About

Hi! I'm Ling Ling

I'm the writer behind this personal blog, Miss Elle Tea. I started this blog because I wanted to write, get things off my chest, find my voice, and discover what matters most. I wrote a post about Why I Blog.

I write about people, places and phenomena that spark inspiration or tickle curiosity.

Who is Ling Ling?

Here are a few fun things about Ling Ling:

I'm Malaysian-born, in a city where the Portuguese, Dutch and British once colonised.
With the help of a fortune-teller, my name is derived from the word língjiǎo (菱角) or water caltrop in English.
I've lived, studied and worked in 8 countries - Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Portugal, Serbia, Singapore, the UK, and the USA.
I'm a multi-hyphenate, which means I do too many things. I'm an intercultural psychologist / a learning & development professional / formerly an electronics engineer.
Since 2005, I've facilitated and delivered workshops and training programs in 21 countries across four continents in technology, travel and humanitarianism.
I ran a podcast show called, Leaders of Learning from 2018 to 2020
I practice Vipassana meditation daily and learn Ashtanga Yoga with Glo.

I am based in Lisbon, Portugal. If you're around, drop me a note and let's have coffee. ☕️

What are you working on now?

I'm an Intercultural Psychologist with Culture Spark Global (CSG). CSG is a learning company focusing on developing psychological and sociocultural skills to cultivate inclusive and compassionate communities.
I'm settling back in Lisbon to prepare for the upcoming PhD in Psychology programme with ISCTE-IUL in September 2023.
Also, I'm making (slow) progress in learning Portuguese.

If you'd like more insight into my background, contact me on LinkedIn.

Who Miss Elle Tea?

I love to hike mountains and trek jungles. The Bornean rain forests. The rocky Himalayas. The undulating coasts of the Algarve. The majestic and wondrous nature is a humbling reminder of the impermanence of it all - our fleeting and insignificant speck of existence in this timeless and infinite universe.

Malaysia is blessed to have one of the world's oldest and most biodiverse rainforests. According to local superstitions, spirits live in these rainforests; some are good, and some are not. When trekking, people may disturb or offend spirits by trespassing or stepping in the wrong places.

As such, these spirits may want to seek revenge and stalk trekkers. However, spirits can only follow you if they know your real name. So, when we make a trip to the rainforests, we give each other nicknames as a spiritual precaution.

My trekking nickname is Elle Tea; my initials (L.L.T.) are spelt out. 🤓

How can I support Miss Elle Tea?

You can sign up for my mailing list.

I'll send articles about people, places as well as cultural and universal phenomena that spark inspiration or tickle curiosity. If you find my writings helpful or inspiring, feel free to forward them to those who need them most. 💐

Appearances

I've made some appearances in other places. Check them out!

Are you an affiliate?

Yes. Miss Elle Tea participates in the Rakuten Advertising Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to help a site earn commissions by linking to its products and services.

In other words, whenever you buy a book/product from any link on this site, I receive a small percentage of its price. This helps to maintain the website and support my work. You're safe. There are no nefarious "third parties" or "cookies".

Thanks so much for being here. It means a lot to me. 🥰

Much love,
Ling Ling

P.S. If you found a typo and dying to fix it, drop me a line, and I'll get to it soon!

Last Updated: 26 July 2023