31st Dec 2014

It's the last day of the year. Random thoughts going through my mind.

“Since life is short and the world is wide, the sooner you start exploring it, the better.”

Perhaps everyone needs to take a long trip at a certain point in time to do a reset on this life.

The realisation that I've been going on only one trip a year since 2012. Yet my photos are still backlogged by 3 yrs :/

2015 will be different though, intending to do more than 2 trips ;) First trip, Taiwan in Jan! And already pondering the next in Mar/April ;)

Truth is, a job / career is pretty much like trading. As it is with everything else in life. Cut your losses early. Don't hold a losing trade for 10yrs. It's not worth it.

Life is really short. Don't waste it doing things you hate.

It hit me that I really enjoy being single. For too many reasons. Definitely more pros than cons actually. Damn.

I could probably stay in a city for a month, just cafe hopping / food hunting. I thk I'm addicted to this lifestyle.

Everything happens for a reason, even if you don't know it at that point.

Things are usually not as bad as you think.

The realisation that I've been afraid of too many things in this life. Maybe its time to test those boundaries.

11st Dec 2014

Itinerary and hotel booking is finally completed today. Initial planning was to head to Penghu for 3 days 2 nights. But after I completed my planning, I realised it cannot be done. The worst time possible to go Penghu is winter, and Jan is probably the worst. Super windy. There goes my Twin Hearts Weir :( Until next time.. 

I realised that I've almost always booked my Tw trip very last min. Could still recall my first trip to Taiwan, which was done so last min, that I almost couldn't find myself a room to stay in Taipei.. Ended up booking the more expensive rooms instead.. Lol... 

The 2nd trip to Tw in 2011 seemed to be pretty last min as well.. Back then, I wasnt sure where I wanted to go, and in the end, Cathay promotion tempted me to book a trip to Taiwan. 

Anyway... Will be spending all 9 days in Taipei this trip :D Looks like the cafe culture is blooming nicely in Taipei as well. Let's see how it measures up to Seoul and Singapore. I guess all that's left next is to head for Tokyo, HongKong, Bangkok to check out the cafes there as well! :D 

Meanwhile, been doing alot of cafe hopping in Singapore recently as well. Not just cafe hopping actually, been going places to try out new food. Despite that, Im still doing 80% Paleo, while indulging the other 20% of my meals. 

I realised that sweet stuff really do not agree with me. Gluten and non gluten grains seem fine in moderate amounts. Not sure about milk. But sugar is definitely killing me. Have to try to stick to the savoury stuff when cafe hopping I supposed. As much as possible anyway. 

Other than cafe hopping, doing alot more reading. I enjoy being the one reading and not using a phone while commuting ;)

Keeping up with my Paleo lifestyle. 

Trying to establish a bedtime routine / wakeup routine. Not very successful at that though. I wish I could be that gal who wakes up at 7am feeling refreshed and gets her workout done. But unfortunately, Im that gal who snoozes her way through all her alarms from 7am until.. the time where she absoulutely had to wake up -_-" 

Still alot of thoughts running through my mind at any given time. I guess I need more time to sort them out into more manageable pieces. 

In any case, out of the 3 things Im supposed to focus on, top one is managing my trades. Not doing so well. I must be missing something. Zzzz

The other two, 1 is already pretty focused. The other one, Im not sure if focusing on it will help. I should probably just let it be and focus on just two goals.... Might increase my odds. 

6th Dec 2014

I was pondering about doing a technology sabbatical, and so I scheduled it in for today. Saturday to me, is a day of rest. Unless its a group gathering where it has to be on a weekend to accomodate everyone else, you must be mighty important / special to get me out on a Saturday. Definitely my last choice for a day out if I can help it.  

Anyway... the technology sabbatical kinda happened becos I decided to head out for lunch with only my wallet and keys. Just somewhere 5min from home, not too far. 

Not much feeling when I was busy attacking my food. I was famished. It was after 2pm. So definitely ate fast. 

