I used to travel a lot but now I'm a homebody with a lot of side hustles.
Author: Liau Yun Qing
Yun Qing is a writer, improviser and curious person. She loves finding little adventures in life. In 2013, she went on a 130-day round-the-world trip. She wrote a book "Your Big Break" to help those who also want to go on a career break.
I had a contractor help with the renovation. I didn’t want to spend extra on an interior designer since what I want is not that complicated–Japandi feel kind of home.
In the video, I talk about the biggest change I made–tearing down the store room and pushing the space in so I have a bigger living room space.
The walls still need to be painted and the floor needs to be vinyled (is that a word?)
I hope to film more of the house renovation progress. And also make more videos after moving in.
The YQ(travelling) then feels so distant from the YQ(magic) now.
Who am I today?
At this point, I’m in a state of limbo when it comes to actively living off my life.
I’m at a cruising point–doing the same thing again and again without making any changes.
I have the excuse that I will start living more consciously after I move into my new house. (Oh, I became a Singaporean in late 2021 so I could buy a house on my own.)
I am working as an e-commerce operations person at a local supplements wholesaler. But I never use this identity when I meet people–my job is just not as exciting for me to use an identifier.
I had major surgeries in 2021 to remove a tumour in my jaw. I now have braces which I might be able to remove in a year’s time.
Who am I?
Hello, this is me in a dress.
As you can see, I don’t exactly have a coherent identity. I have too many things I like to do.
All of them are me. But each one of them alone is not the whole me.
I sometimes wonder if I’m being deceptive about my identity. But I can honestly say I am not so that’s not true.
I wasn’t so sure what I wanted to say with the post but I want to say “Hi” to anyone who drops by. I hope to write more here but it wouldn’t be coming from the point of YQtravelling who travels to different countries.
Maybe YQtravelling means “moving”–which at this point I’m not but I hope to get back to it.
I’m unfortunately in the C-word era so many flats developments are stalled and the ones available for OBF for singles haven’t been finished yet.
The leftover flats have lower floors and a very tight ethnic quota. So the houses that I can buy are not very ideal.
But I did manage to look around and found one in Yishun that I would consider.
The worst part was that even the earliest I could get my keys was late 2022. (And that’s being optimistic.)
You can filter the houses according to race and time.
But the flats are definitely very cheap. The one I looked at was only about $110,000–but prices can change depending on the location.
On the day of Open Booking of Flats, you want to have your Singpass app and PayNow payment ready because you’ll need them.
I was already camping at the website at 11.50pm. I think many people had the same idea since the computer hung for many minutes.
When midnight came, I tried logging in my desktop and it didn’t move. I hopped on to my phone but it was very difficult to navigate. So I went back to my computer and by that time, it was 12.06am when I logged in.
Most of the details you need to fill in are those that were from the HLE letter application. You can also use an easy “Retrieve my Info with Singpass” to fill in parts of the form.
I did finally get a queue number and I heaved a sigh of relief.
It was 00195 and the queue was for the next day at 3.45pm.
Before going to HDB to pick your flat
You will need to track which flats are sold out before heading over.
Have a list of which flat units you are ok with so you can actually pick when you’re there.
I knew that I was only considering Yishun Glen (and I didn’t want it that much neither.)
Documents to prepare
Here are the items they require:
Identity card(s) of all person(s) listed in your application (bring a copy too)
Income documents for latest 3 or 6 months (depending on your nature of employment) — bring 12 months of payslip and CPF contributions
Option Fee (payable by NETS)
It’s C-vid season now so don’t bring too many people to HDB with you.
Wait for your queue number and put your option feed down for the flat.
My final decision
At first I planned to put $500 option fee down to “book” a unit while I hunted for resale flats.
Then the HDB lady said that should I decide to pull out, I won’t be able to buy a new house for a whole year.
So I decided not to take the flat this time.
I still have a choice of Sale of Balance of Flats in November, and also looking for a resale unit.
A reporter from local broadsheet Straits Times found me through my most popular post and wanted to ask for my comments on the new service. Thankfully, I caught his e-mail in time as my e-mail notification pinged while I was staring at my phone.
I prepared for the interview by reading on the background of the new service. I even jotted down “juicy” quotes that would make me look slightly unhinged but endearingly colorful to the audience.
The reporter called and we had a 12-minute chat during which I sounded bipolar. I was totally against the service at one point, talking passionately about its cons but at another point, I discovered its merits. I couldn’t make up my mind.
Still, the reporter summed it up in two sentences and made me look like a very practical traveller (which I am).
I did request that he use “travel blogger” as my job title as “marketing exec” seems like a totally irrelevant commenter on this subject. He obliged. Thank you, good sir.
My sister sent this this morning.
The report came out on Page A2 on Straits Times and also on My Paper. I can now officially say that I was on the news as a travel blogger.
Prompt #2: When, where, what, and with who is the story of your travel origin?
I used to hate travelling when I was a kid. I didn’t like that I couldn’t sleep in my bed. I didn’t like having to meet strange new adults whom my mother seem to know.
I rarely went for any sleepovers while I grew up so I ended up terribly homesick in the first year in university. Almost every evening, I would secretly cry in my room.
It was a tough time. Then I decided to end it. Enough was enough. Crying is a tiring business and I really need to stop.
So I did. I stopped crying for home and decided to enjoy life.
My very first solo trip was when I was on student exchange in the second half of my second year at university. I was studying in the south of China…
The news outlets reported that there will be six long weekends in 2016. But if your workplaces gives you off-in-lieu for Saturday public holidays (not all companies do), you actually have eight long weekends (nine if you take leave on 8 August, Monday).
