A Girl in the World

March 2010

And a breather… sorta

March 30, 2010

Wowza.  I’ve got about 4 hours before I have to get up for the airport.  Daddy is driving me at 5am.  Dads are just the best human beings out there, second to Moms.  They don’t think twice about these sorts of things.  I am so thankful for mine.

Here’s an update from the craziest Monday ever:

  • We lost the flat that we wanted!  You should have seen my face this morning.  And all of the stress!  I was speechless!  The world had ended.  I was mad, sad, crazy.  BUT the good news:  We found another one and I think it’s actually better!  Not as sheik as the brick loft but this one is bright and open and on the 12th floor with (hopefully) good views.  When life deals you lemons, make lemonade!
  • My Klipsch speakers didn’t come in on time!  Another bummer!  I was mad, sad, crazy.  And then I walked the dog for a half hour and got over it.  Fresh air can do absolute wonders! (Advice: Amazon Prime Expedited shipping is what they say +2 days)
  • Books for the journey.  I decided on Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert and The New Earth by Eckhart Tolle (which, by the way, were both much cheaper at Target when compared to Borders!).  Bookstores/libraries are just about the closest places to heaven here on earth.  
  • Bear hates me.  I think she knows I am abandoning her again.  =(  And as funny as this sounds, it actually really breaks my heart.  The poor thing is a child of “divorce” and has split personalities.  First she hates me, and then she loves me.  Hates me, loves me, hates me, loves me.  I haven’t really been the best Mama these last few years but I figure this self-investment I’m making will serve her better in the long run.  I was too young to become a mom then!  Please forgive me!  I’m figuring myself out so that I can be a better Mama in the future!  Mama will be less crazy Baby Bear!  I promise.

Must. Sleep. Now.  Thanks. And. Goodnight.

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I’m sorry United Airlines, but I hate you

March 26, 2010

I’m not one to dwell on bad things.  Actually, some would say that I can be annoyingly positive.  And I feel bad writing this post, knowing full well that it’s going to bash United Airlines.  But really, they’ve left me no choice!  I don’t think companies should exist nowadays if they aren’t willing to make an effort to improve customer experience.

Flying should not be this stressful!

I booked a flight from SFO to EZE.  I decided to use points.  Nowadays, you just don’t know who is going to go bankrupt and how point redemption schemes will change.  If you’ve got points to use, use them now.  And points, might I add, are a reward for being a loyal customer.  Agree?

I found one flight leaving March 30th with a return on June 8th.  It was the only flight available (supposedly), both online and according to the ‘customer service representative’ that I was speaking with.  Great, right?!

Not really.

The departure is a flight from hell.  SFO -> DEN -> MCI -> IAD -> EZE.  That’s San Francisco, Denver, Kansas, Washington and then Buenos Aires.  Hello?!  Do airlines not even check their machine queries to see if the options they spit out on the user-interface make any sense whatsoever?!  Do they really think that I’d prefer to joy ride across America for 10 hours before my 11 hour transcontinental flight?

I wanted to kill someone!

But I didn’t.  Instead, I called Customer Service (which should be nicknamed Place You Call To Make Your Blood Boil).

Me:  Hi, this is my confirmation number.  I was wondering if you could help make my flight a little less painful by checking to see if there is a reward seat that will take me from SFO to IAD direct on March 30th?

Place You Call to Make Your Blood Boil:  Yes, there is a direct flight from SFO to IAD.  That will be $150 change fee please.

Me:  Really?!  Why?!

Place You Call to Make Your Blood Boil:  Oh, because it’s a routing change.

Me:  Well, actually it is not.  I want to get from SFO to EZE.  I just wanted to avoid the connections in between and since you say there is a seat available from SFO to IAD direct, I’d like to take that please.

Place You Call to Make Your Blood Boil:  Sorry ma’am.  Your flight is already ticketed.  Any changes will cost $150.

Me:  Don’t you think I would have chosen the direct flight to IAD had I known it was available?  Your system didn’t show it on-hand, the lady on the phone didn’t tell me it was available when I was booking it and now you are charging me $150 dollars for something that any normal company should have done in the first place: ensure that your customers are getting the best service from you possible?  That makes no sense.

Place You Call to Make Your Blood Boil:  I understand ma’am.  But that will still be $150.

