Yesterday (Monday, 8th March 2010) was the very first time I celebrate Women's Day. It was a very meaningful and memorable day for me because that day I shared the joy of me being a woman by sharing my life experiences to other great woman in Singapore.

 

I conducted a Workshop, especially for Women, talking about how is it possible for woman like us to have both Money and Love at the same time. It was an exclusive event, especially for AKLTG (Adam Khoo Learning Technology Group) graduates.

 

The main reason why we choose this topic is because there are many women who feel guilty towards your spouse/family whenever they have late nights at work, be it if they are striving for a career breakthrough for themselves or slogging to lighten the family’s financial burden. And at the same time, there are also many women out there who are so focus in pursuing their career and because of that, they have to 'sacrifice' their Love life.

 

Being a woman myself, who is currently having my own business and having my own family and children, I thought it will be great if I can share my personal experiences and also few tips that I do balance both money and love.

 

The 3 hours workshop turns out to be better than expected. We all have fun in learning and sharing together. Big Thanks to my personal friend, Violet Lim, Founder of Lunch Actually who came down to the workshop and share her experiences.

 

 

It was my pleasure and honor to be an inspiration to all the women who came to the workshop yesterday :)

 

 

Here are some snapshots of the event

 

Me, excited ! just before the workshop start

before workshop

 

 

Only Ladies are allowed to be inside the room :)

only ladies are allowed to be in the room

 

 

Interaction with fellow lady participant

interaction with participant

 

 

Me in ACTION !

me in action

 

 

What does money mean to me ?

what does money means to me

 

 

Sharing platform with my guess speaker: Violet Lim from Lunch Actually

sharing platform with my guess speaker

 

 

Me and the wonderful team from AKLTG

with the wonderful AKLTG Staff

 

 

Last but not least, I ended my day by spending quality time with my loving husband :)

Me enjoying my huge portion of crab-porridge.

 

IMG00123-20100308-2309

 

 

What a wonderful day !

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March

2

LOVE

We all have an infinite capacity for loving.

 

Sometimes we get confused about loving, and we start thinking that we only have so much to go around. We start thinking in zero-sum terms. We believe that we only have so much love and if we give some away, we have that much less.

 

We start giving out our love like we pay the bills at the end of the month. We meet all our "love obligations," and we try to keep a little bit in savings, just in case of an emergency.

 

Controlled love is not loving. Obligatory love is not loving.

 

Love is something that flows out of our deep sense of loving ourselves. It is not possible to love another if we don't love ourselves.

When we love ourselves, there is no limits to the amount of love we can share. But also remember that loving can never be manufactured because we should, need to, or want to get something in return.

 

Love is an energy that is shared because we have it.

 

Me and the love of my life :)

 

Melb 4

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February

28

Are you on DIET ?

One thing that I enjoyed during my holidays was the extraordinary delicious food that I had.

Both Jakarta and Melbourne have great food that I can't resist. So turn out, after the Chinese New Year holidays I gained at least another 2 kg! :p

 

If you also experienced the same problem like me, then you will definitely love what I'm going to write here in my blog.

 

The easiest way to gain back to your original weight is to exercise and also control your diet.
If it's difficult for you to do to the first one, well at least I'm going to share with you tips on how you can do the 2nd one.

 

Next time you are looking at a delicious piece of chocolate cake and it's just screaming at you to be eaten. I want you to ask yourself this question: "Am I on diet ?"

Let me share with you what does DIET means to me.

 

D o

I

E at

T his?

 

Easy to remember rite? :) It is very simple. So next time if you're staring at that these cakes, ask yourself, "Do I Eat This?"

 

 food 1

 

Hopefully you know the answer to that question :)

 

 

And If you are wondering how can I get my extra 2kg? Well.. these pictures will show you how …

 

 

Went to one buffet place at Melbourne, called 'The Volcano", nice ambience and also nice food.

melb 1

 

melb 2

food 4

 

food 2

 

Went to one of my favorite Korean food @ Melbourne city. In my opinion, it taste better than the Korean food that I had in Korea :)

food 3

 

Best place for Italian Food, Sofia @ Melbourne. The portion is HUGE !!  This is a combo pasta, consist of Carbonara, Risoto and Seafood Marinara

food 5

 

and the Gelato is SUPERB !

food 6

 

Happy and Fully Satisfied :)

melb 3

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February

21

My Life Account

Have you ever felt tired doing so many things in your life?

Have you ever felt that your life is so imbalance? 

 

Well, we all probably experience that once in a while.

The countless demands on our time and energy can leave us feeling emotionally drained and physically exhausted.

We become imbalance when we give out more than we take in.

  

Being a woman myself with many different roles, I do experience that. On top of that, as a woman, we have been taught to be givers and receiving seems selfish to us. And because of that, it takes enormous courage to see the value in allowing ourselves to give only that which is reasonable and healthy.

 

If your life were a bank account, how many daily deposits and withdrawals do you make to and from the account of your mind, body, spirit and feelings? If fact, we all do have a "life account", from which we frequently make too many withdrawals or allow others to withdraw too freely.

