Routine April

My life has fallen into a routine of

– wake up, listen to 在晴朗的一天出發 and stretch

– breakfast

– listening to 陶心時間

– afternoon walk for lunch, play Pokemon go, groceries, library

– come home and superficially clean room

– buy or cook dinner

– lie on bed to read or watch Netflix. I read so many books and watch so many show this month.

Occasionally, will venture to places such as Garden by the Bay or places that I seldom go such as Bukit Timah or Orchard etc

Monitor my finance daily. Will invest in T Bills twice a month. Too bad, fixed deposit rates are bad recently and most of my FDs have matured.

Some people that I knew and who are younger than me, passed away either due to illness or abruptly. 2 lifes- one young 17 years old girl and one 57 year old woman, died due to some reckless driving. A 39 woman was killed in Spain by her fellow countryman. Feel sad for all of them.

Joseph Schooling has retired from competitive swimming. Wish him all the best and thank you for the Olympic gold which I thought I will never witness during my lifetime.

Lee Hsien Loong announced that he is passing the baton to Lawrence Wang. I don’t have much feeling about this. It’s a good thing as it means that the transfer of power will happen in peaceful time. Still, I am angry with the closure of CPF special account, regardless of who is our leader.

My life is like the routine of a bee in 倪匡‘s book 規律. I shall cherish this 平淡的日常。

Hot March

The last few weeks have been scorching hot. Felt like the skin is burning when I step out into the sun.

Been walking after dinner to complete my move steps and to compensate for heavy dinner in the last few days. May need to go for evening exercise going forward to avoid the sun.

Shocked to learn that someone rather young died suddenly. Glad she went for a happy holidays in Feb. Still too sudden.

Celebrated birthday and attended wake.

Went for Eras tour. Admired Taylor Swift’s stamina and vocals. Not a hardcore fan but still enjoyable. The supper after the concert is great too. Didn’t have supper for many months and it was so good to have it.

Difficulty losing weight this month.

Started listening to 陶晶莹via 97.2.

I finally watched Reply 1988. So glad that 德善and阿泽are together in the show. Only know the actors (except Bogum, which I vaguely know him) after this show. And at this timing, Hyeri and that guy separated and that guy’s new girlfriend threw many tantrums on social media. Feel bad for Hyeri.

Went Sakura exhibition at Flower Dome. Love it.

Went for an art class and it is not my forte. Tried and don’t like. So far, I didn’t do anything extraordinary after my retirement . Continue doing what I enjoyed, which is watching shows, TikTok, reading books, go library, walking, listening to radios.

Lazy Feb 24

Attended a wedding and met lots of old friends.

Busily cleaning room for Chinese New Year. Changed curtains, laundry etc. Threw lots of clothes away.

After new year, I slacked and too lazy to do anything meaningful.

Wanted to learn new things, look into investing and check on insurance, but all I did was watching TikTok, 小红书，微博。

Love the viral song and video 周星翅. 你是最好的,周星馳⭐️⭐️

Happy that Chris Colfer’s Rose’s Turn is viral in TikTok. Everything coming up Hummel 🕺This time for Kurt ! My sweet porcelain.

Love watching 肖战 videos in Milan fashion week. I am listening to his songs to sleep in recent weeks. He got a calming voice. 你是夜空中最亮的星。

It’s a good feeling that the stars I love in different eras are going viral now.

Went to the National Gallery. Good for walking and art.

I am slacking in Feb. Will look into doing something useful in March.

肖戰

2024年，我喜歡了一個演員。

他的名字是肖戰。

大概2020年左右，就知道有这个藝人。2020至2023是我人生很累，很无助的日子。常常打开YouTube的音乐入睡。不知为何，陈情令的主题曲无羈被推荐在我面前。可能那吹着笛子的俊男吸引我吧，我点了无羈来听。从之，常常听着那黯然销魂的无羈来入眠。

當時覺的他的名字很特別，也認為是個好名。我也知道肖战曾经赢过King Choice award. 也隐隐约约知道他被封杀过，但没有特别留意，因为中国老是莫名其妙封杀人，戏，歌🤷‍♀️。

虽然知道有陈情令这部剧，但也没有很大的欲望要看。一，没有管道看这部戏. 二，没有看大陆戏的习惯。三，没时间看连续剧，因为工作太累。

现今，我不必为死线冲。而且有了Netflix. 在看了韩，日，美剧之后，想要看一部不需读翻译，不需等二三四季的戲。結果就點了陳情令來看。本來還擔心天啊，五十集～結果看到欲罷不能。這部戲的劇情，人物都非常好。魏無羨是陳情令的靈魂人物。而肖戰是賦予魏無羨生命的好演員。

現在在慢慢了解肖戰。樣子是我喜歡的類型。喜歡他能演繹亦正亦邪的魏嬰。原來唱歌也不賴，除了無羈，也喜歡他的曲盡陳情。很開心他也唱了我喜歡的I want something just like that 和 Faded. 而且他喜欢的孙燕恣，陈奕迅，林宥嘉，我也喜欢。

