Naty's Eclectic Passions

Style Guide

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 08:32:48 GMT

A showcase of how different HTML elements appear on this site. It has some of my custom styles on top of the default Quartz v5 styles.

Typeface

Content Headings: BitterPro
Body: IBMPlexSans
Code/Site Title/Section Labels: Kode Mono

Headings

H1 is for the title of the page. H5 and H6 are not used.

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Separator / Horizontal Rule

Stylized:

Unstyled:

Emphasis

bold
italic
bold and italic
~~strikethrough~~

Lists

Bullet / Unordered

Item X
Item Y
- Item Z

Numbered / Ordered

Item A
Item B
Item C
1. Item D

To Dos

Completed task
Pending task

Inline Code

This is an example of inline code within text.

Fenced Code Block

quartz.ts:

import { loadQuartzConfig, loadQuartzLayout } from "./quartz/plugins/loader/config-loader"
import { componentRegistry } from "./quartz/components" 
 
componentRegistry.setOptionOverrides("syntax-highlighting", {
  theme: { light: "min-light", dark: "vitesse-dark" },
  keepBackground: false,
})

Block Quote

If you seek to help, join the open source community and fight to keep the spirit of the press alive and the internet free. I have been to the darkest corners of government, and what they fear is light.

—Edward Snowden

Table

CMS	Language
Quartz	TypeScript, JavaScript, Node.js
Hugo	Go
WordPress	PHP
Zensical	Rust, Python

Images

Banner for EclecticPassions.net

Links

This is an internal link to my About page. And this is an external link to a writing community that I’m part of, called Web Writers’ Collective. Lastly, external links to point to Wikipedia are indicated with the W logo instead of the north-east arrow icon of external links.

Details and Summary

Click to open

Peekaboo!

Admonitions

Info

Default title

Can callouts be nested?

Yes!, they can. And collapsed!

You can even use multiple layers of nesting.

Note

Aliases: “note”

Abstract

Aliases: “abstract”, “summary”, “tldr”

Info

Aliases: “info”

Todo

Aliases: “todo”

Tip

Aliases: “tip”, “hint”, “important”

Success

Aliases: “success”, “check”, “done”

Question

Aliases: “question”, “help”, “faq”

Warning

Aliases: “warning”, “attention”, “caution”

Failure

Aliases: “failure”, “missing”, “fail”

Danger

Aliases: “danger”, “error”

Bug

Aliases: “bug”

Example

Aliases: “example”

Quote

Aliases: “quote”, “cite”

Blog

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 16:00:00 GMT

The /blog section is mainly a preservation of posts written under this domain name when it was running WordPress, before I transitioned to Quartz in Q4 2026.

EclecticPassions.net now exists primarily as a digital garden with notes instead of blog posts, where I explore the interconnected nature of a personal knowledge base, presented non-chronologically.

Chronological, dated snapshot-type blogs still have their place; so when the right subject presents itself, new posts will be shown here.

Notes

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Archive of notes that make up the digital garden.

About

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Picture of Naty hiking in Hong Kong

Author

Naty S is a trained healthcare professional and avid multi-hobbyist. She’s a home barista, street photographer, tech tinkerer, car detailer, open source enthusiast, data privacy advocate, IndieWeb proponent, and more.

Based in Hong Kong SAR, she is passionate about sharing her experiences and knowledge with others through her websites. You’ll find her active on Mastodon; engaging with the like-minded individuals and the small web community.

She’s known around the Internet as @eclecticpassions, @burgeonlab or @aperture2iris.

(Writing in third person always sounds weird to me; I’m glad that’s over!)

Colophon

I used these tools to build this site:

Static Site Generator: Quartz
Hosting, DNS & CDN: Bunny.net¹
CI/CD: SourceHut Builds (plus a backup deployment workflow via a Bash script)
Typeface: BitterPro, IBMPlexSans, Kode Mono
Web Analytics: GoatCounter (privacy-friendly, no cookies)
Editor: VSCodium and Obsidian
Versioning: Git

AI Usage

TL;DR: No generative AI tools are used on any photographs or written words produced by me, on this site and anywhere for that matter.

The only place generative AI is used on this site is for assisting me to customize the function and appearance to my liking.²

As for all the writing, they’re completely my words, 100% human-made! To catch spelling and grammar mistakes, I use LanguageTools (the free self-hosted version).³

The following two sections will go over how I organize my writing on this site.

1. The Garden Layout

The idea of a digital garden has intrigued me for the longest time, and I want to give it a shot in 2026. What is it? you might ask. Digital gardening involves tending to non-chronological, evolving notes of interest to the “gardener”.

The process involves developing rudimentary ideas through repeated reiteration by adding new knowledge and forming links between notes. Whereas typical blog posts are more of a “write-and-forget” process that captures only one moment in time. Another term for digital gardening with similar connotations is a personal wiki.

Note Status

Notes in digital gardens are often categorized based on how developed they are, i.e., the phase a note is in. I have settled on these for now:

🌱 Seed — A thought or idea, with minimal framework, ready to be developed into something more
🌿 Bud — Structure is set, but content and ideas are still being gathered and organized
🪴 Evergreen — Comprehensive notes that feel “complete” with a developed network of bi-directional links around the topic
🍂 Archived — No longer active or maintained

The note status is located near the top of each page where other metadata are displayed:

Published date, modified date, word count, read time, tags, status

Appeals of Digital Gardening

Removes the pressure of presenting a single piece of cohesive writing ready for publishing
All notes start as a stub or 🌱 seed status; meaning there’s room for growth, allowing time for the idea to develop into a more cohesive piece
The fact that notes in a digital garden must start of as seeds—meaning it’s acceptable they’re rough and unfinished—this helps with my perfectionism tendencies as they’re not meant to be perfect from the get-go

Note Tags and Folders

Being a new digital gardener, I am still exploring the best way to keep the notes organized in a way that makes sense to me and possible readers. My current plan is to use tags for topics and use folders (minimally) to group spanning areas.

Note Format

Lists will probably be what I use the most for notes.⁴ Prose feels more suitable for blogs (but this whole site/garden is my experimental playground, so nothing is set in stone). This leads me to the second type of writing you will find here.

2. Blog Section

Redesigning this site from the ground up, with a big focus on digital gardening, means that blog articles will be more of an adjunct. I decided to keep a blog section mainly for the old migrated blogs from my retired WordPress.

Article Tags

Blog articles are categorized into three main types:

#Remarks — Thoughts on current events or topics of interest
#Reviews — Non-sponsored, non-generated, human reviews of products or services I personally use
#Ruminations — Subjective, opinionated, personal ramblings

All blog articles written prior to 2026 will have a 🍂 retired status as they’re not actively maintained, to keep with the practice of statuses of digital gardens.

Want More?

Since EclecticPassions.net is my secondary site, it is not as comprehensive. Visit BurgeonLab.com if you want to learn more or find me elsewhere on the Links page.

This is an affiliate link. If you try it and become a paying member, a kickback is received which helps with hosting needs. Thank you for your support! Learn more about my Bunny.net experience. ↩
As an amateur web developer who is self-taught by experimenting with Hugo and WordPress, I managed to learn a good amount of HTML, CSS, and some vanilla JS. But this was not enough when I decided to move to Quartz which is based heavily on NodeJS, React and Typescript; which is very much out of my depth. Without LLMs or tools like DeepWiki to troubleshoot and figure how things are done, I wouldn’t have been able to create this site the way I want. ↩
I’ve written a guide on my main blog on how to set up your own Grammarly alternative for free. ↩
An inspiring list collection is the one by the late Anthony Bourdain. ↩

A Digital Garden & Blog

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Hi there, I’m Naty, the keeper of this personal site. It’s part digital garden acting as a public personal knowledge base (PKB) and part casual writing outlet / blog.

