Hey guys (if you're all still there)..

Sorry for not blogging as much, I have been overly busy and for the last few weeks, my blog was blocked because Google apparently thinks my blog is a bot! So I couldn't post a single thing!!

Well, now that's fixed. I promise I am coming up with more posts (soon) especially the travel ones which are way overdue. I also have a few event posts that were back-logged at the moment, so I'm working my bestest to get it all out, like taking a particularly hard dump. Sorry for the crude image. #sorrynotsorry

As some of you already guessed, I have left my 5-year stint at The Peak magazine and I'm currently pursuing copywriting with another company. Things are still shifting and changing and I am still undecided about my current path so in the mean time, I'm sorting it out as best as I can. Please send me loads of GOOD VIBES!!

Times are hard. Our ringgit is losing its value and people are not so keen on hiring much since the GST implementation in April this year. The Bersih rally happened and I was there on the last night with my family and Panda in tow too. Nothing happened – it was as they say, a peaceful rally. We walked, we listened to speeches and we ate some pretty good food. Saw some interesting statements and costumes worn/carried by some of the Bersih participants as well.

I have my mom & grandma's birthday coming up the week after, so it's going to be a full-fledged family thing on the 16th, as well as the following weekend. Oh, and I have a Run For Peace to attend again this year, which I duly attend every year because my best friend's family are from the SGM (Sokka Gakkai Malaysia) community.

If you are with me on Instagram, you probably would have seen how my beloved Jawbone UP24 died on me.. The one thing I loved so much and wore night and day with me, only taking it off for showers or swimming. Well, I still had my 1-year warranty, thank god, and they gave me a brand-spanking-new UP2 as a replacement. I love the new design and the latest App that goes with it too! So much faster than the old one. I will write a review for this, in say, 2 weeks' time.

Oh, last weekend I built Bacon the guinea pig his brand new C&C cage too. The two Cs stand for Cube & Coroplast – which mainly refers to metal frames, like the kind you buy from Daiso, and coroplast which is corrugated plastic boards. With those we made a fully customisable, larger and open concept cage for the guinea pig. He turned 1 on 1st Sept, so I believe he deserves a new and bigger home (which I wish I have too!).

I think that's all I have to tell you for now, as far as updates go. Watch this space as I try to churn out all my posts as fast as I can. Take care!

I'm heading off to Bali in just a few more days!

So, before I go off, I would like to leave you with another useful travel post to help you with any future trips. It always goes back to the same thing: money. As much as no one likes to think about it – your travels need funding and that could mean setting back your savings by quite a bit, depending on the destination.

I already have a post on How To Save On Travel, which focuses mainly on booking early and choosing destinations wisely. This is my follow-up post on what to cut-back on to actually save those excess cash for your dream trip.

DROP THAT GYM MEMBERSHIP
Keeping fit is important, but if you only hit the gym twice a week, it is a waste of money. Gyms don't come cheap, so if you're shelling out over RM150 a month, maybe it's time to let it go and start exercising at home or outdoors instead. I have quit the gym this year and am now following the workout programs from Blogilates. On weekends, I hike the trails of Gasing Hill, so really, there's no shortage of fitness activities to do outside.

CUT BACK ON BEAUTY SERVICES
Just like gyms, we go for facials and hair treatments to look and feel good. But is it a necessity? I have gone through 2014 with only two salon visits and zero facials. And I didn't shrivel up and and turn into an old hag. So really, you don't need them as they can be really expensive. For your face, you can try making your own facial masques at home with fruits or even a hair + facial combo with avocado. Go natural, save money for travel!

PAINT YOUR OWN NAILS
Manicures and pedicures also cost a bomb these days. Use your money wisely and invest in different colored polish – I can guarantee you, more money is saved up in the long run. Maybe save manicures for special occasions like Christmas or your birthday. In between, paint them yourself.

STOP SOCIAL SPENDING
I cannot imagine a worse way to throw travel money out of your pocket than on 'social weekends'. Drinks are expensive and in any social setting, you tend to drink more, the longer you sit. A night in the bar usually costs me between RM60-RM180 if I'm not careful about my drinks. If some of my friends decide to open a bottle and split between everyone, there goes more money (and extra calories). Instead, why not host a social night at home? Each friend can contribute a few cans of beer and chips, some food and you will all end up having more fun and more money in your pockets.

THE 'ALTERNATE' NO-SHOPPING MONTH
Girls being girls, we cannot abstain from spending on clothes or things that we think we need. Which is why I think this alternate no-shopping month works. It gives you a month of savings, and it helps you rethink ways of wearing the clothes you already own. As for months that you are allowed to spend, try not to go crazy and just allow yourself to spend on something practical and not too overpriced. If you have great self-discipline, try going for 2-months of no shopping, and alternate with one month of spending. You get to satisfy the shopaholic in you, and still save money.

LEARN TO COOK & DINE IN MORE
Eating out is never cheap, and when it is cheap, it is rarely ever healthy. If you still live with your parents, then it's a great advantage because it means that breakfast and dinner would be on the house (only if mom/dad cooks at home). If you don't, then learning how to shop for groceries and turning your ingredients into food can be a new skill-set to pick up on. I have an old post which talks about why you should learn to cook. Once you have that down to pat, you can start saving more money by packing a lunch bag to work, and let me tell you why it's awesome.


