My Experience at The Canopi Glamping Resort, Bintan Island

This is a very rare moment where I get to pretend I am a travel blogger so bear with me. 

Thank you to Jon & his family for the hospitality and invite n__n

Bintan Island is a popular island in Indonesia that is most commonly accessed via Singapore due to its proximity, and is not to be mistaken with Batam island (also an Indonesian island close to Singapore). Bintan is also home to popular beachside/island resorts such as Banyan Tree Resort & Spa, Sanchaya Resort and Club Med Bintan, hence its popularity with Singaporeans (or is it because the Singaporeans came, so these resorts were built? Hmmm) Quite 5 star lah. The island also has a lot of attractions - such as the 500 Lohan sculptures, temples and historic chapels, along with mangrove tours and eco farms.

The Canopi is a brand-new boutique, glamping-themed resort on Bintan Island. Glamping is glamorous camping - camping in the outdoors with all the comforts and more of a resort. Besides the unique glamping feature (where you stay in a literal tent!), the unique thing about #TheCanopi is its location tethering the Crystal Lagoon - South East Asia's largest salt water man-made lagoon!

Here's a look at how each of the glamping tents looks like. Take note of the safari-themed items (like the chest of drawers, standing lamps and chairs - too cute!)!

The walls (thick fabric) can be rolled up to reveal the surroundings. We had a lagoon view tent. Other tents behind us (no lagoon view) had outdoor Jacuzzi tubs

Open air shower because what else would you expect from camping?

Toiletries are generic...would have been cute to be Body Shop/L'Occitane :D

Super cute stationery. Would be better if there were a Sumatran Rhino or Komodo Dragon paperweight :D OMG I should just open a boutique hotel consultancy

Since I have no caption for this - Jon said "Wah this is like Camporama man. Can hear people talking outside the tent"

The great thing about The Canopi is that there's a whole host of activities to get into at the resort itself. Loan a scooter or a Segway and loop around the lagoon, or buckle up to ride a muddy circuit with one of their UTVs. You can also tour the lagoon with a cute little pick up or in their solar-powered yacht. There is also a water sports section (with inflatable trampolines, mini pyramid etc) further down the resort, which was still under development.

My analysis of The Canopi:

• Great, tastefully decorated rooms
• Nice touch to provide 2 umbrellas 
• Dunno why but I got fabric burns on the soles of my feet from the carpet (a sort of hemp material). Should provide terry cloth slippers 
• Needs welcome drinks or a plate of cold fruits for arriving guests :D
• A welcome kit would have been fantastic! It would contain a map of the resort ala treasure map, a to-do list of items ala activity sheet (would be so cute for the kids), ponchos, a picnic mat (both can be Canopi branded lolol).
• There should also be an add-on option on their booking website for BBQ food. We saw many guests bringing in their own booze and food to cook in the pits

On that last note, the food selection at the resort is quite sparse (western food plus a few local offerings) that range from RM30 onwards (yeah sorry I am not familiar with Indonesian rupiah). If you want snacks and booze, better buy them at the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal before departing. Otherwise you'll have to drive to the closest town centre (which consists of a few shops and a hawker centre) to get some food.  You can also get kek lapis from here. There is also another town about half an hour away from the area but we weren't looking to go that far. Also, they do NOT accept SGD any longer so please convert your cash into IDR (there's a money changer at the terminal).

Still no caption, so...Indonesian time is one hour behind Singapore/Malaysia's

Check out my latest post on The Edison Hotel, Penang and why it's my favourite stay in Penang to date.

The Canopi website

5 Things I Should Have Done with my Income

A little background as to why this is my topic of choice: This year, two very important things happened to me which helped me to take better control of how I spend my money. The first is a short prep talk by Jeevan Sahadevan, and the second is a Compass course (which I am still in the process of completing).

Unbeknownst to me, most of my income was spent at Mr. DIY monthly

After working for four years (going into year 5, come September!), I still have not achieved any amount of financial independence and freedom that I thought I would have by the time I were an adult. How embarrassing.

All of this boils down to poor financial education. 

(Despite my stupid financial education, I have two things to take pride in - first, my strict regime in handling credit cards. I didn't get one until last year, and only then used it to pay for petrol and NOTHING ELSE. I always made sure I paid off the dues on the day it is due, or earlier. The second thing is the routine payment of my car loan.)