Tips On Navigating This Site

Quartz relies on JavaScript heavily, therefore, many features are disabled when JS in your browser is off

Page title is a link going back to the homepage
Full-text search
Light / dark mode switch (moon or sun icon)
Distraction-free, reading mode switch (open book icon) removes the file directory menu and table of contents. Hover over the sidebars areas to reveal (only available on desktop)
Directory lists site content in a folder hierarchy
- Slash pages are listed below folders
- To view all the tags used, visit Tags

Table of contents (only available on desktop)
- Click on any subheading to jump to section

Centre Section

Breadcrumb links
Main content body with metadata:
- Date, last modified date, word count, reading time, tags, status
Below the content body, there is a “boxed” section:
- Graph View is a visual map of how content is linked together based on internal links and tags used (notes organized in folders do not show up as visible links). Zoom in, pan, hover (for title), and click (to visit).
- Backlinks lists pages that have links pointing to the page you’re currently on
- Latest shows recently modified items

General tips

Internal links have a highlighted background
External links have a north-east arrow icon
External links that points to Wikipedia have the W logo

Site Origin

As a tinkerer and generalist who is a tech geek at heart, I love learning new tools and trying out different workflows; this web domain was where I began exploring publishing content online away from Big Tech silos and mainstream social media.

Originally, I learnt to self-host my first blog in 2022 with WordPress (WP) but the WP experience was poor and frustrating. I didn’t last long, because in 2023 I built a completely separate site, BurgeonLab.com, from scratch using Hugo, a static site generator (SSG). My Hugo site turned out to be a success because it is now my main Internet home; while my original WP blog on EclecticPassions.net was forgotten because WP stole my motivation to write.

In 2026 September, the multi-year WP hosting plan is coming to an end and I have decided to say goodbye to WP for good. By now, I’m a total SSG convert; so without a doubt, I knew I would choose an SSG for the WP migration project. This site is now built with Quartz SSG. I chose it instead of Hugo because Quartz has features catered towards Obsidian users and digital gardeners.

Why a Second Site?

While BurgeonLab.com is my primary passion project, most of the content there is quite technical. I’ve had friends and readers tell me they don’t understand or aren’t interested in such geekery!

This brings me to EclecticPassions.net; which is now my secondary online outlet with two main purposes:

For me to be more personal (i.e. less technical), writing day-to-day topics as blog posts. I will try my best to keep it as jargon-free as possible for improved readability, making it more suitable for a general audience.
As a lifelong learner, I am keen to explore the concept of “learning in public” and keeping a PKB of notes on things I am interested in and learning about.

I enjoy writing in general, and having my own website(s) helps me practice this skill. If you are not opposed to tech talk and are a geek yourself—feel free to read more of my tech explorations, web development, and IndieWeb experiments on my main site, BurgeonLab.com.

Thanks for reading. Hope you have a lovely week!

—Naty

Links

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Find Me Elsewhere

Main Site: BurgeonLab
Mastodon: Fosstodon.org instance
IndieWeb Wiki
Codeberg
SourceHut
GitHub
Web Writers’ Collective: Discourse Forum
32Bit-Cafe: Discourse Forum
Flickr (inactive)
Instagram (inactive)

Contact

This site doesn’t support comments. To respond, please reach out via:

Email
- Public GPG Key
Signal
- Privacy Guides recommends Signal?
XMPP (My public group / multi-user chat channel)
- Click this link if you’re new to XMPP

Show Your Support

Give a Tip

If I provided value to you here or elsewhere, a tip or coffee is much appreciated. Both platforms support once-off or recurring donations; no sign-up is required.

Thank you!

Affiliate Links

If you want to support me in other ways, you can choose to use my affiliate links where I get a kickback if you become a paying user. I’d highly recommend Bunny.net if you’re looking for static hosting, DNS or CDN services; they’ve been absolutely great for me for all my website needs.

RSS / Atom Feeds

I don’t do email newsletters (maybe one day), but you can follow my sites with your feed reader to stay up to date. If you don’t know what a feed is,

Increase Productivity: Eisenhower Matrix & Manage To-Dos

Sun, 09 Nov 2025 16:00:00 GMT

Featured image by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

In this blog, I will share how I incorporate the Eisenhower Matrix into my personal productivity workflow, what my favourite apps are for managing the chaos of my scatterbrain, and some of my tips on how I keep my ever-growing to-do list under control.

Ever since I became interested in topics related to Personal knowledge management (PKM) and productivity, I realised that I had been using concepts similar to the Eisenhower Matrix to some extent without knowing about it.

Who is Eisenhower

“I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent”

—Dwight D. Eisenhower (34th US President)

That’s the famous quote by Mr Eisenhower that inspired the whole idea of task management, later developed by Stephen Covey, to become the well known, Eisenhower Matrix. I think the quote faithfully boils down a task’s importance and is a useful way to deal with an overflow of tasks. See Eisenhower Matrix Explained for more info.

My Version of the Matrix

The original Eisenhower Matrix contains four quadrants: do now, schedule, delegate, and delete. It helps us quickly decide what needs immediate attention, what can be planned, who can handle it, and what to remove. But I often found it hard to use quadrant 3—the delegate step as I am using this in my personal life. I don’t have the option to give my own “not important + urgent” jobs to someone else! Which is why I made my own version with: Do, Date, Defer, and Drop zones.

Here’s a diagrammatic representation of my 4Ds Matrix:

Eisenhower Matrix diagram illustrating productivity and time management: Do, Date, Defer, and Drop tasks based on urgency and importance

Identifying Task Importance

In the past, I used to tag to-do list items with three levels of urgency: CompleteNow, ScheduleLater and Pending. But now that I read about how the actual Eisenhower Matrix works, I implemented it into my task list by using just two tags: Important and Urgent. With a combination of these two tags, it becomes easier to visualize and split tasks into the four quadrants:

Important & Urgent — DO
Important & (not) Urgent — DATE
(not) Important & Urgent — DEFER
(not) Important & (not) Urgent — DROP

Favourite Productivity Apps

Super Productivity

My most used app to manage my to-dos is Super Productivity. It’s a free, privacy-focused, and open source app that has lots of functionality. I’ve been using it for years on Android and macOS, and it has been continuously improved, with new features being added. I’m not sponsored; just a very happy user. It has a function called “Boards” which offer a 2×2 grid view, perfect for setting up your Eisenhower Matrix. One feature I personally appreciate a lot is WebDAV support—allowing me to store my data privately without using Big Tech companies like Google, Dropbox, Apple, etc. The features are almost endless, so I won’t list them here. Definitely explore the demo or give their GitHub project page a look!

Other productivity management apps I use are:

Obsidian + Dataview plug-in

Sometimes when I’m making notes or writing journal entries in Obsidian, tasks crop up. I will gather tasks from different notes using Dataview queries in a “central/hub” page which allows me see an overview of all the tasks. Sometimes, if the task is simple, I complete and check it off directly in Obsidian. But if there’s more to be done (subtasks, reminders, etc), I’ll transfer them over to Super Productivity for further processing.

Tasks.org

Tasks is another open source app I use for less important tasks, e.g., groceries, daily errand reminders, routine tasks with reminders (like cleaning tasks). I like the Android widget and its customizability, and again, it is a very good privacy-conscious alternative to the likes of Google Tasks, TickTick, etc.

Analogue (pen & paper)

The last tool I use to manage my endless stream of ideas is actually scribbling it down in my diary. The current diary I’ve settled on since 2024 is the MARK’S EDiT Planner “Semi-A5 Weekly + Notes”, which I have reviewed before. The extra space on the weekly pages is perfect for brain dumping thoughts and ideas. I don’t think this can be replaced by typing on an electronic device. There is one area which I have not explored; which is voice notes/dictation. Maybe that is a viable option for some, especially if thoughts are fleeting and you work in an environment that doesn’t allow you to write on the spot.

