Just A Quickie

Ahemm....been lazy with this blog lately. :)

As it's winter here, the weather is shitty most weekends and staying indoors means no nice pics to post. Spring is round the corner and we should be having some fun then..

Have been totally absorbed in my little researches on some things that have taken my fancy and since multi-tasking ain't my nature, my blog's been ignored.

Has anyone noticed the tumultuous market of late? A pity I wasn't doing more active trading(would have made $ with shorts)..... It wasn't 'exciting' watching my medium term portfolio plummet in value but a great opportunity arised during this pullback. I switched a good % of my holdings to C's long term portfolio. This means I don't have to pay as much tax next fin yr as a trader.

C recently negotiated a cool 2 yr remuneration package and he is pretty pleased. Am darn proud of him.

We are so needing a holiday but when's the appropriate time to go, tis the Q...

A B C of Motivation

A void negative sources, people, places, things and habits.
B elieve in yourself.
C onsider things from every angle.
D on't give up and don't give in.
E njoy life today, yesterday is gone, tomorrow may never come.
F amily and friends are hidden treasures; enjoy their riches.
G ive more than you planned to.
H ang on to your dreams.
I gnore those who try to discourage you.
J ust do it.
K eep trying no matter how hard it seems, it will get easier.
L ove yourself first and most.
M ake it happen.
N ever lie, cheat or steal, always strike a fair deal.
O pen your eyes and see things as they really are.
P ractice makes perfect.
Q uitters never win and winners never quit.
R ead, study and learn about everything important in your life.
S top procrastinating.
T ake control of your own destiny.
U nderstand yourself in order to better understand others.
V isualize it. ViNoD
W ant it more than anything.
E Xcellerate your efforts.
Y ou are unique of all God's creations, nothing can replace YOU.
Z ero in on your target and go for it!

That Meme Thingy

KC Lau of Best Personal Finance tagged me to reveal 8 random "secrets" about myself. Before I ventured out into bloggerland I haven't the slightest idea what a meme is. Since I have no wish to disclose insignificant facts about myself(after all, who's interested anyway) nor do I want to tag other bloggers, I will let these lovely images(sourced from istock) shed some light on who I am and what my life is centered around, at this juncture of my journey in this wonderful universe.

If you are interested in financial planning and building your nest egg, do check out KC's blog for cool tips and articles.


My Wish(15yrs ago) ==>> My Current Reality


The idyllic lifestyle I cherish.....












The work I relish......











The holidays to perk up the soul....

What's Your Dream Car?

Is this what you've fantasized?

Oolala!!
Yes, yes....I want, I want (miniature one??:P)

Cut the bs, M.
Ok, I am kidding as I really have no interest in fancy wheels.

But these are fabulous pics and I want to put them here.

One of Prince Waleed's cars, the Saudi billionaire who amassed his great wealth via properties and stocks. His diamond encrusted Merc.

Toothfish, Anyone?

C loves fish but I used to only like the skin and the soft areas around the tail and fins until we discovered the Patagonian toothfish. I stopped cooking red meat at home and switched to having the fish several times a mth. The fish is so tasty cooked in Asian styles unlike salmon. I love its skin and the smooth tender flesh. In Chinese restaurants, they usually deep fry to get the nice crispy skin, served with sauce poured over the fish. I like this dish but I cook it differently as we consume enough oil laden foods when we eat out. The fastest method is grilling the fish in the oven. The natural juices are retained and we also get the slight crisp texture of the skin.

The fish is bought whole and cut into cutlets before cooking. They do come in cutlets but they are a few$ dearer per kg.



This is cooked with chopped chili, garlic, ginger, soya sauce, oyster sauce , cooking wine, sesame seed oil.... Lots of garlic (good for us) and tomatoes (lycopene). Other times, to get a diff tangy variation, I use lemon juice and more sugar instead of the soya. I no longer use tamarind paste after finding a long strand of human hair in it( I double/triple checked) Chopped lemon grass, if I feel like it. Haven't tried the 'kiam chai' and preserved plums with the fish though.



Steamed(or grilled) with soya sauce, sesame seed oil. ginger, chili, coriander or spring onion. Another variation- sauce made with chopped celery & ginger, soya & oyster sauce, corn flour.



