Malacca, Malaysia 2023

So during the recent March school holidays, we decided to drive up to Malacca with the kids. 

It would be the first time we drove up after Covid.

The plan was to meet up with my cousins' families and we'd stay all together in an AirBnB.

We had the AirBnB booked and so that morning, we woke at 4am, and set off at 4.30am.

We arrived at Tuas checkpoint at 5am to get through the Second Link, and cleared that at around 5.50am.

That was when the horror began.

We were stuck in the Causeway jam for FIVE hours! OMG!

By the time we cleared Malaysia customs, it was already 11.30am!

Anyhoo, we then drove towards Malacca. It was a very easy drive.

We also stopped by at Yong Peng to have lunch.

We arrived in Malacca around 4pm, and one of my cousins had already checked into our AirBnB. It was like a shophouse. 

Unfortunately the sink in the kitchen was leaking and we had people come check and later on we were offered to move to another nicer 3-storey terrace house which we did.

That evening, we went to Malacca's famous Jonker Street to walk through, and ended up having dinner at Hard Rock Cafe Malacca. 

The next morning, we had pretty awesome authentic dim sum dai pai dong style (staff walking around with trays and you take what you want to eat). It was just opposite our AirBnB!

After that we visited Malacca's famous Red House, the old Dutch settlement and fort and all its surroundings. It was actually just beside Jonker Street.

Then at lunch we met up with another cousin's family and we went for famous chicken rice balls.

In the evening we went to an outdoor food court, which is quite different from ours in Singapore. Maybe more similar to a hawker centre like Lagoon. Food was quite delicious too, where we had BBQ sting ray, satay and lots of other good stuff.

At night, we had beer in our house and caught up with old times. It was really fun.

The third day, we went for an authentic coffee shop where the wifey was really impressed with the kaya toast, the son loved the mee hoon kueh (best he ever had), and I just order a portion of everything from laksa to chicken rice you name it. 

We were so full we had to skip lunch and go to the mall to walk it all off. Had wanted to visit the Baba and Nonya Museum but it was closed :(

Dinner was at this famous restaurant in Malacca called Makko. It served authentic Peranakan cuisine and boy was the food super delicious.

Again at night we had beer in our house and caught up with old times. 

Next day was our final day. We skipped breakfast and went to another famous Peranakan restaurant called Baba Ang for lunch. And that was really good too.

Finally it was time to say our goodbyes. 

Then it was the drive back to Singapore.

Once again, the Malaysian side of the Causeway took us TWO hours to clear, while it was smooth sailing on the Singapore side. 

Saxo Social Sharing Campaign

 Saxo is having a social sharing promo right now.

Just share from your platform and stand a chance to win really exciting prizes!

#SaxoSocial2023

Wifey Homecooked Food

 It is a lot rarer that the wifey cooks these days.

Which I miss. 

But she still tries to do so on some weekends.

They're really delicious and it makes my tummy very full and happy!

New Washing Machine And Dryer Combo

 We just got a massive life upgrade haha.

Bought a washing machine + dryer combo as V-day gift for the wifey.

Wow she really loves it and it works like a charm!

The only thing is that it looks a little weird from the kitchen.

Annual Vehicle Inspection

 Brought the son to our car's annual inspection. 

Actually it should be every OTHER year inspection.

Quite fun.

And our car has continued to serve us oh so well.

Red Hot Chili Peppers In Singapore

 They came to Singapore in February 2023.

I was really looking forward to their performance at the National Stadium.

Alas, it was a disappointment. 

I think they chose to belt a lot of their newest songs, which a lot of people didn't know. 

So all those into their 80s and 90s music were VERY sorely disappointed. 

No Californication, Other Side, Scar Tissue, Zephyr Song, and many more. 

How sad is that?

In the end we just got drunk in our hospitality suite haha.

Physical 100 Attempt

 If you haven't heard for Netflix's latest most popular Korean show, Physical 100, you must have been living under a rock. 

Anyway this was from the pre challenge before even the first challenge. 

I had to try it and I only managed to last in this position for 40s.

The winner was doing this for 15mins! Then he couldn't feel his arms for two months after that haha.

Annual CLU CNY SAXO BBQ

 It is finally back.

After a 3 year hiatus.

The CLU CNY SAXO BBQ is finally back.

#IYKYK

The last one we had was in 2019. 

In 2020 I had already sent the invites out, and then had to cancel due to Covid starting its spread.

And this year's event was HUGE!

I think about 50-60 friends and HABs/WAGs/kiddos turned up.

Beautiful.

Chinese New Year Celebrations In Office

 This year's CNY celebrations were pretty fun in the office. 

I got the Lion dance troupe to come round and bless my table too!

