Lately, it seems like life has been constantly pointing me towards the path I've been dreaming of — one I'm now so close to, but have diverted away from.
A long time ago, we bonded over our dreams and our thirst to succeed. Now, the colleagues-turned-friends I used share my dreams with have since all moved on to chase their dreams. Some relocated, some started their own business, some freelancing while travelling. And as always, I was plurge with a palpable sense of guilt amid our conversations.
They walked the talk — a lot of them sacrificed something close to their hearts for their ambitions, the most common being time with their family and love. Meeting up with my Taiwanese friends always reminded me of how brave they are, how they never let distance, time or money hinder them, and how my cowardice got the better of me.
I wrote, almost two years ago, about giving up my full time job to go back to further studies for a chance to work aboard. Things have largely changed now and while my heart is still someplace else, I made the painful decision to stay. That being said, there will always be a pang of jealousy paired with a lingering question — did I make the right choice — even many years down the road. I don't know for sure, but I hope I did.
A long time ago, we bonded over our dreams and our thirst to succeed. Now, the colleagues-turned-friends I used share my dreams with have since all moved on to chase their dreams. Some relocated, some started their own business, some freelancing while travelling. And as always, I was plurge with a palpable sense of guilt amid our conversations.
They walked the talk — a lot of them sacrificed something close to their hearts for their ambitions, the most common being time with their family and love. Meeting up with my Taiwanese friends always reminded me of how brave they are, how they never let distance, time or money hinder them, and how my cowardice got the better of me.
I wrote, almost two years ago, about giving up my full time job to go back to further studies for a chance to work aboard. Things have largely changed now and while my heart is still someplace else, I made the painful decision to stay. That being said, there will always be a pang of jealousy paired with a lingering question — did I make the right choice — even many years down the road. I don't know for sure, but I hope I did.
London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Jubilee Bridge, budget dinner (London Europe Day 1.2) | April 2018
England October 23, 2018
I arrived at London city via London Bridge subway station and was immediately thankful that I made London my first stop due to several reasons. One, the signs are all in English. Two, because I could speak English, strangers didn't shy away when I needed to ask for directions (although I had to attempt to hide my Singaporean accent). Three, London is a relatively safe city — I could stop every now and then to check if I was heading in the correct direction while dragging my luggage around without worrying about pickpockets every step I take.
Cheryl had arrived from Luton Airport a few hours prior and we agreed to meet at our hostel, Destinations at Roses & Crown London, which was a short ten-minute walk away from London Bridge subway station. After checking in, I quickly put on make up (Cheryl already had hers on since her flight from Warsaw to London was only three hours) and we headed out.
Walked to London Bridge — a comfortable 15-20 minutes away — and I was taken aback by how run down it was. Everyone who has been to London told me not to expect too much from London Bridge so I went there with no expectations but even then, London Bridge was underwhelming.
Can't miss any photo opportunity though. #tourist
Further down was Tower Bridge, which looked a tad more inspiring than London Bridge. Regrettably, we neither saw Tower Bridge lift up (due to poor planning) nor walked on Tower Bridge (I confused it with Tower Bridge Exhibition and thought visitors needed to pay to walk on Tower Bridge).
Here's some quick info on Tower Bridge so you don't commit the same mistakes:
Cheryl had arrived from Luton Airport a few hours prior and we agreed to meet at our hostel, Destinations at Roses & Crown London, which was a short ten-minute walk away from London Bridge subway station. After checking in, I quickly put on make up (Cheryl already had hers on since her flight from Warsaw to London was only three hours) and we headed out.
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| Millennium Bridge and St Paul's Cathedral |
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| Vintners’ Court and Southwark Bridge over River Thames |
Walked to London Bridge — a comfortable 15-20 minutes away — and I was taken aback by how run down it was. Everyone who has been to London told me not to expect too much from London Bridge so I went there with no expectations but even then, London Bridge was underwhelming.
Can't miss any photo opportunity though. #tourist
London was chilly when I was there in April although the week before it hit a toasty 23°C. Luckily, I had London's volatile weather in mind and packed a coat or I would've froze to death as the temperature was 13°C and dipped below 10°C later in the night.
