Pelajaran Berharga

Kemaren ada kejadian luar biasa. Banyak hikmahnya. Dan membuatku merenung dan ambil pelajaran2x berharga.

Jadi ceritanya gini.  Aku dan suami sudah on the way home, skitar jam setengah sebelas malam. Tiba-tiba ada suara kayak DOR.  Aku bingung dan nanya suami,"Kamu denger, nggak?"  Dan gak berapa lama kemudian,  ban belakang sebelah kiri kempes seolah2 kena paku.  Alamaak!

Nah, terus mau nggak mau ya kita stop di pinggir jalan.  Bingung, gimana ganti ban, soalnya kita nggak punya ban serep (mobil zaman sekarang nggak nyediain ban serep, adanya cuma satu kotak kecil untuk mompa gas, dimana gue & misua kaga ngerti gimana cara makenya.)  Alhasil kita akhirnya mutusin untuk nelpon nomor darurat 911.  Mana batere telpon udah cenat cenut pula, alias tinggal 5 watt.... haiyah! >_<

Sementara suami lagi berusaha kontek 911 (minta bantuan roadside assistance), mendadak ada orang asing ngetok kaca jendela.  Mungkin dia berusaha jadi good samaritan kali?  Tapi instingku berkata lain. Suara hati bilang, "Jangan percaya sama orang ini!".  Susah ngejelasinnya, pokoknya nggak feel good deh sama orang ini.  Dia berusaha untuk menolong kita ganti ban.  Pake acara keluarin toolboxnya dia segala.  Tapi dia nggak berhasil ganti ban kita, entah kenapa.

Aku kasih kode lagi untuk suamiku telp 911 lagi, dan kali ini mereka bilang mereka akan kirim mobil patrol.  (Berarti polisi dong? hore!!).  Dan beneran aza, nggak berapa lama kemudian, mobil polisi tiba.  Baru sekali ini aku ngeliat polisi dan langsung bernafas lega.   Polisinya wanita berbadan tegap bernama K.Gibson.  Aku tanya,"Bisa nggak kamu stay?".  Tadinya aku pikir dia setuju2 aja, tapi ternyata responnya dia aku nggak nyangka!  Dia cuma nanya satu kata gini: "Why?" Waduh!  Gelagapan jawab, jadinya aku nggak bisa jawab...

Nah, mungkin bu polwan ini kasian kali ngeliat kita luntang lantung kayak orang digantung, jadinya doi cuma nasihat gini,"Sudahlah, masuk mobil kamu sana, naikin jendela, kunci pintu, dan tunggu sampe tow trucknya dateng."  Ya wes, abis itu kita ya nurut saja sama nasihat beliau.  Padahal hati gue jadi dag dig dug lagi. Getar getir mikirin kalo ni polisi mungkin bakalan pulang dan ninggalin kita sendirian.  Ihik!

Oke, sekitar setengah jam kemudian, akhirnya tow truck yang ditunggu2x dateng juga.  Horeeeee! Gila, seneng bangeth deh gue!  Mana udah jam 12 malem, dan hp udah mati total.  Drivernya muda, namanya Nick.   Sementara itu, orang asing nggak dikenal yang sok nawarin bantuan tapi berniat jahat (maybe? I don't know, looks suspicious, sih!) ngelewes2x pergi mundur teratur.  Terus, tiba2x aku denger suara di sebelah kiriku,"You guys are so lucky.  Jangan percaya anyone!"  Eeeeh, ternyata ibu polisi Gibson udah kembali!  & Ternyata Madam Gibson kenal sama Nick the driver ini!!  Hatiku jadi damai tentram.

Akhirnya setelah semua urusan tetek bengek kelar,  kita smua berpisah dan pulang ke rumah masing2x.  Phew!

Pelajaran berhargaku:
1. Asuransi mobil langsung harus ditambah dengan feature Roadside Assistance!  Supaya lain kali nggak makan waktu lama kayak gini dei...
2. Jangan percaya sama orang asing yang pura2 baek.  Selalu percaya insting!  Always count on it!
3. Pulang ya jangan malem2... *kalo bisa*

Ya gitu deh cerita kali ini.  Semoga bermanfaat.

3 Persona

Did you know that you have 3 personality types?  It applies to everyone.  What are they?

