Quick Breakfast Bowl

Wow, it's been a long while since the last time I posted a recipe on this blog. The truth is, I haven't planned on doing it anymore, but this week I was somewhat beat and haven't had the time to come up with more well-thought-out content. So here you go! I actually posted about this breakfast—although in a less aesthetically pleasing way—on my Instagram story on Tuesday. One of my uni friends commented that she thought it looked really good, despite the fact that I thought it didn't look appealing at all. (Half-)jokingly, she asked for the recipe, although I'm not sure anyone would really need one, since it's really exceedingly quick and simple—plus, highly customisable. It has, in fact, been my go-to breakfast menu lately when I'm feeling lazy or rushed or have nothing else on hand. Also, I'd like to say that this recipe is vegan. You can obviously substitute some of the ingredients with non-vegan ones, but I prefer the vegan version. Without further ado, enjoy!

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp. oatmeal
• 6 tbsp. soy milk
• 1 tbsp. peanut butter
• 1 tsp. basil seeds
• 1/2 large avocado
• leftover mangoes (optional)

1. Put the oatmeal in a bowl, add in basil seeds and soy milk and mix well
2. Pop the bowl in the microwave and heat it up for approx. 1 minute
3. Take out the bowl, add in peanut butter and mix well
4. Add avocado and mangoes on top
5. Serve while it's warm!

Tips: You can use any kind of milk you like—soy milk is a personal favourite. Basil seeds are much easier to find in Indonesia, but if chia or flax seeds—or any others—are easier to source locally for you, feel free to substitute them. Basil seeds don't have to be soaked beforehand, once they are mixed, they expand quickly. The avocado I had on hand are of the super variety—significantly bigger than regular avocados—so half is more than sufficient. I also happen to have leftover mangoes on hand, but feel free to omit or substitute it with other fruits—I usually use grapes, persimmon or strawberries. My soy milk is stored in the fridge, so it's pretty cold when I just take it out. That's why I heat it up in the microwave—unfortunately, I'm not sure about the temperature of my oven—but feel free to skip this part if you prefer it a bit chilly.  Lass es euch schmecken!

Playing Mum

It feels like it's been forever since the last time I updated you on what's been going on in my life. Well, it's mainly because things have been rather hectic lately. There's the midterm, which is going on this week and the next—and I avoided for the whole day yesterday. There's the internship hunting, which is a requirement for my next semester—and I can't wait! That's pretty much it, but they entail a great deal of details that needs to be taken care of. For starters, in order to apply for internships, I need to reorganise my portfolio and edit my CV. However, I do get a bit of down time this weekend—hence being able to run away from my responsibilities yesterday. Something else that happened quite recently is that I'm pretty much home alone—with my housemaid—as the rest of my family is now out of town for my Stepbro's wedding. A bit bummed that I don't get to join them, but my elation at being free at home overshadows it. My plans this weekend, by the way, include waste sorting, going to the waste bank, grocery shopping, have my shoes repaired and, obviously, finish my midterm assignment—it's due on Monday! 

Old dress (worn as top) // hand-me-down blazer + pants + purse // MKS shoes // Sadhu earrings (giveaway!)

A few things about today's outfit, if I may. First of all, this blazer was stolen from my Stepmom's wardrobe—although I think it must've belonged to my late mother. It looks so gorgeous that I just had to have it. Also, wearing it makes me feel so much like my Mum—she used to wear blazers like this all the time. It's so lucky that this one is plaid too, which was so in earlier this year! Second of all, can we please talk about these gorgeous statement earrings? They are a pair I won from Sadhu's giveaway last Halloween. I've been so in love with their products for a while, so it felt literally like a dream come true to have won them. I've never worn dangly earrings before, so it felt very ticklish when I first try them on—and I couldn't stop moving my head around to jiggle them. They are made mainly in Bali—with the base made in Japan—by repurposing clam shells from clam farms and rattan. They didn't sponsor me, but they might as well have, because I absolutely love them! They're also ethical, so make sure you check them out.

Fun fact: there's a guy sleeping under the tree behind me and I deliberately tried hiding him, but he can be spotted in one of these photos. Can you see him?

Mix It Up a Notch: Scarlet Light Coat

Remix posts are outdated, aren't they? I feel like no one does them anymore—and not many people actually enjoy them. However, I like compiling ways I've styled a certain clothing piece in my wardrobe. It's helped me keep track of the items I've worn one too many times and those that I've let sit idle. Also, I'd like to be able to show that even the least versatile pieces can be worn several different ways and that not all of them has to be brand new—in fact, some of the best pieces I own are either thrifted or hand-me-downs. This item, for instance, is an example. This jacket or light coat or blazer—not sure what it is anymore—was found in my wardrobe around the time I came back home. I believe it used to belong to my late mother. Actually, I think it's just an oversized shirt—though I've never worn it as such. Made from a light, suede-like, wrinkle-free material, it makes for the perfect jacket on a slightly chilly day. It gives a formality and slightly preppy touch to an outfit. Apparently, I really love pairing it with dresses and skirts. Which one's your favourite look?