Tackling Tasks: My Tips

As a perfectionist and person with procrastination tendencies, I like to use some tricks to help with my productivity. Hope you find at least one useful for your use case!

“Eat the Frog” technique: Do the hardest, most pressing task, first thing in the morning.
Prevent decision paralysis: Choose one important task to complete the night before, so you have a clear aim of the first task to do in the morning.
Try filling the third quadrant first (Defer, urgent but not important): You will see how time we’re wasting on non-important things. Try to complete tasks that are actually important.
Weekly reviews: Keep tasks and goals in check: It’s easy to just write it down and let it slide down the list.
Break down big tasks: Smaller chunks or sub-tasks are a great way to get things started and maintain a momentum. When faced with a big/complex task, it’s easy to give up before even starting.
Restart nuke: If your to-do list is unbearably cluttered and you don’t know how to start over; give yourself a scenario—you only have one week/month left to live, what would be your priority?
Commute time = golden opportunity: I personally love reviewing tasks on the commute (assuming you’re not driving!). It’s a great time for focusing on any relatively low-level, maintenance-type tasks and reviewing things.
Pomodoro: I guess this is a very well known tip already, but it’s still worth a mention. I definitely feel less tired and more focused when I have a Pomodoro timer running while completing tasks.
Logging wins: Sure, ticking or crossing off a completed task feels good (especially with apps that give a celebratory sound or visual cue), but I think actually writing down/journaling our achievements is a great way to see progress. It doesn’t have to be public, it’s just for yourself to review when looking back.
Distraction killers: If you’re the type to get distracted easily, I suggest trying out minimalist Android launchers like Before or Niagara. It really cuts down the noise. I personally have gone down the route of installing time-sink social media apps (like Instagram) on the Work Profile. I don’t see it at all unless I turn on the profile. This cut down my screen time drastically.

Conclusion

As a solo individual trying to increase productivity with the Eisenhower Matrix, I hope you found this little guide useful. You can let me know by leaving a comment on the Mastodon account associated with this WordPress blog with the FOLLOW button at the footer below.

Guide to Earn Asia Miles with Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong

Thu, 09 Oct 2025 16:00:00 GMT

Featured image of different ways to earn Asia Miles

Asia Miles have become a cornerstone in my travel experiences. It is the loyalty rewards program of Cathay Pacific, the flag carrier of Hong Kong, SAR. There is no fee to open an account, so you can start earning miles and reap its benefits immediately. Let me share my tips on how to earn Asia Miles, which earned me two recent free round trips to Thailand and Japan (where I bought my perfect diary)!

Asia Miles are not just about free flights. They open doors to flight upgrades, hotel stays, shopping discounts, and more. In my opinion, it is worth saving up your miles for expensive flight rewards instead.

Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles program is part of the OneWorld Alliance, which means it offers benefits across various airlines. This expands my travel options as I sometimes fly with airlines like Qatar Airways, Japan Airlines, British Airways and Finnair.

My History in Earning Air Miles

When I was studying abroad in Ireland, I only flew with Lufthansa and Swiss, which earned me enough miles in their Miles & More program (under Star Alliance) to reach frequent flyer status. The points accrued allowed me to upgrade my seat from economy to business class a few times, redeem free merchandise like Fissler cookware and gave me access to high quality lounges. It offered real benefits to my travels.

Now that I’m based in Hong Kong, I switched my main choice of airline to Cathay Pacific, hence the focus now on Asia Miles. With the following strategies, I have significantly increased my miles, bringing me closer to free flights and upgrades. Hope it helps you earn more miles too!

My Favourite Hacks to Earn Asia Miles in Hong Kong

Earning Miles with Local Merchants

Living in Hong Kong offers unique opportunities to earn Asia Miles while shopping or dining. When I’m out in the city, I try to notice if the shop has any promotions or partnership with Asia Miles or Cathay Pacific on shopfronts or near the till. Every transaction adds up! I try to make sure any large purchases, like tech products (cameras, computers, appliances), are bought at a partner store or the bare minimum, paid by a credit card that offers a good points-to-miles rate.

Credit card point conversion is the main method I earn Asia Miles. This means I can earn miles when paying for groceries, dining, paying bills or even when visiting the doctor or dentist.

Individual Reward Apps and Dining

I always check the updated list of partners on Asia Miles’ website to make sure I spend at shops included in the list whenever possible. Here are some Asia Miles partner categories:

A few that I recommend:

Trip.com — Hotel booking and completed your stay. 10HKD = 2 Asia Miles
Esso — Great for car owners. They offer two rates, either a monthly auto-conversion at a rate of 3 Esso Smiles = 1 Asia Miles or flexible-conversion at 2500 Esso Smiles = 600 Asia Miles.
Shell — Another gas station option. 1250 Shell Points = 400 Asia Miles. They also offer Card Linked Earn (more info below) when spending 600HKD or more in a single transaction. Recent promotion as of April 2025.
MoneyBack — A pretty extensive membership reward program in Hong Kong with over 200 partner merchants. 500 MoneyBack Points = 100 Asia Miles.¹
Slowood — An eco-friendly store with sustainable alternatives. Card Linked Earn supported. 4HKD = 1 Asia Miles (Minimum spend is 300HKD in a single transaction.)
CLP (China Light and Power Company) — If you are paying electricity bills at CLP, you can earn Domeo Points, which can be converted to Asia Miles. 400 Domeo = 100 Asia Miles. Recent promotion: additional 50 Asia Miles when redeeming with 400 Domeo, as of April 2025.
OpenRice — Earn 15 Asia Miles every time you book at Cathay Pacific partner restaurants. Valid as of April 2025.

Examples of restaurants and cafés, 4HKD = 1 Asia Miles (No minimum, check participating branches):

(*: Card Linked Earn supported)

SPIGA (Italian)*
QUÉ (Japanese fusion)*
Silk (drinks)
Mother Pearl (drinks)
Nodi (café)*
NOC COFFEE CO. (café)*
Cupping Room (café)
Blue Bottle Coffee (café)
Godiva (chocolatier)

Double down on points earned by being members on multiple platforms that allow you to transfer points to Asia Miles. E.g. MoneyBack Points to Asia Miles.

!!! note Look out for promotions in insurance, health, gym, hotels, petrol, flights, as these usually account for larger sums than a meal or coffee. Combining these sources have made accumulating Asia Miles not just easy but a fun part of living in Hong Kong.

Leveraging Credit Cards for Asia Miles

In Hong Kong, I found many credit cards offering the ability to transfer points directly to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, including American Express, Standard Chartered, Citibank, HSBC, DBS, BEA, BOC, AEON, etc. (Some offer immediate transfer while others require a few days to a week. So always check before redeeming for flights!) This was a great revelation, allowing me to maximize my mileage potential. Check with your bank which Asia Miles-focused credit card you are eligible for, which can offer the best Asia Miles rates to maximize your spending.

I discovered it’s crucial to watch for promotional offers that could provide bonus miles during the transfer process. These offers often surface around festive periods or from special bank promotions. Sometimes there are offers for opening a new card, so it’s always worth a check! It was rewarding to see my miles stack up faster during these periods. For example, there is a promotion currently for setting Time Deposits with Standard Chartered: deposit 10,000HKD for 12 months to earn 2800 Asia Miles (as of April 2025).