These are just a few of my own personal tips which I actually do practice. Let me do a break down of how much money you save when you apply all of the above to your life. Let us start with calculating the costs of everything above:

ESTIMATED COST PER MONTH:
Gym = RM150
Hair salon = RM120
Facial = RM90
Mani pedi = RM160
Social weekends = RM200
Shopping = RM250
Eating out = RM400
Monthly total = RM1,370

That amount could easily buy you three return tickets to Thailand. So really, think about it. Why waste precious travel funds on these unnecessary services when you can actually use them for your next exciting adventure? These estimations are based on my old lifestyle, where I actually do spend that amount of money on my 'maintenance' each month. Now, this is what my travel lifestyle expenditures look like:

ESTIMATED COST PER MONTH:
Gym = RM0
Hair salon = RM0
Facial = RM0
Mani pedi = RM0
Social weekends = RM100 (chipping in for beer and chips)
Shopping = RM300 (during alternate months)
Eating out = RM200
Monthly total = RM600 (SAVED: RM770)

See the difference? I do spend more on shopping now, but that's only on my alternate shopping months. Look at the estimated amount of savings I have, it's more than half of what I used to spend on a monthly basis. All that money is going into my funds for the big London-Scotland-Paris trip in July. If I can do it, so can you!

Our mothers were right, you should always save for a rainy day, and while you're at it, why not a big lifetime adventure?

As a second part to my new Blog Advice section on this blog, I think punctuality is something to make note of, because being on time can impact your blog's reputation by bounds and leaps.

I spoke to a few PRs and event organizers about this (no, I will not be revealing who or which company I've spoken to) and some of them admitted that punctuality is one of their biggest pet peeve when it comes to any event.

"It's always been a personal pet peeve for me when people are not on time, and when it comes to work, you sort of have to face it at every event and grit your teeth because you know... Malaysian timing." – Anonymous PR representative

"People will always be late, some even think being 2 hours late is acceptable. For our company, those bloggers who tend to be ALWAYS late would usually get pushed back to much smaller-scale events instead – because punctuality is very important for our bigger events." – Anonymous PR Manager


As you already tell, punctuality is important especially when it comes to working with PR companies who are affiliated with bigger brands. The blogging industry is so new, with so many grey areas – I think we shouldn't jeopardize it and give bloggers a bad name, especially if we want to grow. We want more brands and companies to have faith in us, to prove that we can show up and be punctual like any other media journalist, and that we can be responsible.

Most of us have already read about Singaporean blogger Xiaxue's stand on making the blogging industry better – by repelling and exposing those who are unethically inflating pageviews and other dodgy stuff. (I honestly enjoyed Part 2 of the exposé a lot because, well, the proof is out there for all to see and hear. And there are also less numbers involved.)

In my opinion, she's helping make the blogging industry a better place by trimming off the rotten stems (albeit a little harshly, because Gushcloud is indefinitely in very hot water right now) and weeding out bad business practice and ethics by the root. Though my post here lacks 'juicy exposés' within, I will be writing on why punctuality is important and how you can remedy your tardiness. (This is especially targeted to Malaysian bloggers, because we Malaysians are well known for our bad sense of time. #truestory #dontdenyit)


BEING LATE: HOW LATE IS ACCEPTABLE?
In my books, you should only be at most 30 minutes late and not more. However, I always would recommend to reach right on the dot. If you are absolutely stuck in a massive traffic crawl or have other emergencies, then call your PR contact to let them know you will be late. It is courtesy after all. I know many Malaysians do NOT practice such courtesy, but at the end of the day, this reflects on you as a person who is representing your blog.

EVENTS DON'T START ON TIME, SO WHY SHOULD I BE ON TIME?
Because if everyone thinks like you, then events would definitely not be able to start on time! Most events are based on attendance. If there are only a handful of early birds, then it is pointless to start on time. However, if they manage to gather over 60% capacity (in most cases) then the event is likely to start on schedule. This would also depend on the VIP guest(s) attendance. So really, if everyone sets their mindset to be there early, it could make all the difference.

IT'S BORING TO REACH EARLY AND SIT DOWN TO WAIT
Think about it, when you're early, you get to take photos of the event space and displays unobstructed. You do not have to deal with crowds of other bloggers or photojournalists trying to take photos of the same thing – you know, those photos where you have a piece of hair, head or hand of someone else who's in front of you? You get to take your time, get a nice shot. Even once you're done, you have that time to make a new friend (with someone else who is early as you) or chat with your PR contact. Honestly for me, being early is never boring.

BEING LATE IS EMBARRASSING
You know that girl, who comes in late and has to make the walk of shame to sit in front (where the empty seats usually are?) You don't want to be that girl, do you? I know most of you think that's okay, I'm thick-skinned enough. It isn't great for your reputation though, as unabashed as you may be. Most people will see you as irresponsible, especially the MDs and CEOs of the brand who are present. Remember, these big business minds have no time for tardiness.

BEING EARLY: TIME MANAGEMENT
If an event starts at 7pm, you should already be leaving from your place by 6.15pm (unless you live 5 minutes away) Factor in the traffic conditions and the rush hour jam. My trick is to always check with Waze an hour before the event to get a rough estimate. If traffic is really bad, I'll leave an hour before. That way, you still have a 30 minute window (the acceptable late window) and still be considered 'on-time'.

BEING EARLY FOR SMALLER EVENTS IS CRUCIAL
Some of the events I've attended are small, intimate gatherings of only 5-10 bloggers. You are more likely to be accounted for by name in events like these, and being late can give you a bad rep. I usually try to be at least 10 minutes early for these things, so as to get acquainted with the other bloggers (there are only 10 of you after all) and the event host as well. It makes you give off a good first impression, as well as good PR skills.