 

In order to have a comfortable "balance" in our lives, we need to deposit abundantly and withdraw only when is needed.  When we overdraw' physically,mentally or spiritually, we "see red"; i.e. we experience frustration, anger, and exhaustion. But when we credit our life's account by setting realistic limits, we have more to give.

 

Although taking care of ourselves is often difficult to do, it is an excellent investment in the quality of life we want and deserve. By taking the time to nurture ourselves, we ensure that we will not get "overdrawn."

 

So, wait no more. Start deposit to your Life Account today!

 

Me, my husband and my lil one @ Hyatt Melbourne, making deposit to our Life Account :)

me alva and vern @ Melbourne

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February

19

Happy Tiger Year Everyone ! =)

First of all I would like to say HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR EVERYONE !!! Gong Xi Fa Cai.  (hope it’s not too late) :)

 

Hope this Chinese New Year will bring you shining luck, flourishing prosperity and greater success to everything that you do :)

 

 

I always look forward for Chinese New Year, simply because it is the time where I can go back to my home town (Jakarta) and spend more time with my family there. We often get so wrapped up in the importance of work or other things in life that we sometimes forget about the most important little things.  

 

This year I had 3 Chinese New Year celebration with my ‘families’: MRO (my own organization, whom I already treated as my own family), my husband’s family, and of course my own one.

 

Here’s some pictures that I took capturing the memories: 

 

 

MRO CNYCelebration @ my place. Getting ready to Lau Yusheng :)

yu sheng resize 1

 

Huat Ahh !!

yu sheng resize 2

 

 

Me, my mom, and Vern. Celebrating Chinese New Year's eve @ Jakarta

me,mom, vern resize

 

 

Welcoming the year of Tiger ! Went to church early in the morning before going for family visitation.

I thanked God for many blessings that He has given over the past few years,

and I asked for even more blessings and breakthru this year. AMEN 

 

church

 

Spending the rest of the Chinese New Year Day 1 at Grandpa's house.
He is 95 years old this year, and yet still very healthy and smart.

Everytime I visit him, he always speak English with me and play his violin for me.
Reminds me of old time when my and my grandpa play classical pieces together (he play his violin while I play my piano)

 

with grandpa

 

That's how I spend my Chinese New Year in Jakarta with my family.

And here I am now @ Melbourne, celebrating CNY with my husband family :) more photos will be uploaded soon..

 

Happy Tiger Year everyone ! :)

happy tiger year

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February

7

What do you plant today?

I often say  - Be careful what you think because your thoughts determine your reality.

 

Today I would like to share with you another thing – Be careful what you put into life is because you will eventually get it back.

 

Yup ! that is actually one of my personal beliefs, i.e. What you reap is what you sow. 

 

 

sowing and reaping

 

 

Here's a good story to illustrate my message.

 

 

A successful businessman was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.

He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you. I am going to give each one of you a SEED today – one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."

 

One man, named Jim, like the others received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

 

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.

 

Six months went by — still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil – he so wanted the seed to grow.

 

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot.

 

But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach: it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right.

 

He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful — in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

 

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.

 

Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!"

 

When the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot, he ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!"

 

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed, so Jim told him the story.

 

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!"

 

Jim couldn't believe it — he couldn't even grow his seed.

 

"How could he be the new CEO?" the others said.

 

Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead – it was not possible for them to grow.

 

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!"

 

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust

If you plant goodness, you will reap friends

If you plant humility, you will reap greatness

If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment

If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective

If you plant hard work, you will reap success

If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation

If you plant openness, you will reap intimacy.

If you plant patience, you will reap improvements.

If you plant faith in God, you will reap a harvest

 

But

 

If you plant dishonesty, you will reap distrust.

If you plant selfishness, you will reap loneliness.

If you plant pride, you will reap destruction.

If you plant envy, you will reap trouble.

If you plant laziness, you will reap stagnation.

If you plant bitterness, you will reap isolation.

If you plant greed, you will reap loss.

If you plant gossip, you will reap enemies.

If you plant worries, you will reap wrinkles.

If you plant sin, you will reap guilt.

 

 

 

So be careful what you plant now, It will determine what you will reap tomorrow, The seeds you now scatter, Will make life worse or better. Yes, someday, you will enjoy the fruits, or you will pay for the choices you plant today.

 

Start planting good seeds today !

 

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1 more week before Valentine's day. Are you already in the mood for love? :)  

 

Having married for 5 years, I understand that it's not only just love that keeps the marriage going. Our efforts in making sure the marriage work is as important.

 

33

No one falls in love by choice, it is by CHANCE.
No one stays in love by chance, it is by WORK.
And no one falls out of love by chance, it is by CHOICE.

 

So I would like to dedicate this post to all the married woman out there.
10 tips on how to really LOVE your husband :)

  

1. Build your husband's self confidence and motivate him to action by letting him know you need him and appreciate him

2. Trust your husband. He needs to know you believe he wants the best for you and he is doing his best in the marriage. When you are open and receptive to what he has to offer, you fulfill his need for love. In turn, he loves back.

3. Romance in marriage doesn't just happen. You can make it happen by your attention, desire thoughts, and actions.

4. Pay attention when your husband talks to you. Turn off or put away any distractions. Look him in the eye and give him feedback. An inexpensive but extremely valuable gift !

