The Veneer of Small Talk

The opening paragraph of a short story published last year in The Atlantic on September 21, 2021, tickled me to no end. So I continued reading Sanjena Sathian's 'The Missing Limousine'. I haven't read the author's debut novel 'Gold Diggers' (2021), which has already landed a television deal with Mindy Kaling. 

Working in her brother's beauty salon as a nail technician and eyebrow threader, the protagonist Avanti is deemed competent but weird by her customers on Yelp reviews. So the brother and his girlfriend suggested that she watch The Bachelor, a show which everyone watches, and it would help her with conversation topics, or at least show her what a 'normal' world is. She resigned herself to doing it, and even took notes.

Watching The BACHELOR was supposed to make life easier. I started getting into it a year or so after I began working at my brother’s salon. I had a regular stable of clients, but none was particularly in love with me. The problem was not my skill—I am talented at hair removal and competent at mani-pedis. The problem was our Yelp reviews, which said things like “Good eyebrow threading but that one girl makes you keep your eyes open for a whole minute before she starts and the way she stares makes you think she’s trying to suck your soul out.” Which I thought was dramatic.

Avanti had a success story with an old high school classmate who didn't recognize her, of course. But the session went well with them conversing about the reality show. Then she met Harry Chettiar whose "parents are from Singapore, like David’s; his mother is Chinese and his father is Tamilian and his real name was Hari, but he’d changed the spelling." However, she was more interested in watching the show at his home that having any other real conversation topics or building a relationship with him. 

Then Avanti got sucked up into the show that she started to sound a little obsessed when talking to her customers. She watched the premiere of a new season, and was annoyed about the 'missing limousine'. She swore she read somewhere that there would be five Asian contestants this season, but they never appeared in the show. She was on a hunt for said 'missing limousine' of five Asian women. When she mentioned this to the customers, they accused her of being existential and bringing too heavy topics to their salon experience. LOL

It was hilarious. I can't quite understand these reality shows. They're not my kind of show at all. But I guess there're many viewers who're into it. They know every contestant, every rose given and what not. Avanti watched the show with Harry on Monday nights while they have sex. By the end of the story, I was laughing so hard that I couldn't actually read the final few lines. This story is of course not about a reality show or limousines, or the protagonist sending in an audition tape to 'The Bachelor'. This is a fairly witty story that has very nuanced writing which flagged so many social themes, dating in the world today, and what it means to be Indian and American. 

After that night, after the tabloids declared that David was hot for the host, after the host sued them, after some of the bloggers finally started to note that there had been a sixth limousine that never showed, and wondered if David P. Li was self-hating and canceled the Asian contestants so he could successfully assimilate into white American society … after all that, David P. Li vanished.  People said he got plastic surgery in Korea.

People said he moved to a part of the world where no one had seen the vampire movies or his blockbuster or The Bachelor or Ellen. People said he’d been kidnapped and killed by a crazy fan; people said all kinds of things about crazy fans. People said he’d always been shallow; hadn’t anyone noticed? There were the Bermuda Triangle theories. There was the suicide cover-up hypothesis.

I don’t talk to people about my theories, because I don’t want to be accused of being existential. I now discuss only the properties of hair follicles and clogged pores with customers; these topics cause people to believe I am a salon savant uninterested in chitchat. My Yelp reviews are adequate. All talk is small.

🇺🇦🔷🌕🌻

The front page of NYT Digital on Saturday February 27, 2022. 

We have a nice pandemic resolutely going on, determined to outstay its welcome. We have civil war in Syria, and the Taliban back in the government in Afghanistan. There're simmering tensions all over the Middle East. Then we have Myanmar. Now, we have a 'superpower' forgoing 'talks' and invaded another sovereign state to lay claim to its historical lands, and eventually to rebuild Soviet Russia. The propaganda machine is strong. Are we back to pre-1991's political waltz and a precarious balance of power among each country's military? Is this the start of World War III? 

It is shocking. This is 2022, and old-school wars are back in fashion. Some would say that the lines are still holding because biological and nuclear weapons haven't been used. WTF. Watching the news feeds, and hearing the information filtering out of Ukraine, I felt a deep sense of sadness and anger. I cried at the images of the injured pets, and bewildered and frightened cats and dogs sheltering underground with their humans. This is not how a city should go down. My emotions aren't exactly directed at Russians per se. I'm inclined to think that a good bunch of Russians don't want this war against humanity. It's the civilians who suffer. These emotions are directed at her demented leader, misguided army generals and unthinking soldiers. 

Which sane leader in the world would do this? He's also sitting on a stockpile of nuclear weapons that could level America. I have no doubt he will use them. He has nothing to lose. Sanctions aren't going to work at this point. Russia is literally self-sufficient; by annexing Ukraine, and maybe another country (Poland and Moldova are looking perilous. Not Belarus since it's allied with Russia.) would make it totally immune to global sanctions. This incumbent leader will make half the country starve to get what he wants.

What's the whole point of politics, diplomacy, global economics, shared partnerships and whatever? Dictators versus free world leaders? What does 'free world' mean? What am I to believe in now? Is there really respect and an agreement of peace between countries? Humans and our behavior will ultimately lead to our own downfall. Which leader would next order an invasion of a country they lay claim to? These are truly end times. 

Ukraine is fighting back fiercely. I blinked at the news of Pravda Brewery in Lviv busy making Molotov cocktails. My heart aches at all the images of untrained civilians bearing arms to defend their country, land and livelihood. I see countries ending their decades of neutrality, sending soldiers and weapons to Ukraine, imposing heavy economic sanctions, doing loads, except launching a direct war with Russia. I have no illusions that this is World War III, by proxy. Short of an internal coup in the Russian camp, how else would Putin be stopped? Do we all have first row seats to watch the horror show? Is this beginning of the end? I have no words. 

💙💛

Gaggan in Singapore 2022

Gaggan Anand is in residence at Mandala Club from November 2021 to March 2022, (and I think it's going to be extended to June 2022) recreating his Bangkok restaurant experience with a team of 20. We dawdled and only booked a slot in January for a February lunch because I wasn't keen to spend hours or have that much wine at dinner. The confirmed reservation required full payment upfront without any leeway for cancellation.  

We first dined at Gaggan in Bangkok in 2016, and loved it, and returned many more times after. But we never got a chance to eat at the second new Gaggan Anand Restaurant which opened in November 2019, so we totally looked forward to this lunch. 

The 12-course degustation menu in Singapore was innovative, and yet full of familiar spices. It's not exactly progressive Indian cuisine as it had showcased in Bangkok. But like I said, I haven't visited the updated version as Gaggan Anand Restaurant, so I can't judge how the menu has evolved. This February menu in Singapore included Mexican, Japanese and local flavors. It's eclectic yes, and not as coherent as our Bangkok experiences. To be honest, we very much prefer that. But well, Gaggan will do what he wishes. 

