Easter Saturday

We went and had breakfast down the road this morning, at a cafe that we haven’t yet tried in the 3+ years that we’ve lived in the area. I may be heading back to buy some of their bread on a regular basis, they’re very tasty! 🍞

We went to IKEA to check out some alternative dining table options. We don’t have a proper dining table; we just have a bench that can open up to create more bench space, and we use that as our dining table. We rarely use it as a dining table, I guess because it’s a bit of an effort to pull it out and set up as a table. If a proper dining table was there, I assume we’d use it a lot more often. But then if we move, we’d have to reassess our furniture requirements… So the question once again goes back to do we move or not move… If something comes up that we really really like, then yes, we will probably move, but it’d have to be pretty damn impressive to get us to move, coz we really like it where we are, even if the apartment is quite small. So let’s see…

Speaking of the apartment, we just chillaxed back at home for the rest of the afternoon, before heading over to Suntec to watch Ready Player One at the movies 🎥 A lot of 80s references, that was pretty cool 😊

So another relaxing day today. It’s turning out to be quite a chilled Easter 🐣

Friends and shopping

I finally joined BreadTalk Rewards. I’ve been having BreadTalk every week for lunch, after the FX seminar, it’s now become routine. So I decided that I should join and get rewarded for being a regular customer 😊 They have an app, and your card is stored in the app and you just scan the QR code at the counter when you want to pay. All stores should do this! It just makes it so easy. Although yes, I do understand too that not everyone has a phone.

We went and had lunch with yet another friend from Oz who’s stopped by in SG for the last few days, before flying back to Sydney tonight. We’ve had so many friends come and visit lately! It’s nice to see so many familiar faces 😊

We then went to 112 Katong in the afternoon and bought a few things. We really like this mall and the area in general. It just has a nice vibe to it, and isn’t one of the usual touristy / expat-y areas that we normally go to. Maybe we look into moving in to this area… 😉

We bought a few Chinese books from one of the shops in the mall. These are the ones that I bought. It says a lot about our reading level when I can’t even read the title! 😔 The dictionary will be my best friend while I make my way through these books 😂

Some reading / study this long weekend

And I also bought this totally useless item 😂 It’s called the Fidget Cube, and I think it is such an appropriate name! It basically just lets you fidget to your heart’s content. I fidget a lot, so this is going to be a well-used item. And it comes with its own little carry bag! So I am carrying this with me everywhere I go now 😂

We then stopped by Meidiya, a Japanese supermarket here, to pick up some food for dinner. I tend to just come here for groceries, but N reminded me that they also have awesome, ready-made Japanese food. I will have to remember to stop by and pick up some food next time I’m here.

Japanese for dinner tonight 🍣

A very relaxing Good Friday 😌

Little things that add up to create one annoying morning

Today was the first time I got a glimpse of what Uber and Grab (and taxi) drivers have to go through as part of their job. Little frustrating things that I guess all jobs have.

I booked a GrabShare to pick me up from the vet clinic and drop me home this morning. A GrabShare is effectively a type of ride (private car or taxi) where you can share your ride with someone else who is being picked up and dropped off in similar areas to you, or at least is on the way, effectively splitting the cost of the ride with them.

The driver picked me up, and then two minutes into the ride, he said that he has to go pick up another passenger, which of course he has the right to do, since I signed up for that type of ride. It turned out that the second passenger was in the apartment complex literally across the road from the vet clinic. The only problem was that by the time he had picked me up and we were on our way, to return to my pick-up point would require a series of turns and u-turns to get back there. It would’ve been faster to have walked back, asked the second passenger to walk to the car, and then we would’ve been off our merry way. Even better was if she had called two minutes earlier (or I two minutes later), and the pick-ups would’ve been so swift and easy, and we would’ve been on our merry way in no time. But no, that’s not how it works in the real world. He has no choice but to do these turns and u-turns to pick up the second passenger.

So we finally get to the apartment, and security lets us in. But of course it’s one of those compounds that has multiple buildings, and we can see no one around. No one but us and security. Wth?!? Where is this elusive passenger?? Don’t you want to be seen so we can all go off on our merry way asap?!

Elusive passenger is nowhere to be found, so I think our driver had to text her to tell her that we had arrived.

*poof* She appears out of nowhere, gets into the car, and we all finally go on our merry way.

She gets dropped off literally about three blocks from her apartment complex. OMG. The time it took to book the driver, to wait for the driver, and then to finally drive to the destination would’ve taken just as long as just walking there directly. I. Do. Not. Understand. 🤷‍♀️ OK, slight exaggeration, but still. Especially knowing just how far we had to drive around just to return to where we were mere minutes ago, she would’ve been halfway to her destination already.

