Nophee168

14 Ways to Earn Extra Income in Singapore

2025-01-04T12:49:00.008+08:00

Here are some suggestions on how to earn extra income in Singapore. Some may not work for you, so do your own research. Ensure you're not violating any regulations.

(Note: I'm not a financial advisor, this is just my personal opinion)

Active Income

Freelancing or Consulting
- Offer professional services in high-demand areas such as IT, finance, marketing, or legal consulting.
- Use platforms like Upwork or LinkedIn to find clients.
Side Hustles
- Start tutoring in areas like mathematics, coding, or languages.
- Provide specialized services such as photography, graphic design, or fitness coaching.
Gig Economy
- Join platforms like Grab, Foodpanda, or Gojek for ride-hailing or delivery services.
- Offer home-based services like pet-sitting, cleaning, or repairs.
- Do surveys on your free time.

Business Ventures

E-commerce
- Launch a small online business on platforms like Shopee, Lazada, or your website.
- Focus on trending products, dropshipping, or reselling sought-after goods.
Digital Products
- Create and sell e-books, online courses, or stock photos.
- Leverage marketplaces like Udemy or Etsy for additional exposure.
Franchise Opportunities
- Invest in low-cost franchise businesses like bubble tea, mini-marts, or fitness centers.
- Ensure it suits Singapore's market demand.

Investments

Stock Market or ETFs
- Invest in blue-chip stocks, REITs, or ETFs with potential for growth and dividends.
Real Estate
- Consider buying investment property (if you have extra money).
Cryptocurrency or NFTs
- Trade or invest in digital assets if you're knowledgeable about the risks and trends.

Passive Income

Rental Income
- Sublet an extra room or invest in rental properties if feasible.
Dividend Income
- Build a portfolio of high-yield dividend stocks to generate steady cash flow.
High Interest Savings Account
- Put your money at high interest savings account, like DBS Multiplier or OCBC 360 account.

Creative Options

Content Creation
- Monetize YouTube, TikTok, or blogging with ads, sponsorships, or merchandise.
Crowdfunding or Selling Ideas
- Pitch unique concepts or solutions to potential investors via platforms like Kickstarter.

Action Plan

Assess Resources: Identify your time, skills, and available capital.
Diversify Efforts: Combine active income streams (freelancing, business) with passive ones (investments).
Set Goals and Monitor Progress: Track earnings to ensure you're on track to reach your target.
Leverage Tax Efficiency: Utilize Singapore's low tax environment to maximize savings.

My Proudest 2024 Moment

2024-12-29T00:00:00.003+08:00

Do you know how intimidating the driving license training can be? I registered myself for driving training to get my license and I didn't know it took so much effort (in time and mentally) to finally complete it.

I started the training since early last year but it got paused in the middle of the process due to travelling. It's definitely not smooth process, a lot of hiccups here and there, there's failure in my practical test and break down in one of my practical lessons (so embarrassing).

Firstly, there are a lot of training sessions and tests to take just before you even touch the steering wheel and learn in practical lessons. Here is the simplified chart (from Bukit Batok Driving Center's website) on what to expect.

Once you've registered, be prepared mentally and physically (also financially) to go through each required training sessions and tests. Make sure you prepare for each test, don't take it for granted, like me (and failed few times). Also, invest on the preparation guide book and try all the practice tests. They really help.

Now that you've past the written tests and got your e-PDL, you'll face another challenge, practical lessons and its session bookings. It's so hard to just get the session slots booked so once you're eligible, try to book them all 18 lessons (minimum number of practical sessions required) one shot.

It's been so hard for me to attend the practical lessons I dragged myself to it because I had traffic accident trauma when I was in secondary school. I was so scared to drive on the road, even until now.

But nonetheless, I finally got my driving license after all the hard work and effort I put in, which make it the proudest moment this year. Lesson learned: If you got overwhelmed with your goal, just try to make one step at a time. By the time you realized, you've gone so far (or you've reached) towards your goal. Just be brave and do it! Trust yourself and the process :)

2024 in Review

2024-12-23T21:02:00.003+08:00

Another awesome year is going to end soon. So I guess it's time for me to do some kind of review what I have achieved or gained this year so far and what are still pending.

Vision Board Does Work (to some extend)

I got to know about manifesting things via vision board end of last year so I thought I gave it a try. Here is my vision board that I put up as my monitor's background.

So, what are the things that I managed to achieve from this vision board?

1. New car

Me and my partner finally got our first car, Tesla. And, we love it. Even my girl love it too (because she can watch her cartoons on the screen at the passenger seats)

2. Promotion

I'm grateful that my boss supported me for promotion this year when it's getting difficult overal at my organization to get advancement.

3. Wealth

Well, it's not that I gained significant amount of wealth or anything this year. But, I started to focus more on investment and I will continue to do so while trying to reduce my consumerism habit.