Me:  I’d like to speak with your manager.

Place You Call to Make Your Blood Boil:  This is our policy ma’am.

Me:  I’d like to speak with your manager.


And now I need to stop writing because I’ll really want to kill someone.  The manager was just as useless.  Useless, useless, useless.  And now, instead of feeling good about redeeming my ‘reward’ miles, I just have a bad taste in my mouth because obviously nobody at United gives a sh*t about customer satisfaction and customer comfort.  Let’s query a United Airlines executive to see if he would be willing to put himself on these same flights that he offers to his customers.

They’re a real bunch of geniuses.  Einsteins, really.

There’s a website called BrandKarma.com that lets the public talk about their experiences with brands.  United, I’m sure I won’t be the first to write my gripping testimonial about you.

Never. Again.

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So much world

March 25, 2010

I welcome the fear, knowing that if I’m not feeling it, I’m in the wrong place.

~ @jenovia

Tonight, I’m antsy.  I am happiness and music and possibility all rolled into one big ball of potential energy.  I’m like a wound-up rubber band just waiting to let loose.  It’s been a busy day.  Family, friends, loves.  The three things that matter most.  Maybe this is why I feel so … full.  Brimming with so. much. energy.  I don’t know what to do with myself.

Sometimes I feel like there’s just too much.  Too much world to explore, too much world to experience, too much world to run around and absorb.  Such irony.  This stillness, this stability of home fills my spirit with the love of all the people who matter.  And with this love, I grow wings.  The stillness breeds action.  A constant cycle of stop and go, stop and go, stop and go.

Maybe this is how it’s supposed to be.  A search not for a place of permanence, but instead the acceptance of the cycle of change.

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Opor Ayam (chicken curry)

March 25, 2010

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INGREDIENTS

  • 1 whole chicken, chopped
  • bumbu bali
  • 1 carrot, peeled and cubed
  • 1 potato, peeled and cubed

curry spice:

  • 1 tspn salt
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 lime
  • 2 blades of lemongrass
  • 3 salam leaves (bay leaves)
  • 1 cup coconut milk

DIRECTIONS

Cut chicken into pieces.  Add curry spice mix to bumbu bali.  Place chicken, oil, salt, and bumbu bali with spice mix in a large pot (the dish should consist of 25% bumbu bali).  Coat the chicken with the sauce.  Add enough water to the pot to cover the chicken.  Cover the pot and cook the chicken for approximately 30 minutes.    Beat and knot the lemon grass and add it to the stew.  Add chopped carrots and potato to stew. Add salam leaves and coconut milk to the pot.  Continue cooking until the chicken is cooked (another 20 minutes).  The curry is done when the sauce is thick and sticky.

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My favourite: Tempe Manis (sweet fermented boiled soy bean)

March 24, 2010

This is a basic tempe recipe that can be made with peanuts and small dried fish for variation. Like tofu, tempe has very little taste by itself, but when cooked, it absorbs the flavours of the other ingredients.

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INGREDIENTS

  • 1/2 lb tempe (or one block)
  • 1 cup peanuts (optional)
  • 2 cups small dried fish (optional)
  • 2 tbsp dark brown sugar/palm sugar
  • 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 2 red chili peppers
  • 1/2 tspn salt
  • 1/2 tspn pepper
  • 1 spring onion, chopped
  • 1 leek, chopped
  • coconut oil

DIRECTIONS

Cut raw tempe into strips.  Fry tempe in coconut oil until it just starts to turn brown, set aside.  Fry peanuts, set aside.  Fry fish, set aside.  Fry chopped garlic, leek and chilies.  Add tempe, peanuts and fish.  Mix in sugar.  Stir completely and remove from heat.  Mix in salt and pepper.

This, by far, is my favourite Balinese dish.  When cooked right, the tempe is a perfect crunchy chew.  It’s like eating healthy, Asian, high-protein, low fat, spicy crisps.  Mmmmmm….mouth. wateringly. yummy.

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Sambal Udang (hot sauce prawn)

March 23, 2010

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As promised, here it is! Hot sauce prawn, Balinese style.  When you’ve got bumbu bali, the possibilities are endless.

