Positivity is the Elixir of Youth

Over lunch on my own today, I watched a young gay couple enjoy their lunch at the table next to mine. They were in their teens, looked very fresh and trendy, were cute individuals and looked sweet together as well. I smiled to myself, and thought, ah, the wonderful years of being young and free.

I’m not that much older (or so I wish to believe), but of late, have entered this stage in life when suddenly you have to make very “grown up” decisions. I never thought much about age, and disregarded the social expectations of age-coherent behavior. I remember one time, when I was 27, I was fooling around in the back seat of the family car with my three younger sisters. Dad looked at mom, and said, “are you sure she’s 27?” I found that hilarious and motivating, actually, and secretly was proud to be silly.

Now, I find myself having to make wiser financial decisions (fine, I’m turning 30. No big deal, I hear you say? Yeah I know it’s no big deal, but things just happen you know? What am I to do???), plan a wedding, contemplate career changes and think about family planning. It seems a little surreal. On one hand, I feel empowered and excited about the future, on the other hand, I can’t help wonder if I’m ready to grow up just yet. I still want to learn DJ-ing (and I somehow just cannot imagine how a family woman can be a cool DJ – but it must be possible right? Right???), backpack through the silk route, do fun stuff that only young hip people seem to do. And I wonder, am I missing something? Will it be hard for a married woman, with children at one point, to still be cool, young, fun loving and have time to learn stuff???

All this is probably self inflicted. Who says I need to get married, and who says I need to have children soon? But you see, this is part of that whole growing-up-and-making-grown-up-decisions phase, which bums me sometimes. Being an adult is still more fun than being a kid, i feel. I don’t miss being a student, definitely not having to do homework and study for exams; and i like that i am earning my own keep and can travel when i want.

But I do miss the times when my biggest concerns were how to chase boys around the block as fast as I could, how not to look too nerdy but more hip, and how to hide the pimples on my face.

Daft Hands - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Gotta love this!

An Amazing Life with an Amazing View

Last Wednesday, I woke up bright an early in a small B&B in Central East Bali to this incredulous view. I had arrived at the B&B in the late of the night, and could not see what was beyond my fluorescent light-lit verandah. It was a very cool evening, temperatures were probably hovering at about 15 degrees. We had a simple dinner of papaya curry (try to imagine that!), some local vegetables, the chef's special fried chicken and soto ayam; before a long conversation ranging from movies, to books, to religion (of course), and the meaning of life.

Now, i shall not dwell into the discussions of the meaning of life. It is far too large to be contained in one blog entry, and far too indulgent a topic for me to write about. In a nutshell, i do not believe there is a meaning to life per se, and i justify my existence by trying to be a better person, and to make life more pleasant for the people around me. I think life, is like a glimpse between two dark eternities. There is no beforelife, nor an afterlife. I like to think this way, to be honest. It reminds me of the temporary and fleeting nature of my life. I'm not afraid that i will be no more, but more afraid of not utilizing my life to the fullest.

Recently, together with Koks and a good friend who resides in the godforsaken land of the vikings, we came to the conclusion that the best life strategy is summarized in 3 alphabets.

E, D and F.
Eat, Drink and F**k.

The funny thing is, when my companion and I were discussing about the meaning of life in the darkness of Central East Bali, he mentioned that life is about relationships, good food and wine. That struck me. Maybe there is some truth in this EDF life strategy. Maybe we're really onto something here. Maybe it could really work. I thought about it for a few days, and wondered... how about family? That falls under relationships... how about travels? how about.... music???

So now, I've revised it to the TMFED life approach... and it's pretty exhaustive i find. What about work and professional success? I am still struggling with that one, it always elicits mixed feelings... but perhaps that is merely a means to achieving the TMFED way of life.

At the end of the day, perhaps that's all that matters.

Buat Blog?

I got a small shock when i opened my blog today. Instead of the usual "Create a Blog" on the top right hand corner, it said "Buat Blog". For a moment, i couldn't understand what that meant. And then, ka ching! I'm typing from my room for the night in the exotic island of Bali, and "Buat Blog" is Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesia's national language) for "Create a Blog".

We live in a very very connected world.

Talking about a connected world, the recent catastrophe that has hit Japan is most heart wrenching and devastating. In this part of the world (Asia Pacific) near the "ring of fire", earthquakes are not uncommon. It's more of the recent consecutive series of earthquakes and tsunamis in recent history that is disturbing. I do not remember growing up to read or watch the news about widespread devastation, of people dying in the hundreds of thousands, of villages or parts of a country being wiped off the earth (yes, i know, in Africa, shit happens all the time, but that's another bitter story).

I remember the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 which hit Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka really badly. I remember sitting at my work desk, and watching the death toll rising exponentially on live news feeds. After it surpassed the 50,000 mark, my little brain could not fathom the scale anymore. It just seemed like a hell lot of people. Poor people. Poor people who couldn't afford to live in better areas.

Then there was the earthquake in Szechuan Province, China; and the earthquake in Christ Church, New Zealand. Oh, and let's not forget the eruption of Mount Merapi in Java, Indonesia.

And now, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

In our daily pursuit and obsession of the latest technological developments or material acquisitions, it is extremely humbling to be reminded that we are and will always be at the mercy of Mother Nature. That at the end of the day, most of what we've been concerned about, do not matter; and we're back to the basics and the bare necessities.

