30-Day Challenge #2 - Meditate Everyday

It has been a while since my last 30-Day Challenge and here I am, ready to take on another challenge. This time, I intend to meditate everyday. There are many benefits of meditation and since I am already waking up at 6AM everyday, why not start to meditate as soon as I wake up, to make my morning even more meaningful and start the day right.

I intend to meditate 5 minutes a day for a start. My ideal time would be 15 minutes a day.

Here are my steps:

1. I installed an app known as Insight Timer and set the duration to 5 minutes
2. I will sit cross-legged on the ground and overlap my hands. Keep my back and head up and then close my eyes.
3. When the timer goes off, I open my eyes slowly.  

I will write about the effect on me after 30 days. Meanwhile, you may read up on this link for more information too.

Find Three Hobbies You Love

I chanced upon this while browsing Facebook and it stuck with me. I decided to identify/find the 3 hobbies that fulfill the above.

1) One To Make You Money
This will be trading!! Trading forex will fall into this because it is a hobby that makes me money!

2) One To Keep You In Shape
I think I will need to make this running. I have yet to enjoy running but I believe I will find passion in this again since I used to really enjoy it.

3) One To Be Creative
This is tricky. Should I learn freehand sketching? Painting? Piano? Ok, I shall learn how to play the keyboard. I don't have a keyboard at home but I guess it isn't expensive. Well, for now, let me think about this third hobby and I shall update it again in future.

RD Admires #1 Jiro Ono

I believe each one of us will have somebody who inspires or motivates us or whom we look up to. That person can be anyone. You may have always admired your father's hardworking attitude or sense of responsibility or your mother's unconditional love for you and family etc. It may not be a person or human being, sometimes it can be just some motivational phrases or quotes that make an impact in your life.

I have decided to write about people/inspirational/motivational quotes or movies that resonated to me or made an impact in my life. I shall start with Jiro Ono as I have recently just watched 'Jiro Dreams of Sushi'. 

In the documentary/movie 'Jiro Dreams of Sushi', I learnt some wonderful pointers from him. He wasn't successful by chance but he was committed to be successful.

#1 Once you decide on your occupation...You must immerse yourself in your work. You have to fall in love with your work. Never complain about your job. You must dedicate your life to mastering your skill. That's the secret of success...and is the key to being regarded honorably.

This relates deeply to me. I was enlightened by what he said and I find that it is true. I often find that after I am in a job for a while, I get bored with it and start to complain. I need to immerse myself in my work and fall in love with my work. This not only makes me look forward to work, but I also realized I am performing better at work than before because each day, I know there will be something I can learn and be better at.

#2 I do the same thing over and over, improving bit by bit

Don't be afraid of having the same routine every day. Even while we are doing the same thing every single day, we must strive to be better than our 'yesterday's self'. Never be complacent. The minute details and small incremental improvement will mold our self into a better self eventually. We may not see it not, but we will see it one day.

There are a few other wonderful pointers which you can read here. Personally, i resonated with the above 2 pointers more than others. 

So how about you yourself? Who do you look up to and why? Or do you also have a particular quote to keep yourself motivated?

RD Goes to Korea

This is going to be a lengthy post about my trip to Korea  with fiance in May this year. I have finally found time to blog and upload videos of the trip. 

Brief Summary of the Trip
Singapore - South Korea - Jeju - South Korea - Singapore

I flew to South Korea via Singapore Airlines and landed safely at Seoul-Incheon International Airport. The flight time was about 6 hours. Upon arriving at the Airport, I bought a KAL Limousine bus ticket to travel to Novotel in Gangnam area to meet the fiance there. He was there earlier for business trip.

Gangnam, South Korea
Dinner was Heamultang Live Seafood in Gangnam, which was an eye-opener for me as I have never experienced watching live seafood cooked and served right before my eyes. The soup was delicious and seafood tasted very fresh. You can watch the video here.

I also had Korean BBQ while in Gangnam. Although we also have Korean BBQ in Singapore, but it just tasted different when you have it in Korea. The first picture was BBQ pork and the yellow liquid surrounding the hot plate was egg. The second picture was an eel in the midst of being cooked. The meat was quite rubbery and hard. 

 

I wouldn't want to bore you with too much words and a picture speaks a thousand words, I shall just post the photos of this trip, accompanied by some short descriptions where applicable.

We were lucky to arrive and witness the marching performance outside Gyeongbokgung. You can watch the video here. Below are some more pictures taken inside Gyeongbokgung.

We also went to other temple and then to N Seoul Tower.

We also made time to head to National Palace Museum of Korea.

We went to LOTTE Mart but didn't take much pictures as we were busy stocking up snacks to bring to Singapore. I very much would like to bring the beetle home as pet but couldn't. Fiance bought the raw crab back for our parents to taste. I didn't like the taste of it, tried once would be enough.

One of the highlight of our Korea trip was the Panmunjom DMZ tour. I encourage all to give it a try once. We weren't able to take much picture and was told to behave and not point fingers at the North Korean soldiers too.

Myeong-dong

We shopped for masks and other cosmetic products at this shopping districts in Seoul. Fiance loves cats a lot and so we made a trip to the cat cafe for a short rest and patting the cats. 

Jeju - Manjanngul Cave

Another highlight is this cave in Jeju City. I love it!

Jeju - Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak)
It was very tiring to trek up to the top. The top is remarkably beautiful. I had captured some videos which you can view it here, here and here.

Cheonjiyeon Falls

Didn't snap much picture but took a few nice videos. You can view it here and here. The sound from the waterfall makes one feel relaxed and close to nature.

Cheonjiyeon, meaning "God's pond", derives its name from the legend that the seven fairies serving the King of Heaven came down to the pond on stairs of cloud and bathed in its clean waters.

Random Photos in Jeju

And finally, all the food we had!