~~Towards Barista FIRE~~

This will be a relatively short post, just to update on the transactions for the month. For the month of May, it was an interesting month.  The old adage of “Sell in May and Go Away” was definitely back to haunt the markets before the month started, especially with the looming threat of stickier than expected CPI numbers.  However, interestingly, the markets were hitting new highs in May.  The Dow Jones Industrial Index crossed the 40,000 mark for the first time this month, bringing confidence to the performance in the market. On the other hand, CEO of JP Morgan, Jamie Dimon was cautious and said that US cannot rule out the possibly of a hard landing, and stagflation would be the worst outcome for the US.  This speech brought volatility back into the markets and pushed back any hopes of rate cuts to the 4th quarter of 2024 instead of the 3rd.  Personally, I have mentioned earlier that I am not going to be guessing when the rate cuts is going to happen and I am just going to live wi

This is my first trip travelling out of ASEAN region, where I have to plan every bit of the itinerary myself.  For previous family trips to Sydney and Perth, I am generally tagging along, being a follower.  However this time, it is going to be a duo trip with just my mum and myself, which I am both looking forward to, while at the same time worried about how things will turn out there and then.  Nonetheless, the decision has been made by late last year, and I booked the flights for 2, flying with Scoot to Kansai Airport for our 9 days 8 nights trip.  Feels good that a goal set early this year is materialized! Without further ado, I will share the travel journey below: Day 1 Arrived at Kansai Airport in the afternoon, and we grabbed a quick snack at the famous 551 Horai outlet.  Then after much complications with the Haruka Limited Express, we are finally able to board the Hello Kitty's train direct to Kyoto!   Haruka Limited Express We reached Hearton Hotel Kyoto in the late afte