Funky Garden Guardians

I couldn't resist buying another toy from McD. 

Hi Dr. SpongeBob !

Adorable but useless. 

Wait, I know how you can be of use !

As deco for our bonsai in the garden!

No worries, you will have friends there.

Hello Patrick !

and Smurfette ! 

(she can join the party, this ain't Bikini Bottom)

and a random fat but happy Buddha !

Oh what funky characters I have in the garden.

love,

Catherine

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

This is definitely NOT about me being effective. I am not.
Maybe that's why I bought the book, but I never read it. sigh.
It always happens. 
Going forward when people ask me my hobby, I should probably say buying books instead of reading lolz.


Well, this post is going to be a loooooooooong post but it is actually short. wth? Don't get confused, hear me out first. One book compressed to one blog post - long or short? I have been buying many books and not reading them, mostly non-fiction ones. I don't really like reading fictions, I prefer watching movie. 2 pages of Harry Potter is enough to send me to dreamland, maybe because there are many vocabs that I don't understand, so I cannot imagine the scenes that the author intend to show me. Therefore, I might as well spend $10 to watch movie, no need to imagine, they act it out for me. loll. 


Crap, I am getting out of point. 


Well the whole purpose of this post is to write a book summary for you. After spending weeks (that's how slow I read!) finishing a book, I usually find that it has only a few main points. Just like my assignments, elaborate on a few points with many many words, depending on how many words the lecturer wants loll.


My attempt is to bring out the main points of a book, in my humble point of view, so people who are like me can feel less guilty on the book that is collecting dust. We can probably discuss about it. It would be fun ! To talk and share our thoughts ! Coz I might get the book wrong, what I think the author wants to convey is not what the author meant? Anyway, that is, if you are willing to read this post and take the effort to type a comment at the end. Alternatively, this can also serve as a refresher for me, as I might forget what I read in 2 days time. 


This is my understanding from this book by Stephen Covey.


My dad hates all these self-help gurus coz he thinks that it is just their way of making $$. Well, I don't exactly worship any of them, but it is good to know the points that they present before judging whether the content is worth anything right? 


" We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." ~ Aristotle


We are definitely creatures of habits, many times, we don't really think about every single action we take, we act on autopilot. Then perhaps by having good habits, we will be able to achieve effortless success, to be productive on a consistent basis without having to put in too much conscious effort. Let's dig out the secrets of the so-called "effective" people? 


Habit #1 Be Proactive
This is a common theme revolving in most self-help books. In order to be successful, we should neither blame nor complain, it is unproductive to think that we are left with no choices / forced by circumstances. So to be an effective person, this cool 8 words - 人在江湖身不由己 is not for you. loll. I personally agree with this, in fact, my deepest impression from the Spiderman 3 movie was that the movie ended with some quote like "we always have a choice". Life is very much the sum of our choices, I feel. When face with a problem, think of alternatives, what are the choices available? Then choose the best. When we make mistake, choose to accept it. Let's not be too naive or ignorant, we have to admit that there are certain circumstances that we will have minimal control over, but for situations like that, we can still choose, to accept and learn to live with it. Emotional wise, no one can make us angry/sad without our permission, right? Anyway, knowing that we always have a choice and that we are always capable of choosing, helps us a great deal by not putting ourselves in the victim role. "If you don't like where you are, then change. You are not a tree."- some random quote I saw on facebook. p/s: if you haven't notice already, I am such a quotes person! Hehe 


Habit #2 Begin with the End in Mind
This sounds so common sense right? Aiyo come on, it is just like when you get in the car in the morning, of course you will have the destination in mind, how can you arrive at your destination if you don't have one, right? But I would say that this is actually a good reminder to ourselves. What is it that we want in life? Time flies, life maybe a journey but we need to have a vision in mind so that we go towards the right direction. Let's not get caught up in the daily hustle bustle in life, focusing on all small things and forgot the important things. Busy climbing up the corporate ladder only to realize the ladder is against the wrong wall? Oh-o ! Or chasing the dollar sign and forgot what is it that we first want to achieve. Why did we want $$? To live our dream life, then know what our "dream life" is like, instead of crazily chasing after $$ and then forget what is it that we first wanted, until we become overly stingy and have no friends etc. Or maybe Stephen didn't mean in such broad perspective? I think too much haha... When we are working on any projects, big or small, we should have the end result in mind. 


Habit #3 Put First Things First
"Urgent & important" tasks come first - that's common sense ! But what about "urgent but not important" and "not urgent but important"? Which come first? Stephen's point summarized into this table. It is a great time management tool too !


Habit #4 Think Win-Win
Successful businessmen, in my opinion, are clever people who have achieved the win/win level. They are able to create a business that provides what the market needs then earn bucks and time from it.  Well, we can argue that there are many unethical businesses going around, which operates on a win/lose situation (e.g. human trafficking?) But as for me, I don't consider those as successful people, when one thinks win-win, he/she will sleep better at night, earning money and still have people thank him/her for it. I think respect from others are not easy to earn. It is not going to be easy to earn trust from people, if we always think win/lose, people will notice, no one is stupid, who likes to do business with or be around people who always want to win over them? No one likes losing and being taken advantage of.