As Red as Blood, As Black as Ebony

Happy All-Hallows-Eve, everyone! Have you celebrated your Halloween on the weekend yet or are you still excited to do something special tonight? Being smack dab in the middle of the week—on hump day, no less—Halloween this year isn't too exciting for me. I mean, that's okay too, since I've been kept busy with various other things lately, so Halloween has been shoved to the back of my mind. This costume, for instance, is obviously a lazy costume. Unless it's not yet so obvious, this is a modern—and low budget, as well as hasty—take on Snow White, particularly the Disney animated version. She's actually my least favourite Disney princess, but her outfit is the easiest to recreate for me. As a Grimm Brothers' fairy tale, though, it's kind of interesting—fun fact: did you know that there were various drafts on the famous mirror-on-the-wall chant before the brothers came up with the famous one we know now? Also, these photos were taken with the brand new tripod—courtesy of my best friends—in the vacant field next to my house. It's quite unkempt and filled with creepy crawlies, so I wouldn't recommend you repeat what I've done here—especially in the last photo.

Borrowed sis's top // old skirt + shoes // Sejauh Mata Memandang scarf // Oh My Bows (closed!) hair bow

How have you spent your Halloween? Or, if you haven't celebrated it yet, what do you plan on doing today? Personally, I tend to just hang out at home. I'm very boring, when it comes to Halloween, actually. But, if you're boring—and a whimp—like me, I've got a few non-terrifying recommendations for you. Maybe you like reading spooky books on this special occasion. Here are some titles I could recommend to you. If you're looking for something easily found online, I'd recommend reading some webcomics, such as The Outer Door, The Boy Who Fell or Blindsprings. But, if you prefer to passively consume your entertainment—a.k.a. watching something—I'm afraid I don't have newly released recommendations for you. I would, however, recommend classics, such as Beetlejuice, Stardust, A Series of Unfortunate Events—Jim Carrey version, mind you—and Tale of Tales. Such entertainment that even a scaredy cat—such as myself—would be able to enjoy. If you have any more recommendations of movies to watch or book to read this Halloween, please leave them in the comment!

P.S: Totally had to photoshop that apple, so it would look red—as we only have green ones at home (lol)

How Come We Never Talk About Money

A week ago, as you may know, was my birthday. Aside from the exhibitions I visited with my sister, something interesting happened later that night. While my friend Maya wished me a happy birthday, she expressed her desire to see my 30 Before 30 list. That got us talking about long-term goals and personal finances. Maya is probably the most organised friend I've ever had; she almost always plans ahead and knows what she wants. Her finances are no different. It was really eye-opening and liberating to be discussing such substantial topics with someone. And I realised that I've never really talked about these things with most of my friends. In fact, it seems to be a really heavy and difficult topic to bring up. But why? Why don't we talk about money with each other more often?

Okay, this is my personal reason why: I feel financially inept among my peers. As a 26-year-old who still goes to uni, barely working as a freelancer and never having had any experience with tax, it's hard not to feel inferior amidst most of my friends. People my age usually already graduate with a Bachelor's degree—or even Master's—and work a steady 9-to-5 job, which allows them to have a certain standard of living. They usually don't have to think twice before eating out, maybe even have some extra cash for luxuries, such as clothes or movies. What to them is chump change may actually make a difference in my life. They may never have to weigh whether to pay off their credit card or buy toiletries.

However, whenever I do talk about personal finances with other people, I am almost always exposed to new information and knowledge on the topic. It shows me an entirely different perspective on how to manage our wealth—how little it may be—and what monetary obligations we may have as a law-abiding citizen.

For some reason, though, most of us really just keep to ourselves when it comes to money. Whenever we are low on cash, we dismiss our friends' invitation to go out—even though they may have a zero-expense solution to our quality time together. Whenever we are desperate for money, we work like crazy—not believing that someone else would be able to help us manage it better instead. When we are blessed with excessive wealth, we often stay silent about our savings—without realising that our friends may need tips on how to start theirs. Why is it, when it comes to money, we don't realise that there is strength in number? Why do we think that money is something so utterly unsuitable for discussion that we just refrain from touching the subject altogether? Doesn't it help us a lot more if we make a habit of discussing our finances?

Case in point, a few days ago, I was suddenly faced with the single most painful part of adulthood: taxes. This whole time, I didn't know that, even though my income isn't quite enough to require me to pay taxes, I'd still have to apply for a tax ID. In fact, it's a requirement that we do it when we hit 19 years of age. If it wasn't for a client's inquiries, I would've lived my life completely oblivious to this fact—possibly kicking me in the rear later in debt and fines. The thing is, most of my friends are already part of the workforce. They're already paying taxes and, obviously, own a tax ID.  Now, imagine if we regularly discuss finances, imagine if it's such a natural topic among our peers, don't you think the tax ID conundrum would have been casually brought up at some point? Wouldn't that save us from the painful consequence of having to pay fines—or, worse, owe millions to the government?

Of course, we could argue that we don't know what we're doing with our finances—let alone taxes—that we're embarrassed to share or feel that we've got nothing to share anyway. Sure, that makes sense. But none of us knows what we're doing. We're all slowly turning into adults, but our environment forces us to grow at lightning speed. Who knows? What you know and what your friends know may vary greatly. You may learn something different, something you've never thought of before—and your friends may too. By sharing, we actually have a fighting chance.

Do you talk about money with your friends? If not, why not?