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Our Investment Portfolio

As a follow up on this post from 2018, it's time to revisit how our retirement savings strategy is going and review the breakdown of our investment portfolio. We're still in the accumulation phase and our savings/investments are pretty much on auto-pilot mode, with focus on maximizing all tax-advantaged accounts first. While we're nowhere near the withdrawal phase yet, it's important to do a periodic check to make sure our investment portfolio is 'well-balanced' for future withdrawals.

Traveling to Malaysia during COVID-19

I've recently returned to the US after spending 2 months in Malaysia. It had been 1.5 years since I last traveled internationally so I was looking forward to embark on this trip.

If you had asked me last year if I'd be willing to spend 2 extra weeks of my vacation and pay out of pocket to quarantine for 2 weeks in a hotel just to travel back to Malaysia, my answer was 'no'. That was with the expectation that things would be back to normal one year into the pandemic. However, 2021 is showing that Covid-19 will still be with us for awhile and most countries will not be lifting travel restrictions anytime soon.

10 Lessons from 10 Years of Work

5 January 2021 marks my 10th work anniversary. It's hard to believe 10 years have flown by since I first started work. Felt like it wasn't that long ago when we took the photo above during our new hire orientation at Sheraton Imperial KL. I am probably one of the few millennials who still work for the same company, doing the same job for a decade. What's different is that I'm now working in a different location, with a different title. Lots have changed but lots have remained the same over the years. While it hasn't been all rainbows and sunshine, I am thankful to be in good field and have a stable job for the first 10 years of my career.

18 Again: Heartwarming Lessons on Life and Love

2020 hasn't been a good year for the world, but thankfully this has been a great year for K-dramas. I decided to watch the new drama "18 Again" and ended up on another 20-hour binge-watch marathon, finishing all 16 episodes in one go. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this remake of Zac Efron's movie "17 Again", but this heartwarming drama is so good I would strongly recommend it to everyone.

Covid Cancellations Continue

Here we go again with another round of Covid cancellations. It has been 5 months since the 'shut down' began in the US, and I don't even know what else to say anymore about how poorly this country has handled the pandemic, as compared to the rest of the world (including many 'third-world' countries)

Covid Cancellations

For the next 4 weeks, I was supposed to be traveling back to Malaysia, spend 2 weeks home, attend a wedding, then meet up with hubby for a week-long trip in Japan. Obviously, all these are not happening. When I published this post in March, I was still hopeful that things would get better by now but obviously nope. The borders for most countries are still closed and international travel is still very much restricted. As of now, we have already cancelled/postponed two planned trips. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the world will figure out a way to get back to some sort of normalcy over the next few months.

Walking Through the Bamboo Forest

It's hard to believe that it has been 10 years since I started my career in Malaysia, and this is already my 6th year working in the US. I recently read a book called "Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling", and it made me reflect on my own experiences over the past 6 years, learning and navigating the American corporate culture. More importantly, it made me realize how much Confucian values (which is found in many Asian cultures) influenced my mindset, shaped my characters and behaviors in the workplace.

Our 'Crash Landing' Story

I haven't paid much attention to K-dramas over the past few years and the last drama I watched was probably 3 - 4 years ago. However, Crash Landing on You (CLOY) caught my interest, mainly because of Hyun Bin and I'm a sucker for romantic comedies. I was happy when I found out that it is on Netflix and ended up binge-watching all 16 episodes within 2 days. It has been more than a month since I finished watching the drama and I still can't get over it, horrible I know.

Life in the WWII Era

The world is currently battling a war against an invisible enemy and we are living through unprecedented times. The Covid-19 crisis is said to be the worst crisis since WWII. The impact of this crisis have been and will be felt across all aspects of our lives, and it will certainly change the world we once know, for better or worse.

Life in the Covid Era

We're only 3 months into the new decade and oh my, it feels like we've been through a decade already! The past 2 weeks had been crazy and it shows how quick and drastically things can change. Unfortunately, it looks like we're just in the beginning of this roller-coaster ride with no end in sight...

Planning a Points & Miles Trip to Hawaii

We have just returned from our Hawaii trip and it is going to take some time before I finish editing all the photos and posting the trip reports. In the meantime, I wanted to share how we planned for this trip using points and miles to reduce our costs significantly. Long story short, the entire planning process took about 10 months with multiple changes in between.

