It's official. I've been back at grad school for 10 days (as of writing this blog post if not posting it) and I'm already inundated with readings, essays, presentations which doesn't even begin to include all the extra-curriculars and internships hunting activities we need to casually shoulder on the side. After an extended time off last semester (thank you 'rona), it feels even more intimidating to step into the fray and keep up with my never-ending to-do list. But this year is different. This is the year I refuse to vacillate between stressful 14-hour days scrambling to finish a research paper due at 9am the next morning (a very specific example that may or may not have happened before), followed by listless weekends of just exhaustion, sleep and recovery.

Happy New Year! Well, we're well into the second week of 2021 now so I'm off to a stellar start. But since the concept of time is extremely flexible or completely irrelevant now, depending on your POV, I'm going to forge ahead with my new year start anyways.

It's only fitting that my first ever post in 2020 is a rambling travel-related piece because if COVID-19 and the resulting months of quarantine have taught us anything, it is how to be introspective, not to take the good things in life for granted, and in my case, how to take risks and just go for it. So here I am, living vicariously through my old adventures and chronicling one of my most epic South-East Asia trips: Vietnam

“2020 was a strange year.” Sounds like a ridiculous understatement doesn’t it? As disruptive and difficult and just plain weird as it has been living through it, I keep wondering how I’m going to look back at this year and describe it to someone 5, 10, even 15 years down the line. 

If you live in a cramped little apartment in any major metropolitan city, attempting a workout at home can seem like a terrible idea. There’s barely any space to move, you can’t stomp or jump around (unless you want your neighbours banging at your door), and there is absolutely no room for fancy equipment. If like me, you’ve really enjoyed the convenience and efficacy of home workouts and have decided to incorporate them into your daily routine going forward, there are some pieces of equipment that have helped me take the challenge to the next level (without having to set up a whole gym in-house).