Finale

Apologies for the diminished ending to the cooking challenge posts.
If you're wondering, yes I did complete them (despite the burst of tears from frustration at the end).

For the remaining 10 cooking, here's what I cooked.
* Kelepon (Indonesian style glutinous rice dumpling with palm sugar) - Kopi Susu 2: Cooking with Ibu Trish: Kelepon
* Teriyaki Chicken with Sunrice Chicken Rice
* Jamie Oliver's Chicken Stew (served with normal Cous Cous & Israeli Cous Cous mix and Brumby's Damper)
* Blueberry Muffin ala Exclusively Food
* Vegetarian Green Curry (with instant paste recommended by my little brother, plus a whole lot other ingredients, e.g. Fish Sauce, ginger, etc).
* Marinara Linguine (Taste.com.au)
* Cheesy Peas ala Jamie Oliver
* Turkey Sausage Rolls (YUM!) - Taste.com.au recipe
* Jamie Oliver Cauliflower Risotto (delicious!)

Last, but certainly not least (both effort wise and in product)...
"Aria Chocolate Tart"
I'm quite convinced that it's my finest work. :)

I've posted the complete cooking challenge photos in my Facebook Photo Album.
You're welcome to browse (and leave comments).

With this, I'd like to thank you all for the patron.
It's been fun sharing my stories, my thoughts and my ramblings here.
But it's time for me to move on.

I will no longer write new post for this blog.
If you miss me :), by all means, check out my photos at One Melbourne Photographer, message me on Facebook, or browse my tweets on twitter.
I will also continue to share any interesting posts that I found and enjoyed, on Google Reader.

Don't forget to have fun and live life to the fullest.
Thank you very much!

An Apartment

... It looks like it came out straight from magazine, and I love it. :)
Mmm - I'd probably fix up the bathroom a bit, but otherwise... the look, the location, the feel... totally right up my alley! :)

Reinforcement Learning

A Reinforcement Learning (more information here) Intelligent Agent would be screwed if the reward mechanism isn't coded correctly.
Say, if we were to give it 10 reward points for every time it litters and 1 reward points for each time it throws rubbish to the bin, with the goal being to reach 50 reward points (yes, a stupid example..).
It should never throw rubbish to the bin after it's first "exploration" of throwing rubbish to the bin.
Because based on its "exploit" rule, it should be exploiting its knowledge that littering is more rewarding.

Why do we expect differently from a human being?
Why would we encourage someone to do something that is not of any benefit to themselves, or others simply out of pity?
Or perhaps, simply because we think we have good manners?
Then, after all that incorrect encouragement, why would we expect them to simply realise and choose not to stop doing that thing?

I'm a bit lost.
Hmm - a lot lost maybe.

PS: Looking this brings back memory.. good ones, especially when I saw the paper on Cyber-Minder (I read that more than 10 times throughout my Hons year!).
I do miss dealing with such an interesting, mind-challenging, complex yet much less complicated problem compared to dealing with a human.

Life...

I woke up and it was Monday, I commuted and began my work day.
Before I could checked the clock, it was the end of the day.
I went home, cooked, have dinner, sat in front of my computer till midnight arrived.
Went to bed, slept, got up and it was Tuesday, commuted, began my work day and run around (physically and mentally).
Surprise surprise, 6 PM and I am running late for my photo class.
Got there, listened, learned and chatted for a few hours, then was picked up for grocery shopping before home.
Sat in front of my computer for a couple hours, and it's bedtime.
Today I got up and felt a bit of shock because it's Wednesday. Already. Again.

My days are passing by at the speed of light.

Am I doing what I want to do everyday?
If not, WHY?
If yes, why does it not feel that way?

A few personal development posts that has been nagging me..
* Two Questions to Help You Gain Perspective | Zen Habits - “How you live each day is, of course, how you live your life”
* Is Your Mind Holding You Back? - by Dumb Little Man - “One reason why people don’t achieve their goals is because they don’t know what part of them choose the goal.” ~ John Kehoe
* Five Ways to Find Time to Live Healthily - by Dumb Little Man - "Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness."

