Elizabeth Tai's Blog, page 13

Confessions of a morning lark

Yes. I admit it. I can be terribly chirpy in the morning.

This fascinating article about whether you’re a night or morning person got me thinking about how I love being a morning lark, and how life is infinitely better if you respect your natural body clock.

I am one of those annoying creatures who bounce out of bed in the morning with a smile on my face. (Okay, that’s if I had a good night’s sleep - if I didn’t, all bets are off!)

Have I always been a morning lark? Not really. For the longest...

Book Notes: Dangerous Books for Girls

Dangerous Books for Girls

The bad reputation of romance novels explained

Author: Maya Rodale

“Oh, romance novels? Aren’t the stories always the same?”

“All she reads are romance novels. She needs to read more deeply.”

We romance novel readers get a lot of flack. There seems to be an assumption that if you read romance you are shallow, not interested in the deeper things of life and well, we can go on but we shall not.

I suppose the fact of the matter is this - people look down on the romance genre...

10 things I cut from my budget

Photo by Porapak

Ever since I started my journey to be debt-free, I've cut out a lot of things from my budget. So much so that when I look back at the person I used to be, I wondered why in the world I bought all that stuff. They certainly didn't make me happy!

Personal finance is really easy. It comes down to this: Just don't spend more than you earn. Really.

And what's one way to ensure that you don't spend more money than you earn?

You cut out unnecessary expenditure.

I firmly believe that mo...

5 books about scandals you can't believed actually happened

Scandals, conspiracies and misdeeds. We can’t seem to get enough of them. Malaysians, for one, are still crazy about a certain financial scandal, gossiping about it till this day.

There are just some scandals that makes your jaw drop. Scandals that belong in the, “Can you believe this happened?” category. Here are more reads to stoke the fire:

BILLION DOLLAR WHALE

Authors: Tom Wright & Bradley Hope

Yes, of course I have to mention this book again because I still can’t believe it happened. Or ra...

Book Mania: Billion Dollar Whale & Sarawak Report

They say Malaysians don’t read much, but you wouldn’t believe that when you see the long, long queues at Kinokuniya KLCC a few weeks ago.

Tom Wright, one of the writers of Billion Dollar Whale - the tell-all about Jho Low - was in town. Everyone wanted a piece of his book and maybe, of him.

(In case you’re not aware, Jho Low was one of the masterminds behind the 1MDB financial scandal, most probably the biggest financial scandal the world has ever seen. And little ol’ Malaysia is highlighted i...

From Laid off IT worker to businesswoman: Sharnila's journey

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When you start a business, there's no "half-half" commitment, says Sharnila. "You have to be 100% all in."

Last year, Sharnila Pillai received the notice every worker dreads: She was being laid off.

However, the software engineer wasn’t surprised. The economy was going downhill and a lot of her friends being were being let go. 

“So, I knew it was coming,” she said when we met at a cafe in Kuala Lumpur. “At first I was very upset when I lost my job. I knew it was not very easy to get another jo...

Movie review: Restoration

Ah. 2004. When you had to fly across the world JUST to get a DVD of a movie you're dying to watch. Good times. In this #FlashbackFriday post, I reflect on a Robert Downey Jr movie that made me think of God's redeeming love.

August 21, 2004A tale of redemption

For the past few days I've been obsessed about the movie Restoration. I absolutely adore the movie. Unfortunately it's just not in Malaysia! I've been searching high and low for the DVD, and like the Emma Thompson, Kenneth Brannagh Shakesp...

Tweaking my blog's content strategy

Photo by Format from Pexels

Last week, I reflected on 14 years of blogging. I've changed a lot as a blogger since then. My content strategy has changed massively as well. For one, after years and years of keeping niche blogs, I'm now a nicheless blogger and happy to be one.

Now with new goals on the horizon, I believe it's time for another shift in my blog's content strategy.

At first I drew up an aggressive plan. It was beautiful, solid and very cool.

If there was three of me, that is.

I knew i...

My Blogging Evolution: Reflecting on 14+ years of blogging. Yes, 14.

Photo by @corinnekutz

I've been writing on the web since the days of Rocketmail, dial up and Geocities.

I wrote my first blog post in 1999. I literally built each blog post by HTML-ing them because free blogging platforms (ie Blogger) were not widely available yet. Back then, I sporadically chronicled my life in Perth as a Journalism student. But hard coding every blog post was tedious. As a result, I blogged very sporadically.

2004-2006: the oversharing years

I began to blog seriously around 2...

Chilling at Cyberview Resort & Spa - a review

There are about three pools at Cyberview Resort & Spa. But we prefer the more private pool at Sembunyi Spa.

“Finally, I’m going on a holiday!” I gushed to a colleague.

“Oh, good! Where are you going? Thailand? Australia?”

“Cyberjaya!”

He looked at me blankly.

“Cyberview Resort! And I got my chalet at 75% off too!”

Another blank look.

So, okay. Cyberjaya isn’t the Destination to Die For when it comes to vacations. But I was sold on Cyberview Resort & Spa when I saw gorgeous photos of their gardens...