Back from Paradise – Maldives (HD Video)

December 1, 2013 Leave a comment

Filed under Family, Travel

Happy Moments with My Jolly Old Man

November 29, 2013 Leave a comment

It was never easy to invite Daddy to Hong Kong. This was his third winter break in Hong Kong. And it was the longest one ever. Usually, dad stayed for only 3-4 days but I managed to prolong his stay to 30 days this time! Yes, one solid month! Thanks to my good friends – Harshad, Tracy, Jimmy, Gareth and Chowpo – you guys showered so much joys on my dad – he had such a great time here in Hong Kong. Special thanks to my colleague Paul who postponed his flight so he can accompanied my dad from Singapore to Hong Kong.

Over this short 30 days, I saw many positive transformation in my dad. I saw a new side of him. He is more hip, playful, younger, happier and bolder now! Dad isn’t an avid traveler, I am so proud that he is able to fly and travel on his own. He is also more technology savvy too – I managed to teach him new ways to socialise online. This is one rare chance of the year when I get to spend good quality time with him, one to one. Throughout the hectic year, we hardly had any opportunity to spend time with one another. My dad has aged so much over the years and I am so thankful that he is still healthy and in such a good spirit.

Keeping up with my dad’s stamina is a challenge, he wakes up very early and he sleeps late at night. We didn’t have much chance to hike this time but I am still very happy to watch many sunrise and sunset with him. We traveled to many places this month – Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhuhai and Maldives! We combed many new places and tried many different new beers! And for the first time since the mid 90s, dad cooked lunch and dinner for me. It has been over 18 years since I last tasted his cooking! I actually walked home to have lunch with my dad. It is good to have family close to you and I cherish every single moment with them. Enjoy the pix! See you again next year, my jolly old man!

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

The Most Romantic Paradise of Asia – Maldives

November 29, 2013 17 Comments

There is never a more perfect 20th Anniversary gift for Felicia! Thanks to my lucky star, I flew my loved ones to one of the world’s most beautiful paradises – Maldives!

It was supposed to be a sweet surprise for Felicia but my cousin unintentionally leaked out the big secret during a family reunion dinner 4 days before the trip. It drew big smile on Felicia’s face when the secret was out. There were mixed reactions from Elkan and my daddy. Elkan was excited about the ocean bungalow and swimming with the fishes. My daddy wasn’t too keen about the destination as he was unfamiliar with Maldives and questioned why do we need to fly half the world just for a simple beach holiday. He frowned when I told him that we may not be able to buy beer as Male is a strict Islamic city. I loved his expression at that moment. I was looking forward to see his amazement when we touched down at Maldives.

Thanks to Cathay Pacific, there is now a direct flight connecting Hong Kong to Maldives. Our flight took 7 hours and we arrived at 9pm. Maldives was 3 hours behind Hong Kong. As it was nightfall, I parked all of us at a nearby budget airport hotel. Flight tickets to Maldives were relatively affordable, it was the accommodation, food and cross-ocean transport cost that caused a big dent in my travel budget. VAT in Maldives is a high 18%. I paid about HKD6,000-HKD8,000/room per night for lodging and HKD900/pax for speedboat transfer. Is it worth the money? I will give a big YES – provided you are there at the right season, on the right island with the right company! The best time to visit Maldives would be during its driest season which is between late December to early April. Avoid June to Sept as you don’t want the wet weather to spoil your expensive dream trip. There are over 1,000 islands across Maldives, therefore it is of paramount in your selection to choose the right island. Every island promises a different experience, ignore the big hotel brand names and choose wisely.

Maldives deserves its reputation as the Paradise of Asia. Friends who have been to Maldives used to tell me that you don’t need a fancy top-end camera to capture stunning photographs. They are right. The sun, white powdered beach, blue sky and turquoise water of Maldives are so unreal. There is no place for Instagram filters or Photoshop. Its colours are so vivid and it is like being teleported into the movie world of Life of Pi. Seamless horizon of the blue sky and smooth calm water, it brings a new level of zen in you.

My dad who was skeptical and complained about the unnecessary extravagant travel cost was speechless when he saw Paradise the next morning. While waiting for our speedboat transfer to our first island, dad was busily snapping photographs of the jetty and its turquoise clear water. He was amazed how clear the water was at the jetty. The thought of no beer didn’t exist in his mind anymore. That smile on his face was priceless!

