Adulthood: Chapter 1

Hello, I guess I've abandoned this blog for way too long, more than a year.
So, it's now to update something here now!

Some background check here before I start my story:

I have studied Accounting & Finance for degree and completed ACCA professional papers last year. Upon completion of ACCA papers, I've started working in EY as an auditor. Well, a typical path for an accountant/graduate/Asian student.

Auditor's career path

Feeling old and impatient to start my working life & rat race, I've started working since Jan this year.

To be honest, it's kinda demotivating.
Perhaps the working life isn't as driving and inspiring as I thought it should have been. Why?
Not everyone wants to do the best, not everyone wants to grow,
Not everyone would like to spend time to know people around better, not everyone is keen to take on new challenges and the list goes on and on.

After going through 101 excuses and blaming the environment, ultimately, I know I am the one to be blamed or perhaps to be accountable for myself. I know I am little depressed and laid back, unlike the uni times, where sky is the limit and I could achieve everything I want, be it AIESEC, competitions, performances, internships, assignment&part time jobs where I had the undying spirit to fight towards the end and nail all these down.

However, this didn't happen when I started working. Wandering around and looking for more in life, I've helped out in a few projects/events. Feeling curious about airbnb world, my friend and I helped another friend to set up a Facebook for the homestay business. We also assisted the friend to do some marketing, promotional videos and more to step up the marketing and branding game.

Photo taken @ homestay studio

Tbh, this isn't easy. Attracting audience, targeting the "right" customers, keeping active engagements on social media takes patience, consistency and most importantly, passion to keep things running.I still remember vividly that, in order to get more likes for the page, I PMed most of my social media friends to get likes and support for the page. It's not my business, and I dont get paid for doing anything. Everytime I do something for the homestay business, I did it as if it's my own business running there. Can't really confirm if there's any ROI in spending time helping out, but I know I've learnt pretty much the overall picture of an Airbnb business, if I were to run one in future.

Besides, I've also attended an Option Mastery Class. It's a trading class focusing on investing in options in the US. It's a pretty high investment cost to attend the class, but definitely a good start for investment path. Can't say that I am an investment expert, cause I am pretty lost on where and how to invest. But Rome isn't built in one day. It needs reading, patience, practices to train our judgement and market sensitivity. I've made one trade thus far and made a small profit out of it. Though it's still far from breaking even on the cost side, it's a baby step that still moves you forward.

On the other hand, there's also some progress in music growth during the year. This year is the 10th anniversary of Taylor's Symphony Orchestra. It has been a decade since the Symphony Orchestra is formed. Therefore, it's an important milestone and alumni are invited to help out for the concert. Feeling lucky, I am glad that I was able to perform for this concert. The concert is definitely a level up from the past years and I had great time playing the violin there :)

After finished writing about what I have done in the past 10 months, the focus is now back to the career progression. Wanting for a better change, I applied for new opportunity and lucky enough to get an offer for the new opportunity.

Looking back to my working experience at EY thus far, not all is bad. I was lucky to meet one senior who led a team well and gave 200% to both work and also teammates. Have also been to a few stocktakes which were pretty interesting - chicken farm & consignment warehouse. The group trip was pretty fun too, able to meet new people and know more stories and things that I never knew existed despite already working there for 8 months.

Moving forward in life, I really hope to find one thing that I am passionate to build at work. I love playing the piano. I enjoy visiting showrooms and decorating homes. I am concerned about being environment friendly and saving the Earth. Travelling always excites and refreshes my mind & perspective towards the world. I embrace a healthy lifestyle and always working towards being more
healthy. I also enjoy doing the little things like occasional cooking, baking, gardening, outdoor activities, extreme sport. And somehow,I am pretty good with numbers. And so, what kind of career/life should I go after?

At the end of the day, I always ask myself one question,
"So, what do you want to achieve in life?"

Japan Trip: Osaka & Kyoto

Hello, after more than half a year of not blogging, I am finally back in action!