HUAT AH!!!

A Jewel Christmas

 This was on 18th December.

We went to Jewel's popular Canopy Park to enjoy the activities there.

There was a Christmas theme of course.

A lot of things to enjoy such as the Mirror Maze, Bouncing Nets and Hanging Nets, among other things.

Jewel is just amazing and it makes me so proud to always recommend it to anyone who visit Singapore.

Futsal Survivor

 Manage to get a game in last December.

Have to treasure every game I get to play now.

Either the knees are bad, or I've got no stamina anymore.

Saturdays are a little bit freer but also a pity I cannot bring my son there to compete.

Maybe in a couple more years, hopefully I have not retired.

Thank You Chocolates From The Boss

The boss gave all employees chocolates and a heartfelt message.

Many a times, I tell staff, friends and colleagues, that working for a great boss, is very often better than many other things we look for in the perfect job.

And for that I am very lucky and I count my blessings every day.

The end will come, but until then, I appreciate every moment. 

Did your boss do this?

Castle Grayskull

 Wow.

Saw this in a collectible toy store at Plaza Singapura in December.

Brought back so many memories.

Because I actually had a set back when I was young.

My father bought it for me. I loved it a lot. 

He-man was the bomb back then and I remember having so many of their figurines and vehicles.

Saxonians Past And Present

 This was taken early December.

A gathering of Saxonians past and present.

Having been there for 17 years, I know more past than present Saxonians now. 

How nostalgic. 

And it is always a joy to hang out with them reminiscing about older days and catching up.

Above from L>R: Jiamin, Lasse, Thomas, me, Issac, Victor, Youlong, Amanda, Darius.

Thereafter we went to another joint called The Little Mermaid or something.

Guns N Roses In Singapore

 Guns N Roses came to Singapore last November.

I brought the whole family there, where we also met up with other colleagues. 

I was getting drunk to all their songs together with Eugene. Haha, damn it was so fun. 

I love them in concerts because they play all their best hits unlike say, RHCP.

The kids actually fell hard in love with Guns N Roses after this concert.

My son remarked that he wished he were the fan he was now (4mths later) when he attended that concert. 

Memories are made of this.

Covid Again

 So early last week I caught Covid for the second time.

It was only when I bumped into a colleague at the lift lobby and he told me he had tested positive for Covid, that I wondered about myself because I had been in the same room with him a lot the last two weeks. I took a test but was negative, but decided I’d go home out of precaution.

By evening I tested again and a faint line appeared, showing I was positive.

The weird thing was that the next few days I felt really fine other than a sore throat.

This went on for several days while I still worked as though I was WFH.

And, in record time, just four days, I tested negative already.

So happy that I got through this episode with minimal hassle.

That said, I totally isolated myself in the work room for fear of infecting the rest of the family,

Hopefully this worked and they will be free from the sickness and infection.

Me The Influencer

 Recently one of my public posts about our trip across the Causeway to made it to AsiaOne!

Wow I'm famous!

But I didn't reveal my face or anything lah.

It was just one of my TikTok posts. 

A reporter from AsiaOne reached out to me to ask a few questions and before I knew it, the article was out!

Wow so fast.

Didn't expect my post about the disgusting jam of waiting 5 hours at the Causeway to go viral!

Here's the article haha.

Osaka Day 8, Japan 2022

  This day was so quick.

Morning we had to rush to check out really early to catch the train to the airport train station, and then the train to the airport at Kansai. 

We had so many good memories so this was a chill time to soak it all in.

We were luck we had a really nice place to stay at that was so safe and convenient to get around everywhere.

Till next time!

Kobe Day 7, Japan 2022

 This was our final full day in Japan.

And the most ambitious yet!

The idea was to see snow.

And the nearest to do so was Mt Rokko Snow Park at Mt Rokko, Kobe. so there we headed!

We took the train, then bus to the foothills of Mt Rokko.

We were told the cable car station was down due to maintenance so they catered buses for us. 

I really wasn't sure if we were going to make it because Dec 3rd I think was the first day of the park's opening for the 2022 winter season! I wasn't sure if it were going to be too crowded either!

Finally we got to the entrance after a long ride, and to my relief, the park was open.

We paid for entrance and gear, and then I saw LESSONS. LET:S DO THIS!!!

So in the end I paid for ski lessons for three of us!

It was so fun!

We had ski lessons for half the day, then went to the sleigh slopes to sleigh a bit, and finally built a snowman in the snow building park.

So fun. 

By the time it ended, it was getting dark and we had to make the trip back to Osaka to meet up with Eugene's family yet again.

We had a fantastic izakaya dinner and then went to this UFO playstore called Player One. the girl managed to catch some goodies back too!