Friday, September 30, 2022

Spending A Week In Sacramento

SECOND WEEK... oh, it was not even the second week.  I arrived to San Jose on Tuesday and I was whisked off to Sacramento on Saturday.  LOL....

My sister came to fetch me during the weekend and I stayed with her for one whole week.  It was a time of sibling bonding and a time to catch up with food plus pampering too!  That was the best part!

The pandemic has taken a toll on the livelihood everywhere and that includes this saloon.  Even my sister had not come to this place for some time but to her surprise, she was still remembered by her name once she walked in.  I doubt they remember me though... LOL... .

Me Time....
Getting my legs pampered... massaged and all... 
$25 excluding tips... 
Thanks to her, I was relaxed for an whole hour!
But I also did my share of cooking too while I was there....
At least I have one faithful patron who likes my dishes... LOL....
And in return, he prepared French toast with hot maple syrup for me!
We ate out too especially during lunch time....
Korean noodles... 
I could finished this one big bowl by myself.... 
And on one particular day, I had lunch at my Filipino friend's house...
Filipino dish with homemade mango salsa!


Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Sifu Wong Kitchen At Sunnyvale

ASIANS GO ASIAN food.... and there is this new restaurant opened less than a year ago and business is blooming...

Sifu Wong Kitchen is the name and it is located in Sunnyvale, opened by a famous chef known as PAPA WONG who studied culinary art in Hong Kong.  Naturally one of the famous food item is Dim Sum besides other Chinese dishes.  This restaurant is just beside Ramada Hotel and it is best to call up for reservation.  We did not so we had to wait for more than fifteen minutes before we were seated.  

It was a hot and sunny day and we were seated outside the restaurant with awning and ventilation.  But that did not help, I was still feeling warm and so I did not enjoy the food as much I wanted to.... 

The sunshine seeping through the transparent awning... 
and these are the food we ordered.... 
Braised noodles as well....
Yellow noodles with seafood...
Big bowl of porridge...
Their Siew Mai was enormously big...
Glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaf....
Beef balls...
And the Asians.... 
oopsss.. and one white who loves dim sum as well!


Sunday, September 25, 2022

My Ways Of Beating Inflation

Money can be difficult to get right, and most of us start thinking about our finances at this time of year since Christmas is coming up. If you’re forever running out of money especially with the Covid-19 pandemic looming over our heads, unsecured jobs opportunities and surviving day by day till payday, this is the time that we need to think carefully on daily survival.  I am a retiree with a minimum pension to bide me by.  Even though my kids are all grown up and not dependent on me, I am still very frugal in whatever I spend on, as the saying goes, saving on rainy days ahead.... 

I have thought of getting a remortgage on the house I am living in right now.  Due to the inflation, some banks are charging a slightly lower interest rate and it might be a good time to get some cash to tide things over and at the same time, making sure that the monthly instalments will not "bite" into my flesh, literally speaking.  To calculate the currency rate and interest, I would recommend this Savings Calculator website, using the US dollar as the default currency symbol.  Other than the US currency, this calculator website also allows different compounding frequencies and a feature which allows you to create growth table of savings over time.



Talking about finance and budgeting ourselves, it doesn’t matter how much money you’re bringing in, if it’s not being managed properly then you’re always going to end up falling behind. You need to work out exactly what comes in each month and what goes out, and have a system so that your bills are always being paid on time. One method that works well is to find out what your monthly outgoings are, and then divide that by four. Then each week you can transfer that amount to a separate bills account, and have everything come out of that account by direct debit. That way you pay the same amount each week (so don’t have some weeks where you’re struggling) and you don’t even need to make any phonecalls or go online to pay anything. 

Make sure there’s some extra money in there at first as a buffer, and then every time you get paid, you only need to make one transfer. You can then buy groceries and cover things like fuel or travel costs with what’s left, and the rest is yours to save or spend. It really streamlines bill paying and takes out the guesswork. With all of your bills and outgoings being taken from a bank account separate from your main account, you never accidentally spend onto it. Once the money has been transferred it’s essentially ‘out of your hands’ which can make budgeting much easier and finances will be pretty well planned out for future retirement.

One place that most of us overspend is on groceries, well, I am certainly one of them. I hit the grocery store and pick up whatever I fancy, and give in to all of the marketing ploys which are designed to make me part with my money. This can lead to a poor diet, running out of things we need midweek and wasting other items. It pays to get organized, and the first way to do this is to create a weekly meal plan.

Another way for me to be frugal is to stop overspending are the monthly subscriptions such as music, Amazon Prime, Netflix, fashion magazines and more.  Well, I think I will keep at least one of the movies channels, after all, I need to take time off to relax, right?  It’s easy to overlook these as by themselves they don’t cost much, but they do add up.  When I am in a good financial position later on in life3, I can always resubscribe later and meanwhile I won't be wasting my money on paying for these extra subscription plans.

