Wonderlust ♥

all i knew , this morning when i woke ,
is i know something now , know something now i didn't before  


over the course of last month , i was overwhelmed by the need to pen my thoughts more than once . hoping to sort out the mess , to focus . but every other time it feels like i'm grasping for words not within my reach , so they became drafts sitting in my blogspace .

sometimes i revisit an entry and draw strength or feelings from them , i love words and feel that it's important to write clearly and with feeling . it's the same reason why i love songs ; they represent the start and end of many chapters of sorts for me , and i can always revisit and recreate those chapters whenever i feel the need for nostalgia .

so i spent some time combing through my old entries (since 2013) ; in case you were wondering , this instance of combing means skimming through and occasionally really reading a particular entry .

looking back , I've never regretted blogging about feelings , placing photos , sharing about happy things and my hair journey . i'm sure it's a cue for me to keep it up . and when an old entry comes across as juvenile in terms of content , i can only cringe but be glad that i've grown up mentally and moved past any roadblocks .

it's time to close the old chapters and keep looking forward . all of us have to grow up at some point .

it's has been a tradition to share about overseas trips , so here's me talking about my Fukuoka trip just last month ! here is my travel companion and best buddy ~

the first day we embarked on our trip , we touched down at Hong Kong airport for a transit in the wee hours of the morning . it was our second time transiting at Hong Kong (i've never been to Hong Kong itself outside it's airport) .

we had an interesting time shopping about the airport and having breakfast there before flying off .

if you spent time reading the earlier commentary , we therefore didn't do much on day 1 in Japan cuz we reached in the afternoon , but we checked out the hakata lights and took some nice pictures :)

the second day had us checking out Dazaifu and eating Ichiran:



that's the super aesthetic starbucks and me yet discovering the gem that is iced chai tea latte . after many nice photos and wishes later , we went to tenjin for shopping and got our 1st loot of the trip ! pokemon , anime merchandise , gundams and what not .


as for our third day , we went to Marine World @ Uminonakamichi . unfortunately (or fortunately) , we were too fascinated by marine life that we missed the seaside park by its opening hours .

undeterred , we went to see the lights at Canal City and the pokemon centre after our marine escapade . yup , 2nd loot of the trip for us .
 thanks to my white puff for the stitch cable bite <3 br="">
Day 4: there was an AAA concert event just beside our hotel ! we went to check out the merch in the morning  before going to book our shuttle bus to the airport for the next day .

we went to the mall nearby to get starbucks and that was when this happened:
chai fabulous chai .

we had an udon spread for lunch before heading to the Fukuoka Castle and Fukuoka Tower after Fukuoka Castle:
after we finished Fukuoka Tower , we went back for an onsen experience at our hotel , which was awesomeee with stone hot coals , water , oh well you get the gist .

do consider going for the onsen if you are staying in Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk !

 Day 5 got us feeling sad about leaving our humble crib behind . this is the view from our hotel window:
we also woke up for the breakfast spread at the hotel for the very first time .

on the subject of hotcakes , these from 7-11 are pretty good:

day 6 sees us back in Singapore .

till next time !

Read this entry for a crash course on parking before you take your driving test at your own risk .

I have no license (so i'm hardly qualified) but writing helps me put things into perspective and so this happened .

in all seriousness, while i was trying to google for driving tips , i realized there were some questions i couldn't find the answer to (probably because i'm too bad at this) so this would help you if you were struggling like me .

background: manual car @ BBDC

here is the circuit map which is the starting point for the test .
in the event of an immediate failure in the circuit , the test ends at the circuit .

#1 Vertical Parking 

examples of vertical parking in the circuit would be lots 30, 31, 36, 35

to do for vertical parking: start the parking close to the white line, the closer , the better . just do not cross the white line . adjust the side mirrors straight down till you can see the end of the rear wheels . check blind spot before reversing and 2 to 3 times in between .

#2 Direction Change

examples for direction change in the circuit would be lots 9, 10, 11, 12, 23, 24, 25

the difference between direction change and vertical parking is that for direction change , you don't have to worry where to park close to . it is enclosed by 3 curbs at all sides .

to do for direction change: start by parking near the center (not too much to the left or right) . there is no need to adjust the side mirrors for direction change . check blind spot before reversing and 2 to 3 times in between .

