Things to do before September

After September, life will be really busy and probably different from now. Happy encouraged me to think of things that I want to do before September.

I've decided I'm going to have a check list of 10 simple items..

1. Bake a cake.
My last cake was... oh dear.. when was it.. Combing through my blog, I think it was September last year. Gulp, yes it been that long? The last cake The Husband baked was in December last year.

The Beast has been very lonely of late. I feel guilty now.

There is a green tea pound cake recipe I've been keen on trying.

Another cake I really want to bake is carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, from a recipe I saw from Rachel Allen.

2. Bake some bread
Again, my last one was so long ago, I can't even remember now. I should make and freeze a whole batch for breakfast..

3. Catch a movie in the theatre
It has been a while.. I've watched plenty of movies in planes and on the iPad. But it'd be nice to watch one in the cinema.. with a small bag of popcorn.

4. Go for high tea with friends
Not that I haven't been recently. My latest visit was to the one at 10 Scotts. But one can always do with my high teas.

Anyone keen? ;)

5. Go for a walk at the Botanic Gardens
It's been a while.

Some fresh air and exercise would be good.

6. Organise a party
It's been a while but I think a Barbeque with my family would be nice. I can make a nice Homemade Salsa to go with chips that my family can munch on whilst the fire starts. And I can marinate some really nice Ping Gai chicken for the barbeque.

7. Cook something with Mum
With my parents now retired, mum has been whipping up lots of wonderful food for us. I'd like to cook either some rice dumplings with her or some deep fried prawn crackers.

It'd be a nice time together and I get to learn something..

8. Meet up with some of my ex-colleagues for lunch
I have a whole list of ex-colleagues and ex-clients I want to meet for lunch. Should try to do lunch with at least one of them every week from now on.

9. Go for a massage
I've not gone for one since our Bali trip.. It'd be really nice to have a relaxing massage...

10. Go for a short trip somewhere
I've been to London, Bali and Switzerland already this year.. but another trip somewhere near would be nice - like Malacca or Port Dickson. I really do want to go to Hong Kong, but I don't think we have time for that.

Even Malacca or Port Dickson may not be very possible - My weekends seem pretty packed already!

A Pretty Breakfast

Nowadays, I leave for work slightly later than I used to.

This means I have some time in morning to drink a cup of milk or have breakfast in leisure.

Since I haven't been feeling so well, I wanted a pretty looking breakfast to brighten up my day.

This didn't turn out as pretty as I wanted to (should have used a smaller glass) but still, it did the trick.

Have a lovely Monday and a great week ahead.

It took me about 3 minutes to make this breakfast 

- just layers of blueberries, yogurt and granola.

Happy Days, Simple Days

Recently, work has been busy and stressful.

"Life shouldn't be so difficult." So says the optimist in me.

After careful considerations, I think the optimist is right.

I may face tough and difficult days now and then, but overall, I tend to have more happy days than tough ones.

Happy days usually do not require too much.

A well-baked cake, a warm sunny day, a great movie, meeting up with old friends, a stroll in the park after the rain, an encouraging comment on my blog, a facebook message from an old friend.

These are all things that can make my day brighter, happier.

小时候，幸福可以很简单。

长大后，简单可以很幸福。

A delicious glass of ice-blended watermelon with 

lime can really make my day too!

Simple Living #3 - A Poem

I have found such joy in simple things;
A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread,
A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,
The shelter of a roof above my head.
And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,
Where yellow sunlight glimmers through the door.
I have found such joy in things that fill
My quiet days: a curtain's blowing grace,
A potted plant upon my windowsill,
A rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase;
A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair,
And books I long have loved beside me there.
Oh, I have found such joys I wish I might
Tell every woman who goes seeking far
For some elusive, feverish delight,
That very close to home the great joys are:
The elemental things--old as the race,
Yet never, through the ages, commonplace.

--Grace Noll Crowell

Simple Living #2 - A Story

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of nights on the ranch with what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked, "Son, how was the trip?"

"It was great, Dad."

"Did you see how those people live?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah" said the son.

"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered:

"I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us , they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks Dad, for showing me how rich people live."
 

We may think we are rich when we are actually poor.

I think this is very true for many Singaporean families, including my own.

We live in a peaceful country but with lots of stress instead of tranquility..

Our country is called the Garden City yet we don't take time to smell the flowers..

We lack no good food on our table yet our food is mostly not organic and often processed..

I want to rethink the concept of rich and poor and strive towards leading a rich life with little money instead of a poor life with lots.

Simple Living #1 - Baby Steps

A link from Sinfonia had me seriously thinking on this topic again. This particular family (Dervaes Family) has an urban home which they transformed into an organic and sustainable micro-farm.

Going through their blog has me thinking - do we really need lots of money to live? Or can we live simply.. with minimal income.. yet live really quite well.

I've blogged about Simple Living before. At that time, I said I'd make a plan.

Sadly, I haven't really done anything since then.

It's time to do something. For starters, a few things about our lifestyle bothers me -
1) We consume lots of electricity at home - our air-conditioner is always switched on most of the time and the TV is always on, although no one may be watching it
2) I buy too many things I do not need. I'm a bit of a facial products junkie - I think I have supplies enough for 2 years, at least.. with what is in my dresser at the moment. Maybe not 2 years.. but at least 18 months.
3) We stock too many things in our larder and end up having lots of food expiring, then throwing them out. It's a similar situation for the fresh food we buy. We put them into our very full fridge and don't cook them quick enough so they turn bad

It's going to be hard to move towards simple living. I'm just going to take baby steps for now by:
1) Cutting down on my consumption of electricity when I can
2) Not buying facial products for the next 6 months
3) Being careful about what I buy in the supermarket and at the market to reduce waste

 Thinking time.. what else can I do?

The joys of simple living

A few things I've been reading recently all seem to converge on this one same topic.

At first, it was Yin Mei's blog - she is an ex-colleague who now lives in Australia. Her post on her 2 chickens - Chilli and Padi had me thinking - how nice to have your own fresh eggs every week. And I started dreaming about having my own homegrown vegetables and fruits. An impossibility on my balcony, with my black fingers.

Then, it was this book - "The Hole in Our Gospel", by Richard Sterns, president of World Vision. The book is about how we should and need to look after the poor. It got me thinking about how I can spend less and give more away.

A short article I read whilst waiting at the dentist on how a family tried not spending for a month and found they saved US$2000 that they can give away inspired me further on this.

Petunia's posts on the Amish folks and on a family in the US who decided to live plainly inspired me even further. (plainandjoyfulliving.blogspot.com - read the 2 posts on how they got where they are - Part 1 and Part 2)

It's all easier said then done though!

The Husband cannot live without his Macbook and internet. I cannot live without my washing machine and fridge. We cannot live without the air-conditioning. So... how to go about with simple living?

But maybe... there are baby steps I can take - like eating at home more.. not wasting electricity.. buying only what I need from the supermarket..

I will start a plan.