A personal blog — honest, first-person notes on travel, cuisine, finance, the digital life, and the occasional musing.https://thawaio.com/enhttps://thawaio.com/posts/musing/2026-06-08-the-road-not-taken/https://thawaio.com/posts/musing/2026-06-08-the-road-not-taken/The plan was simple: take a break, travel, then get back to work by July. Two months later, something shifted and now I am not so sure about the July part.Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTmusingcareercrossroadstravelbuildinghttps://thawaio.com/posts/musing/2026-05-11-on-doing-less/https://thawaio.com/posts/musing/2026-05-11-on-doing-less/A small argument against the busy-as-virtue mindset, written on a quiet Sunday I almost felt guilty about.Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTmusingreflectionslow-livingfocushttps://thawaio.com/posts/digital/2026-04-05-my-home-server-two-years-in/https://thawaio.com/posts/digital/2026-04-05-my-home-server-two-years-in/What I actually run on a second-hand mini PC, what broke, and whether self-hosting has been worth the maintenance.Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTdigitalself-hostinghome-serverdockerhttps://thawaio.com/posts/travel/2026-03-14-three-slow-days-in-penang/https://thawaio.com/posts/travel/2026-03-14-three-slow-days-in-penang/No itinerary, one hotel, and a deliberate refusal to rush. What a long weekend in George Town taught me about travelling slower.Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTtravelpenanggeorge-townhttps://thawaio.com/posts/cuisine/2026-02-02-the-case-for-hawker-breakfast/https://thawaio.com/posts/cuisine/2026-02-02-the-case-for-hawker-breakfast/Why the best meal of my day costs under five dollars and starts before the office crowd arrives.Mon, 02 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTcuisinesingaporehawkerbreakfastkaya-toasthttps://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2026-01-20-laddering-singapore-t-bills/https://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2026-01-20-laddering-singapore-t-bills/How I split idle cash across staggered six-month T-bill auctions to stay liquid without leaving returns on the table.Tue, 20 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTfinancet-billssingaporeinvestingcashhttps://thawaio.com/posts/travel/2025-09-12-seven-days-in-austria/https://thawaio.com/posts/travel/2025-09-12-seven-days-in-austria/I went to Austria with one loose intention: to learn how to slow down. Seven days, three cities, one delayed train, one paraglide, and a book I might actually finish.Fri, 12 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTtravelaustriaviennahallstattsalzburgeuropehttps://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-02-08-the-pump-and-dump-experience/https://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-02-08-the-pump-and-dump-experience/I saw a stock moving fast, felt the FOMO, bought at the top, and watched it drop 50% in under two minutes. Here is what a pump and dump looks like from the inside.Mon, 08 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMTfinancestockssgxlessonspump-and-dumpfomohttps://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-02-07-my-journey-into-cryptocurrency/https://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-02-07-my-journey-into-cryptocurrency/I bought my first Bitcoin and Ethereum in late September 2020. I traded them too early, learned some hard lessons, and came back in 2021 with a different mindset.Sun, 07 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMTfinancecryptobitcoinethereumhodlbc-vaulthttps://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-02-06-my-first-outside-trading-hour-trade/https://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-02-06-my-first-outside-trading-hour-trade/I woke up on a Saturday to find OCGN at $7 after hours. I had bought it at $1.60. I tested whether I could sell outside trading hours on Interactive Brokers. I could.Sat, 06 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMTfinancestocksnasdaqocgninteractive-brokersafter-hourshttps://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-02-05-fear-and-the-lost-opportunity/https://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-02-05-fear-and-the-lost-opportunity/I bought Medtecs at 10 cents, watched it head toward a 20x return, then sold for a $10 profit. This is the story of how fear cost me more than any bad trade ever has.Fri, 05 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMTfinancestockssgxinvestinglessonscovidhttps://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-02-04-venturing-into-cardano/https://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-02-04-venturing-into-cardano/I wanted to buy Cardano at $0.20. I ended up buying at $0.42 after opening three exchange accounts, making one wrong account type, and taking the longest possible route to get there.Thu, 04 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMTfinancecryptocardanoadabinancebitcoinhttps://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-01-29-why-i-bought-alibaba-during-may-2020/https://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-01-29-why-i-bought-alibaba-during-may-2020/During the Covid lockdowns, I noticed a specific problem Chinese students were having with online learning. Alibaba had a solution. That was enough for me to buy.Fri, 29 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMTfinancestockshkexalibabacovidchinahttps://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-01-28-first-trade-for-2021/https://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-01-28-first-trade-for-2021/I bought Atossa Genetics at $1.37, sold half at $3.5 for a 2x return, and decided to hold the rest with house money for the long term. Here is how it played out.Thu, 28 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMTfinancestocksnasdaqcovidatoshttps://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-01-28-my-first-stock/https://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-01-28-my-first-stock/I bought Starhub at $2.28 in 2018 and sold at $1.40 in 2020. Two years, a loss, and three lessons that have shaped every trade since.Thu, 28 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMTfinancestockssgxstarhublessonsdividendshttps://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-01-28-the-reason-for-purchasing-ocugen-inc/https://thawaio.com/posts/finance/2021-01-28-the-reason-for-purchasing-ocugen-inc/On the day of the GameStop short squeeze, I bought Ocugen at $1.60 — not because of Reddit, but because of an Indian vaccine maker and a CNA article. Here is the thinking.Thu, 28 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMTfinancestocksnasdaqocgncovidvaccine