Finally…finally, January 2026 was over. The month felt strangely longer than usual. Anyway, now we have all entered into the shortest month of the year and I can’t wait to celebrate the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday which is coming in 2 weeks. I’m ready for the long break, all the tasty CNY cookies, loud-banging fireworks, endless gambling, watching some lunar new year movies, seeing relatives that I have not seen for a long time, and of course my most favourite; receiving angpows!
In fact, I kickstarted my CNY mood after having went to shop for some new outfits earlier today at Lot One Mall. I purposely chose a mall that is extremely far from my home (almost 2 hours by bus) for a breath of fresh air as I’m kind of getting bored of the same old malls that I have always visited particularly in the Central and East region. However, my biggest spending today was actually on a complete set of blind boxes featuring Mickey Mouse toys.
I’m not buying only one or two single blind boxes this time as I love all of the 12 designs of this newly released theme from Popmart. Hence I decided to just buy the full set without any question. Hmm…too bad I didn’t get the special edition one for which the probability of that is 1 in 144. Now, I have to wait for my acrylic display case to arrive (shopped for it earlier online) for me to store these beautiful, high quality (and expensive) figurines. I took that as a treat to myself after having just collected CNY bonus from my company.
Ohh…by the way, I would like to extend my sincere greeting of Happy Thaipusam to the HIndu Tamil communities over here, in Malaysia as well as in other parts of the world. Malaysia’s Batu Caves and Singapore’s Little India must be packed with people and vibrant processions. In fact, I passed through the latter just now while on my way home and saw a bit of the festival processions. It’s really good to keep these religious practices and traditions alive.
Before ending the post, would quickly like to share that I have finally watched my first 2026 movie. It’s ‘Greenland 2: Migration’, a post-apocalyptic film which is a sequel to 2020’s ‘Greenland’ (why do I always feel that the predecessor movie was only just released two to three years ago). I actually enjoyed this sequel more as it contains more exhilarating scenes; the family had to travel long journeys through wastelands and seas and pass through plenty of intense obstacles to reach the Crater where they believed can sustain human life. Things also got a bit emotional at the end. I could say this is a solid entertaining disaster film.
The 98th Academy Awards (the Oscars) will be held on 15th March this year and its nomination list has been revealed last Thursday. ‘Sinners’, a horror film on vampires scored a whopping 16 nominations and made history as the film with most number of nominations at the Oscars. The previous record holder were tied with All About Eve, Titanic and La La Land with 14 nominations each.
I just watched ‘Sinners’ last night. It was good but just average good in my opinion. I felt bored especially in the first half of the movie and couldn’t grasp how it manages to pull off 16 nominations! The movie also vie for the coveted best picture, ‘One Battle After Another’, ‘Frankenstein’, ‘F1’, ‘Hamnet’, ‘Marty Supreme’, ‘Bugonia’, ‘The Secret Agent’, ‘Sentimental Value’ and ‘Train Dreams’. Out of the 10 nominees above, I have watched 4 of them (‘Sinners’ and the first three titles in the list above).
(Image source: Letterboxd)
I’m planning to watch ‘Hamnet’ and ‘Marty Supreme’ as I have been seeing extremely good feedback on the lead performances from these two films; Jessie Buckley for the former and Timothee Chalamet for the latter. They both are also currently the frontrunner in best actor and best actress races as they have won Golden Globe and Critics Choice earlier this month. We’ll see how’s the outcome at the BAFTA and SAG (now renamed to Actor Awards) prior to the Oscars.
(Image source: SkyNews)
The race for best supporting actor and actress remains wide open at this point. Teyana Taylor from ‘One Battle After Another’ and Amy Madigan from ‘Weapons’ are neck to neck in supporting actress category while Stellan Skarsgard from ‘Sentimental Value’ is facing heavy competition from Jacob Elordi from ‘Frankenstein’ for the supporting actor award. Paul Thomas Anderson is tipped for best director for ‘One Battle After Another’ as he is long overdue and this year seems to be his year finally.