I really love weekend travels. Even though this means that my trip is short, I don’t want to use my work leave. I’m a hoarder even when it comes to annual leave.
If you are planning to go for more weekend travels in 2016, I recommend these locations to go for their yummy yummy food.
Ipoh, Malaysia
I would visit Ipoh again and again for its food. It might not be as famous as Penang for its local food but that little town serves really good chicken.
Beansprout chicken feast in Ipoh.
How to reach Ipoh from Singapore:
Long-distance bus (7 to 8 hours)
Several bus companies run Singapore – Ipoh routes.
Airplane (1 hour 35 minutes) Firefly and Tigerair has flights between Singapore and Ipoh. Remember to research on the timing.
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Pronounced as “Jogjakarta”, the town on the Java Island is home to gorgeous historical sites such as Borobudur and Prambanan. But the food is fantastic too.
Nasi gudeg
I was deceived by nasi gudeg the first time I ate it. I thought the dish had a surprisingly generous serving of beef boiled so soft that I don’t have to chew it like a cow. Later found out that the “beef” is actually young jackfruit. I was disappointed but it’s still a very tasty dish.
Mie and siomay
I also had the best mie while in Yogyakarta. It was in a noodle shop inside the main shopping mall. The noodles were springy and seasoned lightly with soy sauce.
How to reach Yogyakarta from Singapore:
Airplane (2 hours 15 minutes)
AirAsia flies to Yogyakarta at a rather good timing. But the flight back leaves in the morning which is annoying.
If you find the flight timing for Yogyakarta terrible, your second best choice is Jakarta since it is the capital. There you can drink all the avocado juice you like.
Bangkok, Thailand
I went to Bangkok for my birthday in April, spending a three-day weekend there. I ate normal stuff like pad thai, I didn’t eat enough food. I still haven’t tried Mango Sticky Rice.
Pad Thai
How to reach Bangkok from Singapore:
Airplane (2 hours 25 minutes)
Loads of budget airlines fly from Singapore to Bangkok. Pick those with good departure and return timings so you can maximize your trip.
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
When I was in university staying in the dorm, my Vietnamese neighbors would cook with fish sauce. The potent smell wasn’t to my taste so I avoided Vietnamese food.
Then I went to Vietnam and I discovered that fish sauce is kind of like durian–stinky when you smell it but delicious when you taste it. I also discovered many other deliciousness that doesn’t involve fish sauce.
Vietnamese Pho
Declious banh mi (Vietnamese baguette) in Saigon
Extremely addictive Vietnamese Coffee.
How to reach Ho Chi Minh from Singapore:
Airplane: (2 hours 5 minutes)
Loads of budget airlines fly from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh. As usual, pick those with good departure and return timings so you can maximize your trip.
Shanghai, China
I would travel to Shanghai for just a weekend so I can eat the food. In fact, I’m doing it at the end of May.
My tongue still longs for the taste of shengjianbao: dumplings fried on one side ’til crispy. Take a bit and the soup flows out so you have to slurp it up fast. After two slurps, you can eat the meat along with the crunchy part.
The most delicious tiny buns/dumplings: shengjianbao
Can you look at these delicate 小笼包 (xiao long bao) and not feel like licking your screen?
The home-cooked style restaurants in Shanghai are fantastic too. The soups come in porcelain basins and the servings are gigantic. I loved Grandma’s Place (a chain restaurant) when I was in Shanghai.
A feast at Grandma’s Place.
How to reach Shanghai from Singapore:
Airplane (5 hours 25 minutes direct)
Choosing a plane with a good timing is critical. I am taking Malaysian Airlines so I will reach Shanghai early at 7:30am on my first day and leave at 2pm-ish on my last day.
Another good alternative is Taiwan if you don’t want to fly that far to Shanghai.
Besides reminiscing my travels with my mother, I also share tips on how to survive a trip with your mother (as in the plural “you”). You should also check out the previous guest blogger on Pamela’s website, Agnes, who has really good tips on how to travel with your mother.
(I had this blog post in my draft since July 2, 2013. I’ve decided to just post this up despite the lack of text. A picture speaks a thousand words, I guess.)
Act I: Reaching town
The trip to Kamakura in 2012 was totally impromptu. I was planning to head to Yokohama with my N’EX and Suica package but changed my mind when I saw that the ticket covers Kamakura.
Despite being a city person, I love old towns more than cities. The trip to Kamakura from the airport was quite long. I fell asleep on the train.
The sky was cloudy when I reached. It took me a while to find an empty locker to store my luggage.
Act II Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū
Act III Before, during, after the rain
It was pouring when I left the shrine. I stood at the corner of a street to wait for the rain to stop a little. It didn’t stop that much.
I’m happy to announce that I will be travelling more frequently in the coming months. Hurray!
Here my travel schedule as my attempt at art:
Among the places I will be going to, Surabaya is a city I’ve not been to yet. Jakarta and Bangkok are two cities where I’ve only visited for two days. I will be adding another two days to each of them.
As in the past, I’ll be doing a lot of weekend travelling. There are two long weekends that I will be travelling (May and August). I didn’t know Good Friday’s date or else my Jakarta trip would have been longer.
A year of not travelling (much)
As a travel blogger, it’s quite silly that I haven’t been travelling. But as a person, I feel it’s liberating that I didn’t need to escape to a foreign land every other month.
While not travelling, I have been keeping myself occupied with
video games (specifically Skyrim)–but I’ve neglected this these few months
YQtravelling 