Pan fried plain with lots of garlic cloves in olive oil or as below, which I seasoned with the oriental beef spices [grounded paprika, chili, fennel,onion,star anise, garlic, cinnamon, ginger, clove] I got from a Vietnamese grocery shop. Supposed to be used for broiling beef. Instead I tried it on the fish and liked it. Been using it since. Sometimes I use sea salt granules instead of the usual table salt. I threw in some tiger prawns for this grilled version.




I love the versatility of the fish and it tastes great in so many varied styles.

The Tenant

Our tenant wrote us via our property manager that we consider the rent we raised for her lease renewal. On top of claiming she has been a great tenant and loves living there, she complained about the condition of the property to try get us lower the rent.

This lady has been renting the place for several yrs. The past yr, due to the property boom, the rent has increased but cos she was on a longer term lease and we cannot put up the rent, she has been paying much lower rent. Thus, when her lease was due beginning of the yr, C changed her lease to half yearly and upped the rent in accordance with the market rate. Recently it was due for another renewal and another increase.

We decided to reduce the final rent by $10 per week. C came home from work and I asked him if he'd informed the property manager yet. He said yes, less 10 bucks and still 6 months' lease. I was like, huh, she said she wanted a longer lease, so, me kinda expecting her to kick a fuss asking for cheaper rent or not renewing at all...... I was surprised when C said, she's accepted the new lease straightaway. Hmmm.....

I always leave negotiations to C. He knows how to deal with ppl . He ain't soft like me.:(

Later, we saw the paper's headline, " Rent to soar another $100 next yr". :D

Vision Cheque

Thanks to AhPek for his brief intro of my new blog . The kind gesture is much appreciated. I found his website after reading about the Nuffnang event (gathering of M'sian bloggers). To clear the confusion regarding Oz's financial yr (FY), our financial yr ends on June 30 and a new one begins on July 1. This is when everyone starts preparing to submit their income tax returns for the yr. Hence, after June, the new FY is now 2008.

Speaking of FY, here's the vision cheque I wrote, Oct last yr. Ppl who know the secret use the cheque for whatever they desire, lottery, boats, cars, mansions.... but my needs are rather simple :) I have everything I need right now. So I wrote only 2 cheques. The other one for C, of course. My cheque was to command a certain income from my shares, a figure which I deemed achievable. Suffice to say I was totally thrilled with the result. And C had an exceptional yr too. :D

Ppl may use the cheques for winnings from lotteries but my sensible mind tells me we need to use some logic when we use a vision cheque, if you catch my drift.

Confucius said" Man who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth must wait very, very long time."

Anyway, the vision cheque is one of those things on my fun list so don't you take it too seriously! I have yet to write a new one for this FY. :)

Words Of Wisdom

Winners make a habit of manufacturing their own positive expectations in advance of the event.

All successful people are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.

Get around the right people. Associate with positive, goal-oriented people who encourage and inspire you.

Being happy requires that you define your life in your own terms and then throw your whole heart into living your life to the fullest. In a way, happiness requires that you be perfectly selfish in order to develop yourself to a point where you can be unselfish for the rest of your life.

Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy.

Be selective about your external influences. Your multi-dimensional brain is influenced by everything you see, hear, read, smell, touch, feel or say.

I've found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often

Avoid negative people . They are the greatest destroyers of self confidence and self-esteem.

Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance.

Successful people are simply those with success habits

Every single life only becomes great when the individual sets upon a goal or goals which they really believe in, which they can really commit themselves to, which they can put their whole heart and soul into.

Whatever you dwell on in the conscious grows in your experience.

By Brian Tracy.

Making Money Online?

I like reading personal blogs but never thought of having one myself until some time ago. My reasons here . Lately, I have seen lots trying to get on the 'making $$ from blogs' bandwagon and I wonder whether it is as lucrative as it is made out to be .

I investigated further to find that one doesn't earn that much really unless you are one of those online marketing 'moguls'. For Asian stay at home mums, they may be satisfied with the pocket money they earn in USD but to command USD 10k a mth requires an astute knowledge of how internet marketing works in this already saturated environment. Researching and learning the tech stuffs is not how I wish to use my time as that is not where my interest lies. This is not to say I may not venture down this track in future if I chanced upon a good $$ making idea but right now, I will concentrate on making money online my way.

I firmly believe in loving what you do, in being a master of something rather than being jack of all freaking trades. I reckon the former will most definitely get you out of the 99% of the population much quicker, don't ya agree?