What’s a bit surprising from the nomination list this year is that the musical film ‘Wicked: For Good’ is wiped out completely with zero nomination. This is quite shocking when considering that the first film had scored 10 nominations in 2025 Oscars. Then, there is one new category introduced in 2026 Oscars and that is best casting. This award basically honours the casting manager/director who have chosen the most ideal actors for roles in his/her film. The nominees for this category this year are ‘Hamnet’, ‘Marty Supreme’, ‘One Battle After Another’, ‘Sinners’ and ‘The Secret Agent’. Had a feeling that this will be between ‘One Battle After Another’ and ‘Sinners’. They both are also the top two contenders currently for best picture.
Five animated films contending for best animated feature are ‘Arco’, ‘Elio’, ‘KPop Demon Hunters’, ‘Little Amelie or the Character of Rain’ and ‘Zootopia 2’. ‘Kpop Demon Hunters’ currently leads the odds here. There are many below-the-line technical categories and I won’t be providing my commentary to these. You can check out the full nomination list of the 98th Academy Awards at the official website in the link here; https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2026
By the way, the Academy should consider to reschedule the awards ceremony to end of February. Presenting the Oscars in mid-March seems a little late as current year has already progresses to one quarter while people are still discussing on 2025 films.
I took a trip to Changi Airport Terminal 3 not to take flight but to check out an exhibition telling the history of the airport itself and its future expansion plan which had kickstarted with the on-going construction of Terminal 5. Titled ‘T5 in the Making’, the exhibition is located on Level 1 (Arrival level) and is free for visit to the public.
The exhibition consists of 5 zones. The earlier zones brought us back to the 1970s when Singapore’s international airport was at Paya Lebar and a new larger airport was required due to foreseeable huge growth in aviation industry. Changi Airport was then materialized with its first terminal opened in 1980s. More terminals (2,3 and 4) subsequently opened, followed by opening of Jewel in 2019 which becomes the main hub of the airport complex and contains the world’s largest indoor waterfall.
The development does not ends there as South East Asia region is poised to become world’s fourth largest economy in the future and increasing air travel demand is inevitable. This leads to the planning of Terminal 5, which when completed will be the largest of all the terminals and reinforces Singapore’s status as the leading aviation hub in the region.
The exhibition then continues to show to visitors the proposed use of cutting-edge technology and innovations in Terminal 5 before ending with a large scale model of the terminal along with some renderings. It is going to be massive but I find the design rather underwhelming especially for Singapore which always claimed the top spot in the annual world’s best airport ranking. Anyway, the exhibition is small (it took me only 30 minutes to cover the whole exhibition) but still worth a visit.
I dropped by at IKEA today too to shop for a side table and some small stuff. Had a sudden plan to make a bit of changes to my bedroom’s internal use/layout of spaces. My current desk was too busy and therefore I bought a side table to ease up the storage of my books and other functional and decorative items. My desk looked so much neater now, thanks to a new side table with complementing colour too.
Being someone who is quite familiar with the history of the Titanic ship (the world’s largest passenger steam ship at its time which sank on its maiden voyage on 15 April 1912) and who also loves the 1997’s epic film ‘Titanic’ (award-winning blockbuster movie directed by James Cameron), it seems quite fitting to pay a visit to an on-going exhibition about the famous ship here in Singapore which is also going to end soon in two more weeks after its 6-month run here.
The exhibition is titled ‘Titanic: An Immersive Voyage’ and is currently taking place at 15 Scotts Road at Orchard from 6th August 2025 till 2nd February 2026. During my visit this afternoon, I’m actually surprised that this exhibition which is not located along busy street nor in a popular building still managed to attract quite a bit of visitors. The admission fee is high (around SGD30 per pax) and I don’t think it deserves that price after my visit. Below are the reasons why.
The exhibition is small and not many of the original artifacts are on display here. I did visited a Titanic exhibition in Perth, Australia exactly 10 years ago and that exhibition was far more superior with a lot of original artifacts, many beautiful and intricate recreation of the iconic spaces in the ship (the grand staircase, corridor, cabins of different classes, etc), costumes, and even displays of memorabilia from the 1997 film. The exhibition in Singapore that I visited today pales in comparison.
