Mother's day 2014

Haiz...it's so hard to maintain this blog and keep it real.

My post is always almost outdated event (Duh!)

Mother's day was 2 weeks ago hence I just gotten time to do the post now! Recently, it's so hard for me, to find few hours, just to sit down, working on my Macbook, and write a simple post.




So!




International Mother's Day is always on second Sunday of May.

In Indonesia, Mother's Day is celebrated on 22 Dec, FYI.

BUT, being Indonesian, or a mother, or a daughter to my mother, I don't really celebrate Mother's day.

It's just a normal Sunday to me, until this year we decided to do something different.

Me and my sis decided to buy her a handbag, as an appreciation to her, who always take care of us since young and be a good mother to us (give us advices and nag, too!), and we could've made it this far without her :-) I love you, mommy :-)

Then to mother's here, well, To my mother's group / in church, I made a little surprise for them!

Happy Mother's Day, mommy!
From Giselle

Charles & Keith's bag for mom. 

Make a little surprise until 1am that day! 

Ta dahh!!! Finished product!

So Happy Belated Mother's Day, everyone!

-Deb-

Slim, Calm, Sexy Yoga. My Journey to Yoga paradise!

Okie, determine by the title, nope, I'm not a yogis (yet)....

In fact, I've just started Yoga like....a week ago? Enrolled CC class....

But I had exposure to Yoga since last year, then I do self-searching in the library, borrowed tons of Yoga book, read it, and follow the instructions one by one during my leisure time.

Ermmm... It's not recommended, though! coz you don't know if you do the right pose anot and no one is there to correct you! But I think beginner (like me) should read Yoga book before starting off, to get to know what is the basic knowledge and at least, you won't feel *lost* during the class. Moreover, my friend, Nita, is also advance Yogis so I'll ask her sometime, hehehe....

Anyway!

I heard tons benefit of Yoga, such as powerful exercise to reduce stress, increase flexibility, burn calories, and tone muscle, increase mind's clarity, and etc etc etc...

But I don't really...well...interested...until I found this Yoga instructor, in youtube, Tara Stiles. You can find her, here.

I know I sounded like a stalker, but I quickly googled about her and found that she published quite a few of Yoga books, So I ordered online! Here's quick pics.

Opps...not only that, I think I overrun my budget! 

Bought the Nike Yoga Mat and Nike Yoga Straps , too! Tips: find in Mustafa! cheaper! 

I think for me, personally, for some beginners, we need to have at least 1 Yoga Mat for basic Yoga necessity. No need to be so expensive one (don't follow me, ok) but Yoga Mat's Watson sells it too for $19.90. 

Nike Yoga Mat $38.90 Qoo10! 

Nike Yoga Strap, Mustafa $15.
Not sure how much is the market out there! 

That's the reason why I started this post, I even created a new tag so that I can keep track on it. I really want to jot down every single milestone of my life. and starting Yoga, is definitely one of them!

This is my journey to Yoga Paradise.

So, come, my readers, anybody interested to join me?

Footnote:

I'll be taking a break of Jap conversation class for few months. But will come back again for N3 prep class on Aug/Sept. Wish me luck!


-Deb-

Take baby steps for healthier and happier life.

Money can buy you the best doctor, the most comfy bed in hospital, and the best medication in the world, but money can’t buy health, agree?

Living in Singapore, I learnt that the medical expense is very costly and I believe that, sickness is the least thing that I wanna experience in my life.

So, our health = our long term investment to our own-self and it benefited to people surround us especially to our loved one. J

But the question here, how to achieve a healthy life?

For me this year’s goal is to stay healthy, shed those fats and to lose weight. To live healthily and happily (ever after). 

But, how to achieve this goal?

Like old folks said, “Take a baby steps to achieve goals.”

Achieving goals require taking small steps. And to take baby steps is a major decision to make.

I mean, people often looking at a big picture, the final goal. But how many people even want to plan those baby steps to reach the final goal?

SO!

Here are 5 baby steps to achieve healthy life. It’s a small step but very impactful contribution to achieve healthy life. Well, at least these baby steps work for me!

• Stay Active.

Well, it ain’t easy to keep myself active especially to those OL who works 8 hours in front of the monitor. Seriously, the only exercise that we do is, finger-exercise typing the emails, or, mouth exercise munching tidbids or chatting with colleague. LOL. So to keep our self-active can be a little tricky here.

Start with small changes such as taking staircase instead of lift every day. 

Do some stretching every 2-3 hours to soften the stiff back. 

Or WALK down when out to lunch or to toilet or pantry.

Well, I like to exercise so I will run on the treadmill every once or twice a week. Or jogging in the park, hey, it’s the safest, easiest, and cheapest exercise, anybody can just put on their shoes and do it! If you have knee-problem, try brisk-walking instead of jogging.