But after Im done with my lunch and drinking my tea, I started to feel out of place. Under normal circumstances, I would be drinking my tea while distracting myself with my phone.. Not today. For some weird reason, it feels damn weird to be drinking my tea, and the other hand had nothing to do. It was like, I needed to be busy.

I tried people watching. Feels strangely weird too. Somehow, people watching doesnt feel this weird when I had my phone to distract me. 

Not knowing the time, did not help. It felt like alot of time had passed. But I thk I was only there for like 20-30min -_-

Im not sure what to make out of this. But I thk I need to do this again. Maybe head out to a cafe without my phone and see what happens. Or maybe with a phone, but no data connection. And definitely wearing my watch. 

And yes, I know 20-30min is probably not much of a sabbatical, but it was a conscious decision to go without my phone and stuff, so it's counted :P

Busy planning my for my upcoming trip in Jan 2015 :D First trip of 2015 ~

Somehow, it was also something that just happened. 

Around 6pm yesterday evening, I was pondering if I could take leave for a holiday in Jan. Upon checking, I realised I could. So texted my boss to confirm if I could indeed take my leave. 

While waiting for his reply, I checked out the flights and noticed Scoot seems to be on sale. I checked a few date combinations for both flights and accomodations for a few of my shortlisted destinations. All available. By 7.30pm, I was booking my tickets and by 8pm, Im all set ;) 

The freedom of a solo traveller :P When to go, where to go, all up to you. Life doesn't get any better than this. Haha. 

Planning on another trip in Mar next year. Destination unknown. But it should be still Asia ;)

2014 is coming to an end soon. Looking back at this yr, its been pretty good. A yr where I did alot of thinking, pondering, and changes to my life. Some changes are deliberate, some not so. Nevertheless, changes will happen, regardless of whether we wish for it anot. The key is to just go with the flow ;)

Healthwise, its Whole 30 and going Paleo. This is a lifestyle change to stay. I started my anti-inflammation diet back in 2010, and kept at it almost all the way. I was mostly gluten free since last yr Oct. This yr, its Paleo diet and lifestyle. Not really a big jump for me, since my existing diet and lifestyle is more or less aligned to Paleo principles to begin with... 

Time management wise, trying to spend my life more productive. And stop killing time. I schedule most of the stuff I need to do, putting the most important things in the morning so Im less inclined to skip them. Important stuff like charting and exercise. Since my working days are not fixed, I usually plan my exercise accordingly on the days Im off. Seriously, its all about priority. Saying you have no time is usually an excuse. If its important, you will figure out where to slot it in. Haha. 

To succeed in getting what you want, you have to limit your goals or objective to just 3. And yes, I have decided what those 3 are. Was attempting to do too many things(becos was trying to be more productive). 

"Keep up to three lists for different parts of your life – say ‘work’, ‘home’ and ‘weekend’. Each list only gets one objective. If you absolutely must have more, just know that each addition quarters the odds of that area succeeding." - http://oliveremberton.com/2014/if-you-want-to-follow-your-dreams-you-have-to-say-no-to-all-the-alternatives/

This is truly a year of thoughts, alot of thoughts. Currently, the ones running through my mind : 
going green
reducing consumption
what the hell do I really want in this life?
how much money do I need to retire?
do I really wan to get married?
do I want to stay single?
do I really want to fall in love?
what if subsconciously I don't?
is money really so important?
can i survive with lesser money?
how can I travel around and work my way through?
is that really a life I want?

I think... this is call the mid life crisis -_-

Love life wise, single vs attached, there is no "better" status. There are pros and cons on both sides.. So get that "attached is better" idea out of ur head -_-" RS status should be a choice. Rather be single than be with the wrong person. Any day... 

Im pretty offended when thinks that its sad/ unhappy to travel alone -_-" 

Seriously? Any idea that there are many people in this world, who might not have the privilege to even travel? So can you at least appreciate the chance you have to travel and see the world? This chance denied to some people, simply becos they are born in the wrong place? Pls do focus on how lucky you are. Travelling is something happy. Be it solo or with other people. Appreciate it.