The lunch offered no printed paper menu listing the dishes. Instead, we had a paper 'passport' and a small sheet of stickers with different icons to make our own notes about the various dishes. The opening number of the yoghurt explosion is still the opening item, with green chutney crackers. This might just be the best chaat in the world. Heh. The idli sambar was extremely elegant and fluffy. Tamarind espuma. Heh. 

The menu is tweaked monthly, so we had different items from the friends who visited in December and January. Instead of an ice kachang the friends had, we had kaya toast with layers of coffee, foie gras and sandwiched by savory meringue. We had a Gand Dala Bar — a bar of nuts, yes, but also held hae bi hiam and salted egg! The crew explained that the name is a total word play on Hindi. Yeah, we can interpret it as a play on 'granola bar', but it pretty much means 'Shove it up your ass'. LOL. Cute. Okay CAN. 

The famous charcoal sphere made its appearance. Previously it held chicken tikka masala. Today it held mole and anago (sea eel). Okaaaay. I blinked at the deconstructed curry — kombu-cured scallops with dehydrated coconut, onions, caviar and curry leaves. While it was fun and cool, I couldn't say that I liked it. Neither did I enjoy the very boring thosai with duck.

I actually liked the soup very much, although it wasn't rasam. Hahahaha. I was so glad that it wasn't the previous menu of thick corn soup with uni jelly at the bottom. That would have done nothing for me. Today, I had a Japanese inspired soup. It was pretty much a kenjinjiru (けんちん汁), except that this wasn't vegetarian. It used fish broth and served with monkfish liver (ankimo, あん肝). It was light and elegant — a superb iteration. 

The duck breast on a bed of tamarind and yuzu, sprinkled with plum powder did nothing for me either. It was decent, but the portions were smaller than what I fill Choya's bowl with. Her slices of duck breasts were way more tender and generous. Unfortunately we didn't have any version of biryani. The serious carbs came in the form of a dry laksa of sorts. WALAOEH. I was sad. But this was a rather fun interpretation of it. It was rice noodles with lobster, not unlike what fancy local hotel restaurants trot out for supper menus. It was a pot of Rather Confused Noodles.

There were two desserts. The first was a jalebi snowman, with 'healthy' ingredients of yoghurt, beetroot and rose, and lower sugar content. The finisher was a scoop of the recent ultra-trendy flavor of hay ice-cream with uhhh Japanese strawberry coulis. I didn't fancy wine with the meal. Too heavy. Opted for gin instead. 

Gaggan's strength is still in his non-red meat dishes, imho. He's good with fish and generally, seafood, and dessert. If I stop by again in two months, I'll request for a vegetarian menu. Lunch was enjoyable, food was good, but nowhere near mind-blowing. I would love to see a few more Indian dishes in this menu. The ambience and service are not as lovely as what I got at the original Gaggan Bangkok, with or without the chef-maestro's actual presence in the dining room. 

A Rubbish Core Workout VS A Proper HIIT Set

For a few Sundays at the gym, the workouts were really chill. The Sunday before last, I laughed so hard when I saw what was written on the board. WHAT!?!!!! This workout wouldn't even raise my heart-rate much, not even if went all out at burpees. This was lame for HIIT. 

Glute bridges, core holds and swimmers? Holding these for 25 seconds works out exactly......... nothing, unless you've never even done them in your entire life. These are the warm-up moves at Ritual, which are fine, but as part of a workout? This is lazy structuring of a workout program. If this workout is meant to strengthen the core and be like pilates, it was nowehere near the intensity of my average mat pilates class. 

Well, since I was already at the gym, I gotta go through with it. Don't they always say that 'doing something is better than nothing' right? OMG. That is so NOT quite apt. This 'workout' was seriously a waste of time. I didn't even break a sweat. I was a tad annoyed. I'm already still annoyed that they removed lunch-time classes on week days, and my schedules forces me to come to the gym on weekends (which I really dislike; I prefer working out on week days). I made time to come to a weekend class for this sort of workout that's pretty much something I do at home daily? Walaoeh.

THEN. Last Sunday, when I saw the board, I blinked. Did someone hear my comments about too-easy workouts? Hahahah. This workout was gonna hurt. There were pull-ups followed by hanging leg raises, plenty plenty plenty burpees, press-ups and such. Woah. 

Okaaaay. I might as well sweat huh. I went all out. Ditched the option of doing a plank after pull-ups. I did 'em four proper pull-ups for 25 seconds and continued with hanging leg raises for the next 25 seconds. The triceps, lats and obliques worked together beautifully. I didn't cheat, I did them enthusiastically to fatigue point. I felt awesome after. Pull-ups are always great to build strength and work the core. My armpits ached the next day. Wheeeeee.

Now, this type of a workout last Sunday is a proper HIIT. This is what Ritual workouts should be. Just hold off on the core workouts, Ritual coaches. Your current 'core' sets aren't the least bit inventive or effective. Or at least check with a pilates instructor how to go about it? It felt like that instructors aren't even sure of what goes into movements to work the core. They should just stick to what Ritual is known for — do HIIT.

Another Dinner at Piu M

Before February ended, we scored a last minute table at Piu M. Well, two seats (high chairs) at the counter. The entire restaurant only seats about 16 persons maximum. There's only one table in the corner by the door, and they keep that for groups of 4 and 5. 

These little eateries remind me of those in the yokocho (横町) in Japan, except we have no such alleyways. Old malls like Fortune Center and Orchard Plaza kind provides a grimy atmosphere for these little eateries and bars that come in all forms serving up different food, but always offer plenty of alcohol choices. In Singapore, rents are sky-high, and to do this at this size with limited patrons and operating hours in the nights, it's of little surprise that ordering alcohol is a must in these eateries. They earn their profits from alcohol, not so much of food. It's a 'sin' not to drink alongside the meal.

Although the food always takes some time to be served at Piu M (one chef, limited speed), we usually finish our meal in about two hours. That made it extremely workable — no guilt about abandoning the dog, and we could get home in time to take her out for a night pee, and still get in a shower and some random chores before bedtime. Tonight, we finished our meal in under two hours. That was great! 

We didn't go crazy with ordering many dishes. The oysters had to be slurped. These are the frozen giant Japanese oysters that always comes out delicious. I had to have their miso burrata cheese. This is something I assemble at home all the time, but I haven't done so lately, so it was fun to nibble on that. The fried mackerel went really well with the alcohol. The man couldn't resist the 'CST' pasta. Coriander, sesame seeds and tomato! Hahahaha. It was an arrabbiata. Tasty tomato sauce. We also had a spaghetti vongole too. 

Tonight's sake was a bottle of Nabeshima Junmai Ginjo from Tomihisa Chiyo Sake Brewery (鍋島 純米吟醸 , 富久千代酒造). It was really good. I finished most of it. Hahaha. Then there was beer for the man, and we skipped dessert in favor of finishing off the meal with highballs. LOVELY. 

