Business Trip to Shanghai Part 1

It is the China office annual party and I got invited. The difference between this and the normal party is that I had to fly 5 hours to get there. I get to fly business and my very 1st SQ business flight. Woohoo!

My flight was at 7.20am, which meant that I was out by 5am. I am very glad that Rio is so much nearer to the airport. 

I did a little shopping at DFS, got back to my business travel routine and bought myself a lip balm. Then to the business lounge. I wasn’t hungry and had a coffee. The spread looks decent and I resisted the temptation, trying very hard to stick to my diet.

I realised how ill prepared I was for the trip. I was trying to check if I had roaming, transferring $$ to ChangiPay (for Alipay) and updating my credit card details into WeChat pay at the airport. 

By the time I was at the gate, it was boarding time. SQ business class! 

Byez Singapore.

On my previous business class flights to Tokyo, I was busy sleeping so that I can survive the next working day. Finally I get the chance to enjoy the business class benefits. I had bfast! Opting for the scrambled eggs instead of the Sgp prawn noodles. 

Everything was served in ceramic/ glass ware. Very atas but the bfast was so-so only. My SQ business class expectations were beyond the moon. Lol.

I worked for a couple of hours with the superb wifi, then tried but failed to nap. I duno if it is day flight or I duno how to operate the seat (probably the latter), I wasn’t able to make the seat go totally flat. I wasn’t sleeping anyway and was ok with it. I caught 1 Korean movie. Happy!

I touched down at 12ish uneventfully, collected luggage and cleared the immigration smoothly. I avoided the illegal taxi and headed directly for the official taxi Q. There was barely anybody in the Q and got into a taxi quickly. 

The driver was chatty, making the usual small talks. Then he said that the place that I wanted to go (aka office) is very far away and would cost CNY400 in fare. I acknowledged and we drove on. He probably made that comment to gauge if I know how much I should be paying, which I obviously don’t. Bcos shortly after we left the airport, he claimed that he had to head back to the airport and I had to change a taxi. He assured that I didn’t have to worry, that his buddy was available, on standby and would be able to send me to the office. I told him that I needed a meter taxi, and needed the receipt to seek reimbursement, which he again assured that all were good. 

I knew something was fishy but had no choice but to switch to an another taxi. The new taxi had no visible meter but the driver assured that the meter was right there, hidden from my sight and that he is a legal operator. I messaged my colleague and attempted to use whatever China app to track location. My colleague said that the taxi fare should cost about CNY150 and I knew that I would be a carrot head. I was more worried that he would kidnap me. 

The driver did send me to the office. When we were nearing the office, he even made small talks, telling me how long hours and how hard he worked to support his high school kid who is studying in Shanghai. The eventual fare? CNY 486 and he gave me a “discount”, asking me only to pay CNY 460. I didn’t dare to argue with him and was happy to arrive safely at the office. My colleague checked the taxi receipt and my “taxi” had “waited” for me for an hour before sending me to the office, explaining the high fare. Zzzzzz. My colleagues were all pretty pissed to have a foreigner (me) experienced such dishonest practices in China. 

I had a few hours to finish some work before I was ushered off to the party venue some 30 mins car ride away. This year, it was held at a bar but it was orderly, without the excessive drinking or dancing. Company party lah. They had a band that was pretty good. 

The party ended at about 10ish and we should go back, right? One of the senior leaders suggested one more drink and we found ourselves in some super atas Jazz bar nearby. I duno jazz and the band was very jazz. The bar was interestingly crowded on a Monday night. We finally left at 11ish and a colleague nicely sent me back to the hotel. It was an appreciated gesture after the afternoon taxi adventure.

It was already past midnight when I finally checked in. The hotel cost about S$300 and is very luxurious. 

It was already 1am when hit the pillow. I was so tired. 

Mummy Lim

iPhone 17

Nana was the very 1st among us to move to iPhone in March 2023. She said that everyone in her school has an iPhone. We didn’t get her the newest iPhone but an iPhone 12, but she was very pleased about it. 

Since then, we have all moved to iPhones. I actually didn’t quite mind iPhones or android phones but cannot deny that the iPhone face recognition capabilities made life so much easier. 

Auntie S swear by iPhones and said that iPhones can last 4 years, justifying the higher price tags. Android phones usually last about 2 years before issues surfaced. I am not sure if iPhones can really last 4 years. Even if they do, the last bit would probably meant poor battery life and bringing the power bank everywhere. 

