I think I’ve mentioned before that Saturday is my only true ‘free day’; so it’s all about me and about relaxing a little bit. Catch up on reading, streaming and a nice lazy dinner (and snacks = a tub of ice-cream).
I have two Nobel Prize literature winners in my queue but there are days when I simply like my reading to be just entertainment (like watching a Netflix show) and Yarros’ book on dragons and their magic-channeling riders does the trick. I just skip all the romantic parts which I find just laughable (the image I used here is a random one I just picked from the internet).
I was about to put my Apple TV + account on hiatus after finishing the second seasons of Foundation and Invasion (streaming prices have gone up haven’t you notice?) when this comes along. Can’t really resist a monster (or two, three?).
I have two weeks worth of food in the freezer, but I decided to give cooking a rest. It was a choice between this or Dominos.
I was trying to, as idiots are fond of saying lately, ‘manifest’ an imaginary sickness today, but it didn’t manifest. Perhaps, you can only manifest positive things. So I soldiered on; woke up at 6am even though I was working from home, showered but didn’t wash my face (I just splashed very cold water on it and slathered on a light day cream). I figured that if I had put on it hundreds of dollars worth of products just barely eight hours ago, I shouldn’t wash it off just yet.
It was raining and all I could see across the water was a blank, white wall of nothing. But at least I wasn’t feeling bleh like I did this whole week. It’s hard to pin down, this blehness. Work was fine (it was actually great because the pace was brisk just the way I prefer it). The cat was fine (she had a wound on her paw from a dawn fight that was caught by the security cameras). Her insurance said they had lifted an important exclusion which was injuries sustained from a fight. It saved us $450- FOUR FIFTY which is half the mortgage payment I put in every fortnight.
(My)life was okay (skipped reading the news today) according to my own standards, and that’s fine. That’s valid.
Did a survey from Vote Compass which is a tool developed by political scientists to help you explore how your views align with those of the country’s political parties and it turns out, I actually didn’t know a lot. I cared a lot, but I didn’t know anything about fiscal policies, the impact of them on social services, housing issues, justice and the court system or education. I had a lot of I-Don’t-Know and neutral answers.
All I was really from how I pictured it, was a middle-aged man spending his disposable income on shoes, facial oils and grass-fed beef. I must emphasise though that I care, I really do, deep inside. And you know what? That’s fine. That’s valid.
Happy FriYay!
Three times I got an alert from my Apple Watch saying that the sound in the hall exceeded 95 decibels (just FYI, anything above 70 is harmful).
But Pasifika weddings have never been small affairs; literally everything is big, the venue, the participants, the food, the tears and the unabashed show of affection and love.
You go home full, albeit with a slight ringing in your ears.
An entire fish (a 600 gram golden pompano in this case) for my dinner. There is a Laotian restaurant in the city that I go to at least twice a year where I order their whole deep-fried snapper, buried under a mound of (more fish) fish larb and herbs.
Knowing I could lose 2 kgs in a week and then gaining them back just because
Not remembering dreams that give you that feeling you’ve done something wrong
Not really caring about politics or climate change (I’ll just take my chances).
Finding a dentist you actually like
Able to give your best even if you’re not at your best
Having ZERO envy
Still feeling some bitterness when you remember people who have slighted you
Wishing them DEAD and NOT giving a fuck
Feeling contrite after wishing them ill and asking forgiveness
We had a lunch catch-up with Bertam her mum Val and Jenny at Winner Winner Chicken in Pukekohe. I had such high hopes and probably bit into the piping hot fried chicken way too soon and burned my mouth. But when it cooled down, it wasn’t any better unfortunately. I took some photos but none of them turned out to be worth posting (the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s wide-angle shots are just too distorted) because everything looked BROWN. For sides we ordered Mac and cheese, tater tots, fried mushrooms and the loaded fries which was the best one of the bunch.
They had good gravy which made me think that should we come this way again, the chicken to order would have to be their grilled one which is their signature chicken anyway.
