1st India Trip 2025 Part 1

My last India trip was in beginning December 2024. It had been.4 months and I totally didn’t miss India. Hoho. I was putting off the trip until now, when I really have to go to orient a new team member. Yay! With this new member, it hopefully means that I can do lesser or shorter trips to Mumbai Sorry but I don’t love Mumbai. 

India is the last country that I have yet to visit this year. Now, I have completed the loop - Shanghai, JB, Tokyo, Jakarta and Mumbai. Does that mean that I have to start the cycle all over again? Hoho. I do have to go back to Mumbai again in May 25 to ensure that the new colleague is settling in well. 

It is the usual 7.40am flight and I was up at 4ish. The airport was usually crowded. 

There was even queue for the self check in and self bag deposit. 

I didn’t have anything in particular to buy from DFS but didn’t want to break the ritual of buying something before every work trip by flight. I eventually got myself a sunblock. Then I was browsing for trinkets and saw Mr Bear keychain! Expensive lah, $20. Zzzzz.

I get to travel to Mumbai with another colleague this trip. Having a (familiar work) companion to travel is quite nice. We would seated separately but that was alright. I needed to nap to survive the day. 

My flight meal. Not bad and I was hungry too. 

The India immigration was pretty smooth. We headed straight to the site office to start our busy day. By the time we were back in the hotel, it was already almost 8pm. I would usually order room service but had dinner with my colleague this time. I stayed in the same hotel the last round but didn’t even know that the hotel has 2 restaurants. 

My dinner. I wasn’t very hungry.The chicken soup with sweet corn was actually very nice and I ordered the same soup every night. Haha.

We were “upgraded” to a bigger room. It comes with a living hall and the “bedroom” separated. Actually, I don’t know why I needed such a big room. I tried with whatever energy left to check some emails before the zzzz monster consumed me. Then, I had a hard time meddling with the control panel that controlled both the lights and aircon. I didn’t figure out how to turn on the TV for the entire stay. Haha. 

I must have pressed something wrong on the control panel bcos the aircon started to make a lot of noise in the middle of the night. When alone, I usually sleeps in the hotel with the TV on bcos the sound comforts me. Yet, I found the aircon noisy and woke up a couple of times. 

On Tuesday (day 2), I was in the gym at about 6am. 

I am pleased that it was already opened. In the last trip, I always have to remind the staff that it was already 6am and they should open the gym. 

I got my 4.5km done and it felt harder than usual. It must be the Mumbai air.

My calls started at 7am IST and I didn’t have time for bfast, rushing to meet my colleagues at 8.30am to go to the office. Again, another busy day. Again, it was 8pm when we were back in the hotel. There was some renovation work on-going in the restaurant and we opted to do in-room dining. 

The same soup. Hoho. 

Mummy Lim

Old Flower Eyes

Checking back my posts, I 1st decided that my eyes were bad enough to need glasses in June 2022. I was still in denial and I got myself a lousy off the shelf, obiang looking black rectangle frame glasses. Maybe I was hoping that it would be temporary. After several months of use, the frame broke and I got 2 proper pairs from Lenskart bcos there was a one-for-one promotion. My eyes were tested and I was told that I should get 150 degree lenses. In the end, I opted for 100 degrees for 1 pair and 150 for the other. 

The glasses served me well and I have them probably for about 2 years. They are still in good condition. I have no idea why Daddy Lim and the kids needed to change their glasses almost every year. Their glasses, bcos the lenses are so freaking expensive, cost at least $500 per pair. At least the Hoya myopic control lenses had been keeping the kids’ degrees stable since lower primary. Nevertheless, my heart aches whenever the kids think that their eyesight had worsen or tell me that they needed to change their glasses bcos the lenses had been badly scratched.

Some time last year, I realised that I am unable to read without my glasses. I now bring them everywhere bcos even looking at the phone without the glasses is not possible. I also realised that on some bad days, the 100 degree glasses still give me bad vision and I have to rely on the 150 one. I can also wear the 100 one comfortably when looking at something slightly further, without the need to remove the glasses. This wasn’t possible in the initial days. In other words, my old flower eyes had become older. T.T

There had been some occasions that I forgot my glasses or they are just not at hand. Just 2 weeks ago, I went to work in the afternoon without them and was in such bad mood at work. My eyesight gets especially bad if I was wearing glasses then without them. That was exactly the situation and I was so blind. The words on the laptop were blur, even though I increased the font size. 

