11 more days until I swim in the Dead Sea!

Anna!

I finally got the iphone 4s in white!! Yay! Now we can forever relay msgs back and forth!

Anyway, NEXT Friday will be half term and I will be off to Jordan for a week! I can't wait! I managed to convince Lauren to come with me. It didn't take a lot of effort because she had always wanted to see that part of the world too. Tonight she came over and I was craving Chinese so I made beef stir fry in black bean sauce and we had a good catch up sesh and started planning for accommodation etc. I am really excited that I have someone to explore and experience Jordan with :D

Things I cannot wait to do:
See PETRA. Oh yeah another 'new' Wonder of the World crossed off!

...And float in the Dead Sea! I've always wanted to do this! Will deliberately bring a book for this occasion :P

Anyway, this Saturday Lauren and I plan to have a big night out. Last week was stressful and this week will be stressful too. I will be observed by senior management in one of my lessons but not sure which one. It will be like a surprise- nerve wrecking stuff!

I have been good and haven't gone out the last two weekends. It's just been too cold. Probably not a good idea anyway to go out since I am so vulnerable to the cold.. ARGH! But this weekend I think I will need it.

Well some interesting material for the blog. I thought I'll tell you that I met up with a guy from internet dating website this morning for the second time. He's Scottish and he's a university lecturer/researcher and we had a nice coffee in the morning and chatted for an hour or so. I'm suppose to meet another guy on Friday night but he seemed a little too showy. He runs his own consultancy firm and his profile pic features him and his beemer. I know I shouldn't judge until I meet him I suppose, but it was a put off.

Anyway, hope that goss makes up for my lack of blogging!

Hope you have a good morning! Off to bed now, it's almost 1030pm and usual wake at 600am for work tomorrow. Night :)

Australia Day 2012

Hey Chia!

Thanks for your advice about travelling and stuff. (A shout out to Mouse too!)

Your post has given me something to think about, and the encouragement is definitely helping!

I am SO HAPPY that you received the photobook when you did! I was hoping that it didn't take too long for it to get to you. I hope it will make you smile when you need a little pick me up! I know that it definitely makes me smile when I look at it! That page that covers our night in Ibiza was so fun to do up. I just kept giggling to myself in delight as our photos are so funny, and there are SO many of them. Ah, what cheap Spanish wine, happy music and a camera can do! Such cheap entertainment! =P

Anyways....as you know, today is Australia Day.

It is so weird having a public holiday in the middle of the week. Going to work tomorrow is just going to feel off.

The past 2 weeks have finally brought us the summer that Perthians are used to. For a while, I thought we would be stuck with a warmish, humid summer. But no, I was wrong.

Kev and I at the beach for a late Friday arvo swim last week

Anyways, today was HOT. Hot, hot hot! The hottest point of the day was around 2pm and the heat reached 41.9 degrees Celsius.

We were given the heads up all week about this, so Kev and I decided to make our snorkeling trip to Point Perron an early one to avoid the extreme UV and to avoid the heat. We ended up having Shaz and Chinny join us for the quick day trip too!

The water was amazing. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

When I mean amazing, I mean that as soon as we got into the water, I hardly shivered or complained of being cold. I was just in cool, blue, fresh paradise. We had some currents, which posed a bit of a challenge swimming around and seeing things. Visibility was also not ideal. However, after looking hard and swimming around for a bit, I was able to get some footage of some fishes!

A school of fish:

The 3 fishes that made my snorkeling trip today:

We snorkeled for about one and a half hours until we got out. The weather was well and truly on its way to getting unbearable, so we all quickly got out of the sun. Shaz and Chins returned to Perth, and Kev and I went to find lunch. But we didn't stay out for long, we too also wanted to return back to Perth to get some heat relief.

Strangely enough, around 6pm it started raining heavily with thunder and lightning! The weather has definitely cooled down, but when opened my window, it smelt like Indonesia. You know, that thick, humid, hot smell.

I hope I can get some sleep in this heat tonight!

My first photobook!!

Hi Anna!

Embarrassing! I think taking these photos were a lot more fun than actually going out.

Loved foraging through the markets with you :D

I can't believe WE DID LA TOMATINA!!! One day my children will be telling their friends what a cool mum they have lol!

This has been the background of my lappy for some time now :D

For some strange reason I KNEW what it would be once I got a slip in the post stating that I had something to pick up from the post office when I got home this evening. Lucky for me the post office was opened until 8pm. I dropped off my things and went out again otherwise I'd have to wait until Saturday to pick it up.

THANK YOU for your thoughtful gift. I am blown away by how much thought you put into it! I LOVE IT! THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!! I have been meaning for ages to get some photos developed but I haven't had time even though literally downstairs there is a photo shop! I miss our adventures in Spain immensely!

I feel like your lover or something like that to be given something so sweet and thoughtful. Maybe I won't need to ever have a boyfriend since I have you! I'm going to thumb through it every night as my bedtime book. 

Happy Australia Day tomorrow!!