Nana’s iPhone 12 is coming to 3 years and she had been complaining about lousy battery life span for the last few months and the lack of memory space. The latter is her problem; she has millions of picture in her phone. I guess she could still survive with lugging a power bank around. It worked for a while but she started complaining again. Other than the bad battery life, the phone works very well otherwise. 

We didn’t get her a Christmas present. The kids didn’t ask for one. So when Nana asked her if we could get her a new phone, we agreed. Not that we wanted to get her the latest model but the cost difference between an iPhone 16 and 17 isn’t significant. It is also difficult to find a iPhone 16 now. iPhones are out of stock in many places. The only 17 ones in stock are the green ones. 

Desperation calls for desperate measures. Nana said that green works. The color is not visible when the phone cover comes on anyway. We eventually found a blue one in Westgate Harvey Norman. 

Nana says “buy!”. 

We got her from tuition and told her that her $1.3k is waiting for her. Oh yes, iPhones are that expensive. This is already the most basic version. No pro, no max, no air. 

We have a very happy teenager. 

While Nana got her iPhone, Daddy Lim got his super mega potato chips. Hoho.

Zaky got protein bars.

Haut ah! 

Mummy Lim

SST Parents’ Engagement Session 2026

I received an invite via Parents Gateway on the Parents’ Engagement Session. It was held yday’s afternoon at 4pm in the school. SST loves to hold such sessions during the work hours. They must embrace and believe that their students’ parents have great work flexibility. Luckily I do. Hoho.

I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it. I had several meetings from 4pm to 6pm but 1 long one was moved at the last minute and I made my way to the school. It took about 30 mins to get to school and I was slightly late. On the way to the auditorium, I saw Zaky waving to me from class. 

The session had started and the principal was going on and on about duno what. I was busy on my phone for work. Then I took a call at 4.30pm and saw Zaky playing rugby with his friends in his school pants.

No wonder his school pants are always so dirty. This is a newly bought pair. His old pair was in an unimaginable dirty state. Nana wore her primary school uniform from P4 to P6. Her NH uniform lasted her all 4 years. Zaky has to buy new uniform almost every year since P3. Zzzz.

My call ended and I assumed the engagement session, but was drifting half the time. Zaky said that I should come 1 hour later. Chey, never tell me. I did see parents entering the auditorium at 5pm - they are the ones who got the memo. I took another call at 5pm. I obviously missed a lot of information. I think the most valuable information is that there would be a graduation ceremony in September and the students have a graduation tea (like a prom) on 12 November. I asked Zaky to start dieting and think about what to wear to look like an oppa. Hoho. 

The session at the auditorium finally ended and parents were invited to the kids’ class for another round of sharing. S**t, I have no idea which class Zaky is in. I do remembered that he was in 1-10 when he started SST. So I asked the girl holding the 4-10 tag if Zaky is in her class. Luckily I saw D, who is Zaky’s basketball team mate and I was told that Zaky is in 4-1. Oh! What is even more amusing is that D isn’t in the same class as him. I had thought that they are. Zaky said that it was only in Sec 1 and 2. Hohoho. I didn’t know which class Nana was in when we visited her at her graduation ceremony too. Lol. Obviously no favoritism here. Or we simply didn’t care. Oops.

The class sharing was about the kids’ discovery journey that took place during the school holidays (I think). 

Zaky didn’t do any sharing. He said that it was purely voluntary and he didn’t think why he should trouble himself. Zzzz. 

The parents were served snacks. 

One puff each but I got 2 bcos I gave mine to Zaky. The teacher saw and made him give me another one. Throughout the presentation, he was just eyeing my puffs greedily and ended up eating both and said that he was still hungry.

The session finally ended at about 6.15pm. Zaky has tuition at Bukit Timah at 7pm. The original plan was to have dinner together but there was simply no time. So I ended up somewhat “sending” him to tuition but headed home with the DT line instead. He tabaoed MacD to eat in class. Not bad, my teenager son was willing to hold my hand when walking on the streets! Even in front of his school mates!

Was the engagement session engaging? Hmmm… not exactly but I at least try to be a present parent. Hoho. I still duno how Zaky is doing in school. He does look like one of the naughty ones though. The clock is ticking down for O levels.