The Singapore’s one relies too much on technology, projections and visual illusion on the limited number of exhibits which actually made the experience less immersive than intended. The exhibition near the end comes with presentation of a long video clip which besides than showing a brief chronology of events leading to the ship’s sinking, also shows two characters performing some kind of acts and dance routines unnecessarily in the clip. The display of connection between Singapore and Titanic in a part of the exhibition also felt forced and irrelevant.
I do not recommend for a visit if you are planning to especially with the high price tag unless you really are a huge history buff interested in anything related to the tragic ship. After the exhibition, I had a stroll along Orchard prior to a fancy French-themed dinner with a friend. We ended the day with a walk towards Clarke Quay and City Hall in the evening. There goes the end of another weekend.
The annual festival ‘Light to Night Singapore’ returns for its momentous 10th edition this year. The festival will run from 9 to 31 January 2026 across multiple venues in Civic District with the National Gallery being the key location. This year’s festival comes with the theme of ‘The Power in Us’ with aim to explore how the power of unity can shape shared experiences and spark new possibilities through art.
As usual, the festival features various intriguing art installations, facade projections, live performances, programmes and areas with food kiosks for outdoor dining/refreshments. During this period, all but one exhibition in the National Gallery are also made free to enter for the public with extended visiting hours till the evening. Besides than National Gallery, the festival also spreads to Asian Civilisations Museum, Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, The Arts House, Padang, Esplanade Park and Funan Mall.
I went to check out their art installations and facade projections after leaving my office yesterday. There was a bit of drizzle but that doesn’t affect my plan. I couldn’t digest most of the descriptions though that came alongside each of the installations and projections. I will just admire and interpret them from my own perspective. Took quite a number of portrait shots and short videos before ending the day by touring some of the exhibitions in the National Gallery since they are free to visit now as mentioned earlier.
It sure is a nice activity to conclude my Friday. By the way, I managed to secure tickets over the week to watch ‘You & Mi Live in Kuala Lumpur’ concert by Hong Kong singer, Sammi Cheng scheduled in mid-April 2026. I could say I was very lucky to be able to buy the tickets to one of her two shows in KL as they were all sold out very quickly. Both my phone and my PC were able to get into the purchasing website quite fast surprisingly despite the insane queue last Wednesday.
The last time she hold concert in Malaysia was already 10 years ago. Her popularity never fades and hence it is expected that her shows will sell out instantly. I am certainly her fans; I watched her concert at Hong Kong back in 2024, again in 2025 at Macau and later this year in KL (consecutively every year!). If she is organizing one in Singapore, I would be going again too. Haha. That’s my dedication!
Done our first work week of the year. Another 51 more weeks to go (damn!…haha). My first week had already been quite busy with a huge drawing package revisit, countless meetings and multiple submittals’ reviews. As work has just resumed, I am already looking forward to my next long break in February when the Chinese New Year festival is going to take place (and my CNY bonus!).
It was rather a muted and chill Sunday for me today after a tiring one day trip to Johor Bahru yesterday with a friend. We first expected a smooth journey at the immigration checkpoints and to reach JB by noon. However, we encountered a surprisingly huge crowd (which is not often seen on Saturday’s noon as most people would travel over to JB on Friday’s evening instead).
We then realized there was technical issue with the autogates which caused the queue to build up very quickly. That was later confirmed true by news reports published in various media accounts. We came at not the right timing then. We only managed to clear the immigration on Malaysia’s side by 1.30pm. We immediately booked a ride to Mid Valley Southkey, my favourite shopping mall in JB and our only destination for this brief cross-border trip.
I had sudden craving for Uncle Roger’s fried rice and hence we had late lunch in his restaurant located at the basement of the mall. Yes, his fried rice is nothing spectacular and also pricey. However, I just had a yearning to have it for the second time somehow (I had tried it for the first time over a year ago). Then, without wasting further time, shopping mode activated! I bought a pair of shoes and a few blind boxes while my friend bought a shirt. I couldn’t find any shirt that is up to my liking though.
We then went to watch a new Hong Kong film called ‘Back to the Past’. It is a historical sci-fi action film which serves as a continuation of TVB’s 2001 television series ‘A Step into the Past’. The series was released 25 years ago; I couldn’t even recall if I had watched the entire series or not and I don’t remember much of its storyline. Anyway, I’m still up for this new film which brought back many of the original cast members (Louis Koo, Raymond Lam, Sonija Kwok, Jessica Hsuan, Joyce Tang, etc).
