"The barefoot investor"

I picked up a copy of The Barefoot Investor from a local library.

If you are looking for in depth investment strategies, this is not your book. But it is a really good book for finance 101 in layman's language. It covers the fundamentals like, financial goals, inflation, debts, compound interest, asset classes...etc. In my opinion, all schools should include financial education. I always think it's ironic that schools are suppose to prepare you for life - University, getting a job, ultimately becoming "rich"...but they don't think to educate kids about money and what to do with it. The book might not have taught me anything new about money but it raises a few good questions, time for a reality check!

- My financial goal is to earn as much as possible. But why?
- Does a big pay check means that you are wealthy?
- Are millionaires the happiest people on earth?
...etc.

"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very very pissed off."

- Tyler Durden from Flight Club (played by Brad Pitt)

Luxury cream tea for two

I am a Devonian, I spread on the cream (clotted cream is essential!) first then the red jam. Apparently this allows the cream to soak into the half scone. Aren't we a clever bunch.
(In case you were wondering, the Cornish style is to spread the jam first then cream. At this point, Dan saids "Just turn the scone upside down then...")

The other day we found this lovely little cafe just opposite the big Tesco in Hove. Mind you, its windows are quite dark and hard to look inside, if you are focused on the big supermarket its easy to miss the cafe. Now everyone knows that its a silly thing to do, going to a supermarket on an empty stomach. So I salute the cafe owners for picking the best location for their cakes heaven. There were easily ten different cakes to choose from (around £3 a piece) and many more cup cakes lying about. We saw a tag on top of the scones saying "Cream tea for two with a pot of tea £4.50". When the waitress came back with four warm scones, a honey pot of homemade strawberry jam, a generous cup of clotted cream and a pot of English tea, we thought "Bargain!" but of course, it turned out that the price was per head.

Another "feature" is their collection of vintage cups, saucers butter knifes with fainted yellow colour handles.


Location: Church Road, Opposite the big Tesco in Hove.

The best Nasi Lemak in Brighton

There seems to be an unlimited supply of takeaway restaurants, new menus are dropped into our post box every day. I always write little comments on takeaway menus, its an efficient way to remember the good ones. Last week, the new kid in the box was a self claimed authentic Indonesian restaurant Warung Tujuh. Now this is very exciting as there's no other Indonesian restaurants in Brighton. Studying the menu, you'll find that they actually do a mixture of Indonesian, Malaysian and Balinese cuisine.

They don't currently do home deliveries. So we made a trip to the centrally located newly refurbished venue. The first thing we noticed is their shiny clean cutleries, "its a good sign." Dan was impressed. The drinks menu though could be improved by adding some authentic teas, coffee and fresh coconut juice(?)..etc.

The Nasi Lemak (£10.95) caught my eyes. (Its regarded as the national heritage of Malaysia so if you haven't tried it, should definitely give it a go.) The last time I had it was 2yrs ago in Sydney China town at a Malaysian restaurant that does all sorts of roti canai! The verdict? The little salted fishes and peanuts were impressive, the satay sauce was just what it should be. But the salad has been westernised, it would be better with some leafy greens. The rendang daging was a bit tough. Its a good effort overall.

The other main dish we ordered was the Ikan Bumbu Bali (£8.95). It is a Balinese pan fried Sea Bream with a red hot sauce. Personally I'm not a big fan of slapping sauces on fishes. The taste of a fresh fish is so divine no other sauces should be required to disguise it! Anyway, the verdict? The Sea Bream was really fresh and nicely cooked (not over cooked making the meat tough). The sauce tasted homely with lemon grass and ginger. The dish tasted better than it looked!

Dan's wine suggestions for this style of cuisine: A Pinot Gris or a Sylvaner from the producer Hugel. The wines from Alsace are fresh, floral and complement the spices and herbs typical of these dishes. 

The restaurant have a 20% off promotion on at the moment. No home delivery yet though.

Address: Warung Tujuh, 7 Pool Valley, Brighton, BN1 1NJ