AVOID RSVP-ING TO TWO EVENTS THAT ARE CLOSE IN TIMING
In other words, double-booking your schedule. It's not classy to rush from event one to event two, especially if they are both starting an hour apart from one another. Some bloggers do this because they get extra posts for their blog (and extra freebies), but at the end of the day, I believe that if you do not have a good time in the events you attend, why bother blogging at all? You'd only end up with a very half-hearted, short post on the event. Trust me, those posts do no justice to you or your client.

NO-SHOW IS A BIG NO-NO
You obviously must show-up after you have RSVP-ed. Not showing up once is fine, but repeat that a few more times and a PR company is not likely to call you back for anything else again. Even something really important did come up, resulting in your absence, at least be considerate and call your PR contact to let them know that you are unable to make it. It is again, common courtesy.


These are just my two cents, and also a look at overall blogger ethics. If we were to move forward and get companies out there to put their trust in us bloggers, we must also prove that we are responsible and ethical in everything we do. Let me know what you think.

The one essential thing that you cannot 'pack' into your travel luggage, is language.

Most of the world speaks English, and I am very blessed to be a native English speaker. This language helps you survive and find your way through most countries. Especially in places where they have good tourism (like Thailand), some of the locals there can even speak a little bit of English to make things easier for tourists.

I can speak English and Malay, fluently – so that helps in about 60% of the world. I also speak a little Chinese, and am learning some Spanish on my own as well. But what about those countries where English is not spoken, and you can't understand their language at all? What if it's a language not written in alphabets, so you can't hope to even read and try to pronounce a few words? No worries, I think I've got you covered there, so I hope you may find these tips useful.


LEARN A FEW USEFUL PHRASES
It doesn't hurt to learn a few words of greeting, thank you, hello and even the word eat – in the native language of the country you're visiting. Learn those important ones which you know you're gonna need. It shows eagerness to learn and respect for their language. For example, phrases like "mai yao, ka" is a polite way of saying "no, thank you" in Thai. In the Philippines, complimenting someone with "maganda" (beautiful/pretty) in Tagalog is sure to score you some points from the locals. In Japan, we learnt that saying "itadakimasu" (let's eat) before eating with the Japanese is polite; just like how the French go "bon appétit", or the Chinese "sek fan", before divulging in a delicious, hot meal together. Make sure you learn how to pronounce your words properly, as certain words may have different meanings when pronounced differently. (Like the word 'cha' in Mandarin can mean tea or fork.)

When we were in Kyoto, we had a hard time locating Nishiki Market and were quite lost. We questioned 3 locals who didn't speak English, but directed us with basic directions (and even tried speaking some English, giving us an accented direction, "leftoh, raightoh"). I must stress that it is important to learn words for directions (left, right, straight, roundabout, etc) to make it easier to understand directions and make it easier for the locals who are helping you out.




PRINT UNIVERSAL SIGNS & SYMBOLS FOR DIRECTION
I understand that sometimes there are too many words to learn, especially if it's a foreign language that's hard to pronounce. Learn the important greetings and skip learning words for toilet or transportation. Instead, print-out the universal signs for toilet, bus, taxi, boat, train, hospital and so on. If you need to go to certain places, you can print the road signs or location image out for the locals to assist you, especially when it comes to taxi drivers if you're taking a cab. I find this especially useful when in crowded areas and people do not have time to try and understand you. Images speak more than words in this case – and these printed gems can be reused in any country.

Keep a small flag of your own country, as most locals are friendly and usually would like to know where you come from. Especially since I'm Chinese, some countries tend to not warm-up so much to me as they think I'm from China (where they are well-known for being one of the rudest tourists ever), but once I show them my Malaysian flag, and they go like "ahhh, Malaysia" and things are much better from thereon.



GET A PICTIONARY
No, not the game – but something with a similar concept. Useful for anything and everything in a foreign country. Need to buy a toothbrush? Want a chicken dish from a foreign menu? Want spare change? Unless you have time to print out everything that you think you may need, get a wordless dictionary that has all the images you can ever need to help you out. If you need one, you can get it here. For me, I'd usually research a certain country and print out only certain things that I think I need.

TRANSLATION APP
There are so many apps these days that can translate your words immediately to help locals understand you. Some may require an internet connection to work (which you may not have), so try to get an app which has a built in dictionary-translator (usually paid apps) to help you out.

Illustrated by Jenni Sparks.

SAVE HOTEL CARDS, MAPS, PAPER & PEN 
Hotel cards, so you can get back home no matter where you are. This is rule number ONE in travel, no matter what language the country speaks. Also, most hotels have free maps and brochures to places of interest around the city area, so be sure to grab one of each – doodle and mark each specific place you need to go, it helps. As for pen and paper, bring some along every time you go out. I find it useful (especially if I have to make multiple train switches), to note down the platforms, stations and exits I use. It helps in retracing your steps, and saves time from asking. It's useful in countries like Korea or Japan where the sign boards are all in gibberish.


So these are my small hacks to aid me in my travels. Do you have any special hacks for your travels? Do share!

P/s: Main images used on this blog are credited to Paul Octavius.

True story.

Not many people know this, but I was drafted for National Service in 2006, right after I graduated high school. In Malaysia, our National Service (henceforth referred to as NS) lasts for 3 months, and we are educated on our country's war history, given physical training (5am call-time for marching drills) and basic survival skills. I was posted to Semenyih – within the forestry outskirts of Selangor. Bear in mind that these forests were cleared in haste to accommodate the NS program – and I think the land was not cleansed properly. Which brings me to one of the scariest and most embarrassing tales from the NS camp.

I mentioned that the place was not properly cleansed when they cleared the lands to build the camp. Which was too bad for us because our encampment runs from June to August. Which is during the 7th month – the Ghost Festival month.