(Image source: maactioncinema.com)
It feels good to see all of them reunited this time on the big screen. There’s certainly a huge sense of nostalgia especially when many of the scenes from the 2001 series were flashed back also in the movie. Overall, the film is quite entertaining although the plot felt a bit too rushed (film is a bit too short) and the visual effects’ quality still require a lot of improvement.
After the movie, we went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner before returning to JB Sentral and then back to Singapore in late evening. The technical issue at the checkpoint still persists and the immigration area is packed with people again. Urrghhh….not good! Luckily, after a bit of aimless queuing, I then noticed that there is actually no issue with clearance through MyBorderPass’ QR code for Malaysians and we both managed to get through in no time. Thank God! Could Malaysia’s authority really look into their constant immigration deadlock issues and address them once and for all please!
TVB Anniversary Awards 2025, honoring the best of 2025 productions from Hong Kong’s largest television station took place yesterday at a star-studded ceremony in Macau. As predicted earlier, ‘The Queen of News 2’ which is the 2025 hit sequel to the first season (released in 2023) emerged the biggest winner of the evening with 9 awards including ‘best series’.
‘The Queen of News 2’ is indeed deserving of the best series although my own preference would be ‘The Fading Gold’ which ended up not taking any award unfortunately. Generally, I’m quite satisfied with most of the result this year. Here below is the list of winners in all the drama-related categories (not showing all the other programme-related categories) along with my opinions. Feel free to share your view too.
Best New Female Artiste: Carmen Ngai
[Thought: Didn’t notice her much but soon we will be as TVB will certainly allocate more important roles for this young lady. Will wait and see her future performances]
Best New Male Artiste: Mason Fung Ho-yeung & Kevin Liu Yang
[Thought: Had a feeling that TVB handed this award not only to Mason but also to Kevin to appease to general audiences that not only look will grant a win and also to stay close to Mainland audiences as the latter is from China. Would prefer to stick to ‘one award, one person’ though.]
Best Supporting Actress: Venus Wong (The Queen of News 2)
[Thought: Fully disagree to this. Venus’ performance is just average in the series while Mimi Kung on the other hand surprised everyone with her breakthrough performance not only in ‘The Queen of News 2’ but also in ‘The Fading Gold’; both series were released last year. TVB obviously prioritized on recognizing younger generations as these younger actors/actresses have more years to contribute to filming. Mimi Kung is more deserving…period.]
Greater Bay’s TVB Most Favourite Series: The Queen of News 2
[Thought: Expected. This sequel is just so popular and well received.]
Greater Bay’s TVB Most Favourite Lead Actor: Bosco Wong (The Queen of News 2)
[Thought: Expected again. Bosco is popular in mainland and he also did well in the series.]
Greater Bay’s TVB Most Favourite Lead Actress: Charmaine Sheh (The Queen of News 2)
[Thought: Yup..expected too. It’s Charmaine. No one come close to her popularity and spectacular acting as Sister Man. Anyway, I just recently realized that there is no longer awards for Malaysia’s most favourite TVB series, lead actor and lead actress this time. Few years ago, there were also awards for Singapore side and it was eventually phased out. Now, it’s Malaysia’s turn to be omitted out this year.]
Most Improved Female Artiste: Sophie Yip
[Thought: Didn’t follow closely to the top 5 nominees but if I were to pick one that I’m more familiar with, that would be Joey Thye.]
Most Improved Male Artiste: James Ng
[Thought: James Ng is actually my second choice; my first choice is Telford Wong. Anyway, good to him for winning this. Give us more great songs in future too.]
Best TVB Theme Song: ‘Seeds of Truth’ by Windy Zhan (The Queen of News 2)
[Thought: My most favourite theme song for last year which is ‘Nothing Left to Do’ by James Ng – subtheme for ‘The Fading Gold’ series is able to make it into top 5 but lost in the end unfortunately. That song is really good. I don’t really fancy English song serving as background for HK dramas by the way. Hence, I’m displeased with this outcome.]
