Purple Sweet Potatoes and 'Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones'

One evening, bored at no more episode to watch on our favourite YouTube channel called Little China Everywhere, we browsed food documentaries on Netflix. The image of bright purple sweet potatoes caught my eyes.

Purple sweet potatoes are the only root vegetable I miss the most when talking about Vietnamese cuisine. Sweet potatoes are one of the staple foods in Vietnam, cooked in stew, curry and dessert soup or simply boiled as snack and for breakfast. I used to snack on boiled purple sweet potatoes with a big appetite. Whenever I saw purple sweet potatoes, I always bought them in bulk. They are rich in tons of minerals and vitamins, but only the purple ones have much more antioxidant due to their deep purple hue. Purple sweet potatoes are small in size, but abundant in flavour. Earthy, nutty, slightly sweet, grainy but silky smooth too. I hunt for those deep purple gems in South Africa too, but I never see any.

Purple sweet potatoes were my favourite snack when I lived in Vietnam. I boiled them and ate them plain, without condiments or dipping sauce. They were so super delicious that I thought I could live on them my entire life.

And then the phrase 'live to 100' piqued my curiosity. I suggested my husband that we should watch that documentary.

We were so hooked that we watched all of the four episodes in one sitting. They were entertaining, informative and fun as well.

Talking about longevity, we don't only want to live long. We want to live well and stay shape till our last breathes. Anyway, who wants to live long if one can't live well to enjoy the beauty of life?

I don't want to live long or forever, because I know I need to give space to other tenants on Earth. But once I still breathe, I crave a meaningful life. A meaningful life to me is living with dignity and humanity and care. I care by sharing with my milieus what I have learned, watched, heard and seen. Long story short! This is the documentary I highly recommend you, at https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/live-to-100-secrets-of-the-blue-zones-documentary

If you can't access Netflix, the video embedded below is for you. It provides a grief summary of Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones.

'If you’ve seen Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, you know that there are certain areas of the world — Okinawa, Japan; Ikaria, Greece; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; and Loma Linda, California — where more people live significantly longer than average. However, you don’t have to actually move to one of the blue zones to get to your hundredth birthday. 

As The Blue Zones author and educator Dan Buettner explains: The habits, diets, and lifestyles of blue zone centenarians are simple, but they have the ability to change everything.

 “I have found that most of what people think leads to a long, healthy life is misguided or just plain wrong,” says Buettner in the Live to 100 docuseries inspired by his book, pointing to our obsession with diet plans, gym memberships, and expensive supplements — aspects of life that are noticeably absent from blue zone lifestyles. As Buettner says, “The fact of the matter is that most of us are leaving good years on the table.” 

So, what are these habits? They’re as simple as opting for a mechanical gadget rather than an automatic one, as pleasurable as having a glass of wine in the evening to unwind, or as intuitive as knowing what your purpose is in life and choosing to fulfill it every single day. 

The truth is these transformations are possible and attainable. After all, as the docuseries points out, “the same things that help us live a long and healthy life are the things that make life worth living.” Take a look at the 12 patterns that emerged from the blue zones and find ways to integrate them into your life and community. 

Make movement a habit: (1) By hand, (2) Walk, (3) Garden

A positive outlook is everything: (4) Unwinding regularly, (5) Finding faith, (6) Developing a sense of purpose

Eating wisely: (7) Plant-based: 95% of the meal, (8) Wine, (9) Moderation: stop eating when their stomachs are 80% full

Connect: (10) Family first, (11) Partnership, (12) Right tribe'

After watching the series and through my observations and reading, I understand why my 89-year-old neighbour, Mrs. Ollie, is still doing well with a sharp mind. Apart from lifestyle and diets which contribute to living long, we need to  mention the fact that longevity runs on in some families. Mrs. Ollie's three sisters are still with her in their early 90. 

In this frenetic pace of living, people tend to be easily dependent on modern household devices or maids to do the chores for them, and they eventually become couch potatoes without noticing it. Then they pay for membership cards to work their muscles at the gym. That's not a good way of living, but people blame that they don't have time.

When it comes to potatoes and sweet potatoes, I wonder which one is healthier. Interestingly enough, I'm not the only one who asks that question. The answer I found out is that they are both healthy and low-fat root vegetables. However, sweet potatoes are a bit of a better option thanks to their beta carotene and vitamin A. 'Beta carotene is an antioxidant that works to protect your body’s cells from damage and diseases like cancer.'

'The best advice is to use them both.'

If you grow up in Asia, such as in Vietnam like me, you will consume more sweet potatoes. Likewise, if you grow up in Europe or South Africa, you will do more with potatoes. That isn't a surprise, but a matter of culture! We eat what we find in our environment.

To know more about the nuitrional values of potatoes and sweet potatoes, read https://health.clevelandclinic.org/white-potatoes-vs-sweet-potatoes-which-is-healthier.

Whether you choose to eat potatoes or sweet potatoes, never peel their skin. Their skin is full of goodness like vitamins and fiber. My husband and I never peel the skins of potatoes or sweet potatoes when we roast them or make soup, except when we make mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes.

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The following conversation between John Yang and Dan Buettner, broadcasted in December 2023, is worth your reading or listening. Click here if you prefer listening to the conversation.

'A lot of people do a lot of things in search of a long and healthy life, complicated diet plans, gym memberships and expensive dietary supplements. But in a four-part Netflix series called Live to 100 Secrets of the Blue Zone, Best Selling Author Dan Buettner says a lot of that is misguided.

He traveled to places he calls blue zones where more people live significantly longer than average, trying to figure out how they do it. Recently, I spoke with Buettner and asked him why he chose to start a series on longevity in a cemetery.

Dan Buettner, Executive Director, "Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones": I think it's facing the inevitable, we're all going to get frail. We're all going to die. But when we — how long we want to be on this earth, we have a lot of say in that matter. So we started at the end, and then went back from there.