Further down was Tower Bridge, which looked a tad more inspiring than London Bridge. Regrettably, we neither saw Tower Bridge lift up (due to poor planning) nor walked on Tower Bridge (I confused it with Tower Bridge Exhibition and thought visitors needed to pay to walk on Tower Bridge).
Here's some quick info on Tower Bridge so you don't commit the same mistakes:
- It is FREE to walk on Tower Bridge
- Tower Bridge lifts up 2-3 times a day, and Tower Bridge's lift schedule can be found on http://www.towerbridge.org.uk/lift-times/
- Tower Bridge Exhibition costs £9.80 for adults, £4.20 for children up to 15-year-old; £6.80 for students and seniors. There are packages as well — all of which can be purchased onsite or on Tower Bridge's website
I recently travelled to Japan with my boyfriend for the first time and, like any other self-respecting millennial, data was one of the first things we settled. For the longest time, we wavered between a wifi device and SIM card, and we eventually settled for a wifi device.
Let’s do a quick comparison.
SIM card
⭕️ You don’t have to charge an additional device
⭕️ Don’t need to bring a device around
⭕️ You can seperate from your travel partner
❌ You might lose your own SIM card, especially with the size of SIM card these days (happened to me in Europe)
❌ You can’t receive OTP should you choose to purchase something online
❌ You can’t share data with someone else
Wifi device
⭕️ Can leave your phone on airplane mode to save battery
⭕️ Can receive OTP overseas
⭕️ Can be really cheap if a lot of you are sharing
❌ Depending on coverage, you might lose connection if your travel partner and you gets seperated
❌ Might be bulky to bring around
❌ Need to charge an extra device
Native offered me their wifi device, and I was super glad I gave wifi devices another shot because Native’s wifi device addressed all my concerns!
Previously, when I travelled with a wifi device rented from a famed company, I had to charge the device up to twice a day. Pretty inconvenient I’d say, as I had to make sure my portable charger had enough power to charge both my phone and the wifi device. Not to mention the downtime when the wifi device got shut off when I was trying navigate around... *shudders*
Battery life is extremely important for me because I often take overnight buses when I travel, which means I don’t get to charge my devices. Thankfully, I faced no such issue with Native. In fact, Native’s wifi device worked so well that it still had one bar of battery after not charging it for TWO days. That really blew me away cos even my phone and camera doesn’t last that long!
All my worries about coverage were unfounded too — even when my boyfriend and I lost each other in a crowded shopping area, we still had wifi connection and could easily find our way back to each other.
What surprised me most was that Native’s wifi device had coverage even in mountainous areas! I also loved that Native’s wifi device was slim and take up little space, which meant I could easily slot into the back pocket of my jeans or tiny backpack.
Overall, I was very impressed by Native’s wifi device and would definitely recommend any traveller to rent their wifi device.
Other than wifi devices, Native also has a myraid of travel activities from around the world. Quote my promo code, pekyj3, for additional $3 off!
Download the Native app now at https://linktr.ee/wegonative or follow them on
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"He died." I never wanted to say these words but they flowed out as if nothing happened. As if his life didn't mean a thing. I was trying to numb myself for it; I've never been to a funeral prior to this, I didn't understand the procedures, much less what to feel.
To be fair, I had enough preparation. I lost him to old age — it was evident from his last days. The moment his health deteriorated in Singapore, we braced ourselves for the worse. And when he choose to return to his home, Mommy made frequent trips to Malaysia, hoping to be there for him every second she could while he was alive. Eventually, he passed away peacefully in his sleep.
Death itself is painful. Death is the loss of someone, forever. Death, to me, represents regrets of the living because every mourning person laments that s/he should have spent more time while s/he could. Every single funeral, every damn time.
To be fair, I had enough preparation. I lost him to old age — it was evident from his last days. The moment his health deteriorated in Singapore, we braced ourselves for the worse. And when he choose to return to his home, Mommy made frequent trips to Malaysia, hoping to be there for him every second she could while he was alive. Eventually, he passed away peacefully in his sleep.
Death itself is painful. Death is the loss of someone, forever. Death, to me, represents regrets of the living because every mourning person laments that s/he should have spent more time while s/he could. Every single funeral, every damn time.