Best Supporting Actor: Matthew Ho (The Queen of News 2)
[Thought: He is my second pick. My top choice is Him Law as I find his performance in ‘Prism Breaker’ is more outstanding and memorable compared to the other male supporting performances I saw last year. By the way, Matthew is actually better in ‘The Fading Gold’ rather than his winning role in ‘The Queen of News 2’. I can sense this as a way for TVB to open a path to Matthew to take on leading roles from now on]
Best Leading Actress: Charmaine Sheh (The Queen of News 2)
[Thought: Well, very much expected. Charmaine made history by becoming the first actress to win best actress for the fourth time. Huge congratulation to her for such achievement. Her performance in ‘The Queen of News 2’ was indeed marvelous.]
Best Leading Actor: Bosco Wong (The Queen of News 2)
[Thought: Also expected. The other presumed frontrunner, Him Law just do not have an expressive leading role last year. His role in ‘The Fading Gold’ was just mediocre and does not stood out. Bosco on the other hand is quite good in handling his villainous role in ‘The Queen of News 2’. He finally clinched his first ever HK’s best actor win. Congratulation to him!]
Best Series: The Queen of News 2
[Thought: Expected. Seems like not much surprise for the awards this year (unlike last year when many undeserving won). it is hard for a sequel to meet expectation and perform as good as the predecessor. ‘The Queen of News 2’ nailed that. My own pick for the best last year is actually ‘The Fading Gold’ but I’m still happy for ‘The Queen of News 2’ to take it.
I also like that the series’ producer took the opportunity to invite the two actresses; Selena Lee and Mimi Kung to give their brief speeches as well; the two of them did not win any award despite other peers in the same first and second season winning awards. It’s a nice way to recognize them in the slightest possible way. TVB really need to give a good first female lead role to Selena as she has been deserving of best actress win for many years already.]
In the end, the awards ceremony overran for almost an additional hour. The show is supposed to end at 11pm (started at 8pm) and was only able to conclude when it’s close to 12am last night. Some speeches were unnecessarily too long. By the way, I enjoyed the part when Bob Lam accidentally broke his award on stage after he won best male host. I laughed very hard at that moment.
After the best series award was handed out, there was actually one more award to be presented for the evening; Legend Award. This more like replaces the former ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ and is handed out to Eric Tsang this year. He deserves it though and he subsequently announced his resignation as TVB General Manager in his speech, a post he had served for 5 years.
(Images in this post are from various online sources)
Just a day after I returned from my over-a-week trip to China, I travelled up to Genting Highlands for a 3 days 2 nights vacation on the mountain resort with my friends. It has been quite some time too since I last visited the resort. We went up on last Thursday (first day of 2026) and returned down earlier today.
On the first day, we went for a brief shopping at Sky Avenue mall before meeting up with my eldest sister to obtain the hotel room’s key card. My sister do have a complimentary room for 2 nights stay for us at First World Hotel thankfully. The hotel still remains as the world’s largest hotel with 7351 rooms (the rooms are made so small just to achieve huge number in total to break the Guinness world record). The view from our room is spectacular though;
In the evening, we watched ‘Anaconda’ movie. It is an action comedy film that serves as a reboot of 1997’s Anaconda film. The film follows a group of childhood friends trying to remake the original 1997 film, only to be attacked by a giant murderous anaconda. The film starred Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Steve Zahn, etc. It was a hilarious and unconventional kind of reboot to the original horror classic.
After that, we went into the casino. I had my luck on that day at playing table roulette with my dad (who also went up to Genting Highlands that evening with my sister). I then met up with my friends who played slot machine and we only returned back to hotel for rest at almost 3am in the midnight.
On the next day, we went to the Genting Skyworlds Outdoor Theme Park. It was my second time visiting this particular theme park which has opened since 2022. It was very foggy with light drizzle on the entire day though. We managed to play quite a number of rides and were slightly disappointed that some rides remained unavailable most of the day due to unknown technical issue. Some rides remain to be never operational since the park’s opening in 2022 too). We exited the park after spending about 6 hours in there.
