2017 to 2018 Minimalist Achievements

Looking a few months' back to my journey to minimalism, I noticed I have quite a bunch of achievements! Here are they:

 

#1 Recycling, Giving away and actually wearing the clothes in my wardrobe.

 

This is something I have been working on and boy, did it took years! This year, I managed to get rid of two bags of clothes and gave away several pieces early this year while last year more so I'd say this is definitely an achievement. I'm glad my sis (albeit smaller size) can wear most of my brand new and unworn clothes.

#2 Cutting down on beauty hauls and to use up what I already have

  

There are things I am still working to reduce, especially in my beauty and body care department. I noticed I have just so many things for one purpose, such as my beauty products, body care products, hair care products and facial masks. I have no idea (now) why I need 3 bottles and 1 tube of body lotions, 2 shampoos, one hair conditioners, one hair mask, one hair oil and 2 leave-on treatment and over 50 facial masks. It may sound like nothing much but they are a lot for one person to use. I don't even use most of them!

 

#3 Cutting down on fashion hauls

 

I think I am doing a rather good job in this. In fact last CNY, I didn't get anything new but simply wear whatever I have in my wardrobe. This doesn't mean I do not care about my appearance _ I buy clothes that last and still make me look good or feel good about myself. Another approach I did was to wait. If I still want something a month later, I will get them. Sometimes I don't get everything I want. Sometimes I have second thoughts and ended up not buying.

 

#4  Reduce email subscriptions & retails memberships

 

This is easy peasy. All I needed to do was to unsubscribe and then wait to see if I miss any of the emails notification. 99.9% I don't. The remaining 0.01% is from TripAdvisor telling me how many people read my reviews LOL

 

 

#5 my minimalist approach on books

 

I try to make it a habit to read whatever books I have in hand before getting new titles. That meant no more purchasing books like nobody's business. Recently I am reading through two titles_ "How to be a Zillionaire" by Chelli Campbell and now-reading "The Cure to Money Madness" by Spenser Sherman, both of which I borrowed from my gal pal. They're not part of my dying-to-read books but books.

 

 

#6 One thing at a time

 

I want to do a hundred stuff! Blogging more, writing reviews on tripadvisors, maybe knitting a mermaid tail blanket, regrowing foodstuff, cooking, try a hundred cafes, making the most of my new DSLR and reorganize my bedroom. That's a lot to take in. While my hands are itching to get whatever I want (because I can), I try to calm myself down *meditates*

 

Only when I have achieved one thing do I get to the other. My goals now are just  to complete my 2017 Travelogues, learning about my DSLR and brushing up on Photoshop. The rest can wait.



Bali (Day 8 & Day 9): Kuta

My last two days in Bali, I spent just taking my time in Kuta town. Day 8 was mainly walking around Kuta town which got to be my favorite place ever. Aside from that, I discovered Matahari Department Store along the main street and spent the entire evening shopping for souvenirs! I would definitely recommend people to shop there because it is one of the places with the best prices. Another is the art market not too far from this department store.

~ ♡ ~

Day 9 was my last day in Bali therefore I headed towards the south to one of the mall I found via Google. I didn't spend much time in the mall as there wasn't much to see. However, I happen to come across this warung called Babi Guling Karya Rebo on Google Maps nearby so off I went.

Ordered the Babi Guling set obviously! Everything tasted great. This was about 70k if I remembered correctly but it was well worth the try.

After filling my stomach, it's time to explore Jimbaran Beach. Afternoon's not the best time to hang out here, it was so hot! There were several restaurants open but only a handful of tourists. I'm sure by evening there would be more crowd.

Later, I took an ojek to another nearby mall which similar to the first mall I visited was so quiet! What's up with malls in Bali, like really?

I didn't find anything interesting but here I did find Oleh Oleh Krishna, which sells affordable souvenirs. I would definitely recommend either Oleh Oleh Krishna, Matahari Department store and some Art Markets along Jalan Pantai Kuta for souvenirs shopping in Bali. Some art markets which doesn't display price tags have their prices marked up for unsuspecting tourists. So one thing to look out for.

