Seppia's journal

Where are you and where are you going?
Cheepnis
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by Cheepnis »

I don't know the history behind it but those signs are pretty common wherever a reclaimed water system is in use. I always kind of assumed it was an American bureaucratic thing so it's interesting that those signs show up in Australia too.

Jason

Re: Seppia's journal

Post by Jason »

Well, I investigated the matter and the best answer I could find was that in instances of emergency, when water is not accessible, people may resort to drinking out of toilets. This sign would provide notice it was not healthy.

Frugalchicos
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by Frugalchicos »

Catching up with your journal and I must say you have a pretty impressive set up man. Good job!

Trieste somehow reminds me to my hometown. Right by the ocean, compact and gorgeous :)

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Seppia
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by Seppia »

@Solvent it wasn't intended to be a joke on Adelaidians, it's just that when I saw that sign I pictured in my mind Random Person X filling his travel mug in the urinal, seeing the sign and going "oh, can't do that here I guess, the water is recycled" :lol:

@chico thanks :)

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Seppia
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by Seppia »

April 2019

In April I wasn't able to stay below my 2004 budget, because of the planned purchase of second hand furniture and a couple gifts.
Still, financially it was an excellent month as I got a good bonus at work + I sold a couple mid priced watches (my beloved Grand Seiko SBGX065 and a Breitling Aerospace from the mid 2000s) in an effort to become less attached to things.
It hurt a bit (especially the Grand Seiko), but I sold them well, recouping slightly more than 100% of what I originally paid for.
Unsurprisingly, my life has not suffered any drop in quality since then.

The only bad news came from the markets, that keep becoming more expensive.
I'm confident that in the next 10-15 years my Euro/EM heavy allocation will do better than an S&P driven one, but I'd rather be buying cheaper as "EU/EM aren't super expensive" doesn't exactly sound awesome either, in general terms.
The way I see it is that the longer the market stays high, the longer I'll have to work, so this kinda sucks.

Savings rate for the year is above budget so far, at 83% YTD. I do expect it to be lower by year end, but I'll do my best to beat my 2017 record of 75% (it will be unlikely as in 2017 I benefited from some larger than normal bonus payments).

I'm excited as a kid as in a few days I'll be at the Metallica concert in Milan. Last time I saw them it was the year 2003, hopefully they still kick ass \m/

This month my travels brought me again to South Korea, where I had the chance to add a quick afternoon of roaming around the East Coast durng a market visit with my distributor.
We visited a nice local farmer's market...

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Where I had yet another confirmation that South Koreans like unusual foods.
Pictured below, a sun-dried Alien Facehugger, which they eat either in soups or on the barbecue.
Koreans are badass.

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Next we went to the top of a mountain close to a Buddhist temple, with a great view and a spectacular garden.

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The second part of my trip was in Hong Kong, god do I like this place.
The colors at dusk are quite spectacular.

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Plus the city is so unique and recongnizable.

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Have a great weekend ladies and gents

Tyler9000
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by Tyler9000 »

Love the pics! It's great to see you taking advantage of all the travel to explore. The world is a beautiful place, and you have a rare opportunity to see corners of it that most people will never experience.

classical_Liberal
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by classical_Liberal »

Another one who always enjoys your pics!

I last saw Metallica circa 1995 when they were touring with GnR. That was quite the concert! I'm pretty sure they started 2 hours late too, so everyone was pretty buzzed up by then, making the experience even better.

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jennypenny
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by jennypenny »

DD is trying to get a job in Hong Kong when she's done working in Nanjing because she loves it, too.

Funny, she also loves Metallica ... you two could be besties lol.

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Seppia
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by Seppia »

Thanks to all for the nice comments.
@jp what's her field of work? I have some pretty good contacts in HK so I could probably help if she's in something close to FMCG. Feel free to send a Pm for more details.

May

Financially, May was a pretty good month.
I again wasn't able to stay under my 2004 budget, but only because I decided to pay for the full year insurance on my small apartment in my hometown. Not making any excuses, but in 2004 I owned no apartments, and in any case, close enough.
Savings rate is pretty much stable at 84% YTD.

