Where Did All The Time Go?

 Just a short post that may help suck you out of a locked in habitual day.

Today when I was typing up my daily journal I noted the following:

"It's so funny how we easily get sucked into routine habits and wake up suddenly scratching our heads wondering where all the time went."



Do you ever find this? That you have a number of goals that you'd like to succeed at and you start off by doing a good job at them and then suddenly you wake up from a "trance" days or weeks later wondering how you got there and how you haven't continued or completed that goal?

I used to beat myself up about this but that would often lead me to stopping whatever it was that I wanted to accomplish. I now have learned that to succeed at most things one cannot be a perfectionist. Mistakes are made, failures are had, but it's perseverance and clarity that often make successes.

What have your success patterns been in your life? Do you often find that time has just gone by without you being "aware?" Has this very post helped to snap you out of such a state? 

Do you ask yourself enough questions? :)

Leia Mais…

Chinese Vegetarian Cooking 3

And so continues the series on *Chinese vegetarian cooking!

Today's cook was your's truly and on the menu was a lovely yellow curry:

In the curry there was: garlic, ginger, salt, curry, green bell peppers, potatoes, mushrooms, tofu and finely chopped parsley on top. :) To create this dish took about an hour's time, but as I greatly enjoy cooking (it's like a form of meditation for me) the hour passed quite quickly. 

Here is an aerial view of the masterpiece: 

It turned out just as I had imagined it would. I was happy with the taste, the smell, the texture, the appearance and the full stomach afterwards. :) Hoorah!

So as always I leave you with a few questions:

Are you into curries? Have you made a curry of your own before? Want to make a curry together? 

*Chinese vegetarian cooking. You may be thinking as you get to the end here that a curry is not a Chinese dish. You would be wrong. China does have curries and they exist mostly in the Southern provinces, perhaps having traveled up from further Southern countries like Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. All of the Chinese curries I've had at restaurants have been bland and boring so I prefer to make my own at home!

Leia Mais…

Chinese Vegetarian Cooking 2

This is an update on our Chinese vegetarian cooking. The following two dishes were created by Xiao Feng.

The first dish (pictured above) is a sweet and sour "bitter melon" dish. Ingredients included are bitter melon, red pepper, sugar, salt and vinegar. A nice simple dish.

The above dish is called "di san xian." Ingredients included are: eggplant, green pepper, potato, garlic, salt and soy sauce.

And here are both of the dishes pictured together!

Should you have any questions about how the dishes were prepared or should you be interested in enrolling in our school of culinary arts please leave a comment. :)

Leia Mais…

Just For Laughs - My Pick

After watching just about every Just For Laughs video on Youtube I've decided that the following one is my favourite.



Hahaha! Oh hoh, oh hoh hoh hoh... really that was funny right?!!

With the watching of so many clips a new (old) dream has crept (back) into my head. I would love to be an actor in Just For Laughs. The closest I've gotten to such a career was in high school. At the time it was a drama class that I took, along with a friendship with my good friend Tyler C (the goofy improver of improvers)that sparked me into a whirlwind of zany improv-like events, much to the amusement of other students and the chagrin of my teachers. I did so well at it that I won the "class clown" award for the 2003 graduating class. What a proud and defining moment.

Since then I've really missed the stage. Perhaps I'll have to go pay the crew at Just For Laughs a visit when I'm in Montreal or at the very least join a group of improvers.

Are you an improver? What do you think of Just For Laughs? Were there any passions that you had back in high school that you'd like to reignite? 

Leia Mais…

Chinese Vegetarian Cooking

My favourite vegetarian restaurant gave me a free cookbook the other day. There are about 100 different veggie recipes in it, all of which are in the style of Chinese vegetarian cooking.

I've loved cooking for a long while now but have never ventured into recipe land. Rather than using recipes I've always just thrown some things together that I thought would taste, look and smell good and pray that it wouldn't turn into a mushy mixture. Often times I was greeted with success and often times too I was greeted, with well, mush. 