John Yang: 

When you found these blue zones, where there's some themes running through all of them?

Dan Buettner:

Yes, if you want to know what 100-year-old ate to live to be 100, you have to know what she was eating as a child and middle aged and newly retired. So to get at that, we found 155 dietary surveys done in all five Blue Zones over the last 80 years. And we average them with the help of Harvard. And we found that 90 to 95 percent they're eating a whole food plant based diet, meat only about five times per month and contrary to a lot of sort of keto slash Paleo diet advice, it's mostly carbohydrates, complex carbohydrates, which I think shocks a lot of people.

When I first started writing about this, I did a cover story for National Geographic in 2005. Nobody was connecting loneliness to longevity. And I was pointing out the importance of strong social connections and social circles and turns out that's worth about seven years of extra life expectancy.

But the big revelation and you'd never hear about it because it's not saying exceed marketers can't sell you things but like an extra 10 years of life expectancy is the sum of lots of small improvements, we make in our lives mostly in our environment, applied for decades.

John Yang:

Are these blue zones in any way endangered you talk about Okinawa now having an obesity problem that family in Costa Rica with a young boy just want cereal? Are these endangered locations?

Dan Buettner:

As soon as the American food culture comes in the front door, longevity goes out the back door. And I'm giving most of these blue zones a half a generation before they completely adopt our way of life and therefore started adopting our obesity rates and diabetes and heart disease rates to tragedy actually.

John Yang:

But at the same time, he also tried to create some blue zones in Albert Lee, Minnesota and Fort Worth, Texas. What lessons did you learn from that?

Dan Buettner:

The big lesson is don't try to change your behavior you'll fail for almost all the people almost all the time in the long run. You change people's environments. In other words, you design for health. Our Blue Zone projects unleash a swarm of healthy nudges and defaults that are put in place for years. They're mostly environmental, making cities walkable policies that favor healthy food over junk food and so forth.

And setting Americans up for success, as opposed to the failure our food environment portends right now. Every city we work in, we've seen major improvements in people's health. And we've seen obesity drop, and we've seen health care cost savings in the in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

John Yang:

So it sounds like it's not just personal behavior. But it's also as you say policies making cities more walkable, designing, you know, streets and neighborhoods like that.

Dan Buettner:

I have no faith. And I don't know of any research where you can change a populations health by trying to convince individuals to change their behavior, or somehow imbue them with responsibility. We're genetically hardwired to crave fat, salt and sugar and take rest whenever we want.

So unless we set up an environment where it's easy for us to eat, basically whole food plant based, easier for us to walk than it is to drive. We're going to continue to see health care costs in the trillions as we're seeing today in America.

John Yang:

You talked also about in the series about something we've talked about on this broadcast the fact that life expectancy is becoming shorter. And a lot of it is because younger people are dying from suicides, homicides, drug overdoses and car accidents. All preventable. There's none of this as is an organic problem. Did you learn anything in your work? That would relate to that?

Dan Buettner:

The number one killer in America is our diet. We lose about 660,000 Americans prematurely to the way we eat. If we don't take aim at that, these other things are more peripheral. In Singapore, which I dubbed ouzo 2.0, individuals cannot own guns. In America, we lost 55,000 people to gun deaths last year that dragged down the life expectancy. in Singapore they lost two, where they're very tough on drugs in Singapore, I mean, if you could be put to death for selling drugs in Singapore.

But the other side of that equation, only 15 people died last year and drug overdoses, whereas we lost almost 110,000 Americans and drug overdoses last year of drug related deaths. So yes, there are lots of things on the fringes. But the big thing we need to take aim at is our diet. And until we get that squared away, the rest of the stuff is a rounding error.

John Yang:

Toward the end of the series, you see the same things that help us live a long healthy life are the things that make life worth living. Are you saying that if we concentrate on the quality of life, that the quantity of life will come?

Dan Buettner:

The concentrating on quality of life helps, but these silicone multimillionaires shooting themselves up with a young people's blood, and working out six hours a day and taking all these weird pills and genetic interventions. People in Blue Zones are living a long time because they're socializing, because they know their purpose. And they live their pure purpose. They live near nature. They keep their families close by and we can map all these to higher life expectancy.

So the big point for Blue Zones is if you adopt the Blue Zones way of life, you not only stack the deck in favor of longevity, but you can be pretty sure that journey is going to be pleasurable.

John Yang:

Did you change anything in your life based on what you learned?

Dan Buettner:

Yes, I become mostly plant based. I don't eat meat anymore. I used to be a ultra-marathon cyclist and now I do things like play pickleball and take walks because I know that favors my longevity more than hardcore physical activity.

I got very clear on my purpose. It's very hard to get me to do things that are right down to the strike laying up my values and what I'm good at and what I like to do and how I can give back. And I've also prioritize family because I know keeping your family nearby adds three or four years of life expectancy over being single and alone.

John Yang: 

The series is Live to 100 Secrets of the Blue Zones. Dan Buettner is the host and one of the executive producers. Thank you very much.

Dan Buettner: 

We'll see you when you're 100, John.

John Yang: 

It's a deal, all right.'

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'and Since We're only Here for a While/ Might as well Show Some Style'

 Waiting for my client having her hair dyed and styled at a hair and nail salon this afternoon, I paged through some magazines.  I took a book with me, but it stayed in my tote bag. I was hooked by a pile of magazines that were studded in a floor-standing magazine rack at the entrance.  A copy of The Australian Women's Weekly released in December 2023 caught my eyes.

I found the elderly lady in the article below very motivated. Myra, a 92-year-old lady, keeps herself active and respectful by singing in her community.

The lesson I learn from this lady is that whether we are young or old, we are able to give values to people around us if we do what we love, do the best we can, and care about ourselves and others. Keep active and stay connected.  And never lose interest in life.