#3 Parallel Parking

once you get the hang of it , it isn't that bad . hopefully this can help you in some way .

examples for parallel parking in the circuit would be lots 16 , 17, 18, 19

to do for parallel parking: start by parking near the curb (30-50 cm) . that's the length of a long ruler , so in reality it's really really near . adjust the side mirrors ,  check blind spot before reversing .

1. turn the steering wheel all the way to the left and reverse until you see the middle of the curb to your right from your right side mirror .
2. straighten your steering wheel and continue to reverse till you reach a white line . then , turn the steering wheel all the way right and reverse almost all the way in .
3. once your car is straight , straighten your steering wheel and continue to reverse a teeny little bit .

check the blind spots after steps 1 to 3 .

4. move forward about 60 cm, adjust the direction of your car if necessary . (meaning if your car is tilted to the right , turn the steering wheel left and move forward)
5. now that you have enough distance , it's time to reverse again . turn your steering wheel all the way left and reverse .
6. you can now adjust your side mirrors and move out by turning your steering wheel all the way to the right .

Other tips: in turning left , the lane to turn into would be the lane closest to you . in turning right , it would be the lane further from you if it is a 2 way lane   


--End of parking guide--

it has been about three months since i was here , and it feels like much longer . everything is peachy here (i hope it is for you too). it's really been a breeze , so much so that i don't have much to blog about . normally i write in this space when i feel like i have a lot on my mind or heart .  though i always figured i would come back to writing soon enough .

writing helps me with my mental state . sometimes i go through the motions without really feeling it and this helps tremendously .

till next time !

comforting weather with specks of rain drops dusting the windows
blankets of clouds on grey skies
with the faint sound of thunder rumbling in the distance

best feelings overflowing off the brink
when its picturesque and there's not a care in the world
it's something i could get used to

i miss the memories of you in the bad times , in the times i feel alone 
those times i'm hit with feelings , feelings that i never want to let go of  
i thought about it time and time again and found it to be
just an imagined perfection that never was and never will be
so i picked up a pen
and re-wrote my feelings for you on parchment paper

i always thought i would sink , so i never swam
i never went boatin', don't get how they are floatin'
and sometimes i get so scared of what i can't understand
but here i am ,
next to you ,
the sky is more blue

i love the cards that i've been dealt
do you feel the same as well

I've been blindsided by laziness once again . and ... missed out on 2 posts as a result .
sorry bout that . here's a run down as to what i've been up to:

October: eating . mostly spending money on food
November: travel and celebrations . korea and birthdays
December: relax and celebrations . stay-cation and birthdays

this is my backdated october post . did i mention i'm 100% serious about those captions ?

7 Oct: ps cafe
12 Oct: tomi sushi
14 Oct: Sushi Bar and montana brew and bar
 20 Oct: B cafe and the providore
 25th oct: craftsmen

as you should have figured by now , my food photos are shot in a bizarre manner and tend to feature incomplete / half eaten foods . so don't expect too much . drinks and desserts however , are a-ok .

When i was young , i used to be one of those people who decided that , if i ever had a wish , i would use it to wish for an infinite pool of wishes .

my first wish thereafter would be to wish that my wishes can only be used after uttering an activation word ; valar morghulis anybody ?

religious studies taught me to pray ; for forgiveness , guidance , and for what I really want . God knows best and he would answer my prayers if they were good and meant to be .

and so , my first prayer was to be a boy . i assumed, there was always a possibility i was wrongly misdiagnosed . my second was to be legibly wearing glasses . guess i thought they were cool at the time , but i thank my lucky stars now that that was never answered (though my eyesight isn't what it used to be) .

you can see that my childhood preconceptions were rather misguided .

i always had the idea i would end up marrying my cousin and i had this notion people live with their bestie if they don't get married ... i realize now that things are not so simple .

well , going back to my first prayer , older = more comfortable as a girl . but i admit , if i was given a choice of gender roles from the start , i would have never chosen to be a girl .

what with the gender typical roles and expectations .

some people still have the mindset that women were made to look good , cook , clean and give birth . it's a good thing that it's vastly lesser now , having come so far .

even when studying the bible , women are never lauded nor have any achievements worth mentioning . my studies are not extensive so forgive me if i err but so far that seems to be the case .

i believe i was made to be much more and i was never one for procreation .

okay , so it takes some spelling out to show how first world these problems are . but i just wanted a place to rant , so here you have it . till next time ! xoxo

I come to this page determined to write a post but get writer's block . let me try my best anyway .