Linking my credit card to the Cathay Pacific Asia Miles program with Card Linked Earn made my life easier. Each time I spent in partner shops, I earned miles effortlessly. No extra steps; just simple, direct rewards. I could also easily monitor the miles I accumulated in the transactions page (past 18 months history). Although few partners offer this function yet, it turns everyday expenses into valuable travel rewards seamlessly. For shops without the Card Linked Earn function, you can still get Asia Miles by showing your Cathay membership QR code on payment via the Cathay app at partner shops.

Online Retail at Milesback and Cathay Shop

I recently discovered Milesback, a shopping portal that earns miles with eligible purchases at partner retail merchants online. It is a bit similar to ShopBack (affiliate referral link). By shopping online, I effortlessly accumulate miles from stores I already love. It’s a win-win situation, as I get the items I need while boosting my miles. Make sure you follow the instructions carefully and allow cookies and tracking (i.e. turn off browser Advanced Tracking Protection, ad blockers, etc, as these may cause errors).

There are some pretty big retail partners on Milesback, for example:

Apple Online Store HK
iHerb
PNS eShop
foodpanda
Taobao HK
Watsons HK
Sasa
Lane Crawford
UNIQLO HK
lululemon HK
StockX HK
Samsung HK
YesStyle HK
Zalora HK
The Economist Asia
DJI HK
FARFETCH HK
CASETiFY HK
MR PORTER UK
Rakuten Ichiba JP

Cathay Shop, on the other hand, is an e-shop by Cathay Pacific that sells a wide variety of items including beauty, electronics, home, luggage, and even concert tickets. For example, I bought an iPhone 15 Pro and had very reliable and fast shipping, earning me an extra 1,566 Asia Miles on top of my credit card points!

Combo Earning

This example demonstrates how a single transaction can help you earn rewards in more than one way.

I use the credit card registered with Card Linked Earn at Shell, and automatically earn 100 Asia Miles without extra steps when my total is over 600HKD.
As I also use the Shell app, I get points accumulated there, which can be converted at a later time to Asia Miles at a rate of 1250 Shell Points = 400 Asia Miles.
Lastly, I accumulate credit card points when I pay my credit card bill, which can then be converted to Asia Miles.

Final Thoughts

Keep up to Date: New Partners or Promotions

To maximize my potential to earn Asia Miles, I set up a regular reminder to check the official websites and social media (e.g. Instagram) of Cathay Pacific and Asia Miles. Of course, I always try to check before big purchases as new partnerships or limited promotions can provide additional opportunities to earn miles. The “Hottest Offers” is a webpage that shows recent deals.

One pretty nice deal I’ve seen a few times is that when a typhoon hits Hong Kong, Cathay Shop offers an extra 300 Asia Miles when you make a purchase over 300HKD with the code TYPHOON!

Screenshot of the typhoon promotion on Asia Mile's Facebook page

Earn Asia Miles in Hong Kong: A Rewarding Journey

Earning Asia Miles has been a rewarding experience. It has opened up travel opportunities across the globe. By engaging with various partners and strategically planning my spending, I have consistently boosted my mileage. Whether it’s through traditional flight bookings or just grabbing a coffee, each activity contributes significantly to my mile balance.

Strategic planning and utilizing special offers and promotions are key to maximizing Asia Miles. I’ve learned to watch for this, ensuring I don’t miss out on lucrative deals. Lastly, as a reminder, Asia Miles expire 18 months after your last activity (earning or redemption).

I look forward to my next free flight redemption with the miles I’ve earned and hope you get to reap the advantages of earning miles too!

There are also some telecom companies (and others) that are partners with MoneyBack but not Asia Miles. This means you can first convert points to MoneyBack and then to Asia Miles! ↩

Japanese Planner Review: MARK'S EDiT (Semi-A5 Weekly + Notes)

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 16:00:00 GMT

Featured image of the MARK'S EDiT with pocket sleeve

Although I started in the world of Japanese planners with Hobonichis, I realized the way I journal has changed over the years. The Hobonichi Weeks’ layout is flexible, but I find the overall size and grid a bit too cramped. The Hobonichi A6 Daily is not something that appeals to me any more as I prefer a weekly layout now; and the A5 Cousin is too bulky to carry around and the vertical 24-hour layout hasn’t worked out for me.

Nolty planners, on the other hand, has been satisfying my needs in the last few years with considerably more layout options to choose from.

Saying Goodbye: Hobonichi and Nolty Planners

I enjoyed the Nolty 2281 thoroughly (you can read my review of the Nolty 2281 here), but I do have a few things I did not like about it:

Paper was a bit too yellow for my preference
Grid markings on weekly spread (3mm) is a bit too small for my handwriting
The left (narrow) column in the monthly view doesn’t allow for much use - too small for me to log anything reasonable
Having a monthly mini calendar on every weekly spread feels like a waste of space

Trying out MARK’s Planners and Diaries

Gallery of packaging and PVC case of the Light Latte brown colourway.

After searching around for a similar layout to 2281 in the Japanese planner world, I found a relatively uncommon / not much documented (in English) layout by MARK’s. The model I bought for 2025 is called “EDiT planner 2025 - Schedule Book Starting December 2024 - Weekly Note Semi-A5 Stockage” with a Monday-start, “3-section vertical type” weekly layout. (Product code: 25WDR-ETH03).

I managed to find and decide this was the planner to get for next year just as I was heading to Osaka for a holiday (with the Asia Miles I’ve been earning)! I emailed Mark’s directly to see which branch of stationery shop like Loft or Hands would stock this particular model. A sales representative called Kurano San replied very swiftly (in English) about the only one(!) branch that stocked it in Osaka. I managed to buy it on the first day and there were only three in stock…

MARK’s EDiT: Content / Layout Showcase

All the layouts in the 2025 MARK's EDiT Semi-A5 Weekly Note Planner.

Deciding Factors

I feel other brands like Takahashi, Nolty, Midori, Hobonichi, and Kokuyo Jibun were more prominent while I was in Japanese shops that sold planners. But this did not put me off MARK’s as I really liked the layout offered, and the pocket built into the PVC cover. Having done some pen tests after opening it; I’m pleased to say also the paper quality is good enough for my fountain pen use. None of my pens, including an BB architect nib with Sailor Kiwa Guro, showed any signs of bleed-through or feathering. The Japanese paper is smooth to the touch and is thinner than their European counterparts as usual.

Compared Mark’s EDiT Planner Semi A5 Weekly Note vs Nolty 2281

Mark’s EDiT Planner Semi A5 Weekly Note	Nolty 2281
300 g with cover	250 g with cover
Semi-A5 (200 x 155 x 15 mm)	B6 (188 x 133 x 15 mm)
Weekly spread w/ half page daily columns split into three sections	Weekly spread w/ half page daily columns split into two sections
Whiter paper	Yellow tinged paper
Rows are 5 mm tall	Grid is 3mm
Monthly calendar represented as a timeline on the bottom of the weekly spreads	Monthly calendar on the left corner of weekly spreads

MARK’s EDiT: The Details

I bought a shitajiki (pencil board) to match the slightly off size A5 perfectly. I do love a dark-coloured shitajiki because it helps hide any show-through due to the thinness of the paper. There’s two included fabric bookmarks which I have reinforced at the bottom with some Elmer’s glue to prevent fraying. Lastly, I do love the timeline view of the month with the current week highlighted at the bottom of the weekly spreads. It’s nice to see it linearly.

Secondary Notebooks / Planner in My Setup

Hands Gantt chart notebook

While I was at Hands (Shinsaibashi Parco Branch), I noticed they offered their own in-house Gantt Chart notebooks. I have always wanted to try tracking side projects with one and was seriously considering getting the Jibun Techo just because it offered it in the monthly pages. The notebook is very minimal and has a plain card type cover. The paper is quite yellow as you can see when compared to the MARK’s EDiT.

