Lobi Libi

New beginnings

2017-07-05T09:54:00.001-07:00

People always talk about New Beginnings when someone got married or started a family. I always thought because it's a new chapter in their life. Partly this is the case, but after my wedding and the arrival of my first baby, I know the in-depth meaning of New Beginnings. After every such milestone, you kinda start over. Not only financially since those milestones can cost you an arm and a leg, but mentally too. Maybe not so much with being married, since we've been with each other for ages. Practically we were marrried just wihout that piece of paper and the ring. Not that the wedding wasn't special, but a new edition to the family was a whole different level of special. It's like it's not about me or us as a couple anymore. Our main focus is the baby and all decisions made are considered what's best for the baby. I don't know if every mom experience the same thing, but in the coming blogs I will be writing about my pregnancy and motherhood. I hesitated if I needed to start a different blog, but this one is about loving life. We created one...so to my definition, it sure fits in here. So here goes my inner voice of the first moments of finding out....

"On september 22nd 2016 I found out I was pregnant. A fact that I had been hesitant to find out. A gift that I was not sure whether I would be good enough to accept. For years my life was always about me and then there was the husband and now,...it's all about a human being that I've never known before, but who I'll according to everybody will love with all my heart. I was hesitant, but I was also realistic to know that it was not something I hate and it's something I'm also curious about. Women have been childbearers since forever, so what happens really that makes a woman even though knowing all the pain and tearing still choose this path for thing 2 and more."

Elevate your brain

2016-07-03T18:56:00.001-07:00

For nearly a month now, I have been using an app to improve myself. And since I like this app so much, I'd love for you to also try it. It's called Elevate app.

I like it because I do see improvements in my English. Even now I'm blogging, I seem to have a better word usage and understanding of how to substitute words to make it more interesting. And since it's in a game form, it makes it challenging to reach achievements.

It has 5 areas that the app focuses on: Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, Speaking, Math.
For every area, you see the skill levels and the percentage compared to other Elevate users.

For some time now, I have been looking for ways to improve myself. According to Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, what you do between 6pm and midnight are crucial to your future.

I don't agree with everything he stands for, but with this I do agree. During work hours, you're working for someone, but after business hours, you're working for yourself. Every improvement is for yourself, so that's why I've been looking for ways to improve me as a person. There's so much knowledge nowadays. Google is making learning easier, Coursera even offers free courses. It's up to you if you want to give up some of your free time to learn something, gain extra knowledge and improve yourself as a person.

Are you a traditional Manager?

2015-04-18T08:26:00.002-07:00

From life experience and many managing courses I've been, everyone seems to believe in a certain managing method: Authority- based hierarchy, position-created respect and power. But more and more companies are applying unorthodox methods for keeping their employees 'in place'. The standard hierarchy that every company used to apply, where the CEO is the one stating the rules and everybody else needs to abide by seems to be changing.

However in Suriname, it appears that most companies are still keeping this mind-set. Mostly because the companies are a family-owned business or a one-man show, where what the owner says goes. Or even the managing director or CEO, who believes he/she is all mighty and powerful to make you or break you. Slowly, but successfully many have proven that there are more people-friendly ways to keep your employees in-line.

One of the most popular and employee-friendly companies is Google. Of course I don't know what happens internally, but what outsiders like me see and read about is that their employee benefits are really great, the environment is super relax and even a bit like being on campus again. That is one of the reasons why people are dying to work for Google. Their compensation should be also satisfying I believe otherwise most might have considered otherwise. They even have their '8 rules how to be a good boss' here

The reason I'm blogging about this is that I just read an article about Yata's CEO, Daniel Chong, who is also using a different approach than the traditional way towards his employees. It goes as far as that he doesn't see and mention them as their employees, but as colleagues.

The article I read was in Chinese, but it made me so curious that I googled him a bit. Here is an article in English, so that you can read a bit about my curiosity. Although he's CEO of a big supermarket chain, he's still plain simple and down-to-earth, because he believes that everything he's achieved is teamwork, in which he only plays a single role. And I'm starting to wonder if their humbleness, which you see it in the way they dress (see Bill Gates and Daniel Chong), is what makes them so successful as CEO's.

Where most CEO's insist on making the final decision on every single part of anything, he gives the employees the ultimate freedom to create and explore and only intervene if he foresee problems or issues needs to be solved.

However the freedom seems so nice to have, but I have to say that I kinda believe in a mix of the traditional way and the unorthodox way. I do believe that the CEO is just a position and his job is to assist his employees, so that they can work efficiently and accurately, but a certain authority needs to exist to keep everyone in line. A organizational chart with lots of empowerment.

Probably that originates from my hospitality background.
As a supervisor intern in the food and beverage department of a well-known hotel chain, it was clear to me that however I'm the one with authority, I was the one to create a healthy environment, where the waiting staff can make sure to keep the guests happy and the kitchen staff to create their magic without any sabotage. And one thing I always communicated with the staff: " Help me help you, so that we can create a great experience for the guests!!"

New Year's Eve

2014-12-31T04:34:00.003-08:00

First and foremost, a belated Merry Christmas.

This December had been both quiet and busy. Since I started my cake business in mid November, there was some orders and I kinda was happy that it was not too much. Yeah, maybe that sounds a bit weird. Everybody loves big orders every day and especially with December. Probably because I just started and my oven is still a very small one, I believe the amount of orders I got in December was just the perfect amount. Otherwise I might be overstressed with everything else that's also happening at work.

It's New Year's Eve. One year has passed in something that felt like a wink. So many lessons and laughter, so many ups and downs. And for the first time in December I have not really been partying nor food fests like all those years, but today is New Year's Eve, it's a time I make an exception to everything like: going into big crowds, go wild and go crazy.

There is just something about Suriname's New Year's Eve. Maybe it's the smell of fireworks, the seeing of old friends, who you haven't seen in ages, the drinking with complete strangers, who are willing to share their bottle of alcohol. And the rain?? Nobody cares about the rain, but it's preferably after you're already at the spot you wanted to be. I believe most people see the rain as a kind of blessing, a shower from heaven.

It's still 9:30 in the morning and streets are still quiet and the sun is shining, but once it hits 11am, then the crowd has risen from their needed rest to go through the many hours of partying.

I still need to decide what to do today. Will it be Pagara Estafette Downtown or Pagara Estafette North? Shall I go to Galaxy after that or Instyle? Choices, choices......even the last day of 2014, choices need to be made.

So for 2015, I wish you all get the right guidance to make the right choice!! It might be that one decision that might change the course of your life!!

Sweets: reasons to eat cake!

2014-11-17T18:11:00.001-08:00

On November 13, 2014 I officially launched my cake page on Facebook: Sweets!!
Had been thinking about it for a while and been working on my logo and finally last Thursday, it felt like the perfect moment to launch it.

