The Power of Belief

I recently finished the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and it really changes your perspective on things. The narrative was mix of research and anecdotal storytelling, which I really enjoyed. It relayed information that could be considered boring if told wrong, through different stories that proved what the author was trying to convey, which is how powerful habits are.

A big takeaway I got from the book was how strong belief plays into changing your habits, or creating good ones. It’s not only being consciously aware that you have these habits but it’s the belief that you can change or that you can do what you set out to do. Once you get past the hard part, that is starting something challenging, and you keep in mind that you can continue to go on, even though it’s hard and it sucks and/or it physically and mentally hurts to continue doing something, it is then you can truly form a habit. Because the hard part does get easier and eventually it’s something that you do without even thinking about it. And from that habit, other good habits can come from it.

A good habit that I want to form and that I’ve always struggled with was exercising. I’ve eventually just said that it isn’t for everyone and I’m just one of those people, I’ll never learn to love it. I’ve always had a negative mindset that I can’t exercise, and maybe that’s where I went wrong. I’ve never actually made it past the hard part of exercising, but with a new outlook after reading this book, I’m going to try again. But this time the big difference is that I’ll believe in myself. I’ll also keep in mind all the tools I was given in this book and see if I could form the good habit of exercising and getting in shape. I know it’ll be challenging and it’s not something that will happen over night but at least now I believe in my ability to do it.

The Time I was Attacked in Seoul

I’ve never had a more of a straight out of a comedy movie moment than when I was attacked in Seoul, South Korea, by a bidet.

Picture this: It’s 11pm, my friend and I just came from a long “hard” day of roaming the streets of Seoul and so of course we wanted to refuel and what better way to that than with some Korean Barbecue. We stop into one of the many Korean BBQ places on the street and got a table.

My friend decided that she needed to use the bathroom, so while she went and did that, I was settling into my seat, setting up vlog camera and what not. Just then my friend comes back from the bathroom in a panic trying to explain to me the horrible thing that has just happened to her. She tells me about the toilet and how it had so many buttons and how she just wanted to flush the toilet. In a rush she goes on to say how she pressed one of the buttons and something comes out of the toilet and starts spraying water at her and she pressed up against the side of the bathroom stall trying not to get sprayed. Now I’m just sitting there laughing my ass off at this experience she just had, thinking really, flushing the toilet isn’t rocket science.

I then decided that I also need to use the bathroom. So I go upstairs, use the bathroom and its my turn to flush the toilet. I’m looking at the many different buttons, careful not to press the button my friend said she pressed. Now I’m confident, I’m like “I got this, I totally know what I’m doing.” I press a button that I think will flush the toilet and I see the device begin to come out of the toilet. In the moment all I could think was “ohhh, this is what she was talking about.” (You really have to see it to understand.)

Did I think to step back or that the toilet was going to start spraying water? No I did not. So when it does, it comes as a total surprise. (Remember what my friend did, she pressed up against the side of the stall so it wouldn’t hit her.) Well that was not my approach. I had opened the stall door already in case something was to happen. The device proceeds to start spraying water. I yell at the top of my lungs and run out of the stall to the bathroom door. I was in the first stall so it was directly in front of the bathroom door. I didn’t realize that the water would travel so far, so when it was still coming at me, I bang against the locked bathroom door trying to turn the knob in a panic to get the hell out of there. I somehow manage to get the door open and I run out of the bathroom down the stairs screaming frantically like I was being murdered. The waitresses and my friend comes up to ask me if everything is okay. I try to explain what happened and all my friend has to say is “Didn’t I just tell you that this happened to me?”

There you have it, the time I was attacked by a bidet. Sad part is, I came in contact with a bidet another time and I noticed that the flush was right where it was supposed to be, but because we were so distracted by all the buttons we didn’t even notice it.

Wok Wok Southeast Asian Kitchen

The other night, my friend took me to a Malaysian restaurant, Wok Wok, in Chinatown, Manhattan. Now this is not the first time I’ve had Malaysian food, it was the second and it was my first time at this restaurant. Before we went my friend sent me a Facebook link where I could sign up and get a free appetizer/snack. I did that and the appetizer I chose were the sweet chili wings and let me say, I highly recommend. We ordered a few dishes and shared them. My friend recommended the pork chops, she said they’re not known for their rice dishes, even though there was an abundance of them on the menu. We got the BBQ pork chops and they were top-notch, although I do recommend pairing it with a fried rice dish, at least that’s what I eat any BBQ with. I chose the pearl noodles. The flavors were all there and it tasted good, however I was not a big fan of the noodles itself because they were chewy and I’m just not a huge fan of chewy stuff, personal preference. Then on the side we had the roti and curry chicken. The roti is more flaky than the ones I usually have but all in all it was good and paired well with the curry chicken. I would definitely go back to this place for dinner. No pictures unfortunately, except for the grainy ones I took for my Instagram story. But you can follow me on there and be sure to keep up with my journeys through the city.