Additional achievement worth mentioning: I got my driving license!

After attending all the necessary classes and tests, I finally got my driving license this year. I'm so happy although I still haven't gotten guts to drive in busier road. But, I'll get there!

What are pending?

1. New Property

I admit this is way too ambitious for me this year and I decided to put this goal on hold at least for few more years.

2. Europe Trip

Due to multiple important projects happened at the same time this year, I couldn't take long time off until we've entered December. And by the time I can take long time off, everything is either expensive or sold out already. So, I have no choice to postpone this to another time, hopefully next year.

Overall, this year has been quite good year for me. I'm satisfied with my achievements this year and grateful for my family, friends and colleagues for their supports. I promise I will continue to grow (except physically haha) and be the better version of myself.

Experience 4-course Lunch at Michelin Restaurant, Saint Pierre, One Fullerton

2023-08-12T12:05:00.005+08:00

I celebrated my husband's birthday last weekend and I decided to go to Michelin's restaurant - Saint Pierre, One Fullerton. We booked early for lunch so it was only us when we arrived. But it has best view to Marina Bay (and MBS).

We had 4-course lunch and below is the reference menu.

And below are the photos of the food. Look at all these delicious and beautifully presented meal!

Can you believe that this is tomato jelly?

This Hokkaido crab was so good!

According to my husband, this is the best beef he had so far.

And, so many desserts for us! I was already full at this point, but who can reject dessert, right?

Look how cute these guys are!

We really enjoyed the food and the experience in this restaurant. We had some cheese tasting and some chocolate as well.

Address: 1 Fullerton Road, #02-02B, One Fullerton, 049213

Birthday Treats You Can Get In Singapore (2022 Edition)

2022-10-01T21:26:00.003+08:00

Having birthday here in Singapore is an exciting period. There are a lot of discounts or freebies given at merchants or as membership benefit.

Here are some of the treats I actually got in my mailbox on first day of the birthday month:

1. McDonalds - Free Chicken McNuggets (20 pcs)

with minimum spend of $12 in-store or on McDelivery (excluding delivery charge). Valid until last of the birthday month.

2. Mr. Coconut - Free 5 nuts and birthday bonus

You can redeem one of these birthday bonuses on any days of your birthday month: any drink of your choice or Coconut Ice-Cream with 3 toppings or Coconut Yoghurt

3. The FaceShop - Discounts and points

EcoBeauty Member: 10% discount and earn 2 x "Seed" points
EcoBeauty VIP: $30 Gift Voucher or 20% discount and earn 4 x "Seed" points

Redemption is within the birthday month. Terms and conditions apply.

4. JapanFoodsHolding Membership - Free item or 10% discount

Free item choices redeemable with min $30 spending at the same time of redemption: tart or panna cotta or puding or
10% discount whole tart preorder

Redemption is within the birthday month. Terms and conditions apply.

5. Swensens - Rebate, 20% discount and free daily sundae vouchers

Enjoy double Rebate$ when you dine in at Swensens
20% birthday cake e-voucher can be found in the app
Daily sundae vouchers within birthday month

6. 4Fingers - Extra points and Free Regular Fries

Earn 1.5 points when you dine-in
Free regular fries

Redemption is within the birthday month.

7. Cathay Pacific - 500 bonus miles

When you spend minimum of US$100 at Cathay Pacific online shopping partners during your birthday month you'll get 500 bonus miles.

8. Starbucks - Free cake with drink purchase

Redeemable via mobile order or pay on the Starbucks Singapore app or inform the barista during birthday month.

9. Watsons - 5 x points and product discounts

Earn 5 x points on 1st transaction made during birthday month in-stores or online
10% off all products if you're 50 years old and above

10. Singapore Airlines KrisShopper - 2 x KrisFlyer Miles

Enjoy 2 x KrisFlyer Miles on your 1st transaction during birthday month on KrisShop.com.

11. Domino's Pizza - Free Lava Cake

Free Chocolate Lava Cake with your 2 for $22 Regular Pizza OR 2 for $33 Large Pizza purchase

12. Singtel - Extra 1GB data

and other discounts from Singtel partners

Side Hustle Singapore: Earn Money Doing Surveys

2022-09-02T23:09:00.005+08:00

If you're interested to earn money during your spare time, you can start by doing surveys. I've been doing this for years now and I want to recommend few below:

1. Rakuten AIP Survey

Rakuten AIP has reliable platform and I rarely encountered issue with the surveys. The points are quite fair and there are mix of short and long surveys. Good thing about Rakuten AIP, they allow point exchange to Paypal and there's tiered additional money given when you exchange more points. As the time I write this post, they give bonus $4.41 for exchanging 1500 points. The point exchange for Paypal is very easy and fast.

Of course, beside Paypal, they have other options to exchange your points like Grab transport vouchers, Dairy Farm Group e-vouchers, and eCapita vouchers.