Fast forward three months later and it'll be my birthday ! Nothing extremely special or noteworthy but it's still a milestone . Cuz life is short and milestones are deadlines so to speak .

My standards and expectations don't often match up in terms of meeting my life goals , then i start questioning my goals . But because i'm stubborn and refuse to lower my standards and expectations ,  i worry that my goals will never be met .

But that's just reality check for you .

Well , it's finally a rest day for me after a super tiring weekend . My list of things to do include:

- Finishing stuff for office
- Clearing my emails
- Painting
- Sketching
- Running errands
- Finishing GOT book 1

Good luck to me seeing i'm nowhere near done . Good thing Fridays' a PH as well.

Catch you guys soon ! 

retrospectively it's so easy to see
i was trapped but now i'm free
nothing's ever going to be easy
but nothing's ever going to be too hard
not for me

you make me feel differently
i never can decide

found you in the unlikeliest of places
where I was searching for something else
from the moment I found you I was inexplicably drawn
like a moth to a flame
but what's a moth to do
when the flame is gone
just like you

This post took me some time to write but I told myself to get with it anyway.
When I don't write, I regress; and my goals start to seem further than they were yesterday. That's the power of motivation thrumming, making us feel alive; for what's the point in being alive without looking forward to life? Motivation need not be ambitious, broad or long term, it could be as simple as looking forward to completing a book, learning more about a particular subject or spending time with family.

Aha.

Here is another prime example of a paradox. There is power to be found in simplicity, yet most seek for more. And that's not a bad thing. It just means we know we are capable of more, and rightfully so. It doesn't matter if we try and fail, what matters is we manage to find it in ourselves to channel that drive to something else, eventually finding our calling.

When you are in the negative, standards are set to zero. When in zero, it's set to a positive and when in positive, the higher the number the better. So always remember, it is already a blessing where you stand and try to be grateful for what you have.

Some people envision the sweetness of growing old with someone they love. I double take and survey such words with an air of bewilderment. Being full of life now, contemplating a time when life is running out?

Still.

I wonder, are these the people, who find power in simplicity? It's funny, I would've pegged myself to be one. But once in awhile with my head in the clouds, I find myself contemplating existence in general, and then I suppose not. Existence is a strange thing, probably even more so for atheists. When you leave this earth, compared with when you came to this earth, what would you have left behind? Probably, the difference you make to someone else's. Hopefully, to inspire someone to be a better version of themselves.

Is this the reason why I'm still hung up? It's laughable how I can't understand myself sometimes. Perhaps I'm just tired and I just want to give up on things that don't feel right.

sailing into uncharted waters, my heart full, boat empty
capricious waters, safe harbor, boat full, my heart empty
too late, i thought i rather, my heart full, boat empty

for my resolutions, i'm on a roll with my monthly instagram worthy posts,
but i've feeling terribly boggled by foreign tax credit for the past couple of days.
after figuring it out (on my own- hey gimme some credit), i think i can come out with a better set of conclusions.

so, summary:

• generally compute based on gross basis unless company is in loss position
• pooling only applies if the foreign country's headline tax rate is at least 15%
• else do it seperately
• compare between 1. foreign tax paid and 2. singapore tax to be paid on the amount of foreign income
• of which the formula for 2. goes: foreign income / total taxable income from all sources x tax payable (before rebate)

there. here's my celebratory post. idk what this blog is becoming even. pardon, it'll past. the next thing i'll be blogging about would probably another game guide, mood boards, a cryptic post or something out of the world random, like this one. till next time :)