Associated with the launch, I will be giving away a cake on November 19!! The requirement to participate is to like & share the page and give a reason why you should win it. Check my page Sweets for further details.

Whenever people read 'reasons', the first thing that comes to mind :' is it my birthday or someone else's birthday?'. But the whole idea of this requirement is to let people think about why they should have cake.

There are a lot of reasons to eat cake and whenever it's free, all the better.

Like mini temptations has its top 10 here, I will also create my own top 10 reasons why you should have cake:

1. Everybody can use something sweet in their life.(that's why my page is called Sweets!!)
2. It makes a perfect combination with your cup of hot beverage.
3. It's like the cherry on top of a balanced diet

4. You're alive!! It's something worth celebrating and celebration means cake!!
5. It's someone's birthday (didn't your neighbor's dog became 2?), graduation, achievement, retirement....just fill in the blanks.
6. The most standard flavors are vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. But actually, there are hundreds of cake flavors and textures to choose from. Check here for the countries with their cakes. ( the most interesting one: Better than s3x cake. I definitely should check the recipe of that one!)
7. They come in various sizes and forms: cake pops, cupcakes, bundt, round, square, sculpted. Even life-size cakes exist.
8. It's good to give in to temptations sometimes, especially the sweet ones. Repressed emotions (towards sweet) might result in a disastrous outcome ( pig out party!!)
9. It gives your meal a happy ending. :)
10. It always brings a smile to whoever receives it.

https://zanegrava.wordpress.com/2011/03/

That's my top 10. Do you know any more reasons why you should have cake, please share!

Food for thought: Inferno

2014-10-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

Spoiler Alert!! Unless you have already read this book or you don't mind spoilers, otherwise please be warned that the end of Dan Brown's book 'Inferno' will be discussed in this post.

I've finished this book for a while, but the recent events have made me think about it again.

I like Dan Brown's book, because the author likes to use certain facts in his books. Mostly I read his books in front of a computer, so that I can Google anything that I'd might want to make sure it is actually true. After reading his books, it always keeps my thoughts busy for several days; wondering if what's written actually might be true or that what we've been told all these years is the supposed truth. His best work for me is still his previous one: The Lost Symbol! I finished it within 3 days (if not earlier) and it kept me thinking for days and discussing the ideas with people around me.

I was so excited when I heard of this new book and still, it took me several times to start and at the end actually kept reading. To be honest, I had hoped it'd topped The Lost Symbol, but unfortunately it was good, but not that good.

But back to why it suddenly kept my mind busy again. Lately, the world has been in a whirlwind of illnesses. In Suriname, mostly troubled by Chikungunya and globally, everyone's shocked with the recent developments of Ebola.

This book's about how the main character, Robert Langdon, is part of the crew to prevent a global threat from an intellectual organization. This organization's biggest fear is overpopulation in the world and which they are trying to prevent. This book made it appear that virusses and illnesses are brought into the world to prevent overpopulation from happening. In the end, the airborne virus spread in the book was one to make random people infertile, but what if in the real world, some maniac had actually created the Ebola-virus to eliminate part of the world population? In their minds, they are doing the world a favor.

The movie: The end of the world

I gotta admit, seeing the amount of people growing in the world, there is a possibility that at a certain point the world might be overpopulated. In history, time and time again, there had been reasons to believe that the world might end (according to many, Y2K would've been the end and we're 14 year further), but every time a solution came up for whatever it threatened it. Or who knows, maybe the world was reset without us knowing that a button was pushed at a certain point in our lives.

Who knows me is aware that I'm not religious, but I do believe that everything happens for a reason. However hope is often delayed disappointment, but sometimes it's all there is to cling on. And when it comes to illnesses, a cure will be found it's just whether you'll live long enough to know about it.

Rotary agenda: keeping your appointments booked deliciously

2014-09-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

Starting at elementary school, I was told about the importance of an agenda, but the excitement didn't last till the first week of school. For me, the fun part of having an agenda was making it nice with all kinds of clippings from my idols and cute stuff. The next thing that made it interesting was that I could pass it to all my fellow classmates to check it out and put in their contact information and eventually some comments. And that I could put appointments, test dates and my test marks in it, was a nice add-on, but surely not the main focus of an elementary student.

Now, being in the work field for more than a decade (and a tad older and forgettable), I see the importance of having an agenda. My mind just doesn't seem to hold on to that much information anymore. But I have to admit, I don't usually use an agenda, because I don't like how it's so plain and boring. It's just a hard cover with pages of paper to write on. And I don't see myself doing the clipping thing anymore.

So, when my friend Marieke Visser send me a Rotary agenda, I was kinda skeptic. I mean, I'm flattered that she's so nice to have thought of me and I'm really thankful for that, but I was not sure I'm gonna use it (thoughts about boring and plain). So when I finally got it in my hands, I was really impressed. She knows I love food, so with a theme as 'What's Cooking?', you kinda already caught my attention. And I'm not saying this because I got it as a gift. I really liked it because of these reasons:

1. It has different features:

- an agenda to book all your appointments (duh....)
- a calendar
- and since the calendar is made in a stand-up way, you can lay it on your office to scroll the pages or use it as a table calendar or really bring it with you as a normal agenda.

2. Promote Suriname

This agenda contains a lot of information about Suriname: the food, the raw ingredients, the food events. This would be a perfect gift for tourists or foreign business partners. It's professional, the quality of the product is good, you're supporting a good cause and you're promoting the pride of being a Surinamese. And if you might be in a conversation with someone, who doesn't know Suriname, you can always show the pictures in the agenda itself, so make sure you get yourself one.

3. Good cause

Every year the Rotary initiates this agenda project and all generated income will be used for a good cause. To keep it interesting, a different theme will be chosen every year.

If you're interested (which you must be), you can buy it at:
- Readytex, Maagdenstraat 44-48
- Icana, lobby Hotel Torarica, Mr. L.J. Rietbergplein 1
- Randoe Woninginrichting, Dr. Sophie Redmondstraat 250.

If you need additional information about this agenda or anything else related to it, you can contact:

Cees Dilweg, cadilweg@randoe.com / Tel.: 442958 / Mobiel: 0880 6419

Each agenda will be sold for SRD 62,50 (about $18,-) and the income will be used for several Rotary projects as indicated in their press release.

And this agenda came really at the right time, since I'm going to take my cake hobby to the next step soon and now I have somewhere to book all the cake orders!!

**My apologies since my pictures really doesn't give the agenda justice, but I hope you understand that it's made with a simple Blackberry and by a non-photographer**

It's my life!!!

