Phuket

Finally, we visited Phuket.
Thailand's biggest island (almost as big as Singapore), which is also the favourite for foreigner.

It reminds me a lot of Bali, though. I still thought I was in Indonesia even on the second day. Doesn't mean it's a bad thing! I get to explore the hilly island on a bike. Great food, friendly people, beautiful beaches calling you to sleep the whole day without any worries, what's not to love!

Here are a few memorable things (among many!) I experienced there:

• Did I say food?

From street food to restaurant food, local food to Western food. Just pick a random seller, it'd most probably be delicious.

• Uber ist not gut

Unlike Jakarta, Uber is is not that much cheaper from Taxi services. In fact, there is actually no Uber in Phuket. The market is monopolised by Grab (at least as of Sept 2016). We spent about SGD35 to go from airport to our resort (one way!). But Grab still offers the convenience of just keying in your location+destination in the app, and you can just sit prettily for your pickup.

• They don't know Cha Tra Mue!

This is probably the only "disappointment" we have. The first thing we look for in Thailand, of course, the famous Thai tea. But apparently the Thai tea we know is actually more of Bangkok tea, only famous in Bangkok.

• Phuket is not cheap at all

Contrary to popular Singaporean beliefs that Thailand is cheap, Phuket is not.
Sure you can get views like this when you eat at a restaurant:

But the pricing is almost exactly like Singapore. Around $10-$18 per dish.
But then again, the service is waaaaaay better than Singapore. Good thing is, most restaurants accept cards, so if you don't mind the 3% charge, swipe away!

• But it can get very cheap if you know how

Taxi/Grab is expensive, yet the tourist spots are quite far away from each other. It's way better to rent a bike. A car is good too, but the roads there are narrow, so, take your pick.
Don't miss the Weekend Market, or as the locals know it: Naka Weekend Market. There are plenty of cheap but nice items for souvenirs and a plate of any food is only around THB25, which equals to SGD1 --ONE DOLLAR! We stayed there for about 3 hours just to eat miscellaneous things.

That's a quick recap of my adventure in this famous island. It's too bad that I didn't get to explore the surrounding island like Phi Phi or James Bond island. But that'd be another adventure for another chapter.

Next stop: Lifelong dream (guess where!)

Incredible thoughts

I have this REALLY interesting colleague who always says magical things. This is basically my face every time she says something:

She's been entertaining me from May 2014. And her latest pearl of thought is so incredible that I can't resist the temptation to share it here:

"so cool, no wonder they still enjoy working under great pressure of productivity."

So cool
                           No wonder how

they still enjoy working

under great pressure of productivity.

Under great pressure of productivity.

Under great pressure of productivity.

Under great pressure of productivity.

A t-shirt material right there:

Some of her other incredible thoughts include, but not limited to:

•  The meaning of STD does not make sense

• Google search is down (but it's ok if you turn it off then on again)

"Incredible thoughts, incredible minds
I'm so overwhelmed
How did her brain conceive them?!'

The groove

"It's always good to see people who are.... aspirational," she said as she closed the conversation.

Image of God

"...if man is made in the image of his god, and man is a corrupt entity
- wouldn’t it stand to reason that god is a corrupt entity?"

Jika manusia diciptakan menurut rupa tuhan, dan manusia adalah sebuah wujud yang curang
- bukankah sebuah argumen yang benar untuk mengatakan bahwa tuhan adalah sebuah wujud yang curang?

- The Day I Lost My Faith

Why are we trying to save the world?
What has the world done for us, except hates us.

Kenapa kita berusaha menyelamatkan dunia?

Apa yang sudah dunia ini berikan pada kita, selain kebencian.

-Inspired by Harley Quinn and her love for Puddin'

Lessons today

"Being nice is not something to do."

- Two Worlds, ep. 2

"It's better to be the enemy of a good person,
than to be a friend of a bad one.

Lebih baik menjadi musuh seseorang yang baik, daripada menjadi teman orang yang jahat.

-Anonymous 

A weekend well-spent

I think I've never written anything about my travels. I need to make it a habit so I can have written memories about the interesting things in my life.

So, first ever travel journal: Jakarta.

I haven't been there since forever. I can't even remember since when... Was it 2007 or 2008, or after that. 

Didn't really want to ever visit Jakarta because the traffic is traumatic. 

But a close friend is getting married so we have a excuse reason to go. 

I have to say this time the experience has been much better.
Jakarta is kinder to me this time.

• There was less traffic. 

It helps, of course, that I arrived at 11 pm on Friday and went to the airport on 3 pm on Monday. And I was late meeting people most of the time, but hey, at least I got to meet them on the same day instead of the next day!

• Uber ist gut

Seriously. It's much better than taking Taxi. It comes immediately, and it's dirt cheap. I was pleasantly surprised.

• Partying, partying, hey!

Got to go some fancy places in Jakarta, like the Cloud Lounge. The place is meh, but what's good is I got to meet some old friends (and new)! The rare kind souls that I was lucky enough to befriend.

And not forgetting the best thing about visiting Indonesia: FOOD

 Bebek goreng and nasi bakar.

LOTS OF FOOD:

Mi kepiting, sate babi, churros + Spanish coffee.

Gado-gado, and siomay Bandung.

And a lot more, but too many to list here. 

I might not be back to Jakarta any time soon, but now I have a better memory of this crowded city.

Next stop: Phuket!

Innie Outtie

Introverts are like a closed book, which you have to open and read yourself. Some have a lock you can't open, some can't be read because it's written in different language, some can't be understood even after you read it.

Extroverts are like audio-book that has an autoplay function, which off or pause button is so hidden, it's seldom can be found.

(Yeah, yeah, that's not what introvert/extrovert mean, but that's how I see them)

"Take your time"

I wish people stop saying "take your time".
I know sometimes it means 'it's not priority, please do other more important thing first'.
But this permission to take one's time only works for people with high integrity.

For lazy people it means 'oh I don't have to do it now, I'll do it when they're actually panicking about it'.
So let's stop giving lazy people permission to take their time.

The only time we should take we time is to stop and think.
Take our time to make a decision, take our time to take a deep breath so that we don't say that next sarcastic thing that 'hurtful sometimes', or on the other hand, take our time to think up of the most sarcastic thing we can come up with.

Otherwise, please don't take your time.
When we work on something, or preparing to go somewhere, or realising our dreams.
Have a sense of urgency.

Ms. Temper and Grumpy Cat

Most of our problems come from the inability to say no.

Kebanyakan dari masalah-masalah kita adalah ketidakbisaan untuk mengatakan tidak.