Jul 2023, Guangzhou I walked past Starbucks at the Guangzhou Airport and my mind started drifting back to 2009. I had just relocated from Singapore to Shanghai at that time. For the next five years, whenever I needed a break from being in China, I had always stepped into a Starbucks. It was my comfort... Continue Reading →
Nov 2014. Shenyang There was never a strong necessity for me to cook in my Singaporean life. That changed when I moved to Shanghai in 2009. Then when I moved to Shenyang in 2014, cooking really became a necessity. So I started cooking more. On some weekends, I would invite friends over, cooked the curries... Continue Reading →
Sep 2014. Shenyang No, I didn't become a Chinese just because I lived in China for ten years. I don't think that happens even if I had stayed there for twenty years. But what did happen is that I had developed a good sense of understanding and respect for the Chinese people and their ways... Continue Reading →
Jul 2014. Shenyang I had it in Shanghai, Shenyang and Beijing. But I had it the most in Shenyang: Shaokao, the street barbecue food of China. Some street stalls are large with a bigger display of menu options while others are confined to a box-like stall on wheels. Whatever the scale of their set-up, they... Continue Reading →
Jul 2014. Shenyang I don't know why they call it the China Construction Bank. Maybe it should be called a Development Bank. I call it CCB for short. It's a bank I used for ten years in China. In Shanghai, Shenyang and Beijing. And in each and every city, God knows how many times I... Continue Reading →
Jul 2014. Shenyang I was in the Shangri-La Hotel to recce a restaurant for an important office dinner I was trying to organise at that time. This is the view from the executive floor and you can see Shenyang's downtown in the far horizon. Though I have said couple of times that Shenyang is a... Continue Reading →
Jul 2014. Shenyang I relocated from Shanghai to Shenyang to join BMW in Jan 2014. I faced personal changes on several fronts at that time. I was new to the company, new to the job (I was transitioning from corporate communications to a change management role) and I was new to the city. Six months... Continue Reading →
Jul 2014. Shenyang After couple of months of riding second-hand bicycles exploring my new neighbourhood, I decided to buy a new bicycle. I took a cab to Decathlon, the French sports superstore and selected a yellow bike called "Rockrider". I then cycled to the nearest metro station to find out that they wouldn't allow a... Continue Reading →
Jul 2014. Shenyang After relocating from Shanghai to Shenyang, I became interested in keeping fishes. It was something that I had done on and off throughout my life but I was more serious about it in Shenyang. I had more time in my hand as I was living alone and it was really cheap to... Continue Reading →
Shenyang. Jan 2014 After working and living in Shanghai for five years, I moved to Shenyang in Jan 2014 to become a change manager for BMW Brilliance Automotive, the joint venture of the BMW Group in China. At that time the company had two plants in Shenyang, one in Tiexi and another in Datong and... Continue Reading →