The turning point

Dear Anna,

I would simply like to say to you, to skip the house and go travelling. I cannot encourage you or anyone enough. Be prepared because there will be some tough times such as feeling alone, worried about your parents or Kev.  I haven't seen my older brother for 3 years and tonight is the eve of Chinese New Year and here I am across the world with the time difference resulting in having cake for breakfast and later I think a quiet dinner of home cooked pumpkin soup. How far away from tradition can I get? Times like these it's hard not to feel sad but I have to remind myself that I am living my life here and I have to go on with each day and not look back.

  I have kept diaries from when I made the decision to move out of Perth and to East Kalimantan. Little did I know that it would be the kickstart to something I didn't realise inside of me- my desire for travels and adventure.  The photos I've accumulated and the stories that have been written in my diary remind me how lucky I am. When I read my old entries, I smile, I laugh and I cry but I wouldn't want to change any of it. When I say go travelling, things will be equally as hard regardless to if you decide not to go travelling/ buy a house/ settle down. They will just be different types of 'downs' and 'worries'. Maybe you'll discover that it's what you want. Or maybe it isn't what you want. You'll just have to take the chance, make a decision and go with it. If you decide it's not what you want. it's never too late to go back and try what you never did.

I realised the other day that the extra long hours that I'm doing in London and the pay I get, I could be earning a lot more as a waitress. All that I earn is scraped up and used for travelling and nothing is saved. I'm paying ridiculous amounts on rent and I certainly am not in the situation to buy a house back home. Usually when I'm tired/hungover/homesick I worry if I'll ever get to see my aunty who is battling breast cancer or my grandmother who has Alzheimers. I worry that something might happen to my family while I'm away. I worry that I won't get the chance to spend more time with my parents while they're still in good health. I have lost someone special and I worry that I might not ever get over it 100%. I worry that I might never find that someone special again.  My parents never fail to nag me over the phone about settling down. They use to have strict standards about who I could date/marry but now it's gone to the point where anyone would be fine. I agree with them, that it IS nice to have someone special, it IS nice to come back home to someone, it IS nice to have children, it IS nice to have your own home, it IS nice to have that security, and heck I envy people who have that. I know that I want all of that one day, but not right now.
I've been to so many cities and done so many incredible things and met amazing people that I've kept in touch and seen again in other parts of the world. I've heard their stories and they're the ones that have inspired me to keep going and travelling. Think about all those random funny stories I've told you about my wild nights out and the people that I've kept in touch and met again. I've been lost and wandered in cities, sometimes in safe neighbourhoods and sometimes not, and scared when it's dark and I can't speak the language. I've done incredibly stupid things like ridden drunk on the back of a stranger's motorbike and without a helmet and out of bad luck swaying at the back of a taxi clinging onto dear life because of the lunatic driver behind the wheel. I've tried and stuffed myself silly with different types of foods. I've experienced some interesting culture customs and fallen in love with places that I didn't think I would. I've seen scenery that have made me squeal in delight but also taken my breath away.

Once you get out of Perth you will meet all these like minded travellers out for adventure and they are the ones that will encourage you to travel because they've done it themselves. Currently you are stuck in Perth and most of your friends probably haven't done it and are in the house/car/marriage/children stage. I have no doubt that if I do go back to Perth right now, that is the exact thing I would be concerned about because everyone else is doing it. I'm not saying that they are doing it all wrong. Some people are doing it because that is what they want out of life and if they're happy then so be it. Maybe they plan to go travelling with their family and partner rather than themselves later on in life. Maybe they aren't wanderlusts like you and I? Whatever the reason, everyone is different and you have to think about what YOU want to do.

Life should be enjoyed and not taken too seriously. I know how much you love to travel and I think you need to experience more of that. Give yourself the chance to travel by yourself, maybe a short week away somewhere and then you'll slowly gather the confidence, discover what you want and begin making your own decisions. Listen to your heart :)

I hope I've helped...Good luck!

To Buy a House or To Buy Me Happiness?

Hey Chia

The Dilemma 

This is the question that pops into my head every single day. Do I use my savings to buy my first place or should I use my savings to buy me the happiness that I will get from life experiences?

It's tearing me a part. It's making me stagnant. I just can't move forward unless I have made this decision in my mind and am 100% ok with it. People around me have been passively sending messages that I should buy a place.

I am 26 years old, I have a steady income, so I should - right?

I'd say, that ultimately, my dream is to get married to a guy who is crazy for me, and that I am crazy for too, buy a house that is near to the beach, have kids and raise them, and grow old happy.

However, before all that I want to travel. I want to see what is out of Perth and visit new places, meet new people, learn about new cultures and history and just a different way of life. I would be happy with a year off to do just that.

It's just, well, everything around me is telling me no.

Also, a part of me is telling me I ought to start settling. If I want my ultimate dream of family and a house near the beach then I really should focusing on that now. I don't want to only start settling down too late in my life time. I don't want to have kids when I am older as that burdens my kids of having to worry about elderly parents when they are in their 20s, when they should be enjoying their lives.