I attach some parts of the article I took from my cellphone so that you can get a full story of this fantastic lady.

And here is the lyrics of the abovementioned song that I had not heard before. I very much enjoy the song, especially the line that says:  'And since we're only here for a while/ Might as well show some style.' 

Click on the title in blue below, and it will take you to the YouTube channel where you can listen to this meaningful song. 

Secret O'life

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time

Any fool can do it

There ain't nothing to it

Nobody knows how we got to the top of the hill

But since we're on our way down

We might as well enjoy the ride

The secret of love is in opening up your heart

It's okay to feel afraid

But don't let that stand in your way

'Cause anyone knows that love is the only road

And since we're only here for a while

Might as well show some style

Give us a smile

Isn't it a lovely ride?

Sliding down, gliding down

Try not to try too hard

It's just a lovely ride

Now the thing about time is that time isn't really real

It's just your point of view

How does it feel for you?

Einstein said he could never understand it all

Planets spinning through space

The smile upon your face

Welcome to the human race

Some kind of lovely ride

I'll be sliding down, I'll be gliding down

Try not to try too hard

It's just a lovely ride

Isn't it a lovely ride?

See me sliding down, gliding down

Try not to try too hard

It's just a lovely ride

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time

Songwriters: James Taylor

Data from:Musixmatch

As the song ends, I croon to myself: And since we're only here for a while/ Might as well show some style.' And I will teach myself what Myra wisely advised: Whatever you do, do it with style.

Myra is not an exception of senior citizens who age well and enjoy life as much as they can. My neighbour, Mrs Ollie is also an inspiration. She's going to turn 89 in June. She doesn't have many resources and support like Myra, but she always does her best, little by little, with what she has. At the age of 88, she still keeps herself active, interesting and interested. She is still behind the wheel to run errands, to go to hospital and to the nursery to buy seasonal flowers and plants for her garden. She does her own household chores, which wears her out quickly. She tends her garden. She even catches water after the bath to water the garden. She walks up and down in her cosy and colourful garden so that she will be able to sleep soundly at night. To keep herself abreast, she listens to the radio and watches TV, but she seldom watches TV. She prefers listening to the radio and let her imagination flow with the stories she listens to. She still reads books. Her eyes were sparkling when I asked her what books she read. Then she would give me a nice review of the books she read. Romance is her cup of tea; she doesn't like a hard read.

Read more about my fantastic senior neighbour and friend at https://travelmai.blogspot.com/2022/12/dear-mzansi-people.html

The shared value those two ladies offer is to keep active and interested so that we can have a lived live even when we age. Once we stay active, we practise our muscles which tend to wear out time over time. 'Use it or lose it', as people say and know!

I keep myself active by maintaining to do mountain biking with my husband twice a week when 

I'm off duty. And I keep doing some exercise like planks and squatting, which helps to boost my mobility although I'm still young, but not juicy.

Stay active and stay interested. Learn something new every day to develop yourself.

Tata for now.

Mai from Vietnam

Missing dog reunited with owner after seven years

 

Zoey, a black Labrador that went missing in 2017, has been reunited with her owner and is happily back home with her family.

Emma Visser said that she was still in shock, as she had made peace with never seeing Zoey again.

Zoey’s disappearance in 2017 left Visser devastated, unsure if Zoey had been stolen or had simply escaped.

Screenshot from Rekord website

“For seven years, there was absolutely nothing. I even stopped thinking about her,” Visser told Rekord.

Tshwane SPCA Centurion received a very scared black Labrador on January 17, who growled at staff when approached.

It took six days before staff were able to get close enough to check for a microchip, and were surprised when they found a match to a missing dog.

Finally, on Wednesday, January 24, Visser got the surprise call.

“The SPCA told me that she wouldn’t allow anyone to come close to her, she was growling and barking,” said Visser.

“When I got there she came and sat between my legs immediately, and it’s been whining and following me ever since.

She is my shadow.”

Visser said that her first reaction was disbelief and that she has still not recovered from the shock.

“When I got home, I was shaking and crying. I still can’t believe it, when I am at work I constantly think about if she is still home, if she is safe.

It is all still new to her. She has been fine with the other dogs, she has been fine with the cat. We went for a walk yesterday, I gave her a nice bath.”

Visser said that her heart breaks every time she has to leave Zoey.

“When she sees me, she just starts whining. She probably thinks I’m going to leave her again,” she said.

Visser said that she never expected that the microchip would work.

“I’ve always had my pets microchipped, and I have read stories about pets being reunited with their families, but I never thought it would be me,” she said.

“One of my previous cats went missing. I got tracker dogs, spending thousands on searching, and we found nothing. So this was the last thing I expected.”

The article on a printed Rekord copy that is delivered free to our doors every Wednesday

Tshwane SPCA Centurion urge pet owners to get their pets chipped

Guenevere Mynhardt, Tshwane SPCA Centurion operations manager, said that the staff were just as shocked to find out Zoey had been missing for so long.

“When [Visser] got here we asked to see a picture as proof of ownership of the dog, she only had pictures of Zoey as a puppy.

That’s where we heard she last saw her dog seven years ago.

The whole SPCA was shocked,” said Mynhardt.

“This story and situation made me love my job all over again. It was worth trying everything humanly possible to gain a dog’s trust for this miracle to happen.”

Mynhardt urged all pet owners to get their pets microchipped.

The SPCA gets many animals every day, with many strays turning out to belong to loving families once they can be located through their microchips.

She said that dog collars can easily be lost or taken off.

The article on a printed Rekord copy that is delivered free to our doors every Wednesday

Reference

https://www.citizen.co.za/rekord/news-headlines/2024/01/26/missing-dog-reunited-with-owner-after-seven-years/

Chú chó đoàn tụ với chủ sau bảy năm mất tích

Zoey, một con Labrador đen mất tích vào năm 2017, đã được đoàn tụ với chủ nhân của mình và hạnh phúc trở về nhà với gia đình.