Today, I am going to share about my Japan trip back in July, including the itinerary, food review, budget and also tips to travel in Osaka/Kyoto  :)

It gonna be long, but hope you would enjoy reading the journey! :D

Back and Forward

Back in 2016
#1 Grape picking @ Australia
My sister and I went to Aussie and did grape picking job there. The work was tough and physically challenging. We both went through a hard time, especially at the beginning. The good thing about this trip is that we met good people - supervisors, hosts, mums and Ah Yi who helped us a lot in the journey. Farm job is never easy, and I truly salute farmers working long hours under the hot sun.

#2 Internship @ Schlumberger
Malaysia is where Schlumberger set up a global shared service center, the Finance Hub. I did an internship at treasury compliance function. And I am truly grateful to have taken initiative in doing this voluntary internship. Learnt about the system, the company structure and also made some friends in the company. :)

#3 Work and Travel
This is the highlight of the year where I worked and travel in the US. Working with high school students set a benchmark for me personally, difference between Malaysian and American students. Having good communication skills, openness and being street smart are what make them competitive. In the US, "You can be anything you want!"

#4 Discovery Days
The days without work and fixed schedule. Consulted business ideas from business adviser and also went to inspiring conferences such as Global Entrepreneurship Forum and Youth Economic Forum. Days without job cooled down your mind, and give you opportunities try out new things.

Forward in 2017
Expectations
Learning: Soft skills, critical thinking skills and knowledge
Settlement: Patience, slow and steady
Career: Crossroad junction, be prepared to try, do and pivot

Priorities
1) Pass ACCA with flying colours
2) Create a foundation for Unit Trust
3) Piano
4) Business inspiration
5) Keep travelling minimum yet quality

Work and Travel USA Part III: Travelling in West Coast

Continued from the last post :)


 San Jose, CA
San Jose is where Silicon Valley is located at. We are really lucky to know friends who are willing to host us and they are working in Google! We visited the HQs of Apple, Google and Facebook. To our surprise, there arent any high rise buildings. Those big techs company offices are no difference of the normal shops from their outlook in the middle of a residential area. The prestigious Stanford University is also a few miles away from the big tech offices, and the campus is so big and beautiful.

Apple HQ

Googleplex

Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University

Church in the campus, a Spanish architectural campus

 Point Lobos, CA
Point Lobos State Park is 1.5 hours away from San Jose. It offers a beautiful coastline of California and different sceneries in different seasons. Back then in 1800s & 1900s, it was a famous hunting spot for whales, sharks, abalone, shark fin and similar products. It has museums showcasing the story of the state reserve. It's definitely a good hike there while enjoying the beauty of nature. :)

 Santa Cruz, CA
If you are looking for a visit to one of the most hipster beaches and boardwalks in California, Santa Cruz is definitely the one on list besides those in LA. The boardwalk has a lot to offer, from skateboarding, arcades, theme parks, food, sun, bikini and more. Sea lions and seals also love the beach so much, where you can see tons of them lying under the walkway, on the platform next to the wharf. One of the Hawaiian drinks you can find here is Pineapple Doles, and you should try one if you happen to come across any!

Walkway to the Ocean

Sea lions <3

San Francisco, CA
If you're a Hollywood movie fan, the city is no stranger to you. From the Golden Gate Bridge, Union Square, this picturesque city has come a long way from a ghost town, California Gold Rush to a global city. It's a hilly city, with a lot of walking up and down hills. As the city is relatively compact, it is one of the most expensive cities to live. So, Airbnb transport everything is higher than other cities.

Golden Gate Bridge ;)

Walt Disney Museum @ SF

Pier 39's boardwalk is incredible. You can find sea lions here too, while admiring the smoothing view of the ocean. The shops are interesting, where you can find exquisite, delicate souvenirs or arts everywhere. Overall, fhe food in San Fran is pretty good, with the beautiful scenery. My favourites in town are Mochi @ Benkyodo Japantown, Ghirardelli Chocolate and Acme Bread @ Ferry Building Marketplace ❤

Pier 39 Boardwalk

Ice Cream Sandwich @ Ferry Building Marketplace :D

We were also fortunate to visit one of the most notorious criminal jails in the States, Alcatraz Island. It's unusually interesting to know the prisoner's life back then, especially in this infamous jail. As there are limited spots for cruise rides, you have to book at least 3 days or one week in advance to get a ticket.