I had been toying with the idea of contact lenses bcos glasses are just a hassle. I finally went to the optical shop where the kids usually got their glasses to ask for free sample. I was given sets of 2 different degree - 100 and 175. I was told that with multi-focal contact lenses, the reading wouldn’t be as sharp and if the reading degree is high, then it will affect the sharpness of looking far away. 

I was very excited to try them. Bcos I have no short sightedness, I barely have experience wearing contact lenses except for during my ROM, when I wanted different colour eyes. Hoho. I do remembered how uncomfortable they were and my eyes were so tired after a few hours. Ah Yee was the one who taught me how to wear the lenses. While I had little problem wearing them, the challenge is to remove the lenses. Pinching at one’s eyeball seems like a scary thing to do. 

Daddy Lim had to show me how to wear the contact lenses yday afternoon. I tried a few times but the lens kept sticking to my finger and Daddy Lim kept repeating that I needed to touch my eyeball. I have no problem touching my eyeball ah. When I was a kid, I used to touch my eyeball for fun but the damn lens just refused to stick to my eyeball. Lol. 

The 主人公 is the eyeball. When the finger (and lens) touch the eyeball, the eyeball must roll around to lock in the lens. I am so surprised to realise how comfortable they are; I barely felt them. I tried to use the laptop and it wasn’t very clear. While I can live with it, I do have to strain my eyes a little. There will also be moments that the reading gets very blurred, then I have to close my eyes and rolled the eyeballs a little. Very busy. 

I wore the lenses until evening and there wasn’t any discomfort. However, in poor light, reading was tough. I knew that I needed to try the higher power lenses. When the staff gave me the higher power ones, I was initially resistant and she persuaded me, telling me that it is normal for “my age” to wear such power. Zzzz… how comforting. 

Taking them off wasn’t as challenging as I feared. Nana showed me the usual pinching way. I cannot. I pinched and failed. Then I tried what I found on Google. Hold the lens, slide it to the side of the eye. The lens will crumple a little, making it easier to pinch and remove. Tadah! I got them off. 

This morning, I tried the higher power lenses. Reading was so much easier. Hohoho. But, looking far away is compromised but tolerable. At least it doesn’t make me dizzy. I did think that the contact lenses gave a very mild dull headache. I duno if I am overthinking or I needed to get used to the lenses. 

Contact lenses are expensive compared to my trusty glasses. I do want to try to wear them some times bcos glasses are inconvenient. Auntie T shared a lobang, that it is cheaper to try to buy from JB and shared a contact. I am going to try. Nana is running out of contact lenses too. She has started to ditch her glasses and don a new look since she started ACJC.

Oh ya, I never think that my eyes are small until I started wearing contact lenses. Do eyes become smaller as we grow older?

Mummy Lim

I Got Ears

In the recent years, I have seen very fanciful motorcycle helmets, some with fluffy ears, others with big bow and laces. No such things during my times. 

I had been telling Daddy Lim that I wanted to”fluffy ears” for my cycling helmet too. I had seen some crazy cyclists stuck fluffy ears to theirs and I wanted that too. I finally bought my fluffy ears off Shoppee. They are not expensive, less than $10. 

Actually, I forgot that I bought them. The package came, Zaky opened it and was asking what furry thing did I buy. Ah! My ears! Hoho. The package came with a ball or what looks like tail too. Haha.

Daddy Lim said that they are too close together, but that is the only flat and big enough surface to stick the ears. The ears are stuck on using velco with tape, which also mean that the ears can be taken off when needed (thankfully).

This morning, I went for my WWF ride. I did feel quite stupid, and that I am probably too old for these. Nevertheless, I should at least wear them once. 都买了 While riding to the meet up point, I checked a few times to make sure that they didn’t fly off. Not aero-dynamic at all. lol. 

