Popeyes didn’t open and the cake wasn’t what you expected. But these are not really problems.
It’s still a good day.
Not too many chocolates
An empty gym
Getting to sort your clothes
A nice, sunny day
Great lamb
Being at peace with your choices in life
Choices!
Good for value Korean BBQ
People who stay at home and don’t clog up holiday traffic
Denis Villeneuve
Dune 2
Auckland’s unpredictable weather
Kind strangers at the gym
Filipino crew at McDonald’s
$40K bathroom redos
Coalition government clowns
sugar crashes
people who do the bare minimum
people who think they’re too good to work and feel entitled to welfare
people who think they’re interesting enough to do podcasts
X (Twitter)
people who hate vaccines
China
Roses who hold onto the waning days of summer
Ted Lasso
Supermarket security
9 degree mornings
cold showers
people who put themselves first when it’s actually necessary
Chinese science-fiction
Supermarket made hot-cross buns
Manipulative cats
China
But this one falls on a Tuesday, so there’s work on Monday. Nearly everyone else has taken leave of course starting Friday so they get five days off. I have heaps of work so I haven’t, but it’s the kind of work day that feels leisurely; the weather is perfect, people are away relaxing and emails are few. What’s the hardship in that?
It’s so chill that I decided to treat myself to eat something even if I normally don’t eat anything until much later in the day. I also remembered that I had impulsively bought bread so I can’t have that go to waste. It’s good bread though and a sourdough. I normally trim off the crusts from supermarket loaves, but I make an exception with sourdough. The chewy, nutty crusts make for good sopping which in this case, are the tomato juices and the olive oil.
I grill the bread on a pan with butter on both sides; the topping is just sliced heirloom tomatoes, roughly chopped basil, more olive oil, pepper and plenty of sea-salt flakes.
Back when I was still living in the Philippines, I drank alcohol whenever the opportunity presented itself. If there was a drinking session every other day, I did it. I enjoyed it. I loved making pulutan. The company I believed, were my friends for life. For better or worse.
When I left for New Zealand and went home for Christmas nearly every year, things inexplicably changed. I couldn’t find my friends. Texts went unanswered. It dawned on me later that for reasons still unclear to me to this day, I was actually ghosted. And whatever part of me that wanted to stay in the Philippines died. I know it sounds melodramatic, but that was the drinking culture; it wasn’t just a bunch of bored men making tagay from a single glass (you’ll get hepatitis C, my mother would scream to my face). It was a communion of people who shared the same dreams and aspirations even if uhm, mine was different being wayyyy older than everyone in the group. I may have been naive to believe that it was going to be for life.
But I guess life changes; the kids grow up; and I was still the same (what did I know about the struggles of having kids, constantly jealous wives and thin paychecks?).
Anyhow, I think that stopping the habit may have allowed me to possibly enjoy my later years with (fingers crossed) the least problems health-wise. All that drinking continued all the way through your forties wouldn’t have been good.
Here, there is a certain caution when it comes to alchohol. The laws won’t even allow you two beers if you’re driving (if you get caught). The company that you keep also determines how and when you drink, and after three years of initially being out there (again, with people younger than me), I’ve decided that the company I wanted to keep was my own as well as a tiny circle of people. Currently, I would drink probably, four times a year if ever?
I never get the urge to drink by myself at the end of the day. My dad did it, and a whole bunch of people do, and I think it’s WEIRD.
Anyhow, I bought a bottle of Luxardo cherries to put onto an ice-box cake that I’m making for Sam’s birthday this weekend and I spied on the website that they also sold Aperol. There was a boxed set with good Prosecco which was even better, so I got one only because it’s currently my go-to drink on the rare times I find myself at a bar or restaurant. And besides, it’s been so hot lately, that why not celebrate the heat with a slight buzz?
The classic spritz that you make it with, is crisp, refreshing, unbothered and uncomplicated - which is what I like my life to be. Cheers!