If you break the country's rule, you go to jail. And if you break the jail's rule, you go to Alcatraz.

Sacramento & Napa Valley, CA 
Sacramento is the capital of California, which is 2 hours away from San Francisco. It's a much peaceful town for living not tourism. We came here to visit my childhood friend who has migrated to America two years ago. We were lucky to have them as our tour guide, as they brought us to Napa Village, and universities such as Sacramento City College, CSU Sacramento and U.C Davis. The interesting part of the stay is that our host sister has a YouTube channel, and we unexpectedly became her guests in one video, haha! The video is attached as below ;)

Napa Valley: Robert Mondavi Winery 

Home cooked steamboat :)

YouTube Video about Work and Travel USA!

Grand Canyon, AZ
Scrolling through the list of national parks in the States, you wouldn't miss this one! Grand Canyon is famous for its nature beauty, and it's huge. You need to rent a car or take tour buses to the State Park and camp here for a few weeks to complete all the hiking trails. Because of time constraint, we only managed to hike for half a day, for one trail. Nonetheless, it was worth the trip.

Thousand years of geological activities forming this majestic mountain scenery 

Different seasons offer different Canyon sceneries, and this is Summer's. 

Las Vegas, NV
The sinful city of all. Vegas is all about entertainment. I personally admire the architecture of the city. All hotels, shopping malls and everything are so attractive and exciting. It's not my city as I dont gamble, but still worth visiting to know how it feels to be in Vegas!

The queue to take photos with this entrance sign is long...

*Paris*

You dont need to visit all these places in NYC, because Vegas has it all...

Los Angelos, CA
Here comes the last stop of our US travelling - LA! The city has too much to offer and it's cool to live a LA lifestyle to be honest. We went to Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Anaheim - Pirates' Dinner Adventure, Disneyland, Hollywood - Universal Studio, Walk of Fame and Downtown - The Broad. We were lucky and grateful to stay at Waze's place, having a local tour guide taking care of us, arigatou :) And food in LA farmers markets - The Original &Grand Central Market taste so gooddd! Thrift shops such as Goodwill are also everywhere for you to shop at a lower price while being environmental friendly. It's always happening in the city, not to forget about shopping and food as well!

Cycling around Venice Beach & Santa Monica to witness this beautiful sunset

Santa Monica Shopping District

Disneyland

Castle on the Halloween Night 

The Halloween Night @ Universal Studio was pretty scary and exciting!

Hollywood Star @ Hollywood Walk of Fame!

The Broad

Grand Central Market

And the journey comes to an end. :( Below are some tips if you are travelling to the US.

USA Travel tips:
#1 To dine in a restaurant, you have to give 10-20% tips for the servers
Tips on food are unavoidable in the US, unless it's a fast food stall such as McD, street food and more. So, here's a handy tips: To save up, take away your food & eat at somewhere else (gardens, streets etc.). Trust me, it really saves a lot as you travel and not to forget, it's USD!

#2 Travel with Southwest Airline
Having trouble to book domestic flights? Southwest is one of the most affordable airlines, and the good thing is you can check in 2*23kg baggage. Save your time using Skyscanner and focus on the itinerary instead caz at the end of day, most prices shown are without checked-in baggage.

#3 Plan your foodie trip, especially to the local farmers market
In the US, reviews are highly trustworthy,  with the help of Google & Yelp!  Every big city definitely has their own local farmers markets. Visit them, and you'll be surprised at the freshness of food and farmers' unique homemade recipes. Make your stomach as happy as you're travelling. Yum Yum ;)


#4 For shopaholics, visit premium outlets instead of purchasing from the usual shopping outlets
To get US brand items - Nike, Kate Spade, Polo, Tommy Hilfiger and more, get them from premium outlets. Unless you are getting items of handmade from independent artists that are nowhere found, prices of branded items in normal shopping malls in the US are no lesser of what you get in Malaysia. Premium outlets that easily found in urban areas give 70-90% discount, and the choices are good as well. Spend half a day to the outlet to satisfy your shopping cravings. :)


This is a video made by Eugene to sum up our travelling. :))

Thank you for reading such long trilogy of WAT USA. Hope it gives you inspiration and ideas on what Work And Travel in the US offers. Have a great year ahead! :)

Work and Travel USA Part III: Travelling in East Coast

After working for 3 and a half months, here comes the 30 days summer travelling!

