My cup of tea

Friday, December 5, 2014

Cleaning Up!!

Oh boy, I hate cleaning up!
Don't we all? Even the OCD's hate them -except they can't stop themselves from cleaning, sigh..
To my defence, I don't completely STOP cleaning. I just put them on HOLD; for a very very loongggg time.

I just came back from Malaysia and the house was in such a mess. The kitchen (my favourite place to be) was stained with piles of dishes -clean and dirty- rolled together on the kitchen top. My sink (it's mine, so deal with it) was flooded and blocked with mucky yucky stuffs. I have a momentary of migraine attack when I tried to figured out where to start? How to start?

I know I need to get to the root of this problem. We all ONLY have 24 hours. I don't even have kids yet and why can't I beat those supermoms who behave like they have 60hours a day? What is it that they have, I don't? I believe attitude is the new gadget which is going to shape and mould my cleaning routine.

Here are lists of reasons why my home is not as clean as I have hoped for:)

- Procrastination : quite self-explanatory isn't it?
- 'I'm too busy!' : I think this is a too lazy of an answer. I can't even make up a decent excuse for heavens sake! FYI, busy people ( I mean like people who are really busy) are highly efficient people.
They don't make excuses, period.
- 'I'm tired!' : Although I do believe that this could be genuinely true, especially on those really bad days, I still believe I could get around it if I set my routine right. Instead of tiring me up, it may in fact energise me and weary the stress off.
-'I don't have time' : is a completely utterly bullshit excuse. Everybody has 24 hours. Fake it until you make it. If you don't have time, then MAKE time. Cut down those K-drama, plays less games, browsing facebook only few minutes a day. I am not saying it's easy. I'm just saying -YOU CAN!
- Someone else will do it :unless you paid someone to do it for you, please clean your room yourself. I remembered a talk from pastor Andy in one of his series, he said: If you are not responsible for your own mess, then someone else have to. If you don't make your own bed, someone else has to. It doesn't make the responsibility goes away by not doing it. It's still there -just that SOMEONE ELSE has to do it now.

I googled ways on how to keep my place clean. I only have a tiny sack, I'm sure I can do it. Here are few things I short-listed:

1) Never leave chores that can be done under one minute

Too many times I was trapped by this one-minute chores. It doesn't seem much but after a week of leaving this one-minute chores, the paramount effect was devastating! I'm going to start doing this right at this minute! Right now!

2) Make your own bed everyday

I actually came across this from a speech of a notable navy man given at a graduation's ceremony. He said in order to be a ahead of other people, the first rule is: to make your own bed
Common, a simple act of making my own bed is able to make me successful? What a bull -I thought. But no. The core truth of making my own bed is not simply making my own bed. It asserts responsibility, good time-management, self-discipline, self aware of being righteous, attention to details and most importantly, clutter-free MIND.

3) Prepare going to bed well before bed-time

Whatever it may be; brushing teeth, washing your face, putting on your mask. Just do them well before bed-time. An hour before bed time. After that, clear your living room for 5-10minutes. Reply emails. Pick up your dress for the next day. Ready the to-do list for the week. Plan your meals.

After an hour, I'm sure you will be ever-ready to go to bed. And you don't have to climb to the bathroom to take off your make-up. Because your done! An hour early! *wink (why do I feel so smart suddenly? I can't stop myself from errr.. being genius, can I?)

4) What you take out you put back in

It sounded so simple yet so.. demoralising. My make-ups, my hair pins, my clothes which I thought I would wear but didn't, my shopping bags, my tupperware from work. Urrgghhhh! It's the same thing over and over again! ;'(

5) Clean your kitchen before eating

You cooked home-made chicken curry. There are large pots, cutting boards, potatoes skin, rows of spices that you took off from the shelves. And, you're hungry. Before you devour your ever-so-delicious chicken curry, please clean the kitchen counter first. You won't regret it after you realised you have nothing to clean after having a plateful of your yummy curries! 2 rewards with one blow - a blessing!

6) Prep prep, prep

Plan for the week's meals. Save time and money. Plan for your working clothes. Prevents the tragedy of your bed being infested by piles of unused garments. Plan your daily routine. A routine keeps things in place. A routine reminds you of your chores, organise your day and somehow makes it much more bearable. It is essential to make this whole project a success!

Ok, I think I have been typing far too much for this entry. I shall log off and attach a picture of my newly-decorated desk. My daily routine starts now. Should we do it together?? Let me know how you day go! Xx

Sunday, September 7, 2014

First Camping Trip- ever

It was summer.

We checked the weather forecast and it is suppose to be sunny this weekends. I picked up the phone and booked a place for two -a camping patch.

Camwhoring -as usual in the car before the journey begins =) It might gets cold so keep warm!!

After we arrived, we have to look for our 'spot'. Some tents looked quite intimidating. As a camper-virgin, I was completely blown away!

After much difficulties and confusing manual handling, we managed to erect our tent just by common sense! LOL. So much fun doing it. It's actually not as complicated as it looks. So, I put my bicycle in this shot to look like a real camper =p

This is what inside looks like. We brought our beloved pillows, duvet and new sleeping bags..hopefully it's cosy tonight

I told hubby that we might have been over-packed. But hey, better to be over than under-packed, no? We brought so much snacks and food and sausages!!