Now, I'm not overly superstitious or religious, but being in that camp during the 7th month opened my eyes to many things. I will not deny that spirits/ghosts/demons exist. I have dorm-mates who got possessed (and actually kicked a bed flying across the dorm) and witnessed a Malay-exorcism, have seen an 'orang minyak' in person, saw a djinn as well, witnessed over 5 different scenarios of girls being possessed and have sleep-walked out of my dorm for no reason. I know many would not believe me, but these are stories I have relayed to my parents and close friends over and over again – because time does not make these experiences fade away.

So, in August (the peak period of the Ghost Festival month), it rained almost everyday and there have been a few cases of girls getting possessed in the surau and some of the other dorms. One of my guy friends who is Sabahan also confided to me that 'something' has been following him around.

You can imagine the paranoia and fear we all felt.

We mostly travelled in groups to do anything – from buying food to going to the bathroom. Even our 'Camping Program' (where we will be pitching tents and sleeping in the forest with only a map to navigate ourselves) had to be cancelled – and for good reason too – everyone was scared, even the camp counsellors and trainers.

One morning, I awoke at 4am, an hour early before my usual 5am. It was still dark and the dorm is filled with soft sounds of snoring and the swoosh of overhead fans. I decided to sit up and grab a drink of water since my throat felt a little parched, but before I could sit up, something white caught my eye.

I froze. I didn't want to look but I was wide awake by then. I sneaked a glance from beneath my blanket and saw it again, that flash of white, at the foot of my bed! It looked like a floating piece of cloth, that seemed to be floating closer and closer to my feet.

I ducked under my blanket, crying and screaming 'no, no, no'! (I think I was hoping the sounds I'm making would make 'it' go away, while praying very hard for it to disappear)

I felt something touch me through the blanket, at my feet! In that moment I was so scared I cried even harder, but it didn't let go. Then I felt more touches on my left and right and almost got to a hysterical point when I heard my friend calling my name. My friends removed the blanket and I saw that I had woken half the dorm (some staring at me with a scared expression thinking I was possessed).

And at the foot of my bed, the white creature was still there.

Except that 'it' is my Malay friend, who was actually doing her morning prayers – wearing a white cloth that shrouded her whole upper body. Her bed is actually across from mine, but because I am in her Qiblah direction (the direction facing Kaaba in Mecca that Muslims pray to), it made more sense for her to pray at the foot of my bed as there is more space.

After I conveyed my apologies and explained myself, everyone laughed at me. I have never been so embarrassed in my life! Someone even exclaimed, out of jest, "Thanks for the morning call! Now we have an extra 30 minutes to get ready, so everyone please take your own sweet time!"

I laughed with them because the relief was immense. I was so grateful that it wasn't anything supernatural that came to 'get me'. Not my best moment, but at least I came out of it with a smile. Until this day, this is one of my favorite stories to tell – as it is both funny and ridiculous at the same time, and not something I would ever forget.


*This embarrassing but hilarious story is relayed for all to read in conjunction with the #NuffnangMY x #MYInvisalign contest.

I know a lot of friends have been telling me that I'm mad – traveling multiple times in a year. How do I find time for it? How do I even get that many leaves to do it? And most importantly, how do I afford it?

Of course, it would be nice to have deep pockets (which I don't) or parents with that kind of money – but I travel on my own expenses. And yes, travel comes at a price for sacrifice. Here's how I do it.


BOOK FLIGHTS IN ADVANCE
How me and boyfriend do it is that we plan, schedule and book our trips months in advance. I've come to realize that most flights over 6 months and more tend to be pretty reasonable and sometimes, downright cheap (We just booked a trip to Jakarta in January 2015 for November 2015 – at only RM250 per person including baggage and tax, plus 3 meals. That is a MAJOR deal!) We usually plan and book 9 months ahead (Our May 2015 Bali trip had been booked since August last year, so now we're just waiting to go), which not only saves us some extra money on flight expenses, but also gives us ample time to save up spending money to enjoy the trip fully.


TWO WORDS: AIRLINE SALES
Subscribe to airliner's social media channels and feeds, and keep a look out for sales and markdowns. I know AirAsia's famous for their flash sales that sometimes last a few hours to a few days. There are even free seat promos in between where you only pay for airport taxes and add-ons – so keep your eyes peeled for these deals – you can save hundreds of dollars on your flight.


DELETE BROWSING HISTORY
Each time you look at a certain flight or hotel, the website tracks what you were looking at – so when the next time you look at the same thing again, you may notice how the prices increases bit by bit? It's definitely no coincidence! So clear your browsing history so that the airlines/hotel websites are unable to track your previous searches. As much as some of these companies want to deny it, it is also tried and proven by many travellers.


USE COMPARISON SITES/APPS
One such app is Skyscanner, which helps you compared your flight prices between different airlines – and to pick the cheaper options. For hotels, I usually book from either Agoda or Expedia – both which offer competitive and cheap prices. I had great experiences with both booking sites, so you can definitely book with ease. Some hotels in their list even allow free cancellation, but do read the terms and conditions beforehand.


WEDNESDAYS ARE CHEAP DAYS
This is a no-brainer – but it is true. People don't generally like to fly mid-week since it would require them to take extra leaves, but these are the days where there are less crowds and you get to save more money too! I was actually quite skeptical about announcing this, as I imagined now that everyone knows, Wednesdays would be packed and prices would shift to go up! But sharing is caring, and I care for you guys! I still believe that many who can afford it would not fly mid-week and would pay the extra moolah for a weekend flight instead.

