travel blog

2019, Finally!

Oh man, I’ve been meaning to write this for ages. Specifically on the first day of 2019. As you can tell, I’m an expert at procrastination.

So many things have happened since my last post, but two main things have remained the same. My mother-in-law, Raya, is still in Busan, and we’re still here in Singapore.

I’ve actually been doing a ton of traveling, mostly for work, and at first I’d wanted to continue posting, but I’d made the mistake of getting an iPhone SE with only 16GB of memory, which means I had to constantly back up and delete pictures which became a major pain.

BUT! I now have an Android-powered Huawei P20 Pro! More pictures! And with better quality! YES!

Anyway, before I get into the other stuff, our plans have changed quite drastically. After considering France, we’d agreed that it might not be practical, and Raya decided on Jeju-Do instead. I was pretty stoked. But again, there’s no direct flights to it, and since most of her siblings are on the mainland, it made her understandably concerned about being somewhat isolated.

In the end, she settled on Incheon, which is where the main airport is located, which you’d fly into to get to Seoul! Gotta say, I’m stoked about this too! At long last I might see Seoul! And of course, the ticket prices are gonna be cheaper too, since we’d be able to take direct flights.

Right now though, there’s a sort of property downturn, and no one’s buying or selling. Hell, she’d even drastically reduced the cost of her luxury apartment, and yet there are no buyers still. Not even prospective ones. So she’s staying put in Busan for now.

In the meantime, things are going pretty well for me in my current role! Been traveling often to KL and even been to Bangkok twice, hopefully with more trips to come.

There really is so much to write about, but for now, I’ll share a few pictures of the places I’ve been.

First, Bangkok!

View from the roof of the Avani Riverside Hotel, in Bangkok

On one of my quests to find Halal food in Bangkok

Next, Kuala Lumpur!

Actually, I haven’t had the time yet to take many new pictures so um, keep tuned!

Anyway, it feels good to be back!

February 5, 2019 0

West Coast Park

After another long week, we finally got our one day away from the Littlest Dictator.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love my daughter. But any parents who claim not to want a break from their baby are either lying or have already gone off the deep end. Kids will do that to you. They’re like those Velociraptors in Jurassic Park, and you’ve always got to be on your toes or you’re well and truly screwed. It gets exhausting.

Anyway where was I? Oh yeah, the day off. So we headed over to West Coast Park.

I had a rough idea of where it was, but didn’t know exactly how to get there. And I wasn’t going to use Google Maps because dammit, I used to cycle past it on the way to work four or five years ago and I don’t need a damn phone to tell me how to get there.

I totally needed my phone.

We reached there eventually after walking about maybe 30 mins from the Clementi Bus Interchange.

We had a sandwich at a Subway-like place, at an newly-refurbished old, three or four-storey building in an equally old neighbourhood.

The many “licensed moneylenders” and pawnshops made it a little bit depressing. Clementi is what property agencies call a “mature estate”, which means it’s been around for longer than most, and is relatively well-developed.

The old housing estates and low buildings with shops on the ground floor and apartments on the floor above have got a kind of charm. Brings back nostalgic memories for me. And some not-so-pleasant ones.

I grew up in a tiny two-bedroom apartment, and as the years went by, slowly realised that we were on the lower portion of the income scale. Not dirt poor by any means. But yeah, quite lacking in certain areas.

By the way, as we walked through the neighbourhoods to get to the park, it only occured to me to take pictures once we’d arrived. So ah, you’re just gonna have to use your imagination for now. Put all those Sesame Street hours to good use!

After walking for a while and wondering if we were lost, and ng refusing to check my phone because I’m a man goddammit, we finally arrived!

Beautiful place. So green and windy and bright. Last time I was there, all I could remember was some tiny boats tied near the shore and nothing much else. Hadn’t been there in more than 15 years.

I was quite pleasant surprised.

Looks like it’s windy often because there were quite a few people there flying kites. Maybe one day I’ll show the Littlest Dictator how to fly one.

Usually a trip to a park in Singapore is accompanied by massive amounts of swearing and feeling like a perpetually melting chocolate bar. But this time it was pretty good. Weather was just perfect.

And even on a Saturday, there weren’t many people.

Yea I wouldn’t mind heading back there at all.