2014-08-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

I quess every new year's day I try to pick up my blogs. Hoping to keep my new year's resolution longer than one day, but every year I notice that it lasted only one day. Some blogs even never got published . But the best thing out of it, is that I can read back what my thoughts were and realize how I've matured as a person. This is something I wrote several years back:

-----
There are phases in life, where you will come to a point that decisions need to be made, paths be chosen and no pressure....course of your life need to be set. However everybody gets a certain preview of how life will be or could be, but nobody gets a How-to on any of this. Unless you have someone that has paved your path and your throne is waiting for you at a certain point in your life, you'll have to face these important points in your life.

However some parents might want to try to prepare you for it, but there's just no way they can see in the future what obstacles you might face. They do what they believe is right; save money for a great education, try to inspire you towards a bright future, some even believe pointing you towards their ideal job is what's best for you. But maybe it's just me, but don't we all come to a point where we have a feeling we're wasting our time? I've experienced it twice in my life. Once was when I graduated from pre-college and had to decide what to study. Soon enough I had to admit that the chosen major was nothing for me at all. Now I graduated from college, I face the same struggle again.
I thought getting older and wiser would take that away, but somehow it just seemed worse.
-----
After graduating valedictorian of my year, I felt lost. Lost because I didn't know what my next goal is or should be. I've always worked out of survival. Even now...I'm not sure I love my job, but I feel challenged and that's good enough for now.

I dont know why, but I have a feeling 2020 is going to be a game changer for me. I hate to have expectations, because I hate it more to get disappointed, but this feels like something big is coming my way and without reason I'm feeling excited. And for those who are still lost, sometimes it's ok to let yourself go and just let the flow take you where you're supposed to be.

What if....

2014-07-18T05:53:00.002-07:00

Recently things are not going that great in my life. Not that it's that bad, but things are happening and that's just part of life. But that doesn't take away the fact that these situations make me think about a lot of things. And what I know about feeling blue is that you need to do something about it.

I have different methods when I'm feeling blue. It could be that I pamper myself with a spa day or foodie day(which however has results that make me less happy), have an intensive workout or I try to motivate myself. This time I tried the latter.

Like what I said earlier in one of my posts and based on the lessons of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming): " If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got". And according to these studies, even sadness and blues has a starting point. If you'd like to go back to a time when you were happier, think about what you did different. What changed?

Recently I've been reading 'How to think like Leonardo da Vinci- Summary'. It's a summary about the principles on which the great genius based his ideas. Those are:

1. Curiosity - the quest for continuous learning
2. Demonstration - Test knowledge through practical experience
3. Sensation- Constantly sharpen the senses
4. Sfumato - be comfortable with ambiguity
5. Art/Science- balance science and art, logic and imagination
6. Corporality develop Poise - the balance of body and mind
7. Connection- maintain a big picture perspective

I have to admit I'm not such a quick reader or at least, I'd like to let all the words sink in, so I'm still at just principle #2, but it's so enlightening that I feel I had to share with you guys.

The first principle is curiosity and I felt so touched by it, since I'm the same way. I'm constantly looking for things I don't know and especially with the existence of Google, which is making searching information that much easier.

People does say 'Curiosity killed the cat', but on the other hand ' satisfaction brought it back'. With curiosity I don't mean nosing in other people's business, but the longing for knowledge. Like seeing a balloon deflate for the first time and wonder what happened. Or how certain liquids mixed together create a different color.

But in this summary, I've learned a new meaning to the question: 'What if...'. And I believe somehow I've always used principle #2: demonstration. I couldn't wait to test it out, so I asked my colleagues some simple questions like:
- 'What if you could have all the money in the world, what would you do?'
- 'What if you could do anything you want, what is it that you'd most likely do?'

These questions seem very easy, but the results were shocking!! Most people actually don't know what they'd do if they got the freedom to do anything and if they'd have all the money in the world, they wouldn't know what to do and where to start.

To make it more interesting, I'd like to share a test with you:

1. Choose a subject/topic. It can be a pencil, a word like love or anything that comes in mind at that moment.
2. In 10 minutes ( can be longer or shorter), write down every thing that comes to mind about this subject/topic. Even things that doesn't seem to link with the word; it does for you.
3. Screen what you've written. What belief or perception do you see behind all that you've written.
4. After you know what your belief or perception is, understand why you have this kind of belief or perception.

I did this exercise with my colleague and her belief is that she had to find meaning in life. And let me first say this " No belief is wrong". It is based on your experiences and your environment. My mom always told us that if you don't work, you don't eat. So I grew up holding on to that idea.

And what I did after this exercise was using the 'what if ' - questions; What if you don't need to work to get rich?', 'What if you could get paid for doing something that you love to do'. For most ladies, these might be the questions:
'What if I could eat whatever I want and whenever I want and not gain any weight?'
'What if I could have a perfect skin without using any products'
'What if I could have any guy I want, who would it be?
'What if....'

Some might see it as daydreaming and ' too good to be true', but WHAT IF...these are the things that keep you from achieving just that?
What if......

You stole my heart,...Aruba!

2014-06-23T07:52:00.000-07:00

Last year, after my internship in Aruba, everybody was asking me for advice on what to do in Aruba and I believed I promised several people a blog would follow. But days...months...passed, until I even come back after a 2nd visit and I believe I should really stop procrastinating about it and just do what I promised.

Aruba is a country that has a special place in my heart, not only the beach and the sea, but the friendly people and especially my friends. I couldn't visit most of them this year, but I'm sure our paths will cross somewhere in the future.

Aruba is known for most as the 'Happy Island' and I did indeed experienced that, every day of my internship and vacation. It is not the big things, but the small details or things that makes so much difference like greeting. Every where you go, you will be greeted. It's so natural for them to be friendly that it makes me wonder why people are so hard on greeting and smiling. Even if I walked by someone, who was just so happen in their yard, they'll wave and say 'Bon dia', which means 'Good Morning'.

Last year, I arranged my internship and took a daring step to travel to a Country I've never been and stayed there for 6 months. The best thing that happened to me is that I get introduced to Joenne Nicastia through a very good friend. Joenne is a lady, who takes measures into her own hands and was always willing to give advice. I wanted to rent an apartment before I would actually arrive in Aruba, but she advised me not to do so, since a picture can be deceiving and other worries need to be taken into account. However Aruba is small, but not everywhere is convenient to get hold of a bus and renting a car was not within my reach yet.

I arrived on a national holiday, so since the moment I arrived she took me everywhere to see apartments. Some were really ridiculously priced- a small studio with everything packed in it could easily cost 1000 florin (nearly $600,-) per month. Finally, I found a nice apartment( a real apartment, where you have a small living room, open kitchen, full bathroom and a bedroom), where every area is divided nicely and gave me a feeling that after a hard day of work, I can really relax.