It was fun though. Hoho. 

At some point, it started drizzling and I was thinking if I needed to “keep my ears”. Luckily, the drizzle ceased quickly.

The ears are still intact. I apparently didn’t ride fast enough to blow them away. Haha. Will I wear them again? Maybe. Haha.

Mummy Lim

Project Rio - 3D Round 2

We met the ID last weekend for the 2nd variation of 3D drawing. There isn’t major changes - Nana wanted her study table on the bay window, Zaky will have his bed on the bay window, the kitchen entrance will be enlarged and some darker splashes of color to the kitchen cabinets. 

Then, it was a whole session of selecting and confirming the floor vinyl and laminate color. This was the easy part. The IDs then brought us to the tile shop a short walk away to confirm on the tiles. The IDs busied themselves, walking around, putting the different tiles together and asked us for confirmation. This, this and this for the common toilet; this, that and that for the master bedroom toilet. After a while, they all looked the same to me. I leave this part largely to Daddy Lim. 

I had thought that we were done but were brought to another “you can buy all kinds of needed household stuff” shop. We got everything from curtains, to kitchen sink, hob and hood, taps, toilet bowls, ceiling fan, etc. We would have bought the lights too if it isn’t bcos the electrical points are not firmed. 

We walked away $12k poorer. Seriously.. $12k. As the sales led us around the shop, selecting this and that, I was busy looking at the price tags, trying to remember if I had budgeted enough. I also realised that I missed budgeting for so many items - toilet roll holders, taps, ceiling fans, curtains…. Die. It is really a “brand new” home and there are so many things to buy and fit in.

We were finally done after spending $12k. We spent the entire afternoon with the IDs, something that we didn’t expect. At least, we have curtains, ceiling fans and duno what all matchy, matchy with the reno style and color. 

The key collection is supposed to be in mid May. The seller/ tenant messaged last week, informing that they are intending to move out earlier bcos their new place has been completed. They are ceasing the utilities on 16 April. That is to say, there is a possibility of us collecting the keys earlier. We have no rush as well, given that our current place is leased until end November. I am not sure if the landlord would allow us to end lease earlier. Now that Nana is in ACJC, their schools continue to be in the west and so is Daddy Lim’s workplace. 

Meanwhile, the IDs have sent us the laminate samples for reference. I totally don’t remember/ know which one is for what. lol.

I think the next step is the key collection, then the site inspection and adjustments to the drawing. So exciting! 

Mummy Lim

Beach Volleyball

The WWFs cycled to Kallang recently and I saw somebody playing beach volleyball. I was tempted and so, suggested to do beach volleyball for the March gathering. I had to book the big kids’ calendar weeks in advance bcos relying just on a few aunties to play beach volleyball on a big court is courting death. We needed more people to fill up the court. Hoho.

I found that the beach volleyball court at Kallang can be booked for free for the 1st 60 mins and max of 2 x 60 mins can be booked in one go. The online booking opens up for booking 1 week in advance. I did my booking last Sunday and by the time I remember to log in, only 11am to 4pm slots were available. I booked the 3pm slot and was already thinking about how bad we will be melting. 

We arranged to meet at 2.30pm bcos I thought some registration was required. It turned out not. We simply walked to the courts. There were 2 courts side by side and some young adults were using the courts. We were very nice, we waited until 3.01pm to nicely tell them that we had booked the court for 3pm. 

Oh yes, it was very hot. We started digging the ball over the net for a good 10 mins before auntie DL came. See, the court is so big!

We looked like we got some volleyball style at least. Whether the ball goes over the net is a different thing. Hoho.

While we sweat it out in the court, the little ones were happily playing with their sand kit. 

Auntie S and her kids came at about 3.40pm. By then, we were seriously tired. Auntie TL said that she will teach us this game called Jailbreak and there will be minimum running. Sounds good. Just when we got back into the court, the group who booked the other court at 4pm asked us to join them for a game bcos they didn’t know how to play and didn’t have enough people. We said we will do that later bcos we wanted to play this Jailbreak 1st. 