In the evening after dinner, we went back into the casino. I had no luck this time and lost at the table roulette (the ball just won’t drop on my numbers!). I also attempted on playing slot machine for a short while and lost a bit of cash there too. Overall, I still made a small winning after these 2 trips to casino; perhaps a good sign that my gambling luck this year will be better! Haha…
We checked out and left the highlands earlier today at noon. Time flies. There goes the end of my trip to China and Genting for the past two weeks. I will be flying back to Singapore tomorrow and begins my first working day of the year on the day after (next Monday). Back to reality and back to work very soon unfortunately.
Happy New Year everyone! Farewell to 2025 and let us all welcome year 2026 with open heart and a positive outlook.
Did you join the countdown and watch some fireworks display last evening at the stoke of midnight? Or attend gathering with friends to usher in the new year? I myself chose to spend the last evening of 2025 at home in a serene manner (and immediately went to sleep after hearing the fireworks ended right from my bedroom). I was still pretty much exhausted from just returning from the China’s trip yesterday.
No matter what we all were up to on the new year’s eve yesterday, we would all be having a same wish; staying healthy and hoping for 2026 to be a smooth and prosperous year. I would be also looking forward to some good changes, fresh experiences, assertive growth and more exciting trips this year.
The new year begins with massive bang of fireworks in major cities across the world as usual. Here below are some fresh images of new year 2026 fireworks celebration shared by The Straits Times;
Singapore – Marina Bay Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Petronas Twin TowersSydney, Australia – Harbour Bridge & Opera HouseTaipei, Taiwan – Taipei 101Bangkok, Thailand – Grand Palace
Happy New Year once again and may all of us have a wonderful year ahead!
I’m back. Back to KL today on the last day of 2025 from an 8 days 6 nights trip to Chengdu and Chongqing, China with my family. As we have 16 pax in total (my family + my brother in law’s family), we managed to have a whole guided tour to ourself. My eldest sister took on a role similar to a tour leader while there is a tour guide from China who guided us during the entire trip.
Without further ado, here below is my day-to-day itinerary of the trip;
Day 1 (24/12/2025)
Took morning flight to Chengdu, China (capital city of Chinese province of Sichuan) via AirAsia.
First destination of the trip: Jinli Street, a historic and bustling pedestrian lane known for its beautifully preserved Qing Dynasty-style architecture and shops selling local snacks, crafts, souvenirs and performances.
Day 2 (25/12/2025)
It’s Christmas Day!
We went to visit Huanglongxi Ancient Town, a town that started over 1700 years ago. Similar vibe with Jinli Street but with more interesting features here such as gate tower, running stream, old court building, etc.
Took a brief river cruise along Min River to view the Leshan Giant Buddha; a 71-metre tall sitting Buddha statue built between year 713 and 803 (during Tang dynasty). It is carved out of a cliff face of sandstones that lies at the confluence of Min River and Dadu River. It is the largest and tallest stone Buddha statue in the world.
Day 3 (26/12/2025)
Had the whole day dedicated to a visit to Mount Emei, one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains of China. The mountain together with Leshan Giant Buddha is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Took long bus ride before continuing the journey via ropeway and plenty of walk to arrive at Jinding (Golden Summit). At elevation of 3077 metres, it is the main peak of Mount Emei and has a large Buddhist temple along with a huge 48-metre tall stupa of ‘Ten-faced Puxian Bodhisattva’.
Temperature is at zero degree celsius during our visit and hence we were able to still see remnant snow and ice on the mountain.
Day 4 (27/12/2025)
Visited the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, a popular tourist attraction to see hundreds of giant pandas. There are also red pandas here but they were out of our sight during our lengthy walk here at this attraction. The pandas are adorable as usual but after we saw a few of them, we sort of got bored as they all look pretty much the same.
Headed to Chunxi Street to see the famous big inflatable panda on the rooftop of a mall and to stroll around the bustling pedestrian shopping streets.
Also walked over to Taikoo Li, an open block shopping mall with shops of luxury brands housed in traditional Sichuan low-rise buildings. Like the mix of old and new architecture here.
In the evening, we went to Kuanzhai Alley (wide and narrow alleys). It is a beautifully preserved Qing Dynasty area featuring parallel cobblestone lanes filled with traditional courtyard homes, teahouses, local snacks, boutique shops, and modern cafes.