The fried chicken pieces were just too small with a heavy batter and the chances of over-cooking them high which I think happened in our case.
We skipped dessert- they have famously good cabinet pies- because we brought Farro Fresh sticky-date pudding which we ate at Berta’s house, served with vanilla ice-cream and do-it-yourself-instant-coffees as we all talked about the upcoming elections, the public transport system and dealing with burial plots.
Berta gave me some pretty purple broccoli to take home (she said it tastes slightly more bitter than its green counterpart).
Sunday was a trip to Mitre 10 for some pots (we have a calathea plant with new shoots that we wanted to repot) and another opportunity to ooh and aah at all the plants we couldn’t afford. On my Wishlist are:
Variagated monstera
A 1.5m olive tree
Swiss-cheese plant
Philodendron Birkin
Fiddle leaf fig
We had been mulling to buy a cherry blossom but we couldn’t decide which one. There were a couple on sale, but at over a meter and a half long, how were we going to transport it home in our little, compact cars??
We also looked at some mobile pools. Apparently, El Niño is going to bring in a scorching summer so we need to prepare for it- plus we don’t know what to do with the empty ex veggie patch; a pool might just cover up that bald patch!
We thought of an actual pool (starts at $50k for those trendy, shallow lap ones) but someone told us that should we think of putting our property on the market, a pool doesn’t actually push the price up nor make your listing more attractive. You’re better off using that $50k for interior renovations.
Can’t believe we’ve missed watching this when it started. But what’s more astounding is how we cheer on the villains and wish the good guys ill.
I’ve been asking myself (and anyone who still bothers to listen because they’ve heard this before so many times) if I should do 40 hours instead of 37.5. But when you get off at 2pm on Fridays when everyone else is literally dying in their desks at work, and get home to a new bed and a bag of popcorn…well..
Sam and Mary are dieting so for the last couple of months, I’ve been buying, cooking and eating food solo. As it turns out, other people’s dieting has a good effect; I tend to eat less, waste less, not necessarily buy less or cheaply, and only have indulgent meals (like fried chicken) on the weekends.
Have not set foot in a gym for the last 7 years. But I have some abs, my waistline is still 29-30 and I have good arms. But is that enough? Should I be grunting along forever in the garage?
The winter sun in this part of the world looked like 4pm even if it was only 12 noon.
We drove through places that were now familiar to me; the place with the quirky shops, the place with the great pies (there was a long queue), and the place with the salmon fish. After that, a big blue lake appeared on the right and it seemed never-ending as we drove alongside it.
At one point, we drove past what looked like tourist vans parked on the lake shore. A mass of white, naked bodies- teens, adults I couldn’t tell- were actually swimming in the cold water. Good on them.
I never sleep on these trips, but this time I did with the soft 4pm sun caressing my face.
When I woke up we were nearly there and you could see the mountain or the mountains, standing guard like a gate to something. Before them, a vast plain of bush and grass, rocks, and a single road that led to the village.
And it wasn’t really a village in the true sense, but accommodations for tourists and scattered housing for conservationists, scientists, and maybe the military.
We stayed at the best one- the oldest one, and it looked like it was in the middle of shedding its age and donning new retrofits for the future. Half of the hotel wasn’t even done- we could see mattresses lined up along the corridor from the large windows in a connecting wing- and we stayed half a kilometer away at refurbished cabins.
We settled in (there was a buffet for dinner) and in my room, I could see the mountain looming high and shadowed.
It was’t at all inert- it was alive.
Did you know that the celeriac is the root of the celery? You cook it like you would potatoes but the best thing about it, is that it has fewer carbs than potatoes. Tastes like celery, but nuttier Wikipedia describes it. Hmmm. I don’t like celery that much; I used to hate pansit that had celery bits in it. Kohlrabi on the other hand is actually related to the cabbage. The following way of cooking it appeals to me: For a simple side dish, sauté the sliced kohlrabi in a bit of butter in a skillet. Once it begins to show some caramelization, season it with salt, nutmeg, and a little sugar for increased sweetness. Continue cooking until slightly al dente, with a bit of crispness, and serve it immediately.
