nateniale's travels

It is a story that I have heard many times. The story about the thousands of starfish that had been washed up on the beach. A boy picked up the starfish and one at a time, he threw the starfish back into the water. Someone asked the boy why he is doing so, when he can't possibly save them all. "You can't possibly make a difference". The boy looked down, bent down to pick up another starfish, and threw it back into the sea. He replied, "I made a huge difference to that one!" Today, someone shared this story, and shared a heartfelt story about his life, his family and how he has not lost hope in his wife. And he shared, how insurance has helped to make a difference to his life and his family. As he shared his story, I reflected and thought - all the hard work and effort that I have put in to launch the product made a difference to his life and his family. In a way, I made a huge difference to him. The months that I have spent on the product is wort...

Read a few "days" from the blog " 40 Days of Dating " where two long-time friends decided to engage in an experiment where they started dating each other for 40 days, and told their stories through a series of daily blog posts. The posts were published on a daily basis, with beautiful and creative visuals. Each day both of them answer a series of questions. An interesting experiment, that uses the power of technology and through social websites became vastly popular. Who knows, maybe it will be turned into a movie one of these days. Snapshot taken from the website  40 Days of Dating .

A project to take a photo a day for the next year. Sounds like an ambitious undertaking? I felt so too! But I am intrigued by the idea. To think that a year later, I would be able to look back at the 366 photos taken over the year. Wonder what kind of memories it would evoke! By the way, it is 366 photos because 2012 is a leap year.  Well, I will start documenting this journey here . If everything goes right, will take me all the way to 20.12.2012.  Let's see how far it will go.

{ Movie : In Time } Love this movie poster. It has a great message. A great face (of Justin Timberlake, of course!). And easily summarises the movie.  { Click here for a list of movies I've watched  and other posts on movies  }

Have a good week ahead, everyone!

December is such a magical time, even for me who does not celebrate Christmas.  It is a time of reflections of the year gone by.  A time to be thankful for all that had been achieved.  A time to dream of the endless possibilities that the new year will bring.  Have a great December everyone! 

       Sitting on the steps of a church by the Grand Canal in Venice Looking down Cappadocia from the hot-air balloon Watching the sunrise from Alishan mountain Feeding elephants in Chiang Mai Sitting at the desk in the New York Public Library Stepping on the Lijiang's Old Town for the first time Moments like this are the reasons why I love travelling.  So, here's to many more moments that will take my breath away.

Been reading up on Paris and planning my trip to Europe next year .  And it has been raining everyday here in Singapore.  Which makes me wonder... how will Paris look like in the rain? { Photo from weheartit }

Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011 I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. Steve Jobs { Image by Jonathan Mak }

{ Singapore - October 2011 } Was at the ArtScience Museum over the weekend and saw Van Gogh Alive - The Exhibition, among others. Love the above saying from the artist, but I would put it this way: "To do good work one must eat well, be well housed, have one's travel from time to time, read one's books and drink one's coffee in peace" Have a great week ahead everyone, and remember to take that well deserved break!

After contemplating where we want to go next year , we have finally decided on Eastern Europe! It was a toss between Paris-Belgium-Holland and Germany-Austria-Czech, but there is just something fairy tale like about Eastern Europe that I am pretty sure I would love. Of course, I have always wanted to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany ! Now, what other countries should I add to the trip? { Photos of Charles Bridge in Prague and Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany }

Have a great weekend, full of love and laughter!

I've been seeing quite a lot of bird cages being used as home decorations lately, and I love the idea! It would look great just sitting at a corner of the house, or a great storage idea - say a small stack of books, empty bottles, or even small pots of plants.  Of course, why stop there when you can also have wallpapers and small miniature bird cages as pendant or keychains! 

How many cups of coffee do you need on a working day? I need at least two! But TGIF! Have a great weekend!

I have always wanted a world map on my wall, and pin all the places I have been. There was a map where you can scratch off the places you have been , and I would love to get my hands on that. However, while I find the perfect map to do that, I have made myself one! I bought a world map, stick it on a piece of thick cardboard and pin the places I have been. A simple, easy to do map of the world to track all the places that I have been. It also serves as a reminder that the world is very big and for every places that I have been, there are countless more that is waiting to be explored! { Click here for places that I have been } 

Sometimes, you just need to stop, relax and put the kettle on. Saw a range of "Keep Calm" posters that got me wondering what they are all about. Spotted the poster while shopping, but after searching for the posters online, I  found out  that it started from the British Government in 1939 at the beginning of World War II! Since it was rediscovered in 2000, a whole range of products had been produced and sold based on this. Isn't it great that the British Government started the craze? 

Remember that!  Have a pretty week ahead!     

Imagine asking people from all around the world to capture a part of their lives in one single day. The day was 24 July 2010. 4,500 hours were captured and edited into a 90-minute film.  Just watching the trailer reminds me of the reasons I love to travel - watching the lives of people in other parts of the world, experiencing their culture, feeling their love and sharing their happiness.  Can't wait to catch this movie!

Here's a handy diagram for the next time you're ordering your coffee.  I love all the coffee I had in Italy, but my favourite is the Macchiato!

ickle and Lardee. Yes, they're 2 miniature "toof", but they're cute. { Photo from My Milk Toof }