Not only did she assist me in the apartment search, but she was so thoughtful to think of the bus card and also to bring me to work on my first few days. I can't imagine anything more I can ask from her.

At work, I was welcomed warmheartedly and got the opportunity to work and learn the great standards of the brand hotel. (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to mention its name) One of the brand requirements is that all staff need to smile whenever a guest approaches, but it was so nice working there that the smile came naturally.

However in the beginning, I did take the bus after work, but after getting acquainted with the associates, most of them were willing to give me a ride after work.

The friendliness is so contagious that I got infected with the friendly-virus. Greeting, saying 'masha danki' and I even gave a ride to a total stranger, who couldn't find the shop she needed to be.
For everyone, who made my internship and stay so memorable, I'd like to say "Thank you!! Masha Danki!! You are one of the reasons Aruba will always have a place in my heart.

What I miss most of this beautiful island:
1. my friends - they introduced me to happy hour, fun in dressing up (for all kinds of events) and the warmth and love of Aruba

2. the free sunsets - The best place to watch the sun go under is at Malmok. You can just park your car there and make yourself comfortable while you watch the sun set.
3. the food options -> there is a variety of food available. You can grab an affordable big portioned meal at Fermin, a cheap Chinese lunch/dinner at Wing Hung or even a great fine dining experience at Ruth's Chris. If you're the sport watching type, there are several options ranging from the local bars to Champions. After hours, there are also some carts at certain areas, where you can get great food for an affordable price. One of them is Mexican. All options depending on the experience you'd like. For more about the food options in Aruba, check my other blog: http://atastybit.blogspot.com/
4. the accessibility - with a car, you can go everywhere yourself. It takes about half an hour to go from high rise area to San Nicolas. That is without traffic. There are a set of roads to go to all areas of Aruba and if you have GPS or Google Maps, you can get everywhere by car.
5. the safety - However Suriname is considered quite safe, Aruba is safer. Of course you should not provoke it, but all in all, I felt like I don't have to be scared to walk around. Just an example of how safe people felt they were: I saw people jogging at the boulevard at 2am.

There are lots more that I miss, but it will make the list too long for a blog. Have you already been there? What do you miss the most?

My flying experience this vacay

2014-06-17T08:41:00.000-07:00

My loyal readers, I'm back!!! A vacation is not only food for my stomach, but also food for my soul. I feel so relaxed and energized now (not really right now, since I'm quite sleepy after a late night movie) and can't wait for the next vacation. Yeah,...love travelling. Can't someone just pay me to travel the world and try out all kinds of food and lodgings?

One thing that's not really likeable is flying. I know that there's not really a way around it, unless you have the same opinion as a guy I met in Aruba, who told me he had been sailing from Boston and was gonna make it a year long trip. For most travels, flying is a necessity and everyone who has to fly a bit further knows the hassle of flying out from Suriname. You have at least one layover, some (can be 9-10hrs) waiting time and then the ignorance of online check-in.

For this trip, I took the matter into my own hands and have booked online. Since I was going to 3 destinations, I glued several airlines to make my ticket price a bit cheaper. SO...for this one trip, I had experience with 5 airlines: SLM, Air Tran, Southwest, JetBlue and Caribbean Airlines.

First was of course SLM. I had earlier experiences with them and the advantage of flying with them to Aruba is:

- it's a direct flight, so shorter travel time
- you always get food ( I believe it's part of being Surinamese)

What I didn't like about them and this time:

- there was a delay of 6 hours and I had to hear it from Travelocity, where they not only mail me about the delay, but someone who couldn't even pronounce Suriname correctly called me to ensure I knew about the delay. I confirmed it by calling the airport and leaving a message at Facebook. And no memo whatsoever on their page about this delay. Real disappointment!
- I checked-in online, printed out my boarding pass and still had to stand in the long line. After some complaints from a colleague traveler, we were put in a different lane, which should've happened from the beginning

Overall, I still would fly with SLM out of convenience, but I just hope they would work on these points though.

It was my first time flying with Air Tran and Southwest, so I was not sure what to expect. I had to connect in Atlanta with Southwest for my final destination. Air Tran was ok. The only thing that was not pleasant and I am not sure which airlines fault it was or just human error, but my luggage didn't arrive with me on my destination.

Southwest on the other hand was an experience like no other and I don't mean in a good way. First of all, at time of departure our flight attendants haven't arrived at the gate yet. The announcer talked about it as if he's talking about the weather or something totally normal. Then during the flight, the flight attendants were constantly chitchatting with guests, which is so different to what I'm used to. I'm not really sure yet about how I feel about it. It's a bit mixed. Partly it's nice to see the flight attendants enjoy themselves, on the other hand, it appears so unprofessional.

JetBlue was really the best airline experience so far!! The price was reasonable, have one free checked luggage per person and there was a list with unlimited snacks and drinks you can choose from. And best of all, TV with nearly all channels and for a flight that's about 3hrs long. The flight attendants were friendly and really service with a smile from the counter to leaving the plane. I would recommend this airline to everyone I know, but unfortunately they only have domestic US flights.

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/travel/sirens-skies-flight-attendants-years-gallery-1.46299?pmSlide=1.46355

And there's of course, Caribbean Airlines. The service got better since the last time I flew with them, the state of the interior in the planes got worse, but probably because I didn't expect a lot from them, the overall experience was ok. The only thing that I always hate is the long layover in Trinidad. This time it's 9/10 hours and thank god there's Rituals.

Before I left, I already did some research and read about a VIP lounge, but in which you only gain access through membership or at least introduction by a member. The annual fee for this membership is about $300+ and the introduced one will have to pay $27,- for that one time.

Since we don't know anyone who could be from that club, we were already worried about what to do in 9-10 hours. We lunched at KFC, which I do have to admit is the best KFC I've had so far. The line was so long, but totally worth it. We took our time with every step we had to follow and finally got up to the 1st floor. There was some shops, but only Rituals actually sold something to eat and drink. I saw the couches and I was in love. You know in cartoons, when an object suddenly lights up as if send from heaven. Well, this couch just lighted up in front of me. It looked so comfy (and it is too) and we spend most of our hours here. I felt to thankful that all the TT$ I had left, I put it in their tip box. However it's not mandatory, but I believe everyone who uses this 'facility' should do the same. The ladies are nice and should surely be rewarded for not kicking you out.

My food experiences at all 3 destinations are soon to be read on my other blog: https://atastybit.blogspot.com/

Should marriage be the goal for all couples?

2014-05-17T04:28:00.002-07:00

This blog idea started with a post on Facebook, where a friend of mine posted this:

It is one of those quotes/sentences/sayings that seems to be logical, but somewhere deep down it does not feel right.