OUT
1. ‘Influencers’ at the gym
2. Excuses NOT to go to the gym
3. Excuses in general
4. Eating too much during the holidays
5. Spending too much during the holidays
6. Buying an unnecessary item instead of using the money for (expensive) dental care
7. Traveling somewhere just because everyone else is (not that I gave in to it)
8. NOT reading
9. Your OPINION and THOUGHTS on any platform that allows you to express it
10. Fried chicken (sorry, there is such a thing as way too much fried chicken).
11. Marvel movies
12. Countries opting for war
13. Countries opting for right-wing populist leaderships
IN
1. Traveling to a local place that’s out of my comfort zone (and there are PLENTY in this country that I have yet to visit)
2. Watching a play or a musical
3. Travelling overseas to see a play or a musical
4. Quiet luxury in eating (I mean if you only have one meal a day, then it shouldn’t be a frozen dinner from the supermarket- make something like grilled salmon and broccolini, or boneless, free-range chicken thighs pan-fried with a butter-miso sauce).
5. A LOT of reading
6. Keeping your OPINION and THOUGHTS to yourself and shutting out the toxicity of the world in general
7. Keeping ‘quiet’ and listening to your own voice, your own thoughts
8. Taking time to cook something special/different
9. More sunshine (but just 20 minutes please)
10. Art you’ve made yourself
I’ve never liked long vacations or breaks.
When I was younger, summer vacations in the Philippines stretched forever especially when you were a loner like I was. I kept to myself at home, reading and daydreaming. I would spend the summer mentally reviewing the things I wanted to change or improve about myself. I only looked forward to the start of school to determine if I would succeed. A few things worked - write competitively (I won a couple of national writing competitions); a lot didn’t -learn French, put on some muscles, improve your singing voice (!!!).
But I didn’t stop (finally put on some weight and muscles later) nor felt that what I was doing was a chore or an impossibility. It doesn’t take a lot to relax - I don’t have kids or responsibilities - and most of the time, I would normally just take a good day (a Saturday) to get everything calm and sorted (and even then, I would be doing chores because a clean and organised home is relaxing).
Not judging but people often joke that they’d spent their break just sitting on their ass and well, it looks like they did.
Life is too short to just sit on your ass right??
We finally went to see the Sculptureum in Matakana; which is composed of six art galleries, three sculpture-filled gardens, a vineyard, an events space and restaurants. Not really for kids in my opinion because they can’t interact with the pieces.
Fortunately, I never have cash. The days of rattling coins in your pockets or bag and of frantically fishing for them to pay something are over.
NOT an anti-vaxxer, but I’ve been hemming and hawing about getting the latest booster.
The plant’s prices starts at $189
I was the child who felt slightly giddy on Sunday because the next day was Monday.
As an adult, I’m still the same because I technically only have one true free day on the weekend which is Saturday; I wake up any time I like (but never really beyond 10am), eat anything I like and mostly ignore everything that my watch and my phone spit out.
The world (outside of New Zealand at least) could burn and I’ll be blissfully unaware eating fried chicken or watching some show with chips and a pottle of ice cream.
But Sunday is all about getting a head-start on life - yours.
Laundry
Sorting of clothes (and what to wear the following week which is dictated by event and weather)
Vacuuming
Changing fresh sheets
Lunches and meal prep
Exercise
Face (face masque)
Clearing out office email; scheduling responses to be all sent at 8am Monday
A good dinner
I voted today as New Zealand held its national elections.
The voting centre was at a school in the suburb where I live and there was a small queue. People brought their kids in strollers or their dogs on leads or carried them in their arms. It was a nice spring morning. You simply walked up to the election staffer, handed in your Easy Vote Card; your name was verified and checked; you were handed your voting paper and told to mark it in the voting booth. There were only two choices to be made- the national party and the local party MP.
You made your picks with an orange marker.
