Almost Hump Day - Plants, Blogs, Follow

Yes, I *am* trying to post more frequently. 

1. Today my students' mum sent them over with pots in hand. There were two really tiny ones with coleus cuttings (what's the plural of coleus? Coleuses? Coleii?) and another with a just-rooted tradescantia nanouk (Pref, here's another tradescantia for you!).

(Btw, a quick foreign language lesson - in some Malay based languages like those used in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia, 'nonok' is a slang word for pussy. So I found the name of this plant rather amusing. I'm sure BIKSS did too.)

 👈 Nanouk 

I transferred it to a new pot I got just this afternoon (yes, I knew a plant would be coming today and  was out of pots) and then stuck a few hoya carnosa cuttings (which I got from my colleague yesterday) in to send back to her.

 👈 Hoya Carnosa

I didn't take a pic of the coleus..es..esii? cos they looked a little ill having been exposed to a little too much sun today. I'll see how they fare in a few days. Those things are pretty hardy, I'm told.

2. I've decided that I really like it when I leave a comment on someone's blog and they bother to reply. It makes me want to check that blog for a reply a day or 2 later, and then if there's another post up by then, I'll leave another comment... and then I'll come back and check a day or 2 later... rinse and repeat. 

When people don't reply I find myself not bothering to head back there cos there probably won't be a reply for me anyway... so ... 

So if I don't head to your blog for an extended period of time or if you think that I'm not there cos I don't comment, it's safe to say that I may still read, I just don't write cos what would be the point? 

Except of course if I don't leave comments ANYWHERE or if I'm not even posting on my own blog - then it's likely I'm just super busy. 

3. You know who replies but I don't think gets a lot of visitors? Cutiebootie. Check her out. She's on vacay at the moment so the replies and posts might be sporadic. But I love that she always replies my comment! (Of course some of you other suspects always do too, and I love you for it. I'm just sayin', she doesn't get a lot of visitors, so I thought I would do a shoutout.)

My mood pic today ~ 

I'm off for a walk with BIKSS. Ciao for now!

The Sunday Roundup - Men are Weird, Fruit Cake Bake and Charity Tabs

What else did I do this week? I taught the far-away kids twice this week. They're the boss's kids. Usually when I see them he's still at work (I work half days and come home at lunch, and then on some afternoons, lessons). 

But since I had an extra class with them on a Saturday, he was home and upstairs in his study... halfway thru lessons he traipsed down to to the kitchen so he gave me a "hey" and semi wave as he walked across my line of sight. I gave him only the "hey" arm-raise back as I was mid-sentence, talking to the kid, but figured I would chat with him properly after. 

After lessons I headed up to his study to say Hi, and see to his plants (he wanted plants, I gave him plants, he plonked them in the master bathroom, and then said, come look at your plant babehs so I went and looked at them). Well, I looked at them the week before; the wife didn't have a problem. Admittedly she was out, but I did say when I brought the plants over that the boss said I should check if they needed watering so it's not news to her, I don't think. The littlest boy took me up to where they were, I watered one of them and texted her to let her know that I had done so. I also told her don't worry about the plants cos I would continue to check in on them when I come round for class, and that I was headed out now. She seemed fine. 

Anyway, all this was to say that it was pretty awkward. I don't think my boss knows how to interact with me OUTSIDE of where-we-work. I'm (and BIKSS is too) pretty certain that the wife being present has something to do with it. 

I think the bottom line is he is willing to go to extra lengths / make concessions for me (that's a story for another time) which he might not do for just anyone else. And I think he thinks if he were to be too friendly his wife might raise an eyebrow. 

And now I'm wondering if she's thinking "Who's this person who buys him supplements (he asks me to - I don't just feed him with pills or nothing) and has managed to worm herself into our home where she's earned the trust of our children, and is now privy to my bathroom and everything in it because my idiot husband has given her access so she can check on the / "her" plants?"

BIKSS says probably not. But who knows right? Men think funny. And overcompensate. And then they start looking suspicious. Which is funny cos that's what they wanted to avoid in the first place innit? 

Anyway. I'm probably NEVER going to go over on a Saturday again. I think it's just better for everyone all round. 

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I started baking my fruit cakes today. And aside from the lowcarb / keto versions I want to try, I'm actually already done with all the regular sugar ones. 

I was pleasantly surprised when I ripped open the foil loaf tins and found that a pack contained not 5 but 10 pieces. Guess the sales guy got that mixed up. So now I had 30 instead of 15. LOL. I only needed 10 but got an extra pack just in case. 

Then I realised that I had almost a full packet of brown sugar in my larder, which meant I now had extra sugar too, as I bought what I would need for the bake based on having zero existing stock. Hm. I might be able to bake more cakes without having to buy too much more stuff, what with the extra loaf tins. 

Now usually the batter I get at the end of a mix fills 3 tins, but for some reason today's mix gave me 4! Hah. So now I'm going to end up with extra loaves anyway, and won't need to go out and buy more stuff to bake extra cakes. 

I felt like I was on that hill where the 5 loaves and 2 fish ended up feeding the thousands. 

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I discovered a website called Tab for a Cause as I was listening to an old episode of Dear Hank and John (you can find it on most platforms where you get your others podcasts) which I find absolutely hilarious.