1. Past Self
Past Self is your self in the past.  It's history.  What's done is done.  This is your collections of your success, failures, and all activities leading to it.  Past Self could bolster your next steps into the right direction, and vice versa.  Past Self could imprisoned you if you don't let go of guilt and dwell too much on "mistakes".  Instead, look at it as a practice field to refine your skill.  After all, practice makes perfect.  The good news is, by reconnecting with Past Self, you can always look back at how determined you were to achieve your goal in time of trial and tribulations.  Look at it as a rear view mirror.  Just occasionally check to see how far you've grown!

2. Present Self
Present Self is your self in the present.  In the now.  If life is illustrated as a journey going from point A to point B, this is your point A. Be in the present. Be aware of your surrounding.  You never know when opportunity knocks.  Although discipline in daily grind is important, but "stop-and-smell-the-roses" attitude will help you appreciate your condition right now.  Present Self is also the busy bee. Present Self do things that must be done, or lack of thereof. So?  Get it done.

3. Future Self
Future Self is your self in the future.  You're not there yet, but eventually will be there.  This is your point B.  This is your finish line and/or multiple checkpoints.  Future Self will often time caught being thankful to the Past Self and Present Self, when the Present Self finally arrive in their destination and hitting their goal.  Future Self eventually become Present Self on the destination day.

So which one is important?

The truth is, all of them are important.

You need your Past Self to remind you your history,  to not repeat the same mistake twice (Mistake is okay, but don't repeat it again.  Learn from it!)

You need your Present Self to do things that have been planned by your Past Self.  And prepare your next stop for the sake of your future.

You need your Future Self to constantly draw you to the better place.  Keep going.  Eyes on target.

All these 3 personality types work cohesively together and form the most important thing that matter. YOU.

1st Violin Lesson

Here we go!

Now I can mark this off from my bucket list! :)

3 Points of Success

1. Success is not a birthright
Nobody born as a successful person right away.  I've never heard of "successful baby".  Success is not something to be inherited.  And definitely not genetic.  I found in my studies that success is a trait.  A skill.  Successful people came from various background: rich and poor, school-smart and street-smart, young and old, any type of gender, race, and all other types of diversity.   Because it's a skill, that means it is something that can be learn, practiced, and refined with time and experiences.

2. Success is not exclusive
It is not mutually exclusive to certain trades, profession, or socioeconomic status.  I used to think of terms "successful businessman" as something to aim for.  Like if you have your own business (versus working in a company), then you must be successful.  But in reality, it doesn't work that way.  There are unsuccessful businessman too.  There are successful employee too.  With that term in mind, that means success is not really belong to a special elite club.  It is a condition where a person able to reach their goals in a strategic manner, applied to any status they hold.  And yes, that includes successful housewife and mother too!

3. Success is relative
Success is defined by your perspective.  It is not an absolute, it's a relative.  My success standards might be different than yours, and that's fine.  A success achievement for a musician is different than what success means for movie producers, or high school teacher, or a park ranger.  And the funny thing is, what we defined as success five years ago, could be evolving into something entirely different now.  Our environment may change, especially in this digital revolution age!  What seems important back then, might not be necessarily the same now.  We continuously adjust, adapt, and alter our success measurement as our condition changes.

For me, success means progressive actions to the betterment.  Keep moving towards the goal I set up, not just moving in motion towards nowhere.

Just what my dearest mama always said to me every morning before I go to work,"Sukses ya!" (Indonesian translation: Be successful, ok!), I will depart with you now with a wish: Have a successful day!

Divergent Professions

For the last fifteen years, I've been working in the financial industry.  I've done jobs that most people prefer to avoid, like sales or being a debt collector.  What I've imagined  back then when I was just a fresh grad from campus to my condition now, is somewhat different. I always want a career in banking industry, and I thought the ladder will be vertical, but instead I've gained various experiences in a divergent way.  Why?  Because it's all different experiences, and it's expanding.

I started my professional experience being a broker-trader for a commodity index exchange market. It was challenging and I truly learned a lot from it.  Then I became assistant manager, then junior manager, then back to business consultant again so I can finish my studies and get my degree.