INGREDIENTS

  • 5-7 large prawns
  • 1 1/2 tbsp bumbu bali
  • 1 tbsp palm sugar
  • 2 Balinese chilis
  • 1 green pepper, sliced
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 2 kaffir lime leaves
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 2 tbsp coconut/palm oil
  • salt & pepper
  • 1 whole lime to marinade

DIRECTIONS

  1. Marinate shrimp in salt, pepper and lime and cool in the fridge for 1 hour.
  2. Fry cooled shrimp mix in 2tbsp of oil.  You will know the prawns are ready when they turn red in colour.
  3. Add chilis, green pepper and onions.
  4. Add 1/2 cup of coconut milk.
  5. Add 1 1/2 tbsp of bumbu bali, palm sugar and kaffir lime leaf.
  6. Add the rest of the coconut milk (1/2 cup), salt and pepper.
  7. Simmer until the sauce is thick.
  8. Serve.
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Book recommendations

March 22, 2010

Because of Hulu and other such nightly distractions, I’ve seriously lagged when it comes to getting through my reading list.  I’ve stalled a half-dozen books since I’ve been home and am ordering new ones via Amazon left, right and center (the one-click purchase feature is eeeevil!).

I’ve found that the best books I’ve ever read have been those recommended by friends.  The Poisonwood Bible, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret?… just to name a few from my adolescent years.  And the bestest best books are always those that you feel sad about finishing, like The Da Vinci Code and Shantaram (if you have not read Shantaram, stop, drop and roll out of your seat right now and pick it up from the bookstore or order it on eeeevil Amazon.  It will turn you into an Indiaphilia and then you’ll have to go and book yourself a vacation to quench your craziness and then tada! you’ve got yourself a great new holiday planned!).  Sadly, amazing books like these are rare, so I’m not going to pretend to have a list of life-changing books for you to read.  Sometimes books change your life, but most of the time, they do have the power to transport you to an alternate universe for a few hours each night before you go to sleep.  And for me, that’s good enough.

So, here’s to a bit of escapism, some inspiration, some intellectual stimulation.  Some are oldies but goodies, and others are new treasures that I’ve recently stumbled across.

What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20: A Crash Course on Making Your Place in the World

This book is written by a professor at Stanford and from the first few pages, is a very engaging read.  It focuses on entrepreneurship, living your passion and creativity.  I haven’t finished it yet and was prompted to get a copy after signing up for an evening event with the author this week (which I’ll write more about in the next few days).  So far, it’s great.  (And, might I add, what a brilliant title!  If you saw this on the shelf as a twenty year-old, you’d definitely be interested.  As a twenty seven year-old, like me, you’d be in a slight panic that you didn’t read it 7 years ago.  It’s like oh my gosh what have I been missing?! Way to garner interest!).

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

This book seems too good to be true.  It uses scientific research to show how you can manipulate behaviours like purchasing decisions and romantic choices through very simple tactics.  It suggests that our choices aren’t really based on logic alone.  Fascinating read.

Eleven Minutes: A Novel (P.S.)

I bought this book because it’s by Paulo Coehlo (he’s one of my favourite authors).  What I didn’t realize was how sexually graphic it is.  It’s about erotic love.  I was horrified when I found it sitting on my Mom’s night table one evening while I was visiting home from London.  She usually grabs books lying around in my room knowing that whatever I’m reading, it may well be interesting enough for her to read.  Well, I stole this book away right then and there because I knew exactly what was in it!  I don’t exactly want to be sitting at a book club meeting sipping coffee with my Mom talking about S&M and the spirituality of tantric sex.  You get my drift?  Is that enough info to get you interested?

Eat, Pray, Love

Don’t laugh.  I’ve been told I’m obsessed with this book.  Well, I am not.  But I like to recommend it to any female who hasn’t read it before.  It’s fun, it’s witty, it’s brutally honest.  A half hour with this book will feel like a pow-wow with your closest girl friends.

The Age of Kali: Indian Travels and Encounters

I was introduced to William Dalrymple by my good friend JS.  William’s travel writing is exquisite.  UK born, he has spent over half of his life traveling through India and writing about it.  It’s a book that will get you excited about far away places.

Fugitive Pieces: A Novel

One of the most beautiful novels I’ve ever read, this was recommended by my high school English teacher.  It’s poetry and prose and music.