Today I share with you the 5 additional things I would have told myself about my income when I first started working.

1. Do not touch the money in the EMERGENCY SAVINGS account

Ideally, we should put 10% or more of our monthly income into a savings account. The purpose of this account is to have reserve money on hand, in the event of an emergency. Some people can save up to 30% of their income, but I would recommend you start with 5 or 10% and work your way upwards. 

For me, for the past years of working, I was disciplined in putting aside that money, but had little discipline in what defines an "emergency". Holiday with the girls? Sale at Cotton On? Birthday treat for myself? Anything and everything warranted a use for the extra money. I depleted my savings very, very quickly.

Now I know better. This money is not to be used for debts, expenditure, treats or holidays. It's to be used in the event of a job loss or economical instability, or to be put towards the down payment of my first property purchase, or to be used for my further education. It's very boring, but very necessary! 

2. Create a FUN JAR

I would have put aside about 10% (or however much I could afford to put aside for that month) into a FUN JAR. This Fun Jar would fund my FUN stuff, like the things I mentioned in point 1 - holiday with my friends, buy stuff at the Cotton On sale, or treat myself on my birthday. 

Another plus point is that this amount can snowball. It's not like I go on a holiday every month - so at the end of three months, I could have as much as 30% of my income in my FUN JAR to spend! I highly recommend doing this alongside your emergency savings account. 

3. Manage the 90% as well as you manage the 10%

It has been indoctrinated in me that 10% of my income belongs to God and goes to tithes. As we tithe or pay our zakat, we are actually saying to God, "thank You for the sustenance and provision". So you can say that giving is a form of worship. 

I have been religiously giving 10% of my income to the church every month, without much thought to how I spend the remainder 90%. This year, I have been taught that all 100% belongs to God. I am merely a steward of the money that I have, and I have been a sucky steward of the 90%. MIND BLOWN! This principle (from Compass) changed the way I looked at my finances and how I manage it. 

4. Create a financial goal

It can be modest or outrageous, but have something to focus your energy and effort towards. Here are a few popular ones for those who are new in the workplace:

- Pay off student loans 

- Pay off hire purchase (car loan) ahead of time

- Set aside one month's salary in emergency savings

- Have a retirement plan (PRS)

And this one, I highly recommend to everyone to do - give your parents some money every month. They paid for the cost of your life, man. A small token for them each month would make them happy that you thought about them. It's not the amount, it's the thought.

5. Get a financial adviser/mentor

This person would not be a financial consultant, or a unit trust rep nor my insurance agent, but someone older, wiser and with more experience than me, who can help me plan out my finances with their great counsel. Uncles, aunties, your parents, your parent's friends. 

Mostly, I spoke with my mother regarding my monthly expenditure, but I do wish there were more people I could bounce my thoughts off with. "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed."

Finally, I hope you will be able to be content in whatever state you feel you are in - like Liz Lemon here.

Okay that's all for this series! I hope you learnt something. 

The Imitation Game & Suicide Squad Sneak Peek

Watched The Imitation Game recently, and I rate it above The Maze Runner. And because it has Benedict Cumberbatch, I also rate it above this year's Avengers movie.

The Imitation Game is a story about Alan Turing, a mathematician who cracked the German-made and owned Enigma machine/code during the World War II. The device he created, the Turing machine, became known as the rough prototype of the now-known-as Computer. Amazing! But he died young, committing suicide after a year of being exposed as a homosexual :'(

It's a good movie that tells the story beautifully, whether through dialogue, acting or the set. I think my mum would like this (I judge most movies by whether or not my mum will like it - she has great taste in a lot of things. Hi mum!)

In other news, the recent Comic Con has led to the inevitable release of the peek into Suicide Squad. Apparently the sneak peek was supposed to be exclusive to Comic Con, but after so many people pirated it online (in low quality), someone in Warner Bros. decided to upload the HQ because "it's meant to be seen in HQ" and of course news outlets everywhere went nuts with it. The release wasn't that hot in Malaysia though because racial tensions were on everyone's mind.