Emma Visser nói rằng cô vẫn còn sốc, vì cô đã an lòng chấp nhận việc không bao giờ gặp lại Zoey nữa.

Sự biến mất của Zoey vào năm 2017 khiến Visser đau khổ vật vã, không chắc liệu Zoey đã bị đánh cắp hay chỉ đơn giản là trốn thoát.

"Trong bảy năm, không hề có tin tức gì. Tôi thậm chí ngừng nghĩ về nó", Visser nói với Rekord.

Tshwane SPCA Centurion đã nhận được một con Labrador đen rất sợ hãi vào ngày 17 tháng 1, nó gầm gừ với nhân viên khi họ đến gần nó.

Phải mất sáu ngày trước khi nhân viên có thể đến gần nó để kiểm tra vi mạch và họ rất ngạc nhiên khi tìm thấy kết quả trùng khớp với một con chó mất tích.

Cuối cùng, vào thứ Tư, ngày 24 tháng Giêng, Visser nhận được cuộc gọi bất ngờ.

"SPCA nói với tôi rằng cô ấy sẽ không cho phép bất cứ ai đến gần cô ấy, cô ấy đang gầm gừ và sủa vang," Visser nói.

"Khi tôi đến đó, cô ấy đến và ngồi giữa hai chân tôi ngay lập tức, và nó rên rỉ và đi theo tôi kể từ đó.

"Nó với tôi như hình với bóng."

Visser nói rằng phản ứng đầu tiên của cô là không tin và cô vẫn chưa hồi phục sau cú sốc.

"Khi về đến nhà, tôi run rẩy và khóc. Tôi vẫn không thể tin được, khi tôi làm việc, tôi liên tục nghĩ liệu nó có còn ở nhà không và có an toàn không.

Tất cả vẫn còn mới mẻ đối với nó. Nó đã ổn với những con chó khác, nó đã ổn với con mèo. Hôm qua chúng ta đi dạo, rồi tôi tắm cho nó."

Visser nói rằng cô rất đau lòng mỗi khi phải để Zoey ở nhà.

"Khi nó nhìn thấy tôi, nó chỉ bắt đầu rên rỉ. Có lẽ nó nghĩ rằng tôi sẽ rời bỏ nó một lần nữa", cô nói.

Visser nói rằng cô không bao giờ mong đợi rằng vi mạch sẽ hoạt động.

"Tôi luôn gắn vi mạch thú cưng của mình và tôi đã đọc những câu chuyện về thú cưng được đoàn tụ với gia đình của chúng, nhưng tôi chưa bao giờ nghĩ đó sẽ là tôi", cô nói.

"Một trong những con mèo trước đây của tôi đã mất tích. Tôi truy tìm dấu vết rất nhiều, chi hàng ngàn Rand để tìm kiếm và chúng tôi không tìm thấy gì. Vì vậy, đây là điều cuối cùng tôi mong đợi".

Tshwane SPCA chi nhánh Centurion kêu gọi chủ sở hữu vật nuôi đi gắn vi mạch cho thú cưng.

Guenevere Mynhardt, giám đốc điều hành Tshwane SPCA chi nhánh Centurion, nói rằng các nhân viên cũng bị sốc khi biết Zoey đã mất tích quá lâu.

"Khi [Visser] đến đây, chúng tôi yêu cầu xem một bức ảnh làm bằng chứng về quyền sở hữu, cô ấy chỉ có hình ảnh của Zoey khi nó là cún con.

Đó là nơi chúng tôi nghe nói lần cuối cùng cô ấy nhìn con chó mình bảy năm trước.

Toàn bộ SPCA đã bị sốc", Mynhardt nói.

"Câu chuyện và tình huống này khiến tôi một lần nữa yêu công việc của mình. Thật đáng cố gắng mọi thứ có thể một cách nhân đạo để tạo lòng tin cho một con chó để rồi phép màu này xảy ra.

Mynhardt kêu gọi tất cả các chủ sở hữu vật nuôi gắn vi mạch cho thú cưng của mình.

SPCA nhận được nhiều thú cưng mỗi ngày, nhiều con đi lạc hóa ra thuộc về các gia đình yêu thương một khi chúng có thể được định vị nhờ vi mạch.

Cô nói rằng vòng cổ chó có thể dễ dàng bị mất hoặc cởi ra.

Nothing is Impossible Till It's done

 Last week I watched the documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible on Netflix. It is so inspiring, and it leaves me in awe and contemplation at the same time.

The Nepali-born boy, Nims, broke the record of conquering the 14 peaks of the world. Among the 14 peaks, K2 is the most dangerous. More than 100 extreme mountain climbers call it a resting place. He says, 'Whether you are white or black, there is only one rule.' Listening to that, I know exactly what he will say next. Can you guess what he says next?

Nims completes, 'If you give up, you fail'. Yes. A million yes. If you give up, you fail. Remember that.

When facing hardship, he remains adamant that he may die tomorrow, but he isn't going to die today. Giving up is not in his blood.

When suffering from calamity, he questions himself: Why do I have to do this?  I do too. I think it is normal to question ourselves when things do not go well as expected and we feel like giving up. After all, we are all human beings!

I question myself too when I feel like I can’t endure pain in my mountain bike training. My heart rate skyrockets; my legs are shaking and they refuse to listen to me; I’m huffing and puffing on the way up to the hill. I think I will die! I’m doubtful about what I’m doing: Why do I have to do this? Wouldn't it be better to stay home, sink into my puff leather couch, nibble on popcorn and watch Netflix? Then I cry and feel sorry for myself. However, later on, when I can cycle up and up and up to the peak of Swartberg Pass in Prince Albert, I see that my hard work and endurance pay off. I marvel at the open and vast vista of Prince Albert mountains in gratification. I’m grateful to be on top of the mountain. I’m grateful that my husband was tough on me so that I could cycle with him and his friends, see interesting people and eye on beautiful places which neither my uni degree nor my Master’s degree could ever have provided me with.

