I just want to be happy. Thought I wanted to be rich but now I realize I won't be happy selling my soul for material wealth. Back then, I thought I will be happy if and when I am rich.
Our family has a comfortable lifestyle and I really have nothing to complain about. I used to think buying luxury brands will make me happy. It didn't. The joy of flaunting my branded bag is short-lived.
So what will make me happy? Starting to randomly list down things that I am most happy doing; morning walk, going to the beach, traveling to new places, reading a great book, meeting good friends over coffee, helping others in one way or another, accomplishing at work, writing on my tweeter/blog, watching funny love movie, playing with our dog, going for bikram yoga classes, learning new skill, trying out new restaurants.
Well, I'm learning to be true to myself. I will not pretend to be someone I'm not by doing things I'm not happy with. Will I still go to a club and dance my way through the night, may be every once in a while when I feel like it. But I will no longer go just so others can think I am cool.
This is who I am and I am happy with who I am.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Easter
One of my new year resolutions is to spend more time with the kids and celebrate every special occasions with them. Basically to pass on some family traditions.
On Sunday, it suddenly hit me I have not arranged for any Easter celebration when my husband asked what I was planning to do with the kids. Contemplated whether I want to pay exorbitant amount for Easter brunch in most five-start hotels which include kid activities like egg hunt. Since I don't particularly enjoy crowded places and to keep up with my other resolution which is to be frugal, I decided to skip the hotels.
Instead, we went for brunch in a nice casual restaurant, Koi, at Kemang. The kids get away with ordering what they love which for my daughter means a huge waffle loaded with ice-cream topped with berry sauce for lunch. We agreed "no tech" which means no phone, blackberry and ipod at brunch. Instead we talked, and to my surprise my daughter knows more about Easter than I do. We chit-chatted and browsed through magazines together. Nothing fancy yet an extremely enjoyable lunch.
We then ended Easter afternoon with chocolate hunt at home where I hid Ferrero Rocher chocolates (most Easter chocolates were sold out by then) and the kids had fun searching through the house for the chocolates with our puppy running after them equally excited by the commotion the kids created.
I've decided that we'll make brunch and chocolate hunt the Easter tradition for our family, simple activities we all enjoy and will remember. Also, will start the tradition of having Sunday as "no tech" day. Sunday is a day we bond as a family.
On Sunday, it suddenly hit me I have not arranged for any Easter celebration when my husband asked what I was planning to do with the kids. Contemplated whether I want to pay exorbitant amount for Easter brunch in most five-start hotels which include kid activities like egg hunt. Since I don't particularly enjoy crowded places and to keep up with my other resolution which is to be frugal, I decided to skip the hotels.
Instead, we went for brunch in a nice casual restaurant, Koi, at Kemang. The kids get away with ordering what they love which for my daughter means a huge waffle loaded with ice-cream topped with berry sauce for lunch. We agreed "no tech" which means no phone, blackberry and ipod at brunch. Instead we talked, and to my surprise my daughter knows more about Easter than I do. We chit-chatted and browsed through magazines together. Nothing fancy yet an extremely enjoyable lunch.
We then ended Easter afternoon with chocolate hunt at home where I hid Ferrero Rocher chocolates (most Easter chocolates were sold out by then) and the kids had fun searching through the house for the chocolates with our puppy running after them equally excited by the commotion the kids created.
I've decided that we'll make brunch and chocolate hunt the Easter tradition for our family, simple activities we all enjoy and will remember. Also, will start the tradition of having Sunday as "no tech" day. Sunday is a day we bond as a family.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Curious eyes of a traveller
So often, we take for granted the city we live in. I walk around, or should I say get driven around Jakarta partially blind. I whip out my blackberry, work on my lap-top, read or sleep the moment I get into the car.
It wasn't until my last visit to Hanoi I reached a revelation. After umpteenth visits to Hanoi, I am starting to miss seeing the beauty of the city. I used to be intrigued by sights of flower ladies peddling basket of flowers, street side cafes serving traditional food where people sit in short stools, the beauty of the lakes and ancient tube-houses. I was starting to walk around Hanoi like I've seen it all and know it all. It was a shame to take such a beautiful city for granted.