I set up our tea break area after the tent mounting.. Never forgets our special M&S la petit small bites! And hot water flask for tea 24 hours/day!

These were some of our chilled drinks... wowww, I miss camping already!

Took a selfie with my favourite sweet sandwich while hubby was cooking..

Someone is enjoying BBQ-ing =) He sat quietly and indulge in his camping moments. He has been planning this for ages -it's about time! <3 font="">

Marinated chicken wings..

Barely a couple of hours later, a big family came and set a camp nearby to ours. The kids were super cute. I realised that camping is definitely an activity for building a healthy family relationship..

The product!!! Yummmy! And I am not exaggerating...

My turn to look out for the fire... #chickenwingspart.2

After lunch, we set out to see the neighbourhood mountains and lakes...

Enchanted forest ...

Long journey ahead of us -never gives up

Breathtaking scenery..

Too beautiful to be true..

It was sooo windy! But boy, it was completely worth it!

Look at those views!

Our journey going back to the car. A lot of other visitors parked here to do some mountain climbing. But we don't have the gear so will do that some other time =)

Roundwood, Co.Wicklow.

Our dinner -sausage rolls..

Cosy-ing inside the tent. Night is almost here..

One happy camper boy with his endless gadgets, hmmphh!

Our camping area the following morning! Quiet and serene...

Breakfast time! We cooked as early as 8am..

English breakfast success. This is truly a blessing..

Our last selfie for the camping trip!
Verdict: would definitely do this again. Camping was so fun and I really enjoyed outdoor activities. Special thanks to my hubby (aka Victor) for being such a huge support and being so patient with me throughout this whole experience! I can't wait to go camping again, should the weather permits!

Xoxo

Monday, August 18, 2014

Foodie Week of August

Time flies. It is already the month of August. 8 months into the year of 2014. And another 4 into year of 2015. Depressed much? Don't be.. because I'm about to indulge your eyes with some picturesque foodie pictures :p

It was a normal working day. I made a point to my (big) boss that I'm only available before 5pm and unfortunately wouldn't be able to accompany him to see a consult should he decide to appear after. The clock stroked 5pm and there I was, clutching my Guess working bag with my wind-breaker ready to go -knocking on his door. I smiled and went inside his office when he gave me the nod.

'Where are you going?' He simply asked. 'Going on a date, again?' He continued.

I blushed, instantly. How would he knows such things?

I gave him the most pathetic smile with all the confidence I don't even have.

'Where are you going this time around? Which restaurant?' He asked again. He was busy opening a box full of letters which I believed to be his pocket money from his private clinics.

I answered 'Somewhere in Ranelagh.'

This time his eyes beamed with the 'I-know-all-about-Ranelagh' sort of look. And I know, I rubbed him the right way.

He went on and on with his lists of foodie places as he has decided that he knows it best:

-Tribeca

-Cinnamon

-La Bodega

-etc. etc.

I have a fixed smile on my face. I still want to sneak out at 5pm without causing him much anger and without throwing it to his face -that I have been to all those places. But how am I suppose to do it politely? ;p

He looked at my face and suddenly 'Arg! I bet you haven't been to this place. I bet you.' It sounds like he is competing against himself while I got myself entertained. It's a funny sight; seeing him all worked out about me going on a date with my husband. That's one of many amazing facts about my (big) boss.

'It's Brioche. French-tasting restaurant. I bet you haven't been there,' he keeps on repeating himself.

He's right. I have never been. So off we went. To this small chic place called Brioche, Ranelagh. It is located off the main street ;embraced by warm yellow lights and cosy booth. Conquering an area of less than 400sqft,it somehow managed to amuse me, from corner to corner.

Browsing through the menu,I made up my mind rather quickly. Here were some pictures I took:

CHICKEN: terrine of thigh, pistachio crust, charred baby onion, pickled mushroom, wild asparagus. Rating 5/10

THORNHILL DUCK: pan-seared Thornhill duck breast, artichoke purée, glazed new season cherries, cherry gel. Rating 10/10

BEEF: Onglet steak, potato croquette, baby carrots, carrot chips & carrot purée. Rating 9/10

LAMB: lamb breast, herb stuffing, lamb sweetbreads, garden pea puree, mint gel, lamb jus. Rating 9/10

These are all rather small portions, so you're expected to order 2 to 3 courses each. So we did. We were not full but not hungry either. I think I could do with 2 plates of the duck dish. YUMS!

Later that weekends, my appetite was rather poor. The weather wasn't great either. Hubby came back from his on-call and quickly dragged me away from my duvet to join the weekends with fellow community in Dundrum. It was the carboot sale! The crowd was quite huge so I enjoyed the people watching ;)

We stopped by the community 'coffee place' which usually served as a local church. They really did a great job. From brownies, lemon cake, sandwiches -they have it all. We had fun!

Later that day, hubby cooked this very tasty lamb dish..

And the next day, another lamb dish! LOL. But gotta say: they're soooooo soooooo good! Well done lao gong!

To satisfy that sweet cravings, we went to our favourite pastry chef: M&S. These Petite Patisserie is a bargain with 10 small sweet goodies. Love them. And I can finish them all in one day..