Monthly Archives: August 2009

It has been few months since I wanted to take family picture together with my baby Alvernia, only yesterday then I finally managed to do it.

Taking baby picture wasn't easy at all. The photographer asked me to come down at her 'happy hour', the timing that my Alvernia most active and happy. I thought afternoon should be the safest, because normally during that time she is the most active, unfortunately all this things really cannot predict. Don't know why, but on that day, it seems that she is very uncomfortable and don't want to smile a lot. Maybe because it is a new environment for her. Well, but even though it wasn't her 'happy hour', we've managed to get a few good shots. Here it is

Will update more of her photos and also my photos in my facebook (www.facebook.com/merryriana) and in my new website.

Went for a speak clearly – articulate it right workshop today.
Very interesting ! Learn more about Phonics, Phonetics, Articulation, Pronunciation & Enunciation.

Apparently not many people really bother to speak good English nowdays.
How often do we hear of "udders" (others), "wif" (with), "di-yar" (their) and "tree" (three) ?
Those are just some example.

Even worse, I came across this article.
It said that Singapore McDonald often hire a lot of senior citizens as counter staff, many of them are not very proficient in English. So sometime we must pronounce it in the following way so that the auntie-auntie can understand it.

Mc.Donald's (Meh Donner)
Happy Meal (Hair Pee Mew)

……

To make it more interesting and fun, why don't I type the way they pronounce it and see how many of these words you can guess correctly.

1. Flench Fly
2. Feese Burger
3. Mus-sloom Burger
4. Meh Narget
5. Bee Blare Fers
6. Or Leng Joo
7. Apper Pai
8. Whore Cakes
9. Up Sai
10. Kon Kap

…..
 

And here are the actual words

1. French Fries
2. Fillet O Fish
3. Mushroom Burger
4. Mc. Nugget
5. Big Breakfast
6. Orange Juice
7. Apple Pie
8. Hot Cakes
9. Up size
10. Corn Cup

Interesting right?

Having said that I'm not saying that I speak perfect English. Definitely not.
But I am a person who believe in continuous learning. As long as there is room for improvement, I will do my best to make it better.

I remember those days when I first came to Singapore. I can't really speak English properly. And in fact I failed my English test, so I have to take English Proficiency class for 1 year.
And because I can't really speak English correctly, I tend to mingle around with my fellow Indonesian students and speak Bahasa with them, which turns out it make my English even worse. So the only thing that I can do to improve it was to Practice, Practice and Practice. And I was finally able to overcome it.

Now, it's important not only to speak English fluently, but to articulate it correctly also.
Here's my favorite video about the importance of speaking good English.

Not easy. But practice make perfect!

Do you feel like you are lacking of motivation?
Do you feel like you have no energy? no drive? no passion?

Sometimes, when I do feel down or when I'm going through a tough time in my life, One way to help me gain back my energy, motivation and drive is to listen to my collections of Inspirational Songs.

Positive songs can create huge impact to my life, especially if the lyrics is so meaningful.
There are many great inspirational songs out there.
And I thought it will be useful for me to share it with you some of my favorite inspirational songs.

Here it is

20 Inspirational Songs
(in random order)

1. When you believe (Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston)
2. Reach (Gloria Estefan)
3. Power of Dream (Celine Dion)
4. You raise me up (Josh Groban)
5. Go the distance (Michael Bolton)
6. If we hold on together (Diana Ross)
7. One moment in time (Whitney Houston)
8. Hero (Mariah Carey)
9. Wind beneath my wings (Bette Midler)
10. The greatest love of all (Whitney Houston)
11. Voices that care (David Foster & Friends)
12. Do I make you proud (Taylor Hicks)
13. That's what friends are for (Stevie Wonders)
14. I believe I can fly (R. Kelly)
15. Can't take that away (Mariah Carey)
16. I believe (Fantasia)
17. Count on me (Whitney Houston)
18. The Climb (Miley Cyrus)
19. The world's greatest (R. Kelly)
20. I'm your angel (R. Kelly & Celine Dion)

Coming soon, I'll share with you my 20 POWER Songs !
Songs that can make you feel recharged and filled with energy.

In the mean time, feel free to add the list if you have other inspirational songs that wasn't in the list

Whether we admit it or not, money plays an important role in all our lives.

In my book "A Gift From A Friend", I wrote that money is NOT the MOST important thing in life; however, money can affect the most important things in life.
 

Money is a life-enhancer. It can enhance love, it can enhance relationships, it can enhance the quality of life that you have in your family, and many more.
 