They have mobile app too but currently only available on Android based mobile phone.

2. Surveyon

I received quite a high number of surveys per week from Surveyon. Most of the surveys are quite long to complete (20-30mins). But you do get more points for that. Surveyon only have one option for you to exchange points, which is cash via Paypal with minimum 20,000 points (for USD 2). Sometimes you may get profiling surveys for smaller points or you can do quickpoll for 1 point.

3. HappyDot.sg

I receive quite decent number of surveys from HappyDot.sg. Most of the surveys length are just fine and you'll be sometimes informed on the results. Points from HappyDot.sg can be exchanged 500 points to either eCapita voucher, Grab transport voucher, Grab food voucher, $10 Dairy Farm Group e-voucher or $10 UniqGift e-voucher. There's option for $5 charity donation too for 250 points.

4. YouGov

YouGov is another survey platform which allow you to exchange your reward points to cash via Paypal. Similar to HappyDot.sg, the number of surveys are decent but not as many as Rakuten AIP or Surveyon. However the reward point exchange options are not a lot. In fact, there are only $25 Paypal or $25 charity for 5000 points exchange.

Let me know if you have other survey platform recommendation!

Birthday Treats You Can Get in Singapore

2020-10-01T10:51:00.002+08:00

One of the good things when you stay in Singapore is to have so many birthday treats or perks from various merchants or shops. You can get either higher discount, additional membership points, additional freebies/food item, etc. What you need to do bring your identification card (as proof) everywhere you go during your birthday month and redeem them at the stores. However, do take note some will require store memberships before redeeming, so please check with the store website or the store staffs for more details.

Here are some of the birthday treats that I'm getting for this year:

Wonderful Singapore: Mask Vending Machine

2020-09-26T22:51:00.001+08:00

During recent COVID-19 pandemic, another thing amaze me here in Singapore. Government has been distributing free reusable masks few times for the past few months to all residents (whoever has IC or FIN) since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Recently, the distribution has been moved to vending machines located at community centers or resident centers. Residents just need to scan their identity cards or type their IC/FIN number manually and the machine will dispense 1 set of mask (2 reusable masks inside). It’s hassle free!

How Life Changes After Covid-19 in Singapore

2020-09-05T10:51:00.003+08:00

Since the Covid-19 outbreak all around the world this year, we have experienced changes in life. The way we work and the way we do our daily routines have changed. Here are changes I noticed here in Singapore:

Work from home is a norm

Most companies are still doing full “work from home“ working style. After the lockdown period (we called it Circuit Breaker period), some companies do rotation among employees to go back office on alternative days. It’s predicted that this style will stay until end of 2020.

Self distancing & social gathering limitations

People are more self-concious in distancing themselves in public area. In restaurants, people are limited to maximum of 5 pax at one table. No visitor of more than 5 pax too at a time. And this is enforced by law. Wedding and funeral are limited as well.

No contact delivery

Many food and grocery delivery companies encourage “no contact delivery”. That means, the delivery guy will either hang your food at the door or put your groceries outside the door, ring your door bell and leave.

Virtual meetings

More and more online/virtual meetings or webinars now instead of meeting physically. Although the infection rate here in Singapore is considered low, people are still scared to attend big events and prefer attending it online at their home.

Mask is a must

It against law here if you’re out without wearing mask. Government has provided masks to Singapore residents multiple times since Circuit Breaker period. So no excuse for not wearing (except when you’re having your meal, of course)

How To Survive COVID-19 Pandemic

2020-03-19T11:07:00.001+08:00

It's been a while now that COVID-19 has spread all around the world. WHO declared COVID-19 as global pandemic on 11 March 2020 and we need to more seriously take care of ourselves and our family members.

Many countries have implemented lockdown to limit any incoming foreigners that may expose to higher infection in the country. And, due to this news, people are panic buying essential stuffs & groceries at local supermarkets.

Wherever you're in the world, let's together survive this pandemic. Here are summary of how to survive the COVID-19 pandemic:

1. Stay away from crowded place / cancel any big gatherings
As the COVID-19 has been reported to be very contagious even when there's no symptom shown, it's best to stay away from crowded place or cancel any big gatherings.

2. Work from home if you can
For those that always travel by public transportation, there's higher risk of infection as you touch the handrails etc. If you must to go to work or take public transportation, follow other suggestions below.

3. Wash your hands frequently with soap
Yes, this is important as there's study shows washing hand frequently with soap is proven to be the most effective way to prevent the infection.

4. Avoid sharing utensils with others
For those who love hotpot/shabu shabu with friends, please be more cautious. As much as possible use serving utensils only for serving and your personal utensils for eating. Try to avoid sharing utensils also when you're at home.

5. Social distancing
Recently government has suggested to do social distancing. What does it mean? It means to keep your distance around 1 meter away from other people as much as possible.