Our Credit Card Portfolio

For someone who enjoys traveling, the lucrative credit card sign-up bonuses in the US are amazing, especially when all you get for opening a credit card in Malaysia is a free luggage bag. I was hoping to start building our credit card portfolio as soon as I moved to the US, however, I realized very quickly (when my Chase Freedom application was declined) that I wasn't gonna get approved for any credit cards without credit history.

8 Nights in 5-Star Hotels for Free

After booking the flights for our 'Asian Hopper' trip, our next task was to sort out the accommodation for 1-week in Taiwan and 1-night in Hong Kong.

IHG Accelerate Promo - 105,000 Points!

IHG hasn't been on my radar in the past as I've always preferred SPG (now Marriott) when I travel for work. It wasn't until last year when I started planning for our New Zealand trip that I started looking more into IHG and was able to score 6 free hotel nights in New Zealand for 108,000 IHG points.

United Excursionist Itinerary - Asian Hopper

When I was planning for our Malaysia trip this year, I knew I wanted to use our United miles for this trip. Being someone who's always looking for ways to make the most of our hard-earned points and miles, I started looking for routes and options to utilize the Excursionist perk.

British Airways Avios Sweet Spot

Back in January, I used United's Excursionist perk to book our September trip to Malaysia with a stopover in Taiwan, followed by an open jaw from Hong Kong to KL. That means we'll have to find a way to travel one-way from Taipei to Hong Kong.

The cheapest award to fly between these two cities is using 4,500 British Airways Avios miles. BA uses a distance-based award chart so it's incredibly useful for short flights like this.

2 Weeks in New Zealand & Fiji for $600 - Cost Breakdown

After our trip to Iceland this past summer, our second trip of the year brought us to the South Pacific. Iceland and New Zealand...two expensive "lands" within a year, what were we thinking?! Surprisingly, the total "all-in" cost for the both of us was less than ONE round-trip economy flight ticket from the US to New Zealand. =) Read on to find out where we went, what we did, and how much we spent.

Travel to New Zealand & Fiji With Points and Miles

To celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary, we are traveling to Fiji & New Zealand!! From Iceland to New Zealand, two expensive destinations within a year, this is definitely a year of "travel splurge"!! My goal for this 15-day trip to the South Pacific is to spend less than what we spent for Iceland, do you think it is possible? Read on to find out how we plan to accomplish this goal.
(Hint: Credit card rewards)

Hotel Review: Courtyard Tokyo Station

Tokyo was our longest stop during our 2017 Round-the-World trip. As we all know, Tokyo is an expensive city, and spending 7 nights in Tokyo would cost a lot of $$$. However, we were able stay 7-nights at a 4-star hotel in Tokyo for $0. Thanks to Marriott's awesome 7-night travel package.

The Privileged Minority

Growing up in Malaysia, we've always been the minority (Chinese makes up 20.8% of the population as of 2018), but personally, I've never really felt like a minority. When I compare myself to minorities in many other parts of the world, it made me realize how starkly different my experience was, and how lucky I was to grow up in Malaysia being a minority. While some may say that Chinese (and other minorities) in Malaysia are discriminated or considered second class citizens, I choose to look at it from a different lens...

Not Crazy Rich, But Proudly Malaysian

I don't usually go to the movies (can't even remember the last time I went to a movie theater), but Crazy Rich Asians was one that I've been wanting to watch since I saw the trailer few months back. I've always enjoyed rom-com so this one is right up my alley. Coincidentally, the movie was released around our birthdays so the opening weekend was a perfect timing for a movie date.

I thought this movie was fitting to celebrate our 10th year of knowing each other and gave us the opportunity to walk down memory lane.

Adiós SPG

Almost 2 years after the announcement of the SPG-Marriott merger on September 23rd, 2016, these 2 loyalty programs are finally merging on August 18th, 2018.

SPG has been my preferred loyalty program since I first signed up for it in April 2015. Even though I'm a lil' bummed that the program is rolling into Marriott's big umbrella, I can't really say it's all bad as I've benefited a pretty good bit from the merger and have certainly enjoyed all the perks and benefits.

One Year!

This time a year ago, I published this blog/website and was looking forward to embark on our Round-the-World trip. Here's a quick recap of what I've 'accomplished' on this blog/website in the past year...