“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and only five minutes to ruin it. If you think about this, you will do things differently.” – Warren Buffett 


Believe that money is flying all over on the sky, just waiting for us to have the capability to go get them. Believe in abundance, there is no need to push others down just to get what you want. Can I give a random example? Kevjumba's jumbafund videos, we do charity while watching funny clips and he gets to make a living out of doing what he likes. There are some top insurance salespeople who are able to achieve the state where they don't appear to look desperate, but seems sincere to help, to the extent that we feel they worth the 50k that they earn each month. Whoa, 50k man, that's like buying a myvi with cash each month! Crazy ! But then why would you want a myvi if you earn that much? That's not the point anyway.  Let's continue.


Habit #5 Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood
This, personally is my biggest reward after reading the book. "Seek first to understand" is a fairly new concept to me. Sometimes, I catch myself listening to people impatiently, when I listen, I construct all types of arguments I have in my head and then seek for the understanding of the other person. I often like to feel that I am right and that the other person should hear me out. My aim was to get my idea across first and then try to convince the other person. tsk tsk. Secret's out ! I am sorry, I will change, pinky promise ! Now I have learned, seek first to understand is the right way. E.g. in business, we should understand what the consumer needs first then try to come out with a product for them. (How did Steve knew we needed iPhone/iPad??)


Habit #6 Synergize
The fact is, no matter how many great habits you have or how high your IQ / EQ is, no one is perfect. Everyone is smart in their own way. This is to promote that we ought to have a habit to practice to be able to excel as a group, to be able to combine each person's unique talent and strength to come up with the best strategy or solution for problem. Know that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.


Habit #7 Sharpen the Saw
Sigh, is it just me or sometimes I feel like I am very close to becoming crazy. Sometimes when I am sad, I feel like I may be only a few steps away from depression. This just means taking time out to rest and take good care of ourselves. Giving ourselves too much pressure to change will not do us any good. Don't need to stress or push too hard. It is important to improve but there's no need to take life over seriously. This basically just means that we need to take good care of ourselves in these aspects - physical / mental / spiritual / social emotional.


Whoa, I feel like I have transformed to a better person after writing this post. If you read every single word up until this point, you deserve a round of applause and a standing ovation. *clap clap clap* for yourself ! You just finished a best-selling book today without spending a single cent. Impressive.  Well, if you have read up until this point then my efforts spent in writing is all worth it, so yay, *clap clap clap* for myself too ! habit#4 think win/win applied ! Awesomeness. I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking time to read this post ! Drop a comment if you have a comment. I will Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood. *Abuse new knowledge to the maxx* hahaha


love, 
Catherine

Banana Bread

Not sure why banana bread instead of banana cake, how do we differentiate the two? Anyway, it is not important, just know that this is a really handy dandy recipe to have in hand as the ingredients are easily available plus the method is not complicated at all, very suitable for beginner/amateur bakers like me! (hey, just because I baked a few times and posted the photos on my facebook page, that doesn't mean that I'm a pro) 

I would say this lovely banana bread (or cake? whatever) suits people from age 5-82. 
It has a crisp crust and sweet moist center. 
I am pretty sure you can give this to a 5 year-old as breakfast and he/she won't say no ! 
A "boh geh" (toothless or as in wearing dentures lah) uncle can savor it too as it is soft and moist. 

Recipe adapted from joyofbaking.com
(P/s: you should probably learn from that site instead coz they have a demo video!)

Well for all of you who decided to stay and give me a chance to show you how I did it, thank you, I love you and here's how:

Le dry ingredients:

Mix'em using a whisk 

(I used a fork coz I don't have a whisk. Shhhh... Don't tell anyone k?)

Le wet ingredients:

 Mix'em toooo !

Le method:
1. Fold wet mixture into dry mixture with a spatula until well combined.
2. Pour it into a greased pan (I used a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan)
3. Bake it in a preheated oven (170C) for about 50 min.

Voila ! You are done ! Sounds easy right? It is !

And you don't need any fancy kitchenware or even an electronic mixer for this recipe.

What I can share with you is how it looks (I tried my best to take a nice photo of it). 

But what I can't share with you is how incredible it will make your whole house smell.

Bake this on a Sunday morning and the smell will remind you of how warm, sweet and lovely life can be. Funny how the aroma of a freshly baked banana bread (or cake? I am becoming paranoid) can change your outlook towards life (or just me being silly?) 

Happieee baking if you do try this out. 
Drop me a comment should you have any questions. Actually even if you have no questions, you can still leave a comment (that's sorta, how we kinda "talk" on the internet right?)