Day 5 (28/12/2025)
Took a high speed rail from Chengdu to Wulong. It was my first time experiencing China’s high speed rail and I’m amazed. Average speed of around 300km/h and you don’t feel any motion in the train.
Traveled up to the Fairy Mountain, a national forest park known for its vast, rare alpine grasslands, offering a vibe of being in Switzerland. Took a small train ride, saw a number of animals (camels, horses, goats, alpacas, dogs), and took pictures along the famous wave road over here.
Day 6 (29/12/2025)
Visited the Wulong’s Three Natural Bridges, a series of natural limestone bridges that lie within the Wulong Karst National Geology Park. The park is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Three Natural Bridges Scenic Area is made famous due to it being a key filming location for the blockbuster film ‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’. Had a very pleasant walk while admiring the breathtaking views of the karst landscape and the majestic three natural bridges (Tianlong, Qinglong and Heilong).
Traveled by bus to Chongqing in the afternoon. Chongqing is known as the ‘Mountain City’ as it is built around hills, creating varied elevations and layered views of the city.
Viewed the popular Liziba Station, noted as China’s first light rail overhead station built through and packed with a block of flats. Well, I still don’t quite get the hype of it; it is just a monorail passing through a building.
Then, we visited Jiefangbei Square, the heart of Chongqing’s downtown CBD and centered around a monument honoring WWII victory. The area is known for its massive pedestrian shopping district filled with malls and street food.
Had dinner at Pipa Yuan Shiweixuan, the world’s largest hotpot restaurant (with seat capacity of over 5800 pax). The exterior is beautiful but the inside is disappointing though (old and tired interiors/furnishings). The food was also not impressive.
Day 7 (30/12/2025)
It was raining the entire day which slightly affected our tour for the day.
Visited the 18 Steps, a historic, multi-sectioned cultural area with steep stone stairways connecting the upper and lower parts of the mountain city. The area blends traditional Ming/Qing Dynasty architecture with modern shops, local life, and photography spots, offering a glimpse into old Chongqing’s heritage amidst a revitalized urban landscape. The area also contains a significant air raid shelter memorial site from World War II (there is a small exhibition gallery free for visit).
Took a quick one-way ride on Yangtze River Cableway while enjoying the city skyline view of Chongqing. The view was not too great though as it was very foggy.
After lunch, we made our way to Longmenhao Old Street, another historical old street turned into touristy area filled with shops and cafes.
Also walked over to the adjacent Xiahao Lane with similar vibe. This area also provides a beautiful spot to view the Dongshuimen Bridge.
Went to Danzishi Viewing Platform and surrounding area to view the Chongqing city skyline, particularly the Raffles City Chongqing (massive and iconic complex of 8 towers with few of them connected by a huge skybridge).
Had dinner at Tiandi Shark Restaurant. Yes, there is a huge shark (along with few other small sharks) in an aquarium here you can view while you are dining.
Next, we went to Ciqikou Ancient Town, yet another ancient town filled with shops. This particular area is established in the Song dynasty with history of over 1000 years. Many shops were not opened during our visit probably due to the rain.
Next, it was finally the turn to visit Hongyadong, which is the most famous landmark in Chongqing. It is an 11-story stilt-building complex in the main commercial district of the city, beautifully lit up in the evening. The amount of people here is insane.
Had a late night supper at a local hotpot restaurant before heading to the airport for return flight to KL. Our flight was delayed by almost 4 hours and the advance notice gave us more time to walk around earlier in the day though.
Day 8 (31/12/2025)
Arrived in KL and back at home right before noon.
That’s the end of my wonderful trip to Chengdu and Chongqing with my family. It is indeed rare to be able to gather everyone together for a vacation and I do treasure such opportunity and moments. By the way, I bought a number of snacks (most of them will be souvenirs for friends) from the trip as well as two PopMart blind boxes (cheaper in China as the brand comes from this country), fridge magnets, a small puzzle, and a commemorative gold coin.
Now, time to say goodbye to 2025, welcome 2026 and start planning on my next trip! Haha…
Vincent Loy's Online Journal 