My parents want me to buy a place, and I discuss it with them. But when I am honest and tell them that I want to travel first, they just go quiet and look away.

Another thing that is on my mind is Kev. We have talked about the future and stuff, but though Kev wants to travel, he is bound by his own house obligations and so he can't come with me for part of my travels.

Why don't I want to go alone? Well, I am in a relationship, with someone who I want to share my happiness and life experiences with, so that we grow together and not apart.

Things that have countered my own self doubt, fears and questions about travelling, instead of the 'responsible' and 'safe' path of purchasing a house have been my frank discussions with some work mates of mine. All of them have said 'travel before you get a mortgage,' 'travel before you have children,' and I do not disagree with them.

Is 26 still young? Or have I missed the boat?

Also articles have helped me think about my predicament:

http://www.landingstanding.com/forget-buying-a-house-try-buying-happiness/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090207150518.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100414130832.htm
http://lukesnedden.com/fhb/?p=323

Pros to buying a house

• I'll have a place that is mine, that I can go to if things get tough
• I'm moving on in life, and can start looking for a house with Kev
• I will have security in the future (good financial choices etc)
• I am young, so I can work hard to pay off the mortgage

Cons to buying a house

• I won't be able to escape and travel the way I want to do at least once in my life (for an extended period)
• Be Perth bound without even experiencing things out there
• Will always have a niggling feeling that 'I should have done it'
• Be at work and be dreaming of travelling  to 'get it out of the way'

Pros to travelling

• Learning new languages, cultures and places
• Meeting new people
• Testing personal limits
• Happiness, happiness, happiness!
• Memories that will keep me bubbly through the dark times'
• Experiences that I can pass down to my children when they have questions about life and the world

Cons to travelling

• Fall behind in career, may not get a job when I get back
• May be a little lost
• No savings and will need to start from scratch
• Worrying about my parents
• Not having Kev with me
• Creating memories and experiences without Kev and returning too different from each other.

Just my thoughts.

YAY Photo!

Morning Chia!

YAY! It's so great to see you! And so great to hear from you!

I hope you're feeling better! Getting into the daily routine, commitments to jobs etc can be a bit depressing at times, but that's why we are always looking for the small things in life that make us happy right?! =D

I loveeeee that photo of you! And I am so jealous that you got to walk to Neuschwanstein castle in winter! Just to make myself feel closer to you... here's a pic of me walking to the castle in Autumn.

It's not as magical as it must have been in winter, but I like to think that we have walked the same path =)

Aw!!! One week of holidays! Chinese New Year! OOOOh  come to Perth! =) Unless there is another place you would want to visit? Ah... to be able to live your life! I am so glad I get to live vicariously through you.

This week I've been trying to set a healthy routine that is sustainable. I realised that if I don't run or do some intense cardio I get really emotional/cranky/sad. And since I've continued to wake up at 5.30am each morning out of habit, I've been making myself do a short 2.5km run, especially since I've finally got my new ASICS Kayano shoes.

Here are my shoes after this morning's run:

It was so muggy and hot so I was struggling. However, my shoes are really comfortable! I am so lucky that I live so close to the beach. I just step outside, and in less than a minute, I am running beside the ocean and I love it. I love smelling the sea air, and the cool breeze as I run. It's so refreshing, and so different to the concrete jungle that I see every day at work.

When I start struggling with the run, I just look out into the ocean and try to see things or imagine things. It's such a great therapeutic thing to do when life is so hectic. It's like my own time. I get to think of the things that are stressing me out/upsetting me and just sort my ideas out. I find that running lets you expel all that stressful/negative feelings and replace it with happy, fresh feelings!

Not to mention, once I've completed a run I feel so good and I feel like I've accomplished something even before the day has started!


OH! And you wanna know what was one of the coolest things that happened to me on my Wednesday morning run this week? On my route home, I was running up this hill and was struggling. I just pushed through the pain and focused on the path, when all of a sudden I saw two brown paws running next to my feet. I turned to my right to see this happy brown dog looking at me while he was running along side me!

It was so sweet! and I was so happy that he kept up with me. He would drop back for a few seconds and when I think he had run somewhere else, I would see his paws slowly catch up to my feet. His owner was running behind me, so I guess the happy dog was just making sure his owner was still there!

It made me really want a medium sized/large sized happy dog that I can run with. It was nice to have someone there who is even more happier and excited that your running. It's good motivation when your struggling.


Anyways, I better go have breakfast. Got a busy day at work today. =)

Three weeks later

Hi Anna

Three weeks later and I finally can upload one pic for you. The Spanish tan is long gone and all I'm left is my pasty self. I've been caught up with work/ sick with the flu/ hungover/ miserable to blog.But here is a photo that makes me smile.

On this day was the first time I saw proper snow!!! I made HW take plenty of photos for me, and this one is the only one where I look half decent :( Oh we had so much fun I miss it so much. This was taken on the way to see Neuschwanstein Castle.

3 more weeks and there is a 1 week break! Where should I go? So tempted to book a flight home.Eurgh.. Chinese New Year on Monday too :( I MISS FAMILY! :(