Lastly, have a lovely Sunday my dear readers ! 


p/s: use very ripe bananas for better taste and more moisture!

love,
Catherine

Mr. Match

Once upon a time, there lived a match stick. 

One day, he felt that an itch on his scalp.

So he scratched it. Then...

*POOOOOOOOFFFF*

His head caught on fire!

He was rushed to the hospital by his friend.

Now he is no longer Mr.Match. 


He is now Mr.Cotton Bud !

-The end-

Oh God, why am I so lame. Is there a cure for that ? 
Hope this made you chuckle at least a little !

love,

Catherine

Homemade Soy Milk

Good Sunday ! Ever crossed your mind to make soy milk at home? 

I am quite used to drinking sugar-free soy milk as my mom is a health freak.

It's really yummy and jammed packed with nutrition, very different from the commercial ones. 

Those in cans and packets can never compete with fresh homemade soy milk loaded with love. 

Let me guide you through it step-by-step, it's not too scary to make soy milk from scratch.

First soak your soy beans in water and then go to sleep. 

Just leave them overnight. No worries, they don't have legs and won't run away.

Left is how soy beans originally look like, right is soaked soy beans.

Remove the soy bean skin if you prefer them naked.

Just rub them gently with your hands will do the trick.

Rinse them and then throw them into a blender.

If your mom is like my mom, easily persuaded by sweet talk salespersons, you will have some kind of fancy blenders or soy bean extractor or multipurpose fruit juice maker sitting around, collecting dust. 

Use it. 

Your mom will thank you for it. 

For those who have this LadyShip blender essence extractor at home, put on filter no.1 and fix the water pipe head at its side.

I used 200grams of soy beans (which only cost like RM0.80) with 2 liters of water.

Turn on the power, when it is almost done, just let the soy milk flow out from the blender.

Short review on the LadyShip blender essence extractor : 

 I think it is indeed a little better than the usual ones in the market, in the aspect where it is more powerful. It can blend almost everything into fine bits. It is also quite convenient to clean and use.

But then I think it is overpriced, also another major con is that, I think it is really loud when operating !

Anyway, I think those are not the main reasons my mom and aunts buy it.

This fancy blender's brand name in Chinese is 贵夫人, I think my mom bought it because it made her feel like a rich tai tai XD

No worries if you and your whole family are smart consumers and didn't spend any of your hard earned money on fancy devices. 

Just blend the soy beans and water in a usual blender until it becomes a soft pulp.

Use a cheesecloth / muslin cloth /cotton cloth or coffee sock to filter.

Put the pulp into the cloth and squeeze till you have extracted all the juice from the beans.

Don't drink yet ! Raw soy milk contain a kind of protein that we can't digest.
(Whoa! I is an impressive science student. *cough cough*)

So boil it over high fire and allow to boil for 10min, then switch to medium fire for another 10min.

No worries about the foam formed.

Note to constantly stir to prevent it from burning. 

Then sieve it to have smooth soy milk.

Now you are done !

Serve them hot or cold.

Add brown sugar or honey or cinnamon.

Make them into tofu or pudding.

Serve with cereal, cook with oats.

In short, do whatever you like with it.

(Chill and it can last for about 3 days)

xx

 Let me share another secret with you. 

Well I personally don't think that I am very fair now but I was born with very fair skin.

Whenever someone praises my skin tone, my mom quickly takes credit and say that it is because she drinks a lot of soy milk during pregnancy.

Not sure how true is that... But I am trying to compensate all the days I play under then sun by drinking soy milk every now and then. 

I sure hope it still helps ! 

So now that you have got your fresh soy milk without any preservatives / flavorings / coloring... 

drink up !

love,
Catherine

Flower Assignment

I live in the city and I love it.

But sometimes I get so caught up in the daily hustle bustle and miss the little pleasures in life.

Today I gave myself an assignment, to slow down and notice flowers around me.

I never really noticed that...

the flowers my mom planted in the garden blossomed

the spider lily by the road smells so nice

 the flowers in the shopping complex are able to lighten up my heart

Life can be so simple and beautiful when we set our eyes to notice all the small wonders around us.

        "There are only two ways to live your life.

One is as though nothing is a miracle. 

The other is as though everything is a miracle."

                               -Albert Einstein- 

and since I did have my camera around, I thought I could just take some photos and share with ya

love,
Catherine 

Designer Macarons

I have some macarons.

They are lovely

but still a little too conventional

So I added a touch of classiness to each of them.

Can you guess all the designer brands that they represent?


Here we go !

What do you think? Do you love them to bits like I do?


I am pretty sure you are able to guess which brand all the above represents. 


So I created an extra one to challenge you.


What about this? Can you guess what brand does the following logo belongs to?

hint : it may not be a fashion brand

Lastly, another two photos before I leave:

p/s: please note that I didn't bake the macarons ! They were a gift !
I was just decorating them =]

Of all the macarons that I have "designed" (well, sorta) I love the Tiffany & Co one the most !!

Which is your favorite ?

love,
Catherine