• For the past several weeks, I have been feeling unmotivated. For most of the part, this is due to the prolonged lockdown here in Malaysia — specifically, Klang Valley area (Selangor and Kuala Lumpur are the two long-time runners of the highest cases on daily basis ?)

    However, things are picking up. The vaccination rate in Malaysia is really high on daily basis (400,000 – 500,000 per day) and we are looking at the possibility of 80% of the whole population to be fully vaccinated late September.

    Recently I have been watching “Delicious Rendezvous” in VIU (a streaming service app — they mainly provide asian dramas and variety shows.) Chef Baek Jong-won is the host of this Korean show; the idea of the show is to raise awareness and interest on Korean local produces that need publicity boost to help the farmers. It also helps to reduce food waste (on episode 1 and 2, they covered “ugly potatoes” — potatoes that, actually still edible and completely safe, don’t look “good” (not round) so the farmers have to throw the potatoes away because the potatoes didn’t pass supermarket suppliers’ quality control) and introduce wider variety of food to the public, specifically to Korean.

    I. am. hooked.

    This is a beautiful show. I love how Chef Baek introduces new ways of cooking to make the cooking process easier and simpler — and at the same time, retain the tasty and delicious taste. The show also supported by supermarkets to sell the produces to the masses (to increase the produce’s demand.)

    This show also helps me to regain my motivation back. It seems like learning and having interests in something new makes you feel hopeful again.

    Since I just finished episode 4, I made sambal goreng kentang — we have quite a lot of potato in the kitchen, so I decided to cook it to something that we can keep for a long time (also, sambal goreng kentang and a plate filled with warm jasmine rice are super nice!) You can check the recipe below:

    You can adjust the number of chili you want. For me, I didn’t really count the chili. It’s basically you put the chili into the pot until your ancestors said, “that’s enough.”

    I’m not super sure if “Delicious Rendezvous” is streaming on Netflix or not; but if you can find the service that does, do watch it!

    You can also watch Chef Baek Jon-won’s “Korean Pork Belly Rhapsody” on Netflix.

    (Featured image is taken from Rakuten Viki)

  • “I need to be okay with making ugly things.”

    In case it wasn’t obvious enough, I have been looking for organizing and habit-building tips since last weekend. I rechecked my bullet journal and I wanted to know which system/pattern that actually works for me.

    One of my biggest mistake — or maybe THE biggest mistake — is to see other people’s journals and compare mine with theirs. I set myself on a certain level of aspiration, and I set myself to failure.

    I rewatched Ryder’s bullet journal video (the OG), and read some articles on building habit and journaling (I steered clear from bullet journal bloggers. No hate at all; they have their own system and design, and more often than not, I found myself starting to compare my journal with their journal again.) From there, I found that my current system actually works!

    I used to focus heavily on weekly and daily log. After I rechecked my workload, I found that I need to include monthly overview too (monthly goal) — so I’m going to use the original bullet journal system, minus the future spread (I don’t think I need the future spread yet.) I personally feel this is a good step as I start to see my work and my days in a longer term now. It used to be in a much shorter timeframe (daily); looking it on weekly and monthly helps me to feel optimistic too.

  • Dr. Wood, author of the book, “Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick,” calls the forces that get in the way of good habits “friction.”

    In one study, researchers changed the timing of elevator doors so that workers had to wait nearly half a minute for the doors to close. (Normally the doors closed after 10 seconds.)

    It was just enough of a delay that it convinced many people that taking the stairs was easier than waiting for the elevator.

    “It shows how sensitive we are to small friction in our environment,” said Dr. Wood. “Just slowing down the elevator got people to take the stairs, and they stuck with it even after the elevator went back to normal timing.”

    (Link)

    Also, the article mentioned it takes 66 days in average for one to build a habit (if the action is being done every day.)

💬 status.cafe:

The Blogger

Currently feeling:

The current mood of retnonindya at www.imood.com

Recent posts

Listening