The Meaning of Things: Applying Philosophy to Life

I came upon this book through an unlikely encounter.  My girl friends and I were on our way back from Mykonos on the ferry to Athens.  We met two guys from London and one of them was reading a philosophy book.  He and I got to talking, made arrangements to meet up a few weeks later and tada, he brought me a copy of this book at the Courtauld Gallery in London .  It’s a collection of short essays on topics like Betrayal, Fear, Nationalism, Love, Friendship.  It’s a great mind bender on your way to and from places, and a great conversation starter at dinner parties  (Thank you DU for sharing).

The Little Prince

A classic that will turn your current perspective of the world on its head.  Get the illustrated version.  It’s beautiful.

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Bumbu Bali

March 22, 2010

While in Bali for a few weeks in January this year, I took a great cooking class offered by one of the local restaurants in Ubud. Early that morning, we went to the market to purchase ingredients for the dishes we were going to make. It was one of the most fruitful days I spent while traveling on my own. It’s so different learning about local dishes from a local chef.

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Balinese cooking is very different from general Indonesian cooking. Balinese food tends to be either very spicy or very sweet. Many Balinese have one spice mixture called base gede or bumbu bali that they prepare in a large quantity and use in their everyday cooking. We spent half of the morning making bumbu bali and used it for every dish we made throughout the rest of the day. It’s like all-spice, Balinese style.  I’m sharing it below (JS, this one is especially for you, in return for the chili fish recipe that you cooked up after our trip through China):

INGREDIENTS

  • 25 shallots or onions, peeled and chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 7 large red chillies, seeded and chopped
  • 5 cm galangal root (substitute: ginger), peeled and chopped
  • 10 cm fresh tumeric, peeled and chopped OR 2 tbsp powdered tumeric
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds
  • 6 kemiri/candlenuts (substitute: ground almonds), chopped
  • 2 tspn dried shrimp paste
  • 1/2 tspn black peppercorns
  • 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg (or powder)
  • 3 cloves
  • 4 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil
  • 1 pinch cumin
  • 1/2 tspn sesame seed

DIRECTIONS

Using a blender, mix all of the above ingredients except the oil.  Add a half portion of water into the blender to create spice mix.  Heat the oil in a wok or heavy pan, add the blended spice mix and cook over a high heat, stirring frequently for 5 minutes until the mix turns golden.  Cool before using.  Can be frozen.

Use this mix and add to meat or vegetables.  For meat, 25% of the dish should consist of the mix.  For vegetables, add a bit at a time to suit your taste.

Tomorrow, I’ll post the recipe for Sambal Udang (hot sauce prawn), which uses bumbu bali as the main spicing ingredient.  =)

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I’m a type 7, what are you?

March 22, 2010

In high school, girl friends and I would obsessively take those “How great of a lover are you?” tests in trashy magazines like Cosmopolitan, Allure or Vogue.  Actually, we became hyper obsessed with Cosmo specifically, because it was racy, gratuitous and sexy – everything that we were not.  I was a real dork in high school.  Dork, dork, dork.  I chose to go to a school way on the other side of the city purely because it offered the International Baccalaureate program (kind of like A.P. but geekier).  It’s the kind of program that lets you take university level English, Chemistry and Physics during the 11th grade because it’s supposed to make a difference in your life.  It did not.  It just stole time away from things I would rather have done, like sports, art and music.  But whatever.  I digress.

According to Cosmo, I was supposed to be a passionate lover, an emotional girl friend and a sophisticated fashionista.  All at the tender age of 16.  I have no idea why we cared so much about these stupid questionnaires.  We’d take them during Math class and discuss during lunch.  Maybe it was some form of escapism.  Had I really french kissed enough boys to be able to determine my kissing style?  NO.  Had I had enough boyfriends to determine how I’d react to cheating?  Nope.  Had I cared enough about fashion to determine whether I was a Chanel girl vs. a Gucci girl?  Of course not.  But somehow, it made us feel normal – diagnosed into one of three possible types and that felt good.  It felt good to feel understood.  Aha!  I’m not crazy!  The magazine knows exactly why I act the way I do!  That describes me exactly!