How Far Do You Go To Avoid Being Judged?

Just wondering...

What is the normal degree of sacrifice to avoid being judged a certain way?

There are times when I feel, well if that person take it to themselves to judge me incorrectly, too bad for them, it is their loss.
But this doesn't happen often enough.
Most of the time, I succumb to the society's judgement.

Silly ol' me.

Cause everyone wants different thing from you.
How am I going to keep everybody happy, especially when I can't keep myself happy?

Anywhooooo - I want to learn to do so a bit more.
Focus on the important things, like what makes me happy, what I want to do; and leave my insecurity behind.
As they are energy wasters!
They take away my brain and mind space that I could use for other much more useful / fun things!

What do you say?

A Distracted Mind

What to do when your mind want anything and everything, but your body and schedule wouldn't allow for it?

This year feels very much so for me.
My mind craves anything and everything.
I see and hear LOADS of things that I want to discover, try out, do and pursue.
But - I waste my time not doing them or maybe I am doing some of them just not all of them.

The options to spend your time are limitless.
Information are overflooded (my Google Reader articles keep growing, my Instapaper account untouched, along with my library books).
The cooking challenge.
Finding the time for my sanity fix, Bikram Yoga.
I want to play The Sims 3!
I need to finish my post processing back log.
Argh! Where is the RESET button???

I'm struggling to cope with the demand of my mind.
My body wants to slow down but my mind keep speeding up.

Can somebody help me?

Digital Socialising & My Photography

Lately, as I'm typing up a blog post, tweet or post a Facebook status update, my mind wonders... what is my actual purpose of doing this.
It takes a bit of time to compose a blog post, and though it takes less time to tweet or post a Facebook status update, it still takes a bit of time from my days.

Am I just trying to voice my opinion?
Am I trying to contribute something to the world?
Or, am I under the illusion of contributing while really I just someone who can't stop rambling and hence hoping that someone is listening?
Or, actually... maybe I'm just trying to remember the things that happens in my world... Sort of like a wikipedia somewhat, but personalised to me.

Truth be told, it's probably mainly because of the last one.. (I still search my old blog for something that I know I've blogged about in the past, pardon my memory or lack thereof!).
Though, there is a little bit of the illusion of contributing to the world.
I'd like to think that I'm not the only lost soul who wants to contribute, but have difficulty finding the right path.

The funny thing is, there is a million people out there who's doing the same thing as me.
They blog, they tweet, they "facebook" constantly.
The difference I find is they actually take the time to respond to others' blogposts/tweets/status-updates.
Hence, it makes the circle of digital socialising continues.

How does that work?
How do they find the time to do all that, still have a job, socialised and do other things?
I'm struggling as it is with keeping up with my busy days, and even busier mind.

In today's life, we are constantly over-flooded with choices and distractions.
It's very difficult to keep up with every little thing in life that I am intrigued with or care about.
I think it's about time I let go of most of it and focus on something that has rather proven its potential to be the "right" path for me to contribute to the world.

Photography, yes it might not be the most noble contribution, but at least, my heart, mind and body genuinely care about it at the moment.
If I don't let myself get absorbed in it, I might never know if it is the right path. :)

Wish me luck.

Now, I'm sure it is confusing how I went from discussing Digital Socialising to Photography.
Unfortunately for me, that's how my mind works lately, it jumps around totally like a monkey! =X

But, there is actually a flow...

In taking photography on as a potential career, I need to start branding myself appropriately.
In today's digital world, it is pretty scary what people can find out about you at a click of a finger.
I am aware of that and I also realised how much of an impact that can have on my becoming a professional photographer.

Yes, I definitely do need to make some time (SOON) to develop consistency of information that people will find about me on the Google world.