As a little girl, I grew up with the idea that I would study, get a good job, make some good money, find a good man and get married, then kids and bla bla bla.....The same story I believe everybody must have heard at least once in their lifetime. Most of these so-called supposed-stories or so-called facts created by hopes of our parents or our environment to condition us to think a certain way.

At a certain point of our life, this fairytale bubble will burst and reality shows that marriages are no guarantee for an everlasting relationship like we were told when we were still innocent and sweet.

How many weddings are held in a year and how many file for divorce within the next year? The figures are so depressing and the environment around us is not always helping. Who can say that they don't know someone who is cheating for their partner? Or couples who have stayed together for so long and break off just months after their wedding. When I hear those stories, I really wondered what went wrong that just a ring and a piece of paper can break the years these people shared.

And no, I am not anti-marriage and I actually believe I will get married eventually. But what I don't agree with the most of that saying, is that when two people come together, their idea should be to get married at the end. As if, if that's not the case, they should not even start. That might apply to arrange marriages, but in this era, where most have freedom of speech and right to choose, I believe people should stay together because it feels right and they choose to be with each other. If both like to seal this with a ring and a legal paper, that's great!

For me, marriage changed from a fairytale to a legal step, which will benefit the next generation. An oath that you make at that moment that everything you two are working for, will be for each other and to create a home for your kids. And that piece of paper and the ring should not change the way you guys were with each other already. You don't owe each other more than you already were: love, trust and honesty!

Longing for vacation!

2014-04-25T06:53:00.000-07:00

For those, who know me well, know that I love to travel, but with travel comes expenses and it's not always an easy choice. Do you choose to improve your daily life or do you choose for an experience. Of course you will have the pictures to show for it, but after all, you did pay for an experience. Nobody can tell you in advance how you will experience it and no guarantee that it will be a worthwhile trip. And still.....the idea of going on vacation seems like a world opening up.

For this year, I've already planned my vacation for end of next month. And tickets and arrangements were already done in the beginning of this month. Can you imagine the torture? It's like looking forward to opening Christmas presents and you still have to wait for a certain day or a certain hour or a certain someone to be present before you can do it. Time seems to suddenly stop moving and days go by like months and I can't just wait for the days to pass by quicker and I know for a fact that during my vacation time will pass by so fast that I'd just want to have a remote to hit 'Pause'.

Since I can't do anything about the time, so I'll need to keep myself busy until that day is finally here. And research is surely one of them. Google FTW!!!

This has been keeping me busy lately:

1. Groupon - not all countries are subject for deals, but if your next destination is in the states, you'll surely get some great deals. It range from food to paintball activities. Really diverse and for all ages and all genders something to plan your trip.

2. Since one of the stops is New York, I've been checking out some websites for free stuff to do. I mean, travelling is already very expensive for Surinamese citizens. Why not trying to cut costs? Some of the sites are http://www.nycgo.com/free/ , http://www.niftynyc.com/ and http://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/travel-tips-and-articles/76493. The troublesome thing about some of the schedules, some of the events are not scheduled way in advance. Mostly it's a month or so, so if you're like me, planning way ahead, you might need to look it up near the time you're leaving.

3. A very nice tool is of course Google Maps. However I have friends there, but sometimes it's good to know in advance how far a certain place is. The addition on Google Maps is the directions and the 3D view. It creates a better view of what to expect.

4. Since I'm such a foodie, I was wondering if I can take on some Man vs. Food challenges. I probably can't eat as much as Adam, but I believe I can take on the heat whenever it's spicy challenges.

5. Making a list of the things I want to do at my vacation spots. There is so much to do, just so little time. More reason for a second trip, right?

Any advice for keeping myself busy while waiting for my departure date, please comment!!

Friends: quality or quantity?

2014-04-04T05:51:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine at Facebook got very upset yesterday about some people, who claimed to be her friends but at the very end stabbed her in her back. It's such a harsh experience, but it happens all the time in life. And of course, everyone's idea of friendship is different. Next to that, there are different types of friends.

You have friends at school/on the work floor, who you can talk about anything in your life, but after school/work, there is just no need to meet. Some friends are the ones you will see once or twice a year and try to catch up. And there are some great friends, who you hardly meet, but whenever you see each other again, it's like old times. I remember an essay, where the author wrote about a type of friends who you love to hate. We all have some of those friends too.

During elementary and secondary school, it was cool to have lots of friends. To always have someone to go out with or to be on the phone with. With time, the group of friends you have seems to shrink and your concept of friendship will also mature. In all these years I have learned this about friendship:

- it's always quality over  quantity
   you can have as many people around you who claims to be your friend, but when you're in trouble,
   you'll see who your real friends are.
- there is a timeframe for everyone in your life. Some stay longer than others. Cherish those moments!

- if the friendship is over, just let it go. There's no use crying over spilled milk

With some friends, the quality of the friendship will change with time. You'll have your own crowd, your own thoughts and if you both are willing to keep this friendship, it will stay. But with some, you don't even need to say a word in a whole year, but whenever you see each other again, even though you're in a different country, a different industry, a totally different life style, you'll stay the best friends you always were.

Why O why, Generation Y?

2014-03-22T06:24:00.001-07:00

Lately I've been watching some Hong Kong series. It is quite different from a while back (like 10 years ago)when I used to be a fanatic TVB-fan. The set-up of these series are different, the actors/actresses are younger and seem less experienced and the slang used are so 'new'.

One of the things they talked about that caught my attention was '90 后‘, which means the generation after 1990. They are known by different names: the Millennials, the generation Y. In the series they're posed as the irresponsible, wild and plan-free/worry-free generation. Here are some characteristics of this group based on this article http://itthing.com/4-tell-tale-signs-that-you-are-from-generation-y:

1. tech-savvy
They are the generation that grew up with technology in bloom. Mobile phones and laptops were a necessity and not a choice.

2. attention- seekers

They LOOOOVE attention. Social network sites are a daily need. People need to know what they're doing. When they're sad/happy, they want to share it with the world. At work, they crave for compliments and approval. With friends, they want to be the center of attention.

3. Driven, but not so driven

They want financial success to buy all the material luxury: expensive apparel, expensive booze, expensive cars, which they mostly can't afford. Their goal is not to maintain it, their aim is to have it. For instance, if they want to buy a Porsche, they'll try to save money (or some other faster way) for it (some get it from parents), but they will not think about how much they'll need to pay for gas every month.

4. Teamwork

They like to work in teams, but due to personal experience, I believe they want to work in a group, so that they will not need to do everything themselves. If it fails it's finger pointing, if it's successful, they share the appraisal.