These are a few of my suggestions of budgeting myself, after all I don’t need to wait until the new year to start getting my finances in order. Give these things a try today!



Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Swimming Lessons For Baby

FINAL LESSON FOR THE MONTH... and he is actually no more a baby....

He is now 17 months going on 18.... It has been six months since I last carried him in my arms... and now he is getting a bit too big and heavy for me to carry!

Weather was extremely hot when I landed here in San Jose, the sun was scorching hot and dry especially during the noon.  Air con has to be switched on the whole afternoon and fan during the night.  

But hot or not, Baby Isa still need to finish his last swimming lesson before they close for the fall season.  No, he did not learn anything at all, I was told... it was just an half hour playtime in the water.  He did not like the lessons in fact, and he must be relieved that it is now over.... 

Arriving at the pool....
The kids in the pool accompanied with one parent....
In this case, my son was in with his son.... 
Sing song time in the pool... 
Old Macdonald had a farm.....
While I waited for the half hour.... I walked around...
Parents waiting patiently.... like I did...
Oh, off the topic.... I learn something new here...
Boiling red beans soup and adding in a fresh orange in...
Tried that before?
Yes, indeed it tastes good with this addition!

Thursday, September 1, 2022

Back To San Jose

FLY, ROBIN, FLY.... But I am no Robin bird.....

It was exactly one year since I departed for US and one year later on the 29 August, I was at the Penang International airport again....

Thumbs up for the smooth check in at the counter....
Thank you SIA for flying me to Singapore..... 
Stayed a night at Aerotel at Terminal 1....
Waiting to board the next morning...
Watched a few movies on the 15 hours flight....
Listened to some soft music to relax....
Was served two main meals on board....
Walked up and down to the cabin for snacks...
And the 15 hours was passed pretty quick....
Reached SF airport at 10am in the morning...
No Long queues at the immigration...
And in less than an hour, everything was done...
And I am safely back here in San Jose
Thank God for journey mercies!

Don't Let Debts Get You Down

At some point in our lives we will all experience anxiety regarding our financial security, in fact, it is a normal part of adult life as we have so many responsibilities resting on our performance at work. We are not born with the knowledge we need to successfully manage our finances; it is something we learn or have to teach ourselves, and if we do not, we can end up in debt. 

Many people believe that debt is inescapable, so they resign themselves to a life of serial borrowing and worry once they’re in that situation. However, there is a lot you can do to get yourself back on the straight and narrow, and once you’ve done so you’ll have the tools to make sure you never find yourself into that situation again. 

Income
One of the most important things you need to do is take a serious look at your income sources and decide whether or not there is anything you can do to increase them. Is it time to find the confidence for a change of career to make the most of your skills, or consider whether or not it would be fair to ask your current employers to review your salary taking into account your achievements and loyalty? Furthermore, is there anything you could be doing outside of work to earn a little extra income? 

Do you have any valuable belongings that you never use, that you could sell online? Do you have skills that you could sell on a freelance basis, for example teaching or advising others? If you’re feeling really adventurous, could you start your own business so that the money you make from your work goes directly to you rather than your employers taking a cut? 

Outgoings and Savings
As well as trying to top up your income, you need to cut down on your spending. First of all, make a thorough list of all your regular outgoing expenses and separate what you can and could not survive without. It might be time to put an end to any luxuries like music streaming or magazine subscriptions. Secondly, try to re-negotiate some of your regular expenses such as utility bills; could swapping to another provider also help you to save money

Once you have a firm idea of what needs to go out every month, create a spending budget which incorporates transferring a certain amount into a savings account. Knowing you have a buffer to fall back on will give you great peace of mind as well as helping to keep you afloat in difficult times. If you do come into possession of any unexpected lump sums of money, put them towards to your debts. This may not sound exciting but eventually being debt free will be a huge weight off your shoulders and will leave you with more to spend on yourself.

Manage Your Debts
Lastly, you need to take control of any debt you are in and minimize the threat you are under wherever possible. There are plenty of money advice services which can help you to tackle this as well as companies who can consolidate all of your debt into one monthly payment and at the same time you can get a cash advance with poor credit.  Knowing that your debts are under control and that no one will be knocking on your door asking for repayments is worth the fee they charge, plus it’s how to go from bad credit to good credit and begin re-building a reputation as a good investment. Something a lot of people do is try to hide the difficulties they’re having from their lenders, but letting them know can lead to them helping you with new, more affordable payment plans. 



Once you’ve upped your income, cut your spending to allow for saving, and taken control of your debts you will feel much happier about your financial situation, and you will be able to envision a future that’s debt free. Any money you earn from then onwards will be available for you to finally spend on yourself. When it comes to clearing debtmoney really does buy happiness.



Lunar New Year 2024 Before And After

TODAY IS THE SIXTH DAY OF LUNAR NEW YEAR.... And this is the day when I am now free to blog a few lines to activate back my blog after a lon...