Work wise, something may be changing/evolving.
I'm still waiting to hear from the top dogs in the company, but hopefully I may be able to realize my dream of moving to Asia within the next 12 months.
Keeping fingers crossed

Early in the month, I went to the Metallica concert in Milan with my little sister.
We had a blast but it was POURING rain, and unfortunately only about 1/3rd of the playlist was taken from albums from the 1980s.
Still great

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My work brought me to a long trip in SE asia, touching Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.
I had the chance to see a friend of mine who works as the head pizza chef in one of the best pizzeria in Hanoi. He's pretty good:

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Hanoi is really cool, now I want to visit Saigon which they say is even better.

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I am doing some aggressive cost cutting on every discretionary purchase, but I'm not giving up on things I love.
During the weekend in Thailand I was able to sneak in a full day of diving on Phi Phi island.
The water temp was 30C, so I was able to dive without a suit. If you have ever tried it, you know what a fantastic sensation that is.
The feeling of freedom is unparalleled.

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Have a great month!

2Birds1Stone
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

Wow Seppia! you are living the dream, sir.

Giving me even more wanderlust for Asia! Can't wait to visit some of those countries next year. So close, yet so far!

How were the sights while diving off Phi Phi island? Is it coral, wreck, or something different all together?

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Seppia
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by Seppia »

I feel obliged to say that I always post the pics of the good times, but that usually is 1.5 days out of the two weeks trip :lol:
The rest is a hellish mix of jet lag, an average of 10 flights in 12 days, customer visits, planning sessions and (mosltly boring) dinners.

It wouldn't look so great if I posted pictures of those times...
:lol:

Phi Phi is mostly Coral, some of it damaged during the lat years (mix of Tsunami and bleaching) but the abundance of life is incredible, probably the densenst fauna I've seen so far in my life.

slowtraveler
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by slowtraveler »

That's no different than all the travel bloggers, long intervals between the climaxes but life is beautiful as it is and yours seems very fulfilling.

I love reading your experiences. Hanoi was also a favorite of mine. I'm hoping to get to Ho Chi Min and take trains/buses all the way to Hanoi while stopping a few days to months in about 10 towns I've read about. I fell in love with the bahn mi's, weather, and general vibe in Vietnam. It's the only country so far, besides Thailand, that I'd want to see long term.

Can I ask, what company and how much for the dives? I'm also hoping to work my way down the coastal Southern Thailand strip this year or next.

classical_Liberal
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by classical_Liberal »

Seppia's Facebooking up his journal? :shock: :o :shock:

chenda
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by chenda »

Lovely pictures, we need more pictures on the forum. Aspirational.

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jennypenny
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by jennypenny »

Seppia wrote:
Mon Jun 10, 2019 10:05 am
@jp what's her field of work? I have some pretty good contacts in HK so I could probably help if she's in something close to FMCG. Feel free to send a Pm for more details.
She a linguist, so a different field, but thank you so much for the offer.

The pics are great. I haven't been out on the water the last couple of years. I need to find time to don my fins this summer.

Solvent
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by Solvent »

Generally Hanoi is more popular with tourists, I think, because it has more historical sights. The weather's a bit more variable too, it almost has a winter. HCMC's great though. I really want to try living there a while. It's about the cheapest city in the world that I'm familiar with, in terms of decent accommodation, food and transport.*

I've been in an apartment there for a few weeks for the delivery of my 2nd-born. Very much enjoyed it. But you know, with a heavily pregnant wife I've not been getting out and about much.

*I'm not familiar with very many, so limited comparisons...

niemand
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by niemand »

Stopping by to say I really enjoy your journal. You’re posting photos of many places I’m familiar with . . .
Seppia wrote:
Mon Jun 10, 2019 12:06 pm
I feel obliged to say that I always post the pics of the good times, but that usually is 1.5 days out of the two weeks trip :lol:
The rest is a hellish mix of jet lag, an average of 10 flights in 12 days, customer visits, planning sessions and (mosltly boring) dinners.
...
I feel you. Thing is for me, after a few trips to the same place, I’ll only do fly-in fly-outs, no more touristing. To me it’s mostly a drag, rather be home with DD and DW. I admire how you seem to be able to muster the energy to keep doing fun things while travelling on business. Wish I still had your attitude. Maybe I’m just old. Although we’re probably the same age :)

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Seppia
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by Seppia »