Image from Google

HAVE FLEXIBLE DATES & TIMING
When you plan a trip, try to be flexible – sometimes the late flights are the cheaper ones (by a lot too!) and flying the red eye is not so bad, to be honest. If you noticed, the early morning and late evening flights are always the cheaper flights as opposed to those slotted between 10am to 4pm, and some dates are cheaper than others. If you can afford to be flexible with timing and your dates, you can definitely save quite a bit. I always try to work around a 2-day flexibility between my arrival and departure – and as for timing, the later, the better. I can't tolerate 6am flights, but red eye flights from 9pm onwards are fine by me.


PICK DESTINATIONS BEYOND BIG CITIES
Places like Paris, Rome, London are great – but living within the city is going to cost you a bomb. I'd suggest going to stay on the outskirts of the city and enjoy the countryside or coastal towns. There's a lot more culture to be seen and experienced (rather than the same malls you find in most cities). You can always make a day trip down to the city to have a glimpse of it, but in the end, you'll get more out of your trip than you'd ever imagine by staying in the outskirts. With cheaper lodging, you can afford to spend more on transportation to get around. Be adventurous!


LEARN TO LOVE THE LOW SEASONS
I love low seasons for a few reasons – less crowd, prices are not marked-up, you get to see and interact with more locals, cheaper flights, cheaper tours, cheaper accommodation... the list goes on. It's quieter and you get to get the best out of your holiday without squeezing through big crowds of bodies and queue in line to see attractions. This was very evident when we were in Krabi in 2013 – the beaches were quiet and calm and the water sports were cheap. Even expensive activities are so much cheaper during this period, and you get to do things that you usually would never pay a high price for. I just have to stress how much I love the no-crowd situation, it is my biggest travel pet peeve.

Good times in Max Brenner, Melbourne

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDS/FAMILY
This is one of the main things which helped save us a ton of cash – FRIENDS! When we were in Australia last year, we were lucky to have friends living in Melbourne & Brisbane. Not only we got free accommodation for the length of our stay (two weeks!), we were also lucky to be given a spare car to use – which we only paid for the gas – to explore Brisbane and Gold Coast on our own! We literally spent zero cash on accommodation – and repaid these friends by cooking for them or buying some groceries. Another great thing – free tour guides. On the weekends in Melbourne, my cousin who's staying in Melbourne, brought us to visit the Chandon winery and some breweries and introduced a few good dining spots too. So trust me on this, friends (and family) abroad are a BIG HELP.


LESS SHOPPING & EATING OUT
It sucks, but if travel is your number one priority, it is a sacrifice one has to pay. I've cut down considerably on my shopping, and only shop online once in a while. Food isn't cheap these days (and the cheap ones aren't healthy either) so me and my boyfriend do weekly grocery shopping, and prep and cook our lunches for each day. That's about RM100 saved in a week! The only time we do eat out are on occasional weekend dates and food reviews (which are free, of course).


Well, I hope you learnt a thing or two from this list. I practice each and every point stated here diligently for all my travels (okay maybe not so much on the shopping part) and I hope you will too!

Any other exciting ways to save on travel that you know of? Do tell. ;)

Some random thoughts I had as I was having my dinner and listening to the airplanes soaring above our rooftops. Most Malaysians might find that annoying (noise pollution, they call it), but I love the sound of soaring airplanes because they carry dreams of wanderlust along with them. I think I'm one of the very few people in my country, who wouldn't mind living next to an airport. :)


Don't know if you noticed, but I've just changed my blog's layout. It's got a cleaner look, a white navigational bar (a contrast to my previous black one) and a very useful slider to feature some of my latest posts. It took a lot of configuring, HTML wizardry, tweaking and even so... I'm still having some technical issues with the 'auto read more' feature which I can't turn off. Please bear with it for now until I get my fix for it from the support team. In the mean time, check out my new logo for the website, isn't it neat? I'm implementing them onto my name cards soon. :) A new year, a new look!

Did anyone else also get a new facelift for their blog? Do share!

Hey bloggers! You're probably reading this to gain a little insight into why your blog's readership seems to be on a major mood swing at times. I feel you, I get those low days too.

Many factors are involved, but let's talk about the main thing here – your blog itself.

I personally LOVE reading blogs. My daily routine (when I'm not super busy, of course) consists of finding new blogs and reading a few of their recent posts. If I like your blog and your style, I'll probably read more and dig through your links and archives (and follow you on Bloglovin). But some blogs, as hard as they try, makes me so frustrated, I just close the page and forget about going through it.

Don't take this lightly. These few areas of your blog could be the reason why many people are not interacting with your blog. I myself have made these mistakes too. Here's what I learnt in my almost 7 years of blogging.


YOUR BLOG DESIGN HAS TOO MANY ELEMENTS & COLORS IN IT
You may love it, but honestly, it gives readers a major headache. I have seen blogs that incorporate polka dots and stripes with bright pink and other bright colors (even the text has multiple colors) and I think that is a big no-no. It's very distracting to read, and can only work if you have a consistent theme & color scheme throughout. I personally prefer white backgrounds, solid colors and clean navigation. Take a leaf out of Gary Pepper's blog, one of my favorite blogs, and see how her amazing photos pop-out against the plain white background.


YOU USE THE "READ MORE" FUNCTION
Sure, this gives you more hits for each blog post – but to be honest, unless I already really like your blog, I will not bother to click to read more. Studies show that a lot of people still prefer the traditional blog – where you can read each post in one glance and absorb the full story without having to click and open another window, just to click back again to continue looking at another post – and so the cycle continues. My personal rule for the 'read more' function: Use it sparingly, and only when really necessary for very long and picture-heavy posts that would eat up your loading time.