September 24, 2017 0

Visit to the Esplanade and a Few Other Places

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, months? And now on the last day of Ramadhan, I finally have a bit of time to write about some the stuff we’ve been up to.

By the way, I’m writing this while watching the Littlest Dictator feed herself.

A few weeks ago, we visited PIP’s Playbox, located on the fourth floor of The Esplanade.

It’s sort of like a little library and play space for little kids.

Yeah, it wasn’t too bad!

I did get a little annoyed by parents who allow their kids to snatch away toys from the Littlest Dictator while she’s playing with them.

I have a new policy now: if the kid snatches away a toy, I snatch it back immediately. Gently but firmly. Waiting for some parents to do the right thing is like waiting for snow to fall in the Sahara Desert. Or the nee season of Attack on Titan. Just… just trust me on this.

BUT! It was hard to stay annoyed when you’ve got one hell of a view:

Then we went for a walk outside along the river.

Hmm, let’s see where else we’ve been to. Oh yeah. LOL Playland at JCube, an indoor playground near Jurong East MRT. Can’t recall if we went before or after The Esplanade though.

Oh yeah! I went to KL for my very first business trip. First time I ever flew there, and first ever day trip. Usually it’s a major thing for me. Takes about six hours by rail, and four by car or bus.

Yeah, not too bad. an experience! The budget airline terminal looked pretty damn good.

Then we took a goddamn 45-min cab ride to a place that looked like it had been carved out of a forested area not too long ago. A pretty cool place with a hipster-ish vibe, with apartments on the upper floors of the shopping centre, and brand new houses on the other side of a narrow road.

It reminded me of a nice waterfall in the middle of a forbidding jungle.

Despite how nice it looked and… ordinary it felt, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were so far away from the city centre, let alone the airport. Wouldn’t mind going back for a short vacation though.

Let’s see… where else? Where else? Oh right. We paid Big Box a visit. It’s a humongous shopping mall/warehouse next to Jem Shopping Centre, also near Jurong East MRT.

We’d gone there previously and it was pretty underwhelming. While it may be huge, the products sold there appeared to me to be of a cheaper, poorer quality compared to what you’d find in other shopping malls.

But I’d heard of a huge indoor playground there and thought we’d check it out.

It was pretty big, that’s for sure. Might bring the Littlest Dictator here when we get th chance.

Then we checked out their humongous supermarket.

Seriously, this place was huge. It felt exhausting just trying to look at all they had to offer. The design seems a little off though. The aisles were a little too wide, and there were white spaces nearly everywhere you turned, from the ceiling to the walls to the floor. Too many white spaces. The place felt vast but strangely sparse.

It wasn’t that bad though. Might return to check out some of the stuff they have on offer there.

By the way, this is now two days after I started writing. And now I’m attempting to finish this while watching Slap on Titan, an Attack o Titan parody. Armin is one hell of a creepy dude.

June 25, 2017 0

A Glimpse at my Route Back from the Gym

My workout objectives changed a while ago, and now instead of just focusing on strength without being too concerned if I looked like a huge walking sack of organically-grown potatoes, I’ve begun to put more emphasis on functionality and flexibility and to a lesser extent, aesthetics.

I still look like a sack of potatoes, but at least now I’m a sack that has better stamina!

It’s about a 45-min walk back from the gym, so I use that as my cardio after lifting.

The gym itself is in a relatively isolated area of Singapore, with a few seedy KTVs that come alive at night.

I’d deleted the picture of the KTVs, so um, here’s a picture of a Japanese workout band or something

During the day time, it can be quite pleasant.

Unless it’s a hot day. In which case I turn into a sack of fries.

While it may be cooler after midnight, the route looks quite different then…

Like a scene from every B-grade horror movie.

It’s been about a month now, so hopefully soon I’ll be able to kick it up a notch and begin running again.

April 10, 2017 1

Brief Trip to the McDonald’s near Jurong Point

Saturday’s back, and I’ve only just remembered to post our brief recent trip to the Jurong Point area, which is a now-sprawling shopping mall that used to be just one small building. Reminds me of how my waistline has expanded over the years 😂

I particularly like the McDonald’s across the road from it, in the park.

Anyway, after a short 15-min bus ride and we arrived at Jurong Point.

