One thing about Singapore that foreigners love and locals hate is that it’s summer all year round. The sun is always felt if not seen, rain or shine, the heat lingers, and the air remains humid.
Monthly Archives: August 2013
Revisiting Singapore: Arab Street
Arab Street is pretty known to the younger locals, but still not the most talked about among travellers. Tourists often overlook this place altogether when they’re short of time. When travellers do talk about it though, they often mention the majestic Sultan Mosque, or the little souvenirs they managed to buy from the little Persian lane stores, or an expensive unique dress from a boutique store run by homegrown designers. Those who stay at night, see a totally different face to this little area.
Singapore: Hair Wash & Blow
We’ve all gone for a hair cut at a salon before and my favourite parts had always been anything but the cut itself. I loved the hair wash, and I loved the blowout styling at the end. These guys make me feel like I’ve done it all wrong – they make my hair feel and look so much healthier and lighter than if I did it on my own.
Shanghai: Antiques Market (Dongtai Lu)
We were just around the corner tailoring some business shirts, and decided to pop by the Antiques Market that people have been talking about.
Singapore: Mellben Seafood
I’m back for a short visit, and have been trying to fulfil as much of my local cravings as possible. Yes, food is always a highlight in Singapore. One on my list is a locally prepared crab. There’re lots of big-named seafood restaurants in Singapore but Mellben is one I’d heard so much about but had yet to try. (Yes, pretty slow). So yesterday evening, my best friends and I headed for the original outlet in Ang Mo Kio.
Shanghai: Cirque du Soleil Michael Jackson The Immortal Tour
Despite the earlier controversy at the opening night in Beijing (Article), the shows were still a resounding success during its run in China. We actually bought the tickets well in advance in May, as part of a friend’s birthday gift.
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Shanghai: Medical Emergencies
Accidents happen. They really do. And most times, there’s a not-so-cool story behind them. At the same time, you gain some lessons from it too. For example, the precious lesson of knowing where to go when you have an absolute real emergency (TLDR: List at the bottom of post).
Shanghai: Fire In The Neighbourhood
So I woke up this morning to blaring sirens. For a city this big and crowded, you don’t hear sirens too often at all. And I remember how often the wailing of sirens would wake me up in Frankfurt. So we knew something was up.
Anji: XcapeShanghai
We don’t always have time on our side for longer travels, but weekend trips are definitely more feasible. Constantly looking out for such options, we came across these guys from Xcape Shanghai who organises weekly trips to the bamboo forest of Anji, where the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was shot.
Hangzhou: Lingyin Temple & Longjingcun
On our second and final day in Hangzhou, we hired a taxi for 3 hours to explore some of the mountains west to our hotel, for a bit. On map, it looked fairly near to walk from our hotel, but in true fact, they were not. They are mountains, after all. Also, fearing we might not have enough hours before having to make our way back to the train station, the taxi seemed our best bet. We got a nice driver who drove a “London Taxi” styled cab who charged around 60 yuan per hour (quite worth the money especially when splitting it per passenger). The drive up took us barely 15 minutes, whereas walking would have taken over an hour.