Midori Flat Diary

The last planner in my 2025’s setup is the Midori Flat Diary. It has a really sturdy cover which I’ve retained for the last two years. The refill is very thin and has only a monthly view with nothing extra. I look forward to using the Hands Gantt Chart Notebook in conjunction with the Midori Flat Diary which I use exclusively for health tracking. The Hands Gantt Chart fits into the Midori Flat Diary hard cover so it makes it quite streamlined along with the MARK’s EDiT!

Disclaimer: Not sponsored by any of the mentioned brands. I’m just a planner user sharing my experience. YMMV.

Buying a Seven Year Old Refurbished Kobo eReader

Wed, 14 Aug 2024 16:00:00 GMT

Featured image of the Kobo on my coffee bar

My mother fostered a reading habit early in my childhood; I remember getting excited choosing new books from the Scholastic book order fliers, often hiding in the school library reading encyclopaedias and visiting the local bookshop on weekends.¹ Books have accompanied me throughout my life.

Why I Finally Bought My First eBook Reader

In 2007, I seriously considered the new Amazon Kindle, but have decided against it year after year, as I felt the technology hasn’t matured and the distribution of e-books seemed limited at the time.

Being based in Hong Kong (a very humid area), it takes a lot of effort to maintain physical books in good condition. Not to mention the space it takes… Fast-forward to Q3 2024 - while trying to downsize my belongings, including the many books I still have in my collection, despite giving away and donating, I decided to research the current state of ebook readers.

Topics To Be Covered

How I chose a suitable e-reader for my needs (which was available on the secondhand market)
Side loading books managed by Calibre to KOReader
My experience with reading on e-ink displays
Troubleshooting Overdrive / Libby and borrowing from the library on Kobo devices

Features I Wanted

Flush screen (despite slight reduction of text clarity)
Minimum 300 dpi pixel density
No need for buttons for page turning
Larger than 6” (I like reading journal articles / textbooks / PDFs)
Backlight screen with temperature control
DRM compatible

I would have asked for USB-C and Bluetooth connectivity (to use a wireless page turner and for audio); but that’s asking a bit too much from old tech…

My Choice: Kobo Aura One Limited Edition from 2017

Kobo Aura One Limited Edition - Product Image from Kobo

In the end, I got a second-hand 2017 Kobo Aura One Limited Edition (32GB) for about $100HKD (~$15USD / $10EUR) which I am extremely happy with! The price to performance ratio is great. I wouldn’t pay the current asking price for a modern equivalent (likely four to five times what I paid). There are some visible signs of use, but functionally it is working well (with a few small scratches on the corner of the screen and a slightly damaged bezel near the charging port). Having a waterproof device is not necessary for me as I never read around water, but I would assume my copy of the Aura One is no longer waterproof as the battery has been replaced.

Transitioning From Physical to Digital Books

Having got my first tablet about a year ago (an iPad Mini 6), I’ve been reading a lot more e-books, PDFs and journal articles with it. It’s better than reading on the phone; but even though I used a paper-like magnetic screen protector to give it a less glare-y look, it was uncomfortable and heavy to hold for long periods. Plus, I sometimes get distracted on the multifunctional tablet. Yes, it is another gadget to have, but I think it’s worth it for those who like reading digital content.

Calibre - Book Management Software

Since I have a collection of digital books and documents which was not managed (stored in a folder on my Mac), I decided to try Calibre, an ebook manager software which is FOSS (free, open source software) and can be self hosted. I already had a Raspberry Pi 4B home server running some services, so this was the perfect time to add Calibre to my homelab setup! Keep an eye out on my tech blog, BurgeonLab.com, as I plan to write a technical piece on how I got Calibre and Calibre-web running on my home server using Docker / Portainer. Update: Here’s the post on how to SSH to your Kobo!

Screenshot of a Homer dashboard with my currently self-hosted services

KOReader - feature packed document viewer

Out of the box, the Kobo Aura One UI doesn’t work with Calibre. But by side loading KOReader (a document reader/app that works on most e-readers, Android, and Linux), it makes for a perfect pairing; boosting the functionality of the Kobo significantly. I have been using KOReader on Android for a few years, but it was only recently that I learnt about Calibre (having a feature of wirelessly transferring books directly to KOReader). KOReader is a very dense piece of software and deserves its own post! The documentation is pretty good though and almost anything can becustomizedd to your liking.

By side loading KOReader, it makes for a perfect pairing with Calibre; boosting the functionality of Kobo significantly.

Advantages of Reading on an E Ink Screen

I’m still in the honeymoon phase of using e-ink technology for the first time. I’m amazed at how comfortable it is to read on an electronic paper display. With E Ink Carta HD technology on the Aura One - a 4th iteration from E Ink (a Taiwanese company), it is plenty for my needs. With a resolution of 1872 x 1404, I find the text crisp and book covers / diagrams sharp. The new developments since then include colour e-ink displays, faster refresh rates, increased contrast and perhaps slightly faster processors / response times. There are also tablet versions which allow for note-taking and more; but those are over my budget and I don’t have a use case for that.

Reading At Night

The backlight feature is such a boon on the Aura One. I can finally read without having a light on! It has a temperature setting which is perfect for reading before bed. There’s a light sensor near the top bezel to adjust the lighting and temperature automatically; but I prefer to set it manually. Prior to this, I tend to listen to audiobooks at night; now I can enjoy the warm glow of the Kobo before sleeping. It’s also very thin and lightweight. I’ve tried using my flexible tablet clamp and it makes for a convenient hands-free experience (except for turning the page - which will require a clip on accessory).

Warm front-lighting on the Kobo Aura One

Read It Your Way

Then there’s the endless appearance customizations when reading e-books. I love tweaking the text to my own liking including spacing, margins and fonts. Can’t do that with a physical book! My current go-to fonts are: Bitter, ChareInk, Bookerly and Noto Sans Hong Kong.

Another clutch feature I enjoy using is the dictionary. By long pressing on a word, the definition appears within seconds and I can add it to my vocabulary list. This will be especially useful for me when I’m reading Chinese books as I find it way too troublesome to search for new characters on my phone while reading paper books. I still need to find a Chinese-Chinese or Chinese-English dictionary to sideload into KOReader for it to work, but I look forward to improving my Chinese and perhaps help you learn another language too!

First Time Borrowing E-books From the Library

Another useful feature I was not expecting on the Kobo Aura One is support for Overdrive (an online book borrowing platform), built into the Kobo UI (it was the first Kobo device to have Overdrive functionality). Hong Kong being one of the supported regions, I was thrilled at the prospect!

When I first got the Aura One, going to Settings didn’t show Overdrive… which made me worry if it was because the Kobo wasn’t originally from one of the regions that supported Overdrive (I got this second-hand e-reader from Mainland China via TaoBao).

Assuming you’re in one of the regions that support Overdrive, plus you own one of the supported Kobo devices (compatible region and country list); follow the steps below to get the Overdrive function on your Kobo.

How To Fix Overdrive Missing in Kobo Settings

Create a Kobo account on www.kobo.com if you haven’t already. At the bottom of the page, select the correct country/region.
Go to My Account > Payment Information > Billing Address and select the country/region. Saving a payment method is not necessary.
Download the desktop Kobo software and login.
Ensure your firmware is up-to-date by doing a sync with your Kobo connected via USB to the desktop. Remember to eject before unplugging.
The Overdrive option should now appear in your Settings on the Kobo. Create an Overdrive account if you haven’t already on the computer, and login on the Kobo with your credentials to link the device to your Overdrive. Books borrowed on the Kobo are automatically returned to the due date and will show up in the My Books tab.
If Overdrive is still not showing on the Kobo, try to sign out of your Kobo account on the e-reader, reboot (not sleep) and login once again. (More > Settings > Accounts > Kobo Account)

Other Considerations

Using my “new” Kobo Aura One for the past two weeks has been a great stimulus for my reading appetite. I don’t have any complaints other than the fact I want to get a sleeve to protect it from scratches or putting pressure on the display while transporting it around. I realized my ESR iPad Mini 6 magnetic cover (not the case) actually can double its duty and act as a makeshift cover in the meantime. The corners are slightly poking out, but the magnetic flap actually registers and can auto sleep the Kobo!