By then I was bored and had enough of ojek rides, and decided to retreat to my familiar spot _ Matahari Department Store to help get souvenirs for dear bff. "You had too much of paradise," my bff concludes when I told her I have enough of vacation. I never did thought I will get bored in a foreign country but that happened LOL

Back at Kuta and having completed my shopping, I stopped by a warung and ordered Kopi Bali. I don't usually take coffee in the evening (just my thing) but I wanted to have Kopi Bali before I head home. I super love the coffee! It tasted very much like Malaysia's version of kopi o but less thick (or kao as we call that).

Last sunset at Kuta Beach before my flight!

Dinner was at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport. I wouldn't advice travellers to have their meals here because a lot of restaurants here are expensive!

Next destination, Singapore!

~ ♦ ~

While I was in Kuta for the last two days, I spend most of my time shopping and just chilling, Mostly because I quite enjoy having to ride an ojek every single time I needed to head to a different destination. I guess I prefer vacaying at countries where destinations are more connected by trains or by foot so I'd rather just spend my time shopping in Kuta. I wouldn't mind too much if I have company, perhaps.

Another irk that annoys me as a solo traveller in Bali is how a lot of locals, particularly taxi drivers, unlicensed ojeks and souvenirs stall/shop owners in Bali Island would take advantage on tourists! A less than 10 minutes ride whether on ojek or taxi will cost you 100kRupees, what extortions! I had several unpleasant experiences with this unscrupulous people in Bali, one man took to stomping his foot and howling when I rejected his overpriced ojek ride. Don't even get me started on a car rental company who tricked and robbed me! Downright despicable! It also appears that this 'culture' is even practised by airport staffs! Supposedly "free porters" (it's stated behind their uniform) would shamelessly request for tips. It also didn't help that my luggage was mishandled so badly that when I arrived in Kuta, there was a hole in my luggage. When I took the flight to Singapore, my luggage had fell apart... Totally WTF.

On the other hand, I enjoyed my time tremendously in the Nusa islands, which is new to tourism and therefore locals are way-y kinder and genuine, which I am truly grateful for! On top of that, I always, always felt safe. I do wish from the bottom of my heart that with the increased of tourist won't taint the local's attitudes.

Bali (Day 7): Ubud

I started my day pretty early which was a good thing because I didn't know the journey to Ubud from Kuta will take me a frigging whole one and a half hour! It was super smart of me to decide to ride pillion on this Uber motorcyclist, all the more. My poor bottom was hurting from the ride... But hey, it was cheaper than taking a car!

Such a cute weaved dogs statues!

Because it was almost noon when I arrived and I have not had breakfast, I stopped by at the only warung I found in the market, Warung Lokal before I continue to explore the town.

Chose fried rice and a rather huge portion of stir fry vegetables with pork. They were great except when I left I was bloated LOL

I walked around until I noticed a sign leading to a paddy field and being the adventurous me, I decided to walk along the path less taken. Ceh wah. Like seriously, it IS a path less taken _I didn't meet anyone along the alley!

Reached my destination but unfortunately it wasn't the Ubud's famous rice terrace. I really wanted a view of the terrace, but didn't managed to because not long later it poured and I took shelter in Ubud's Starbucks.

 If you follow me on Instagram, you'll see me posting this photos already. If not, here is the photo of my Ice Pink Machiato, taken behind Starbucks. A lotus pond is right behind the building! Took refuge in Starbucks because it was raining.

 

 

I simply walked and walked for several hours, window shopping by several boutiques which I came across and snapping photos here and there. That's the fun part of walking you see! 