Thanks all for the kind comments :D
slowtraveler wrote:
Mon Jun 10, 2019 12:31 pm
Can I ask, what company and how much for the dives? I'm also hoping to work my way down the coastal Southern Thailand strip this year or next.
I used Super Divers and was very happy. including food, gear rental, hotel pickup/dropoff it was THB 4000 for three dives (full day trip). There's an additional THB 600 Phi Phi ISland park fee
Solvent wrote:
Wed Jun 12, 2019 7:16 am
I've been in an apartment there for a few weeks for the delivery of my 2nd-born. Very much enjoyed it. But you know, with a heavily pregnant wife I've not been getting out and about much.
May I ask how you figured out to stay?
I saw my visa at entry lasted only 15 days, which was surprisingly low.
niemand wrote:
Fri Jun 14, 2019 10:48 pm
I feel you. Thing is for me, after a few trips to the same place, I’ll only do fly-in fly-outs, no more touristing. To me it’s mostly a drag, rather be home with DD and DW. I admire how you seem to be able to muster the energy to keep doing fun things while travelling on business. Wish I still had your attitude.
Unfortunately it's not like I have a real choice: I'm headquartered in Italy for now, so I'm almost obliged to do two week trips - there's always a weekend.
I have to say I really enjoy this part of my job, but one of the reasons why I really want to move to HK or anywhere in the region is to be allowed to be home almost all weekends.
I really love my wife, and being far away so often (even if we're used to it) is pretty tough.

Solvent
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by Solvent »

There is a visa exemption , for certain circumstances. Allows for either 90 or 180 day stays.

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Seppia
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Re: Seppia's journal

Post by Seppia »

@Solvent: thanks a lot

Life

I have been extremely impacted by this post from bigato's journal.
What I saw in that post is a person at peace with himself, perfectly comfortable in his own skin.
It got me thinking that this is, in short, the goal that I have been reaching for in my life, and I was wondering how close I may be to that.
It is obviously a condition that is constantly evolving (we have good and bad moments), but in a general sense I feel I'm getting close.
The reasons are in part contextual (I like my new job, my friends and family members are mostly happy and in good health), in part structural (my wife and I have a fantastic relationship) and in part a result of my personal evolution as a human being.

It is also now almost official: it looks like we will be moving to Hong Kong in the not so distant future. Exact timing TBC, I would guess somewhere at the beginning of next year. Both DW and I are extremely pumped about this opportunity to have another interesting life experience after our years in France and New York.

Overall, it's a fantastic place to be in. I am thankful every day for how lucky I am.

Finances

June was a fairly bad month financially, due to a combination of higher expenses and unforeseen taxes.
Higher expenses came from opportunities to buy something at an unusually low price.

A shop in LA was doing some clearance and had a 60% discount on all Arc'teryx "leaf" gear (the stuff they do for police/military).
I snagged a Leaf Gen 2 Jacket for 60% off

Then on the forums I had an opportunity to purchase a couple Seiko watches for cheap by USA standards, which translates to "well below market value" here in Europe.
I expect to enjoy them for a year or so, then probably resell them for a small profit to pass along the great deal I had.

WRT to taxes, here in Italy the employer normally takes care of 100% of your payroll/income taxes in advance, so that the only taxes one has to pay during tax season are usually related to foreign profits and any real estate properties.
What happened though is that there was a (luckily minor) screwup when I changed employers, so had to pay an extra 2.5% of my net 2018 earnings.
I did not count these taxes as "expenses", but I took them off my monthly net salary instead.

All in all this brought my savings rate all the way down to 42%. YTD number is still at 81%, so all is good.

Work Trip

I just got back from a work trip that brought me to Japan (Osaka, Tokyo and Sendai), Taiwan and Hong Kong.
I only had the time to do a little visiting in the Kansai area (Osaka), and it was super cool.

Osaka can be charming and crazy, like most cities in Japan

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One of the highlights of the city is the Kaiyukan, the world's largest aquarium.
Seeing two 10 meters long whale sharks is pretty impressive

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This is Japan's giant crab. Giant as in "one meter tall", so pretty giant.

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Nara (40 minutes by train away from Osaka) is the old capital of feudal Japan, and is full of beautiful parks and historical buildings

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In terms of weird food tasted, this is roasted tuna head:

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Fabulously juicy

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In Taipei, I got to try this soup made with tripes and tongue, that combined with ginger, lemongrass and other spices led to one of the most incredible broths I have ever tasted in my lifetime.

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