It’s actually much bigger but I ah, forgot to take more pictures.

Finally emerged on the other side.

It was a nice, short trip.

March 25, 2017 13

Return to Pasir Ris Beach and a Barbeque

Went to a birthday barbeque recently at Pasir Ris Beach.

We hadn’t been there since we moved away about three years ago, so it was really good to be back, even if it was just for a day.

A lot has changed.

The shopping mall outside Pasir Ris MRT Station. It’s still crap, just slightly prettier.

I even missed walking to the beach.

This river leads goes through the mangrove forest that borders the sea. The same old forest that used to be where the beach now stands (Singapore has no natural beaches). Makes me a little sad. And makes us not very smart in general, since mangrove forests actually protect us from tsunamis.

Anyway, back to nice pictures! Here’s the revamped Wild Wild Wet water park which is now HUGE.

Finally arrived at the now-overpriced barbecue pits and chalet rooms (kind of like motels), which now cost a whopping $300 goddamn dollars a night for a small room.

Stayed for a bit and decided to head to the beach while there was still light out. We stayed ’til sunset.

Just um, view the pics in reverse order.

Yea it was pretty good to be back.

March 12, 2017 0

Trip to Arab Street

We met a friend in Arab Street yesterday, and it felt almost refreshing to be out amongst adults only.

Wife missed the baby but I was like ‘YESSS! No baby! WooHoo!! FREEEDOMMMM!!’

Anyway… we took the mrt to Bugis Station.

Looking at this picture makes me feel like Hagrid.

Then headed to the creatively-named shopping centre Bugis Junction.

That guy on the right is basically every parent who makes the mistake of going shopping with the baby in tow.

There a few cool shops.

This guy did NOT skip Back Day at the gym!

Met up with the friend, grabbed a quick bite and headed to nearby Arab Street.

Saw a Cat Cafe along the way.

… but I wasn’t in the mood for cat burgers. That’s what I assume they serve. As well as other cat dishes.

My old school is near Arab Street, so in a way I grew up here. And it has changed so much, that it’s almost unrecognisable.

It used to be very quiet around the iconic Sultan Mosque area, which holds the sultan’s tomb.

But now clubs and bars and hipster-ish shops and cafes have sprung up around the area like mushrooms.

It’s cool and all, and I really like some of the cafes. But it also attracts those annoying young people from western countries who watch movies about Asia and come here to ‘find themselves’ in an ‘exotic location’. GAHHHH.

So back to the cafes. We went to an OK one called La Marelle (naturally).

I really like these old shophouses. Picturing how people used to live in them a long time ago.

The place was alright. The chicken burgers were really good, but the coffee was alright. Overall not a bad place to hang out it. The music wasn’t too loud like in some other cafes that clearly aspire to be clubs.

After that it was a short walk down to and past Sultan Mosque.

Yeah overall, not a bad day.

February 26, 2017 0

First Trip on the MRT in more than Three Months

It’s been almost a week since we’ve returned (5 days, 12 hours, 39 minutes) and it’s my first time on the MRT (Singapore’s version of the Metro).

Pretty sunny day.

You can’t tell but I’m melting. And it’s not even a hot day! By Singapore standards that it.

The view from Lakeside Station is always a pleasure to see, even if it is now partially blocked by the safety barriers.

Compared to the much older system in Busan, this train feels like a freakin’ mansion, even if it is like, more than 20 years old.

I’d also forgotten how quickly the train fills up these days, and the picture above was taken when I’d first boarded. It’s definitely a far cry from when I was a kid, and the MRT’s novelty hadn’t yet worn off. I kind of miss that time.

These days, I have packed-like-sardines-in-a-goddamn-can rush-hour trains to look forward to each morning once I get a job.

At least the views are nice.

February 22, 2017 3

Hello Humidity, My Old Friend

It’s been relatively cool here in Singapore (like, 27 degrees Celsius)(!!) so I almost forgot how hot it could get.

While the blue skies and fluffy clouds mingling with so much greenery is always a beautiful sight to behold… I’d forgotten that a short walk could make you sweat like… everywhere.

We went for a stroll through the nearby market and shops to look for a little aeroplane and more drawing paper for the Littlest Dictator.