Below is the list of places that I have travelled, from Day 1 in the USA until the very last day. :)

1) New Jersey

2) Philadelphia

3) Washington, D.C.
4) New York

5) Niagara Falls

6) Chicago

7) San Jose

8) Point Lobos

9) Santa Cruz

10) San Francisco

11) Sacramento

12) Napa Valley

13) Grand Canyon

14) Las Vegas

15) Los Angelos

Jersey Shore, NJ

Asbury Park Boardwalk

In New Jersey, it's all about shopping because all the apparels in NJ are TAX FREE! Went to Asbury Park, Jersey Premium Outlet, Jackson Premium Outlet, Jersey Garden and Seaside. As I am working in NJ, all the travelling within NJ were in between working days. 

Fun fact: Have you been to Johor Premium Outlet (JPO)? It looks the same as the other premium outlets in the US because, they are owned by the same company, under Simon group! 

Philadelphia, PA
Besides, we also rent a car to Philly and Washington DC for one-day trip respectively. Philadelphia is an important city in America, as it witnesses the signing of independence documents and policy making in the US history. Civil War also painted the story of the city, where the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall in town uphold the significance of the revolution and the new birth of real "Liberty" in the US. 

Park in front of Philadelphia Museum of Art.

There are a lot of museums in Philly, namely Benjamin Franklin Museum, Art Museum and more. The most important lesson I have learnt from the city is the rise of slavery before the Civil War, the story of Africans fighting their rights till today. Besides, if you are opt for nature, you can travel to Longwood Garden, which is 1 hour away from Philly to enjoy the vast collection of greenhouses, gardens and sound of nature. It is simply one of my favourite cities indeed, walking in between the beautiful historical buildings with good food, not to forget the food and things are cheap too! 

The best ice cream in town! At Reading Market.

Longwood Garden at night. The secrets of nature under the dark :)

Washington, D.C.
Washington DC is also another city full of museums. A visit to the Air and Space Museum is a must, where they display the full equipment of Apollo and several important victory moments of human exploration into space. The White House is also something not to miss out. Even though it's not for public access, you can still take a photo with the political icon of the country from the exterior. :)

White House is a petite in person! Haha.

World War II Memorial, Abraham Lincoln Monument and Pentagon are also some of the important sites to visit as well. If you're not very interested in the museums, a one-day trip in Washington DC should be sufficient to visit all must-go locations. For food recommendation, try out the brunches at Founding Farmers which is just a few blocks away from The White House. ;)

Facing the Lincoln Monument, and the WWII Memorial is right behind us.

Yankee Pot Roast, a fusion of Chinese & Western food, with tender beef, potato and celery in creamy salty sauce :)

New York City, NY
The skyscraper city of the world. There are simply too many things to do in Manhattan, and it depends on your personal preference. The same story applies, where there are tons of museums in the city. For my personal recommendation, take a tour (2-3 hours each) in the famous ones - The Met for arts (Go to the rooftop garden!), American Museum of Natural History for dinosours and 911 Memorial Museum for the story. I personally love 911 the most, because of its relevance to the world and the content, interaction of the museum that tells you how lucky we are to live in this world and the importance of peace. P.S Probably it's because I don't have in depth knowledge in history, science or classical art. XD 

The Ground of the famous World Trade Center. From 107 floors to ground 0.

To watch the landscape of NYC, go to Top of the Rock. The reason why you choose this instead of The Empire State Building is because, you want to see the Empire building from top, having it as your scenery, background of the pic. Remember to pre-book visit slots because it's always a long queue but limited spots. Sunset is the best time to get both day and night views. :)

Empire State Building standing out from the rest :)

People love to go Times Square. My suggestion is, don't miss watching a Broadway show. The phantom of the opera, The Lion King, Aladdin etc, are everywhere is Broadway. Experience one if you do appreciate musical. I have watched Phantom several times at different locations. Still, nothing is comparable to the one in Broadway! 

