Life, Travel, GRACE

We had made the full payment for the flight tickets and accommodation few months ago. The plan was to have a week holiday in Melbourne during the short-term school break. So we packed and went ahead. A week before our flight, Covid-19 cases in our country was getting more and more but still manageable at the low number of cases. The same applied to the Australia’s. We touched down Melbourne on 15 Mar. We were lucky as Australian government imposed travel ban on the following day. Few days later, Malaysian government imposed movement control order (MCO), and ban on traveling (we were lucky again,?). Then Australian government closed all borders. That’s where panic set in as our returning flight has been cancelled. With some help, we managed to secure our return flight on Sunday, 22 Mar (the last flight before total suspension of international flight by AAX). During our stay in Melbourne, we were blessed with good weather, safe journey and exciting trip, aside on one evening where the pa...

In view of recent political turmoil in Malaysia, some might have lost hope. Of course, most of us were shocked, angry, confused. Regardless the outcome of the situation, as a believer, we should entrust all these to the hand of the Lord. And we pray that God will deliver us from this uncertainty. Perhaps a wise quote by Gandalf (from The Lord of The Rings) can be a good comfort and encouragement. It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not.      -  J.R.R. Tolkien -

As usual, lion dance is a must during Chinese New Year. This year we didn’t get to see many performances, even in Sandakan during Chap Goh Mei. Probably no good luck in spotting the lion dance troupe. Anyway, as always, shopping malls in Klang Valley will be the best venue to catch the lion dance performance (although I still prefer the performance by the Sabahan lion dance troupe back in Sabah). Nowadays, kids are rushing to get blessing from the lion after the performance (in Klang Valley). As a result, my younger son has not been able to get the “blessing” (in the form of mandarin orange). Too competitive for the kids though.

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.