Auntie TL bluff people. No need to run - my foot ah. We were dripping sweat by the end of 2 games and all agreed that we needed another break. Lol. Just when we were ready to do some digging, the group invited us again. We are too popular, no choice. Hoho. 

They are a group of locals and foreigners, who came together to learn Spanish (I think). All of them don’t know how to play and we definitely helped. 

I think we played a total of 3 or 4 games. It was hot and tiring but quite fun. At one point, I had to walk away to cheers to buy cold water and 100 plus. 

The rain clouds came when it was nearing 5pm. The last bit of time, despite the pain in our arms, the aunties and Nana played off the court. It is so much fun when the ball is delivered to right in front of us, saving us the need to run like mad. We even spiked quite a few balls. Fun ah. Hoho. Even Nana kept saying that it was so fun. 

We had to pack up quickly bcos there was lightning alert and the rain was coming. We were all red from the sun. 

The group who asked us to join them photobombed our photo.

We left the court and went to find dinner. We wanted to go to the usual pizza place. Nana said that it was nostalgic bcos we used to eat at that pizza place when we came to the Kallang Wave Mall when they were much younger. 

Unfortunately, it was full and we headed to Popeyes instead. Nana said that it was just as good bcos we did Popeyes a lot too in the past. We occupied 3 tables, then the teenagers said that they would go for ice cream. After a while, the little ones went to run in the open space outside Popeyes. 

Left the aunties. We didn’t mind. 

While we had a lot of fun, the aunties also had a lot of bruises. I didn’t; I don’t get bruises easily but my arms have this blue black aches. 

Auntie TL’s.

Auntie S’s.

Auntie H had it the worse. She bruises so easily and is always the one with the most blue black even back during our school days. 

She looked like she kena tortured. lol. 

The little ones ran in the open space for a long time. Long time ago, the big kids were doing exactly that, when they were little. The big kids came back and continue playing the volleyball. The adults continued to chit chat. I am so reminded of the old days. 

We left Kallang at 8ish. Auntie S said that she needed yoko. lol.

I was so tired. Especially when I already went for step class in the morning and my Garmin had asked me to rest 56 hours. Hoho. Daddy Lim still had energy to go to Blackbird. I went to bed at 10ish. Hohoho. 

Mummy Lin

Off to Genting! Day 4

It was our last day in Genting. I had wanted to rest from the workout but woke up early anyway. I lost the morning picture that I took at the balcony. It was a cloudy/ foggy day. I got surprised at the different view every morning; it was like opening the door to another universal every morning. 

I didn’t do any HiiT but was enjoying my Spotify and grooving around in the balcony, until it was time for coffee and to get ready. Daddy Lim came and did some push ups. That was his workout. Hoho.

I finally got the chance to throw away this pair of shoes that I had used for the past few years. 

While it still looked wearable, the sole had thinned and smoothened out. I wore slippers home and my toes didn’t freeze off. Zaky joined me in his slippers bcos he ran out of clean socks and we didn’t want him to stink us to death in the bus ride home.

We again met at 9am and with all our stuff this time bcos the bus terminal is in the main building. We didn’t want to have to walk back to check out and take the luggage. Bfast was back at the Malaysian Food Street and then we split ways to go shopping. The Chan Family went on their way to Malacca; they had 2 more days of vacation to go.

Shopping unlocked and achieved. Daddy Lim and the kids said that the best buy of the trip was this. 

They called it the “volley bao”. It is a stress ball but the kids were playing volleyball with it on many occasions. So innovative.

We had to be at the bus terminal at 11.30am for the 12pm bus. The bus arrived early and we set off when all the passengers boarded. We had the last row again. Zzzzzz..

I slept. The trip had been tiring with the early mornings, theme parks and late nights. I felt as tired as before the trip. I didn’t get work done but took a work call. Then I slept somemore. Hoho. 

We made it back to Singapore at about 6pm. The immigration was alright. Back home, it was 2 full load of laundry and unpacking while Daddy Lim and Nana went to pick Mochi at about 8.30pm. N said that he was having his dinner. 

I duno why Mochi climbed so high to have his dinner. 

When Mochi was home, he zoomed out of his carrier. I couldn’t even take a proper picture. 