So elusive driver is dropped off three blocks away, and we finally go on our merry way to my destination. We turn the corner, and wouldn’t you know it: they’re chopping branches off a ginormous tree that lines this multi-lane road that we’re now on. So we’re no longer moving, compelled to stop coz some random guy is standing in the middle of the road holding an octagonal (or is it hexagonal?!) lollipop sign that says “stop” on it 🤪

Frustratement! Luckily the chopping didn’t take very long, and before we knew it, we truly could go on our merry way 😊

With Grab and Uber now merging in Asia, I am curious to see how things will change, now that Grab effectively has a monopoly in the region…

Hump day

I made this awesome pescatarian lunch today:

But then I ruined it by adding honey to the lemon vinaigrette… Lesson learnt. Never doing that again 😂

Trading wasn’t too bad today. I didn’t feel all high and mighty like I did yesterday, but at least I didn’t feel too stupid like I normally do. Maybe some things are actually coming together in the old noggin 😊

We had our usual Ballroom lesson tonight, and our teacher seems to be relatively happy with our progress. Latin practice afterwards wasn’t the best, we’ve danced better than that before. But N had a crappy day at work, and that was probably weighing on his mind a bit. Plus he didn’t get much sleep last night either. So with those two things combined, I’m not surprised Latin fell apart quite a fair bit tonight. Our next comp is in just 2.5 weeks, so there’s not much time left to make sure it’s well and truly back together!

And then afterwards, we went and had dinner with some dancing friends at Sin Hoi Sai Eating House on the East Coast. Great food, with outdoor seating so it’s pretty relaxed and casual. They’re open until 4 in the morning or something! We finish dancing at around 10:15-10:30pm, so by the time we get changed and leave the studio, it’s probably closer to 11pm, so places like this are great for us 😊

Finished

You know that trading meme that I was talking about yesterday? Well I wasn’t the dog today 🐶 I was feeling all high and mighty, holier than thou 😂 I was so at one with the market, it was almost as if it was speaking to me. I felt incredible, as if I knew exactly what I was doing. Why can’t every day be like this?!

I finished Andre Agassi’s autobiography today. It was so good. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to, I’m a bit sad that I have now finished it. I got a glimpse of the life of one of the world’s tennis greats. It sorta makes me want to go back in time and watch his matches again, just so I can appreciate them in a whole new light. Because now I have a totally different appreciation of Agassi – and a few of the other tennis players of his generation! 😲 – as a person now.

And we finished season four of Game of Thrones. A very good episode to end the season 👍 I’m slowly catching up to the rest of the world on this front, I don’t know if I like that or not! Coz soon I’ll be waiting with everyone else for the next season to come out; it won’t just be ready for me to watch any time I wish, like it currently is. Hmmm… But at the same time, it’s such a good show, I can’t wait to find out what happens next season!

Back to routine

Back to routine. Back to the vet today. I came in just before the craziness started. As I was waiting for my Grab driver to arrive, FIVE dogs came in omg. Thankfully we were seen before the craziness started! But I’m sure Kitty saw and heard all the commotion, poor thing.

I watched this YouTube clip called “You shall not pass, dog”. I thought it was fascinating that these huge dogs would be so afraid of a little cat. But I can understand why: the little buggers swipe at them with their evil claws! Their little paws look all cute and soft, but hidden underneath the soft padding lies some nasty claws, and they will not hesitate to use them, even on those that they know!

Anyway, I saw this happen at the vet clinic today! The golden retriever was 100 times the size of the resident cat (it was huge, I think it weighed around 45kg, if I heard the vet nurse correctly), and yet the resident cat did not hesitate to swipe at it. And I’m sure the golden retriever was only coming up to say hello! Cheeky little bugger!

Back to routine. Back to trading. Back to feeling like this multiple times a day 🤣🤣 Although I highly doubt I look as happy as the dog in that meme.

Back to routine. Back to watching an episode of Game of Thrones, almost finishing season four. I think we’ll finish the season tomorrow night 👍

Sometimes I love my routine – even crave for it – sometimes not so much. Today probably fell more in the latter 😐

Kuala Lumpur long weekend – Sunday

We had a nice, relaxing end to our weekend getaway. We had breakfast in the hotel, and then just chillaxed in our hotel room until check-out at noon. I read more of Andre Agassi’s autobiography; he’s now with Steffi Graf. I’m nearing the end of the book, which is a little sad actually, coz I’m really enjoying the book and I don’t want it to end. He was a bit of a jerk at some of his tournaments, and he knows it, but he wrote about those incidents in a way that they have come across as amusing in the book more than anything else 😂

We grabbed some lunch and then did a bit of shopping at 1 Utama Shooping Centre before making our way to the airport.

Flight was uneventful – which is not a bad thing! I read for most of the flight, and slept the rest of the time. We had to do a few circles in the air, as there was a bit of a back-up at Changi, apparently. My friend tracked my flight, and here is his screenshot of the loop-de-loop:

Yes, we’re trackers! 😂

And then we finished the evening with a few more episodes of Game of Thrones. We’re nearing the end of season four!