Next, my journey brought me into the world of direct sales.  Cold-calls, door-to-door, canvasing business offices, you name it.  I've sold traditional and modern banking products, including investments and insurance.  I enjoyed it.  It's truly helped me getting rid the fear of talking with strangers, and enhanced my communication skills.

Then I became personal banker.  Maintained my customer's wealth portfolio for retail, premium, and priority banking.  I love this job.  I like visiting my clients and getting personal touch at their lives. Whenever there's new products or services, I can't wait to tell all my clients about it, because I want them to get the first dip of the benefit.  This one is my second most favorite career ever!  (Why second? Keep on reading, save the best for last!).  I get to meet hundreds and hundreds people with diverse backgrounds, as customers, peers, bosses, and beyond.  Great people with various experience. Truly a humbling experience for me.

Then, sales manager.  Sell! Sell! Sell!  But wait, there's more.  I have an army this time.  An army of outstanding goal-oriented people with high motivation and full spirit to achieve our target!  I love it!

My adventure did not stop there.  I moved to a new country, and start from the beginning again. I still stick with banking, so I decided to start as a teller.  I was very nervous before the job interview that I've made my husband trained me to test me the difference between the coins!

After that, I became a debt collector in a call center.  It's definitely a new environment for me, but I adapted.  It was a challenging job and I don't know how I survived back then.  But I did my time and get more experiences out of it.  My teams and managers were fun and great people.

Next stop, operations.  I got behind the screen and getting new experiences as business support. Some call it ops desk, some call it analyst, some call it auditor, some call it scheduling.  It does have many names.  I like to think that this is the all you can eat buffet type of job.  I like it!  Really really like it!

Moving on, I got deeper into the world of monitoring call center in a bigger scope.  I want to call this job:  "The Watcher".   The coolest job I've ever had. My favorite one by far!  Watching the universe. Everyday is new experience, can't be bored!  I also really like the company and believe in it's values. I trust the way this company is headed.  I like how they do business.  I admire my leaders.  This is not a lip service, but I'm just confessing the truth. Maybe I need a separate blog for this specific one! For sure, this job makes me believe again in banking business.  I definitely love it!

My career journey took me to places I've never imagined before, but I think it's more interesting this way.  There's more twist and turns than what I've expected.  I don't know what I will have in the future, but whatever it is, it will surely add more value to my experience.

Today's Question

Have you heard this question,"If you can go back in time, would you change anything?".  This question have been asked in magazine, newspapers, and any other online articles.  Most will answer,"No, I won't change a thing.  If I changed, then I won't become the person I am today."

But if you ask me, I will certainly without a doubt said,"YES!  YES I WILL CHANGE SOME THINGS!"

Not that I'm regretful or anything, but surely there could be something I can improve by changing things.  I probably would be more patient.  Or be more ambitious.  Or be more careful.

Then I just realized, I could simply apply these changes today.  I can still be more patient.  More ambitious.  More careful.  If I don't like something, I can simply change it.

While I know I can't go back in time and change things in the past, but I still can change something that I want to change right away, right now.  Then this question would not become "I-wish-I-can-go-back-in-time" thing.  This question will lead to "What-can-I-do-better-today-so-I-can-have-better-future?"

This is a deep question.  Take some moment to reflect and ponder on it.  Will you change anything?

Peggy's Special Chicken Vesuvio

I've been making Chicken Vesuvio for the last 10 years, and every time I made it, I always add something.  The celery, cauliflower, and some spices were not included in the original recipe, but somehow I think the above additions make this dish more flavorful and certainly delicious.

My husband really like it and even said that tonight's version was the most spectacular Chicken Vesuvio I've ever made!  So with that thought in mind, I'd better jot down this recipe in my blog before I forget.  I'm sharing this with you so you can try this wonderful dish too!  Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

3 red potatoes, diced 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, diced 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 lemon, grated & juiced 2 stalk celery, diced

1 head cauliflower, cut in florets 4 cloves garlic, minced 2  green onions, chopped 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced Seasoning: salt, pepper, paprika, nutmeg, cloves, oregano, basil, sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Place potatoes, chicken, celery, cauliflower, and garlic in a casserole dish. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Sprinkle with the seasoning blend.  Mix together. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
2.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Sprinkle green onions over chicken.
3.	Bake, covered, in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, add mushrooms and season if needed. Return to oven, uncovered, and bake for 30 minutes.