Going to nearby swimming pool is also a good idea since it’s now summer. Take it to the next level, I enrolled yoga class and it will be starting soon….so from now on, I’ve been reading tons of yoga books and videos to try on some beginner/easiest pose. My inspiration is Tara Stiles. She’s pretty, energetic, and humble. She’s the one who introducing yoga in the very fun way form of exercise. And it’s ok if some beginners do not know how to bend our body like pretzel so listen to our own body and have some fun. How I’d love this idea! :-)

• Diet

They said, it’s best to eat 5X small meals instead of 3X big meals a day. But it’s not applicable to me as I’m having braces now. How to eat and brush teeth 5X a day!?

So for me, I’ll stick to 3 X big meals a day. And when the “itchy mouth syndrome” kicks in, I drinks tons of water to counter-attack. Oh, sometime peppermint tea and ginger tea will helps to suppress appetite, too!

Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper is also a good practice. I’ll always be having a big breakfast and love my cup of coffee in the morning, eating normal meal during lunch time, and salad / oats/ fruits for my pauper dinner. We need more energy throughout the day so having proper breakfast and lunch is essential. And then for dinner, less-meal will do the trick coz we don’t really use much energy during night time. And for the supper, well… I don’t eat supper yo! Coz I feel like if I eat supper then the next few moments I feel very energetic (coz it’s mess up my sugar level)  and it affect my beauty night sleep, too. Furthermore, the next morning I will feel sooo hungry and overeating during breakfast/ lunch. So supper is a NO-NO for me.

Additionally, for those who apply 5 X small meals a day. You’ll need those snacks in between meal time. Try to change those unhealthy snacks with packs of raisins, fruits, almonds, energy bars, cut fruits, and plain yogurt (not sweetened/ fruits one) The key is DO NOT over-eating/snacking. Stop when you're feeling half full.  oh ya, avoid potato chips or salty/sweet unhealthy snacks coz it will mess up your taste buds. It’s delicious and (yes!) so much addictive so best not to touch those unhealthy snacks AT ALL. 

Sometime our body mistaken thirst as hunger, so drink plenty of water will help to suppress the “itchy mouth syndrome. “ Better drink water rather than soft drinks/ ice lemon tea/ those hidden calories in the sweet drink!

•  Quiet time

This can be quiet time with God, do Christian thingy such as bible-reading, pray, and talk to God.

Or do meditation. It ain’t simple as it is, to just sit down quietly, focus on the breathing, and meditate. Sometime my mind will wander around, think about various thingy, and then the next moment I found myself in a deep sleep.

The other routine that I normally do is browsing internet and find some enrichment quote. Jot it down in the piece of paper, stick it note near mirror or near bedside table so that I can see it first thing in the morning. It’s not only help to motivate me but somehow it enriches and refreshes me from the inside out. Just a few words such as, ‘You are beautiful, girl” or “Today is beautiful day, I will conquer the world with my red-lipstick/ high heel”, will make my day complete. J  See, small steps but make huge difference! My love language’s tank is full. Happy life leads to healthy life!

• Write down the achievement daily/ weekly basis

Okay, this is a bit creepy but I found it very helpful to just jot down few goals to achieve weekly and then put a tick box, tick it once goal achieved. 

Something like this, yo!

This week I will need to achieve:

Daily:

Drink plenty of water 8X glass a day                        

Stretching 5 mins morning and night

Smile and greet to 1 stranger a day

Weekly:

Exercise on Monday and Thursday

Eat salad thrice a week

Junk food max ONCE a week!

So once you tick all the box and achieve every single goals....the next thing that you want to do is....(next point)

• Rewards your achievement.

Well, it’s ok to enjoy ourself occasionally.

So the equation is strict healthy diet on the weekdays, and indulges once on the weekend.

For example, after I did exercise twice a week on the weekdays, I‘m free to buy a dress on this coming weekend. 

Or something like, after I achieve my thrice a week- salad quota, I’m entitled to eat a slice of Tiramisu with friends on weekend. Or big breakfast at McD's! Yummeh! 

So that’s my 5 baby steps that I can share of, at least it works for me and hope it's work for you, too!

-Deb-

Updates on maintenance phase using Obagi

Hi guys, 

Update!

Last week was my trip to Derma again.

Lazy to update but for the sake of journaling my Obagi and Accutane’s journey, I shall suck up my laziness and start to write type now! 

So the last time my appointment was on January . It was my 25th week journey. 

To catch up on what I’ve left of, previously, I was prescribed 10MG on alternate days, which means, there was 1 week where I needed to take 3 pills and another week needed to take 4 pills in total.  
My skin reaction was quite good for this dosage. At first, I noticed drier skin when taking pills the night before, and oilier skin when not taking pills.