6. Postpone any unnecessary overseas travel
As this is global pandemic, you never know how bad the situation overseas. So it's best to just stay at your residential country for the next few months until the pandemic situation has gotten better.

7. Wear mask when you go out (especially when you're not feeling well)
If you have mask, please wear it to protect yourself and other people, especially when you're not feeling well.

8. Bring hand sanitizer everywhere you go
Sometimes it's inevitable to touch something when you're in public. So it's good to have hand sanitizer ready everywhere you go to kill all the germs that may have landed onto your hands.

9. Avoid touching your face as much as possible
This is kinda hard for me, but I try to be more cautious now.

10. Boost your immune system
Drink a lot of fluid, take vitamin C if you have it and rest well.

Snorkeling in Ice Water at Iceland

2019-03-23T17:40:00.001+08:00

If you're thinking this is crazy idea, like I did, I tell you that I changed my mind. Snorkeling in ice water in Iceland is one of the best activity to do and you may want to put it in your bucket list.

There's only 1 place you can do this in Iceland, it's at Silfra, Þingvellir National Park. Silfra has one of the freshest water in the world so you can drink some when you do your snorkeling. The water temperature is around 2-3 degrees celcius all year around. What's unique about this snorkeling is you'll be snorkeling in dry suit between Europe and North America tectonic plate for around 20-40 minutes. And the view is stunning.

Please take note that you need to know basic swimming and comfortable in water. Although the dry suit will keep you afloat and there's no heavy stream, it's best if you know how to move forward in water. Sometimes the guide will help you but there's no guarantee you can always stick to him/her.

How to go there

You can either drive yourself to the meeting point at National Park or get picked up by the tour agency. There are many tours provided on the internet. You can research and see what people's review before you purchase your package. Our package was around SGD236/pax, covers the entrance ticket to the National Park and pick up. It's quite expensive but it's worth it. Do check what are included in your package. Our package included free photos, which some tours don't provided. It's available for 2 timings: morning and afternoon.

What to bring

You'll be wearing dry suit which will keep your body warm, dry and floating on the water. But you'll still need to wear multiple layers of clothes or socks inside your dry suit. I wore 2 layers of Uniqlo heattech long sleeve blouses, another sweater, 2 layers Uniqlo heattech pants, 1 winter pants and 2 layers of socks. I recommend you to stick some heatpad (those you can find at Daiso) too for extra warmth if you're scared of cold, like me. Do take note, your face (the lips part as you'll be wearing the snorkeling mask), maybe your hair (if the dry suit too loose) and your hands will be wet and exposed to cold. You may want to bring small towel with you for wet hair.

Getting Prepared
The dry suit is quite tight so it's a bit difficult to put on. You'll take around 20-30 minutes to put on. Most of the time you need to change in the tour van, so it adds extra time on getting ready. They'll put on rubber band on your neck and arms to make sure the water don't get in. Some people maybe don't feel comfortable with this but once you're in water you maybe will forget about it.

Me and friends in dry suit, ready for snorkeling

Under water photo at Silfra, Iceland

My hands did feel cold when just few minutes went into the water. I read some tips from internet to bring out your hands a while from water when you do so.

After you finish the snorkeling, you'll be given hot chocolate by the tour. It felt so good having the hot chocolate after you went into ice water.

If you have 1 day to spare in Iceland, I recommend you to do the ice water snorkeling at Silfra.

Holiday Inn Resort Batam

2018-10-07T17:34:00.000+08:00

I just had a short vacation recently to a nearby destination from Singapore, Batam. Batam island is part of Indonesia and it's just 1 hour trip by ferry. Most of Singaporeans visit Batam for 1-2 days trip for 3 things: massage, eating cheap seafood, or having A&W rootbeer float/curly fries.

This time I stayed at Holiday Inn Resort, Sekupang. I took ferry boat from Harborfront ferry terminal to Sekupang ferry terminal as the resort provide free shuttle pick up. The trip from Sekupang terminal is around 15 minutes drive to the resort.

Once we arrived, they gave us welcome drink while processing our check-in. The lobby is quite nice and spacious.

This is the view of the main pool. The ambience was quite peaceful that day as not many people were around.

Holiday Inn Resort has multiple buildings surrounding the pool as you can see on the photo above. Our room was in the third building that time. Once the check-in completed, the resort staff lead us to our room.

The room was quite spacious with sink area, dining table, and sofa.

And this is the view from my room.

Overall, it maybe a good place to relax and have peaceful moment. However, if you're looking for a place with more things to do or see, you may feel easily get bored and there are other places that you can consider.

Getting around
The Holiday Inn Resort Batam is located at Sekupang area. It's around 30 minutes driving to Batam Center (where is the city area) or 20 minutes to Nagoya Hill (where you can get massage and shopping too). We took the resort's vehicle which costs Rp130,000/trip to either Batam Center or Nagoya.