"Spend-to-Save" Philosophy

Ah, where do I begin?

I'm chuckle at this concept mainly because I was guilty of it.  "Spend-to-save", said the retail stores and marketing department behind it.  But now I will a bit more vigilant to safeguard little money that I have and not fall into this clever maneuver!

Few years ago, I shopped at Kohl's and justified my purchases because "I need new clothes". I denied calling it the impulse buying urge even though it was really an impulse buying, not a planned shopping.  I love shopping and can't resist the temptation to try out those new outfits.  After all, there's no harm for just "trying" that cute red blouse with chic black skirt that comes with it.  And when I look at the price tag, I thought,"Not bad.  Market price $20 but Kohl's price only $14.50!  What a bargain!".  Then my shopping journey continues to the hat and gloves section.  Winter is coming so I thought I would need to stock up my winter gears.  Hat $12, gloves $8, but if I bought one more pair combo, I would have them all by just $30.  ($12X2, $8X2 = $40, so technically I'm "saving" $10!).  And I continue to shop around till it's time to go home.

I went to the checkout line and was shocked to see the grand total.  It was $212.  I surely didn't plan to spend this much originally, but alas, I can't back out of course.  So I paid and then checked my receipt. "You saved $108 today!".  So I'm thinking,"Does that mean I suppose to pay $320 for all these clothings?  And why I don't feel I'm not saving anything at all?"

I mean granted, everyone like discount and sale.  But I won't forget what I felt that day.  Call it a buyer's remorse or something like that, but I don't really feel I save money by spending money.  I save X amount but I have to pay Y amount?  I spent $212 to save $108?  Where's the saving in that?

I'm not complaining because in the end I wear the clothes and loving it.  But next time I go shopping, I would be very careful with the "spend-to-save" philosophy.  I should remember that I won't save anything by spending.  If I want to save, then just tuck the money away somewhere and not using it.

I guess that's why having a budget is very important.  Stick it to the budget and save by save.  Not save by spend.

Sims 3 : Purchase Vacation Homes

Sims 3 ! ♥♥♥

I'm a huge fan of Sims games, ever since the beginning of the original Sims 1, then Sims 2, and Sims 3 now.  Yes, I know Sims 4 has been out there for a while, but I'm still having fun playing Sims 3 and although I've been playing Sims 3 for about 3-4 years, I continue finding and experiencing new things, which make me still want to "man the game".

I have to admit that bugs and glitches are part of my Sims 3 life.  And after several trial and errors, researching via Sims Community Forums, and other walkthroughs, I pretty much sum it up to the below points to help enhance our gaming experience:

1. Always "Save As" in new file game.

2. After you have several files, o let's say more than 5 files, delete the previous old files.  Don't delete all, at least leave 2 or 3 copies.  Just in case your current game glitches, you can at least start from your freshest files or the last 2 or 3 files.

3.  Try to keep your household to be under 4 people if you can.  Less file to maintain.

By implementing the steps above, now my Sims upload the game very fast.  In the past, it took me 15-20 minutes to load, but now it's about 100 seconds!  That means it's also faster in saving and faster in travelling (since it has to upload another world).

And that lead us into the fun part : vacation!

With save, upload, and travel time reduced from 15-20 minutes to just about 1.5-3 minutes, my sims can easily travel back and forth and having max level 3 visa easily for all 3 countries : Shang Sim-La (China), Al Simhara (Egypt), Champs Le Sims (France).  Once you have max level 3 visa for all those places, you can purchase vacation home.  Another cool feature that you don't want to forget is to buy Certificate of Partnership for each countries (can be bought with Ancient Coins - and you'll get these easily by completing Adventure Quests and/or loot in Treasure Chests inside tombs/pyramids). The Certificate of Partnership can prolong your vacation time to the max days possible. :)

Now buying vacation homes, that also means we need simoleon, right?  Some homes are less than 100k, and of course there's the lavish one above 100k (In Champs Le Sims, there's one for 318k!).  It would take forever for my sims family to work, work, work and afford to buy just 1 home.  With 3 vacations spots, that means I want to have 3 vacation homes!  So here's my "strategy" (not cheat mode!  just another way to get it faster):

1. When starting a fresh game from the start, I chose rich family (duh, it's already there - why work harder? hehe).  Rich family of just a husband and wife, with a big house.  Ensure you include "sell furniture" to increase the sale price.