If you are a blogger, how do you do it?
Do you really care about one topic?
What if you care about a few different ones?
Do you blog about all of them?
Or do you just pick one and ignore the rest?

Pssst, another note to self, think hard about "Quality over Quantity"!

In a World where Dream Comes True ...

... I would look a bit like Ms. Audrey Hepburn,
-- Audrey Hepburn Official Site

and I would be dressed in these type of clothing everyday (neat, crisply ironed and looks new!),
-- ShopBop

and make lunch boxes like this for me and Shanon...
-- Just Bento | a healthy meal in a box: great bento recipes, tips, and more

and goes out to take photos all day long ...
... with plenty of inspiration from -- 40 Outstanding Examples of Conceptual Photography | Inspiration
- 25 Delicious Examples of Food Photography | Inspiration
- 40 Astounding Examples of Abstract Photography | Inspiration
Psssst - Yes, Photo Argus rocks!!!!!!!

or from ...
- tealilyphotography | sydney wedding and lifestyle photography
- Orange County photographer | Tara Whitney
- mattbell photography
- Local Flavor – Pictory

and goes back to a home a bit like this (which magically tidy and clean itself, looking uncluttered)...
-- Small Cool 2010: Kim & Scott's Easy Breezy Ooh La La Little Division # 11 | Apartment Therapy Chicago
and a bit like this...
-- Small Cool 2010: William's Open Space Little Division #13 | Apartment Therapy New York

in New York City of course, with a tunnel that opens up to Melbourne (high imagination is always a good thing for a photographer! :)) ...

then goes out to have dinner at Vue de Monde

or cook dinner at home which comes out looking like this
-- TasteSpotting
or
-- Photograzing: Share Your Favorite Food Photos and Find Inspiration!

Well - just a thought... :)

Post #100: The Cooking Challenge

A couple weeks ago I went to watch Jamie Oliver Live in Hi-Sense Arena show.
Since then, I have gotten rather addicted to his style of cooking.
The fact that he's good looking helps I suppose.

I've started watching The Naked Chef (the first season).
I've also watched the New York episode of Jamie's America show.

He's one charming person and he just seems to have so much fun when he's cooking.
I almost get jealous that he gets to cook (well - that's until I realised that I too get to cook, if I want to! :P)

Anyhow, a while ago I talked about cooking challenge.
I think it's about time I get on to it.
I plan to start it on the 12th April (post Easter craziness), which means that it will finished the week of 20th Jun.
Same rules as Bikram Yoga challenge, one cooking a day, 6 days a week, which can be made up with double, triple or quadraple cooking a day when necessary.
Cooking can be breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, but heating up food doesn't count.

A few really good recipes that I'm already dying to try out:
* Fig and Cherry's Spicy Creamed Chicken
* jamie o's roast chicken with lemon and rosemary roast potatoes
* jamie o's roasted chicken breast with cherry tomatoes and asparagus
* jamie o's pasta peperonata
* jamie o's stuffed french toast
* jamie o's fresh asian noodle salad
* jamie o's three cheese risotto
* Taste's Tangy Thai chicken salad

Some other things that I can't stop thinking about!
* Chicken / Duck Sausage Roll
* Bill Granger's Ricotta Pancake
* Blueberry Muffin (those cafe style ones that I love, with the split top!)
* Lemon Cheesecake
* Banana Bread?
* Jamie O's Naked Chef's recipes: the bread? the lemon tart? the oven fruit?
* More recipes from my Jamie O's or Nigella's or Gordon's or Bill's cookbooks!

Hmmmmmm - yummmmmmmmmmmm.... :D I'm excited!
I imagined it would be fruitful, and somewhat fun. :)

My Two Cents ...

... on relationship with food
Most girls (at least those I know) complaints about weight management (either just internally in their mind, or actual physical issue).
Perhaps it's because most of my friends love food as much as I do, or perhaps it's because we can't help but compare ourselves to others.
Some worry about it to an extreme, some others worry secretly while pretending that they don't care at all and some to a good level (is there such thing?).