And you’d think I’d outgrown this strange desire to be “classified” by some third-party quiz.  But no.  About a year ago, I became obsessed with Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) quizzes.  These were especially gratifying.  I’m apparently an ENFP (Extroverted Intuitive Feeling Perceiving) type – led by emotion and intuition, an enthusiastic people person, dreamy and aspirational… blah blah blah.  I would forward some version of the free online test to everyone I knew, including the boy I was dating at the time (who is now my boyfriend).  Somehow, I felt that I could understand people more if I knew their type.  I’d start conversations with questions like, “What Myers Briggs type are you?  I bet you’re an INTJ.  Am I right?”.  I’d be shocked to find out that many people, most people, hadn’t even heard of the test.  Really?!  Why not?!  It’s the secret to discovering your true self!

Well, I was forwarded another personality test just a few days ago.  This one is the Enneagram Test and it classifies people into 8 different types.  I’m a tie between a Type 3 and a Type 7.  And overwhelmingly so.  You can score a maximum of eight points for any one type.  I scored a seven on both.  And I am actually a little concerned.  How am I two different personality types at once?  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  Ying and Yang.  Am I fighting with myself?!  One type is success-oriented and pragmatic.  The other is variety-seeking and spontaneous.  While one necessarily requires focus, the other thrives on being undisciplined.  While one is status-conscious, the other is scattered.  How can I possibly be both?!  Equally?!  This is supposed to help me understand myself.  I do not understand!  Make me understand!

What type are you?

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Fantasy travel trips that you can do now

March 19, 2010

If you haven’t already read The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris, I highly recommend you do.  Though parts of it can sound unrealistic at times, it will change the way you think about work, play and everything in between.  Among other ideas, Tim talks about the highly affordable lifestyle of taking mini-retirements while you’re still young, able and energetic enough to enjoy them (like, right now).  No matter what age or background, you don’t need a million dollars to spend a month in Thailand learning muay thai. You can do it for a fraction of what it’s costing you to rent your current apartment in your current city.  As long as you’re smart about exchange rates and differences in cost of living, hanging out for a few months in a new country is totally do-able.  I know this for a fact.

Fun with mirrors in Luca

After I got over the very difficult process of leaving my cushy job and severing ties to things like a lease, a phone plan and a gym membership, the ability to spend 2 months abroad (like in Argentina) became a reality.  I’m no millionaire.  And yes, income is and will become more and more important as the months stretch on but I know that taking time off now is a much easier thing to pull off compared with a few years from now when I might be married,  I might be thinking about kids, I might be committed to another job/business/venture.

Wanna learn to speak Argentinian castellano?  Or write kanji in Japan?  Or make home made pasta in Italy?  Don’t wait your whole life to experience things that you’ve always wondered about doing.  Life is a long journey and sometimes saving our dreams for later means they may not come at all, so while that desire is in your heart and while you’ve got the resources to do it, stop making excuses and just go! Go, go, go!

Imagine…

… renting a villa in Tuscany for a three month lazy summer.  Take fashion classes, learn art history, speak Italian.  On the weekends, take the train to Sienna and eat gelato in the middle of Il Campo, the square where the palio takes place.  Wander the streets of Florence and bargain for beautiful Florentine jewelry.  Discover wine.  Lots of it.

… a solo trip through Bali’s lush, tropical inland villages.  Take cooking classes, ride bikes down volcano valleys and spoil yourself with a $5 massage every single day.  And if you’re feeling up for it, hang out on the coast for a few days and learn to surf off Kuta’s famous shores.

… winter in New York City.  Harsh, beautiful, an urban wild.  Ice skate in Rockefeller Centre, explore the Guggenhiem, make snow men in Central Park.  Light a fire in an old flat in the East Village and relish the fact that the winter is only playtime for you, not forever.  Sometimes a new twist on a familiar season will help you see things in a completely different way.

… December in Brazil.  Hot, humid, sexy.  Milder than scorching January, it’s a great time to sample a tropical Christmas.  Learn forro.  Brave a Brazilian bikini wax before hitting the beaches of Rio.  And when you’re tired of the street dancing, hire a guide and rough it through the Amazon.  Come back a toasty, delicious golden brown.

… a life with no boundaries, with no rules, with endless possibility.  No lifestyle has to be forever and sometimes, change is good.  It helps us to figure out what’s important and eventually, after all of the running around, we realize that place is just place.  What matters is who you’re with, what you’re learning and how you’re changing along the way.

Go!  Now!  Make it happen.

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