Thoughts Over The Vacation

Hello friends,

Here are some of the thoughts that have been lingering on my mind throughout my vacation.

1. The most optimized solution isn't necessarily the best solution. Handling different currencies has given me some polarizing thoughts of which is the best action I should follow in terms of maximizing my monetary value. I just realized that money changers generally doesn't accept coins. Only paper money is accepted due to the ease of handling paper money. As such, my priorities in every expenditure would be to finish off the coins first before using a bank note, whenever possible. So I've been thinking of ways to solve this coins issue because to think of finishing off coins is more cumbersome than I expected due to some currencies has up to eight coin denominations. Very confusing to juggle all that denominations especially when you're at the cashier with a huge line behind you. So the solution I found is to use a credit card. Some online materials suggest that a credit card would be the go-to method for managing expenditure because it doesn't involve physical currency and each transaction would be recorded. So you'll know where your money goes. However, the downside of it is that the bank fees could be ridiculous so the total would be expensive. There is a solution for this one as well which involves using the BigPay card. It works like a debit card but the most intriguing aspect of using it is that it's from mastercard so pretty much it is accepted almost everywhere. So at this juncture, I've been thinking, which approach is the most optimized way? Should I spend more on the credit card bank fees and earn credit card points along the way OR should I try my best to reduce the cost in total and use BigPay/cash by hedging the bank fees and choosing the best exchange rate? In order to get the definite answer to this, I figured that I need to know the worth of the credit card points and the amount of money I saved in exchange rates and bank fees. However even then, the answer couldn't be definitive because there are certain cases where the shops/restaurant itself would make customers pay for the 2% transaction fees because they do not want to carry that cost on their side. Seeing the time I've spent deep diving into the hole of finding the most optimized solution has cost me unnecessary feeling of restlessness because I'm not optimizing the cost at its best. Thus, for the time being, the conclusion I have for myself is to carry currencies in cash or in BigPay debit. The reason being, cash in hands gives me more sense of solitude knowing that it is accepted without any stipulations being imposed on credit cards. I would say that it is only favorable for me to use credit cards is when the points per ringgit spend is several multiples so that the amount redeemable has a higher value.
2. The entertainment bubble. Yesterday evening, we went downtown to enjoy the ambiance of the Friday night. Observing variety of ways the locals carry themselves into the bubble of entertainment. Everything was very lively and I realized that this part of life, embracing the bubble of entertainment, may be one of the most important thing I need in life. Currently, I would say that I have several bubbles in my life that I denote as very important as pillars of the well-being of my life. I have my running bubble, aquponics/sustainable sytem bubble, blogging bubble and finance/investing bubble. All those bubble are crucial as the general traits that mold me into a better person. However, it lacks entertainment. A bubble that I truly reserve for my source of joy and indulge. I get that happiness is created and the source could be everything, but I seek the happiness that I know I can turn to whenever I feel like it. There's not many thing that I find great joy in doing but I guess the quest to identify that joy starts now. Shopping or arts? Maybe?
3. Compartmentalize my brain to focus on one thing at a time. I noticed that some people are able to channel their energy and focus into doing one thing. Regardless of the outcome, the process of focusing on doing one task makes the whole journey a more meaningful one. I've been thinking of reason why some are better at doing this while others, like me, are struggling a bit in doing so. The reason I conjured up so far is that they are able to block out other distractions, even though there are a lot to think about of the process, and just look at that one particular task at hand. There are always things to think about, to plan, to research before doing anything. So if I could just accept the fact that those things will come, why worry about its coming? It's better to stay composed and let it come and just be ready when the time has come. In other words, I'll put that future thing in the next compartment in my brain and focus only on the current compartment I'm looking.

That is all for today. More to come hopefully. Thanks for visiting, friends!