Mummy Lim

 

Mambo Jumbo 2026

Total Recall was a flop and instead left this dancing toes itch. We also made a new friend J, when we adjourned to Warehouse after Total Recall, who was surprised that Mambo still exist and was very excited to join us the next session. 

So when we saw that Mambo was taking place on 23 Jan, we say “let’s go!” and invited our new friend. We asked the rest of the aunties too, who were all busy. 

We decided to meet at 11pm. I was late bcos I am so blind in the night and didn’t know that I would take such a long time to put on my makeup. I can’t see if I had done my eyeliner properly and tried so long for the fake lashes but still failed eventually. T.T

J and her friend had arrived 15 mins earlier and were meeting us at Zouk’s entrance. As we were walking to Zouk, Auntie S and I were super surprised to see a long Q formed by young people. There is another club nearby? No, they were queuing for Mambo!!????

We found out that Zouk now offers free entry to all students above 18, so long as they can show some kind of identification to prove their age and student status. Oh no… I don’t like clubbing with young people. Nana is turning 18 and some of these kids could really be young enough to be my kid. Zzzzzz… Does free entry with no cover that usually comes with a drink make sense? Young people party without alcohol? Anyhow, we also saw that the cover charge for students with 2 drinks cost $20 but adults have to pay $45. Hmmmm…

While there was a Q for Mambo, Mambo wasn’t super crowded. 

Most of the people in the club then were the matured crowd. I think the young people were still queuing for their free entry. Auntie S should have brought C, no entry fee, no extra transport fee too since it would be the same taxi home. Hoho. 

We found our usual corner, which is away from the dance floor but gave us a good view of the dance floor and a lot of space to dance. There was a table and fortunately not taken, so we conveniently parked ourselves at the table and sneaked a rest or 2. Now, all tables comes not at a 1st come 1st basis but advance reservation and a minimum spent of easily $500, the amount increases depending on the location and amount of private space for the group. 

This is J, our new friend. We don’t know how old she is but likely to be much older than us. 

Auntie S and my customary photo. 

The dance floor became very crowded into the night. We were very happy with our corner. The young people seem to favor the dance floor. Good, bcos I always had the preference to be away from the dance floor, in a cosy spacious corner/ area, even in my younger days. We danced until 3am. I am surprised that J lasted that late as well. When we left, we were all laughing at ourselves about the various body aches and pains. 

It took my about 15 mins to get home. Rio is so closed to the city now. I like. I am also very amused to see so many drunk people. Apparently the clubbing scene on drunken people is always the same - I saw at least 3 persons fell in the club bcos they were drunk, at least 2 persons trying to sleep off their alcohol, groups of drunken people lying around on the streets and don’t make me recall the vomits on the floor. I had my tipsy days too but never too drunk bcos I hated vomiting. Nowadays, I have the means to spend on alcohol but am too health conscious to do so. Hoho. 

Anyhow, dancing toes had been satisfied. I am not sure when would be the next round. Maybe when Nana turns 18 and I would bring her clubbing? Haha. 

Mummy Lim

Sporty Kids

We have sporty kids and we are an outdoor, sports family since the kids were young. Rollerblading, ice skating,  cycling, scooting, swimming, you name it. 

As the kids grew, we continue to encourage them to be active. Nana is now in canoeing and the team captain while Zaky is playing basketball and the school’s house captain. 

NSG is starting very soon. Zaky had been saying that his team is considering a buzz cut for NSG. That is a big sacrifice for some and thus some pushbacks. Yday night, he came home looking like this. 

A few of them went to this premium India barber at Pasir Panjang for the cut. This head cost $25 ah. 

I’m am not sure how the buzz cut helps with playing basketball. Maybe he can aim better now that no hair blocks his vision? Hoho. Anyhow, he had been telling us the whole morning about how cool his head now feels. 

Daddy Lim and Zaky now look much more alike. Lol. 

Nana had a canoeing event this morning at Kallang. She was up at 5.30am and out shortly. The event, some marathon canoeing thing, starts at 7.40am and would last 2 hours. They are supposed to do 3 big rounds in the Kallang waters. Nana had been asking for us to go watch her and said that we will be able to see her 3x bcos she would do 3 rounds. That is a lot of time to wait to see her 3x.

Anyhow, Daddy Lim and I did go to Kallang to support her. We cycled down, bcos Kallang is very near to our place and it would be easier to find the event venue on bike than on foot. 