But over a month or two (I’m not too sure when exactly it was, lose track already) my skin reacted again, no matter I take/ don’t take pills it will be moderately oily.  Like the oil distributed evenly on my face. I was thinking to myself, oh … so this is the feeling of having normal skin. Not oily or dry  nor combination type.

So! here's update! 40th week now!

• Topical cream

The last week’s Derma visit, I bought the whole set of topical cream (including Obagi) to replenish my stocks, indeed, the whole sets really break my bank!

Come to my surprise, suddenly my derma said, "I think your skin is ok now, u can use Obagi like twice a week already, no need everyday now"
I was like, "really? But if I don’t use Obagi everyday then what kind of cream I shall use, doctor?"
She said, "use your own moisturizer but still using our SPF coz ours is SPF 60! Higher protection!"

*hip hip hurray*

So yeah! I can use my own moisturiser from now on. A bit skeptical about not wearing Obagi every day anymore, hmmm, maybe for a starter, I use my own moisturizer + SPF in the day and still using Obagi night time, what do you think? 

I’m really afraid of my skin having a relapse later, then how? I don't want to go to that emotional breakdown phase anymore!

Oh ya I read news in the internet that using hydroquinone for long time will affect the fertility or worst, skin cancer. Quite shock facts actually this ingredients has been banned in Europe!

Speaking about Obagi ( a note to myself) Obagi 3 makes our skins fairer and whiter, and Obagi 4 fades our sunspot/freckles/impurities, whatsoever dirt on the face. 

• Acnotin

For oral treatment, now my dosage reduces from 3-4 times a week, to 2 times a week. 

*hip hip hurray.*

 I just bought my 30 caps supply for about $60 and it can last me around 3 months plus (if my calculation is correct)

Nothing much different, just take it night time just before sleep.


Anyhow,

My next appointment though will be on July 5^th. I hope after this I can be forever free from Accutane although I don’t mind wearing Obagi on every other day/ during night time only Let’s see... 

Now I’m on the final phase of my journey. Or can I say, I am now in the end of the maintenance phase!? *snob face*


Talking about sunspots....

So far my skin is still good as it is, no more zits, although I need to hide from the sun like 24/7.

OMG! My boracay trip was causing 2-3 sunspots on my cheek. Additionally, a picnic trip to Botanical Garden over the weekend left me with another set of sunspots!

Arrghh!!  Why I’m getting sunspots in my twenties? I thought this problem, sunspots, sunkissed, freckles, melasma, or whatever name they are, only happen to Ang-moh or thirties or fourties aunty!?

So now no more outdoor activity for me, I'm shy to Mr Sun now. 

Looking back, I started this journey on August 2013, the post can be read,here. It's been a good 9 months. Up and down. Joy and tears. There's no turning back, man...

Okie, that’s that. Will update again on July, after my visit to derma again. Wish me luck, Ciao!

-Deb-

 

Salad, sushi, and all things green.

Hi guys,

Firstly, Happy May Day, everyone! 

Hope you all have a good rest today, whether just chilling out at home or going out with friends, or just do nothing (wow, I love this idea). 

Anyway....

After green juice, I am captivating with others healthy food, such as salad and sushi.

I mean, I try to eat salad every other day or at least twice a week. 

Now it's been my new (healthy) habit for the past months and I can feel the benefits, such as:

1. Easy go to toilet everyday. No constipation or no need to depend on coffee.

2. I don't really weigh recently but I can feel my body feel much lighter. 

3. Feeling good. Coz it's one of my resolutions to keep fit, by exercising and eating healthy diet.

Well....

It's such a big leap of faith, by ordering salad when eating out with friends. Seeing their big wide-eyed they must be saying in their heart, I'm health-freak or what are you trying to proof, Deb, by eating healthy meal in front of us, or whatsoever!? 

But I don't care what they'd said, though. This is me and yes, I'm on my salad healthy-diet program so what!? 

So, acting like a foodie *ahem*, here's come pictures....

Olio Cafe's Caesar Salad

McD's Salad

MOS burger Salad, so far my fave!

Salad with chicken breast meat! $3.50

Updated Salad's pictures! OK, I think I need to whip my own salad from now on! Buying is more expensive!

Green Bite's Salad! $4.90

Turkey Ham Salad with dressing (I added some chilli powder, too!)

The other day, we made California Sushi at home. 

Avocado, Crab sticks, Japanese cucumbers, eggrolls, flying roe, and Japanese short-grain rice.

We made almost 200 slices of sushi for straight 3 hours. It was tiring but I felt joy coz everybody's at home were helping so the joy and burden was shared. LOL. 

The sushi was for our Botanical garden's picnic! Everybody was loving it, I think all youngsters like sushi the most!

We made 5 boxes, full of sushi like this!

On the way to picnic.

-Deb-