Likewise for Jakarta, it has its charm once you peel through its irony of chaotic and glitzy layers. Once you step outside the malls and walk into the neighborhoods, it's common to see jamu ladies carrying bottles of traditional herbal medicine in baskets tied to their slender back by a sarong cloth, bakso vendors peddling pots of steaming beef balls served over rice noodles, vegetable vendors making their rounds with push-carts filled with fresh vegetables and spices and the warungs around every corner.
Perhaps it is the constant search for a topic to write that makes me more alert to my surrounding. Perhaps it is yoga that teaches me to be present. I am more aware and appreciative of my surrounding, I now see with the curious eyes of a traveller.
It wasn't until my last visit to Hanoi I reached a revelation. After umpteenth visits to Hanoi, I am starting to miss seeing the beauty of the city. I used to be intrigued by sights of flower ladies peddling basket of flowers, street side cafes serving traditional food where people sit in short stools, the beauty of the lakes and ancient tube-houses. I was starting to walk around Hanoi like I've seen it all and know it all. It was a shame to take such a beautiful city for granted.
Likewise for Jakarta, it has its charm once you peel through its irony of chaotic and glitzy layers. Once you step outside the malls and walk into the neighborhoods, it's common to see jamu ladies carrying bottles of traditional herbal medicine in baskets tied to their slender back by a sarong cloth, bakso vendors peddling pots of steaming beef balls served over rice noodles, vegetable vendors making their rounds with push-carts filled with fresh vegetables and spices and the warungs around every corner.
Perhaps it is the constant search for a topic to write that makes me more alert to my surrounding. Perhaps it is yoga that teaches me to be present. I am more aware and appreciative of my surrounding, I now see with the curious eyes of a traveller.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Bikram yoga teacher training
Jen, our teacher was sharing her experience of the Bikram teacher training, after class today. If 90 min in class sounds tough, two sessions a day in addition to the lectures for five days a week plus one class on Saturday for nine weeks seem impossible. Apparently, more than 300 people took the last teacher training in Las Vegas with less than 10 drop-outs. A woman who is diagnosed with cancer completed the training. That is what I call commitment.
Amateurs like us have a choice whether we want to go for class. In the teacher training, it is no longer a choice as you are expected to walk into class whether you feel like it or not. As Jen puts it "you have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable ". It is about dedication and believing you can do it.
So often, we give up when we face adversity in life. We seek the easy way out, we quit. One valuable lesson I learn today is when the going gets tough, we just have to grit our teeth and continue. What doesn't break us makes us stronger. And yes, we are stronger than we think.
Amateurs like us have a choice whether we want to go for class. In the teacher training, it is no longer a choice as you are expected to walk into class whether you feel like it or not. As Jen puts it "you have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable ". It is about dedication and believing you can do it.
So often, we give up when we face adversity in life. We seek the easy way out, we quit. One valuable lesson I learn today is when the going gets tough, we just have to grit our teeth and continue. What doesn't break us makes us stronger. And yes, we are stronger than we think.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
When life hands you lemon, make lemonade
A friend was laid off from her job. She was an aggressive treasury sales in an international bank and was one of the unlucky ones who was retrenched during the financial crisis 2 years ago. Now she runs her own bakery from home, whipping out delicious cakes and cookies. We didn't know she has such talent and passion when she was hassling for sexy derivative deals then. I am sure she would not have done her bakery whole-heartedly if she is still climbing the corporate rat race. We corporate rats are so burnt out by the end of the day we having no spark left to fuel our passion.
Things happen for a reason. We may not understand why certain things happen. Our 1st reaction is always "why me'. As long as we can coast through life's turbulence with faith that "this too shall pass", we will arrive at the shore. The destination may not be what we had planned for, but life never fail to surprise us.
Things happen for a reason. We may not understand why certain things happen. Our 1st reaction is always "why me'. As long as we can coast through life's turbulence with faith that "this too shall pass", we will arrive at the shore. The destination may not be what we had planned for, but life never fail to surprise us.
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