This is probably one of the few gadgets I don’t have a screen protector applied because it will negatively affect the display, hence I find myself babying it a bit more than my other gadgets. As for worrying about battery life in a seven-year-old device - I am not too fussed since the battery was replaced during refurbishment. I am keeping the charge roughly around 60-90%, topping it up on low power mode with my battery banks whenever I get the chance. Will try to keep the battery health as stable as possible.

Getting E-books

I find that buying from kobo.com, ebooks.com, and Wiley Online Library usually has me covered. There’s also the ability to borrow (with the additional step of Adobe Digital Editions) or download free e-books from the likes of Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive, or OpenLibrary. But for some, Amazon might still be their go-to store; which a Kindle might be more suitable to stay within that ecosystem.

TL;DR

If you’re someone who is on the lookout for a budget, large screen (7.8”) monotone ereader and isn’t reliant on Amazon as their main ebook source; I highly recommend this old Kobo model - the Aura One. The larger 7.8” screen will be beneficial if you read PDFs or textbooks. If you can find the 32GB Limited Edition version then go for it, but otherwise, the original 8GB is plenty. If you have the budget for current devices, I personally would get the new Kobo Clara BW 6” which supports audiobook playback via Bluetooth. Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s any recent 7.8” equivalent I would get in the current generation of e-readers in 2024.

Let me know if you use an e-reader and which model you got! I still feel e-readers are not a mainstream gadget like phones or tablets, but if you ever have the chance to test one out at the shops or from a friend, I wholeheartedly recommend you giving it a shot. It really makes it easier to read more on the go and is more comfortable on our eyes. This purchase haincentivizeded my love for reading; read on!

Tip For Kindle Users Considering Kobo

If you want to jump ship from Amazon Kindle to Kobo, there are tools called DeDRM you can use in Calibre to help convert e-books purchased on Amazon (before January 2023) to work on your Kobo. It converts the proprietary formats and removes DRM so it can work on Kobo or other epub readers you own.

Does anyone remember the Chapters in Richport Town Centre on Ackroyd? I miss that place… ↩

Quick Guide: Export Notes From Evernote to Obsidian

Sat, 15 Jul 2023 16:00:00 GMT

Today I read that Evernote laid off almost all of their remaining staff after dismissing 129 workers in February earlier this year. Despite being a user since around 2013, I have not used it since they started charging for basic features. Their apps also went downhill for me and I had syncing and lagging issues.

Obsidian Plugin - Convert Evernote Files to Markdown

Screenshot of the Importer plugin in Obsidian

The news about the lay-offs was the final kick I needed to export all my remaining notes from the Evernote platform. I could convert all my Evernote files handily with a new open source, community plugin (developed by Obsidian themselves) which I only just discovered a few days ago - Importer By Obsidian.

It currently only supports converting .enex to .md, and it worked flawlessly for me. It can convert single notes or a folder of .enex notes. The plugin extracts media (from notes with pictures, etc) and stores them in a “_resources” folder along with the converted Markdown notes. Creation dates are preserved. Their roadmap includes supporting Apple Notes, Notion and HTML in the future. I highly recommend using this plugin to migrate over to Obsidian with only a few clicks!

Quitting Evernote For Good

To export notes from Evernote, you unfortunately have to download the computer client (Windows or Mac) as the web app does not support the export function. You could export individual notes or folders (both have .enex format). After that just open Obsidian, install the Importer By Obsidian plugin from the Community Plugins directory within Settings, enable it, and choose your .enex files to be imported.

If you want more options on the import, I realized there is another plugin called Yarle (Yet Another Rope Ladder from Evernote), that can convert .enex into .md notes with user-defined templates. Check it out if you need more customization.

Own Your Data

Another step closer to removing personal data from the cloud

Finally, I uninstalled the Evernote clients (Mac and Android), went back to evernote.com and revoked all my sessions, turned off 2FA and deleted my account! It definitely feels great to know my notes are now off the cloud and secure in my own hands. If you have not made the move yet, check out my post on how I found the right notes app. You could do the same and own your data!

Have a good day.

Swinsian: How I Chose The Best MacOS Music Library App

Sat, 20 May 2023 16:00:00 GMT

I have always had a love/hate relationship with the Apple iTunes app ever since I became a Mac user in the 2000s. I never liked the fact it didn’t play FLACs, would spontaneously corrupt my carefully curated library after updates, and felt bloated to run on old hardware.

What Pushed Me to Find an iTunes Alternative

Recently, my mid-2012 13” MacBook Air decided to fail on me with corrupted SSD errors. I was still on Mojave then and did not want to upgrade to Catalina as it was probably going to be a bit taxing on my 10-year-old Mac. After the fix using FSCK and disk repair commands via terminal in recovery mode, I had to do a clean installation of Catalina (the last compatible OS with this Mac). I am still happy my Mac could live to see another day, but the days of iTunes are finally over as Apple retired the iTunes app for Apple Music.

I was at this point where I had to find an alternative music library app on macOS. With a library of over 10,000 songs, I needed an app with good library management features. I have also been slowly re-ripping my CD collection to the highest quality to enjoy my music fully well into the future. (I have many CDs ripped at 256kbps MP3 back in my teenage days, which I find lacking compared to lossless audio in my current head-fi setup).

Narrowing down the FLAC Players

Pine Player: Free, lightweight, supports almost all lossless formats and playback up to 32Bit 768kHz, but lacks library management functionality.
Quod Libet: Free, open source software (FOSS), extensive library organization tools and plugins available. This was my first choice while researching. FOSS is always a plus in my books, but unfortunately it was incredibly buggy and kept crashing. Soon, when I get a new Apple Silicon Mac, I will be trying the latest release, as it does offer lots of complex music library and search features.
VOX: Subscription model ($1/m), integrates with streaming services and supports hi-res, but personally I did not like GUI.
Clementine: FOSS, can transcode audio, support streaming services and even has an Android remote app. I like that it has song and artist information integrated within the app (like when browsing the Apple Music store). Also has appearance settings if you’re into customizing UI. The latest release, version 1.3.1 is from 2016 though.
Foobar2000: Free, proprietary Windows-based music app. The UI is somewhat rough around the edges in my opinion, but it has many features, albeit in a slightly less user-friendly interface. Recently released version 2.5 on Mac, which is more akin to the full Windows version.

My iTunes Replacement: Swinsian

An example of a smart playlist of Franz Ferdinand, with my listening stats being parameters

But after all the trial and research, none of them felt as nice to use as Swinsian, a pay-once software, which I greatly appreciate, over subscription models ($15 USD at the time of writing). It is seemingly maintained by a one-man-band and although updates are a bit slow to release, Version 2.3.6 is running smoothly with no obvious bugs on Catalina 10.15.7.

I enjoyed how it reminded me of iTunes yet, it was more flexible and lightweight. The in-built tag editor is handy for quick metadata changes. It supports gapless playback and last.fm scrobbling. It is also capable of syncing with Apple devices like the iPod, iPad, and iPhone.

Preserving all my stats from my iTunes days

The most important feature I value with Swinsian, that I couldn’t find in other music library apps, is the fact it could import all the metadata from my iTunes library. This includes stats like: last played, date added, play count and star ratings. I use these stats to build custom playlists, and it was crucial for me to retain the info from my iTunes library when migrating to a new music library app. I could be wrong, but I was unable to retain these statistics with any of the other apps I tried.