For those who have been up to the summit of Prince Albert Pass, they surely know how challenging it is to be there, in a 4x4, let alone on a bike. Some people asked me, ‘Are you mad?’ when I told them I had cycled there. I think I’m! 

Have a look at Prince Albert Pass in the video below.

Swartberg Pass. Photo taken in 2019

Me at Teeberg, a popular rest stop for tee, in 2019. At that time, this was the highest point in Swartberg Pass that I could cycle to.
It is blanketed with snow in winter.
Tee is an Afrikaans word for tea.

To cut a long story short, it is the doing that counts. Just do it! Just do it!

When you feel like the devil of 'giving up' starting to eat you up, you just try a bit more, just a bit more. Then you will get closer to where you aim for. You are much stronger than you think!

Nothing is impossible till it’s done. The former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, also followed this mantra. He said: 'It always seems impossible until it’s done.'

If you need an activator to push you further to do the things you need to do and overcome your inertia, Alpha is the one. Check it out here https://karoo.world/alpha/

Me at the summit of Swartberg Pass in 2021.
After two years of training, I was be able to cycle to the top. It was my first time ever!
I was smiling for the photos, but in truth, my body was aching after the long and steep climb.

Cycling up to the peak is time-consuming and labour-intensive. It is not a doddle. However, once I'm on the top, I realise cycling down is a real problem. Gravity pulls me down fast. I'm descending like a rocket, without pedalling.
My husband advised me, 'If you feel you can't go on, you must stop and rest. I want you to go home in one piece. No helicopter can come here to rescue you.'
 Oh dear! I didn't stop to rest at all. Not once. I was so glad that I went home in one piece, with no broken limbs.

Here are my two cycling companions at one of the hairpin bends on the pass.
I spotted eight different kinds of Protea along the pass on the way up. I told myself I would stop on the way down to take photos of the Proteas, but I didn't because it was not easy due to the monster named Gravity. I regret missing this opportunity.

Luckily, I managed to take a photo of one species of Protea on the way up,
almost at the peak of the pass.
Please don't ask me the name of this pink Protea! ^^

P.S. 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible is a must-watch documentary for you!

Previous post: https://travelmai.blogspot.com/2023/05/a-tale-for-mothers-day-5-five-roses.html

A Tale for Mother's Day: 5 Five Roses Roses - a Perfect 5

For Mother's Day, ouma Nel received 5 Five Roses roses from her daughter's garden.

Ouma Nel told me Five Roses is her favourite rose. She was over the moon when I feasted my eyes on her Five Roses. And she watched me taking many photos of her roses, in great joy and happiness. I was not happy with the photos I attempted to take. This position was not right and that position was not right either, so I was darting around her only table in her cosy but neat and tidy room till I had the proper shots I wished for. Watching me hopping around like a Jack-in-the-box, she just smiled.

The daughter's messages are clear. You are a gorgeous mom. I love you so much.

She recalled that she had a garden full of Five Roses. Her gardener once asked her for some roses to give to his girlfriend for Valentine's Day. She generously said yes and added, 'I will cut them by myself for you.' Now when she is staying in an old age home, her daughter inherits and looks after her property with the beautiful garden. The roses she used to train and care for become a distant memory. But she always remembers her garden and her Five Roses.

Their blooms are so big and heavy for their slender stems to keep them upright. As a result, they head down like a dancing lady in red, who is bowing thanks to her umpteen audience who has given her a thundering ovation. Five Roses has a bright red hue which is darker than my blood, but brighter than my I'm Not Really A Waitress nail polish. Plus, their pleasantly sweet aroma is the icing on the cake. I can't stop breathing in the unique perfume of this rose lady.

Surprisingly, Five Roses is also a brand name of a famous South African tea brand. Five here refers to the elegant Five Roses as illustrated on the package and five tea masters who blend Five Roses tea as well.

Five Roses is showing its beauty with other flowers.

5 Five Roses roses: a perfect five!

When it comes to roses, what is your favourite rose? Classic French rose? David Austin rose? Durban July?

White Iceberg Rose in my brother-in-law's garden

Mine is Iceberg Rose. Whether they are white, pink, or burgundy, I love them all. However, the white sings to my soul best.

Iceberg rose is considered a tough cookie because it can withstand all kinds of weather - hot or cold. That's why gardeners and rose enthusiasts are nuts about it.

Note: ouma is an Afrikaans word for grandma.

Latest post: https://travelmai.blogspot.com/2023/06/nothing-is-impossible-till-its-done.html

Quy tắc 6 chiếc lọ tài chính – Phương pháp quản lý tiền bạc thông minh

Quy tắc 6 chiếc lọ được sáng tác bởi Harv Eker, tác giả của những cuốn sách về tài chính nổi tiếng như: “Làm giàu nhanh”, “Bí mật tư duy triệu phú”,… Bên cạnh đó, ông còn là người sáng lập công ty Peak Potential Trainning với chuyên ngành chính là đào tạo, trang bị các kiến thức, tư duy, giải pháp về tài chính, đầu tư.

Quy tắc 6 lọ quản lý tài chính từ khi ra đời cho đến nay đã được rất nhiều người trên thế giới ứng dụng và đạt được thành công. Theo tác giả, phương pháp bao gồm những điều cơ bản mà bất cứ cá nhân nào cũng có thể áp dụng một cách hiệu quả.