YOU DO NOT HAVE AN ABOUT ME PAGE / YOU HAVE A BORING ONE
What? How can you not have one? When I read a blog, I would also like to know the person behind the blog. Why hide your face and your story? Speaking of story – you do not have to write a life-long autobiography in your About Me. Just a few short paragraphs on what makes you, YOU. It's always great if you can describe some of your likes and dislikes, and let your personality shine through. Chances are, people who like your personality, would most likely come back to your blog for another read.


YOU DON'T UPDATE OFTEN 
A dead blog, that's what it is. It's no fun to read a blog only to find that it's latest post is about something that happened months ago. This is a no-brainer, but unless your blog has useful topics that are always useful, anytime (like about why squats are important), then you probably might not get as many views as you'd like.


YOU WRITE BIG BLOCKS OF TEXT
Maybe you're trigger happy with the keyboard, but please learn to add paragraphs! Most people don't bother reading large amounts of text because it's too long, and your eyes just glaze over them (sort of like reading Wikipedia sometimes).  Break each paragraph by point, like how we were all taught to do in school. Or to make a point, break every few paragraphs with a topic-related photo.


YOU DO NOT HAVE A CLEAR NAVIGATION
How do I get back to the home page? Where can I find your archives or categories? If you opt to not have a sidebar, then be sure to have a good navigation system at the top or the bottom of the page. Sidebars are usually the best option, and the easiest to find. Or, if you have some crafty CSS & HTML skills, you can follow what i did, and install a top-navigation system that follows you as you scroll, no matter where you go. Have a search bar as well. If people can't find things easily, chances are, they won't bother trying very hard to.


INCONSISTENT PHOTO SIZES
Some big, some small, some narrow and long and some really wide. It's quite a headache to view various inconsistent sizes. You should always keep to the same width-sizes for photos so that it flows nicely as your reader scrolls through it. Even if you have a lot of inconsistently sized photos, play with the layout. A perfect example is Park & Cube's post here, where she plays with photo arrangement for those vertical images.


YOU DON'T HAVE EYE-CATCHING HEADLINES
This is a fairly small issue – but I noticed that my posts with bigger hits have relatable and eye-catching headlines. Back when I was blogging on Xanga, my headlines were poetry lines and quotes that sometimes have nothing to do with the post – a big mistake. My top 2014 posts listed here, have much better and clearer headlines, so that readers instantly know what it's about and are more likely to click on it, especially if it's something relatable to them. A good example would be my post on "How To Shop Online" – which was reworded to "Shop Online Like A Boss". Catchy, no?


These are some of the more crucial points in inviting readers to come and read your blog. I have made a lot of these mistakes in the past, and I know better now.

Tell me, what other reasons would cause you to click-X on a blog?

I guess since 2014 is when my blogging is at its peak since its birth in 2008, a recap of its most popular posts should be called for. Though I have to admit that I haven't been focusing so much on my fitness posts this year as compared to 2012/13. Some of the posts with the most hits are my fitness posts (which I'm sure you'll find occasionally topping the Popular Recently widget in my sidebar). I think it was because those posts were planted and shared by so many, they just keep cropping up whenever people are looking for fitness reads.

Also, on a note of growing older (but not necessarily wiser), I have come to realize and improve on my writing quality here on the blog. No more 'rant' style of 2008, but instead, a more toned-down, thought-out way of expressing myself. You can still expect a few random exclamations here and there, but I want to focus on improving my writing skills, so I think it's for the best.

Another note to address, is of my art shop, a long-term project that has come to fruition. I have been working on art tirelessly from 2012, and still adding more things to the plate here. I want to thank those of you who have supported my art and for your purchase – which in turn contributes to the small tweaks and expenditures that goes into this blog, and my art blog/portfolio. Thank you! :)

And now, counting down the 10 most popular posts of 2014, starting from the bottom-up. You may click on the titles for a link-back to these popular posts.


#10 Bacon-Egg Cups
The one recipe out of the lot that I have made – made it to top 10. Only because it has bacon, the world's favorite food after chocolate. And eggs, the most versatile, cheap, simple and very delicious food stuff out there. You will never have breakfast the same way ever again.. ever!




#9 TANGS: The Fashion Social
Perhaps it was the success of the outfit I pulled together for Panda, or maybe it's because of the number of bloggers who are out getting votes for likes – I don't know. But this post has been consistently popular (you're welcome Tangs) throughout the months and I actually love some of the shots that were taken here. It was also a very, very fun day out for us all.




#8 The Alphabet Press: Sending Wishes The Old-Fashioned Way
Okay, I'm super glad this made to the top 10. Their letterpress cards are beautiful and there's just no other way to describe the wonderful way they have given life to an old craft. The founders sent me a beautiful thank you card after this post was published, and it is one of the best cards I've received. Honestly, this post (and them) deserve to be at the top.




#7 Detox With A Cuppa Tea
One of the nicest way to detox is by drinking tea – as TruDtox had proved. I loved their tea so much, I bought another box right after the sample they gave me were gone. And right after this post was out, they engaged me for a giveaway where all my loyal readers get to taste and see the effects of TruDtox. I personally prefer their TruDtox Thermo G series which I'm taking weekly now, but the regular one works just as fine.




#6 Unwind At The Urban Retreat Spa
I was invited to experience a Lymphatic Detox Massage at this spa, and I had one of the best spa experiences, ever. For 90 minutes, I was pampered and well taken care of and I was snoozing ever so soundly. The place is also very quiet and soothing, finishing with a very nice cup of ginger tea after. My experience was very detailed, which is why I think it got quite a lot of hits. Mmmm.. I think I'm gonna book myself another round there soon.




