I love Taipei

December 23, 2006 Leave a comment


      

Beside Hong Kong, Malacca, Shanghai, Macao, Beijing and Singapore, Taipei is the only major chinese city that I have never been. This week, I finally had the chance to visit this beautiful city. I can’t help but to list down these uniquely discoveries:
 
1) Most houses sport a silvery, sparkling water tank on their roofs
2) If China is the nation of bicycles, then Taipei is the city of motorbikes. And you get to find the most beautiful babes on these bikes.
3) You can hardly find any rubbish bin outside their properties. They keep their rubbish bin inside their properties.
4) I like their animated red and green men (traffic lights). And animated bus rear.
5) Their cab drivers give you a blank receipt. You fill in your own figures.
6) You have to pay for plastic carrier bags.

 

Overall, I enjoyed Taipei a lot. The people are generally warm, friendly, humble and sincere. Girls are sweeter and cuter. Air is certainly fresher.  Best of all, they speak hokkien – my dialect. Just too bad, I was there for work. I would certainly love to stay longer and explore more of Taiwan.

 
p/s (Such coincidence! I met Kelvin in Taipei. He was there for business too!)
 

Filed under Travel

Siow Wei’s 1st Ward Stay

December 16, 2006 Leave a comment

In her own words, blog by Siow Wei (16th Dec)
This is my first stay as a patient in hospital… exciting yet intimidating..for 18hrs to be exact.
(maybe 2nd stay if u count in when i was born)Food is quite terrible, but service is really good…But still in the midst of tolerating of being pushed everywhere on wheelchair or the bed, being pricked for IV and also being touched and checked by various doctors, nurses, u wun quite enjoy this experience..

Within 5 mins after i was pricked for IV… i almost wanted to pluck it out and go home…
But den a little while, looking ard me, i see more eyes with despair… patients from accidents, high blood, diabetes, etc… they had more reason to wanna go home i thot. So i bore with that ant bite pain for an hour and forced myself to sleep with turmoiled tummy.

After almost 1 and a half hrs, i suppose the doc dint have enuff of me. So i had to stay in for another day…which they call the short stay observation 🙂 I thot i would ve TV to watch, but nothing…no entertainment at all.. jus a bed, a drip and 3 other moaning patients in company.

Aw man…i was bored and had to bear the prick for the entire nite, and learned how to carry it to the toilet and back.. Imagine, having to laosai wif a drip on my right hand… how messy yucks.. Anyway i went in and out a total of abt 7 times, during that short stay, not too bad 🙂 I get to eat lots of peanut porridge and overcooked veges, n salted “orange juice” (actually sait supplement)

My neighbours changed twice too… both with the same symptom as mine, Stomach virus.. poor thing, they seemed worse, one was even warded into a normal B2 ward…cos she didnt get better. Oh well, i was too happy to go home… quickly asked the nurse to remove my prick after having 5 packs of glucose thruout the nite… and waited for my discharge letter 🙂

Phew, i swear never to anyhow eat again… its really terrible..cant swallow food and water for 2 days and puking and discharging fluid constantly. Appetite is not coming back yet… i guess i gotta wait a while more,

Anyway, god blessed, all was fine, i pray for my companions in my ward too, may they recover quickly and go home fast fast. Stomach flu can be really common lately, i guess, no play play 😛

 

Filed under Wahbiang

Preparing for Christmas

December 16, 2006 Leave a comment

 
Last night, on the cab back home, the driver was playing 陈奕讯’s "Lonely Christmas"…it was such a beautiful jazzy sad song. It reminded me of Christmas – the festive I love so much.. So fast, we are already in the 50th week of 2006. Just saw the weather report, next week, Shanghai is going into the "minus-zero degree" weather.  Yeah…I am going to experience my 1st winter Christmas.  
 
Back at home in tropical Singapore, the clan are busily preparing for their annual Wahbiang Christmas Party. This year, Juliana and Duuk will be hosting the party at their newly renovated house at Ang Mo Kio. There should be lots of food, games, photo-taking and gifts-exchanging.. I wonder if we are going to plan another "Operation X" this Christmas…a custom since 1997. Heard that there will be lots of forfiet-games this year (more worms, more scary dance etc).
 
Last night, Caffeine hosted its 1st Charity Xmas Party, hoping to raise S$1,200 for the children home. They even found LEGO and a dental clinic to sponsor free toys and free dental check. I was greatly touched by their sincerity and kindness. It has been a great year for Caffeine this year – Randy shot his award-winning movie, Joanne & Tracy did so well to expand the media department. Richard, my old grumbie, is still going so strong – building our brand Caffeine.
 
My friends in Shanghai are also making plans for their own Christmas parties … most flying off to reunite with their loved ones back home.
 
For me, I still have a couple of places to fly before I be back for Christmas. Felicia and Elkan are also making their way to see me in Shanghai next Sat.
 
Looks like it is going to be a good, lovely Christmas afterall.
 

Filed under Jo's Thoughts

Sam & Clan in Town

December 3, 2006 Leave a comment

 
They say we shouldn’t count our blessings but I just can’t help it. I am keeping tab on the number of Singaporean friends I have met up in Shanghai.. the numbers are pretty impressive.
 
