day (no school for Elkan), I brought Elkan to the new attraction. (Tracy, who missed my belated birthday party yesterday came to join us! Thanks to her “Passion Card”, we got 10% discount.)

My first impression… It is stunning! Beautiful and spectacular. Unlike the other greenhouses I have visited which are often warm, stuffy and humid, the domes at the Gardens by the Bay provide visitors a very comfortable cooling environment. Temperature in the enclosures are kept between 23˚ – 25˚C. Air current in the domes are well circulated, the air is fresh and not stuffy at all.

Inside the Flower Dome, there are lots of odd-looking plants (from all parts of the world). There are lots of colorful flowers and strange-looking trees. There are cactus that look like pebbles and ferns that look like dead leaves. The friendly volunteers did an excellent job introducing the specialities and uniqueness of each plant. Before exiting the dome, there are giant touch screens and 3D holographic displays for visitors to interact and learn more about these amazing plants.

The Cloud Forest Dome is my favorite enclosure. The 35m waterfall “Cloud Mountain” is spectacular. The mist from the waterfall forms a perpetual rainbow under the bright sunlight. Visitors enter into the mountain and take a lift up to the peak of the structure (Lost World). There, visitors “spiral down” the manmade mountain on suspended metal bridges (perhaps not for those with height phobia). There are a lot of cavities inside the mountain for us to explore and discover. Do check out the natural limestone stalactites and the giant multimedia wall.

Overall, it is an amazing experience. It exceeds my expectation. I believe this will be a top attraction for many tourists. It takes about 3-4 hours to complete all the enclosures. Don’t rush through the attractions. Spend more time and take a relaxing pace to explore the domes. Best time to come will be between 4-7pm (when the Supertrees lights up enigmatically at dusk and enjoy the nice sunset by the bay).

How to go there: (It is about 12-min walk from Bay Front MRT Station to the domes. Visitors can take the overhead bridge connecting Marina Bay Sands Casino to the park. Tickets priced differently for local Singaporeans (SGD20) and overseas visitors (SGD28). There are discounts for senior citizens and children. Check the website for more information: http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/home.html) 

Filed under Life in Singapore, Travel

Who needs a man when you can have his best friend?

May 2, 2012 Leave a comment

(Photo Taken: A Chinese lady shopping with her “partner”, Shenzhen – 100% more faithful and reliable than her boyfriend. No whining. No complains.)

Filed under Jo's Thoughts, Travel

Lonely Walker

April 23, 2012 Leave a comment

(Photo Taken: Man walking on tight rope, Changlong Circus, Guangzhou – Keep on walking. Even just for a few audience.)

Filed under Travel

My Favorite Cough Syrup (川貝枇杷膏)

April 23, 2012 Leave a comment

(Photo Taken:  Chuan Bei Pi Pa Gao (川貝枇杷膏) Giant 3D Bottle, Guangzhou Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street (上下九步行街) – This may be the world’s largest cough syrup bottle (certainly need a big spoon to go along with this). The visual presence actually worked! Instantly, I developed this deep craving for the syrup. This Chinese Herbal Syrup is 100% tastier/sweeter than the western cough syrup. It is a blend of 15 herbal ingredients which helps to relieve cough and sore throat associated with common cold, influenza or similar ailments.)

Filed under Life in Hong Kong, Travel

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