You can become the master of your money or you can become its servant.
The choice is yours.
 

Choose to be smart and make friends with money.
Here's some simple steps to help you making friends with money.

Step 1
As always, it all started with your mindset first.

Is money a blessing in your life? For many people, money are a problem both emotionally and practically. Most of us feel we don't have enough of it. Frequently we don't manage it well. Often we inherit our negative attitudes about money and don't even realize it.

The way you feel about money is important. Never feel embarrassed for having a healthy respect for money and what it can do for you and others. When you look at all the good that money does, admit that money is the root of much good. Be positive about it !

Step 2
Appreciate it.

Don't take money for granted. Analyze how you use money. Make a list of how you have spent it wisely and how you have not.

Step 3
Take control of it.

If you are not careful, money can enslave you. I've seen a lot people simply just cannot control themselves when it come to managing their money. But if you learn how to tame it and master it, however, it will do whatever you tell it to do. You can decide how, when and where it will be used.

Step 4
Don’t spend money. Allocate it.

Save at least 10% of every money that you earn.
In my previous post, I've shared with you how I allocate my money every single month.
Basically, I will allocate it to 5 different accounts. You can click on the link to know more about it.

Step 5
Protect it

Protect your money from fire, theft, death and disability.

You can work a lifetime and then lose everything you have achieved if your house burns down or is robbed, if you die prematurely or become disabled. You need to protect it from theft, fire, death, disability and major illness. Use insurance –- mortgage, house, life, disability and health — to protect your money and your family.

When you make friend with money, your money will make friend with you too
… and eventually, they will stick with you !)

Just came back from Movie not long ago.

You guys won't believe what I experienced today at the cinema. I handed over my ticket and about to walk to the cinema hall, suddenly the ticket-guy stopped me. He wanted to check my identity card to check whether am I above 21? Hahaha… I was flattered. Do I look like I am below 21 years old? Thank you for the compliment !
 

Anyway, as female, we always feel happy if people thought we look younger than our actually age. Am I right, Girl?
 

So how can we able to achieve that?
Well, one of the way is to do regular exercise.

Speaking about exercise, it reminds me of 1 particular video that I find very funny.
Again, it's another Thai production. This time they are actually promoting daily exercise.
You have to really see it for yourself:
 
 

I personally like the 2nd one

Also, just to update you that I'm so happy that my new website is about 75% done.
Hopefully everything will be finished by September
I really can't wait to launch it. I believe you guys gonna like it very much.
 

In the mean time, enjoy your weekend !
 

When you first bought a pack of baloon in a supermarket, what did you see?
At first the balloon is flat. You could put it in your pocket or in the middle of a book and no one even know what you are keeping. Sometimes you could hold it in your hands without anybody noticing what you have.

But the moment you blow air into the fat baloon, it becomes impossible for you to put it in the middle of your book like you did earlier! Once you start blowing the balloon, you cannot fold it in your hands as you did before! Everybody around you begins to notice the balloon. They begin to pay attention to its colors and its size.
 

What can you learn from this analogy?

When you have an idea, initially it may be in your book or on a piece of paper in your hands and no body know about it. But when you start to blow energy and passion into your idea, people begin see it. It also becomes impossible for you, the visionary, to hide the idea.

The air sustains the balloon as long as there is no place for air to escape. Your business also thrives as long as creativity, energy, and your passion is not allowed to escape.

The balloon traps air inside to be able to exhibit its real size and at the same time it takes advantage of the air to move up. The breeze does not often favor the balloon but the balloon still takes advantage of the breeze to dance in the air. You and I know so well that the balloon might be fully blown but it does not move if there is no breeze to carry it.

Many people came to me and told me that they have a lot of ideas to fullfill their dreams, but they all also complain to me saying that they can't do anything because they have no money.

Well, let me tell you, you do not have to start with money.
Start with what's on your mind.

There are people who have ideas and are waiting for money to start. What amazes me is that there are people who have money and are waiting for ideas so that they can invest their money!

Start blowing your baloon, and let people around you see how beautiful it is !
 

In this current financial crisis, many people do their best to cut down some expenses.

Today, I'm going to give you 10 very simple things that you can do to help you to spend less.

1. Master the 30 days rule. Whenever you’re in doubt whether you should buy that item or not, wait 30 days and then ask yourself if you still want that item. Very likely, you’ll find that the urge to buy has passed and you’ll have saved yourself some money.