Smol Girl Got A Bacterial Infection Again

All right, this is it. I've pulled Choya out of her weekly full-day playschool, permanently. The mega diarrhea that culminated in vet-prescribed meds was resolved by Christmas, and I thought that was it. But no. Come January 2022, two weeks after the antibiotics were done, I noticed a pattern of Choya getting the runs every Thursday after school on Wednesdays. On the weeks that she didn't go to school, her poop was solid gold.

So I keep a 'Choya's Diarrhea Log'. Since last October, the data significantly pointed to a change of gastrointestinal flora to food (easily sorted), as well as to the bacteria in the school's environment. She did fine in school for two years, and then I don't know what changed in the equation. This is not a dog who eats everything in sight. She likes to nibble on leaves, lick grass and roll around in soil and mud, but she won't lick or eat things off of the ground. Of course the school checked in with the other dogs' owners. It's in their interest to do so. No other dog took ill this badly. (Although a few DMed me on IG that their dogs also took ill after school some time late last year and this year too.) That's a relief.

It's sad because I've come to trust the school's responsible handlers, and Choya does have loads of fun in school. I don't know if it's the water in the pool (of which I'm told that the ratios remain unchanged, and swimming doesn't seem to affect other dogs much), but without the swimming component, there's no point for her to go to this school anymore. Her health comes first. We do have an alternative for pack walks, and I can work a bit harder to take her to the pool for swims. 

I should have trusted my instincts and not let the smol girl go to school last Thursday after a long break. Choya had the runs last Thursday after school, again. Slippery elm bark powder and one antidiarrheal pill didn't help her. The runs came in super bad on Friday night. I thank the skies that they held while we did poop runs through the night. Otherwise it would have damn miserable. 

Choya also needed meds this round to battle the bacteria infection — antibiotics (Metronidazole, again), antidiarrheals (Direa), a gut soother (Omeprazole) plus a dewormer (Drontal) and probiotics. I was relieved that all through the runs and her first two doses of meds, there was no nausea, no vomitting, and she continued eating and drinking. 

I groaned at the dewormer pill. That would cause diarrhea, if not vomitting. Her poop formed the next morning after the meds went in, but at night, she had the runs again three hours after ingesting half of a pill. Ugh. But fine, she hasn't had a dewormer since puppyhood. I'll let that go. Then there’s that fecal PCR to be done. The challenge is in getting a sufficiently unpolluted sample to have a fecal PCR done. I haven’t succeeded. Hahahah. I’d catch a lump of her solid poop next week.

We got the full blood work done (a Complete Blood Test, CPC), an ultrasound, and a urinalysis. While the results were inconclusive to a plausible reason to her diarrhea, they thankfully cleared her of any serious underlying illness or anything to do with her pancreas, kidneys and liver. This episode made me realize that it's definitely not the food. I've identified most of her food triggers to mild diarrhea. This episode is again, an overgrowth of bacteria that she can't fight off. 

Her doctors and I believe that she has got Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) alongside stress colitis. When they collide, then the inflammation in her GI tract flares and shitsplosions happen. We won't know for sure unless we get tissue biopsies done. It's not necessary at this point.

My heart ached when I saw the little girl zip around in confusion from stomachaches and spasms, hunched over with shitsplosions. Yet she knew how to wake me to tell me that she was in pain, confused and frightened, and to ask to go out to poop. Oh my darling girl. That was one hell of two nights. If I was exhausted, she must have felt worse to feel so ill and need to poop every three hours. She is so smol and cannot afford to be dehydrated or lose any more weight. The meds worked immediately. She was so much better after two doses, and her poop started to firm up in the next few days, and after the dewormer pill did its job.

It has been a rough and looooong weekend. I’m glad that I didn’t make any dates that I couldn’t cancel, or loathe to cancel. I dared not power through with coffee. Being overly caffeinated wouldn’t just increase the chances of another episode of vertigo, it would also interfere with my ability to fall asleep in 60 seconds and wake at an instant if the girl needed me. I hit the gym, ate well, went easy on alcohol and simply soldiered through on an accumulated 12 hours of sleep over four days. May we see a silver lining today.

Freedom & Choices

Read a looooong-ish short story, 'Annunciation' by Lauren Groff, published in The New Yorker in the February 14, 2022 issue. It plods along steadily. It seems to speak about the lives of every other young woman searching for her way in life. The story takes a lot of inspiration from the author's life, and some parts, parallel some of it.

We followed the life of a college graduate who moved to San Francisco to start a new life, with nothing much in her pockets or wallet. Readers move with her through her temp job in a consultancy firm that is digitizing children's files for the city's social workers and child services, her first rented home in a little cottage owned by an eccentric old lady who then passed away from an accident, then to her first job as an administrative assistant at Stanford, her mother's visit and her setting up her own family.

We are offered a glance to 'events' and decisions that might have shaped her life thereafter, and regrets she might have to deal with. Don't we all have these? The narrator feels a particular pang of guilty towards Anais, a troubled co-worker who prefers to keep her secrets, secret. The narrator was young, and didn't realize what her actions might have caused, even as it came from a place of concern. 

This should have been the end of it. I should have let the distance sit between us. But I had not yet learned wisdom, and silence had not yet sunk into me as deeply as it later would. That week, I was sitting out in the noontime sun with the social worker, Shelley, eating cut fruit with mint, and talking about Anais, about Luce, about the Vanagon.

Just between you and me, I confided, I think she’s an excellent mother, but I’m worried about her daughter. I think it’s not impossible that she doesn’t take the girl to get her shots. The preacher she listens to doesn’t believe in vaccines.

And Shelley nodded slowly, smiling, which at the time I took to be agreement with my assertions of confidentiality, but which I came to understand did not commit her to anything like silence, or discretion, or inaction.

It's suggested that the narrator requires solo trips away, even when she has the children to mind, like the one she took all those years ago upon graduation to feel that true sense of freedom, of self. She didn't want to be her mother who couldn't even come to her college graduation because the husband and a family of younger siblings needed her supervision. I don't think she's close to her siblings either.

I do enjoy this story because it feels so normal. This is a life we can identify with as long as we live in a city. We can probably understand some of the narrator's struggles too, as a young adult, and as an older woman who has seen some things. As far as plausible urban fairy tales go, this sort of works. 

In fact, there are often times when my life seems so small that the darkness in me has no outlet, and it keeps circling, faster and faster, tighter and tighter, until it seems that there is nothing but darkness, endlessly spinning. My emergence from these times is painful and very slow. I have to go far away to recover myself. My family has weathered these flights of mine before; they have learned to accept them, because in the past I have always returned, and, when I do, I am a mother who sees her children fully.

.....................

In these hills I finally feel again that deep yearning, not for anything in particular but for the wild whole-being gladness that I knew for the first time in the cottage covered in moss and ferns and the shadow of the oak tree, where my freedom overwhelmed me.

Hot Soup on a Rainy Day!