  

Once I had enough of walking, I Uber-ed back to Kuta. I couldn't find any Uber motor so I had to resort to choosing the car, which was almost thrice as expensive at 170kRupees!! That's the bad thing about travelling solo! My friends who have never done solo travelling tell me how boring it can be, but that's the least of my concern. Safety wise in Bali and the Nusa Islands, I find it really safe for female solo being one myself but still wouldn't recommend going out super late, like in the wee morning. I had, however, once dropped by a 24-hour convenience store at midnight in Kuta.

Anyway, it was 2 hours (the traffic from Ubud to Kuta was horrendous!) when I arrived home. I was terribly tired and simply opted to have mixed rice for dinner at the warung close to my homestay.

Bali (Day 6): Nusa Lembongan & Kuta

Day 6 marks my last day in Nusa Lembongan. I started my day by having breakfast at TS Hut, a warung just walking distance from where I stayed. Breakfast is kopi Bali (Bali coffee) and banana pancakes. Simple but yummeh!!

When I first met my host, he mentioned of one Nusa Lembongan's secret beach which I was dying to check out. My hike led me to the path less taken, shrubs and .... . I didn't find this super secret location but instead, I found a quieter, sorta hidden beach!

     

It wasn't long before it was time to head back to Kuta. So off I took yet another bumpy speedboat ride to Sanur. I am so missing the Nusa islands right now. Would definitely love to be back!

My next agenda is to check into my new stay. This is probably the only trip that I have done that requires me to check into and out of so many AirBnbs! This is like my sixth and thankfully last stay. I think this place looks great on the outside but the room I was staying was really basic and badly ventilated. Worse, the water reeks of strong sea water. Overall just OK, if you're not too fussy you can opt for this. Thankfully, the host managing this place is friendly which made it better.

OMG the tan... Took months for that to fade! I'm so-o skipping islands and beaches for awhile.

Lunch I had it at a random warung just outside my new stay.

It was only later I was introduced to the term Nasi Kuching by my friendly Indonesian buddy to describe the rather meagre portion of the meal.

And those were most of it from my day! Since I was tired from the whole adventure, I spent my evening resting. This can be considered one of my most relaxing trip where I spent a lot of time doing nothing hahaha

Bali (Day 5): Nusa Lembongan

Getting to the super exciting and adventurous day 5 in Nusa Lembongan! 

Before I get into what I did, here is the place I was staying at _ Suba Guesthouse, located close to Mushroom Bay where the boats headed towards Sanur are at. When I checked into my room, the owner of the place was super nice as to introduce the must-go places around Nusa Lembongan. BTW, this shot of the front of my room was taken at night because I wanted to show my friends.

Morning come and I randomly picked The BAR for breakfast which was not too far from where I was staying. Breakfast was super filling cereal with yogurt and banana smoothies.

Dream Beach, Sandy Bay & Devil's Tears

Somehow, I must've predicted I will be having quite a morning to have something so filling LOL. True enough, I started my day heading towards Dream Beach with a bicycle I have rented and then returned because cycling was clearly impossible for my short legs. Why, oh why didn't I get a moped license before my trip...

Instead, I decided I would. Walk I did, for a gruelling 30 - 40 minutes, the sun scorching hot above my head. Explains why my tan is so bad.

Chilling at Sandy Bay Beach Club after my gruelling walk.

 

After yet another gruelling walk back to Mushroom Bay. On the way back, I had a light lunch at Blackwood Coffee Shop.

 At our agreed time, I meet up with my guide (I forgot his name, sorry!) whom I met early in the morning when I had my breakfast at The Bar. We chatted and he offered to show me around the island. Because his shift ended at 3PM, I went ahead to Sandy Bay by foot. I only took up his offer later when I decided walking is no-no on such a hot day!

Some of the places he brought me to is the Gala Gala Underground House, Panorama Road and one beach with white sands it's just so pretty!! When I told him I haven't been to Nusa Ceningan, he suggested we do so. Which was super great to cross the Yellow Bridge by ojek! Definitely made my day!

Sunset watching at Blue Lagoon, Nusa Ceningan.

At the end of my day, I had dinner is at a Warung Mola Mola,