#5 Tips For Muay Thai Newbies
One of my fitness posts got high hits – cause it's all about muay thai! Well these are very basic tips, as I am a muay thai newbie myself. But I believe these tips are practical and useful for many who see it as a violent and scary sport – which it kind of is, but there is also a safety aspect to it which with good practice, makes it a fun sport. This can't beat the highest of all time ranking: a 2012 post on why men & women should do squats.




#4 Osaka, Japan: Travel & Tips
My blog is full of tips: Cause people always want to know things that they don't already know. Like when you speak of Japan, most people already know a little bit about the food and culture. What they really want to know are the nitty gritty details like: Is WiFi easy to find in Japan? Would I need an international adapter to charge my devices? Is there going to be  a lot of walking involved? Stuff like that. You can read it, it may just give you the heads up you need for your trip. (But also, there are links on my sidebar to all my Japan posts if you need a quick reference.)




#3 Drink To Health With Lifestyle Juicery
A sponsorship-for-health came along early this year, and I had the chance to try out a 6-day juice detox by Lifestyle Juicery. It is one of the most challenging lifestyle change to date. Juice-only for 6 days is not a fun thing for most people (not me either) but the benefits to your body is amazing! I don't want to give it away if you haven't read it, but it is an experience that I'd always remember, and maybe partake in once a year.




#2 What To Do In Melbourne, Brisbane & Gold Coast
Another travel post gets the fish. It is a rich compilation of the things I've done in these three states, and what you can probably get ideas to do too if you;re heading down under. This post was duly followed by another one along the lines of What To Eat.. It's quite an extensive list, worth checking out. There are theme parks involved as well! :)




#1 Bloggers Invade The New Klang Parade
For some reason, Klang Parade is utterly famous, so famous in fact that this post (which revealed the new look and shops inside the made-over mall) continued being on the Popular Recently widget every month, garnering thousands of hits. The organizers did an amazing job of the tour and games and coming up with contests for us (like how I wore it better than Chris Brown). It was ultimately a very fun day out, and yes, Klang Parade is explicitly popular on weekends.




And that concludes this year's most popular posts. There are others as well that are very amazing highlights to my year, but that I shall save for another post. Until then! :)

It has come down to that time, where we summarize and recall on what a wonderful/shitty year 2014 has been and then proceed to make new year resolutions for 2015.

How has my 2014 been? AMAZING! Let me tell you why it's been amazing. First of all, I have managed to achieve TWO of my 2014 resolutions, out of the many I have. The only resolution I botched up was my fitness resolution, which I kept up so well in 2013 but managed to kill in 2014 – I guess I may have spoke to soon and loved my body and food too much to care about what other people think. But anyways, despite the laziness and weight gain – I've never been so happy! :) I kind of feel I need to do a round-up of all the amazing things that happened this year (I made a pretty impressive one for 2012). Here goes!




#1 ACHIEVED ONE OF MY RESOLUTIONS: TO TRAVEL MORE
And travel I did. I don't usually venture out of my comfort zones of travel like Bangkok or Singapore – where little or no planning is required. This year, I painstakingly and very proudly, planned out the itinerary for my Australia trip from Gold Coast to Brisbane and Melbourne. I came back and was immediately off to Cambodia (for the very first time) on a company trip – you can read about the culture shock we experienced there and see the beauty of Angkor Wat. A few local trips down to Malacca and Ipoh in between, and I was off again for my first time to Osaka, Japan. We had so much fun at the Universal Studios Japan theme park, über excited mainly for the Harry Potter park! I can now proudly say that I've been to Hogwarts! Later on we travelled out of Osaka into Nara, Kyoto and visited the iconic Umeda Sky Building. It's been such a long time since I travelled with my mom, so glad we got to do this. And just this month, I was in Boracay, Asia's ultimate party island! So much fun, I can barely wait for another planned trip to Bali next year! :)




#2 ACHIEVED ANOTHER RESOLUTION: GETTING MY BLOG INTO ACTION
My blog's existence has been somewhat so-so for a long time. This year, I vowed to bring it to life by being more 'sociable' on the blogging scene (an introvert's first world problems) because I am socially awkward around people I don't know, sometimes. I called out to my old PR contacts and made new ones – from then on, my blog took off from it's abysmal 2,000 visitors-a-month to over 8,000 now. Many other brands soon came to sought me out on their own, and much thanks to them and the amazing sponsors I got, my blog has never looked or felt more alive. From churning 1 or 2 posts a week, I am now working and churning out at least 4-6 posts weekly (except when I'm on vacation, I cannot blog while on an exciting journey).





#3 SURVIVED THE TERRIBLE TWOS
Yeah, so many relationships and marriages suffer this syndrome called 'the terrible twos' – which is the phase between year 2 and 3 where many things seem to go wrong in the relationship. You fight more, you feel sick of one another sometimes and the one you love starts to do little things that annoy you. But then again, this is just perspective. For me, things like fights and arguments happen – and should happen because that's part of the process, but only over petty things. We probably get sick of one another once in a while – but that's what friends (and other hobbies) are for. He has his business to run, and I have my blog to work on – so we have some good time apart until bedtime. As for him being annoying – that's been part and parcel of this relationship since Day 1 so it doesn't faze me. I have built tolerance for so much annoying-ness, I am almost achieving Zen. So, we toasted to our two years this year and are looking forward to the third!