When we made the lunch date, we didn't know that the food would complement the weather so well. Think, hot soup and rainy days! We had wanted noodles at Morsels, but the restaurant was booked full for the lunch hour. So V kindly had me over for lunch, and made all the arrangements for Arcade Fish Soup to deliver over to her home. 

That morning, it started raining at 7am, petered off at 10am, and remained cloudy all the way till sunset, drizzling all over the island at different timings. It was so cool that we didn't even need to run the AC. Just the fan made it all so chilly. Wheeeeee. On a rainy day, piping hot fish soup and thick noodles are the best. 

Dunno how the delivery logistics do it, but the soups arrived warm, fairly hot even. We didn't even need to re-heat them. The tubs containing the soup were pretty much made of paper; these types of waxed paper tubs would disintegrate if it takes too long to get to us. It stayed secure in the cling wrap. The noodles were separately packed, along with the chilli and fried garlic bits. 

V also brought out ichigo for tea. Aiyoh! The strawberries were so nicely cut and shaped! SLURRRRrrrrrrRRRRRpPppP. Couldn't resist having two cups of coffee! Oooof. I didn't have any in the morning, and my day started at 5.30am. I couldn't resist sprawling on the couch to read a new book. Managed to finish two short stories before it was time to go home to clear a few pieces of work. ☕️🍓♥️

Gifts in a Breakfast Bowl

When the friends know that I'm not too fond of sweet sweets, they don't bother sending me pastries, ice-cream, cakes and such. Muahahaha. Whewwww. I don't have a sweet tooth that way. Over three days, B sent a lovely huge fruit basket (with fruit forks too?!?!?), D sent such a big box of delightful chocolates from Soma, and J sent many bottles of kombucha and coffee from Cashew Brew.

All these presents fed me for a week and more! I was soooooo impressed that the chocolates survived the flight from Toronto to my kitchen counter without melting into a puddle. They went straight into the fridge. That should last me for two months. There were single pieces there too, of which the man and I ate them up first. Mmmmmm. 

I always welcome gifts of fruits. Longans and them green seedless grapes were juicy and crunchy. The one avocado is large and ripened beautifully. Those are always greedily eaten in this home. You know that thrill of slicing through a ripe avocado and seeing that soft green and yellow! 😂🥑 If you send me a box of avocados, that's like BIG LOVE. Hahaha. Oranges went into the best pressed juice; plums and the one pomegranate from B's fruit basket fed me for three days.    

Somehow these presents complement one another's! I could have them all for breakfast or brunch. Oof. With granola from Dearborn that was also gifted by H and G. The granola bowl was topped with fresh pomegranate seeds, and two squares of raspberry bar filled with a ridiculous amount of tangy raspberries (it's actually tangy, not sweet). 

All mornings are accompanied by a cup of coffee. The bottles of cold brew coffee surprisingly lasted the man and I for two days — white (Honduras) for him, and black (Ethiopia) for me. Very tasty. Plenty of caffeine to fuel us for the day. The kombucha will last for a month in the fridge, it can even go for two months in there. 

Besides being super grateful to friends who made time to buy me a birthday meal (best when I'm still in good health and CAN EAT), and hang out. Texts and cards are no less important too, especially when the sender takes all the effort to craft and type a long message. I'm thankful for the thoughtfulness of the friends who like gift-giving and got me practical and delightful birthday gifts. ♡🖤

A New 75-liter Upright Freezer

I've given up the fight over freezer space. I need to eat, and so does the man. We can't be cooking this often. It's nice to cook and freeze food for humans. After juggling Choya's food delivery schedules and our cooking timetable for two years, I caved and bought a small upright freezer to store Choya's raw meats and such.

My original purchase of a 71-liter net storage Farfalla Upright Freezer [(W x H x D): 54.8cm x 83.3 x 53cm ] didn't happen. I bought directly from Gain City, so the store called and said the supplier didn't have any more stocks and the line has been discontinued. WALAOEH. They offered a similar replacement of a 73-liter net storage Butterfly BUF-S75 Upright Freezer that has a reversible door; its dimensions are slightly different at [(W x D x H) 50cm x 53cm x 84.6cm]. OKAY FINE.

Hmmm... 'Farfalla' is Italian for 'butterfly'. The brands are all owned by Lea Hin Group. Anyway, these freezers have ideal dimensions.  I have no space in the small kitchen to store it, but I have just the right spot for the freezer in the patio. I just need it to slot under the 86cm height-space I have for it. The replacement Butterfly freezer arrived on the original delivery date. 

There were three storage compartments in total — two pull-out drawers, and one topmost wired base with a flip cover that requires a flat panel or box to hold items. Cleaned it, turned it on, and shoved a water-filled ice tray into it. Checked on it 4 hours later. There were ice cubes. Perfect. Added other frozen items to it to test it out. Once I ascertained that the freezer worked fine, and the insulation and nothing mechanical was compromised, I was relieved. I would hate to deal with a spoilt freezer. 

The freezer sat for two days quietly humming before storing its first batch of Choya's newly arrived meats.  Then more items came, and they all went into the drawers. It was fun organizing the drawers! I used lightweight metal trays to place atop the wired base in the topmost compartment with the flip cover. The middle drawer is the biggest, and those would store her daily meats. The bottom drawer would take all additional bones, bone broth, goat milk kefir, bone grinds and such. 

73 liters are definitely more than enough to store Choya's food. I don't need it to stockpile or have meats keep for months in there. The main freezer in the kitchen is still in use. It will always store a week's worth of food. The extra small freezer just needs to keep sufficient supplies for three weeks. And perhaps two pints of of the man's ice-cream if I get around to buying them. 

Choya's one meal! 150 grams.

Old Favorites at Da Luca

Yes, birthday celebrations go on for the whole month. There's no way I have sufficient stomach space to squeeze in all these meals with friends within a week, and our schedules are now crazier. The friends asked me what I wanted to eat. I said Italian cuisine, casual, emphasis on casual. Ristorante Da Valentino only had a 6.30pm seating, to which all of us couldn't make it to that night; also the Grandstand is a tad out of the way in that sense — it's an extra 15-minute drive for everyone. Popped in to a packed out Da Luca for a table at 8.30pm. I'm happy to see that the restaurant is doing well.    

Ahhh... I still like the old school vibes and flavors of Da Luca. The restaurant hasn't updated its fb page for over a decade, didn't bother with any form of social media. Reservations are by phone only. LOL The restaurant took away their entire pizza menu in 2015 because they removed the pizza oven. The other items on the menu remain; limited, but it works for the kitchen. Chef Luca Pucciani and his wife Hui ensure that the food comes out at a good pace even on a crowded night. 

I didn't want any of the fancy stuff. Definitely no to uni or Hokkaido scallops with truffle capellini items. Didn't bother with zinged-up bruschetta either. No to shaved truffles and such. There was brown sauce in the pasta with truffles, I don't like brown sauce much. Naaah. We had to order the classic old favorites. 