Conclusion

If you are also thinking of finding a new music library app on your Mac, I can personally vouch for Swinsian for a simple switch over without much fuss. If you have more time to tinker around, I would suggest trying out Quod Libet, or Foobar2000. They’re both able to manage large music libraries and have lots of in-built features, while being free.

Other Music Library Management Apps for macOS

Lastly, I have three other music management related Mac apps I want to give a shout-out to. I have used these for years and I highly recommend them:

XLD—Lossless audio decoder: FOSS, lightweight. I use it to rip all my CDs.
Kid3—Audio Tagger: FOSS, part of the KDE community. Advance ID3 tag editor and can edit multiple items at once, great for cleaning messed up metadata.
Spek—Acoustic spectrum analyser: FOSS, simple to use. See the audio spectrogram of a file (almost all popular formats supported). Useful to confirm if the high-res or lossless file you purchased is legit.

Disclaimer: I want to clarify that the recommendations and information mentioned in this blog post are based on my personal research and experience, and are not sponsored or influenced by any brand or company. I hope this post has been helpful in guiding you towards finding a suitable macOS app to enjoy your music library with!

How I Made a Digital Note Collection with Obsidian

Tue, 20 Sep 2022 16:00:00 GMT

Here is why I chose Obsidian as my Personal Knowledge Base (PKB) solution and why you should consider it too for digital notes.

Having alluded to my analogue habit of keeping a paper planner in the Nolty 2281 review, let me discuss the flip side of the coin, on how I make and organise notes digitally. I am using an app called Obsidian for taking digital notes since Q3 2022. If all goes to plan, I can finally settle into a note-taking app without future headaches…

Previous Digital Note-Taking System — Or Lack Thereof

I discovered Obsidian a couple of months ago after researching for the most appropriate note taking app suitable for me. I have notes scattered on multiple platforms at the time; including Evernote, Google Docs, Dropbox and random .txt / .md files on my phone and computer locally. In the past I also created a lot of “orphan notes” using Markdown editors like Mou (retired in 2019) or nVALT 2 (a Notation Velocity fork).

I learnt to use Markdown many years ago using these two apps—Mou and nVALT 2

As you can tell it was becoming out of hand. Having trialled the likes of OneNote, Google Keep, Notion, Simplenote and Joplin; each app had its own flaw, leading me back on the road to searching for the “best note-taking app”. I gave up at the time (this was back in the 2010s) and stuck with Evernote for the time being.

My App Requirements

Having used a couple apps in this category, I realized the following features are compulsory to me:

Must support Markdown and does not use a vendor-locking format
Owning my own notes (ability to store my notes locally in a location of my choice and not on the cloud)
Flexible enough to expand with me as my note collection grows (if Obsidian disappears, my .md files will remain intact and readable with other note-taking apps)
Can embed images, PDFs
Supports macOS and Android
Ability to sync between devices
Customizable
Accessible offline
Regular software updates and must be stable & fast on my 10-year-old MacBook Air (mid-2012) running macOS v10.15 Catalina
Functional search feature
Free, no registration to use

The requirements I wanted but are not available on Obsidian:

Not FOSS (free and open source), it is free for personal use but the program itself is not open source
Doesn’t support OCR (although there seems to be a plugin for it)
No native support for Mac’s built-in grammar and spell check (due to the fact Obsidian being an Electron app)

Make a Change for the Better — Leaving Evernote

Saying goodbye to Evernote

After using multiple note-taking apps, markdown editors and to-do list managers; I got fed up with my fragmented and disorganized digital note collection. The bulk of my notes are on Evernote; but it got laggy on my ageing MacBook Air and the Android app wasn’t much better. Many features become subscription-only and if memory serves me right, the fees have risen in the last couple of years.

I got to the stage where I no longer want to keep my digital note collection on a closed, proprietary platform. Evernote doesn’t support Markdown natively which is annoying as I enjoy the fast formatting it provides without my hands leaving the keyboard. On a more personal level, it doesn’t “harmonize” well with me when I’m making notes. (It is different from person to person I’m sure; so if you’re enjoying your experience with Evernote then good for you!) For me, it felt increasingly like a barricade, slowing me down and making my note-taking process turn from a “flow state” (where every action should feel smooth and uninterrupted) to a “state of annoyance” and feeling limited by the software.

Migrating to Obsidian

In 2022, I decided to search for a new note-taking app in hopes for new software being on the market since the last time I checked. I discovered Obsidian which claimed to be capable of being “my second brain”. I have never heard of this app before and upon reading on how it worked, I wasn’t sure if I could get my mind around organizing notes without the more common method of folders. Technically there is nothing preventing you from using a folder structure, but you miss out on a lot of the linking capabilities of Obsidian. I went on to read about the non-linear / non-hierarchal way of keeping notes, and the concept of building a Personal Knowledge Base (PKB) by interlinking notes. This got me intrigued to say the least; so I decided to give it a shot and I am impressed.

Although there are semi-automatic ways of importing notes from Evernote into Obsidian, via evernote2md, I decided to go the manual route of migrating to Obsidian. This allowed me a chance to explore the features of Obsidian and cull any non-relevant notes built up over the years.

Discovering Obsidian: A Customizable, Interconnected Web of Personal Notes

I am using “overview” notes as a means to gather notes from different topics, for example, my “Technology MOC” includes notes related to tech topics like Android, head-fi and mechanical keyboards. At the top of all these MOCs is my “Dashboard” note which acts like a table of content or shortcut page if you will.

What is a MOC you may ask?

It is short for “Maps of Content”, popularised by Nick Milo over at Linking Your Thinking. It’s a similar idea to a table of content or an overview page. I have learnt tips and tricks from his Youtube channel where he talks about Obsidian use cases.

![Diagram showing difference between centralized, decentralized and distributed networks.](/assets/images/blog/diagram-of-networks.webp “diagram of networks” “Lemieux, Victoria & Hofman, Darra & Batista, Danielle & Joo, Alysha (2019) Blockchain Technology & Recordkeeping”)

Using MOCs, I am able to create a decentralised structure of notes. Being able to create internal links between notes is a new experience for me and it has taken me a few days to get used to it. I definitely see an advantage of linking; for certain notes covering multiple topics, it can be hard to categorise it into one folder. Being able to make both backlinks and outgoing links, I can happily find my note belonging where it should—in an interconnected web. I have only one vault right now to capture my personal life and hobbies, but plan to make a second one for my professional life once I get comfortable using this multi-faceted app.

Creating a personal knowledge base (PKB)

After reading about PKB, I realised it was what I’ve been longing to do for years. It’s the idea of one’s knowledge organised into a self-contained space. I am someone who fancies recording facts or figures for future reference, logging / tracking, taking notes (passive information documenting) and recently, being more conscious with making notes (active interpreptations of concepts after digesting material). Now that have found an app that is capable of handling what I will throw at it in the years to come, it makes having a PKB very appealing indeed!

Graph view of my current vault

Obsidian has a graph view that shows how notes inter-relate with each other. It’s a fun and visual way of seeing your web of notes grow. Being a visual person, I like to check on it once in a while to see if I have any orphan notes hanging around on the outskirts waiting to be gathered into a new MOC as such. It also makes it easier to see if there are hidden connections between notes or topics. I have yet to dive deep into the functionalities of the graph view.

Multi-Device Usage With Syncthing

If you want one-stop-shop sync function, there is a paid cloud service from Obsidian with end-to-end encryption for $1USD/month (as of Oct 2022). I read it works flawlessly, but I went with one of the free options instead, more for tinkerers—using Github or with the awesome FOSS synchronisation app, Syncthing. As someone who is always looking to improving my tech workflows, I had to try it out!