Ahhh… Always nice to go away. Now, back to reality…

Kuala Lumpur long weekend – Saturday

We didn’t really do much in the morning but eat 😂 We had a coffee at Brasserie Fritz, their coffee was actually quite nice. I’m always surprised when Asia makes a good coffee, since it’s not quite their specialty. Much like if an Italian makes a good wonton noodle, I’d be just as impressed 😂

After our coffee, we went and had a two-part lunch: a yong tau foo of sorts, and then afterwards a stall renowned for its roast pork belly. Now for someone who is so far from a foodie it’s not funny, even I noticed the superior quality of the food at these two places.

Yap Hup Kee 叶合记 for the yong tau foo

Wong Mei Kee 王美记 for the roast pork belly

We then made our way to our second hotel in Petaling Jaya, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. We did a bit of shopping in the afternoon before having dinner at Auntie Sim.

And then after dinner, we headed up to Stratosphere, a rooftop bar, for a quick drink, before heading back to our room and calling it quits for the day.

Come to think of it, we didn’t do much at all today but eat and drink 😂 But hey, we’re on a weekend holiday for some R&R, so we’re doing exactly as planned 😊

Kuala Lumpur long weekend – Friday

I’ve been up since 6am. By 8am, I had my first cup of coffee and I was only just starting to feel normal. Sighhh… Mornings and night owls do not mix 😔 We are flying with some friends, a husband and wife, and their baby, and we’re going by the baby’s schedule, hence the ridiculously early morning flight. Well, a 9am flight is ridiculously early for me 😆

The flight is just as long as a flight from Sydney to Canberra. And the plane required to travel such a distance is also domestic-size. I was just settling into my seat and enjoying my second cup of coffee for the day (I seriously need the caffeine if I have to be up so damn early!) when the second officer announces over the PA system that we will be landing shortly 🤣 🤣 We had pretty much just taken off and now we were landing already! It’s like the plane will only have time to make a triangle in the air 🛫 🔼 🛬

After the very short plane ride, we then caught the train to KL Sentral, and from there, a cab to the hotel. The express train was pretty quick, actually, and quite a comfortable ride. The scenery out the window was basically palm trees galore. Very green.

🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴

Our room wasn’t ready yet when we arrived at the hotel, so we made our way to Petronas Towers before checking in. That was a nice view up there. The Palace of Culture was one of my favourite architectural marvels that I could see from up there. This is the best shot I could take given the distance and the quality of my camera – ie from my phone!

Palace of Culture

I would’ve liked to have had more time up there, as somehow it got away from me. I just got to wander around and look at the different buildings all around KL, but I barely got to look at any of the displays on the viewing floor itself, or even muck around with the virtual reality display. I think each group is allotted 20-30 mins, but it felt like half that to me. Oh well. Nonetheless, it was fun while we were there.

Then we got to experience the joy of KL traffic on a Friday afternoon during peak hour, travelling back to our hotel. Still not as bad as Manila, but definitely not that great. It took us maybe close to 40mins to travel 1.5km. And that doesn’t even include the waiting time for the Grab car to reach us (probably an additional 20mins on top of that!). We could’ve walked that in less time! 😔

Once we settled in to our hotel rooms, we then headed down to Jalan Alor for dinner. It’s a street food night market, with a bajillion stalls to choose from. If you wanted to, I reckon you could spend weeks (months?!) here, trying out each and every stall.

My Hail Mary shot of Jalan Alor

The boys then went for a massage, while the girls had an early night. So here I am writing today’s post a littler earlier than usual 😊

So our first day in KL:

• We got to visit Petronas Towers;
• We experienced KL peak hour traffic; and
• We got to eat at Jalan Alor

Not bad 👍

And despite the very early morning start, I am still somewhat ok at 10:30pm. I might read a bit more of Andre Agassi’s book tonight before bed 😊

Progress

I went to my usual weekly FX seminar today. Remember this time last week when I was talking about how uncomfortable I feel when staff recognise me? Well this week, when I got the nod of recognition from the various staff members as I made my way to the venue, it was almost just par for the course. Almost. It’s starting to become the norm! 😲 That didn’t take me very long at all to get used to the recognition 😊

The seminar today was PACKED! They have the room set up in a classroom setting, but there are also a number of chairs along the sides of the room. Normally everyone gets to sit in the “classroom” bit, with the tables and chairs, but today there were so many people that we were overflowing onto these seats down the sides of the room! I was lucky to get a classroom seat! 😅 Not that I need the table, coz I just take notes on my phone anyway, but it would’ve broken my routine if I had to sit on the side of the room, and that just wouldn’t have sat right with me 😆 Although one side of the room has floor to ceiling windows overlooking Marina Bay, so this scenario wouldn’t have been so bad… 😊

My trading has been really good these last two days. I just wish I could replicate this every single day. The only problem is that I don’t know exactly what it is that I’ve done these last two days that made things just work. I suspect it’s a culmination of things, including luck and the market just moving in a way that works with my style.

But I will have to wait until next week to see if I can replicate this good work again – because we’re off to Malaysia tomorrow! Excitement! 😊 Although I still feel like I’ve packed too much for our weekend trip. I only have carry on, which feels mega light as it is, but I still feel like I’ve brought too much. I thought we were getting better with this packing business!😂