Ở phương pháp này, bạn sẽ chia nhỏ số tiền của mình thành các mức tỷ lệ khác nhau vào 6 hũ quản lý tiền bạc với các nguyên tắc và chức năng riêng biệt. Việc này sẽ hỗ trợ bạn dễ dàng quản lý tiền bạc, lập kế hoạch chi tiêu hoặc sử dụng dòng tiền một cách hợp lý mà không lãng phí.

Dựa vào quy tắc này, để quản lý tiền bạc hiệu quả, bạn hãy phân chia tiền lương của mình vào 6 chiếc lọ tài chính theo công thức dưới đây:

Ảnh chụp màn hình từ một website dạy cách quản lý tiền ở Singapore.

Lọ 1: Quỹ tự do tài chính – Financial freedom account (FFA – 10% Thu nhập)

Đây là lọ chứa khoản tiền nằm trong kế hoạch đầu tư của bạn trong nguyên tắc 6 cái lọ. Mục tiêu của nó là giúp bạn có thêm khoản thu nhập thụ động (passive income), làm tăng tổng số tiền mỗi tháng. Khi sử dụng quỹ FFA, bạn có thể đầu tư vào bất kỳ dự án nào bạn muốn như chứng khoán, gửi tiết kiệm ngân hàng, trái phiếu,…. Với lợi nhuận thu được từ việc đầu tư, bạn sẽ có thêm một khoản ngân sách dùng cho những việc cần thiết, đột xuất mà không cần đảo lộn trật tự của dòng tiền.

Lọ 2: Nhu cầu giải trí, hưởng thụ – Play account (PLAY – 10% Thu nhập)

Cơm áo gạo tiền khiến con người luôn phải lao động vất vả để cố gắng tạo ra thu nhập, phục vụ cho các nhu cầu sống cơ bản. Tuy nhiên, việc hưởng thụ và giải trí là không thể thiếu vì nó giúp bạn cảm thấy thoải mái hơn về mặt tinh thần. 10% so với tổng thu nhập là mức cần thiết cho lọ PLAY. Hãy dành thời gian để hưởng thụ sau những ngày làm việc mệt mỏi và hết mình cống hiến cho cuộc sống đủ đầy của bản thân.

Lọ 3: Tiết kiệm dài hạn – Long-term saving for spending account (LTSS – 10% Thu nhập)

Để học cách quản lý tiền tối ưu và sinh lời hiệu quả, bạn nên có cho riêng mình một quỹ tiết kiệm dài hạn. Lọ LTS trong 6 lọ tài chính cần 10% tổng số thu nhập mỗi tháng, giúp bạn thực hiện những kế hoạch dài hạn trong tương lai như mua xe, mua nhà, mua laptop,… Tiết kiệm dài hạn là cách tốt nhất để hạn chế rủi ro và đầu tư xứng đáng cho tương lai. Khi đã có một khoản tiền tiết kiệm, bạn sẽ trở nên an tâm hơn vì không chỉ giúp thực hiện được những dự định của bản thân mà còn ứng phó kịp thời với các khó khăn bất ngờ như bệnh tật, rủi ro công việc,… 

Đây là một câu chuyện truyền cảm hứng về tiết kiệm cho tương lai. Nữ triệu phú Lisa Nichols, một bà mẹ bỉm sữa từng phải nhận trợ cấp của chính phủ, đã làm việc cật lực, tăng gia, mở rộng khối lượng công việc để kiếm tiền. Bà tự cam kết với bản thân, tháng sau phải gửi tiết kiệm nhiều hơn tháng trước, cứ như vậy từ một người phụ nữ trắng tay, bà đã tiết kiệm được một khoản tiền lớn gửi ngân hàng với nội dung "Tiền đầu tư cho ước mơ". 

Lọ 4: Đầu tư giáo dục – Education account (EDU – 10% Thu nhập)

Trong 6 chiếc lọ này, lọ đầu tư giáo dục sẽ chiếm 10% trên tổng thu nhập của bạn. Lọ này được sử dụng vào việc trau dồi kiến thức cần thiết cho bản thân. Bạn có thể dùng quỹ này để đầu tư vào các khóa học tư duy, kỹ năng quan trọng như kỹ năng quản lý tài chính hoặc mua những quyển sách hay để mở rộng tầm hiểu biết. Học chưa bao giờ là thừa. Biết thêm một kỹ năng, một khía cạnh mới trong lĩnh vực bạn đang kinh doanh, theo đuổi, chẳng phải tốt hơn rất nhiều so với việc dậm chân tại chỗ.

Bên cạnh đó, bạn cũng có thể sử dụng lọ EDU trong 6 chiếc lọ để giao lưu với những người tri thức, học hỏi cách họ ứng xử, mẹo kinh doanh, hơn hết là mở rộng mối quan hệ trong nhiều lĩnh vực khác nhau. 

Theo bà Bella Rareworld, chuyên gia về chiến lược mở rộng mạng lưới thì những cuộc gặp mặt giao lưu trực tiếp chính là chìa khóa cho sự thành công của mỗi người. Khi bạn càng thành công thì càng cần tạo ra nhiều mối quan hệ hơn. Với các nhà doanh nghiệp, các tỷ phú, có thể chỉ là khi có một người mở cánh cửa cho họ và thế là họ có thể bước tới thành công. Đó là sức mạnh của việc mở rộng quan hệ hữu ích.

Lọ 5: Quỹ từ thiện – Give account (GIVE – 5% Thu nhập)

Trong cuộc sống, sẽ có không ít lần bạn bè hoặc người thân cần sự giúp đỡ. Để không đảo lộn dòng tiền của các quỹ, bạn nên trích ra 5% thu nhập để bỏ vào quỹ GIVE. Bạn có thể sử dụng số tiền đó để giúp đỡ bạn bè hoặc người thân đang gặp những vấn đề mà bạn có thể giúp được. Giúp đỡ những mảnh đời bất hạnh, làm từ thiện, ủng hộ trẻ vùng cao... là những việc làm ý nghĩa, giúp bạn sống có giá trị, có mục tiêu hơn.