Here's the peek! (I think Margot Robbie is going to be the next Megan Fox)

6 Things I Wished Someone Told Me When I First Started a Job

Fresh out of college, first foot in the workplace; here's what I wish I could go back in time to tell myself:

1. You will no longer have the luxury of having dinner with the whole family 
Work will take up time. If it ain't work, it's the commute to/from work. If you can't leave work on time once a week to have dinner with them, always make it a point to have ONE meal with your family per week. Sometimes I do early breakfast with mum, before work, and sometimes I make it a car ride with my sister. Face to face time with family is important. (I really do wonder how working moms and dads do it!)

2. Keep a hobby, and keep it going
So you're a grown up now. That doesn't mean you have to abandon your interests! You can be playing board games, making art, practicing judo, hiking in jungles and going to raves when you were a teen, and you can still do it (and should!) when you're a little older.
Fun activities which we enjoy doing keep us passionate and interested, helping us to recharge and refresh to take on the daily grind. Also, when you were younger, you probably had less money to spend on your hobbies. When you're older, you get to spend more on your hobbies. Rather than walking in Taman Rakyat, you can now, for example, spend a weekend in Taman Negara.

3. Set a financial goal for yourself
Some popular ones include: Being financially independent by 25. Having an emergency savings fund of 6 month's expenses/salary stashed away. Putting aside 10% of income each month into a savings account (this one is tougher than it seems).
The whole point is to NOT spend away your whole month's income within that year. It's easy to earn money but difficult to save, and failing to plan for your income is planning to fail with your finances.

4. Meet up with like-minded people
I would recommend hanging out, catching up and being in touch with people who are working/in the marketplace. They can be your colleagues, or your college mates, or a group of close friends. The whole purpose of meeting with these people regularly is not just for networking and socializing, it is also for your (and their) personal and career growth.
Just to share, when my group of girl friends and I meet up to catch up, we always end up talking about work! These meet ups are sanity checks for us, and sometimes we get advise and encouragement from each other - whether to stay on and preserver in our workplace, or have the courage to speak up to our boss for a well-deserved raise. Never mind that we're in vastly different industries -  one's in a bank, one's with a start up and one's with a retail/fashion company.

5. Start praying for a life partner
Or, if you are already seeing someone, start planning for the future seriously. Maybe a 5 year plan? Idk. But if you, like me, are single when you've just started working, now's a good time to start praying for one. The first time I heard this advise ("You have to start praying for a life partner, even now"), it was from someone who was just gonna get married, and I was like Whuuuuut when he said it, 'cos it was not my priority at that time and I thought that my special someone would just be walking into my life. BUT there is benefit in seeking God's guidance for this.
As you pray for your life partner to manifest qualities you seek for, be prepared also to be the person who will attract someone like that.

6. Stop hating on kids
If you, like many of the people my age, hate kids, it's time to grow out of that. You are looking at the future leaders of Malaysia and it's time to treat them that way. Instead of throwing a death stare at the noisy kid in the airplane, ask him or her what they think of the current economy situation of the country.
LOL jokes. But there are ways to treat children well, and that way is to treat them as you would have liked to be treated  by adults when you were their age. I find it works remarkably well when I speak to them with sense, taking their opinions seriously.

7. Speaking of kids...Don't lose your childlike wonder!
I cringed as I typed that out, but what I mean by this cliched line is to have the curiosity and wonder of a young person through the many phases of life. You'll always find something to love or learn.


That's all from me for this click baitey article, hope you read to the end! *Thanks Daryl for pointing out that this has 7 not 6 things >.<, title not amended*
What do you wish someone told you when you first started a job?

song selection May 2015

Putting some songs here in case I forget about them. Thanks N for introducing me to the first two! 

This song ^ is so 90s but was probably made in the past few years only. Space/psychedelic rock can only be found on BFM so you obvs know where I heard it from.

Ok, yang ini betul2 dari 90s. It doesn't remind me of anything in my childhood though...

How to Answer the Question "What Do You Really Want To Do?"

Today, I was posed the question I feared the most.

The question I fear even more than "How are you?".

The question that I pretend I didn't know the answer to.

The question was,

"What do you really want to do?"