In total, we spent 3 nights at Maldives. Picking the right island was a challenge for me. It was more difficult than my last Europe trip planning. Every island is so beautiful. In the end, I picked 2 different islands located at the nearby North Male Atoll region.

Our first stop was at Angsana Ihuru. It was part of the Banyan Tree resorts and I will highly recommend this place to all my friends. I booked 2 private beach jetpool villas with our personal private beach front. The sea view was truly beautiful and breathtaking. Super white powdered beach, shallow crystal clear water and spectacular house reefs. Our resort guide was a young Malaysian lady. I told her she had the best job in the world! Isn’t it marvellous to work on this island?

Everything was so calm and peaceful in Maldives. It was the perfect spot for a lazy afternoon siesta. Dad was floating on the shallow water and Elkan was snorkelling, chasing after the fishes. Felicia was relaxing on the swing. I was walking around the island, capturing the beautiful sights.

Angsana Ihuru houses one of the best house reefs in Maldives. Located just 30m away from our beach villa, we immersed ourselves in a rich, vivid colourful world of coral reefs. During our snorkelling, we spotted lots of fishes, sharks and sea turtles. There was no need to scuba-dive to see all these magnificent creatures. They were just right outside our doorstep!

Later in the evening, we took a ferry across to Banyan Tree island where we saw many wild eagle rays by the beach. Every day without fail at around 5pm, these eagle rays come by the beach for a free treat. The staff at Banyan Tree drew them close with fresh cuttlefish and gave us a short induction about these gentle creatures.

The next morning, dad woke us up at 5:30am to watch sunrise. We took many beautiful photographs by the beach and at the jetty. By noon, we checked out of Angsana Ihuru and headed out for our second island resort – Sheraton Full Moon Maldives.

Sheraton Full Moon Maldives offered us a different experience. I booked 2 water bungalows on stilts, overlooking 200m of 1m-shallow-deep crystal clear water. One of the biggest draw to this resort was its close proximity to the water. You can simply jump into the ocean from the resort. Water was very shallow at only 1m deep and it was safe to swim underneath the bungalows. However, there wasn’t any corals around the bungalows. The seafloor was covered with dead white broken corals. Nevertheless, there were a lot of stingrays, eagle rays and reef sharks taking shelter underneath our bungalows. Just make sure you don’t accidentally step onto one of the dreadful stingrays.

4 days 3 nights was just perfect for all of us. By the 4th day, I was resting by the deck, watching the sharks and eagle rays with lesser excitement. Time passed by slowly. I was like living in another different world, on a different pace and leading a very different life. It wasn’t boring at all. Doing lots of self-reflection and cherishing my loved ones beside me. No matter how much it cost, it’s worth it. This is no doubt the best and most memorable travel gift I gave to my wife, my dad and my son ever. Counting down to our next stop: The aurora borealis.

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

Quirky CARacters of Hong Kong (Updated)

November 20, 2013 Leave a comment

While I applaud Hong Kong’s Transport Department for giving drivers the freedom to register their own Personalized Vehicle Registration Marks (PVRMs), I find it very amusing at some of these personalised car plates.

Many times, I encountered comical, senseless, uncreative, shamelessly self-glorifying PVRMs. Yes, there are the IRONMAN, BATMAN and all the possible egoistic labels such as FIERCE, HANDSOME and TOP GUN. Some are simply poetic and romantic. These PVRMs aren’t cheap, ranging from HKD5,000 and up. For example, a driver bided HKD220,000 for the plate that says “LOVE YOU”. For the same amount, some nutty driver chose to name his car “ET”. Just this year, a PVRM by the name “1888” was auctioned for HKD3m and “1 LOVE YOU” was auctioned for HKD1.4m! (For more reference, you may go here to check those fancy names and the price-tags the drivers paid: Click Here.)

Many drivers love to state the obvious. I once saw a taxi naming itself “TAXI”. And just a couple of weeks ago, I spotted another taxi naming itself “HK CAB”. And tonight, I found another 4 amusing car-plates in the same carpark! They all stated the obvious. A doctor flaunting his wealth (yes, we all know doctors make good money) and a Man King (it is kinda obvious a King is a Man and a Queen is a ________!) plus a very CARtoon label. I was hoping to spot one car that says “GOD” or “GHOST” and I wondered what could be inside the car.

