Sunday, 21st April 2019 I took a long metro + bus excursion out of Beijing to the Wanping Ancient City this morning. Home to the famed Marco Polo Bridge, this was where World War II officially started in China after Japan waged their aggression across the bridge. Housed within the city walls is the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. This is a huge museum containing lots of information about the War. It really helped that there was a free guided tour when I was there which summarize the information to a more manageable magnitude. China did not officially surrendered during the eight-year war between 1937-1945. After the coastal cities fell to the Japanese in the early part of the campaign, the war eventually reached a stalemate given the strong willpower ... read more

Friday, 19th April 2019 After breakfast on Friday, I took bus service #8 outside my hotel to Qianmen stop where the Tiananmen Square is located. I'm always slightly nervous whenever I'm in crowded places, more so at Tiananmen when I'm surrounded by strangers and we had to go through the security check-points prior to entering the Square. The crowd was considered orderly this morning but the whole process still took a while. I could not imagine how things would be like during the peak holiday season. Anyway, Tiananmen Square like many of the Communist public squares around the world is huge in size. There is a flag pole that takes centre-stage. Across the road from the Square, is the red Tiananmen where the portrait of Mao Zedong stands proudly on the wall gazing at the people ... read more

Sunday, 20th January 2019 I've requested a visit to the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) this morning. R was pleasantly surprised that I had wanted to pop by to FRIM as part of my tour. This was where he had spent much of his childhood days whenever his family wanted a picnic excursion. We were up by 6.50 am this morning where FRIM was just a short ride away from his home. It was chilly at this time of the day as we proceeded with our walk to the picnic grounds and waterfall. The air smelt fresh and the tranquil surroundings plus the huge trees made it a pleasant visit. After our huge serving of wanton noodles, we went back to his apartment to continue with our rest before heading out for a massage at ... read more

Saturday, 22nd December 2018 This was a final staycation together with my parents for 2018 as we spent a quiet weekend at the Holiday Inn Express Singapore Katong Hotel. We were given a connecting room where views of the Marine Parade Estate and the sea could be had at the comfort of our beds. Service from the staffs were warm and accommodating and we were really happy that our rooms were ready before 12pm. For lunch, we went over to the original laksa stall located at Roxy Square where we had our fill before heading to Parkway Parade for some grocery shopping. Back at the hotel, we spent most of the afternoon in our rooms before it was time for dinner at Canton Paradise. The complimentary breakfast experience in the morning was nothing to shout about ... read more

Monday, 17th September 2018 Things started to slow down considerably as our 8pm flight to Singapore approached. Nevertheless, I started my early morning routine at the hotel pool. For my final swim in Dubai, I had the whole pool to myself which I appreciated since it wasn't so spacious to accomodate that many people. After the swim, we had breakfast at Shakespeare and Company again. This time, we occupied the table at the quiet upper level thus avoiding the transient office crowds at the busy lower level. After breakfast, it was back to the hotel to rest, to pack and to get ready for checkout at two in the afternoon. And after leaving our luggage with the concierge, we made our way to the Burjuman Centre where the Dome Cafe had a branch. Service was great ... read more