To me, my weight (or more so the way my clothes fit) plays a major role in setting the tone of the day.
When I wake up or go to bed with chubby belly, I get very annoyed.

Yes, I realised that I probably spend too much time measuring, worrying, thinking and talking about this.
It's tiresome really, especially for me.
I want to put it away and let it rest once and for all.
I wish for my relationship with food/weight is like my relationship with money.
Good and controlled most days, with small amount of bad for the sake of fun.

About two years ago, I decided to deal with my weight problem.
It wasn't easy, but once I gathered my willpower and get into the rhythm of it (sticking to a planned calorie intake), the weight just keep falling off (Big thanks to the Hacker's Diet).

At the start, I got big rush and excitement from the way my clothes getting loose.
When I get to where I wanted to be, I revamped my wardrobe.
I cleaned out old items, bought new things with plans for them to stay in the wardrobe.
Honestly, that is the hardest part.

I'm a practical person.
I'm all for comfort and time efficiency.
I don't put on make up for it's too much hassle.
I got my hair done in such a way that I don't have to do much about it on a daily basis.
I laser-ed my upper lip and under arms to not have to worry about waxing or shaving.

While I used to enjoy buying things, I've come to realisation that I love minimalism and simplicity MORE than the temporary excitement from getting new things.
Though I gotta admit, I still fall into this trap - sometimes.

Hence, not having to worry too much about what to wear anymore changes everything.
I fell in love with the ability to 'just pick something from the wardrobe, put it on and walk out comfortably and confidently.'
The only problem is - weight maintenance is NOT easy. Seriously.
When compared, it made weight loss seem like a walk in the park. Grrrrrr!

The thing is - I still love my food a bit too much and I still have an awkward relationship with it.
I haven't dealt with it properly.
I still reach out to food for comfort (even though I know it's a TEMPORARY comfort) when I'm stressed or tired or sad.
When my belly feels uncomfortable (I have some bloat issue which I haven't quite figure out why), I reach out to food (which is stupid cause its probably the culprit).
When I feel yucky cause I overeat, my brain send signal telling me to eat more, but different thing.
WTH?? You must think I'm crazy. I know many people do. I sometimes think so too. LOL :D

Anyway - I'm sick of this.
I want to deal with it and get rid of the issue.
I need to!
I want to be able to maintain my weight EFFORTLESSLY (and perhaps lose a little bit more.. if I'm lucky).
Not with lots of planning, counting calories and watching what I eat. I'm sick of that too.
Others seem to be able to do it. Why not me?

I do Bikram Yoga 3x a week.
It's 90 minutes exercise in a hot room and it helps make me feel great, awake and healthy.
But that alone is obviously not enough when I continue to eat like a pig.

So, armed with the incentive of practicality from having a wardrobe which fits my body now; I'm on the lookout for weight maintenance tips.
Anyone?

... on being a creature of habit
I am a typical creature of habit.
I go to the same restaurants (most of the time) and eat the same meals (I have favorites from most places).
When my hair need a fix, I go to the same hairdresser (have been for the past 5 years).
When I go back to Jakarta, I have a list of to-eat to-do to-go which don't really change much over the past 10 years.
I listen to the same songs again and again when I first like them.
If something works, I just keep going back for the same thing.

Every now and then I shake thing up a little bit, try something new, but mainly, I just stick with the same thing. :P

For example, the photography course (especially the artsy part of it) shake thing up big time for me.
It works on my "creativity" side which I am not quite sure on the existence, which is great.
But it has forces me to open my eyes and look around.
I'm starting to see all these events and venues to attend and visit in Melbourne.
Oh yes, I'm pretty lucky to live in Melbourne.

So - I thought - I should really utilise this and work on building up the habit of grocery shopping and meal planning.
Hmmm - there's a thought.