2.  Sell the house and move them to a small house.  This way I have big simoleon savings to begin with. Ka-ching!

3.  Start buying businesses with the savings.  Remember, they yield dividend income that you can collect every Monday, ... as long as you have the businesses.  Talk about passive income! :)

4. Have the husband and wife work & thriving with their careers.  Especially the wife.  Eventually when she reach high level of profession (8,9,10), when she pregnant, she'll still get paid big bucks while on maternity leave.  Very cool, huh?  And eventually when they both retired, they'll bring home retirement income in daily basis.  Nice!

5. When the wife is almost at level 8,9,10 in her profession (I choose 10 of course, max maternity benefit in simoleon), have her befriend a vampire, and when they're pretty close, have the vampire bite her by "offer to turn".  After the bites, wait few days until she became full vampire.  Then "try baby" with her husband, get preggy, then bam, you have a vampire baby.  Not instantly, since vampire baby are just normal kids until their teenager age done.  The vampire kid will become full vampire when they reach young adult.  At this point, it's up to you if you want to turn the wife back to human.  If you want, simply "Purchase Vampirism Cure" in Science Laboratory.  It's only 3000 simoleon.

6.  Now their kid will be the one that have all the adventure traits & wish list!  Now you ask me, why vampire?  Well, vampire lives longer than human.  Since it would take time and effort to fulfill the wish list "Max Level 3 Visa in All Vacation Place" - or something like that, I choose vampire type to complete this.  Vampire kid will also max skills in few minutes.  Writing 10 minutes - bam, level 10! Painting a medium picture for the first time - bam, level 10!  Imagine the possibility!

7.  Vampire kid turns to teenager, that means they can start travel (with their parents) and start doing Adventure quests!  Our first trip was to Egypt, because there's the high tech camera cannon that they can buy, and my vampire kid can start builing photography skills right way (and of course max it in just few clicks without any problem).  While my teenager vampire collecting photos, keep them, don't sell it yet.  Later on when he/she become adult, I have the vampire choose Photographer profession, and then "sell all photos" - and again, bam! Level 10 Photographer.  Sweet!

8.  Having the vampire teen start doing adventure quests early means they can build up their level 3 visa quicker, without the hassle of building up skills needed for job/profession.  The parents can enjoy vacation whatever they want while the vamp doing quests.

9.  Vampire teen eventually turn into vampire young adult.  And if your vampire young adult exceed level 3 visa, then go ahead buy the vacation home from phone!  By now, hopefully your household have enough simoleon to purchase them houses!  Remember: high level professions earned income (or daily retirement income when parents retired), passive income dividends from businesses, and sell celebrity rewards if any.  It's easy to become celebrity - just mingle with one of them!

10.  Some businesses (especially "property" type) might need to be upgraded.  So try to level up your property to max level 3, in order to obtain the highest dividend income.

Well, hope this strategy helps.  Now, let's play Sims 3!  Enjoy!

10th Years Wedding Anniversary

It was our 10th years wedding anniversary last week.

Wow - is it a decade already?

My husband, me, and my mother celebrated it in Petra House Restaurant - a Mediterranean cuisine for this occasion.  Nothing fancy, just simple down-to-earth get-together.  And the food were definitely yummy! :)

So what this 10 years journey means for me?  I truly feel blessed and lucky to have a husband as my dearest one.  Why?

1. He is patient.
2. He is funny.
3. He cares.
4. He fixed broken things.
5. He is peaceful.
6. He is simple.
7. He is smart.
8. He is strong.
9. He is handsome.
10. He loves me!

I love my husband just the way he is, and I'm happy that he accepts me just the way I am.  What a lovely marriage it is to be in! ♥

"Don't Worry, Be Happy"

Does being happy means to laugh all the time?  To smile all the time?

I think not.

I think... being happy is more likely means "being content".  It doesn't mean that we should smile, giggle, and laugh all the time like some silly person.  But be content - with what you had, have, and probably don't have - is a skill that one can try to develop anytime.  It's not something that you born with, but something that you practice day by day.

