Memorial

I took one day leave and went back to cck home after gym and lunch, mum came back and we set off at around 4pm to my uncle's place in Johore.

We parked our car there, headed for dinner at a chinese restaurant and went to the memorial. It was a christian memorial so no joss sticks and stuff, I was at a loss of what to do so I went to the back to see his body. His mum was there crying beside his body as I approached but it really hit me to see his body lying there. I haven't seen him for a long time, since my grandma's funeral 5 years ago. I was controlling my tears but it was rolling down a little but I stopped it. His face was intact, a little scar on the chin. 

I went out and talked to my cousin who went to claim his body. So the story was, he was driving back to JB in his company car back from Pahang/ Kuantan where he worked, it was a really long journey so he drove at night at around 4am. He was driving too fast, he missed a turn, went over the road railing, the car spun into a lake/water body and partially submerged. He was injured at the ribs, opened the car door to climb out, called the tolling number and called his worker, shared his location to come pick him up. He placed his phone and shoes on the grass, went back to the partially submerged car to retrieve his wallet and bag but either passed out from the pain or the tide were too strong and then drowned. The worker went to the location to find only his phone and shoes but couldn't find him. He was found by the ambulance and his boss called my other cousin and told him the news.

Honestly it was a shock to everyone, it's really too fast for people to get used to. His parents were devasted, especially his mum. His dad just got a stoke. His twin brothers ran out of tears on the second night but they were handling everything really well. Really grateful to Ah Ming for the support and help, he was the closest cousin to him. Ah Ming was clear what Ah Bee wanted, who to inherit what and to scatter his ashes into the sea. 

We hung out till around 10pm, went back to Sg at midnight, I showered and slept in my cck room. Then it really hit me and I cried really hard.

Hao Kuang Cousin

After lunch I just received news that one of my Malaysian cousin just passed away from a traffic accident.

We used to be super close when we were younger, during childhood before 12yo, every Chinese New Year I would really look forward to hanging out with him the whole period when I was in Port Dickson. He has 3 other brothers, I'm very close with the twins as well, even now

This pic was taken 16 years ago, when we were still close and hanging out at our grandparent's place and chasing cows, exploring vegetation, setting up fire crackers, flying kites and finding ways of having fun. That was the time I had my first camera phone and I think the only picture of him that I took.

I guess time and location just brought us apart, he stopped coming to PD during CNY so we stopped meeting. From what I remembered, he's fiercely loyal, kind and protective of his brothers. The last time we met was actually our grandmother's funeral at PD, he had grown so big and mature, riding a motorbike and working as IT/ video camera crew. But he picked up smoking, which we both hated when we were younger. After PD, we went back to JB for dim sum and KTV near his place, I thought it was pretty nice to see him again.

There are so many things that I should have done as his older brother. I should have reached out to him more often, I should have asked him to come SG more often, I should have brought him around more often. He was my younger brother and favourite cousin.

Hao Kuang was 30 years old, his birthday was 2 July.

In loving memory. 

Bali Nov 2023

The last time I went to Bali was 8 years ago in 2015 and I explored Ubud and Seminyak, and just stayed at any random hotel. 

This time because WJ had corporate rate for Alila Seminyak so we stayed there for 2 nights. Honestly I felt so unprepared because I don't have where to go except the hotel, I don't know what to eat, and a lot of people came back with stomach pain aka Bali belly?? 

We took Air Asia (less than $200) on Saturday afternoon, the airport was surprisingly new and fast, then took the Klook transport I booked to the hotel and then checked in. We got upgraded the ocean view, unpacked and then we headed to the beach bar for the sunset. 

The DJ was there, playing music and we ordered drinks and bbq octopus and admired the sunset. Seminyak sunset was indeed so magnificent and grand, it's even better than I remembered. But I think European sunsets are better though. After that we went to Naughty Nuri for dinner, then back to the hotel for drinks (we bought a bottle from DFS earlier). 

Woke up for the amazing breakfast, then I dipped into the pool, went out for a meh massage at Seminyak Square, then ate pastry and burgers at Bossman.

Back to the beach bar, there was a band playing and the singers were so good! We admired the Sunset again with drinks and food. Went back to the room for pre-drinks, went out to hit the bars and some drag show but my head was spinning after a few drinks already so we headed back.

Amazing breakfast again, dipped in the pool again, then headed for lunch at the hotel restaurant. Packed, took grab to the airport and then back to Jewel for dinner.