Food
Holiday Inn Resort Batam has 3 restaurants in the resort premises: Terrace Cafe (Indonesian/Western food, where our breakfast buffet was), Dragon Inn (Cantonese restaurant) and Akatonbo Teppanyaki, a Japanese tepanyaki restaurant

How to celebrate International Women's Day

2018-03-08T15:28:00.002+08:00

Happy International Women's Day to all strong and inspirational women around the world!

Every year on March 8, the world celebrates all kinds of achievement of women. This also to remind the world on the gender parity, no matter where it is. In the past years, women had been mistreated in many aspects in life. Women were considered 'lower' than men although in fact they can do wonders.

Today I'm lucky to be born in modern era where people start to realize how bias and unfair the treatments between women and men. And, personally, I would like to celebrate this International Women's Day my way.

Here are some ideas on how to celebrate the International Women's Day:

1. Join's women's theme event
Many international and national companies show appreciation by holding women's theme workshop, talk, seminar or networking events. It's a good platform for you to learn from fellow women that have succeed on their own fields and motivate you in your own field. You'll see so many inspirational women out there and you'll be amazed. It's a great networking session too, by the way.

2. Online/offline shopping
Good thing about International Women's Day is, so many shopping promotions both online and offline for women. Grab those rare deals if you've been eyeing it for quite some time.

3. Pamper yourself
Get yourself a good massage or hot bath with a glass of wine (or good book with coffee maybe). Pat yourself at the back for being such an awesome woman.

4. Give yourself a flower
You need a guy to give you flower to remind you what a impressive being? Not necessary, my dear. Get yourself few stalks and enjoy!

If you have any other suggestions, feel free to drop me comments. I would love to hear your opinion ^_^.

London Trip: Places To Visit (Famous Landmarks Version)

2018-01-07T20:56:00.000+08:00

If you only have 3-4 days to spend in London where are the places you need to visit? I'll give you some ideas.

I visited London during winter time around mid December. So you can imagine how cold is that.

1. Borough Market
You can find a lot of fresh produces and snacks there. It's a good place to relax and take a look at what local If you come in the morning, best if you can prepare small change as the seller may not have change yet as they just open their businesses. The market is located near London Bridge station. Take note that on Monday not all stalls are open. You can check the opening time details here.

2. Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is where the United Kingdom royal family stay and also the administrative headquarters. It's opened for visiting during summer but a lot of tourists come other timings to visit the palace as well. Nearest train station: Hyde Park Corner.

The place no 3 - 5 are actually located quite near each other. So you can consider visit them in 1 day. You can take train to London Charing Cross Station and explore the area by foot. You can see the London Eye too from far.

Charing Cross Station London

London Eye

3. Big Ben
This famous landmark has actually an official name, the Victoria Tower. It's located at the Westminster House of Parliament.

4. Westminster House of Parliament
This landmark has amazing design and not a place to miss when you visit London. It's located at the Thames River's bank. Tourists like to go to Westminster Bridge nearby to take picturesque view.

5. Trafalgar Square
This public square is mainly used as social gathering or political demonstration place. It has few beautiful commemorative sculptures. The National Gallery is also here. You can visit when you have time.

Strawberry Cheesecake Mousse (no gelatin) Recipe

2017-12-24T12:42:00.000+08:00

I got this recipe from Pinterest long time ago and made it for one of my friend's birthday. It's easy, no oven required, nice and light, also looks pretty.

I modified the recipe a bit. I used strawberries instead of raspberries and I don't use gelatin on my recipe.

Things to take note:

Don't whip heavy cream in the same mixer that you use to whip cheese cream earlier. You must whip your heavy cream first then the cheese cream if you're using the same mixer. It doesn't work the other way around
I used President brand whip cream with 35.1% fat. I learned that the higher the fat percentage, the better it will hold the shape.
I used 90/100ml dessert cups. This recipe is good for 18 cups or so.

Recipe

Mousse
15 oz (3 1/2 cups) fresh strawberries > i used around 7-8 pcs
1 1/2 cups (355ml) heavy cream/whip cream
12 oz (340 gr) cream cheese, softened
2 1/4 cups (260 gr) powdered sugar, divided
1 tsp vanilla extract
red food coloring (optional) > i used cherry red color

Crust
1 cup (120 gr) graham/digestive cracker crumbs (8 full sheets)
2 Tbsp (26 gr) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (56 gr) unsalted butter, melted

Topping (optional)
3/4 cups (175 ml) heavy cream/whip cream
2 Tbsp (26 gr) granulated sugar
8-10 fresh strawberries
some chocolate pearls
crushed pistachio

[For the crust]
Melt the butter and wait until it cools down. While waiting, put the digestive/graham crackers in plastic bag and mash them. Transfer them into a bowl. Add in the melted butter and sugar. Mix them well. Put around 1.5 tbsp of mixture (or as you wish) to each dessert cup. Tap lightly or shake the cup to even out the mixture inside.

