Tag Archives: To-Do

My Bucket List – Bhutan

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One of India’s neighbours, a country which puts National  Gross Happiness ahead of everything, the last Himalayan Kingdom and a country with stunning natural beauty, it’s obvious that a country like Bhutan would be on my Travel Bucket List and is a place I want to visit sooner than later.

 

The country’s landscape ranges from lush subtropical plains in the south to the sub-alpine Himalayan mountains in the north. Since the 17th century, the official name of Bhutan has been Druk yul (country of the Drukpa Lineage, the Dragon People, or the Land of the Thunder Dragon, a reference to the country’s dominant Buddhist sect) and Bhutan only appears in English-language official correspondence.

 

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Thimpu – Source

Getting into Bhutan is slightly more difficult than other countries because there are restrictions for citizens of countries other than India, Bangladesh and Maldives who must have a visa before they get into the country. All tourists must book their travel through a local licensed tour operator (or international partner). Visas are applied for online by your local tour operator and it is not required that you visit a Bhutanese Embassy or consulate. Your holiday must be paid in full, via a wire transfer, to the Tourism Council of Bhutan account before a tourist visa is issued. The money remains with the Tourism Council until your travel in-country is complete before the local tour operator is paid. The total cost for a Bhutanese visa is $250 a day during tourist high season and $200 a day for low season. This includes basic accommodation, transportation, meals, plenty of bottled water and special entry fees. Discounts apply for minors and larger groups, while surcharges exist for groups smaller than 3. Surcharges also exist for upgrading hotels, transportation, and meals.

 

The only exceptions for having to book a tour as a condition for being allowed to visit are for those who receive a formal invitation to Bhutan from “a citizen of some standing” or a volunteer organisation, and those who come as guests of the Bhutanese government.

Ok, now to the nice parts – the stunning scenery and vistas which make people call Bhutan ‘the last Shangri La’

 

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Tigers Nest, Paro – Source

 

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Haa Valley – Source

 

Paro and Thimpu: Paro is the place where the international airport is situated. In Paro, you should definitely visit the Paro Dzong and the National Museum. Don’t forget to make you a have the stamina to make the hike up to the dramatic Tiger’s Nest, Taktshang Goemba, and visit lovely Kyichu Lhakhang.

 

In Thimpu, make sure you squeeze in a long day trip over the Dochu La to Punakha Dzong, the most beautiful dzong in the country and try to visit the Chimi Lhakhang, the temple of the ‘Divine Madman’.

Also, if time permits, go to the weekend market and visit Cheri Goemba or Tango Goemba in the upper Thimphu valley. If handicrafts are your thing, hit the National Textile Museum and National Institute for Zorig Chusum.

 

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Jigme Dorji National Park – Source

If you have more time in the country, try to go to on an overnight trip to the Haa Valley and also spend some time in the Bumthang Valley. Other places to visit, time permitting, include Mongar, Punakha, Phuentsholing, Samdrup Jongkhar, Trongsa, the various National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries including the Jigme Dorji National Park, Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park, Royal Manas National Park, Thrumshingla National Park, Bomdeling Wildlife Sanctuary, Khaling Wildlife Sanctuary, Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary, Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary and Toorsa Strict Nature Reserve

 

 

This post is now making me super eager to visit this beautiful country, the sooner than later. So if you have been to Bhutan or are planning a trip there soon, do comment below. I’d love to hear from you.

 

 

 

Life’s Current Bucket List

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I keep thinking of life in and after May when I will be unemployed and I have decided that I am going to start keeping a list of things I want to do, something like a bucket list. These are all things that have been in the back burner for a while now while I was busy, but now that I will have the time, I plan to start working on them. Knowing me, I know I probably won’t do all, I am hoping I get to accomplish at least 75% of them….

The list, which may change as I go through them, is below and I am putting it here to make myself accountable. I’ve sorted them into groups so that it makes more sense to me. they are in no particular order, in fact they are as they occurred to me!