Don’t get me wrong; I think I can live without plastic. But if it’s there like in the supermarkets, I will use it and won’t feel guilty about it. But this is it- the government is banning it for good.
So a much older friend advises me, and with Uber rides now starting at $14 for a 6-kilometer minimum, I decided to do public transport. By the time I got back, I had saved myself $56. I felt very virtuous after that.
All the passengers on my bus had gold transport cards and it always gives me flashes of my future- that’s me eventually. And strangely, I’m at peace with it because it’s inevitable. A couple of things could be different; I would be immaculately dressed because that’s non-negotiable for me; I could finally be driving instead of taking the bus (Dear Elon, pls sort out your self-driving cars ASAP).
Today’s expenses:
1270 F for macarons
680 F for cappucino
chips and water ? F
250 F (2) cannelle
First we went to the beach. In the distance, we could see an ever shifting curtain of rain. It could come or it won’t, but we did bring our umbrellas. There was a long narrow wharf and midway, Sam got anxious. It wasn’t rickety but it was gappy. The water below was really clear and blue.
I couldn’t tell when the buildings were made. The Hilton looked like the buildings in Muriel’s Wedding and a quick Google search showed that the movie was made in the 90s, so there you go. But the streets all over the city were in a state of repair and we had to walk our way through a maze of orange cones. Doing pedestrian crossings felt like Russian roulette and finally, we found a supermarket.
We were stumped. We wanted cheese, butter, ice-cream and sorbet. but it was at least 45 minutes walking back to the hotel, so…..
Everyone literally had a baguette under their arm. The bread section held different sorts and we wanted to just stand there and smell it. We figured, we needed a car and then we’d go crazy shopping. So we’ll be back.
Darkness fell fast just like as it was back home. The restaurants were half-empty and we were all Frenched out asking questions so we just went back to the hotel.
We opened the courtesy bottle of brut champagne (an Armand de Brignac) and had it with bags of Lay’s potato chips. That was dinner done.
When I started at my current job, we lived out west which was more or less under 40 kilometers away- but it might have well been 400 for someone who took public transport. I would wake up at 4am, make breakfast (for everyone) when I still ate breakfast, took the train to the city, and from there, took another one south.
The trains then were slow, and not the faster, quieter electric ones we have today. But none of these things- the waiting times, the (small) crowds- mattered to me. They didn’t because I had no other choice. I made the choice to NOT drive.
Those long commutes were actually relaxing; I read books, listened to this then little known singer named Adele.
I’ve been using Uber heavily for the last couple of years because I have this notion, that, ‘it’s saving me time’. But for what exactly I’m not sure. Can I ‘spend’ it? Can I ‘save enough of that time’ and use it for something fantastically miraculous?
So far, I really have nothing to show for (again, choices?) so I thought, the weather has turned cold and dark. The buses are nearly empty. The walk would be good. So here we are…(and listening to Adele still).
It seems that as far as the weather is concerned, you will never quite know what you’re gonna get
I go for the full cream, full sugar one…
Well, couldn’t find a brioche bun bigger than this, but three patties it is!
My nephew had his prom/soiree over the weekend and it was light-years away from what we had at the old and dusty Sison Auditorium. I would actually like to travel back in time though to attend one
I’ve never had a sweet tooth and still ended up with a whole bunch of sweet treats, some of which I’m offloading to the people at work, and some which I’m having all to myself (the Silvanas).
My sister got me these through one of her (Filipino) friends.