5. Admire your husband. Give him thanks, approval, and appreciation. He'll feel secure in your admiration and want to continue to meet your needs.

6. Silent is not always golden, especially between husband and wife. Ask your husband if he'd like to set aside time just to talk.

7. Understand that expressing your anger is not necessarily bad. It's how you express anger that makes the difference.

8. Remember that in a  marriage the question is not so much about who is right, but what is right for the marriage.

9. Tell your husband on a regular basis: "I love you more than yesterday"

10. "Marriage is not so much finding the right person as it is being the right person." Are you the wife you wanted to be when you married? If not, it's still possible to become that woman.

 

Hope the 10 tips above will add more love into your marriage life :)

 

 

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Life as a woman

 

I feel proud to be a woman.

 

One of the main thing that I believe women are generally better than a man is the ability to multi-task. There are many women out there who have successfully mastered the art of balancing many different roles i.e. career-woman, homemaker, wife, girlfriend, daughter, mother, boss, etc. They are really an inspiration.

 

For me, I am fortunate that I had the opportunities to embark on many different roles in my life. Mostly I experienced it in my twenties. I've spent the first 3 years in my twenties finding my life purpose and also finding my life partner =) shortly after that I took another role as an Entrepreneur. Being young, and being female at that time surely it wasn't an easy task to do.  But despite all the limitation that I had, I managed to pull it through,

 

Do I feel proud about my achivement? You bet I am !  But to tell you the truth, My biggest sense of achievement happened when when I took up another role about 2 years ago.  The role of a mother. 

 

I think the best part of being a woman is that we share the ability to create life. How amazing is that !
I consider motherhood the biggest blessing for any woman. It is definitely a huge responsibility, and many times I have to sacrifice my sleeping time and my personal time, but it's definitely worth doing.

 

Being a woman also means that I can dress up, wear my high heels and feel good about myself. Compare to male, I believe we have more choices in making ourselves look great. We can wear pants or skirts or shorts or long flowing dresses or sandals or boots or whatever else that suit us. Our wardrobe has no boundaries :)

 

Life as a woman is meaningful, fun, challenging, exciting and rewarding.

 

So if anyone ever ask me, "If I can turn back time and choose, would I want to be born as a man or woman?" Definitely a woman.

 

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Do you really love yourself ?

 

It might seems like a very simple question on which you might think that the obvious answer is a definite YES. But unfortunately not all of us can honestly and confidently said yes.

 

No one is harder on us than we are on ourselves.

 

Many times we look in the mirror and we see only our physical flaws.
"If only I am taller" , "If only I have better complexion", "If only I can be 5 kg slimmer", and many other wishes. 

 

Many times we remember only our mistakes when we look back on the day we've just spent.
We sometimes beat ourselves up even when we've done nothing wrong.

 

But guess what ?? Despite all those, others like us. Some even love us.
What do they see in us that we don't?

 

It's good to be honest with ourselves, but we also should be kind.
We can give more love and affection to others if we start with love and affection for ourselves.

 

So before you go to sleep tonight,  look into the mirror and see how wonderful you truly are, inside and outside.
There are definitely many good reasons why you should love yourself.

 

 "Learning to love yourself, It is the greatest love of all"
 

 

 

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Chinese New Year is just around the corner. At this time, normally most magazine will write predictions about what is your luck in the Year of Tiger.

Is this year a good year to start a new romance? Will you attract more fortune? Is better health destined for you? and many more …
Well, I'm not the kind of person who normally read all those things. It is not that I don't believe in what they say, but I just don't really take those writings seriously.

 

I believe the best way to predict our future is to create it,  so instead of spending time reading those predictions that was written, I prefer writing and creating what I want this year to be like. So this year, I bring my whole team, MRO (Merry Riana Organization) for a 3 days 2 nights Goal Setting Session.

 

We went to Tanjong Putri Golf Resort, Malaysia.  It was a nice and conducive place to conduct such session.

 

IMG_0309

 

It has many facilities. One of my favorites is they have a huge olympic pool size that we can use for our outdoor activities :)

 

IMG_0151

 

Healthy minds come from healty body. That is why the first thing we do before we start our GOAL SETTING session is to exercise!

 

 

IMG_0156

 

Now that everybody is ready !  Let the programme begin …

 

IMG_0146

 

Sharing one of my favorite poem

 

IMG_0251

 

With full concentration, belief and passion, they all start to write their goals and visions for this year

 

IMG_0232

 

I asked them to focus not only on their career aspects, but to actually plan for many other important aspects in their lives, i.e. Family and Friends, Health, Personal Education, Spiritual Life, Personal Development, etc.

 

IMG_0263

 

And specially for this GOAL SETTING, I shared with them how important for them to protect their dreams.
There are many people out there who can't do it and can't achieve what they want and they will tell you that you can't do it too.
Don't believe in them. You've gotta to believe in yourself !

During the session, I taught them the steps to protect their dreams

 

IMG_0269

 

It was indeed a very fun and memorable Goal Setting Experience.

 

IMG_0298

 

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