Month of February 2025

For the first two weeks of the month, it was still CNY mood as visits continued for personal and work reasons. It wasn't plain sailing as I felt sick with sore throat and runny nose, yet knowing I have to turn up. On one occasion, after hanging around for half an hour, I left as the event had close to a thousand people. Too noisy and difficult to have meaningful conversations. There's no need to squeeze out of car park as well. Among other events, I got to make new friends and enjoyed a meal at Shangri La.

I was at a mall and needed to wait an hour before picking my son from school. The food court was crowded and I had to share a table with a young lady. While eating, she was glued on the phone, intently focused on the drama. With the loud volume, I inadvertently became her audience. My lunch was over in minutes and I quickly left. But there was still time to kill. The problem with malls nowadays is there are no public seats for a short break. So I went loitering around and might as well clock some steps. The shop, kskin, soon appeared and intrigued me since it offered fast service for a reasonable price. As I scanned through the options, a skincare specialist came forward. In the end, I paid $50 for a cleanse and glow facial. It's been more than ten years since I had one and due to CNY period, there was a lucky draw and I won a reed diffuser! This was unplanned and turned into a nice experience.

Due to an upcoming school cross country event, the younger sons were a little jittery over their inability to complete it. Hence we found an afternoon and went for a trial run, along with the eldest as well. The objective was simple; target 2km non stop jog and time individually. We did warm up amid a light breeze. It looked like it might rain but we opted to continue. At the start, the two older ones sped off. I was amazed at their pace but since my role was to follow the youngest, I thought it was easier. Yet he also strode rather quickly, at least for a kilometer, until he gradually slowed down. The old man in me tried to keep up as this was above my usual pace. Feeling a bit breathless, I had to nonetheless encourage the youngest not to stop. He eventually timed a little more than 6min/km. That was the first time we ran seriously together. Our next objective is to do this at least once a week and evaluate after a month on the improvements made.

Tip: Hakutsuru Alternative Junmai Daiginjo, slight aged and caramel, mellow and medium body