Self Improvement

Study: Aha, caught you on this right! While I do want to study based on my interests, what I meant by study is to actually do BB & GG’s coursework. With no income, I don’t have the money to spend on tuition, which is very expensive for secondary school. The hourly rate is in the rate of SGD 100 and with more subjects where they may need help, I definitely can’t afford this. So one of my goals is to start studying their syllabus and then teach them. It can’t be that difficult right? I mean I have a Masters degree and this is high school stuff! But whom I am kidding, I’m terrified and fear that I’ll mess up. But this is something I need to do and will do. Humanities should not be too difficult since I was a humanities student during college, it’s the maths and science subjects which terrify me!

Self-Learning: Speaking of studying, I keep getting emails from Coursera and I am quite tempted to take up some courses. I will do that as well as learn about photography from websites and videos. I’ve wanted to take photography courses for ages now and this is the right time to do it I think. I also want to learn how to put on makeup. My usual daily make-up is moisturizer, sunscreen, some CC powder and kohl pencil and a swipe of lipstick. I have no clue on how to apply other makeup and this seems to be a good time to learn. This is a fun thing to do I guess and also as GG starts growing, I am sure she will start wanting to experiment with makeup sooner than later and if I know something about it, it’ll make her learning so much simpler.

Investing: I have been fascinated with investing for a while now. I am student of Economics and Finance (though my studies seem very far away these days) and I plan to use this time to really study investing. I am going to study the Singapore stock market for a while and then based on what I have learned, I plan to invest a hypothetical SGD 10,000 on some stocks and track them for a few months. If I manage to get even 10% returns, I will do this with real money! May not be as much as my hypothetical money, but it will be a start.

Online Shopping: Another thing I’ve been trying to understand for a while now, but not gathered the courage to do much. I do buy online, but am always wondering if I have gotten the best deal? I did some work on e-commerce a few weeks back as part of my work and saw the power of the Chinese e-commerce sites, especially Tabao. So I want to research these sites and see if it’s really that worth it and try to do some online shopping!

Writing: I’ve always written and I think one of my long established dream is to be a published author. I’ve never really taken steps to do this and this will be the time I actually do something about it. My interest is in books and stories for children and I want to write some stories and send it to a publisher to see if they are good enough. I don’t have any creative writing background and so will also use this time to research on this – if there are some online courses, I am going to take them, or even if I can find something in my local universities. I also want to research and write some decent articles for this blog.

Work: I am also contemplating starting something on my own – there was an article on the Straits Times this weekend on freelance work and to me it seemed like a sign. I’ve signed up in one of the freelance sites I’ve used in this company before. While unemployed, I need to see if this will be to generate some income.

Exercise and eat well: My perennial favourite! I want to start walking again and this time I have a good reason – to beat my diabetes once and for all! I want to start walking again on a regular basis and eventually move to running. This time I plan to see if this works for me or no (I’ve tried running before but couldn’t keep it up) as well as eat well and avoid mindless snacking. I am also very seriously planning to go without sugar. I’ve seen some videos on what sugar does to you and this is quite tempting. It will be easier if everyone does it together, so I am going to have to brainwash my family to be in it too!

Home Improvement

Organise: Do a thorough clean-up and organizing of the house. I have tons of ideas and want to get rid of stuff (I am a certified pack-rat) as well as do some organizing projects.I plan to split this room by room over a period of time so that it does not get too overwhelming and I lose steam before I finish.

Housekeeping: I’ve never been a great housekeeper, preferring to do all the other, wonderful things you can do with your time. I’ve pretty much always relied on outside help to do things I don’t like to do and this is what I plan to change this time around. I plan to research the best way to clean my home and also figure out the best way to schedule my cleaning, such that with an initial effort but not much after that, the house is in good condition all the time. I also want to do work I don’t like and get those out of the way. I have a very low ‘icky factor’ and this is something I want to work on.

Food: My cooking in the last few years has been mundane and routine. Once R leaves, this is another area where I want to improve in. R’s repertoire is quite limited and the children and S get quite tired with the same old dishes week after week. So I want to plan menus where I can do international cuisine, both which can be taken to school as lunches as well as slightly more elaborate ones for weekends and dinners. While I am decent cook, Indian cooking does not really leave itself to much baking skills. Add to the fact that we are vegetarians, so my baking skills are really sub-par. I want to use this time to really start baking, not only making cakes and cupcakes, but also things like quiches and scones.

So there you have it! A ton of projects to do. And since I have committed it to doing it here, I really hope this will help me be accountable to myself. Let’s see what I can accomplish and how long!