Shared appetizers of burrata with tomatoes and wilted spinach, grilled Spanish octopus, and loads of toasted bread with trippa alla fiorentina (veal tripe stew in tomato and parmesan). We had our own, respective mains of pasta — seafood squid ink linguine, a standard bolognese with tagliatelle. There was no way we could have secondi in terms of fish or a steak. Wine was really lovely; we went easy on alcohol since all of us had a 5am wake-up call the next day. 

These people wanted TWO portions of tiramisu for dessert. I started laughing. No way they could do that. They were so stuffed by the time our pastas arrived. In the end, only one portion of tiramisu was ordered, and that one portion, became my birthday plate. Hahahaha. Aiyoh. They even blasted the birthday song in Italian over the speakers! Gosh. 🧡

Da Luca Italian Restaurant
1 Goldhill Plaza Novena #01-19/21 Singapore 308899
T: +65 6258 4846
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Valentine's Day & 元宵節 :: 2022

We had to skirt around restaurants doing only set menus for the double Valentine's Day weekend (as well as 元宵節 on February 15), as well as the lead up to end of the lunar new year festivities. This home doesn't bother to mark Yuan Xiao, so it's just... whateverrr. We're like, the year friggin started already lah! 

To avoid all annoyance during this weekend, we simply didn't bother eating out or ordering delivery. We picked up lunch, and for dinner, that meant cooking for ourselves. Okay can. We would sort out the dog's needs and then decide on food later. The thought of having to decide on food and eating can be rather frightening. Hahahah. 

We couldn't go far to play recently because of the rains that have returned. We are still in a monsoon season after all. There were few hours of break in the rain in the morning. It was cloudy, and made it perfect for some fun, and most importantly, a poop. The rains also made the dog a tad frightened (of the potential thunder) and languid. So she took it easy and snoozed all day. We also chilled out for the rest of the day. I finally had a breather between paperwork and deadlines, so I could binge 'Doctor-X' S7 and 'Jack Reacher' S1. Hahaha.

The man asked me what I would like for our Valentine's Day dinner. I asked for a one-pot pasta meal. Muahahahha. We didn't even have to stop by the supermarket for ingredients since we had all those at home. Dinner would be penne of minced beef and chorizo with beans and dried chillies. He cooked it American-style — one pot. Literally in one pot. Ooof. HAHAHAHAH. We have no disapproving Italian nonna to tsk at us anyway. It was super convenient and very tasty.

Ghosts, Spirits & Superstitions

It really takes two bouts of vertigo to convince me that audiobooks have a greater purpose in my life. And also, when my eyes swell (from allergies), listening to audiobooks can be an alternative way to keep up with my reading. The biggest drawback, it's damn slow. I read super fast. Ah well.

I set about listening to ‘They Do Return But Gently Lead Them Back’ by Catherine Lim. This is a 2021 reissue. I'm sure that I've heard Catherine Lim mention some of these stories at the writing panels that she hosts, but somehow, I’ve never read the initial book or its stories released in 1983. Weird, considering that this is a genre I’m always game to check out. 

There're 15 very short stories in this re-issue. These stories are not so much about the supernatural as they are about people's superstitions, practices, and tragedies arising from obstinately-held beliefs. Ahhh... imagine how one's life would be if it's lived according to superstitions that have become 'tradition' and practices that are just not coherent today. It's written in a, how should I put it, old-school way. I could literally hear the author retell these tales in a conversation over drinks or at the dinner table, sharing her family history, and experiences. 

The first story tickled me to no end. 'The Old Man in the Balcony' introduced the creepy idea of 'coffin knocks'. In the olden days when houses are huge, it's unsurprising to have a coffin ready in a corner for a member of the family. This family has prepped a coffin for the old patriarch who has been ill for years, but not quite ready to die. People heard knocks coming from the coffin in the nights, and said that the coffin was finally ready for an occupant. But it claimed a life before the intended occupant's. 

Ah Kum Son's son, a frail little asthmatic child of seven, had a fainting fit and was rushed to hospital. He did not die, but the whole town — which by this time had heard of the mysterious knockings at night, and which was talking about Ah Kum Soh's husband's death in awed whispers — started rumours about a small corpse being brought home, and of another of the relatives about to die, in response to the confines call.

"Why doesn't the old man answer the call?" they asked. "How many must go in his place? Ah Kum Soh, weeping, stood before the old man as he was crouching half-naked on the balcony, and began to berate him for his heinous crime. He stared at her, eyes grey and rheumy, and once or twice he looked around and called pathetically, "Ah Han! Ah Han!" for his daughter-in-law's name was the only one he could call now.

I really enjoyed 'Two Male Children' as much as I disliked the superstitions around it. It reminds me of how 'deadly' superstitions can be, and when people believe in them, it's a tough situation for those who are family. When science and superstitious beliefs collide, add in coincidences, selfish humans and entitled privileged humans, and you have tragedies waiting to happen. Two long-awaited male babies born in a family, one to the First Daughter-in-law and one to the servant to the care of the grandchildren (grand-daughters) named Ah Chan. It's of course ironic that the privileged male heir is frail, sickly and puny, and the servant's son is the completely opposite.

To her, it was the height of injustice that her baby, heir to the rubber and coconut plantations, should be sickly and underfed, while Ah Chan's baby, one of the hundreds born in her kampong every year and who would probably grow up to be a mean labourer, was robust from his mother's brimming good health.

....................

  

A flurry of consultations with temple mediums ensued; thousands of dollars were spent in gifts of propitiation and entirety to the Dark Deity of Hell, but still he would, according to the temple mediums, have Golden Dragon. However, said one of the temple mediums from his deep trance, the Dark Deity was also considering one other male child, who was born at about the same time and who was also now lying ill. If one of the baby boys died, the other would be spared.

Here was hope yet, and the grandmother and mother began to fill the baby's room with all manner of charms and amulets to ward off evil influence and deflect it elsewhere. Ah Chan came to know of the message from the temple medium but by that time, it had been distorted into an accusation. The Dark Deity of Hell had chosen Piglet to be his boy attendant but Piglet deflected the curse, which then fell on Golden Dragon. 

Ah Chan, in her simplicity, went tremblingly to her employers in the Great House to beg for forgiveness. The grandmother and the mother of Golden Dragon received her coldly. They were now convinced of the treachery of Piglet, for his mother was now frankly admitting it and asking for forgiveness on his behalf. The act of reparation was simply, according to the temple mediums. Ah Chan's milk would help restore the infant to health. 

Ah Chan was only too grateful for this opportunity to make amends; she came early in the morning, leaving only late at night when sh returned to feed her own son. During the day, a relative sometimes brought him to the Great House to be fed by his mother. But the illness had had a toll on him, and he was no longer the chubby, rosy baby he once was. 

