10 years later.. what have I achieved?

I guess it’s just one of those days that I feel like reminiscing about the past and this ain’t gonna be a travel post so you can skip it cause it will be more of a self-reflection of my life for the past 10 years. Sometimes I really wonder who bothers to read such posts of mine but damn, the click rates are always more than expected and I wonder what’s so interesting about my boring life..

10 years = 365 days x 10 + 2 (leap years) = 3652 days

2008 + 10 years on..

1. I’ve graduated from university and embarked on my working life.
   Through the years, I have been toying with the ‘idea’ of returning back to studying but I’ve never persisted in any of my ideas. In the earlier days, I wanted to do visual merchandising or finance/investments and when I started going into web and my travel blog, I wanted to learn about visual design and video-editing/filming. There was once I almost applied for the Tour Guide course but the timings didn’t really fit well. #maybetheseareallexcusesConclusion: I’ve not done any post-graduate studies or learnings that are not company-sponsored. Well, I did go for Adobe courses and Excel courses but.. oh wells, I guess I could do a lot more. Let’s see in the next 10 years.
2. I have a driving License
   I have a license for almost 10 years but I’m sad to say that I suck at driving. I’ve resigned to the fact that human cannot be good in everything and driving is just something that ain’t my cup of tea. As a result, I have never driven overseas, though it is something that I’ve always wanted to try. The country that I was supposed to try driving in was either Jeju or Okinawa and I have yet to visit these two places but maybe someday, it will happen. Oh wait, I’ve actually driven overseas before!!! in the MariCar go Kart in Osaka back in March 2017. It was in early Spring and I was freezing despite wearing my jacket inside my mascot costume. Oh wells, I kind of got ‘scolded’ by the staff as I did not pay attention to traffic rules (aka red lights) as I was too concerned with keeping up with the person in front of me. I admit I’m a bad driver.
3. I’m currently in my 3rd Job
   They say that millennials are known to job hop cause they get bored easily but oh wells, I always had a valid reason to leave a job but I’m glad to say that I enjoyed each and every of my job when I’m in it; at least for more than 75% of the time. Longest tenure? 3 years – which kind of ‘impressed’ my ex-boss as people in my department don’t exactly stay on for a long time. How long will I stay this time round? Only time will tell. I won’t really leave a job if I don’t need to (since I get pretty into my job at times, pretty much a semi-workaholic) so..  let’s see.
4. I’ve started travelling alone (without my parents)
   Well, i started traveling with friends when I was 19. It was a trip to Taiwan which was made possible cause I worked for 6 months (to fund for my trip) during the pre-uni break after A Levels. It was a little stretched on my finances because I had to fund both my driving lessons and save up for Taiwan (budget airlines didn’t really exist back then) plus.. splurge on the unnecessaries. I still remember receiving my first full month pay check.. it felt unbelievable. and it even came with CPF contribution (think long term)! It was hard work back then – I took 2 part time jobs + taught tuition. There was an occasion where I worked 12 days in a row! Nevertheless, the ‘hard work’ made my eventual travel taiwan trip even sweeter. It was a 8/9D trip to Taiwan and I think we covered Taichung and Kaohsiung. Back in the days, information was not readily available and I relied heavily on travel guide books (from the public library) and many of which were in traditional chinese (I was incredibly patient back then). Since then, I think I’ve been travelling every year without fail, with and without my family members. I also took my first solo plane flight back in 2012, for my Grad Trip. I took emirates to Dublin via Dubai. I can still remember my excitement back then and I was hoping that I could small talk and become good friends with a random stranger. Sadly, nothing out of the norm happened and that was it. I even went on a day trip in Ireland alone and.. back then were the days where there’s no wifi or data readily available. I only had my iPhone 3GS and canon camera to accompany me. As the tour was full, I had to sit beside someone and we had to small talk awkwardly on the long bus rides. Nevertheless, it was still an exciting experience for my younger self. These days, with the prevelance of smart phones, people don’t usually bother with small talk or human interaction anymore. Can’t complain much since I’m part of the group =/
5. I’ve visited 18 countries
   Asia – Malaysia, Bangkok, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Japan, South Korea
   North America – USA
   Europe – Ireland, UK, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, France
   Africa – South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana
6. I started travel blogging
   Prior to 2008, I do have several blogs (some of which I wished it no longer exist but I can’t bear to ‘delete’ it somehow), and weirdly, there’s one with 9,720 hits. (Why is anyone still reading it?) but the most significant change is that I stopped writing about my daily boring musings, but moved on to writing travelogues (for myself to reflect upon) and to update my friends/ family about my travels. Flyhoneystars somewhat started because I wanted to document my Work and Travel adventure (1st blog post in Dec 2010) in Jenkinson’s South. Even till today, people are still asking me about my experience and it’s pretty amazing to look back on how much I’ve achieved (for people to even ask me for advice). After 2010, it was Summer Exchange in 2011 and.. me being me, I did an insane amount of research for my trip (which resulted in a lot of content) which still remains relevant to the readers today! 2012 was grad trip to Europe and it was a hell lot of planning too because it’s simply too complicated, given that I’m wanted to score in every single early bird promotion/airline promotions etc. As I collected more and more memories during my trips, I also had more and more content (given my extensive research) and I thought that it would be good to document every single thing so I don’t have to verbalize my experience each and every time my friends/family asked me for advice.
7. I have overseas friends
   This might sound really weird but you know back in the days where the internet/social media was not so prevalent, I actually dream of having like an overseas penpal or something. Back in the days, I never figured out how to get that special friend but as I grew older and started traveling, working and going overseas, I began to have friends of various nationalities. Some of which was through my work place, met online due to common interests, from various overseas trips and even from hostels that I have stayed in. With social media, especially Facebook, it is so easy to ‘remain connected’ and I’ll ping them once in a while and meet them when I do visit their country. Every time when I do get a chance to visit them in their country, I will always ask them to bring me to their local hangouts as I’m not one that fancy touristy places. Glad that globalization made this happen, it’s so much easier to connect now. Some of these friends do visit Singapore eventually and I have been hosting them, bring them to my favourite hangout places trying out the cheaper hawker fare which they get really impressed with! Apparently sugarcane juice and satay is a top favourite!
   