This blog will showcase my first experiment with Chinese vegetarian cooking.

The first dish was sour and spicy shredded potato:

The second dish was a broccoli tofu stir fry:

And the two dishes together:

A short video of the prep before cooking took place: 

All in all I think things turned out quite nicely for my first time. The aroma of the spicy and sour shredded potatoes was the kicker, mmm mmm! I realize the video isn't too in detail so if you have any questions or comments about the dishes please leave them below!

Leia Mais…

Getting Up On The Right Side Of The Bed

I get up every day now at 6AM and run into the rising sun. Getting up early for me has been a gradual work in progress. From my early days of 6:30AM paper route starts to my early years of adulthood I've constantly struggled with the idea and the execution of getting out of bed.

I have been experimenting now seriously with waking up for more than half a year, see posts: "Waking Up To A Marathon" and "Are You A Sloth?" and am gradually perfecting the art form of being an early riser.

The intent of this post is to share the positive results I have received from rising early.  

From my own personal experience getting up early has changed my life in the following ways: 

• I now have 17-18 hours of awake time, I often get to 6PM and feel like I've been awake for two days. My days are loooong, and I can fill them with however I feel fit. An 8 hour working day takes less than half of my day now, so instead of saying "Oh, I work today so I can't do that" I now say "Oh, I work today, so I'll do that before or after work."
• I eat a big breakfast every morning at 7AM and super hydrate myself. My body loves this treatment and thanks me by giving me plenty of energy and clarity throughout the day. 
• I feel empowered and full of life. Waking up early gives me a feeling that I'm in charge and that I'm getting the most out of life. The opposite of this feeling to me has been felt in waking up late - I get down on myself for sleeping so long. I think some of you can relate to that?
• Continuing on the above point, I ride my good feeling and it gains momentum - carrying me throughout the day smiling. I find the same true for getting up late and the negative momentum I used to get from that.
• Instead of subscribing to my old accepted "I can only be a night owl" theory I now am finding out that I can be either a night owl or a morning bird, or an afternoon fluff eared mountain goat - it's completely up to me and the decisions I make.
• It's good bonding time with my wife!
• I exercise every morning, either running or walking (on a rest day). I run/walk into the sunrise on a bridge over the ocean. It fills me with universal energy and leaves me feeling fresh. 
• Every morning as I run or walk I go over my plan for the day, do affirmations and visualize my day the way I'd like it to be. 

I make weekly goals and the number one goal is always to get up early. When I get up early it is like everything else just comes naturally. 

Do you make weekly goals? What does your number one goal tend to be? Why is it so important to you?

PS. For anyone counting this is my 50th post! =)

Leia Mais…

People Love Litter Picker Uppers

I have figured out that the best way to be instantly loved by complete strangers is to pick up other people's garbage in front of them. 


Today I went with Xiao Feng to the uni to take in some sun after a week's worth of rain. The place we went to was here: 

In this lovely lake you can often see ducks, fish and many different kinds of birds. Today, because of construction going on on an adjacent building a few big ugly chunks of styrofoam had blown over and into the lake.  

I decided to take it upon myself and save the day. I got up off the rock where I had been inspecting a curious looking insect and strolled over with great intent. I scooped out the rubbish and instantly heard a chorus of people saying in Chinese to one another "Oh, my - what a nice guy!" "Well, what a nice person." "Foreigners sure know how to take care of the environment." 


But I wasn't done yet. The ducks were zooming in on a large plastic bag that was floating on the water and it was just out my reach. I rummaged around in the bushes and came out with a very large stick and scooped out the plastic bag, disappointing the curious ducks. The bystanders continued their oooing and awing, commending me for a job well done. One such comment went "I thought you were a little nuts at first when I saw you with the big stick, but now I understand - come on over, let's have a chat together!" 


The whole experience took all of 3-4 minutes but left me with a wonderful feeling. People love litter picker uppers. I know I do. If you picked up someone else's trash in front of me, even if I had never met you before - you'd have an awesome first impression in my eyes. 