Next stop, visit Liberty Island early in the morning. Book online earlier. You get the see the beautiful coastline of Manhattan, avoiding the larger crowd coming in the afternoon & evening. For sunset, go to Brooklyn Bridge State Park for the famous Brooklyn or Manhattan bridge. Walk on the Brooklyn bridge to the other end if you have time. It's breathtaking  :)

Romantic proposal by the Manhattan bridge site :)

For foodie, try Shake Shack, Totto Ramen, Halal Guys, Poke Bowl, Bibble and Sip and more (Google!), just to name a few.  There are also a lot interesting fusion restaurants in NYC, try them out even it's Asian food. You'll be surprised. Trust the Google and Yelp reviews, the pages say it all. <3

Totto Ramen: Although I have never been to Japan, this is the best ramen I have ever tasted by far in life! The flavourful soup, yum yum.

Niagara Falls
There are two sites to enjoy the waterfall sites - New York State / Canada. I visited the New York park due to Visa issuance. When you talk about Niagara Falls, Maid of The Mist is a must-go to have a close-up experience of gallons of water pouring down. Cave of The Winds is also popular to experience walking to the back site of the fall. At night, it's colder by the falls too, remember to wear more even it's summer :)

Magnificent view from New York State Border; High rise building at the opposite end is Canada's.

Almost missed a train to Niagara Falls earlier, glad that we were lucky enough to make it, and watched this fireworks on a Sunday night :)

Chicago, IL
Chicago is an architectural and artistic city. There are rivers and bridges everywhere in the city, giving opportunities to admire the beauty of the city on water boat and gondolas.  Half of city, the buildings across the river was destructed by a wildfire - Great Chicago Fire, and rebuilding those is where the architecture in Chicago started to shine. We took a gondola ride in Chicago, and the tour guide explained about the history of Chicago on how it became the third most populous cities in the US, after New York and LA. We could also view the beautiful night view of Navy Pier from the boat as the boat traveled out to the ocean.

Arts and architecture are what the city is made up of. We went to Cloud Gate 7am early in the morning, to have a solo picture with The Bean. There are a lot of interesting sites and restaurants near the city too - Millennium Park, fountain, sculptures, Le Pain Quotidien and list goes on and on. We were lucky to meet a humanity professor at Chicago Cultural Center, who is also a member of Art Institute of Chicago. He brought us into the Art Institute of Chicago and shared the art history besides interpreting the meaning of drawings and art pieces. This is something I personally think Malaysia is lacked of. We don't learn much of world history. philosophy, arts and humanities etc and how much you know depends on your personal exposure and family upbringing.

Beautiful view of the city :)

Advantage of being there @ 7am, no one would ever photo bomb! ;)

Money Museum at Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, open for public, free of charge  ;)

Tall buildings are what Chicago is famous for. John Hancock Center which is a few blocks away from Magnificent Mile is one of the popular observatory towers in the city. Instead of getting tickets up there, my friend and I went to the sky bar - The Signature Lounge @ 95th floor. The view from the restaurant or sky bar enables you to enjoy the view of the city besides dining. Not to forget, you can even enjoy the landscape of the city inside the ladies washroom. ;)

View from the the ladies toilet;) but sadly nope from the males. :/

The most prominent landmark building in Chicago is none other than Willis Tower, which was once the tallest building in the world! The observatory deck has a section of transparent glasses, to view the ground from 99th floor. Scary yet exciting. We were lucky to get the evening slot to witness both spectacular day and night views. :)

Feeling butterflies in the stomach while shooting this! Haha

Lastly, the highlight of the Chicago trip is all about skydiving! This is the most exciting moment of life by far, to jump off from 12,000 feet. It took some hassle to register, travel and gear up ourselves beforehand. But the 55 seconds of free fall and the few minutes of parachuting afterwards is just a once-in-a-lifetime experience that everyone should at least experience once! :D

Preparing myself to open the parachute!

This is all for East Coast travel, and there will be more about West Coast coming soon:)