It wasn’t difficult to spot the event bcos there were so many paddlers in the water. The challenge is how to spot Nana when there were so many of them and they were all very far away from the viewing point. Nana said that she would be in a double canoe and she would be wearing the ACJC jersey. As if that helps. 

I must be very lucky, bcos just as we parked ourselves, Nana was right in front of us! I yelled “Shauna, Shauna” and waved dramatically. I saw the 2 heads turned and the canoe lost their rhythm for a few seconds. Must be her, right? 

My phone camera obviously cannot capture this kind of distant. 

We waited for Nana to appear again but she didn’t even after a good 30 mins wait. I started doubting if I did spot her earlier. Maybe I had yelled at some strangers instead. Lol. We were about to leave at 9.30am when I decided to walk to the starting point for a peek. Nana and her mates were there. She had completed her rounds and didn’t come tell us. Zzzzzz. 

Luckily I thought to walk over and check. Nana was going out with her mates after the event and happily passed me her life vest to bring home. I ended up cycling home with a life vest strapped on. I feel so safe and not at all worried if I ever ramp over any of the railings and fall into the many canals on the way home. Hoho. 

Nana also confirmed that it was her whom I saw. She said that she was distracted for a moment and almost capsized. That would be quite funny. Haha. 

Mummy Lim

Long Overdue Back to School Post

What was I busy with? I have no idea or maybe there isn’t things that are interesting enough to blog about. 

Anyhow, after a long holiday break, school and tuitions are now back on track. Their tuition centre squeezed all the classes in November, probably realising that half the world travels in December and trying to arrange for make up classes are nightmares. Suits us well. 

Zaky started school on 3 Jan (Friday) and grumbled so much about it. Nana’s school only started officially last Monday. I finally got a picture. Hoho. 

This would be a busy year. NSG has started and will last until March. Nana is taking her As while Zaky will do his Os this year. Zaky’s Chinese O will be in mid year and I am hoping to create the same miracle in him as with Nana. I think the challenge is much bigger but let’s take on the challenge! Hoho. If Zaky reads this, I am sure he would be an unwilling party. Lol.

Tuition has started too. Zaky is on A Maths and Chemistry with the tuition center and Chinese with 黄老师, who has/ is tutoring many of the kids in our circle. Zaky, pls don’t bring down teacher’s track record. lol. Nana is taking physics tuition in the same center and asked for a one-to-one tuition in maths after realising that group tuition (for entire JC1) doesn’t work. Their parents are working equally hard, paying tuition fees and ferrying the kids around. 

Other than Chinese, the kids’ academics are beyond what I can help, but we can always pay $$ for external resources and help. Hoho. Anyhow, the kids will be on their own. Nana appeared to be a little more gan cheong than Zaky now. I am sure the pressure will mount as the year progresses. Jia you! 

Mummy Lim

1st Work Trip to JB

New year and kickstarting my business travels! Do I enjoy the business travels? No. Hoho. It is what it is. 

Thankfully, it was to JB, which is very easy to stomach. The commute is easy, the hotel is nice and the trip is short. 

The company car picked me at 7.30am and I was in the office at 9am. It was a short but busy 2 days trip. I would usually pack a simple lunch bcos the site location is very remote. Driving out and back for lunch is very time consuming and zaps a lot of energy for me. 

I left the office at 6.30pm and arrived at Holiday Inn at 7.30pm. I was famished. 

I was cold and hungry and wanted something soupy and comforting. Oriental Kopi was calling out to me. The broth was very good with a strong hint of anchovies. Yum, yum.

My appetiser - pandan egg tart. 

The tarts came in pair and the 2nd one was nicely tabao for my 2nd day’s lunch. After dinner, I did a quick walk of the mall, bought some cakes and cookies for the office and headed back to the room. I walked past a massage place and was tempted but knew that I had to clear my growing inbox. 

It was already 11ish when I closed my laptop. Then I got stuck on doom scrolling before finally turning in at midnight. As per most 1st nights, I woke up a few times but thankfully had the special ability to fall back to sleep quickly. 

It was a struggle to climb out of the bed at 6am but I did bcos the 2 treadmills in the gym get snatched up quickly. There were 2 other guests in the gym and I fortunately got my treadmill and my 4.5km done. 

Bfast! I always get reminded that the spread at the hotel looks great but taste meh. The only thing that I like is the putu mayam.