Lọ 6: Chi tiêu cần thiết – Necessity account (NEC – 55% Thu nhập)

Quỹ tiền trong lọ đầu tiên sẽ chi trả cho những nhu cầu thiết yếu hàng tháng của bạn như tiền điện nước, ăn uống, mua sắm, đi lại,… Nếu cắt giảm những loại chi phí này, bạn sẽ tiết kiệm được rất nhiều tiền. Quỹ này thường chiếm 55% tổng thu nhập. Tỷ lệ này được tính toán dựa trên mức sống tiêu chuẩn của nhiều người. Dù thói quen sinh hoạt của mỗi người là khác nhau, nhưng với mức tỷ lệ này, bạn có thể điều chỉnh chi tiêu và tiết kiệm sao cho phù hợp nhất với lối sống của mình. 

Một số lưu ý để sử dụng quy tắc 6 chiếc lọ tài chính hiệu quả

Áp dụng nguyên tắc 6 chiếc lọ không chỉ giúp bạn biết cách quản lý tiền hợp lý mỗi tháng mà còn giúp bạn đầu tư có hiệu quả. Tuy nhiên, để phát huy tối đa lợi ích mà nó mang lại, hãy lưu ý một số điều cơ bản như sau:

1. Tuân thủ kỷ luật khi áp dụng nguyên tắc 6 chiếc lọ.

Khi áp dụng quy tắc 6 chiếc lọ, bạn cần tuân thủ theo những quy định đã đề ra. Ví dụ như không sử dụng tiền của lọ này làm việc khác, không phung phí tiền,… Việc này sẽ giúp bạn thực hiện đúng kế hoạch và quy tắc sẽ khó bị phá vỡ hơn. Từ đó, tài chính của bạn sẽ được quản lý an toàn và hiệu quả.

2. Tạo thói quen quản lý tiền.

Áp dụng nguyên tắc 6 cái lọ bằng cách tự tạo thói quen chia nhỏ số tiền vào 6 hũ tài chính ngay sau khi có được tổng thu nhập cá nhân mỗi tháng. Điều này giúp bạn duy trì được việc quản lý tài chính theo nguyên tắc 6 cái lọ tài chính, hạn chế sự thất thoát của dòng tiền.

3. Sử dụng dòng tiền một cách hợp lý.

Khi đã chia nhỏ số tiền vào trong 6 lọ tài chính, bạn nên chi tiêu hợp lý, không nên vung tay quá trán sẽ dễ khiến thâm hụt tiền của các lọ. Bên cạnh đó, bạn cần bổ sung nhiều hơn cho lọ tiết kiệm dài hạn vì nó sẽ mang lại nhiều lợi ích cho bạn khi có những việc khẩn cấp.

4. Tạo ra khoản thu nhập thụ động.

Tại chiếc lọ đầu tư, bạn có thể sử dụng khoản tiền đó để tạo ra thu nhập thụ động mỗi tháng, giúp bạn tăng thêm tổng thu nhập cá nhân. Đồng thời, tài chính sẽ có sự ổn định hơn. Ngoài ra, nó cũng giúp cân bằng được việc thâm hụt quỹ trong các lọ.

(Nguồn: sưu tầm từ nhiều trang mạng khác nhau. Mỗi trang mạng đều không trích nguồn từ đâu nên tôi không thể trích nguồn cho các bạn tham khảo)

5. Sống tối giản

Đây là điều tôi thêm vào. Một trong những hành động của sống tối giản của tôi là hạn chế mua sắm và tận dụng những gì hiện có để dùng cho mục đích khác. Chẳng hạn như, tôi lấy hũ mứt đã dùng hết hoặc ly nước uống họa tiết bắt mắt để chưng hoa. 

Hoa hồng vườn nhà chưng trong một ly nước uống giải khát

Nếu bạn muốn đọc chủ đề này bằng tiếng Anh, hãy nhấp vào đây. Link này cũng là link ở hình minh họa ở đầu trang.

Letter to the Mzansi People

 

Dear fellow South Africans,

We all know that South Africa has many challenges; from crime and corruption to electricity power outages and bickering politicians. Does that seem familiar wherever you live? Maybe these are all just humans behaving badly wherever they are…

You may be tired of listening to those same old stories. However, allow me to tell you the stories I have experienced living here.

White Jacaranda blooms are trying hard to stand out from the electric fence in Herbert Baker Street in Groenkloof, Pretoria
Jacaranda season in October, 2019

I have lost count of how many times we are almost driven over by reckless drivers while on our bikes. People do not stop at the stopstreets and the traffic lights as they are supposed to. People cut us off at the corner. People are on their phones while driving. My husband, Colin, goes berserk when he sees people turning the steering wheel with one hand and holding their phone with the other hand at the traffic light. When he questions why people risk their life like that, they point a dirty finger at him or their face turns red with the eyes of a hungry wolf. People in Vietnam even use their phones when they ride their scooters or motorbikes, let alone people here sitting comfortably in a 'matchbox with four wheels’. The abnormal becomes normal. It is so threatening to think about it.

Once we were waiting for our turn at the robot¹, we saw a white man waiting in his bakkie on the other side of the robot tossing his cool drink tin out of his window. My husband spoke loud enough to get his attention, asked him why he did that. He shrugged his shoulders, swung his arms in the air, and said, 'This is South Africa'. I couldn't believe what I heard. He chose to be part of the problem rather than be part of the solution. This is why South Africa is what she is now. The roadsides are scattered with rubbish like beer bottles and plastic bags. Even the rivers are filled with solid and other garbage. There’s a team of people with a lady in charge who keep cleaning the Hennops river, begging for money, but rubbish keeps coming back. The problem is too big and starts all along the river.