[For the mousse]
Process the strawberries in food processor or mash them in a pan. Strain the puree using a fine mesh to separate out the seeds. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, whip heavy cream using mixer on high speed until soft peaks formed. Add in 1/4 cup powdered sugar and whip until stiff peaks formed. Shake off the excess cream from mixer blades, no need to wash for the next step.

Using mixer blend the cream cheese and 2 cups of powdered sugar until combined. Add in vanilla & red food coloring (optional) and mix. Increase to high speed and whip until light and fluffy. Add in the strawberry puree and combine. You can add in some raw strawberry puree too (from the straining mesh) into the cream.

Transfer the cream into big piping bag and pipe them to the dessert cups.

[For the toping]
Whip the heavy cream with sugar until soft peak formed. Transfer the cream to the piping bag. Cut the strawberries to your desired size.

If you need to transport them to somewhere, I recommend you to use cupcake box to hold them nicely. Unfortunately the box height doesn't match with the cup plus the lid. So I decided to remove the lid and they fit just nice in the box ^_^.

Garuda Indonesia Experience From Singapore to London

2017-09-03T18:55:00.000+08:00

I went for Europe trip last December and it was my longest flight that I ever had. I was terrified that I couldn't cope being inside closed room (I'm a bit claustrophobic) and above air for 14 hours long. But luckily I didn't fly alone and my experience with Garuda Indonesia airline was enjoyable.

Some details of my flight that time:

From: Changi Airport T3, Singapore

To: Heathrow Airport, London, UK

Flight: GA0086

Time: 11AM

The entertainment system was a bit old and slow though. The movie choices was not really updated.

entertainment system

headset

Blanket and pillow were provided for all passenger when on board.

pillow and blanket

I was worried that the seat wouldn't be comfortable and I would get difficulty to sleep. The reclining seat was apparently comfortable, even for my parents, they also felt so. The leg room was also still acceptable. There's foot rest available.

comfortable reclining seat

Every passenger will be given amenities pouch too. Inside there's a pair of thin sock, earplug, and eye mask.

The on board food was not bad.

lunch

dinner

Overall, it was a good flight. I don't remember we had bad turbulence. The food was good, entertainment system can be better, the seat was comfortable and

Book Review: Basic Principles of Classical Ballet

2017-07-24T21:49:00.005+08:00

Hi fellow adult ballet learner,

I would like to share one useful book if you're just start picking up adult ballet, Basic Principles of Classical Ballet by Agrippina Vaganova. Maybe you heard of Vaganova ballet school in Russia. Yes, this book was written by Vaganova herself. Vaganova created a systematic ballet teaching system and is considered the best method so far.

Basic Principles of Classical Ballet - Agrippina Vaganova

The book was first released in year 1946 and has been republished since then. It covers all the fundamental theories of ballet movements, accompanied by 118 illustrations. It also includes the sample lessons with music accompaniment. It covers basic concepts of ballet, battements, rotary movements of the legs, the arms, jumps, beats, pointe work and turns.

Read my 10-month adult ballet journey

It's really a great accompaniment book for adult ballet beginner. It explains in details how the learner should do the movements. It's great that there are illustrations provided so learners can pick up the movements accurately and faster.

If you're thinking to purchase this Basic Principle of Classical Ballet book, get it here with discounted price and free shipping all around the world.

Tips on taking adult beginner ballet

10-month Journey of Adult Ballet

2017-07-23T10:47:00.002+08:00

Time flies! It's been 10 months now since I took my very first ballet class last year. It's been a tough period in the beginning, a lot of times I had contemplation whether to go to class and get scolded. I kinda didn't enjoy my classes that time. However, my super nice classmates motivated me to keep going. They encouraged me and since then I keep improving (thank god). I'm still far from perfect, obviously, but at least now I know much more about ballet and I think I'm living my childhood dream now.

Read my 6-month adult ballet journey

If you just started your adult ballet journey and want to know what have people who are in the same path have learned, this post may be suitable for you. Of course, not everyone have the same experience or same pace. Some people may have learned more than what I'm going to share, and for some people may go slower. There's no right or wrong. It's just different people (or different teachers) have different pace.

Tips on taking adult beginner ballet class

So by the end of my 10th month learning adult ballet, I've learned:

1. Plie: both demi plie and grand plie
2. Tendu
3. Jete
4. 8 body directions: croise, enface, efface, a la second, ecarte, epaule with devant (front) or derrire
5. Rond de Jambe: a terre, on l'air, double rond de jambe with combination of en dehors and en dedans
6. Frappe
7. Fondu
8. Retire
9. Releve
10. Developpe
11. Port de bras
12. Saute: Changement de pied
13. Glissade
14. Assemble
15. Temps lie
16. Pirouette

Last word, it's always important to have a good warm-up and stretching before you start the class. It helps to prepare the muscles for the movement. I noticed when I just first started, I always had the 'click' sound from my ankles. I realized after few months it's due to lack of warm-up. Once I started to have a good warm-up I didn't have that sound anymore. So, always remember to have a good warm-up and stretching before you practice.