Piu M with the BFF

All these little Japanese fusion restaurants and izakaya all insist on a drinking policy for diners. If you don't drink (alcohol), then they literally put it out there to say that they don't welcome you. Nobuya is such, Bistrot Etroit is another (but it's Japanese-French omakase fusion, and I cannot deal with that). Piu M at Fortune Center is the same, but I like it because, Italian — pasta, uni and bottarga, et cetera. Hurhurhurhur. Popped in for dinner.  

The BFF took me to Piu M to celebrate my 44th year of existence on earth. This means we've known each other for 38 years, and are still firm friends. Literally family. WOW WOW WOW. I love the food. Gyoza, and uni and bottarga pasta. Mmmmmm. Comforting! The man was in love with the chicken liver pâté and beef tongue stew; the next day, he watched many youtube clips of Japanese beef tongue stew prep and reading up about Japanese kitchens’ penchant for liberally using demi-glace (espagnole). Hahaha.

Chef Jun Matsubara and his wife Jun run the show at Piu M. The tiny restaurant seats approximately 16 with social distancing. We took a corner (countertop) table next to the wall to ourselves. It was my first visit. I love how casual it all feels, truly like the izakaya that we stop by on our way home. I wouldn't even care about the 'demand' for all diners to get an alcoholic drink, because I would, anyway. 

The man couldn't deal with any more sake. He asked for beer. Hahahah. BFF and I polished off a 720ml by ourselves, which was a piece of cake. She is a certified sake sommelier and she still makes me pick my bottle all by myself, with no advice and no help. Pfffft. I totally approve of the Piu M's sake menu. Got an absolutely delightful bottle of Azumaichi Junmai Ginjo from Gochouda Brewery (東一 純米吟醸、五町田酒造株式会社). I love this brewery's barrels. 

Choya at Pilates Class

When I realized that the dog seemed to be having mild diarrhea after school (usually the day after), I did a little experiment and took her out of school on alternate weeks. On the weeks that she wasn't in school, there was no diarrhea. I'm quite convinced that her bacterial infection last November and December was picked up in school. She had been doing fine in school for two years and I wonder what new naughty habit she has acquired to cause these runs. 

Choya has a sensitive GI tract. Still, I flagged it to the school, just in case it's something infectious. *whispers ‘leptospirosis’  We never know. It's too coincidental. The other dogs seem fine though. My theories are simply a conjecture, not even a hypothesis, so I certainly don't expect the school to do anything. I let them know just in case they're able to discern a pattern across all daycare dogs. 

Choya didn't go to school that day either, and came with me to pilates. She usually settles down within 10 minutes and doesn't disrupt my class. She's a very good girl. I'm thankful that the pilates instructor allows her to come with!

The rains are back, so the girl's been nervous and jittery. The thunder hasn't been frighteningly loud, but she doesn't like it anyway. The noise phobia is real. So she's more comforted when her humans are around with her. 

The girl was very happy to come to pilates with me. She was a tad nervous too, since the rain clouds gathered during class. She could feel the barometric pressure drop. It wasn't her first visit, so she knew her way around the space. She found corners to hide in. Heh. After class, we managed to do a quick pee and a poop in before the rains came. 

It was a good class for me too. Private classes meant that I must utilize my time well, and put in 100% effort into the movements to maximize muscle mobility. Today saw loads of pelvic stretches and work on the obliques. The instructor focused on that for the entire hour. For some reason, I hadn't worked these muscles for a bit, and they would be so sore the next day. 

A Merry Birthday Dinner 🍣

The man asked me which Japanese restaurant I would like to dine at for my birthday. There were some hard-to-get tables at a few fancy new restaurants, and the ultra trendy smaller ones, but he was apparently able to score them. I was appreciative, but I declined. I requested for Miraku. 😃  

The new-to-us restaurants might be nice, and equally comfortable. However this dinner, I wanted something familiar in a venue that doesn't require me to spend four hours at dinner. I don't have four hours. I have two hours, then I want to get home to the dog who needs a bedtime pee and her dinner. Miraku fulfills my love for sushi and also trots them out at the speed I want. 

By now, Chef Hei knows all my preferences for his menus. He adjusted them accordingly. I made the booking for dinner tonight, so obviously I didn't tell them that it was meant to be my birthday dinner. I didn't want no fuss. Tonight, I had all the shiny fish I wanted. He also slipped in a slice of akami and another chutoro in spite of my aversion towards maguro in general. Dohhhhh. I still no like chutoro much, but akami is fine. I had earlier taken an antihistamine so that I could have bits of shellfish, and prawns. There was a lovely prawn dumpling in dashi that was delicious. 

I wanted to drink loads of sake. So I did — since the man was drove, I mostly polished off the two 720-ml bottles by myself and was slightly tipsy when I got home. Hahahahah. I have to be disciplined and not get drunk nowadays. Well, I don't like the feeling of being drunk and having to suffer the effects of it. Imagine vomitting all night and then feel bloody hungover the next day. Ugh. Importantly, I might be awakened by a dog who either has got the sudden runs or frightened of the rains, so I can't be dead asleep or woozy. If I already lack sleep, then I shouldn't add that much alcohol to the mix. 

Sayori | 鱵 | Japanese halfbeak.

I'm 44!

I have a stash of preserved liver sausages and lupcheong from Hong Kong's Ser Wong Fun (蛇王芬), and decided to do a pot of mixed rice with it for dinner on Day 8 of the lunar new year, the eve of my birthday. I haven't actually cooked in a claypot since I moved into this home. The induction hobs don't allow a donabe to be used on it. What a shame. The rice is so tasty, but utterly unhealthy. Hahaha. I tried to keep it as healthy as I could, with pumpkin. I didn't bother with mushrooms. Blanched some greens to go with the meal. Mmmmmm. #ImpieCooks2022

I cook this claypot rice thing all the time, but I definitely will do it during the lunar new year period. Call it nostalgia, and my way of remembering my grandfather who used to cook this so well. For a few years now, I haven't bothered to buy a small gold piece on Day 4 of the lunar new year the way my grandfather did. I don't need to accumulate this much gold.   

A Størmer number, 44 is a pedestrian age. I feel like it's 'waiting', like the year is waiting to see how I shape the rest of the decade before I hit 50. All right then. I'm on my way to being half a century old. I know that when I look back, I will have no regrets. I have used this God-given life to serve my community, to reach out to people I love, and I'm happy with what I do. To those I've done wrong to (nothing criminal and nothing heinous), I don't think doing amends is a solution. I've done penance and come to terms with it. 

When the insurance renewal reminders come in, it's a broad poke that it's my birthday month and I'm getting older, and hence I'm in the higher risk group for...... potentially incurring high medical costs. LOL Such is the reality of aging huh. I dutifully paid everything due and went about life. 

正月初七 :: 人日 :: 虎威笙風

We invited the man's parents over for dinner at ours. Decided to have yusheng since it matters to them. I don't even know why it matters to them when they're not... Chinese, and they keep emphasizing that, but whenever it suits them, they twist these 'customs' around to say that it's 'tradition and we must follow'. We never do. Anyway. Since it's the Seventh Day of the new lunar year (正月初七人日), I cut them some slack.

