Shenyang. Jun 2014 It has been six months since I arrived in Shenyang and was settling into my new job and my new neighbourhood. I didn't have any video streaming devices. I had not signed up for a VPN service yet. I just had a TV which only showed local channels in Chinese and an... Continue Reading →
Shenyang. Jun 2014 BMW's four plants in China are all in the Datong and Tiexi Districts of the Shenyang province. I worked in the Tiexi plant and lived near it. In fact, the main road outside my apartment, Shenliao Lu went straight to the plant's vicinity. Every summer, my neighbourhood will set-up a long night... Continue Reading →
Shenyang. May 2014 I was walking in my neighbourhood one Saturday morning when I came across a promotional event for a new real estate "Yuanda Garden". It was common to see such real estate events once every few months in my area. This was a former farmland and they were forever clearing it and building... Continue Reading →
Shenyang. Apr 2014 One of the local customs in Shenyang that I got used to was the wedding car routine. Firstly, you will know that someone is getting married in the compound when you see a guy walking around at 7.00am placing rocks on red papers on the ground which will act as directions for... Continue Reading →
Shenyang. Apr 2014 One Saturday morning at about 8.00am, I heard some loud explosions and I peered out of my apartment window to find out what was happening. They were firing up fire crackers into the sky for apparently what looked like a wedding car procession. That was the first time I realised that you... Continue Reading →
A small town in Henan. 2016 I was staying with my neighbours and their relatives for a few days in a small town in Henan before going for a farm visit. The apartment buildings here were made of bricks and rendered with concrete. But they were were not painted and I don't think the walls... Continue Reading →
Shanghai. Aug 2022 My Singapore auntie visited us in Shanghai in 2013 and and I have written about 80 posts covering that period. I brought her out to see many things and also to try different types of food. She also cooked some delicious Singapore food for us, taught me a few recipes, played with... Continue Reading →
Shanghai. Aug 2013 My auntie was a little anxious about hopping onto a stranger's motorbike without a helmet to go home after a trip to the wet market. But it was only about a five minutes' ride and I was following her in another motorbike. You can find these motorbike taxi guys around most road... Continue Reading →
Singapore. Dec 2013 My family and myself flew down to Singapore at the end of 2013 to clean-up our apartment so that we can rent it out. I hired painters to give the apartment a fresh coat of paint and also got the air-conditioning system replaced. I also had a handyman to fix some broken... Continue Reading →
Shanghai. Jun 2013 Sometimes my kids would sit down and make some paper craft toys when they are bored. My nanny would join them sometimes. Most of the toys they made were simple and some of them even didn't make any sense. But it was a good creative activity which made them happy and pass... Continue Reading →