May: Felicia, John, Ow Yong, Monica & Julian
June: Charlie, Jamie
July: Scott, Desmond, Yogi
August: Meiling, Bettina
Nov: Tracy, Ken, Jinwei, Hong Ai
Dec: Sam, Lusia (and 5 other family members)
Jan: Felicia & Elkan
 
Today, I bid farewell to my 23rd Shanghai Guest. (Sam didn’t make it to my house..so Felicia & Elkan should be the 6th Visitor to my house). It was one big group of them – Sam, Lusia, Jacob, Claudia, Lusia’s mum & brother, Sam’s father.
 

I dun think I have been a good host cos’ I never really bring Sam to those "places" he originally wanted. (Haaa…you know what I mean, Sam.) Braving through sickness and the cruel winter breeze, I gave them a super packed "6-in-one" night tour of Shanghai, specifically showing them the famous Huai Hai Lu, Xin Tian Di, the Bund, Peace Hotel, Nanjing Shopping Lane and Hu Jiang Lu night market.
 
In this trip, I saw a new side of Lusia. She doesn’t speak Chinese but her bargaining power is superb. I saw the way she "cut prices" with the local.. her formula? Division by 5. Man, it is impressive! Despite her sharp skills, Sam and his clan still fall for the "high-handed" Chinese salesmanship. In one of those "tour-leader’s shopping stops", they were kinda "pressured" to cough out hundred of SingDollars to buy the health pills. (I have to confess too, I fell for it back in 2003. I paid S$200 for a bottle of pills)
 
Sat was a very bad day for Sam. More than half of his clan have taken ill. Jacob, being the youngest in the pack, suffered the most. He spent 3-4 hours in the hospital on a drip. This may be the most dramatic holidays they ever have. They are just not used to the water and weather over here.
 
Nevertheless, Sam & clan had a dazzling finale. Last night, we blew the sky with loud bangs and bright colours. For the 1st time, Sam’s clan experienced their own "National Day Fireworks".  Sam’s dad was skeptical about this. He asked me twice if it is legal to do so in Shanghai. We tried to assure him that it is ok to lit the sky. When taking photo with the fireworks, they were nervous holding the packs in their hands. Sam asked "Safe or not?". Can’t blame him.. it is a natural Singaporean’s survivor instinct.
 

At the end of the night, we all had such a good time! Sam’s daddy was panting cos’ he was the one lighting up most of the fireworks. Like little boys, they lighted the fuse and ran off like chickens. There was an accident though, one of the fireworks flew horizontally at Claudia – who was standing 50m away. The bout of light hit her legs but she suffered nothing but a bad shock. For safety reasons, Lusia and Claudia went 100m back, seeking shelter behind a tree.  Despite this near-miss, Sam and his dad were great sport and they completed all the fireworks.
 
It was a good meet-up…a little too short for me. Back in secondary school days, Sam and I would have never imagine that one day his dad and I would be lighting up fireworks in Shanghai. Funny how life turned out the way it is.
 
p/s (Oh yes, congrats to Gareth. I heard from Sam that you have lost 5kg! Guess Sam’s secret to slimming worked for you.)
 

Filed under Wahbiang

Grey’s 100th Day Baby Shower

December 3, 2006 Leave a comment

It is certainly a strange tradition – having a baby shower on the 100th day (Funny though, I always thought that “49th day” or “100th day” is more of a symbolic day for the deceased back in Singapore. Sorry for being blunt here.)
I was there with 30 of their family members…me feeling a little bit out of place.. Echo did tried hard to make me “feels at home”.. she made me their “official event photographer”.
It has been ages since I had my own family gathering. I guess we never have one big gathering since the passing of my grandmother. While taking photo of Echo’s granny with her baby, I felt a pause of sadness inside my heart – yet i feel so happy for them. Afterall, it has been my wish to share my marital bliss with my granny. If she is still alive today, I am sure she will be happy to see me marry and have kids. Same here, it is also my wish to see my own son marry and seeing my grandchildren grow up.
Not a very greedy wish i hope. Enjoy the pixs.

 

Filed under Wahbiang

Little Elkan’s 1st Spread

November 25, 2006 Leave a comment

 
It is not very difficult to describe the "proudness and happiness" that I am feeling right now. I am superbly surprised, excited, overwhelmed, proud and delighted. It is my little boy’s 1st magazine spread, his own private token of being a public stock photo for the number 1 parenthood magazine in Singapore. (Guess he doesn’t feel the same excitement shit as I do cos’ he is not polluted by the imaginary fame of mass media). But this is exactly how I felt when Feli flashed the magazine over MSN last night… I was completely overwhelmed! It was a sweet surprise.
 
