Life in Shenzhen Again: A Chill Vlog in China’s Modern City
About this video
Join Adrian as he returns to Shenzhen for a cozy end-of-year visit filled with breakfast catchups, tennis, and cycling along the coast. He explores the city's modern subway line and the bustling Shenzhen Bay MixC mall, blending family time with reflections on 2025.
Video transcript
And this is by the way. Yay. Hello guys, happy holiday season. Oh well, actually when this video goes live, it's probably going to be 2026. But anyways, I am back in my hometown Shinjzhen because you know my work schedule follows Hong Kong's calendar and we got two days off this week. I don't want to waste them. So, I decided to come back to Shenzhen just to spend some time with family and to see a couple of familiar faces who wouldn't be strangers to you if you have been following my channel since my time in Singapore. We are grabbing breakfast together
and I'm just on my way to meet them. Singapore game reunited. Singapore game reunited. Wow. New gear. Wow. New gear. New gear. New Year. So, we are having classic Shinjzhen breakfast, which is essentially rice roll with a bunch of different toppings. different toppings. It's really good. Wow. It is actually freezing cold today. Um, and he's wearing a It's a finance pro bullet jacket. That's a bulletproof jacket. It's actually kind of crazy that it's already been 4 and 1/2 years since we moved to Singapore together and filmed that very first vlog. Even
after I left Singapore, we still kept finding excuses to meet up and travel somewhere together. It's always really nice catching up and hearing about all the random things happening in each other's lives. Sometimes that's all you need. I feel like you know just a quick download of each other's life and deep down that you are always there for each other. other. Oh wow. Oh wow. What the Hello. What the Hello. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back. How has Singapore been treating you? Oh, I did my first marathon. Wow. Wow. Okay. Let me show
you broke. Wouldn't you be dehydrated? Oh my god. But I finished in 6 hours and then someone heard that and then said you're walking. walking. 6 hours in Singapore. Like where did you even go? even go? So starting point. So starting point. It's okay. Nobody wants to know. Well, yep. Tennis every day. Super random, but we found a tennis court around this area, so we decided to pop in um and play tennis for a little bit. I think this is just one of the things that are getting so much popularity here in China these days. Like literally all my friends are
like getting into tennis either this year or last year. Um so over the weekend we're just like hey tennis and we just go yes stretch them legs stretch. stretch. Wow that's that's profanity. No. Yeah. So, we switched to the indoor courts cuz um the courts over there don't have very good lighting, so we can't really see. But this is amazing. Oh wow, that was a really good workout. And yep, now I'm actually on Shenzhen's Metro Line 11, which is the very famous subway line because they have um you know these special carriages which you need to pay extra for,
but you get to enjoy a lot of empty seats. So the next morning I continued my usual end of year catchup routine. This time of year is when a lot of my old friends are back in Shenzhen at the same time. So it kind of turns into a mini meet and greet. Um and this is me on my way to my next breakfast date. next breakfast date. Hi. Hi. Hi. We are now at my personal favorite mall in Shenzhen which is called Shinjun Bay Mix City. Um cuz you know this mall is always super trendy, very artsy. Um there are a lot of new stores, pop-ups to check out. Um and also
it's kind of like blended within like nature like there are a lot of trees. So yeah, good balance. Good morning. And we've got our morning coffee, but Cantonese version. Um because mine is technically called pyang, which is a mixture of milk tea and coffee. Um what did you get? Same. Same. Really? Really? Yeah. Yeah. And this is Pepe, by the way. Yay. Yay. Um we've been friends for over 10 15 years. years. Actually, 15 years. Actually, 15 years. Wow. That's crazy. Also, we just got our what is that? what is that? Chujupa. Chujupa. Chujup bao. It's kind
of like chashu bun. bun. Like a larger version of the traditional chasu bun. Oh, wow. That's convenient. So it calculates the cost automatically and deducts from your balance. Wow, check out our room. Why is it so purple? was given like very suspicious vibes. suspicious vibes. I got a mic here cuz I'm still hanging around. I turn so many rumors but the passengers see the passengers see me out. me out. Still love you intensely. Always on my mind. Every Saturday Every Saturday I can hear thousand drums thousand miles away Wow. This has got to be the most
random thing ever. Like there are a bunch of fitness equipments over here. So technically it counts as an outdoor gym and people actually exercise here. Honestly, when I look back, 2025 has been a lot in a good way, but also in a wow, how did all of this fit into one year kind of way. So let's backtrack a little bit. At the start of the year, I was still going back and forth on whether I should stay in China or move somewhere else for work or for study. Um, and I'm just questioning a lot of my life decisions in general. Um, as I enter the second half of
my gap year. And then I found myself a full-time job, which set a rhythm for most of the year, I would say. And honestly, it's been one of the most demanding jobs I've had. and it still feels like I am constantly fighting the unexpected every day. Um, but on the other hand, it's been super rewarding. Um, I learned so much about the industry and I just got better at dealing with the workplace drama in general. And also, I traveled quite a bit. Um, you know, I went to Europe, attended one of the fanciest weddings I've seen in real life. Um, and also
visited Spain for the first time, which was really exciting. Um, and then of course Southeast Asia, like my home sweet home. Lately, I've just been thinking a lot about 2026 about 2026 career-wise and where I want to live the next couple of years. Honestly, I don't have concrete answers yet. But one thing I know for sure is that I definitely want to get back on track with my health, both physically and mentally, cuz I guess this job just kind of threw everything off balance, which is not great. I mean, I don't want to stay in the same environment
forever, at least definitely not at this stage of my life. Um, I just want to live somewhere new for a couple of years before eventually even considering settling down. So, yeah, I guess that's one thing to figure out.