... on Facebook
The creature of habit thing is probably how I got addicted to Facebook.
When I'm bored or doing nothing, I go on Facebook and check people's statuses, or photos, or profile.
After a while, when I'm idle, my mind naturally wanders off to Facebook.
Which is kinda sad.

So I have imposed a self-ban from accessing Facebook as of 11 AM this morning.
By this time at night, I have thought of logging in and check whats going on Facebook over 30 times.
Pretty scary to realise that.

It is a lot of wasted time if you ask me.
Especially when I keep claiming that I'm busy and don't have time for anything.

I realized the potential of it being a great (not to mention free) marketing tool and allow easy networking ability.
But to be checking it as often as I did, is NOT a good thing.
So - yes, I'm banning Facebook for 2 weeks to work on other more useful things instead.

In conclusion,
Yes - I know I should probably spend my time worrying and talking about global issues, poverty, global warming, etc.
But, I've learned it's easier to contribute and help other when you're at peace with yourself.
So, that's where I start, working on being at peace with myself.

The Next Big Thing

The Bikram Yoga challenge is officially over and done with for me. (YAY!!!)
I was considering moving on to the 60 day cooking challenge straightaway.
But then I realised that my head isn't exactly there, it's deep in photography.
The 3 day trip with the gals gave me a chance to work on my photos (both post-processing and shooting), which makes me want to do more.

Now, between organizing photo walks and events to feed the Visual Weekly entries and 10 shots to bring in to PSC class weekly;
6 hour weekly PSC classes;
attending different events to give me better chance to take different styles of photos;
post-processing my backlogs of photos;
and other errands/routines/work-stuffs that I have,
I'm left with literally not much time to breathe and rest (and mmmm.. the fact that I use the time to constantly munch doesn't really help =P).

Oh well!
It's all good.
I am excitedly counting down the days to these events in which I'll be practising my photography skill, i.e.:

• Melbourne Food & Wine 2010: Heat Beads Hawkers Market - which I'm attending with Lia & Shanon


• LMFF (L'oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival)


• Jamie Oliver Live Session in HiSense Arena - which I'm attending with Gemma & Franca


• The PSC photography field trip is getting closer (last weekend in March!)


• Plus - there is likelihood (fingers crossed) that I'll be doing pre-wedding photo shoot with Eddy in a month time (first weekend in April!)

With all those in mind, I really should put time and effort in properly setting up my photography business plan / setup.

Hmmm... Thoughts? Suggestions? Tips/Tricks? Help?

Life Dynamism and the Joy it Brings

I woke up feeling loved, full of joy and refreshed.

Perhaps it's because I went to bed a little early last night (about 11 PM).
Or perhaps, it's because I only have one more Bikram Yoga session to go before I complete the challenge and I've been doing complete 26 poses the past 2 classes (!!! :)).
Or perhaps, it's because I'm flying to Hamilton Island on Sunday?
Or perhaps, it's because the book that I've been embarrassedly reading (will talk about this when I'm ready to reveal it :P I've had to hide the cover when reading on the train, but boy - this book is good and explains a lot!!).

Well, back to the feelings, I can't quite pinpoint on any of it, and I don't want to.
I chose to savour every second of the joy instead of working out why.

I had a quite a lot to go through and get done at work today.
I was even looking forward to that!

The past couple of years, my life has changed in so many ways.
I too have changed in many different ways.
2010 is turning out to be an amazing year and I hope it will continue being so.
Things are falling into places, and when they don't, it doesn't matter, because I know that I can deal with them if and when I want to.

It helps that I have clear understanding of what is important to me.
The other part of the equation is the realisation that I make the decision.
Yes, that's right.
No one else but me, can choose to pursue what is important, or not, to me.
The power is totally within me.

Making the choices to pursue things that are important to me, have totally changed my days.
Investing my heart and mind completely in them makes me feel very much at peace.
Of course, I have to tribute the regular Bikram Yoga practice.