It is easy to find reason to not be happy and content.  But I think we should see the bigger picture.  It would be nice indeed to have everything and experience all the things that our heart desires, but the reality is it's nearly impossible to hit everything in the checklist.  Why?  Because as human, we are yearning for more, better, and progressive situation in life.

But be content while you're not having everything and perhaps even experiencing challenges - now that I called that mastery.  Understanding that life may not be perfect but everything still going upwards, perhaps not now but eventually.

Suddenly I just got a song stuck in my head while writing this blog: "Don't Worry, Be Happy".

Have a good day! :)

Dining : In or Out?

What our family did (and still do) to be one step closer for financial independence, is discontinue dining out in restaurants.  We love going to restaurants to celebrate special occasions or just to spend our weekend in the norm.  Or just a random passing up unfamiliar territory and have that sudden craving of trying out something new.  It’s a family tradition since I was a little girl.  We love trying out new restaurants, new themes, new flavors, and spending quality time together.  However, with a bigger goal in line to manage our finances wisely, and thinking ahead of our future, my family and I revisit our budget, and decide to take a proactive approach on taking control of our money back.  After all, we don’t want to outlive our money and have nothing in the future retirement days.  That would be a bleak future!

At first, it was difficult to break the old habit of not going out to restaurants.  But we've made a commitment and would love to see it through.  We start using kitchen again to cook our meals.  We utilize fresh ingredients from our local produce markets and get innovative with alternating recipes.  We use whatever available on the market that day.  My family enjoy the time we spend together both in the kitchen and at the dining table. 

Soon, we see a dramatic changes in our finances.  It’s a huge saving for our family by converting restaurants menus with home cook dishes.  A typical restaurant bill for a family of three will cost you average of $50, and obviously you have to add tax and gratuity in every occasion.  While the expenses of producing the similar dishes are not as nearly as half the cost.  Okay, perhaps we don’t have a commercial stove or top-notch range, but you don’t really need the most superior culinary items for just an everyday meal.  Any cooking utensils you have will be enough.  The most expensive ingredients you’ll need to buy is meat, and $5-$10 can stretch your budget along the way.  Once in a while there might be a seafood sale and you can get $9.99 for a pound of fresh salmon, which feed for family of three.  Just add fragrant jasmine rice or roasted potatoes on the side, and you can call it a day!  This doesn't cost you as much as dining out in your local fine dining establishments, which will charge you at least $5 or more for just a salad bowl.

And don't forget, some meals can be extended as the next day leftovers and taste even better.  A pan of lasagna can last for a while, who can really eat all of them in a day?

The best thing about cutting dining out, is that you actually can explore unlimited version of producing meals that will fit your budget and your mood of the day.  You can go Indian, Chinese, Italian, any time.  In the long run, making your own homemade meals are healthier (as you know exactly what you put in each dishes) and friendlier for your wallet.  In the last few months our family saved around $400-$500 a month by not going to any restaurants at all.  What a saving!  It was a relief to see this new habit comes to a fruition.  It was a success we accomplished as a family!

Dining out now is just another luxury, no longer a ritual weekly habit. :)

Red Cliff

One of the best movie I've ever seen is... Red Cliff.  Not going into details of the story here, as this Wikipedia link will reveal more info, but I'd like to share why I felt this movie is one of my favorites.

1.  The story line was unexpected, full of twist and plots.  Unpredictable - which is an indicator of a great movie.  Make us glued to the screen.

2. Beautifully arranged.  The battle scene are not the same as those typical war movies.  There are tensions and previous scenes which build up enough pressure leading to the climax.  Especially the last battle in the night time.  Brilliant!

3.  Mystical.  This movie takes you to summer of year 208 AD.  Imagine that.  Year 208!  And China is already full of war masterminds and strategists and politics advisers.  History lessons became alive and exciting!

4.  The casts played important roles and each of them are so deep into the character.  Well, Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro alone already a household name for Chinese/Mandarin movies.  The result?  Powerful on-screen partnership.

John Woo made a fantastic, top-notch, over-the-top movie, and I would like to see it over & over again.  I wish and hope there are more new movies like this one! ♥

Homemade Buttermilk

Ok, I'm putting this homemade buttermilk recipe in here so I don't forget! :)  Also, I'd like to share some info that might useful for all of us who like to cook!