Nothing pricey about the material – $5-mag, A4 size, 85gsm art paper, 4C x 4C. However, it is a beautiful picture of my little prince. A moment in time, a lovely capture of his innocence and joy. Now, that is priceless. I just can’t stop staring at it for the past 1 hour. Strange, isn’t it? My son is my biggest idol now. He has more "studio explosure" than his big fat ugly papa Joe. And he attracted more girls and kisses too. (Sigh)
 
Boy, my little boy is so lucky – thanks to our network of designer friends. Elkan started his "stock images" days while he was still floating in his mummy’s womb. A local magazine used his "ultra-sound scan" image for an article. And before he turned 1, he appeared in one of Singapore Sports Council booklets (thanks to Wendy and Stephen). Last Christmas, Elkan was on an e-Greeting card for National Volunteer & Philanthropy Center (thanks to Richard). And this month, he is featured on Young Parents magazine (thanks to Cheryl and Tracy). Elkan has quite a humble collection of media clippings, I must say.
 
Nonetheless, we aren’t stardom-hungry parents. Like any typical father, I love to see my son glows in his own way. My boy, this is certainly the best gift you gave us yesterday – which coincide with our 13th Anniversary on 24th Nov.
 
It is certainly a beautiful picture and a perfect headline – "all I want for Christmas"…is you – my boy – with me in Shanghai this Christmas.
 
Also, find Elkan on other Blogs:
 
 

Filed under Family

A Surprise Visit

November 19, 2006 1 Comment

 
After my "short fling" with Echo and Francis in HK, I took the last Dragonair flight back to Shanghai on a cold wet Friday night. I should have planned a weekend stayover with the couple in HK. But again, it is their 1st "honeymoon" trip (after giving birth to Grey)…so I tot it may not be nice to tag along. Moreover, I do really need a break…I have been in-out of fever and flu for the past 4 weeks! I need a good rest.
 
Just when I thought it would be a long lonely weekend for me, I received a surprise sms on Friday! Jinwei, my primary one buddy (he was working for Motorola Design Team) was in town!
 
We have been close friends since 1982 – 24 years to be exact! Believe it or not, this is our 1st time being together outside Singapore. It wasn’t even a pre-planned meeting – a very short and rush indeed. In fact, we have only a small window to meet up – I arrived in Shanghai on Fri, 11pm and Jinwei will be flying out on Sat, 1pm.
 
On my way back home (from Pudong Airport), I got my driver to pick Jinwei up from his hotel. Despite the late hours and his bad flu, we spent a good 3-wee-hour together. He visited my place (helped me with my luggage) and then, we headed to Xin Tian Di for our late night supper. We have a good chat until 3am – about our marriage, sons and careers. It’s so casual and comfortable. Wish I have more time with this brother of mine.
 
I persuaded him to stay over the weekend so that I can show him around Shanghai. (It was Jinwei’s first trip here.) But he misses his wife and son more, I understand, there will be another chance, he said.
 
On our way back to his hotel, we got the taxi driver to detour and I showed Jinwei the famous Bund. Man, it was raining cold. What an uninviting way to show him the gems and colours of Shanghai, I thought.
 
Still, it was a good meetup – with the 5th Visitor of my House.

Filed under Life in Shanghai

Tracy’s Travel Log

November 19, 2006 Leave a comment

 
"Francis is negotiating for his guns, of cos not him, but Echo his wife, mother of his son, his PA, negotiator, even road navigator and sometimes driver too… haha how lucky is this chap. But without him, most of these excitements wouldnt have happened too. Anyway, we did purchase the guns after one hour of negotiation, even the traffic police couldnt wait to write a surmon on his car which was parked along the pavement."
 
Tracy’s Shanghai Travel Log – Click here to read more

Filed under Wahbiang

Threesome in Hong Kong

November 15, 2006 Leave a comment

 
It is surely tough being a lonely married man, working in Shanghai. For more than once, I am often being "doubt" about my singlehood. Of course, I can’t believe too myself. Haaa.. I will take that as a compliment – nice man like me can’t be left alone, hor?
 
Lately, 2 of my colleagues (let’s call them Beanie & Rudie) have been poking fun at me. It all started with an innocent "apple". It is hard to describe about the "apple". Oh dear, I afraid I am opening a can of worms… My wife, dun worry, it is just an apple. A fruit and nothing else.
 
I was on a call with Rudie (my super AE) just now and she overheard me talking to a mystery female voice on my handphone. Oh dear, another juicy spinoff back in office – "Joe is seeing someone in HK!!!". Man… I must really do something to both of them soon.
 
I love scandal…it puts you in the center of attraction. It propels your popularity. It is free advertising. It is branding.
 
Yes.. two is a company. Three is an orgy. (Too bad, I am not joining them over the weekend).
 
 

Filed under Wahbiang

My “illegal” hobbies

November 13, 2006 Leave a comment


Life must be getting really dull in Shanghai. Francis and me are running out of things to play lately. We are getting too lazy and bored. Thus, I told Francis “Let’s do sport!” So recently, we decided to “cultivate” a few new hobbies for ourselves. It is kinda funny. Just 2 grown-up fathers who need to release a little. We need excitement really badly!
So, Francis and I started getting involved in “Mafia” activities – High speed chasing over 240km/hr, cross-fires into someone’s house at 12am, blowing the night sky with explosives, crashing chopper into other’s car, drifting in rally track etc.

 

Filed under Life in Shanghai

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