My ballet class term is ending this month. It's been busy period for me this July and I may need to skip my last class due to work commitment. Hope I still can keep up in my next term of adult ballet next week.

So are you interested to pick up adult ballet class too? Find out some ballet schools where you can take adult beginner ballet class.

The Impact of Shopping to Modern Society

2017-07-16T21:33:00.001+08:00

In this modern era, shopping is getting popular as a stress relieving activity in society. Some people even make it as a hobby or a routine after working hour or on weekend. People likes to go shopping because buying stuffs, especially on bargain or sale items, gives them a sense of achievement. Shopping also boost the individual's overall mood as they browse around for pretty displays and interact with other people during the process.

However, shopping makes people to consume more things than what they actually need. They tend to buy things thinking that they might need it in the future. When the things are on sale, their subconscious mind urge them to buy because it is considered a good deal and they wouldn't be able to get them cheaper any further.

Shopping also makes people to build debt because of their consumerism habit. People think that owning things has impact on social status. Owning especially expensive branded stuffs has become their priority and they do not care if they have financial capability to purchase them.

In other way, shopping can boost the local economy. With the ubiquitous of shopping malls and online shops nowadays, local business can get positive impact. They can market and sell their products easier and faster. Online shops open almost everyday, contributes to bigger stream of sales to local business.

In conclusion, shopping has more bad impact to society nowadays as it makes people to fall into consumerism and often lead them to big debt as result of their conspicuous consumption habit.

3 Fun Things to Do at Yogyakarta

2017-05-30T22:21:00.000+08:00

Yogyakarta, is a city in central Java, well-known for the famous heritage temples (such as Borobudur and Prambanan temple), education center, batik, and it's the only province in Indonesia with the monarchy system.

Here are unusual 3 fun things you can do at Yogyakarta:

1. Sandboarding at Gumuk Pasir
It's located around 1 hour driving from the Yogyakarta City. There's no entrance fee but there's around Rp15,000 parking fee. You can rent the sandboard for Rp 100,000/pc. You don't need to rent so many boards since you can take turn with your friends. Take a slide down at the sand hill and scream as loud as you want. It's such a fun activity to do. There's no time limitation for this activity.

2. Water Rafting at Sungai Elo
If you're beginner, go for the Sungai Elo water rafting (equivalent grade II AWA scale). You'll raft for 12.5KM in around 3 hours. Most of the operators will have 1 rest area where you can drink fresh coconut water. We spent around Rp 600,000 for 1 boat (5 pax including guide). If you want something more challenging, you can opt for another route Progo Atas or Progo Hulu. During weekend it can be very crowded so it's best if you can go during weekdays.

3. Cave Tubing at Goa Pindul
Goa Pindul is around 2 hours driving from the city. It's a relaxing water activity without swimming skill required. You just need to sit on the tube provided and a guide will pull you and group through the cave. The cave tubing only lasts for 30 minutes (it's 350m length) on normal day (when there's no many crowd). So if you want, you can get another activity river rafting. The name can be misleading. In fact, there's no rafting at all. It's the same as cave tubing but you'll do it on the river instead. This activity lasts for 1 hour. The total cost for 2 activities are Rp 70,000 - 90,000/pax.

My 6-months Adult Beginner Ballet Journey

2017-03-20T01:21:00.001+08:00

I can't believe it that I've been doing my ballet classes for 6 months already. I'm happy to say that I still enjoy it so far and will keep continuing.

So, in this post I would like to share with you what have I done for the last 6 months of adult beginner ballet class. I hope this can be a motivation for you who wish to embark the same journey as me.

In the beginning, I signed up myself for an adult beginner ballet class in one of ballet school recommended by my friend who does ballet. I researched the schedule, the fee, the attire required, etc from their website. I went down to school to take a look how it was like and the staff was kind enough to show me around, explained everything and encouraged me not to give up. The next week I paid for my 1 term fee (for 8 beginner 1 classes on Sunday afternoon) and got my ballet shoe/slipper ready.

I remembered I was so nervous on my first class. I knew that my coordination was bad and my body was very stiff. But, I thought why not I just gave it a try since I paid already. Apparently, the class was fun though I kept getting muscle sore from the evening after the class. The teacher was kind and funny. For that 8 weeks I had been looking forward for my Sunday ballet class.

I made friends in the class and shared some thoughts of taking additional classes outside. So, I went to some trial classes at different schools. It was good to have additional classes but for some reasons the programs didn't suit me.