   
8. I moved to a paid domain
   After using a free wordpress domain for about 5 years (2010 to 2014), I finally decided to make the switch to a paid domain in mid 2014 in order to earn potential Ad Revenue and perhaps better position myself as a.. travel website/blogger? It wasn’t an easy decision because I couldn’t justify why I should dig into my savings to fund my hobby but oh wells, I’m glad I made the switch. A .com definitely looks better on my namecard (though most emails still get send to my gmail account). It took me quite almost 2 years to ‘break even’ on my domain+hosting fees so in case you’re wondering, this hobby of mine is by no means a profitable or sustainable model. You gotta do it for the passion, not money.
9. I experienced ‘working’ overseas during media trips
   This is the one (or perhaps only) thing that make my friends somewhat in envy. To date, I have been on six media trips (it’s not a lot but I’m super thankful already), and it’s the closest experience I can ever get to ‘working overseas’ since my day job holds no such opportunity. To be honest, not all media trips are luxury experiences where you get first class experience. I’ve been on “average-experience” trips but I’m still super thankful for each and every opportunity cause it’s kind of like building up my credentials for future trips! The only downside of such trips is that it is usually pretty last minute (you’re lucky to be given one month notice) and you’re at the mercy of your day job – on whether your leave gets approved or whether you’re in the middle of some mega big project which you cannot leave behind. This year alone, I had to turn away two trips because they were mainly weekday travels (i do not have spare leave days due to my super long africa vacation) and.. it was a waste. Nevertheless, I believe there’a s right time for the right thing at the right moment so I’ll just wait for my chance 🙂
10. I’ve remained consistent
    Not gonna elaborate on this point because there’s too many to mention. As I grow old(er), I realised it is easier to stick to your beliefs, the one true thing that you believed in years ago and remain loyal, faithful and stick with it. It’s like me and apple (iPhone), I don’t think I will ever get to move out of it.

[Random Findings of my Astrology Analysis I got off a Random Website] To be reviewed in n years time.

You strive to organize the components of your daily life. While external disorders do not affect you, everything related to your personality and your environment must be tidy. You have a perfectionist but anxious nature, exceedingly meticulous: you enjoy discussing details, analyzing and criticizing. Your concern to keep your environment under your control requires modesty and distance. However, it is impossible to mention your sign without shedding away a wrong, although generally accepted idea: no, Virgo is not doomed to the lowest steps’ eternal servitudes! She is not the society’s reject who works in the last office at the dead end of the corridor. Virgo is aware of her limits and she prefers to stick to what she masters rather than to venture into hazardous places. Her capacity to keep her small universe under control constitutes a major asset, an extraordinary drive for growth. As one focuses on what one excels in, one can go a long, a very long way… With methods that you probably devised yourself, you clarify, you purify and you work by a process of elimination, up to the point where only the essential remains. You may lack ambition. Never mind! You leave panache and appearances to superficial people and you take up challenges in your unique style: with discretion, restraint and reserve.

Your psychological nature is introverted and cold, totally controlled and phlegmatic, at least regarding the image you project invariably. You seem unemotional and austere. Actually, your secondarity chews over the strategies or responses that you create as a recation to the environment. You are slow but very thoughtful, solid and balanced. You are as curt as you are cold and you put the strength of your character at the service of your huge and long-term ambition. Or you may be detached from the earthly riches and you focus on spiritual values.

Like all the people born under an apparently reserved and tough sign, your inner personality is often charming and gentle, as if the thick armour, forged throughout childhood, had entirely preserved the purity and the warmth of the soul imprisoned within.

With this Ascendant, you come across as serious, cold, disciplined, patient, focused, thoughtful, ambitious, indomitable, cautious, lucid, persistent, provident, steady, introverted, stern, wilful, hard-working, responsible, persevering, honest, realistic, loyal, reserved, resolute, moralistic, quiet, rigorous, attached and reliable. But you may also be curt, withdrawn, calculating, petty, cruel, unpleasant, ruthless, selfish, dull, rigid, slow or sceptical.

Like the majority of Earth signs, you are efficient, concrete and not too emotional. What matters to you is what you see: you judge the tree by its fruits. Your ideas keep changing, words disappear, but actions and their consequences are visible and remain. Express your sensitivity, even if it means revealing your vulnerability. Emotions, energy and communication must not be neglected; concrete action is meaningless if it is not justified by your heart, your intellect or your enthusiasm.

Cheers for communication and mobility! The predominance of Air signs in your chart favours and amplifies your taste for relations and for all kinds of short trips, whether real (travels) or symbolic (new ideas, mind speculations). You gain in flexibility and adaptability what you lose in self-assertion or in pragmatism.

Your natal chart shows a lack of the Water element, with only 4.7% instead of the average 25%. Whether you are aware of it or not, affective values bring about problems, for you or your close friends. In general, a lack of Water does not necessarily mean that you are unable to love as much as others do. However, you may find it difficult to express the deepness of your heart and of your feelings. In the best cases, you come to terms with it, you adjust, you manage to show more affection or, why not, you pretend to be really affected! In the worst cases, you get into the terrible habit of repressing these essential values and you tend to forget that they are the basis of the richest and strongest bonds between human beings.