About the challenge, I am already starting to miss the daily calming dosage that I've been taking and the cleansed balanced feeling that I have constantly been left with after the class.
Yes, there is no reason why I can't continue going often.
But, I know that it will not be the same.
Because there is no drive to force myself to go when I don't feel like it, which often turns out to be the best sessions!
All in all though, it has been a very rewarding experience and I am very glad that I completed it.

Have a lovely weekend, my peeps!

This post was inspired by Karen Cheng's Snippets of Life's writing on Living with Style and Spirit.

When You're Down, Is It True that A “Treat” Will Cheer You Up?

"So when you find yourself thinking, “I’ll feel better after I have a few glasses of wine…some ice cream…just one cigarette…a new pair of jeans,” ask yourself – will it REALLY make you feel better? Or is it likely to make you feel worse, in the long run?"

Taken from The Happiness Project: Happiness Myth No. 5: A “Treat” Will Cheer You Up.

I definitely relate to her statement of "skipping a little duty feels like a “treat” for a minute, actually, I cheer myself up more by doing the things I know I ought to do".

The Road to Recovery

After all that good couple of months focusing on the Bikram Yoga challenge, I gotta admit that I haven't been on my best behaviour the past few days.
I've been eating badly (all sorts of junk food) as if it's that time of the month (and it isn't!!!), wasting away my precious time on Facebook or mindless web browsing with no purpose, over dosing myself on low quality chocolates/sweets and many more other bad things.

Being away from Yoga practice for the past 4 days (2 days at Nagambie and 2 evenings in PSC classes) haven't helped the way I feel either.

I'm convinced that I'm an addict.
Of what?
Of Facebook, junk food, anything that is bad for me.

I also convinced myself that it's not my fault, that it's out of my control, and that it can't be helped.
But someone at work reminded me today that the first step towards recovery, is admitting that I have a problem.
So here I am, taking the first step, gaining back the control of my life!

It's the last week of my Yoga challenge and because I only have to do 3 classes, it doesn't exactly feel like I'm still doing the challenge.
I am grateful for it though and I will be nervously entering the studio soon.
The practice can be a bit scary after being away for 4 days...

Anyway - go away you bad things! Shoooo!!! Shooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Life Lesson

"Fill your days with the things YOU want to do or things that have meaning to you.
Once you start doing that, you'll notice the eagerness to welcome Monday morning to start your week."

I have always been the one to do things because I should, because I have to, because it's impolite to decline an invite, and so on and so forth.
Silly me.
Not only it's bad for me to do that, it's also bad for the people around me.
I'm constantly grumpy, unhappy, and complaining that I have to do this and that; when the only reason I "have" to do them, is because I made myself do them.

Live life to the fullest!

By the way, I sky-dived on Valentine's Day!
The free fall during skydiving was exhilarating to the max. It was intense and crazy, but I wouldn't exactly call it scary.
It's definitely not like anything I've ever done, and I am really glad I've done it.
The parachute part was lovely.
The instructor let me control the chute for a while, and then he also AWESOMELY spiral-ed us!
The experience definitely entices me to pursue the paragliding course further. :)

Happy Valentine's Day

"For Boris...
Thank you for showing me love."

As a human being, I have many limitations that I am constantly working to identify and where possible, overcome. I have always enjoyed seeing the progress of this process.

The latest life part that I am focusing on is how I am in relationships (with Shanon, with family, with close friends, and everyone else). I have been paying close attention to my feelings toward them and how I express them. Not too much to be classified as being self conscious (I hope!) but enough to be aware of my actions/words and what they are projecting to them.

It's been great. I feel that I'm making better decisions (in actions/words) and because of it the relationships blossomed, which in turns makes me happy and all set to celebrate Valentine's Day 2010 while skydiving (hope I survive!).