Short, simple and chill trip, most time were spent in the hotel because I didn't know what to do except the beach. The Bali airport renovated and now the customs and baggage check area were super fast, or may because we flew out on a Monday. 

I think this should be my last trip of the year? Maybe...

Setting up new home

It has been 10 continuous days since I moved permanently and stayed at my own place. I realised that I really took everything for granted at home, there are really endless things to buy, especially kitchen and cleaning items.

So far, we went to supermarket to buy all the sauces, the fruits, the eggs, the noodles etc. I haven't really bought the carbs (rice) yet I don't know why I'm procrastinating lol. I only have a cooking pan so I use it to cook most things. I just bought a blender for my avocado juice and breakfast smoothies.

It's all those small things that are annoying. Clothes peg, iron and ironing board, small chopping board, hot item coasters etc. Urgh when can I stop spending money... setting up a new home is endless thinking of what to buy and endless spending time and money.

Shanghai Oct 2023

11 days after Tokyo, I realised I have some miles expiring and also I could stay at Fan's place, so I just redeemed my miles and work from Shanghai hehe. There were a lot of drama in between but I guess I don't want to lose out on the opportunity to go Shanghai because I haven't been there since Covid. Everytime I go Shanghai I have a place to stay - no need for hotel. 

First day arrived, Oli came to pick me up, went back, unpacked, drank a bit then slept. The next morning he went to work, I explored around little bit. The serviced apartment was in Pudong so like nothing much and the nearest shopping center was 10mins walk. I bought my own lunch, set up my working station, re-arranged the house and tidied up, then dinner. 

I realised they dont use cash anymore - everything was mobile payment and it was sooo inconvenient for me as a foreigner because you require a China number and bank account to have mobile payment. So Oli had to pay everything for me first. 

I met Fan jie, had really good nice chinese dinner at Andaz hotel and went back to drink more lol. 

That weekend we went to Wuzhen - that's in another post. 

The rest of the week nothing much except working at home and heading out for dinner, super-marketing at Sam's club, eating BBQ for dinner, eating Hong Jie Chong Qing Hotpot. It was hairy crab season so we bought some crab and had crab noodles at home. It was awesome.

I finally saw my Freedom Gundam.

The weekend was Halloween, we went to hit the clubs on Friday night, met Ada in Prada, had more drinks back at home and woke up with a massive hangover the next day -_-. 

I didn't want to waste the weekend so I went out to explore Lujiazui and Xintiandi, everything was almost the same but different in a way. At night we had Chong Qing hotpot again and hit the clubs with his Tokyo friend.

The following week I went out more. I found out that there was a LV pop up store at an event space and headed down because I wanted to get their tote bag. I went in there, I couldn't find anything to buy, then came out again. I walked around the area and thought this might be the only chance I can get the limited edition tote bag and went back in again. 

I was served by a young lady who was educated in US, and she spoke very fluent english. She explained the whole concept of the space, showed me some significant pieces of LV items and I was so wow-ed away by her story. She talked for almost 2 hours. I decided to buy the Amsterdam city guide book ($57) and got my tote bag. 

The right place at the right time.

I went to explore the Bund at night, so many new building and shops omg. That whole stretch of road changed so much. 

I finally had my Xiao Yang

31 Oct Tuesday night was my last night, I cooked BKT for Oli and Fan jie for dinner and we had a great time, had drinks after. She stayed next block so after she went back she texted us saying she left her slippers here hahaha so she went out barefooted lol. More drinks, I packed in the morning and Oli ordered a didi for me to the airport.

Summary:

I went to Shanghai without any expectations. I just wanted to stay there for a while and work from there, so now I know working from overseas is possible for my job. I was opened to a lot of new experiences in Shanghai, from food to supermarkets, I was introduced to new standards of living etc. Thanks to Oli.

Sometimes I do felt like I was held hostage (like I told my friends) because everything had to be done via mobile and mobile payment, so it was so difficult for me as a foreigner to know the way of living in Shanghai without all those apps. And google and all my social medias doesn't work in China -_-. The money portionis always a problem.

But overall I was glad that I was able to stay there for a while. As usual, I bought a lot of things from supermarket and Taobao to bring back home - but not enough space lol. 

It took me a while to finish this post (5 months?) because I was always held up by something and there are always something new coming.