Pic from a different night

New Year, New . . . Show?

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you enjoyed it and got drunk or brunch or whatever. My new year was spent playing UNO and watching Lucifer. Now I said that this is now a lifestyle blog and promised you posts about things going on in my life. Sometimes that includes spending days upon days binge watching TV shows.

My latest obsession, as you can probably tell by me mentioning it in the paragraph above, is Lucifer. My friend introduced me to it — well not technically, she was just making a comment about how she forgot how good it was and I took that as a recommendation and ran with it.

Anyway the point is I’ve been watching it all day, I got caught up in the drama and comedic points of the story, that I couldn’t help but to keep click next episode. I’m on season two right now and this is basically how I spent my new year. How has yours been?

Note to Self: Tips on Traveling With Only a Carry On

Every time I pack for traveling, I think I got this, I’ve done it a few times before, I definitely know what I’m doing now. However, by the end of the trip I find that it turns out I know nothing at all. Take my most recent trip for instance. I went to Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin and decided to only take a carry on because let’s face it I’m budget traveling and checked luggage is expensive. I flew with three different airlines with three different set of rules. My main leg of the trip, going in and out of the states, was with Norwegian and they have a 10kg limit on both your personal item and hang luggage combined. I somehow managed to make it through, even though I was a little over. Then for my next two flights, I flew with Transavia and they are even stricter, 10kg and no personal item everything must be combined. I barely bought anything in Amsterdam and ended up throwing out stuff including my personal item bag and traded it in for a tote, which is lighter, somehow I was still over the limit. Luckily they didn’t charge me.

My last Transavia flight, I did the self check-in so they didn’t check the luggage weight, but it was a struggle. I stuffed a lot of my stuff into a hole in my coat pocket and by everything I mean a journal, a paperback novel, my camera, my case with my wires, a hat, a fold up bag, and my battery pack. I was also wearing four layers of clothing including two sweaters and two shirts. Then two bottoms (I gotten rid of one already and only one was left in my suitcase), a leather jacket and my coat. Standing there checking in was awful, I was burning up from all the layers I was wearing. Eventually, I took off my coat but I still had to lug it around with all the weight of my smuggled items in it. I wasn’t sure if they were going to weigh the luggage at the gate so I didn’t want to put anything inside.

For my last flight back to the states, I was lucky. Even though I stuffed myself with everything and wore almost all my clothes, they didn’t weigh my bag when I went to check in. Now we’re not always that lucky, so I was being better safe than sorry. Overall my experience traveling with only a carry on for a longer trip was a struggle, but I somehow survived. However, because I’m sure I’m going to think I’ve got everything down next time, I made myself a little checklist to save me the trouble of so much struggling.

So here are a few guidelines to remind myself when packing:

1. Only carry what’s absolutely necessary. You don’t need ten tops and three bottoms while winter traveling, chances are they won’t be seen in pictures anyway because you’ll be wearing a coat! Just rewear clothing! You also don’t need TWO freaking jackets!
2. Only one shoe, no matter how badly you want to bring two, just make the one comfortable and stylish! And bring some gosh darn shower slippers if you’re going to bring a second shoe and/or staying in a hostel.
3. If taking multiple flights, no electronics besides your phone! I brought my camera and didn’t even use it! And I only used my ipad on the flight, I can just download the movies on my phone.
4. Make sure you makeup and toiletries are in non-leaking containers, oh and that you have enough toiletries so you don’t run out nearing the end of your trip, it’s may be almost the end but you still have a few days to go in which you want to look your best.
5. Just pack smarter not harder.

Hopefully I will take these tips into account when traveling with only a carry on again, i.e. next month— but that’s a weekend trip so I got this! Right, right?

What’s happened so far . . .

It’s been a while, six months to be exact. During that time, I finished my teaching contract in China, moved back to the states, started school, got a part-time job and just trying to live my life to the fullest, that about sums it up. But let’s break it down. In August, I finished my teaching contract, most of the year I was pretty confused about what I was going to do next. I wanted to move to Germany and go to school but things didn’t line up exactly where I wanted them. Instead I decided to give myself a year to actually focus on my career and goals. I said that if I give it my all for a year, I can at least say that I tried and I will still be young enough to run off and continue being reckless with my life. So here I am enrolled in a publishing program, because if you don’t know this about me but I love books and I love reading and to be able to do that for a living was always a dream of mine. I’m only taking two classes, so of course I had to find something to do with the rest of my time in the meanwhile. I got a part-time job at a start up company and I’ve been gaining new experiences from that and learning a lot.

This post is basically my fresh start. I’m renewing this blog. I want to write more. About my experiences, about my life, my interests. Before it was just about traveling but I’m not a full-time traveler so I just kind of let my blog slip, but I’m back and I’m better than ever. This is me actually taking into account the name of this blog, which is fawning over life, my life. So here’s to seeing where life takes me next!