The rest of the day flashed past. The car picked me at 8am, I worked hard and was in the car again at 4ish to head home. It was drizzling but smooth traffic in both JB and at the custom. The slow traffic was funnily when we arrived back in Singapore. It took me about 2 hours in total to get home. Not bad. 

This marked my 1st work travel for 2026. Where is next? Hmmmm…

Mummy Lim

Hello 2026

I am amazed that the kids eventually did manage a sleepover. Nevertheless, I will still tease them for their bad planning. It didn’t help that they are seriously a group of very busy people and also people who don’t respond promptly to messages. Is this a Gen Z thing?

The kids came for a sleepover on 30th Dec and not 31st Dec bcos everybody has their own plans for 31st. Who are coming? When are they coming? These are questions with no real answers. When they turn up, they turn up. 

I came home to Boo in the living room with Zaky and Nana. AN and ER turned up at 9ish. Thankfully, the people were all nicely fed. I was told that T eventually decided to come. I didn’t see him when I turned in at 10ish. I heard he only arrived at 11ish. 

Daddy Lim and I were awoken at 2.30am to the kids’ laughing. I was more worried about the kids disturbing the neighbours. All the doors were closed but I don’t quite trust the soundproofing at Rio. Poor neighbours, who are regularly subject to noisy gatherings, sleepovers and guitar practices. 

They hushed a little and I fell back to sleep. I woke up on Wednesday morning to this - a floor of caterpillars. I was told that they went to bed at 4am.

We were short of 1 - Zaky was the clever one, who opted to sleep comfortably in his bed. 

Nana’s bed was empty. She was in one of the sleeping bags. Why? Silly goose. 

I was working from home and hid in Nana’s room. Zaky woke up at 9ish and left the house at 10ish to meet his friend while his other group of friends were sleeping in our living room. I offered the beds to any of the caterpillars who stirred from their slumber but was rejected. Our floor must be very nice. AN and ER woke up at about 11am while the rest finally at noon. 

There was somebody who was grumpy. 

The living room aircon was turned on, the balcony door was shut and Mochi’s morning routine was disrupted. He meowed at me the whole morning. Not me hor.

The kids skipped bfast bcos they only woke up at lunch. They made instant noodles. 

Then Nana left the house at 2pm to again meet her friends while her other friends continued to stay at home. Yes, I had 4 kids at home who weren’t mine. My kids went out. Zzzzz. Auntie J came and pick AN and ER at 3pm. Boo and T left at about 3.30pm. Mochi and I finally had the house to ourselves. 

Daddy Lim came home in the late afternoon after work. We had dinner at the nearby hawker center and planned to meet the Chan couple for countdown. We counted down with them last year too at Blackbird. The same band, the Peepshow, was playing at Blackbird. I suggested Timbre+ bcos I didn’t want to spend half the time not knowing the hard rock songs by the band and the other half the time bursting my eardrums. 

Inuman Summit was taking place at Timbre+. I read that it is a very Filipino event. There were indeed many Filipinos. 

It was supposed to be a cosy jamming session setting, like one set up in somebody’s backyard. Ended up, there was the backyard vibes but the sound system has so much to improve. 

We were the handful of non-Filipinos. Half the time, we don’t know the songs in Tagalog and were thrilled at every English song. Lol. But the Filipinos are a very fun loving crowd; every other Filipino can sing, the remaining can grove. I had fun people watching. 

We counted down, poppers and fake snow sprays were provided by the organisers. 

Happy New Year 2026! Countdown achievement unlocked! We left shortly after bcos we are old people that needed our sleep but more so bcos we had enough of Tagalog songs. 

On New Year’s morning, I decided to go for a jog. 

I ended up at Kallang, where the happening countdown event took place the night before. The beach vball area was transformed into some beach club vibes. I ended up with a 7.5km jog and decided to walk home bcos I was too tired and didn’t mentally prep for such a long run. 

Along one of the canals, somebody was feeding the fishes. I didn’t know we have so many fishes in our canals. 

Adding on a couple more workout tags - 1st 2026 ride with the PPCG to Mandai. 

Finally, a ride on Saturday night to MBS bcos the kids had friends over, so Daddy Lim and I escaped to dinner and decided to ride to dinner impromptu. 

2025 had been a busy year with many achievements and memories created. 2026, here we come! 

Mummy Lim