1 cup buttermilk = 1 cup milk + 1 tablespoon vinegar.

Since I only use 1/4 cup buttermilk in my homemade banana bread, I'll just use 1 teaspoon vinegar in 1/4 cup milk.  Sometimes we have few too-ripe bananas, so I end up always making "accidental" banana bread.  Just like last week.  For variety, I've incorporated cheddar cheese.  (Jadinya roti pisang keju dech!)

That's it for now, see you in my next blog!

12 Basic Human Needs vs Maslow's Hierarchy of Motives

Growing up, I've been taught that there are 3 basic human needs (food, clothes, house), 3 secondary human needs (I forgot what are them), and 3 tertiary human needs (luxury, stuff that you don't really need to live on but nice to have).

But recently,  I came across an article that detailed 12 basic human needs, which somewhat similar to what my elementary teacher taught me, and yet there are some different factors tied to it.

The 12 basic human needs - today's modern version - are:
1. Family/Kinship
2. Health & Well-Being (Nutrition, Diet, etc)
3. Home/Shelter
4. Economic Security (Income, Savings, Budget, Retirement, etc)
5. Work/Career
6. Learning
7. Spirituality (Religion, Arts, etc)
8. Environment safety
9. Transportation/mobility
10. Community
11. Social Relationships
12. Leisure (Travel, Vacation, etc)

This make me think back of Maslow's pyramid of human needs.  In this theory, basically the basic needs must be fulfilled first before we can progress to the next one on top of it.  I think it's true.

So I can't help but wonder if the modern 12 basic needs illustrated in a web figure could really be declared as basic needs?  You can't have leisure if you don't have any food at all (let's say in a case of war or famine).  But you still can skip leisure (okay, not altogether, but perhaps just a little bit.  Just an hour of TV time) as long as you're healthy, safe, and secure.

I think all of this is just interesting to ponder. :)

Baked Mustard Chicken

I've been making breadcrumbs chicken (Indonesian translation : ayam goreng panir) since I was 13, and normally I use eggs as the binder between the flour and the breadcrumbs parts.  But when I came across this recipe last night on an app in Kindle, I thought it was clever to replace the "eggs" part with "mustard"!  This one doesn't even use flour as the first step, so it's kinda a healthier version of the breadcrumbs chicken.  No frying too, so you can avoid the negative aspect of saturated oil!

I've tweaked the recipe a little bit and settle with this one below.  Putting it here so next time I can make it again and again and again! :)  Hope you will give it a try and enjoy it too!

Ingredients:
Chicken:
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts.
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
Salt, Pepper
Paprika powder
Dried Basil

Mustard Sauce:
1/4 cup Dijon mustard (or any of your fave's mustard brand)
2 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
Dash of hot sauce

How to make it:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for mustard sauce.  Set aside.
3. In another bowl, mix Panko breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, dried basil.
4. Prep the chicken: I use 2 large chicken breasts and halve them horizontally, so I end up with 4 pieces of thinner chicken.  Season both sides with salt, pepper, and paprika powder.
5. Add chicken to mustard sauce, turn to coat.  Then dredge chicken through breadcrumbs.  Place it in cookie sheet covered by aluminium foil and sprayed with cooking spray.
6. Bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Closer to Finish Line

February.  Ah, the month we've been waiting for.  This is the month when my husband and I will finish one of our financial goal - being debt free except the house.  It's so great to be so close at the finish line!

On July 2014, 7 months ago, we've made a commitment to be more disciplined with our financial situation.  We have lived like the Joneses, buying this and that emotionally, and try to justify it logically.  Such a human nature, isn't it?

But after reading Dave Ramsey's book, The Total Money Makeover, we've decided to follow his baby steps to get out of debt and handle our financial better.  We're not irresponsible, we still pay our bills on time, and try to live within our means.  But without a written goal and budget, we were just running in place, with no finish line to aim.  We lived too comfortably by going out once or twice a week, and spending too much in birthday gifts here and there, in the name of love.  Travel every year just because we saw other people do it too in Facebook and think it's a normal thing to do.