I do admit that in my direct vicinity, I do encounter people in this generation and they do seem to have these traits. Overconfident, very assumptious and especially very unfocussed. I had and still have a hard time dealing with them.

They do have some traits that are sure to envy: open-mindedness, more ME-time and the dare-to-love mentality. It might come over as selfish, but what's wrong with a bit more ME-love?

But I see the same traits from people who are in the late 80s and some after 90s are pretty responsible. So does is really has to do with the generation or is it just people at that age?

Looking back at myself in the early 20s I consider myself back then very irresponsible. The first years in the university were so wasted away. The classes were loose: nobody cares if you attend or not. And since it was not a major I preferred I really only took classes that interested me. No idea which direction to choose, what plans to make and how further with my life. What mattered was that moment and what comes will come.

Probably Karma really hits me in the face by showing me the after 90s kids. I used to be the same person, who would procrastinate, making plans to party and doesn't have a care in the world about the things I said. I still kept the straightforwardness, since that's a personal trait. But I believe that I've learned to wait for the right time to say the right things ( not always though). And I actually don't see the wrong thing about it. I love honesty.

During college, I was in a student board. There was this girl, who dislikes me, but I like the way she is. I mean...of course it's not nice not to be liked, but I admire her honesty to show it to me. For me, I prefer a true enemy above a fake friend.

Baby talk

2014-03-20T05:44:00.000-07:00

Recently there has been some discussions going between me and several people around me. The big topic is 'baby'!!

Back in the days, it is a natural thing to assume that one day you'll have kids. Nowadays, some people choose to have kids, some accidentally have kids and some choose not to have kids at all. So the big question was: "Why do you choose to have kids?"

About the fact that babies are the most adorable human beings in the world, nobody will deny. But what makes people, who have the choice to choose for kids? Is that the society pressure 'it is expected that every woman will have kids one day' or does every woman really feel the desire to become a mommy at some stage in their life?

Don't get me wrong. One day, I do want to have a baby of my own, but I always expected to have a certain feeling or desire. That one day something will light up or a certain mommy feeling will tingle within me and I'll know that it's time. Or am I the only one who is not having these kind of feelings?

On the contrary, why not have kids? They're adorable, will be a little you composed by the features of you and your loved one. However everybody complains about the sleepless nights and the dirty diapers, but it hasn't kept many from making more. Even moms who has told me nightmare-ish stories about their childbirth experience are willing to confine another one willingly. Why is that?

Does childbirth give people a certain confident or power of creation? That they have a certain feeling that they actually did something god-like...created a human being?

I assume I'll have a lot to research about this topic. When I talked about this with a friend, she even started to doubt about how certain she is about having kids.

In life, we learn most things as part of life: going to school, finding a good job, falling in love, marriage and kids. But how often do we wonder if these are necessities or are these just society requirements?

Funny things: suck it out of my thumb!

2014-03-11T08:13:00.003-07:00

In Suriname, everybody is multilingual. You'll at least know your native tongue and one other. For me, I'm blessed with at least 5 languages I can communicate in. The most spoken language in Suriname is Sranang Tongo, a creole language with Dutch, English, Portuguese and African influences. In daily life, most people prefer to communicate in Dutch. But what if you have to communicate in both English and Dutch?

It's a relatively natural thing that people try to speak a foreign language in the sentence structure they're used to. If we have to translate the Dutch version 'Ik heb honger' into English, it'll become " I have hunger" or the other way around. That's why it's funny to hear foreigners trying to speak your language. Probably that's how I sounded in Aruba trying to speak Papiamento.

And what if people try to be formal and always like to insert proverbs into their sentences and literally translates these proverbs into English? This is the result:

No	Dutch proverb	English metaphrase	English equivalent/meaning
1	uit mijn duim zuigen	suck it out of my thumb	I made that up
2	De appel valt niet ver van de boom	the apple does not fall far from the tree	so the father, so the son
3	Wel de splinter in het oog van de ander zien, maar niet de balk in het eigen oog	See the splint in other's eyes, but not the beam in its own eye	see another's minor mistakes, but not their own defects
4	Hoge bomen vangen veel wind	high trees catch much wind	people on high positions will get many comments on their actions
5	De een zijn dood is een ander zijn brood.	One's death is the other one's bread	one's misfortune is the other one's luck
6	twee vliegen in een klap	two flies in one clap	kill two birds with one stone
7	Een ezel stoot zich niet tweemaal aan dezelfde steen	a donkey does not hit the same stone twice	one should not make the same mistake twice

There are of course a lot more, but at such situations, what would you do? Are you gonna correct that person or are you just gonna laugh about it and leave that person be?

One more for you: I will see through the fingers if you use these metaphrases!

There are leaders and wanna-be leaders

2014-02-19T05:19:00.001-08:00

We often hear comments like 'he/she is a born leader'. Is one really already born with leadership skills? It appears to be, since what we often see is that there are leaders and wanna-be leaders. Let me elaborate on this point.

Leaders are persons in life, who have people who support him/her and take orders from him/her without any objection. They believe the things the leader says and doesn't raise any question whenever something's said.

The wanna-be leaders or sometimes also called boss are put on a certain position to give you orders and who believe that whatever they say needs to be obeyed. The more they try to force their authority, the more he/she receives unhappy subordinates who questions the orders.

So...thus the question: "Are some people born with leadership skills?" I believe they do, but who ever doesn't get that at birth, can always choose to train/educate themselves to become one. The difference is, the born leader doesn't need to give much effort to get support and they don't even need to be in a certain high position. It could be someone on the lower level of the company and still....if you observe right, you can see that one person, who everyone is willing to listen to.

According to Forbes, these are the top 10 qualities of a leader:

- honesty
- ability to delegate
- communication
- sense of humor
- confidence
- commitment
- positive attitude
- creativity
- intuition
- ability to inspire

Not all leaders have all the above mentioned qualities, but one quality they have for sure: confidence. Whenever people need to work in groups, you see certain people really pop up, who the other members will look up to. And it could that it's the first time they see each other, so how come all the members are willing to get orders from that certain person? I believe it's the confidence this person radiate.

And just a note, not all leaders use their abilities for the greater good or a positive goal. However through history lessons, I dislike Hitler, but according to what's in the textbooks he was certainly a leader. He got the whole country to listen to his orders and beliefs and really lived up to his commands, even if some were doing it out of fear.

Not everyone is leader material, but that's ok. If we all were leaders, then we would all be discussing all the time and no work will be done since everyone will have their own point of view.
But if you might want to step up and equip yourself with leadership skills, it certainly is something that will assist in your future career.