Bonus link: The Happiness Project: In which I become enraged with my husband and lose my temper. One very well written post which does the job of sending out the reminder of "there is only love".

60 Day Challenge, Bikram Yoga and More Challenges

I have exactly 10 more classes to do before I officially completed my 60 day challenge.
I probably could have done better and actually commit to the promise of doing full class every time - but that might mean that I won't get pass the first few days of the challenge.
So, for now, I'm plain happy that I am well into seeing the challenge through to the end.

So far...
I feel fitter, toned, and think clearer (or so I think).
I have learned corrections for quite a few of the poses (not sure what this indicates seeing that I have practised for over 2 years! Why am I still fixing my poses?)
I also noticed the different way the teachers teach and learned to just accept that.
I get annoyed and think I'm being judged constantly and I decided to let go of this.
I noticed that I prefer classes with just enough heat but not too hot that makes it impossible for me to push the poses.
I don't like pro-longed poses, but the teachers don't care about this do they?

The practice varies quite a lot, from one end of the extreme to another.
There are days where each pose is impossible right from the very beginning, and there are days where I go through them swimmingly (don't you just love those days!).
There are also days where it just feel good to be in the hot room, relaxing, stretching, meditating.

...

Anyhow - I have found that the 60 day challenge is a great way to try something properly and get yourself familiar with it.
It just works!
Because you are committing to do it 6 times a week for nearly 10 weeks... you somehow find a way to adapt to it, to cope with it, to get it done efficiently and effectively.
It's the best way of "making a habit" out of something.

Which is why when I'm done with the Bikram Yoga challenge, I'm planning to do a 60 day challenge with 6 home cooked meals a week (and I'm not talking about microwave cooking or instant noodle!).
Note: If you are thinking "It's not a challenge at all - I've been cooking 6 home cooked meals weekly!"; please know that the past year, I probably averaged at one home cooked meal a week - at the maximum!! :P

Hmmm - why cooking?

1. I LOVE my food. I do. Love them with PASSION! Ask anyone who knows me. Nothing gets me talking as animatedly as when I'm talking about food.
I eat out quite a lot (way more than I actually would like to!) and it bothers me, because when you eat out too often, you appreciate it less.
Plus, I've always wanted to be able to host "meal gatherings" (Not that I want to do it all the time - but I just want to have the option to serve my food proudly instead of apologetically when I do do it!)

2. I have plentiful print out recipes, cook books (awesome ones like Nigella Express, Bill Granger's Everyday, two of Jamie Oliver's - see a chatterbox's pensieve: Yay! Cookbooks Festive!)!
This will be a great opportunity to make use of them!
6 home cooked meals a week isn't that difficult now is it?
If I can spare over 15 hours a week on Bikram Yoga, surely I can put in similar effort into cooking for over 9 weeks!

3. Cooking skill is an investment!

4. I have less tendency to overeat when I'm making the food! :P

5. As an incentive to keep me going, at the end of it... I could use the saved up dining out money and splash it on a repeat affair with "Vue de Monde" (see a chatterbox's pensieve: Vue de Monde: The Love Affair) before they move location! Hmm... what a great idea!!! :) (Hopefully I'll get to try the Chocolate Cigar this time!)

'Nuff said for now - will talk more when I'm starting it.

On a totally not linked topic, I got a reminder from my "Past Self" to go do sky diving (see 43things: shelviaw that I created in 2006!) last week.
I must have been a psychic in my previous life - cause I am going sky diving! Next week! :P

Back to the challenge topic... I've been quite tempted to jump on the Project_365 bandwagon!
Seeing Techy Girl's Project 365 Photoset and pritoodi (Pretty)'s Photoset tickles my desire to have one of my own.
Plus, that might help publicize http://www.shelvialoveridge.com.
It would also work really well with the PSC course (seeing that I have to submit 10 images weekly!) and might be good to increase the photography business potential...