Hotel Review: The Majestic Hotel KL, Malaysia

During my recent home trip to Malaysia, I decided to spend a night in Kuala Lumpur as my flight landed in KL close to midnight and there weren't any flights to Penang after midnight. Besides, I had a free night certificate from the 2017 Marriott Fall Megabonus (earned from 2 stays) that was expiring in June 2018, so this trip was a good time to use it.

The Rookie Guide to Traveling Iceland in a Camper Van

This was our first time traveling in a camper van, and I think we did pretty well considering all of us were 'rookies' in camper-vanning. We had an amazing and memorable time traveling around Iceland in a camper van, and a big part of it is because we did our 'homework' beforehand to prepare for the trip. Now that we've successfully completed our trip, here are some guides and tips to help you plan for your own adventure!

The True Value of Points and Miles

If you look at my website, it's pretty obvious that I LOVE traveling. Of course, I love points and miles because they help reduce our travel cost. Over the last 2 years, we've upped our travel rewards game and were able to utilize points and miles to reduce our travel expenses.

Iceland Campervan - Rent.is Review

We just returned from our Iceland trip and had an amazing time camper-vanning around the country! This was our first time traveling in a camper van and Iceland was the perfect place to do it.

We rented our camper van from Rent.is, which had a great website filled with useful resources and camper stories, but we couldn't find many reviews elsewhere in the blog-sphere. We had very positive experience renting from them and I felt they deserved a genuine review.

Piecing Together a Trip from US to Malaysia for $450

Since I moved to the US in 2014, I've made it a point to go home at least once a year to spend time with family, and I'm glad I've been able to do so over the last 3 years. Deciding the timing for this year's home trip was made easy by the following factors:

Of Luck & Hard Work

Browsing through my 30 Before 30 list, I won't deny that I have been incredibly fortunate to have had all these wonderful experiences. Some may say I'm just lucky or that I'm rich to be able to do all these. No I'm not rich, and yes luck played a part, but luck didn't just fall from the sky. I've also put in a lot of hard work and seized many opportunities along the way to build up these experiences and to get to where I am today. Most importantly, I didn't squander my 'luck'.

As the saying goes, "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity" - Seneca. I value working hard to create your own luck and I don't believe in sheer dumb luck (unless I win a lottery one day).

My Uniquely Uniqlo Wardrobe

Judge me all you want, but I'm an oddball female who doesn't like shopping and I have zero interest in buying trendy clothes. However, I have to at least dress decent and adhere to the business-casual dress code for work, and that's really my main 'motivation' to shop for clothes. I would happily wear uniform if it was an option, but those school days were long gone. =P Anyway, I'm the kind of person who will go shopping once in a blue moon, stock up on few outfits that fit me well, and wear the same thing over and over again until they tear (wear and tear literally).

Retirement Saving Strategies in the US

When I first relocated to the US with my job 3 years ago, I remember being provided with a 47-page new hire benefits book during the orientation, and was immediately overwhelmed by all the new information I had to digest within a short period of time. The benefits book included information about all different types of insurance plans, savings plans, and a bunch of other benefits. It was also filled with terms like High Deductible, HSA, FSA, 401(k), Short-term disability, etc.

In Malaysia, retirement savings are done through Employee Provident Fund (EPF), a government-managed retirement savings scheme. The EPF requires mandatory monthly contributions by both the employee (11%) and employer (12% or 13%) directly through automatic salary deduction. I was a total stranger to the 401(k) retirement savings plan, and I have to make my own contribution investment elections??

How Much Did We Spend on Our Wedding?

We are celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary this year. To celebrate this milestone, I decided to put together this unromantic and nerdy post of how much we spent on our wedding. =P Feel free to guess the total amount based on the following details:

Hint: Expensive enough to buy a 5-year old used car (maybe).

How Far Can You Fly with $400?

How far do you think you can fly with $400? Well, $413 to be exact. Of course, the answer is...it depends. Just like how some people think traveling is expensive, and wonder how we could afford traveling the world (while still being financially savvy).

Here are two separate round-trip flight tickets I booked recently, costing approximately $400 each.

Lounge Hopping for Free with United Club Card

When I booked the flights for our round-the-world trip, I knew that the travel would be intense with several red-eye flights and long layovers. Even better, they are all in economy. =P You can say we are crazy, but that's the benefit of being young, do it while we can right? Fortunately, we had access to United Club and Star Alliance lounges in various airports, thanks to the United Club Card (read on to find out how we got it for free). It certainly made our travels much more enjoyable and comfortable. So which lounges have we visited?