It was all done in 20 minutes. We didn't hurry back home and took a different route to look at some gardens. We needed a new tree for the front of the house and we were thinking that it might be nice to get something that had pretty flowers like a cherry tree.
After doing some chores I realised that I probably needed some lunch and remembered that I had a can of sardines in the pantry. So I made some eggs and rice, sat down to eat and realised that my plate was resting on my voting reminders, and of course I remembered.
The last time I voted in the Philippines, candidates were distributing food packs; rice, noodles and cans of sardines. It was normal. People expected it. People cast their votes based on what they got. The same families won over and over and over.
I also remembered that I no longer cared about that.
Dinner
I worked over the weekend.
It was fun, it was $$$$ (before tax anyway) but boy was it exhausting. On top of that, my bursitis-or-whatever-it-is was acting up and I was limping for the whole four days (we started on Thursday). I’ve been doing it for the last couple of years and while I can grudgingly admit that while it’s gotten better to a point that you find a process that makes it easier, I still resist it. I still believe that when my own (big) part is done- I conceptualise and design it- I shouldn't be expected to be physically there; to set it up, man it, and the pack the whole thing up! (with two other people).
But you know, I have to- and as it has been one of the recurring themes of my work-life, no one does it better, nor is there anyone that comes even close.
And while that is an operational risk (we always joke that if one of us gets hit by a bus…), I don’t really spend the next couple of days thinking about finding an alternate (there is no one in the small pool of employees).
Instead, I spend the whole week after, literally recovering as if I had gone on a year-long Arctic adventure on foot and dressed in light clothing. If my mind exaggerated the whole thing, my body certainly felt and manifested it. Or I could be so massively unfit
But your routine gets totally upended for four whole days; daily buffet breakfasts of crisp bacon and crunchy hash browns, then total hunger from 8 to 5 except for water and plenty of lattes (it’s so busy, there is literally no time or sense of time for lunch), then pub dinners with alcohol (which I skip).
When I got back, it was a return to single-meal days, and even then, it was basic, simple fare; chicken adobo and rice, tuna fritters, kale and chicken salad, and today, beetroot bagels with tomatoes and salmon pate.
Within five days, I dropped the kilogram I put on the other week.
But I didn’t have the energy to do my usual weights or yoga. When there’s a bodily part of you that’s not 100% functioning, you feel less inclined to push yourself- what’s the harm in taking it easy for a couple of days?
I’ve been drinking this the last couple of months and the jury is still out- I’ve been doing great creative work lately, and while I want to attribute that to natural enthusiasm, I’ve been more focused than usual. And calm.
‘Problematic’ relatives (it would help if you lived a thousand miles away and no longer have a Facebook account).
People you were once friends with. Treat them as you would treat clothes in your closet- if you haven’t worn them in a year or so, give them away to the Salvation Army. If fate decrees that you meet up again, then maybe you can rethink it.
Twitter. Stop enabling the most dangerous, unhinged psychopath on the planet.
Disney animated movies. Sorry, haven’t watched any in forever.
Work drama.
Your life ten or 15 or 20 years ago. I don’t even look back to last year- the past is PAST.
I lost my brand-new prescription glasses when we went to the mall to buy lunch.
I was wearing these shorts that I had only just adequately fit into- the cut aesthetically demanded more muscular upper thighs- which pleased me very much. The caveat was that the pockets were now very tight; the same pockets that I had slipped my glasses into, and my theory is that when I was walking, the glasses got pushed out of them without me not even realising.