I think Mochi was stressed and meowed quite a fair bit in the night. 

This marked the end of our Genting holidays. Uncle C said that we should make this an annual affair. I am not sure how interested the kids would be about the same theme parks as they grow older. Hmmm…

It was pay back time at work. I was back at work on Wednesday and I had been so busy for the last few days. Nope, I have not finished the backlog work. Zzzz.. Fighting! 

One thing that did worry me - Mochi didn’t poo since he came back from N’s place on Tuesday night. How did I know? Bcos I am 铲屎官 and had been observing the missing poo from his litter box. Mochi is eating, drinking and peeing normally, but just no poop. I am working from home today, googled and found out that a vet visit is needed if no poop for 48 to 72 hours. I got an appointment at the vet for 6.30pm.

The whole day, I had been wondering if Mochi pooped and dug around his litter box every now and then. N said that he did go to the litter box when he was with her. 

Hoho, so grumpy looking.

Finally at 4ish, I saw Mochi using the litter box. He pooped!!!!! I have never been happier clearing s**t. Lol. No need to visit the vet. 

Mummy Lim

Off to Genting! Day 3

I woke up early for my kickboxing HiiT. This was the view that greeted me. So pretty, right??!! We were above the clouds. 

It was a little chilly but confined in the balcony without breeze, I was comfortable with my exercise gear. 

Daddy Lim was supposed to join me in doing his morning exercise. I was like 4/5 done when he finally stepped out of the balcony, after his morning coffee, poo poo and 摸ing. 

It was Monday, where we were heading to the SkyWorlds outdoor theme park. Auntie SL had began her 13-day foldie cycling trip in Jeju while Auntie S was heading to Tokyo with the kids. So interesting that we were all traveling somewhere. 

We again met for bfast at 9am. This is a very punctual (or hungry) group and we were all at the corridor at 9am sharp. I actually forgot that I had a call at 9am until I saw the WhatsApp. Heng ah. It was a quick 10 mins call before I joined the rest at the Malaysian Food Street but the halal section. It was a bfast of nasi lemak, roti prata and dosa. 

It was 10am when we were done and just nice for the park opening. The crowd was manageable. The big kids took over the navigation, pointing us to which rides to take. The rides consist of many rolling around and upside down at times. 

The 3 big kids and Guin took this. My heart cannot. Lol. I hate free drop rides.

More rides. 

Lunch was at the multiple food stalls. 

Who can forget the churro?

The kids were holding on to my phone bcos I have the SkyWorlds app and I found silly pictures. 

Nana looked like her - hair twinning day.

We used our Virtual Queue privilege for the Independence Day ride. This is like the Harry Potter ride and left me dizzy. The rest enjoyed the ride though. 

The 2nd VQ for the Samba Glider.

Each ticket comes with 3 VQ but we only used 2 bcos not all rides can use the VQ and most of the physical Qs were fairly manageable anyway. Queuing together also makes it easier. 

We didn’t catch any real parade. Occasionally, there will be some people dancing here and there to some Hari Raya songs. Daddy Lim broke contact with the group and was at one point blocked by a “procession”. 

Is he lucky or not? Lol. 

We left the park when it closes at 6pm. 

This time, we chose dinner and we opted for Korean food. 

Nana wanted to go back to the room. Zaky wanted to go arcade with V. We split ways - Daddy Lim sent Nana back to the room and to retrieve the passports, I sent the boys to arcade and paid for their game credits. 

With the passports, we went to the service counter to get my membership card issued. We had to wait 30 mins. 

Finally…

Happily, happily, we went to the the casino only to realised that the card doesn’t work. Zzzzz.. roar…

We ended up with a guest card that were actually stack up in free dispensers everywhere. We were so blind. Did we hit the jackpot? No lah. We spent a little playing on the machines and didn’t win anything. Hoho. Hey, it is an experience afterall! 

By the time we were back in the room, Zaky was sound asleep. His fever had came back after dinner. Nana and Boo were busy recording some tik tok that required Nana to fly from one bed to another. In the midst of all the laughter, Zaky continued to sleep. They finally got a decent version done and called it a day. 

Mummy Lim