2. Give up expensive habits, like cigarettes, alcohol, and clubbing. Those habits cause money to flow away from you with nothing in return. If you can't give up straight away, at least do your best to cut down slowly every single week.

3. Save the electricity. Use less energy, especially when you are not using it. Be diligent about turning off lights before you leave, keep your air con at 25 degree instead of 18 degree, use energy-saving electronic product. You will be amazed to see how much different will it make in your electricity bill.

4. Hide your credit cards. Put them in a safe place in your home, not in your wallet where it’s easy to spend them. Make sure you do so until you have the willpower control your temptation of spending.

5. Don’t spend money just to de-stress. Many people used to spend money just to wind down from a stressful day at work. Try something FREE. Some people often feel much better by going home and spend some quiet time just to relax and then meditate. Or you could just exercise, go for jogging to de-stress, or maybe just sleep early.

6. Eat at home. Home cooking is cheaper and healthier than take-out or dining out. Even better, you can spend more time with your family member at home. It is definitely more fun.
 

 
7. Cut down your hand phone bill. If it is difficult for you to cut down your talking time or sms, one way to help you to minimize your hand phone bill is by checking your hand phone bill and look for services you don’t use, and cancel them. Things like an international roaming, caller number non-display, web access, etc
 

8. Cut down on your vacation spending. If you need to go for a vacation, try to go for budget vacation instead of going on a big, extravagant trip. There is a lot of choices that is currently available for you to choose.
 

9. Turn off yout TV. By watching less television, you'll have less exposure to guilt-inducing advertisements, and also less electrical use, therefore less expenses.
 

10. Home entertainment. Invite friends over instead of going out. Almost every activity at home is less expensive than going out. Have a cookout or a potluck meal, then play some cards and watch DVD.
 

I was playing with my 9-month baby, Alvernia.

And when it is about time for her to eat her dinner, I suddenly remembered that I still have some presents that I got during Alvernia's 1 month celebration that I haven't used. It is a baby feeding set.

When I open it, I was surprise to see what I saw, so I decided to take a picture of it.
Here it is…

Take a look at the wording that says: "Life is hard… " and there is this small little chicken fell down (or is it jump down to suicide? ) hahaha…

I was wondering what was the designer thinking when he created it? Thought normally it should be a happy and positive wordings and drawing like: "I love daddy and mommy", "Life is beautiful", "Be happy", etc.

I believe our subconscious mind is very powerful, whatever we see it often enough, it will come true. If you see the word "Life is hard" every single day, every single moment continuously, it will eventually come true.

That's why is it important for us to have a 'filter' in our brain to choose what kind of information that we want to see everyday and believe.

So what did I do with that baby-feeding set?.
I decided to change it

In my last post, I mentioned about how important it is to be grateful everyday.
Here is one of my favorite video about being thankful in whatever thing that happened in our lives.

It's hilarious, and yet meaningful
Whatever bad things that happened to you today or this week, I hope that this video will cheer you up !

For every little good thing in life, Cheers !

Today I took a cab, and interestingly I saw this motivational poster hanging inside the cab.

I was very impressed. Now days, motivational poster not only can be found in working place, school, office, shopping centre, but even inside the cab can also be found.

I guess, that help us to remain positive at all times, especially in the current situation where is very challenging. The world is having a financial crisis; retrenchment everywhere, people lost their life time savings in the stock market, also not to forget the current pandemic, H1N1 flu.

To stay positive every time, every single day is definitely important.

There are many ways that you can do to keep yourself stay positive. One of the way is to be grateful everyday.

“The single greatest thing you can do to change your life today would be to start being grateful for what you have right now” ~Oprah Winfrey~

And I can't agree more. In my book, A Gift From A Friend, I wrote that Gratitude is the most forgotten, yet essentially important, emotion in our lives.

Without gratitude, we don’t feel satisfied.
Without gratitude, we feel inadequate.
Without gratitude, we don’t value relationships.
Without gratitude, we take things for granted.

With gratitude, we enjoy life more.
With gratitude, we enjoy ourselves more.
With gratitude, we enjoy relationships more.
With gratitude, we enjoy our possession more.

To have gratitude is to have the highest level of enjoyment within ourselves.

This is my challenge to you right now:

Think about all the positive experiences that have ever happened to you in your lives.
Think about all the material possessions that you own currently.
Think about all the positive relationships that you have ever been involved with.
Think about all the positive qualities you have now.

And then tell me whether you can still feel sad or depressed.

To have gratitude is an essential factor to enjoy this journey of success.
 

"When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears"
~ Anthony Robbins~

Have you felt grateful today?