感恩现才认识肖战。在2019至2023年，我可能因爲壓力太大二沒有耐心看陳情令。如過我那時喜歡肖戰，我應該承受不了那段被封殺的日子。命運也太像魏無羨了吧。雖然那段可怕日子已經過去，但我也不敢去太了解那時到底發生了什麼事。怕自己太心疼。

願肖戰能一切順順利利，平平安安，快快樂樂。期待你的郭靖和藏海傳。

2024 concerts, matches, exhibitions etc

Jan : MAYDAY, Coldplay

Mar : Taylor Swift, SG vs China

2024 TVs

Jan : We Have A Ghost, 关于我和鬼变成家人的那件事，How to eliminate my teacher, 陈情令

Feb : 玉骨遙, 钱不夠用2

Mar : 酒是故鄉醇，reply 1988, Under the Tuscan Sun, It’s a Great Great World

Apr : Summer Strike, Damsel, The Full Time Wife Escapist，Your Name Engraved Herein，The Umbrella Academy 1-3, 周處除三害, Diwnton Abbey : A New Era，queen of tears, My Neighbour Totoro

2024 purchase

Jan : 滿足， 無羈，曲尽陈情

Feb : 光点， Pokemon coins x 2 (6.98), small bag ($30)

Mar : shampoo & conditioner, itune最幸運的幸運

Apr : Sun shield masks x 2 ($20 x 2)

2024 books

Jan : Impressions of an invasion;火燒愛窩窩; 沒有什麼了不起

Feb : 阿公讲鬼x3

March : 永不永不；仔鱼时光，夜谷宾馆1

Apr : Trees an illustrated celebration, 代尋失去時光, Big Panda and Tiny Dragon, 人生就是一出戲, 夜谷宾馆2-4, 阿公講鬼： 魑魅

The Untamed January 2024

Time flies. It is already the last day of January.

A very good start in 2024.

I have a relaxing trip to Taipei.

I watched 2 concerts

I read 3 books.

I watched a few shows, including my absolute favourite The Untamed. I have been listening to the Untamed theme with 魏無羨on the cover on YouTube to fall sleep for several years. I love the sorrowful music that touch my soul and 魏無羨’s profile is very intriguing. But I never thought of watching the show as it was period fantasy drama, a genre that doesn’t appeal to me. I knew vaguely that it is BL theme but think it will be very light weighted BL due to China censorship…

I finally tuned in to The Untamed this year as I am getting tired of reading subtitles for Korean and Japanese dramas in Netflix. And I also don’t want to watch Western dramas with never ending seasons.

So glad I watch the show. The story is good with very good characters including the villains. While I knew that they are villains, I am also emphatic why they are villainous.

Without any touching, kissing or even vocally expressing their love, this is the most romantic show I have watched in the longest time.

My absolute favourite character is 魏無羨。This character is reminiscent of 楊過。I am so nostalgic of my youth reading about 神鵰俠侶，feeling angry that all the self proclaimed righteous sects claiming 楊過is wrong. Fast forward to 2024, I am sad that 魏無羨always got the blame for everything even when he is the one saving everyone. This feeling of sadness is not only about reminisce of the book I read during my youth, but also from the wound of my working life. I am so happy to see 魏無羨‘s smile at the end.

So lucky that 肖戰 is the actor for 魏無羨。He really gives the character a soul. 魏無羨 character is multidimensional and 肖戰really portrayed his innocence, righteousness, anger, despair and his love perfectly.

A happy Jan 2024.

31.1.23

Heading to 2024 in 12 hours time.

2023 is quite an interesting year for me.

The first half was rather uneventful. I was extremely busy and stressed with work. Every morning, I woke up with unhappiness of unfinished work. The breaking point was constant headaches and I finally quit my job.

Start a brand new retired life in June 23. The happiness of waking up not worrying about deadlines, demanding customers and meaningless meetings.

Now, I wake up every weekdays listening to 在晴朗的一天出發，really feeling awesome and sunshine while doing my morning stretches.

Reduced my medication after my retirement. Living stress free life is good for health.

Read many books this year. Watched even more shows, especially after having Netflix. Danced to Spotify music.

I have been walking a lot, trying to go different places. Perhaps, walk too much and I am having hip pain now. Have to reduce my walking.

Have an annual Flower Dome pass and enjoy going to see the flowers. I used to visit flower dome regularly before the pandemic when it was near my working place. Have stopped visiting for a while as I usually work from home. If I work in office, it was quite cumbersome to go the dome with my laptop. Going to visit the Flower Dome more often.

Started a free trial on ukulele. I wasn’t very good at it but I intend to continue learning.

Started investing more seriously. Invested in T bills, savings bonds etc. Hope that this will lessen the impact on inflation. Have to be more cautious on my spending without income.

Happy that finally have a swimming pool and gym nearby.

Voted for my 2nd presidential election. I have either missed the earlier elections as I’m overseas or they were walkovers.

I have levelled up Pokemon Go from Level 45 to 46 in 2023.

Have taken my first flight since the pandemic this year. Have also taken train to Johor. The joy of going overseas even if it is just a neighbouring country.

Have gatherings with old friends.

Finally, got my first COVID at the end of 2023. What a year.