This is similar to a question posed by LS last year, when I told her I was leaving the agency. "Start with the end in mind. Otherwise, you'll find that time will fly by you, and you didn't even get to decide for yourself what you really want."

I really do think this question should be a must-answer for all SPM students. And to receive their SPM cert, they have to answer it legibly, logically and also with no fear for the future. This would seriously help them set a goal for the future and help them to work towards achieving it! As TP would say, "If you don't set a goal for yourself, how would you ever know where or what to work towards?"

That brings me back to one of my ambitions when I was in school. Back then, I did not like [no H8 mate] the education system SO MUCH that told myself I would become an education reformer for Malaysia. I would think of the best method of learning for students, how to make school a more collaborative environment and how to ensure students learned holistically.WOW! I sure had some great ideas then.

Today, I think my dream (well it's not even a dream...just ONE of the many things I envision myself enjoying doing until my interest lasts) is to be a magazine writer. WHAT, A MAGAZINE WRITER? REALLY? NOT EVEN AN EDITOR, AISHA? Yeah.

I've seen the perks that magazine writers get, man. Sponsored fam trips overseas, fine dining, tailored travel experiences, sneak peeks to newest products, goodies and freebies, and even the occasional celeb sighting. So enviable! But of course sometimes writers also get sent to cover weird assignments in less than stellar conditions...but I think the satisfaction of getting a great article published would really push me through all that. Why not editor? Cos editors have to edit other people's writing. Heh.

The question posed is quite hard to answer because the possibilities are ENDLESS, but I realize that if I don't answer that question myself, other people will (yaya I know, you've probably seen that quote on 9Gag before). Someone also told me that before from their own personal experience, and another person posed that question to me earlier this year - and both are way more senior than me in age and life, so I think there is definite value in The Question.

I really do see the importance in asking and answering The Question for yourself every now and then. It's crazy and it's scary, but you have to do it. If your heart is in the right place, I believe God will be for you and with you, whatever your plan is. Correct anot, correct anot.

So, what do you really want to do?

8 Days to June

Here we are, tumbling into the end of May when MAY JUST BEGAN LIKE, YESTERDAY. Man, this time thing is making me rage panic for no reason. Next thing you know, I'll be sending little Hibiscus Sunshine to her first day of kindergarden!

News items that people were talking about this week/month:

Taylor Swift's Bad Blood Music Video
Tay Tay rounded her posse of unbelievably talented girlfriends to start a "war" with Selena Gomez. They include Lena Dunham, Ellie Goulding and Cindy Crawford.

David Letterman retires
My late father used to watch his shows late at night, when it was still showing on NTV7. Didn't really got the jokes as a kid but watched it anyway since I was up at night LOL.

Briefly:

• Jared Leto as the Joker
• MadMen ends its run with an iconic Coca-Cola ad
• GOT gets fans riled up with an episode

Nobody Wants to Take in the Rohingyas and Bangladeshis in Boats
It's not just an issue between which-country-should-take-in-the-migrants, it's also the longstanding issue Burma has with the Rohingyas - which must be resolved or addressed at a more serious level. As I read, so far, Indonesia and Malaysia have accepted the boat people in for shelter after almost a week of dangerous "human ping pong". Providing shelter for these migrants/immigrants is a HUMANITARIAN thing. It does not condone the act of human trafficking. Just felt like I had to put it out there because a lot of Malaysians wanted them to die in the sea.

No Change to the 6% GST on Pre-Paid Reloads

Pre-paid top up is a serious business in Malaysia. This issue affects the people where it hurts them, because pre-paid is generally used by the lower income segment/migrants.

After GST came into effect, a 6% charge was put on top of your top up (i.e. You pay RM10.60 when you purchase a RM10 top up). Understandably people were upset, as this is not a service thing, and telcos have generally absorbed the 6% tax prior to the implementation of GST.

After a flip flop, the govt. decided that a user will only be charged GST when they use the credit. So you pay RM10 for an RM10 top up, but if you use it, you only get around RM9 worth of credit. 

Yes, this is definitely one of the more "WTF" moments of the month. 

That's pretty much all my 12am braind can think of (I am a morning person). On a personal note, I had a really good Friday night leading up to Saturday night. It must be the people and the fellowship and God, just God, all around.