I wasn't going to do Chinese for dinner, not fully. Ordered dinner in from Thank Goodness It's (TGI) — Gastrogig X Chef Shen Tan. It has been a while since I tasted her food. I wanted to order her stuff earlier, but her delivery timings were weird and nothing matched my schedule. This round, Oddle hosted the ordering and delivery. It was seamless. The kitchen delivered promptly, and all the food was piping hot upon arrival. We kept them warm in the oven till the parents arrived. 

Ordered a super small portion of yusheng (with smoked salmon, baby abalone and lobster), kumquat roast chicken, 22-Spice kurobuta pork (sous vide then grilled), beef rendang and sambal goreng. The portions were surprisingly generous — easily feed four, and for the small eaters in our circle, six people. We had four at the dining table, and delicious leftovers that fed another three persons for lunch the next day! I boiled up basmati rice for the in-laws and uhhh nasi ulam for ourselves. I didn't feel like doing the seven-herb congee — nasi ulam works. Although I should have been lazy and ordered that in too since Chef Shen Tan offers that on the menu!     

The whole roast chicken was served at the table before being sliced up. It looked a lot more presentable like that. Since the in-laws can't take anything spicy anymore and don't appreciate spices, this roast chicken was ordered for them. It was sliced it to everyone's preferences. It was roasted beautifully. Marinated in housemade kumquat marmalade, it wasn't overly salty and made a refreshing change from the usual salt and pepper, and BBQ sauce versions. The man can't be bothered about chicken normally, unless it's been done superbly. He totally approved of the chicken breast that wasn't all dry and eeky. The moment the man made the first cut into the chicken, the dog came bounding out from wherever she was snoozing at. She obviously wanted some. She likes chicken, but it seems to give her loads of itching all over her body, so I hold it back. It's not her usual protein. Chicken feet are okay and don't seem to induce any yeast overgrowth. 

I was happy for the spices in the sambal goreng and the beef rendang. While flavorful, they weren't particularly spicy, and I forgot to order a bottle of sambal tumis to go along. I have sambal at home, but it would have been nicer to have Chef Shen's. Ahhhhh well. I really missed the sambal for the kurobuta pork. Sous vide for 16 hours and then roasted before delivery, it was thinly sliced, and I could easily cut away the fat, leaving the lean meat for me to enjoy. It was lovely, but would have tasted wonderful with chillies, and it tasted great with XO sauce. Heh. 

On Resentment and Empathy, and Family Ties

Alexander MacLeod writes about protagonist Amy's angst when visiting her boyfriend Matt's only relative in the city that they're living in — an elderly lady Greet Walker, with a four-month-old newborn in tow.

This is his story 'Once Removed', published in The New Yorker for the issue on February 7, 2022. It's a story from his upcoming new short story collection titled 'Animal Person' (expected release in April 2022).

Greet is an elderly lady living on her own. She is Matt's father’s mother’s oldest sister. Matt's great-grand-aunt. Matt explained that this was a visit that had to happen. She was up since six in the morning cooking for them; they couldn't possibly disappoint her. The story began with,

She did not want to visit the old lady.

Amy studied the stroller, then the bags, then her boyfriend and the baby. She checked her phone: 11:26 a.m. It was time to go. Ninety degrees, ninety-per-cent humidity, and, according to Google, more than an hour each way. Each stage had its own icon, like the Olympic events, and all the separate minutes were broken up, then totalled at the end. walk 10 min, train 36 min, bus 15 min, walk 9 min.

Nothing could be worth this much effort on a hot Sunday afternoon.

Amy and Matt have been together for 12 years, currently living in Montreal, and just had Ella. So they're tied together forever, regardless. Both had to make adjustments to understand each other's family and the place they come from, the family values instilled, etc. Matt really wanted to move back to Nova Scotia to live in a house by the cliff, but Amy, having grown up in Ontario, did not want that. It's a small community with extremely complicated relationships and it's hard for Amy to keep up. 

Ironically, Greet is estranged from the family too, presumably on 'some scandal in the fifties or sixties', hence she's living on her own in this city in a seniors' building. Matt described her as 'a force of nature'. Ella was four months old and the elderly lady suggested tying her to a chair with books stacked around, and they could all eat together. I blinked. Even I would not do that! Amy was stunned. But Ella seemed comfortable, and suddenly could hold up her neck to support her head, hitting one of her first-year signposts. 

Greet wanted them here, and yes she fed them lunch, but she really wanted something else, something more than a simple hello and bye. She wanted Matt to help her neighbor Reggie to remove her brass chandelier, and take it to her home. At least she had a cordless drill and a proper toolbox. Of course old folks wouldn't tell you that. They would tell you 'it's a little job' and when you get there, it's a major thing. That is exactly what older folks do. 

There seemed to be some sort of acquiescence at the end of the story, on Amy's part, because she somehow had a glimpse into Ella's 'future', of how it might turn out — the stories she can tell, or not tell, or if ties bind will keep one's relationship warm and close. This story is a great narrative of a slice of family life, of relationships within a larger family. The author has captured all of that going on in a short piece.

In a separate interview with the author on 'Resentment and Empathy' in this story, the author said that,

The story is interested in the back-and-forth between resentment and empathy. It’s a question that keeps coming up in lots of our lives: How can we rise above our resentments, above our own sense of being disrespected, mistreated, or misunderstood, and connect with this “other” person? I wanted Amy to feel hard done by in the beginning and then, by the end, maybe recognize something profound in Greet, a connection that she could never have imagined before. Greet is nothing to her in the morning, just a polite in-law responsibility, “her boyfriend’s father’s mother’s oldest sister,” but the dynamic shifts as they move through the day, and perhaps, by the late afternoon, there is a kind of empathy developing in the spare room.

A Merry Lunch at Miraku

V bought me my first birthday meal at Miraku! We opted for a lunch so that we could linger over sake and chat. She knows. I enjoy the food at this restaurant quite a bit, so I was thrilled to be here again to check out the flavors of the week/month. For some reason, I prefer eating at Japanese sushi restaurants with friends instead of work associates or acquaintances. It's a meal I know I'll enjoy, and having it with faeriefolk over heartfelt conversation make each visit awesome.

There weren't much shiny fish today. But all the familiar favorites were trotted out — black sea bream, kinmedai and such. V and I both skipped the tuna, except for those already done as negitoro. I didn't bother to take photos of all nine pieces of sushi. Hungry. Ate them fast. However, I requested for the chef to roll the sushi with less rice than usual. I don't have the stomach space to fit in everything in this 7-course sushi set at lunch. 

I wanted to skip the negitoro and sashimi rice bowl, but they said they would make a tiny one for me. I stared at it. It looked like the usual portions. Arrrgh. Found some space to stuff it in. The beef and uni were a robust combination, and added a layer of flavors to the clean taste of the sushi. But because it was done in moderation, it was welcome. That wagyu sukiyaki beef with onsen egg was gorgeous. Not regrets ordering that. Dessert was an easy yuzu sorbet and jelly. Perfect. Nothing overly sweet and not wagashi that I can never quite appreciate. 