Hobby Hacking - Enjoy More for Less

Many people have the misconception that saving money or being frugal is all about delayed gratification. While I do agree that some sacrifices have to be made now in exchange for financial freedom in the future, I am also a strong proponent of living in the present and enjoying the journey along the way. These two may sound contradicting but pursuing financial independence doesn't mean we should put off our happiness until we reach the finish line. After all, we never know if tomorrow or tragedy will come first.

How Much Does it Cost to Travel Around-the-World?

In August 2017, we embarked on a trip around-the-world visiting 5 countries:

International Geoarbitrage - Cost of Living Showdown

Having worked and lived in two countries, I've had the opportunity to experience the differences in cost of living between the two places I call home - Penang, Malaysia and Huntsville, Alabama.

Before I dive into the numbers, here are some interesting facts about these two cities.

Thankful for 3 Years - Work Edition

1 Dec 2014...the day I pressed the 'reset' button and started my career anew in this country. It's hard to believe that 3 years have flown by!

I was on a Friday evening flight home after a week-long work trip recently. As I looked around, I can't help but to notice that most passengers were American men traveling for work.

The Creepy 30s

Turning 30 is a milestone worth celebrating. For many of my peers and friends who were born in 1987, this is our year. I reckon that at some point during the year, we've spent some time doing some self-reflection, and maybe give ourselves a pat on the back for what we've accomplished thus far.

Renting a Car in Cape Town

While planning for our trip to Cape Town, we knew we wanted to explore several scenic areas outside of the city, and the best option was to rent a car. Note that South Africa is a right-hand drive country (i.e. drive on the left side of the road, steering wheel on the right side of the car), that means it's a total opposite of driving in the US. If you're up for the challenge, read on.

The Lifetime Table

Have you ever envisioned how your lifetime will look like in the form of a table?

This is how a typical lifetime looks like for most people (based on the assumption that we're healthy and lucky enough to live till 75). Looks normal isn't it?

London Layover on a Budget

During our recent Round-the-World trip, we had a 12-hour layover in London en route to Cape Town, South Africa. I've visited London before but hubby hasn't, so instead of waiting all day in the airport, we decided to take the opportunity to explore the city. Here's what we did.

Shortcuts to Elite Statuses

For a not-so-frequent traveler like me, elite status is not something easily attainable. Besides, I usually opt for the most cost-efficient option for leisure travels, so that doesn’t help much with accumulating the number of nights, stays, or miles required for elite statuses.

Travel Around-the-World for Free (almost)

To celebrate my recent promotion and 30th birthday, I decided to splurge and reward myself with a Round-the-World trip!! =P 4 continents, 6 countries, 13 flights...this is how the itinerary looks like:

Turning 30...a New Milestone

2017 is a year of celebrating milestones. The major one, of course, is turning 30! This year also marks my 10th year of blogging. To commemorate these milestones, I decided to create this new website, and named it 'ALABA+MA+LAYSIA', which reflects where I currently live and where I came from.

Creating this website gave me to opportunity to reflect on the past, count my blessings for a fulfilling 30 years, and look forward to what life has to offer in my 30s. As I inch closer to the big 3-0, this has been a great way to pause, reflect, and be thankful for all the experiences that I've had thus far.

Archives

May 2021

Traveling to Malaysia during COVID-19 + Hotel Quarantine

January 2021

November 2020

18 Again: Heartwarming Lessons on Life, Love, and Everything In Between

August 2020

COVID Cancellations Continue

June 2020

May 2020

Our 'Crash Landing' Story

April 2020

Life in the WWII Era

March 2020

Life in the Covid Era

December 2019

August 2019

8 Nights in 5-Star Hotels for Free

July 2019

IHG Accelerate Promo - 105,000 Points!

May 2019

December 2018

2 Weeks in New Zealand & Fiji for $600 - Cost Breakdown

October 2018

Travel to New Zealand & Fiji With Points and Miles

September 2018

August 2018

July 2018

June 2018

May 2018

Piecing Together a Home Trip for $450

March 2018

February 2018

December 2017

November 2017

October 2017

September 2017

August 2017