Sam and I retraced our steps, asked staff at the shops we’ve been to if anyone had turned in a pair of glasses. But alas…
I’m convinced though I actually jinxed them. They weren’t my first choice. I felt that in an effort to please me, my optometrist and the office manager at OPSM offered a number of suggestions when all I wanted to get was a similar pair to my current ones which are these cheap Armanis in sturdy plastic. But it felt like I was put on the spot and you wanted to reward them for all their trouble and attention by picking their choices- so Ralph Lauren it was. They weren’t bad, but they were someone else’s choice. And they felt it from the day I picked them up. The frame was too light, the size was a tad too small, the transition lenses weren’t dark enough…
Driving back home that day from the mall, Sam wondered why I wasn’t that upset and I said why cry over an object that was ultimately replaceable? (they did cost over $1,200). It’s still money gone to waste, but the moral is (which actually is NOT wearing tight shorts whose fucking pockets you can’t use) you should reassess your life if you do end up being upset over losing a pair of glasses.
Turns out they could actually re-use your old frames. These Rayban Wayfarers have an older prescription and were my favorite so I’m happy that I’m reusing them.
Don’t judge!
Wandered into an Indian restaurant in Manurewa and was ready to order, when we realised that the menu was entirely vegetarian. Not bad, but still craving for my lamb Rogan Josh. We had butter and tikka masala paneer.
Fuck retailers selling $40+ mortar and pestles; this one is only $17. Been using a wine-bottle to roll out pasta dough so…..are you supposed to sharpen $300 Japanese knives??
The fab Crocs X NBA All-Star Echo Clog
The exciting part of content work is crafting the narrative. Fiddling and getting the balancing right for a camera stabiliser is not.
My domain is inside the house, though if the dishwasher broke, I wouldn’t have a clue on how to fix it. Lately, I’ve been focusing on the kitchen and how I could make it better (without a full renovation which it actually needs). I transferred all the coffee stuff to the other side of the bench away from all the cooking and prep stuff (air fryer, rice cooker, microwave) and what do you know, suddenly I miraculously gave myself more space. Next would be getting a better food processor after the old one started to fall apart (bought a Kitchen Aid one which is on its way); perhaps finding a smaller rice cooker as opposed to using a Russell Hobbs all-in-one cooker and maybe, just maybe, I would plunk down some serious $$$ on that Kitchen Aid mixer I’ve always wanted.
Then there’s a new utensils drawer, proper cutlery, some Le Creuset pans…the list is long.
Today, we saw a good deal on a Dyson vacuum. The price is still pretty steep, but the proof is in the vacuuming and wow- I think the carpets look and feel cleaner fluffier…
I’ve lived in New Zealand for over 15 years now and I have never experienced, 1) more than an hour of the power going off, 2) work cancelled because of a storm, 3) of a truly destructive storm in the scale of what I’ve experienced in the Philippines.
And I hope I never do, so here’s to jinxing it.
For the first time, government authorities have actually issued a pre-storm warning ahead of Cyclone Gabrielle making land-fall or a pass through.
Nothing worse than a black politician/person being the worst kind of Republican there is.
Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal (this is actually a book by Jim Loehr)
I’m subscribed to a lot of those newsletters and there’s one that I particularly like because it’s short and to the point and more importantly, resonates with me. Darius Foroux in Wise & Wealthy (yup!) talks about how ‘December can be a hectic month. And every time things get hectic, our personal energy often suffers’.
I know right, so true! He further says:
Personal energy plays such an important role in our overall well-being. In The Power of Full Engagement, psychologist Jim Loehr and journalist Tony Schwartz talk about the best way to spend and recover energy:
When we expend energy, we draw down our reservoir. When we recover energy, we fill it back up. Too much energy expenditure without sufficient recovery eventually leads to burnout and breakdown. (Overuse it and lose it.) Too much recovery without sufficient stress leads to atrophy and weakness. (Use it or lose it.)
As with so many things in life: Balance matters!
And we know that the hecticness is subscribing to an expectation of what the holidays should be instead of how it should be on our own terms, our own set of realities.
If you can’t afford to buy that gift, then DON’T. If you can’t eat too much of that because of diet and health reasons, then DON’T. If you feel that this person is shit and awful, tell it to them NOW and don’t wait until the New Year lol.
Save your energy, save your resources; you owe yourself first.