Life, Travel, GRACE

Had an opportunity to visit Yinchuan city last October while attending a conference. Yinchuan can be considered as the gateway to Inner Mongolia in the northern part of China; although I didn’t venture beyond that. It is the capital city of Ningxia province, with high concentration of Hui people who are mostly Muslim. Although the province is not large, the city itself and its surrounding offer some good places to visit. Coincidently, the place that I stayed (Yinchuan Macrolink Regent Hotel) is just a walking distance from the tourist bus station. It’s also next to the airport city terminal bus stop. I managed to visit Western Xia Imperial Tomb, Rock Paintings of Helan Mountain and China Western Film Studio, and Yinchuan Museum. Due to insufficient time, and rainy season, I didn’t manage to explore Helan Mountain (it was closed due to heavy rain/snow). Sha Hu and Shuidonggou site are also good for a day trip. Other places like Shapotou is a bit too far from the town. Probably will go t...

When a few friends post in FB that they have purchased tickets for U2 concert in Singapore, I was quite excited. Unfortunately, I was too late. Tickets were sold out for the performance on 30 Nov 2019. Fortunately, they added an extra show on the following day, 1 Dec. So with great anticipation, I waited for the ticket sale for 1 Dec performance. Managed to get 2 tickets with good seats, although the distance from the stage could be far (the venue is in a stadium). We travelled to Singapore via long distance bus although flying in would be a better option. The traveling time was long, coupled with extremely long queueing time at the Tuas checkpoint. It took us almost 2 hours to complete the immigration process (Singaporean government needs to look into this and do some improvement. The queue was ok when leaving Singapore). Because of the long waiting time, the bus left us. We met some good Samaritans where they sponsored us the connecting bus from the checkpoint to Jurong East (that...

Had opportunity to travel to Guangzhou recently, and in coming months, for working assignment. Took a day or two to explore the town and vicinity. After visited the Liwan Park, came across Yongqing Fang area, where Bruce Lee ancestral home is located. Quite a fun exploration in that area.

There were a few good movies to be considered recently. Joker was one of them, and I don’t think I need to write more about it as there are many good reviews out there. My guess is Joker could be nominated for a few categories in next year Oscar, from acting to cinematography and musical score. On the other hand, Ad Astra has not been getting a decent review or writeup. In fact, the movie is so underrated. Probably due to how it was marketed. People might think it is an adventure sci-fi movie. In my opinion, it’s more toward drama, same genre as Interstellar . It is about self-searching as the main protagonist search for his estranged father. There are a few glimpses on what it may look like for future space travel - no frill space travel, exploration of moon and beyond. I would prefer that the script to have more emphasis on relationship between his estranged wife too, and the longing of receiving fatherly love.

A one-month exhibition on da Vinci's works was held in Balai Seni Lukis Negara last July-August. The exhibition featured high definition reproduction of his masterpieces. Of course the actual works are secured in worldwide famous museum. Although they are digital paintings, details of the work are manifested. A good event for the exposure of da Vinci's works. The Last Supper Mona Lisa Mona Lisa

It's not everyday you get to see the national flag lowering ceremony (unless you stay nearby).  We took the opportunity to observe China flag lowering ceremony at Tiananmen Square. We couldn't make it for the raising flag ceremony. It was too early (need to be there by 4:30am during summer). Here are the three short videos of the ceremony.

With late screening date and a few cut scenes, I couldn't lament more. At least the movie get its screening slots in this country. The structure of the movie is quite different compared to Bohemian Rhapsody. It revolves the retelling of the upbringing and life of the singer (Elton John). With every major scene, a selected song is fitted appropriately. The choreography is good too. Definitely one of the must-watch movies this year, if you like music.