The restaurant had done away with two seatings at lunch. Hurrah. That was a crazy mad rush for both service crew and diners. One seating made it so much more relaxing. We had no afternoon meetings. We won't be hungover if we just split a bottle of sake. That would go beautifully with the meal. By the end of two hours, we polished off a 720ml bottle and another 330ml bottle. We're such alcoholics. #WINNING 

(I often walk further across to Cross Street Exchange to use the public toilets. The public toilet situation at Nankin Row is gross in the nights. Which makes me not want to drink more.)

I have to separate out all these birthday meals because, stomach space and indigestion. I can't do consecutive meals for sure. This year, I don't even want to do consecutive days of 'good food'. I'll spread them out. This February, maybe I'll do one meal a day and have a scoop of yoghurt with a pinch of granola at lunch or something. Heh.

Cute Little Things for Choya

Fri Feb 4 Choya hasn't been put in too eeeky festive garb over this period. Well, I didn't bother to trawl the shops to find something I wanted. It was too much effort. It's also unnecessary, so I'll just get one or two items. Clothes for Choya are too fussy unless we're visiting, (when she doesn't need to pee) and we're honestly not doing much of that this year. 

Randomly put different pieces on her over the past week or so. I tend to put these on her when the weather is fine, and mostly in the evenings. Mornings are way hot, and those are for runs, getting in some proper exercise, soaking up Vitamin D, and rolling about in the grass. 

The girl gamely wore it all like the pawdel she is. She is quite the head-turner. Most Shibes are. Oof. The speech bubble pins are hilarious. Her tailor gamely sewed everything I asked for. Bows and bandanas are still my to-go additions to an already cute doggo. These are convenient small pieces of apparel that I don't mind eking out storage space for.

Then, there's the matter of getting some photos for the lunar new year greetings for the 'Gram. Since T is better at Procreate and stuff like that, I asked her to help me add stripes to the dog's photo so that she can be a silly Tiger on a lunar new year greeting. Hurhurhur.

年初二 :: 人入虎年鼓虎勁，景添春色揚春輝

年初二早上帶了小狗狗去公園玩，餵了午餐，我就帶著兩大包東西自個兒出門。有重事要辦。新年初一至初三，我一向都照例到慈善名冊上樂齡人士家中拜訪賀年。奇怪吧。親戚逼我上門拜年，我是一千個不願意。但對於這一群樂齡人士提出的要求，我卻義不容辭。花了整個下午做義工、值得。

回來之後，小狗狗好黏我、似分開了幾天。才幾個小時嗎！連沖涼時也不讓，應跟著進沖涼房。唉。晚上帶著小乖乖去朋友家赴約吃飯。他們說親自下廚煮我們喜歡的好菜餚。我們要他們做簡單的兩道菜行了。一到了朋友家聞到香料的氣味，馬上猜到是咖喱魚！的確如此。

我今天是累了，但不至於精疲力盡。是帶著很高興的心情到好友家拜訪。他們囑咐我們早點到，讓小乖乖在天黑之前有機會在花園裡玩。到了黃昏當然開燈，但感覺是不一樣的。今晚涼風習習，我們索性在花園吃飯。有風扇啊，挺舒服的。小乖乖跑了幾圈，也來到桌旁休息小睡。

菜單上有喀拉拉邦咖哩魚 (Kerala fish curry) 和濃濃的 sambar 配印度香米和蒜香印度烤餅 (garlic naan)。這兩道菜都需要時間準備，也費工夫。他們還弄了pav bhaji！Hilarious! Netflix ‘Midnight Asia’ 亮點印度孟買那一集說上 pav bhaji，今晚吃到了。哇，朋友真是消耗不少力氣做這一餐。💯 太豐富了。感動。珍惜。

年初一 :: 虎躍龍騰生紫氣，風調雨順兆豐年

虎年啦。我好累，沒打算在家中搞什麼聚會。反正飯桌只能容納四個人。我也懶得煮。嘻嘻。那就很不客氣地去朋友家咯。沒有啦，也沒打算去拜年什麼的。雖說是聚會最多五個客人，但為主人家還是得忙上半天、我也不好意思打擾。熱鬧過年太可怕了。

我今年更刻意劃清界線，也多虧冠病條例墊底，連家翁家婆都不敢強迫我做我不願意的事。從去年底起，老公鼓勵他父母親安排他們自己心怡的農曆年節目，如到親戚家吃年夜飯、初一初二晚餐等等，讓喜歡熱鬧的人都聚在一起。搞大聚會？超數？全都不關我們的事。初一中午去給家翁家婆拜個年，就沒其他的應酬了。沒安排和他們吃午餐。去年那場戲無需重演。速速拜年、速速回家。這樣不是很好嗎？

今天。這個年，我還過得挺舒服的。我得償所願，過得清清靜靜。心境也平靜。

Indian-style sambal eggs.

初一晚餐我們下廚、弄了兩道辣辣有味的印度式 sambal 雞蛋和帶魚鹹魚茄子長豆菜咖哩 (fish and vegetable curry of silver beltfish, salted ikan kurau, eggplants and long beans)。

先把四粒雞蛋煮熟。Sambal 雞蛋重點在於那鍋 sambal 醬，以印度調味料為主。這道菜沒有马拉盞 (belachan)，所以不是馬來式。我們儘量不用現成的醬料。今晚也一樣，自己備料調味。我們家用幹紅辣椒，西紅柿，紅洋蔥和江魚仔打底，不到15鐘就煮好 sambal 醬了。#ImpieCooks2022

我們沒吃完整鍋，把兩粒蛋和醬放入冰箱，打算隔天再吃。有時候沒胃口不想吃大餐，這簡單地雞蛋辣醬配印度香米飯為一餐，也行！

Fish and vegetable curry of silver beltfish, salted ikan kurau,
eggplants and long beans.  

咖喱不是我的特長、是老公的。備好咖喱汁後，把鹹魚，茄子和長豆菜放進去。之後再放進帶魚和豆腐卜。真豐富。我沒刻意買條魚來蒸。今年魚價太高，有點不可思議。新年時期一公斤鯧魚要 $100！我才不買。寧願不吃。反正咖喱用鹹魚也行。雪櫃裡還有帶魚，也可以用上。

哇！這鹹魚還真開胃，給咖喱加了umami。當然，若你覺得過年吃鹹魚太寒酸了，那你大可別用。新鮮帶魚有很多小骨頭，若不喜歡挑骨頭，最好別吃。帶魚是最後才放入熱騰騰的咖喱的、別讓它散掉，要不整鍋咖喱都有魚骨，還能吃嗎。

年初一晚餐，我吃的飽飽的，吃得津津有味。

難得清靜。🈵