A perfect hollandaise sauce from a first attempt
Finishing a book amidst all the distraction
Taking a nice nap after a go-see of all your current streaming subscriptions and finding nothing worth your while to watch
A clean kitchen for five straight days
30 squats
A couple of Hail Mary’s before you fall asleep
Getting onto Twitter and ‘walking away’ when coming across a MAGA supporter, a Republican, an anti-vaxxer, an LGBTQ+ agitator, a dumb politician, a misogynist, an anonymous, self-righteous white, male boomer, a whinging farmer, a conservative…
‘Walking away’ from purchasing another pair of shoes, jeans and hoodie
Being distracted by other people’s shit
Waking up the next day to a world still somewhat intact
I worked for two consecutive weekends, and it wasn’t like night shifts or repetitious things like on a conveyor belt or something, or that for meals, I had nothing but a pie and a glass of water. It was conducting seminars, smiling a lot, taking nice photos, dinners at this nice restaurant and generally just socialising. A bit of it was physical- but it was no different from, say, cleaning your house. But I was EXHAUSTED. DEAD TIRED. I wonder how I’d survive if I actually needed to work two jobs.
But you learn to pace yourself- two important things; 1) find time to exercise even if it’s no more than 15 min; 2) SLEEP WELL.
Twitter is vicious. Stepping into it without anonymity is both empowering and frustrating.
But who cares right? My gut feel is that the world is ending, and all these things that have trapped everyone into a never-ending combat of words is pointless.
I keep telling myself, step out of it- do you. Care for yourself alone and the people you love.
I asked a couple of questions over at ChatGPT…
7. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.
8. Found a new fried chicken place called Peach’s Hot Chicken
My siblings posted photos of the kids’ Valentine's Day dates on our family chat account- time flies. But I still feel the same though I doubt if I still look the same.
Have yet to find an available booking for a root canal; might use the money instead for some facial treatments.
People sometimes act strange. The good thing about it is that I don’t really consider them good/close friends, so I’m never really obliged to ask why. It’s good sometimes to go about your day just doing you.
It’s certainly hard to make (real) friends after a certain age, but I don’t mind. After all, I only made some well into my mid to late 20s and I can definitively say that friendship can be over-rated.
Back into semi-serious body-training again. Ugh.
I had to Google it- ‘how different is a typhoon from a cyclone’?.
Turns out they’re the same, with the name difference based on location.
But they don’t feel the same- and I should know, having been the veteran of a hundred or so typhoons since I was a baby. The year I was born (and I’m not telling you the year), a succession of strong typhoons inundated most parts of the island of Luzon. The deluge was such that BongBong M’s daddy intoned while surveying the damage from a helicopter, ‘“For the first time, the waters of Manila Bay linked up with those of Lingayen Gulf...”
Years later, older and not necessarily wiser, I had spent the night drinking in a friend’s house as a typhoon raged, not realizing that the worst was yet to come after I had passed out in their living room. When I woke up, nearly all the trees and power lines in Naguilayan were down. Our narra tree, planted the year Binky was born (I think) had fallen and I managed to crawl through it and get inside our house and pretend that I was home during the night.
When I came to New Zealand, it was a pleasant surprise to realise that there was virtually nothing in nature that could kill you. If you were harmed, it was basically because you made the decision to swim through the rip-tides, walk through the bush without telling anyone, or climb up a mountain unequipped with the right gear.
Nothing in this country was actually hostile until the weather started to change. And change it did, and now we have tornados (killed a Filipino worker a few years back) and cyclones that could be coming more frequently.
The topography of Auckland is strange because just over 40kms away from where we live- and that’s not a great distance- there were massive flooding and landslips, while we actually had none. But we didn’t take any chances even if what we did wasn’t much- I filled the bathtub with water in case the water supply was cut off, filled empty soda bottles with drinking water, kept my more expensive shoes away from windows, cooked an extra pot of rice…
And we waited as the slow-ass cyclone (moving at a glacial pace of 11kms per hour) made its way down. I set the alarm at 4am which would have been the time where it was nearest to Auckland. I slept through it and was woken up by the cat at 5am who wanted so badly to pee (we closed the laundry door to prevent the rain from going through the cat flap).
Everything was quiet. The house was intact. And I was in the middle of a dream where I was cooking Peking Duck, so I went back to sleep.