After finishing the 8-week classes, unfortunately I needed to find another full-package class as my favorite teacher doesn't teach the next level. I tried with 2 other teachers for the beginner 2 classes but I felt it's was too fast and there's a gap between what I learnt in beginner 1 and the beginner 2. Another friend recommended few other schools. I researched more on them and found there's one school that has more structured syllabus, in good location and has reasonable price.

Find out where you can take adult ballet class in Singapore here

I signed up for the second school with foundation level of 10-week classes. However, I decided to make use my open class card to retake my beginner 1 class (with my favorite teacher again) in first school as I still have 6 more slots to use (the card has 8 slots quota). So for the 6 weeks, I had 2 ballet classes in a week. I'm quite happy with this arrangement as one of them is very technical and slow pace, while the other one is faster and fun.

Now that I've been doing 6 months of ballet, I realize that:
1. I know more about basic ballet techniques: plie (demi & grand), tendus, frappe, pirouettes, etc.
2. I build strength especially on my leg and core muscles
3. My coordination is getting better and better
4. My posture is improved as in classes I need to always keep my back straight

If you're also doing the adult beginner ballet as me, don't give up. Though it's keep getting harder and harder, eventually you'll get the hang of it.

I motivated myself in the journey by buying myself another pair of ballet shoe which is made of canvas (my previous one was leather). By the time I wrote this post I haven't tried it yet. I'll give it a try on my next classes and see how it differ with my leather shoe.

Read my 10-month adult ballet journey here

Cool Thing in Singapore: Leftover Coin Deposit Machine Traveler's Box

2017-01-11T21:21:00.000+08:00

I found this cool machine in Changi Airport one day once I landed from weekend trip. It was located near the toilet entrance which I went to. While waiting for my sister I was curious reading the banner on the machine's body and checked out a bit what was the new machine for.

Traveler's Box, leftover coin deposit machine

The machine, Traveler's Box appeared to be deposit machine for foreign currency leftover coins (it does accept Singapore dollars). This machine will actually exchange based on its exchange rate (I have no idea whether the rate is good) and deposit your coins to your chosen partner's account. The partner's choice are from Amazon, PayPal, Apple iTunes, Skype, Starbucks, Facebook, Grab, etc.

This is such a great idea and helpful for frequent travelers to get rid the coins from their travelling. When you don't have much leftover it's difficult to exchange back to your local currency as banks or money changer don't accept small amount.

Based on the information I got, Traveler's Box is developed by three US based founders and have been installed at some other airports around the world. Currently Traveler's Box charging 3-10 percent processing fee but aiming to push the fee to partners in the future.

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2016-12-03T17:35:00.000+08:00

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Top Boring Unwanted Christmas Gifts You Should Avoid

2016-11-28T20:03:00.001+08:00

Everybody had made this mistake at least once in lifetime, I guess. When you have long name list for the Christmas gift exchange ritual and you don't have any single idea what you should get for them, you will tend to get these boring and unwanted Christmas gifts because it's everywhere and it's on sale nearing the holiday seasons.

Here are the top unwanted Christmas gift you should avoid as much as possible. I have this list based on the opinion of people around me, so it may not be true for your friends and family.

1. Mug
I know you will think of getting it from Ikea. Just don't buy it for Christmas present.

2. Toiletries or hand cream
Especially the set that comes with shower gel and loofah or shower gel and body lotion. Or hand cream for ladies. I do use hand cream occasionally in office. But I haven't even finished one tube of 40ml for the past 2 years. With this kind of speed, I will be only happy to receive hand cream once every 3-4 years.

3. Photo Frame

4. Christmas Ornament

5. Soft toys

Not a good idea for adult.

Top Christmas Movies I Like to Rewatch

2016-11-19T00:31:00.000+08:00

Have you feel the Christmas spirit already?
Have your neighborhood changed to light show at night already?
Christmas is coming. And the best activity I like to do during the holiday is rewatching some good movies or animation on pajama with a cup of warm chocolate (or any warm drinks).

During Christmas holiday I like to watch something magical, more into animation, or something adventurous. Here are my top Christmas movies that I like to rewatch:

1. Polar Express (2004)
This magical 3D animation is about a boy named Billy, who one day picked up by a train The Polar Express to North Pole.

2. Anastasia (1997)
Anastasia is one of my favorite animations so far. I like the pictures, I like the storyline, I like the guy (ehem ^_^) and I like the soundtracks. Follow Anya's adventure to find her family and her own identity.

3. Jack Frost Rise of the Guardian (2012)
This animation tells story about the children heroes Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, Sandman together with Jack Frost trying to save the world from the Pitch Black.

4. Home Alone (1990)
I think for most people, Christmas always reminds them with Home Alone movie. This classic movie is still entertaining and family friendly to watch during Christmas holiday.

5. Harry Potter Series
I'm a big fan of Harry Potter. Which movie is more magical than the Harry Potter series?

6. Sister Act Series
In the mood of some musical & laugh? Maybe Sister Act is good choice to watch.