Syncthing-Fork for Android

With Syncthing installed and set up, I can access the notes on my Android phone. There are two clients available on the Play Store. I chose Syncthing-Fork as it has less reported battery drain issues. Having heard of Syncthing a long time ago, I regret not trying it out sooner as it is very handy and I use it for other files I need to sync between devices. It works great and changes to notes are almost instantaneous between my Mac and Android device.

One thing to beware is having both devices running Obsidian as there’s a risk of data loss. I always make sure I have only one instance of Obsidian open and allow the vault to sync before changing devices.

Favourite Obsidian Plugins — Endless Possibilities

I have a lot of functionality yet to discover, but so far, I enjoy using the following plugins:

Daily notes (core plugin) - used in conjunction with Templates for daily brain dumps
Command palette (core plugin) - like Mac’s Spotlight, quick access to almost all functions in Obsidian
Templates (core plugin) - the community version, Templater, has more functions but the core version is enough for me at the moment
Tasks (community plugin) - powerful plugin to help manage task lists spread across multiple notes
Paste URL into selection (community plugin) - handy link creator
Style settings (community plugin) - great for appearance full customisation

Here’s another seven community plugins I believe are useful but haven’t tried:

Kindle Highlights - sync Kindle highlights and notes directly to Obsidian
Outliner - advanced list editor
Advanced Slides - create simple presentation using Markdown
Tag Wrangler - more functions for tags
Mind Map - create mind maps using Markdown via Markmap
LanguageTool Integration - grammar and spell checker / Grammarly alternative, can also self-host
Obsidian Tabs - allow new notes to open as tabs instead of panes

Is Obsidian the PKB Manager and Digital Note Taking App for You?

I hope my post has got you thinking about how to collect snippets of what you find interesting or important in your life; and using the most effective way to organise it into something meaningful and rewarding.

Although I’m a happy user of Obsidian, by no means is it the right app for everyone as it can get complex for the non-tech savvy and has some disadvantages, for example:

No web browser access
Doesn’t have the usual word processing capabilities (some users aren’t ready to jump into a full Markdown environment)
Mobile app can be more refined
The app being too flexible can actually lead to indecisiveness and lack structure if you don’t take some effort in the beginning to decide how you want to organise your notes
It can become a time sink because there’s too many customisation options and plugins to play with; but if it is to become “your second brain”, I think the time spent is well worth it

At the end of the day, it is the content that matters. What app you decide to house your digital note collection is a highly personalised process. I encourage you to find the right app and start building a PKB to discover more about yourself in the process and make use of such great technology surrounding us.

Japanese Planner Review: Nolty 2281 (B6 Ecri Memo)

Sun, 04 Sep 2022 16:00:00 GMT

Featured image of Nolty 6501, 2281, and Hobonichi Weeks

September - a time to reflect on how the year has elapsed and if any goals need to be brought up to speed. It is the time when I start to ponder over what planner setup I will be using in the upcoming year.

Perhaps you, like me, have a habit of using a paper diary or journal to capture fleeting thoughts and ideas before they disappear into thin air. In this post, I will be doing a planner review of the Nolty 2281 in B6 size, a.k.a. Nolty Ecri Memo.

Joys of an Analogue Life

I find it innately comforting when I put pencil to paper; or nib to paper. Sure, I have a digital note collection (which I will talk about in a future post), but having a place to jot down things on the go is something I find advantageous in this digital age.

Beginning With Hobonichi

Hobonichi web shop page

I started my paper planner journey with the well known Japanese brand, Hobonichi (founded in 1998), back in 2016 and have been using them yearly. This was mainly because of their use of Tomoe River paper. I have started using fountain pens back then, and I needed good quality paper that can take ink well. Having used both the A6 Techo (English version) and the Weeks (and Weeks Mega) over the years. I appreciate the build quality, fun designs and find a lot of pleasure in using them. The paper is the best attribute of these planners and every year there are new releases of covers that gather a lot of attention by those who love to collect and decorate their planners.

Nolty web shop page

Nolty Planners: Layout Paradise

But in 2022, I jumped ship and tried the Nolty Listy 1 (model number 6501). I did not find any covers or colours appealing on Hobonichi that year; plus I was interested in trying new layouts.

Nolty is another famous Japanese planner / diary brand established in 1949. They have a myriad of sizes and layout options compared to Hobonichi. It is not widely available outside Japan (from what I could tell) and they do not have an English site. But the Japanese site is pretty self-explanatory and all the Nolty planners are available for purchase on Amazon.co.jp. They ship to most places with a reasonable shipping fee. In terms of the paper used, they have their own proprietary paper which is thicker than Tomoe River but still smooth in texture. It takes fountain pen inks well with no feathering or bleeding - which is an absolute prerequisite for me.

Vertical Week Layout

The Listy 1 has a vertical weekly timeline like the Hobonichi Cousin A5. Many people who want a smaller Cousin will find this a great alternative (A5 Slim, 219×123 mm). Unfortunately, the vertical layout has not been working out for me. It is hard to squeeze details into the thin columns and I do not enjoy running out of space as my writing is not particularly small.

Vertical week timeline layout vs the more flexible weekly semi-vertical with memo space below

I was considering returning to the Hobonichi Weeks for 2023, but sadly, there was no design that piqued my interest. After hunting around, I decided to try the Nolty B6 Ecri Memo Weekly (model number 2281). There is a navy cover (the one I got) and a beige/brown cover called 2282.

Size difference between Nolty Listy 1 (6501) vs Nolty 2281

Planner Chosen For 2023: Nolty 2281

The 2281 is marginally wider than the 6501 but shorter than the Hobonichi Weeks (188x133 mm). The shipping speed was phenomenal as it only took 1.5 days to arrive at Hong Kong from Tokyo! I have since done basic washi decorating and protected the thread bookmarks (I recommend Thread Heaven). I also like to white-out unnecessary info, e.g. kanji holidays and labels, that are irrelevant to me.

Page layout (1) of the Nolty 2281. Annual calendars 2022, 23, 24. 365 year view. Monthly year view. Checkbox list for the year.

Page layout (2) of the Nolty 2281. Monthly calendar view with days on the left. Weekly view with blank memo space below. Blank grid pages after the weeklies. End paper with personal info area. Pen loop included in the basic plastic cover.

I bought a zip-around mesh case to go with the 2281 as I do not have any B6 accessories that would fit it. It includes a small grid booklet with a log style layout with 15 sheets (30 pages).

Nolty B6 zip cover (No. NTBCV2112) in beige. There is a black and burgundy version as well.

The 2281 comes with a small additional notebook at the back for extra grid paper (23 sheets with 3.5mm grid) if the 18 sheets (36 pages) included in the planner is not enough. None of these blank pages are numbered.

Additional grid paper booklets, left one is included with the 2281, while the right one is included with the case

Planner Setup Sorted

I am looking forward to using this as my catch-all journal next year. The flexible memo space on the weekly pages is inviting for my random brain dumps compared to the more structured timeline layout of the 6501. I might still get a Hobonichi Weeks for logging my coffee journey (I am more than halfway through the Hobonichi A6 Day-Free).

Being able to feel at ease and happy with a planner setup could be a long road for some. I have watched many planner review videos and seeing how people use their planners give me inspiration to use mine to the maximum potential. Because I tend to use my planners as a log instead of future planning (for which I use an electronic calendar instead), it gives me a sense of flexibility to express myself and not being too structured (hence the large memo space on the weekly pages in the Nolty 2281).

Hope my review can help you decide on your planner setup, knowing more about Nolty in general and where to buy Nolty planners! What are your favourite layouts or use cases for paper planners? Happy to answer any questions if you have any. I think Nolty is definitely worth considering for planner addicts or fountain pen fiends alike.

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