#4 (NOT REALLY MY ACHIEVEMENT) HELPED ESTABLISH EL LIBRE
My boyfriend and his partner started their own food company, El Libre, specializing in burritos this year. I was involved heavily in the logo design and all their labels and promotional items, as well as the initial planning and jump-starting the brand. It went pretty well considering the amount of orders they get and a radio interview, as well as a video interview with The Star. It's quite amazing how fast the business grew and we are looking forward to better things in 2015. You can help by spreading the word and liking them on Facebook!




#5 COMPLETED THE 100 HAPPY DAYS CHALLENGE
The popular #100happydays trend was created to give you something to appreciate everyday for 100 consecutive days  – sort of like finding the silver lining in your everyday life. I am super stoked to have completed it without missing a single day (although I sort of slacked posting the updates here on my blog). I have to say, it has positively helped me boost my optimism.




#6 I MET DAVID BECKHAM!
The one and only. When he came down to Malaysia to launch Haig Club whiskey, I was given the opportunity by YTL and The Peak magazine to attend and be one of the first 40 media members to meet him, fresh off his flight. It was quite an experience – meeting him in the flesh and tasting the delicious Haig Club whiskey cocktails. I'm extremely grateful for this experience.




#7 MY CAT FAMILY EXPANDED!
My cat Karma, got pregnant and miraculously delivered 4 pure black kittens (some with white stars on the chest, like herself). This all happened just 2 days before Chinese New Year – so you can imagine the chaos and the stress, as told in the full story. It was however, a blessing in disguise. The kittens were a bundle of joy and we managed to give two away to good homes. The other two however, stayed on with us. Tragically, Karma escaped one day and left her two babies behind. We have managed to now secure all escape routes with wire netting, and these two, Wally and Coco are tuning a year old in a months' time. Here's to maintaining my little black cat family.




#8 MANAGED TO SQUEEZE IN SOME TIME FOR ART
I haven't been producing as much artworks as I did the previous year but I still managed to come up with at least three greeting card pieces for Christmas (see above) and finished the third piece in my Meat Series, entitled Porckchop. These and my first acrylic on wood piece, Foxtrot.



I guess these 8 parts of my life sums up my 2014 pretty well. If anything, I loved this year more than the last. I am also very blessed with food this year, so many food reviews and reasons to celebrate. Not great for the waistline, but food is nourishment for the body and soul, and I am so not complaining. As tradition holds, time to make new resolutions – and hopefully by end of 2015 I'll be able to refer back to this post and check-off each item here.

• Get my 2013 body back! My boyfriend has fed me too much. 
• Travel to new places in 2015. I want to visit a cathedral with gargoyles and catacombs.
• Make more art (and more time to do art).
• Learn how to write with my right hand.
• Maybe write a book?
• Organize and makeover the room (it is a rat's nest at the moment).
• Put more ideas into action.
• Donate old clothes and replenish with new ones.
• Read more books. To be fair, I've read A LOT of books this year.
• Be more religious with cleaning my hamster's cage. (Sorry, Boss)
• Get another hamster? That is, if Boss doesn't kill his new friend.

That is about it. If you have a list of resolutions or year in review, do drop me the link in the comments section – I love reading stuff like that! Have a wonderful 2015!

I don't usually rant much anymore, but today is an exception. Because today is the day some lorry driver decide to piss me off by being inconsiderately rude.

This lorry, from Teoh Logistics, hit my side mirror at a merging traffic intersection. The bugger purposely tried cutting me off eventhough I was already halfway through – and he hit my side mirror (which thankfully didn't break off).

Honked at him, and no surprise, he ignored me and drove on. 

I called the company on the spot to complain about him (he probably forgot the number and his plate number is exposed for me to see), and the manager called me back instantly to investigate the matter. I'm glad for the courtesy she showed me, as she was very kind and understanding. It isn't the company's fault, just unlucky that they hired such an uncouth driver with zero consideration towards other drivers. The manager said he will be given a warning, and she will see what else they can do to curb his bad behavior. Eventhough in my moment of anger I had wanted him fired – I calmed down after speaking to her and said that it's good enough, but he must definitely be warned. I drove behind him and saw how dangerously he drove – weaving in and out of traffic with no signal and driving very fast. Who knows, the next time it may cost someone's life.

In my case, I think it was because I'm in a small, non-threatening car and also a lady driver, he thinks he can be the boss. Hello, just because I'm driving a small car and a lady, DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN BULLY ME OKAY?! His ignorance to my honking is already a first sign of his dismissal towards his wrong doing. But it's okay, I told myself. There's a reason why he grew up to be a lorry driver.

Perhaps he grew up in a broken home and a bad family situation that caused him to grow up bitter and angry. Maybe he was even abused as a child. I wouldn't know. All I know is that, despite your upbringing, one should always be courteous on the road. Not saying that I'm a saint or anything.

We all have sometimes been that bad driver; not given way to cars who signaled, drove to cut off someone else, cursed motorcyclists, run a red light, etc. However, we need to know our limits. If a situation can't be helped, just give way and concede defeat. Why bother with rage and ego when your life and investment (vehicle) is at risk? Some of us have loving family and friends to return to, and perhaps you are forever lonely, and suicidal or something, but please go be suicidal far, far away.

Whatever it is, I'm glad the manager is taking things into her hands and that he might (hopefully) learn from this incident. If I were to be an ultra-bitch, I'd probably ask her to make him call me and apologize on the phone – but then again – no harm done to my car, just my internal rage.

Dear rude driver, I hope you get an earful form your boss. If it doesn't affect you to repent your dangerous ways, then may you live a long life as a lorry driver in some desolate place where the only thing you might hit are trees.