One thing is for sure, spending so much money for PVRMs is certainly much more satisfying than paying for Singapore’s COEs. It is a mutual win-win, the drivers get to choose the name they want for their cars and the transport department get to make some good and easy money too! CARspotting can be so fun and rewarding in Hong Kong! For all the rich, vain and quiry CARacters of Hong Kong. And many thanks to my dear friend Olivia and Chowpo for catching BATMAN & IRON MAN for me respectively!

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

30 years later – now it is my turn to bring my dad to the zoo.

November 10, 2013 1 Comment

It was very difficult to persuade and convince my dad to visit me in Hong Kong. He wasn’t keen to fly alone and it was very difficult to find another person to fly with him. I was so thankful to my creative director, Paul who accompanied my dad from Singapore to Hong Kong. My intention is to “keep” him here as long as possible so we get some quality father-and-son bonding. Dad is working in Singapore and I am away in Hong Kong. There isn’t much chance for us to connect. So far, so good, I managed to “encourage and train” my dad to explore Hong Kong on his own. Felicia and Elkan (not forgetting Gareth and family too!) are flying in this Friday and I intended to keep him here for another 2 more weeks. Both Cousin Mike and Harshad were kind to offer their extra bedroom for my dad.

Dad had no idea about this weekend’s itinerary. He kept asking me what’s there in Guangzhou. I decided to bring him to one of the best zoos and circuses around this region. He was skeptical about this week’s trip when I told him it will be just zoo, animals, flowers and parks. Surely, it does sound a little too “old and boring” for 2 old boys. (Well, we did the more “manly” karaokes and bars last weekend.) I wasn’t too worried about his reservations. Knowing him well enough, I know he will be excited the moment we arrive at Chimelong Hotel. My old man is just like me – we love to experience and see new things.

I was absolutely right. The moment we arrived at Chimelong Hotel, dad was happily snapping away with his iphone. He was impressed by the hotel’s massive structures and its unique white tiger cafe. We dropped our bags in our room and rushed to the zoo. We were like 2 little boys. On the tram into the open Safari, he was video-taping throughout the entire tour. I have never seen him this excited with zoo animals. Later that evening, I gave him another spectacular treat at the Chimelong Circus. It was all wows and laughters for him. I was so glad that he enjoyed himself a lot.

The next morning, we took a 1-hour train from Guangzhou to Zhuhai. The new and massive Guangzhou South Train Station was an eye-opener for him. For a spilt second, he thought I brought him to an airport. I knew he will be impressed by all these mega-structure. Along the way to Zhuhai, dad was snapping and video-taping the farms and old houses.

We didn’t do much at Zhuhai as we had only 3 hours of daylight. We did a quick 1-hour tour at the plantation, went shopping at Gongbei border shops and went back to the hotel for a nice dinner. Just before we hit off to bed, dad and I went to the hotel’s gym for a game of table tennis. He was panting so much that I worried about his heart-condition.

This was a great weekend for both of us. 30 years ago, he brought me to the zoo and today, it is my turn to show him around. Who knows, maybe if time permits, Elkan will be bringing me and my dad to another zoo in another 20-30 years time! Dad is a great companion. I just have to bear with his constant, long lectures on tea leaves and tea pots. Trust me, after 10 days of Chinese Tea Leaves lectures, I consider myself quite an expert.

Filed under Family, Life in Hong Kong

Meeting 周潤發

November 8, 2013 Leave a comment

It was rare that 3 separate teams dined out together. It was even rarer that we decided to walk 800m to IFC Mall for lunch. And it was the first time we had team lunch at this restaurant. And of all these rarities, we had the rarest encounter with a Hong Kong legend – Mr Chow Yun Fatt! He walked past our group and Chowpo waved at him. He walked toward her and the group asked him politely for a photo. He gave us a straight look and said no instantly. He then put his arm around Chowpo and ushered her to a quiet corner and snapped a photo with her. We were so envious of Chowpo. Just when we thought he was going to leave, Mr Chow revealed his candid humour. He smiled and gestured to us to come quietly forward to take a personal shot with him. In the end, he patiently took 10 close-up shots with every one of us! When the commotion got bigger, he looked back at Chowpo and joked “it is all your fault!”. With that, he smiled and left the scene quickly. What a smooth charmer!

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Life in Hong Kong

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

← Older posts

Newer posts →