But hmm - I do have to be careful not to go overboard and spread myself too thin amongst too many different things all at once..
That's a recipe for failure!
So, we'll see!

Ciao for now. Yoga practise tomorrow!

The Wisdom within Tiny Buddha

I came across tinybuddha through Zen's tweet a while ago and boy, aren't I glad to have done so. It is full of wisdom pearls hidden in simple English blog posts.

Its most recent blog post tickles my desire to blog about the website, i.e. "10 Ways to Have Peaceful, Loving Relationships | tinybuddha.com.
Read it. Understand it. Feel it.

I love advice #1 - Do what you need to do for you, for I just realised recently that it is SO MUCH easier to be nice, loving and compassionate toward others when we are content and happy.
I desperately needed to be whacked with advice #2 - Give people the benefit of the doubt and #4 - Be mindful of projecting.
Advice #8 - Think before acting on emotion, is extremely important for my type of impatient often-act-on-impulse type people. If you've experienced the post hurtful-argument-with-your-loved-ones regret, you'll agree that the argument should be avoided at all cost.

If you want more, try this 2 other posts at tinybuddha that are awesome too, "5 Rules for Life" and "Live Your Life Out Loud: 30 Ways to Get Started | tinybuddha.com".

Happy Tuesday!

My First Solo Flight: Paragliding

A paraglider is a free-flying, foot-launched aircraft. The pilot sits in a harness suspended below a fabric wing, whose shape is formed by its suspension lines and the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing.
-- Paragliding

With regards to my first solo flight, suffice to say it was "spectacular". I felt free - like a bird. Invincible. Peaceful. Massive excitement. Scared. All of them jumbled into one. "I'm flyinggggggggg!!! :)"


That flight was definitely worth every effort, every bruise/scratch and even worth getting super tanned for. I want more. I want to travel through the air, using the paraglider. I want!!!

Soon!

Project Status Report

Bikram Yoga challenge:
I'm in my 6th week and struggling a little to keep it up. But, Shanon's support kept me going (well, that and the worry that I might be too embarrassed to attend anymore classes if I fail this challenge).
Half way through tonight's double class, I'll have exactly 3 more weeks of 6 classes to attend (cause the challenge is for 8 weeks and 3 extra classes on the 9th week).
Completing the full two sets of 26 poses is still often a challenge on its own. There are days where it happens naturally and there are days where it's just not possible. But hey, I'm still progressing through the challenge. :)

Photography:
Sadly I'm feeling a little bit stale on this end. I feel that the photos I'm taking aren't coming up as exciting as it used to. It feels a bit like I've done this shot before. Then I try to be creative, try to look at things differently, but for some reason ended up with the similar shots.
I've been trying to overcome this with post processing and Lightroom presets.. but it's just not getting me anything special.
Thankfully - the PSC course will be starting next week! I have big hopes on that! :) Actually, WOW - it's next week!!!

Work:
Work is better actually - I'm starting to be at peace with it. Getting busy with the things that I do. Appreciate the extra time and flexibility that I get from this "new-ish" position that I'm in. I also appreciate the challenge of viewing things from design perspective, not from development perspective. So, it's good. Things are great.

Others:
Well, we have another Paragliding weekend at Bright coming up (hopefully the weather will cooperate). I'm semi looking forward to it. A bit scared (:P) cause I plan to fly solo this time. But definitely looking forward to another lovely weekend away with Shanon. :)
There is also Skydiving coming up (during the Chinese New Year / Valentine's Day weekend).
After that, I have Hamilton Island short break with the gals at the end of Feb and .... *insert drumroll* am visiting Taiwan with my lovely sister in August (super looking forward to this!!!).

Not much else is new.
I should be doing more house errands and cooking but I'm not.
TV episodes, Style Boutique (DS) and chick lits have been taking up all my free time..
Not exactly ideal, but it makes me happy. :P

Summary:
Life is good. :) Scratch that! Life is GREAT! :)

tee hee hee!