And for the wanna-be leaders, a note of advice: If you are aware that you are not getting people to support you, work on your leadership skills. It's not a sin nor a shame to admit. Believe me, your subordinates will only applaud your honesty to admit and do something about it, then the stupid denial you are holding on to.

Snik, snik, Sick

2014-02-13T03:43:00.001-08:00

I don't think anybody can say that they've never got ill. Some people just get it more often than others. I remember as a child, that I just knew when I was gonna get sick. Twice annually was a certain thing, mostly fever or flu. Back then, I knew why that was. Like I said it so many times in The Taster's blog, I'm a meatatarian, so if it was not necessary I'd not eat any veggies. My parents always complained to the other parents (why do parents love to do that?) how the new generation doesn't like veggies and that they only eat meat and junk.

However I was never fond of getting ill, I know some of my friends, who'd love to get sick. They tell me about the extra attention and the extra care from their parents, which I can't say that I did recall. There was one time that I got what's called parotitis, an inflammation of one or both parotid glands. In simple English: One or both of your cheeks will swell up if you have it. I still remember everyone in the family made fun of it and even draw tiger on my cheek with the medicine. I thought it was pretty funny too. Since the Hakka people call it 'zhu tew pi', which literally means pig's skin. The facial around the cheeks will be so swollen that the skin feels so tight and hardy, but very sensitive and painful. So they believed...by drawing a tiger on my cheek, it'd eat the pigskin and I'd be fine after that. Now I look back, it was quite funny, but I'd never want to experience that again.

Now a tad older and wise enough to know that a human body need certain vitamins and minerals to prevent one from getting sick, I'm trying to incorporate veggies whenever possible. And even now, I'm getting sick from time to time. Not that often anymore, but every time it seems like I've outgrown it and I wonder if it was so tough the last time. I'm aware of the viruses getting stronger and new variations are appearing every year, but somehow I'd never really focus on it as long as I don't get sick. And me-getting-sick has a certain procedure. Yeah, I thought it was only me who liked procedure, I was not even aware that my body also liked procedures. It starts with a squeaky throat, then my body temperature starts to rise. After a whole day of rest, the fever seems to nearly go away and the nose starts leaking and the eyes start watering. That's the start of the flu, after which I'll stay with a persistent cough for weeks or even months. Yeah... and that's why every time I wonder if it was so tough the last time, because every time seems so severe and I'll be knocked out for several days.

Now I'm at the stage where my flu is starting to go away, so hopefully my body will skip the cough and just leave me at peace.

When to let go

2014-02-02T08:16:00.001-08:00

Life is full of ups and downs. We make friends, get into relationships and make choices based on our mindset at that moment. As I said in my earlier post, at that moment it was the best choice, but what if it does not work for you anymore? When do you know how to let go?

Relationships are complicated things. You might not be sure when it started, but you definitely know when it is the end. And there are different reasons for ending it. If you're lucky, you both feel it is time to put an end to it and take the proper measures: from taking each other's stuff at each other's place to divorce. But what if one does not agree or did something regretful to get this outcome? The pain and suffering caused to the 'victim' in this whole situation seems unbearable. How do you deal with something, you partly felt it coming but still came to you as a shock? Then again, there are also couples, who will still stay together for whatever reason they might have, but that's stuff for a different blog.

Before anyone is gonna ask me a whole bunch of questions, NO, nothing is going wrong in my relationship. It just so happen that I see some of my immediate friends dealing with these situations and it really makes me wonder " when should you let go?". And I hope they're not angry that I mention that it's someone I know, since that is really not my intention. Every day someone's heart is getting broken somewhere in the world. Maybe even your neighbor next door. Some think they get over it in a month by partying every day, some get over it in several months and some still cries themselves to sleep every day even though it's already over for several months. Everybody deals with it differently.

Everybody might tell you that it's not worth to grieve over it, but nobody will know the pain you're feeling. But I have to say this:" give yourself a deadline for grieving". However it's not like someone died, but the relationship died and I believe the same 5 stages are applicable:

1. denial and isolation
the first stage is where you deny that it did happen and you will want to sleep and keep yourself in your
    room thinking about all those good times you guys had together.
2. anger
in this stage, you get angry with that person like why did you do that or it's all your fault that it's now over.
    And because you know it's not rational to say it's only that person's fault, you feel angrier with yourself.
3. bargaining
Here we come up with what if's.
*If I did not go out with my girlfriends, we might not have that fight and we might still be together.*
*If I just notice those hints earlier, we might not end up like this.*
There are even people, who would give their soul to the devil to turn back the hands of time.
For this I have to say, if it's yours it's yours. I'm not saying don't fight for it, but if one of the two already
    gave up, it's no use trying to glue the pieces.
4. depression
This is the stage where you feel powerless, hopeless and the feeling that you just want to close the door
     to everyone and just have a wintersleep and hoping that at the end of it, you will be wide awake and
     everything's over. But everyday you wake up, you realize nothing changed until the next stage.
5. acceptance
The final stage is where you'll accept that it's really over. There's no lying about it. You two are not
     together anymore and if you're unlucky, the other one might already have somebody else and seemed to
     have forgotten about you. Unfortunately, not everybody reaches this stage. If you do, congratulations!!
     You made it! You've reached the light at the end of the tunnel. If you don't, just give it more time and ask
     yourself 'Why can't I accept that fact?' 'What needs to happen before I will accept this fact?'

For more about the 5 stages of mourning, please read it here.
I don't have any advise or suggestions about this topic, since I don't have that much experience with it. But from what I have, I can say this: " you'll never know if you've really let go until you see that person in the eye and it hurts no more."

Do you choose your own way or do you let others choose for you?

2014-01-25T04:48:00.001-08:00

Some believe that the course of your life is already determined, some believe you have to take matters into your own hands. However it seems as if these are two different ideas, but what if the choices you made are actually the ones you were supposed to make? Or that it does not matter which path you choose, 'cause at the end you'll reach the same end station.

I am not religious, but just a tad spiritual. There was a time in my life that I was really focused on spiritual stuff. And I don't mean the floaty stuff ; being 'you're here, but nobody's home'. I do mean that I believe that there's more between heaven and earth and somethings just can't be scientifically proven.

In the course of my spiritual journey, I even went to a course 'NLP'(Neuro Linguistic Programming). It was a very enlightening course. For me a bit pricey, but at the end worth every penny. During NLP, I've learned that everything goes the way it should have gone. I have to remind myself about this every day, since I tend to fight against destiny. Most of the things I learned are left aside, but these are the things that stayed in my head:

- if you always do what you have always done, you'll always get what you've always got
- whether you say you can or you can't, you are right
- focus on what you want, not what you don't want
- there are no bad choices. You made the right choice at the moment you had to make it, but it might not be useful anymore.