It's a sad sad time. My thoughts are with our fellow humans in Japan, and the helpless in Libya, and the hungry in Africa, and the exploited in Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and China....

... there's no end.

The New Starbucks

Starbucks' new logo without the wording "Starbucks Coffee" around the green lady.

It's kinda clean, and certainly opens up new boundaries for the company to go into other product lines aside from coffee. Not sure i'm a big fan of the green insulating sleeve, though it does look younger than its khaki predecessor.

(please excuse the mess of wires in the background. i could have moved it, but was too lazy.)

Indochine Kitchen » Eggplant with Chili, Sambal Terong

Holy Macaroni!! The pictures on this page got me salivating at midnight - NOT GOOD.

Indochine Kitchen » Eggplant with Chili, Sambal Terong

...but, but, but, it looks so totally amazing.

*note to try out asap!*

Kick Ass Beef Goulash

Feeds 4 adults.

Ingredients:
1 kg of beef cubes (or the original recipe asks for horse meat *gulp*)
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tbsp of paprika (or more if you like it hot!)
1 tbsp of cummin seeds
1 tbsp of white wine vinegar
2 tbsp of tomato puree
3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1.5 litre of water
1 chicken or vegetable stock cube
1 tin of peeled tomatoes or fresh tomatoes, based on personal preference

- Marinate 1 kg of bite-sized beef cubes with 1 tbsp of all purpose flour, 1 tbsp of paprika, 1 tbsp of cummin seeds, some pepper and salt.
- Brown the beef cubes in a heavy based pot (I use my trusty Le Creuset) in 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, for about 8-10 mins. You will find that a sticky brown paste will accumulate in the inside of the pot.
- Add 1 tbsp of white wine vinegar, scrap the brown sticky stuff off for about 2-3 minutes.
- Add 2 tbsp of tomato puree, mix thoroughly for a few minutes.
- Add 1 litre of water and a vegetable or chicken stock cube. Bring to boil, and then reduce heat to simmer for about an hour. Stir occasionally to ensure beef cubes are not burnt, and that there is sufficient water. Add more if not.
- Add a tin of peeled tomatoes (or fresh juicy sweet ones, if you find them. Probably those you can get on vines, but darn they are expensive!)
- Simmer longer if beef cubes are still too hard (they should break/ disintegrate easily). Another 30 minutes should be fab.
- Top with fresh cut onion rings and serve with baguette.

Best eaten the day after! You can batch and freeze for those lazy nights in too!

Top 15 Things to Do - Five Years Later

I wrote this in an old blog in November, 2005; about what I wanted to put time aside to do:

1. Spend some time each week to sketch, paint, draw or colour.

2. Write my collection of short stories.

3. Spend at least 30 minutes everyday reading my books

4. Improve my wardrobe.

5. Create collages of various themes.

6. Take pictures of strangers.

7. Pick up acrylic painting or interior designing class.

8. Enrol in tennis class or ashtanga yoga

9. Hold my own art exhibition in due time.

10. Make Christmas Cards (need my art box from home...ART BOX!!!)

11. Write emails to far away friends

12. Get at least a glass of wine/alcohol a week

13. Visit cafes and bookstores and stationery stores

14. Make friends outside of work

15. Be happy and mad.

-----------------

5.5 years later, and I'm still hoping for the same things.

That probably means:

a) I know what I like, and I know what makes me happy.
b) I am just so lazy I keep procrastinating and haven't made any of the above happen.

Hello Belarus!!!

I have readers in Russia and Belarus??? How marvellous!

Time Froze in Galle, Sri Lanka

Galle is like a town frozen in time. The old town is still reminiscent of its colonial days - charming architecture, vintage cars, antique clocks.

The First REAL Post of 2011

My last blog post was a little strange, a little funny. I remember thinking I had the perfect thought and the perfect blog entry in mind to kick off 2011. But after those few paragraphs, I thought I could do with a short rest. I stood up, walked to the couch, and didn't get up till 2 hours later!!!

Now, you may think, okay, here's an alcoholic... but no. That was the most amount of alcohol i consumed this year so far. Oh wait a minute, then there was the hen party, and there was some serious drinking there too (and too many accidents involving half a dozen champagne glasses, a stool and bandages...)

The year has been relatively eventful so far, and in more good ways than bad. 2011 is going to be a big year of changes, I can feel it - for me and for a lot of people around me. Besides turning the big 3-0 (which seems to scare everyone, i'm not sure how terrified i am yet), Koks and I are planning a huge party, our friends are planning huge parties, new family members etc. It's all happening.

So amidst all that preparation, all that pinot noir, and all the celebrations, we are now in March, and almost done with the first quarter of 2011. Where did all the time go???

I have, however, put in a lot of thought into what 2011 will be, for me. 2011, I hope, will be the year of:

- Ballroom Dancing, more specifically Waltz

- Diving (but we will realistically only have time in the second half of the year.)

- Baking (this is a tricky one, because i'm also trying to watch my weight, don't know how i'm going to marry the two!)

- Europe (2 visits to Austria and 1 visit to Greece planned!)

- Newspaper Reading

- Jazz songs on the Sax

Hmm, that doesn't look so bad does it?

What will this year have in store for you?