On a first date with someone? Pick up someone else's litter in front of them. 
Meeting someone for business? Pick up someone else's litter in front of them. 
Having lunch with your grandma? Pick up someone else's litter in front of her. 
All by yourself? Pick up someone else's litter in front of yourself. 


So everyone will love you. But it goes deeper than that. It's fun to pick up litter and it's also a way to connect and give back to nature. 




When was the last time you picked up some litter? 

Leia Mais…

Chopping Kugua - A Musical Masterpiece

Something came over me today and I decided to do a video blog for the masses.

Most of you haven't seen my zany side in years.

This one is for you. I have been (seriously) studying the art of happiness for about half a year now and am getting better and better at things. One part of being happy I discovered is singing while cooking.

I especially get passionate to sing about the kugua (bitter melon):

This adorable, little, bitter bundle of joy makes me sing every time. 

See for yourself. 

When was the last time you sang to your food? 

Leia Mais…

The Time is Ticking and Tocking

To imagine how many people those clocks woke up. To imagine how many times eyes met those hands. To imagine how hurried time was at times. And how it would crawl at other times. There were certainly hell of a times! and heavenly times!

Time... time... time...

=)

Leia Mais…

My Powerful Body 3 - Update

I did my third exhaustion test today and got 46 consecutive push ups in less than one minute. The most ever in my life!

My soundtrack was Rocky's "going to fly now." As cheesy as it sounds it never fails to get me pumped up every time. I just love the story of the Rocky movie and the soundtrack puts it all into one song which acts like my fuel.

To reflect, I started the push ups program back in mid January, aiming to reach 100 push ups in seven weeks. It is now 10 weeks later and I have made it to week 4 of the program. Sounds like a failure right?

Not at all. It is quite the opposite. I've noticed a very simple trend that I often overlooked because I let my emotions look for me. When I started something I really wanted to do I always stopped at, or shortly after the first failure.

It wasn't until I found out I studied Mandarin Chinese for almost three years with huge success that I discovered the reason I was successful was because I stuck with it and refused to give up.

My push ups program has now turned into a case study on how dogged determination and letting go of fear can = success (and pecs).

On the Push ups logger website if you look closely there are 16,778 people on week one, 2,282 people where I am (week 4 day 1) and just a few hundred on the final week. I intend to join those on the final week. :)

If you want to track my progress and look at my fun loving comments for each work out day they are all logger on the above site. You can search for my username: ouyang.

Perseverance

What is it that you are sticking to?

Leia Mais…

Asking the Way

So there I was, in a small alley. The time was pushing 9AM and ahead of me was an older lady pulling a trolley full of veggies. As I was about to walk past her she turned around abruptly and started to ask in Chinese "Excuse me?..."

She saw I was a foreigner and immediately...
STOPPED.

She lost several shades of colour and started waving her hands desperately without saying anything.

I smiled and assured her in Chinese "It's okay, it's okay, you can ask me!"

She slowly murmured "can I take this lane to the university?"

To which I replied, "Yes, you sure can."

I smiled again, for smiling was in order and carried on my way. It was the first time in almost four years that anyone has asked me directions!!!

The reason I haven't been asked directions in my four years here is a mixture of a few things. Here is what I've thought it to be:

- There is a popular belief in China that no foreigner could ever possibly speak Chinese. Tack on top of that the fear of said foreigners.
- I have believed in the above ^ , thus limiting myself to the experience.
- I'm not particularly skilled with directions and people can sense not to ask me.
- People asked me in my first year when I wouldn't have understood and it's only in fact been 3 years.

I love helping people. I love giving directions. Giving directions this morning made my day (even if it was an accident). It was so simple, but I decided at 9AM that my day was made. I had a wonderful rest of the day riding the high of that simple joy.

When's the last time you've given directions?


Ou.yang.

Leia Mais…