However I have these 'tools', but I have/had been in the same position as that little girl in front of the two roads: the anxiety, the fear of not knowing which one to choose and wishing that someone could just choose one for you. But deep down inside, we all know some decisions nobody can make it for you but yourself.

Yesterday I learned that one needs to be trained in decision making. It does not come naturally as we thought it should.
And I got to admit that I did not have that many chances to use that right till now.

The fear lies not on the choosing, but in not knowing the end result of that decision.
Somehow I believe I got to get through that fear and just believe that faith will bring me where I need to be.

Top 10 considerations

2014-01-22T05:02:00.001-08:00

Last week, I went to a funeral of a far cousin of some sort. I knew him since the time he came to Suriname as a teenager. In recent years we did not meet each other, so when I heard that he left this world I was shocked since he was only 26 years old.

All this time, since the lack of contact I thought going to his funeral might not do me much. How wrong was I..... And I looked around in the room, and I wondered how many of those people really knew him. Were people crying for missing him or are people crying for the fact that he died so young?

Funerals are sad places to be at, but at the same time, it's a place where your eyes will be opened to some truth of this world. A place for people to think, even if it's only for that moment or the time frame they spent there, about their life and how they'd might to spend it wiser and better. After the ceremony they probably forgot all about it, but it will stay somewhere deep inside.

At that moment, I wondered why people are spending so much of their time on others and especially when the thoughts are about envy, jealousy and hate. Wouldn't we all have a much better life if we spend those extra minutes/ hours on our loved ones and friends or on ourselves.

I read a blog today about 50 things you don't want to regret. If you're interested in what's in the top 50, please click here. It's his list and there are things I'm not agreeing with, so I made up my own list. Just 10! I've learned that you should focus on what you should do and not what you should not do, so I made up a top 10 of things to consider in the order which comes in my mind first:

1. Travel more. See the world!! There is so much to see, so many people to meet and so many cultures to experience. I haven't been to many, but I can say that every one of them have their own charm.
2. Surrounding yourself with great, inspiring people. Everybody needs to get inspired sometimes.....
3. Have me-time. Take time off for yourself. I have female friends, who are complaining that they can't since they have kids. That's why you got married, isn't it? This is something that always makes me wonder, but I will elaborate that in another post.
4. Stop procrastinating. This is one thing I should remind myself more often. Sometimes it's just easier to lie on my couch doing nothing. I'll put it as no. 3's fault.
5. Stand up for yourself. Too often I find myself in a discussion that had nothing to do with me. Partly I might come over as nosy, but on the other side, what would you do if you see someone, who clearly doesn't know how to come up for their own right?
6. Speak your mind. Others can't smell or hear your thoughts. This is one thing that avoids miscommunication.
7. I know I said no don't, but I had to put this. Don't assume! Since ASSUME means you are making an ASS out of U and ME. This happens so often and at times I also find myself in the same situation.
8. Put yourself first. It sounds so logical and yet every day people are putting others first. And we are even making excuses for others why they should come first. I love the way how author Keri Glassman put it in her book. Every airline tells you to put on your own oxygen masks first, why should you not in life?

http://jillwillrun.com/2013/01/22/the-new-you-and-improved-diet/

9. Have a hobby. Some are lucky to have their hobby as their job, but many of us are 'locked up' in a place, where we can't wait till it's time to go home. So when you're home, have something to look forward to, something you really like doing. You'll see how your days will light up.

10. Have your own top 10 things you want to do. Don't let others decide for you. I can point out these, but it might not work for you. Everybody has different preferences and needs, so maybe you're like the blog writer of the top 50 regrets and think that a threesome is a must-do. It's all good! You're the only one who knows your own desires. Paint your own path to your dream! So...what's in your top 10?

What is your definition?!

2014-01-15T18:46:00.001-08:00

In recent weeks, I saw a YouTube clip about Lizzie Velasquez. She is a lady, who is blind in her right eye and who has a very rare medical condition. Every not-skinny female will have at least one time in their life when they’d wish they could eat anything they want without gaining any weight.

Lizzie is a reason for the saying ‘be careful what you wish for’. She literally does not gain any weight no matter how many fatty, calorie bombs she devours. In her case, she never wished for this. It is a rare disorder she got from birth. The reason I write about her has nothing to do with her condition however. Why she has quite an impact on me is because of her mindset and perspectives.

How often don’t we as humans feel down, even depressed when something doesn’t go the way we want it to be. Imagine growing up with Lizzie’s condition and the history of many bullies and disgusted looks. And even then, she didn’t sulk in her sorrow, but took those negative perceptions and prejudices to her advantage and saw it as a motivation to become a more successful person. One thing that she said really made me think: “ What defines me?”

According to Cathryn Conroy, these are the 10 best qualities anyone can have:

1. Be honest

2. Be happy
3. Be respectful of others

4. Be easygoing and fun.

5. Be confident
6. Be emotionally open

7. Be disciplined
8. Take pride in yourself
9. Be compassionate
10. Have a sense of humor

For her post, please visit http://channels.isp.netscape.com/whatsnew/package.jsp?name=fte/bestqualities/bestqualities

These 10 qualities seems so logical, so natural that these are the qualities one should go after. But how extreme should you take this to heart? And how often are these qualities preferred?

The reason I mention these questions is that for a certain extent I am an honest person. Let’s just say, I give my utmost to always tell the truth. But what I’ve noticed is that not everyone is happy with that. What people say “ True words are not always pretty and pretty words are not always true”. 10 years ago, I would bluntly tell people in their face what I don’t like about them and why. But with age and experience, I learned that people prefer sugarcoated truths and take your good intentions for granted.

And then again, the questions remains:” What do I want that defines me?”

Should I stay the bluntly honest b*tch or should I sugarcoat at times to prevent making new enemies?

Lobi Libi = Loving life!!

2014-01-13T17:47:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, never thought I'd come this far, but I believe I'm starting to get the hang of blogging. But there were so many times that I wanted to write about something that was totally not food related and it didn't quite feel all right to put it in my taster's blog. Don't get me wrong, I still LOOOVE food and will keep posting those experiences, but I didn't want my other thoughts gone to waste. It's a new year and this is one of my new year's resolutions!

In this blog I will not only focus on things/issues that I encounter in my daily life (in a more general way), but also experiences or things that motivated me. It's a new year! Everyone can have anytime in their life to be depressed or feel down. Why not look for motivation to do things you like and love your life!! It's the start of 2014: anything can still happen!!

Everyday the newspaper is announcing enough bad news: politics, theft, murder and rape....enough headlines to shock your morning! I hope this blog will light up your day like a daisy after a rainstorm, a cup coffee in the cold, grey morning. And please feel free to share what motivates you or what make you love your life more!