I see people of all races in South Africa littering and dumping when I cycle. Vietnamese people also do so. This is a shocking similarity I notice between Vietnam and South Africa. But no one dares to litter in Singapore. You know why! The law is strict and enforced, and people are respectful. They want their place to be clean and neat. In the end, whatever colour our skin is – black, brown, yellow or white, we behave more or less the same in some way.

On our cycling route to Pretoria West one day, we were stopped by police patrol officers. They warned us not to go further that way because the tsotsis² were still there hiding in the bush and waiting for cyclists like us. We were thankful for their warning and care and took another route which was safer. I must say we have been very lucky not to be stabbed or held at gun-point and robbed of our bikes and mobile phones up till now, so I do not have a chance to showcase my Vovinam (a Vietnamese martial art style with high-kicking techniques) yet. Once I kick, I kick so hard their mama in the grave will hear them screaming.

Vovinam, a Vietnamese martial art style with high-kicking techniques
Photo credit to AFP/Hoang Dinh Nam

On my rides to every nook and cranny of South Africa, I see private homes and residential areas isolated by big and tall walls with layers of razor fencing, surveillance cameras and guard booths. However, the incidents of break-ins are still as numerous as the piles of rubbish I see on the roads every day. Imagine how much money is spent to secure ourselves, I can only cry. With that money, people can invest in their children’s education or even pamper themselves with exotic holiday tours to Vietnam or Thailand — things they enjoy rather than forget.

That said, I still witness beautifully inspiring stories which keep me going.

My 87-year-old neighbour, Mrs Ollie, is an example. She has been so gracious to me. She loves having me over for tea, for which she will dress smartly, do her hair, and paint her nails. Whenever I visit her for tea, we chat about her flowers, her youth, she wonders what the future of South Africa will be. She won’t be here to see the changes – the so-called positive changes she so hopes for. She never complains but does the best she can. She lives on a pension, so she implements a very strict frugal life. She does the household chores herself, room by room because the house is large. When her two big JoJo water tanks that catch rainwater run dry, she watches her plants and flowers wither and desperately waits for the rain. She manages not to spend money as much as she can. Her money is meagre, but her Ubuntu³ spirit knows no bound. She makes sandwiches with peanut butter for the ‘trolley boy’⁴ every Wednesday. She told me that there are so many people who are in need, but she is able to help one person. She dresses smartly whenever she goes out for groceries, no matter if the clothes were bought many years ago. At the age of 87, her mind is still sharp thanks to her avid reading, listening to the radio and tending her garden. What intrigues me is that she still wears high heels whenever she goes out in her little white car. She loves high heels which must have a pointed nose. ‘I’m confident and feel good when I wear high heels’, she winks at me. She is a heroine for me, and my model for aging yet still looking good. Charlize Theron who now may forget how Mieliepap tastes, is not mine, for sure.

The trolley is more than half full after the trolley boy spends an hour from bin to bin digging and looking for recyclable items, in my neighbourhood.

On one occasion, on one of our normal cycling routes, close to where one of the interminable sinkholes appeared, where a row of lampposts was knocked down for copper wire, and a grove of big old gum trees⁵ was chopped down, we saw an elderly man picking up garbage along the roadside and on the grass verge. We stopped to chat, as we often do when we see people along our path. Colin said that it was unusual to see people picking up garbage rather than tossing it down. He said his friends and he had planted these saplings along the road — pointing to a row of young wild olive trees — and they were trying to beautify the area. He said that people litter less if an area is clean and neat, while once there is some litter it seems to encourage people to litter. He is right, of course. It is similar to the ‘New York broken window campaign’. Before we left him, he pointed out the row of young wild olive trees, saying they replace the high-water-use gum trees. He said he does what he can to keep his community clean and green. It is unhelpful to sit and moan and groan about a broken South Africa, he stated, if we do nothing.

Mrs Ollie and me on her 87th birthday

I still have a lot of stories – good, bad and even ugly – to tell you. But I should stop here with a sweet note.

For those who leave South Africa for what they imagine is a better life, they leave with sorrow, chanting, ‘I cry for you, my beloved South Africa!’. I wish you luck and peace wherever you find yourself.

For those who choose to stay, let us stay to make South Africa a better place. Stay for a purpose bigger than yourself. We can each make a positive difference by doing the right things and getting things done properly. The future of South Africa is in our hands — in our behaviours.

We must keep pushing and make a change for our beautiful South Africa. To do so, we need a recipe, and I suggest that the Alpha Programme is such a way!

So, I would like to invite you to receive the Alpha Weekly Note.

A screenshot of Alpha Weekly Note Subscription on the Karoo website

You can subscribe here.

There is never a better time than now!

Mai, the Vietnamese girl who calls South Africa home

Notes for those who are non-South-African:

Mzansi: an informal name for South Africa

1. Tsotsi is a South African English word for a young black gangster (pronounced as /ˈtsɔtsi/).

2. Robot means traffic light in South Africa

3. Ubuntu is an African word which means humanity to others. It is translated as ‘I am what I am because of who we all are'.

4. Trolley boy is an informal word for a waste picker. To my modest observations, waste pickers in South Africa are from other African countries like Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Malawi. They are all male and young. I have seen very few female waste pickers. If I see them, they always have a child with them.  Unlike South Africa, waste pickers in Vietnam are the disabled and elderly who are refused to be employed and are too old to work, respectively.

5. Gum tree is known as eucalyptus tree in South Africa and Australia. Gum trees were imported to South Africa from Australia around 1870.

Related posts about South Africa:

https://travelmai.blogspot.com/2023/06/nothing-is-impossible-till-its-done.html

https://travelmai.blogspot.com/2023/05/a-tale-for-mothers-day-5-five-roses.html