Well this time, it's called tough love!!  We committed to not buy each other birthday gifts anymore, not until we debt-free!  You can't get out from a hole by digging the bottom.  So to be one step ahead, we HAVE TO make sacrifices for now, so we can live better later.  I'm sure our future self will thank us!

I thought it will take us longer than 7-8 months to be debt-free except the house.  But with such an extreme discipline, we did get it faster.   Somehow once we crunch the numbers and stop the "bleeding" of our budget, we are getting closer to our goal.  Sure it would be much faster if we win a lottery or have a huge significant raise or promotion.  Well, it's not happening (we stop buying lottery ticket and instead focus on increasing paying debt fast and stop unnecessary spending), and really in life, sometimes you just have to play the bad hands well (quote by Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island).

Discipline.  Sometimes it's hard to stick to the rule we've made, but one of the good thing of doing it together with your spouse, is that your spouse can remind the commitment we've made, and the goal we aim to reach.  We can be our each other's check partner.

Well, the momentum is going, and I can't wait to scratch this one task of my list.   Because as soon as this baby step done, our eyes are onto the next one!  Bumping up savings like nobody else!  So we can live like no one else later on. :)

For those of you who also in this financial journey with us, I wish you the best and may we be in a better financial state very soon. Keep it going!  Have a great day!

PS: Dave Ramsey's website is a great source!  Check it out!

Can you control your dreams?

dream

drēm/

noun

1. 1.

   a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep.

Last few nights, I've dreamt the same dream again and again.  Well, perhaps it's not exactly the same, but it has a similar theme.  I dream of having a gigantic aquarium in the basement.  In real life, I don't have a basement.  This occurs at least several time this week.  Weird.

Sometimes dreams are so vivid, look so real, feel so real.  The intensity of a dream (or nightmare) could wake you up.  It happens to me about two nights ago.  I dream of trying to escape from a witch (too much watching Charmed, lol), and I was going to rescue this one puppy by pushing it across a fence, but it bounced back because the witch cast a spell on it.  And at that moment, I knew I was doomed to death since the witch only have one prisoner, me.  The witch must have known that it was me who did the rescue (and escape) attempt.  So I shout, "Nooooooo...!"  and it got carried away to my reality.  I woke up with still yelling,"Noooo" and it woke my husband up.  He simply said,"Aww, you just had a bad dream."

I'm not sure if we can control our dream.  Somehow random thoughts jumping here and there, and in some cases it doesn't even make sense at all.  Sometimes I want something really bad that it appears in my dreams.  But often times, I don't have any clue whatsoever of what those dreams could mean.

Can you control your dreams?

Catchy Commercial!

Going home from work tonight, my husband and I heard a catchy commercial in the radio.  It's a weight loss ad, and "only call if you want to loose weight for legitimate reason".  For legitimate reason!!  Hahaha,  I wonder if there's an illegitimate reason to loose weight?

I think that commercial is great!  It's capturing audience's interest by using different wording and interesting idea.  After the commercial long gone, me and my husband keep discussing it (and joking about it) for the next ten minutes.  Wow!

We ran several scenarios of what might happen when a prospective buyer call in after the commercial.

"I want to buy your weight loss product, but for illegitimate reason.  Will you still sell it to me?"

"No Sir/Madam, cannot sell it to you if it's not for legitimate purposes."

"Okay, okay, I'll use it for just legitimate purposes.  I promise!"

Hahaha,  this is just too funny.  :)

Spicy Roasted Cauliflower - the perfect recipe!

After experimenting with different recipes, I finally found the perfect recipe for this healthy veggie. This recipe is so simple and easy!  You can expand it to lots of variety by changing the seasoning if you'd like to.  I've made it over and over again for my family, and everyone loves it, including my picky husband!  Hope you like it as we do.  Thursday night normally is the cauliflower night! :)

Ingredients:
1 cauliflower, cut into bite-size florets, washed and cleaned.
1/4 cup evoo (extra virgin olive oil)
5-6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper
Pinch of salt and pepper
2 teaspoon of dried basil or thyme or oregano

How to make:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Mix all the ingredient in a bowl, spread into a single layer on a baking sheet.  As always, grease your baking sheet with PAM spray, or use the silicone mat.
3.  Roast for 20 minutes.