And yes, it does really give money to charities. It's all legit. And it costs you absolutely nothing. If you have the extension on your browser, each time you open a new tab you collect a heart. And then when you've got a good number of them, you can send your hearts to a charity and they get money from it. It really is that easy. 

You can read about its legitimacy on this reddit page. 

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And I think that's pretty much all the rest-of-the-news from this side of the world. 

Have a good week ahead everyone. It's December. The year's almost over. And Covid is STILL raging on. Argh. For now we're still Omicron-free. But who knows how long THAT will last. We're supposed to be re-opening, slowly and cautiously, with groups of 5 being allowed to dine together (up from 2) but the PM has now announced that they're watching this stupid variant closely and further easing of restrictions may be delayed. Pfft. 

My mood pic today ~  (they sell these ornaments on Amazon, fyi)

The Week We Stuffed Our Faces

Ok, not the whole week. Just the ONE day in the middle of the week. 

2 very hungry people + 1 Chinese Restaurant = AlaCarteBuffetMADNESS!

At $35 per person it was a menu of 20 signature dishes + Shark fin soup (I don't usually partake... but that doesn't stop me from eating other stuff at a restaurant that has it on their menu. I mean, this is Asia, and it's a staple of Chinese restaurants here... so *shrug*) + a bunch of desserts + noodles and rice. We skipped the carbs and shared ONE dessert.

We had 18 dishes in all. Here's a collage - 

Coffee pork ribs / Fried chicken + gravy (I can't remember what it was called) / Prawns in herbal soup

Deep fried prawns with wasabi mayo / Roast Pork / Smoked Duck / Prawns in a garlic reduction

Fried soon hock fish / Broccoli with crab meat / Deep fried mushrooms in soy bean paste

Prawn roll  / Black pepper beef strips / Sweet sour pork with lychee 

Chilled cucumber and black fungus / Chinese cabbage 3 egg soup / Braised bean curd with mushroom

Can't remember what dessert was called but it was some jelly thing in a sweet light syrup!

And then we both went home with food babies and about half an hour after dinner the food coma hit. 

And we swore not to do that again. Well, anytime soon, anyway. 

:D

I would totally do that again!

On Friday BIKSS asked me out for dinner so I said yes. The mum has been feeling calm and even tho she's woken up in the middle of the night two nights in a row, she's not pissy and frustrated and agitated, so it's a lot easier for me to step out (I just tell her I have a class to go to and she's happy to let me leave) - I figure I may as well take the opportunity to have a bit of a life while the going is good. Who knows when I'll be back on house arrest. 

We went to the Chinese Halal fusion place we like (that link takes you to probably one of the last few sex-related posts I've written which is probably also the last time we went to that restaurant cos of DamnYouCovid) and managed to find something on their menu that fits into our diet plan that we actually haven't yet tried!  

Angus Ribeye Rendang (top) 

Stir-fried sambal kangkong (below)

(I always wonder if non-Asians have any clue what kangkong is - cos for the life of me I can't figure out what it's called in English! The Wiki page says :

"Ipomoea aquatica is a semi-aquatic, tropical plant grown as a vegetable for its tender shoots. This plant is known in English as water spinach, river spinach, water morning glory, water convolvulus, or by the more ambiguous names Chinese spinach, Chinese watercress, Chinese convolvulus or swamp cabbage, or kangkong/kangkung in Southeast Asia and ong choy in Cantonese. Its place of origin is not known.")

Since it was still pretty early when we got done with dinner, I texted mum's caregiver for an update. She said mum was in a good mood and lolling about in bed. I mentioned that if she was doing ok I might head out to coffee and stay out a little while longer. She was confident that the mother was going to be fine so off we went!

We went to Lady M (there was an outlet nearby) for cake and coffee like regular people who don't have to run home by 830pm to see to their demented mums on a Friday night. 

The truffle chocolate mille crepe cake wasn't a chocolate-truffle. It was a truffle truffle. I wasn't expecting that. It was still good, for me anyway. I do love a truffle oil infused anything. 

BIKSS isn't a huge fan of truffle anything. He'll eat it, but he doesn't love it the way I do. So I ordered an additional slice of strawberry shortcake. He had a cappuccino and I had a peppermint tisane. I do miss the lively conversations we have over coffee! It was a splendid evening 😊 Even if cake and coffee did cost more than dinner! 

In shopping updates - Yes, I officially declare my ban on shopping over! I even managed to apply for some retail bonds last week cos I had a grand just sitting in savings! - I picked up some more sneaker things because the last one I got was so super comfy I would be silly not to grab more!!! 

$10 shoes are the best things on earth. And it's hard getting my-size shoes in where-I-live at a decent price, so when Shein has cheap shoes, Fondles gets shopping! I also picked up a white pair similar in style to my previous grey ones for mum - so she can wear them to physio sessions cos the ones she wears now are a tad heavy. And my colleague and one of my girlfriends have piggy-backed on my shoe order too! So right now I am a shoe warehouse while I wait for them to pick up their loot LOL. 

I'm not the only one who's been online-shopping, BIKSS got a delivery of tee-shirts recently too! I'm so proud of him for having figured out how to online-shop on the cheap! Haha. 

Did you get enough to qualify for free shipping? Yes. 

Did you use that other payment app to get an additional $4 off? Yes. 

Phew. Ok. I think he's got it! 

Now all he has to do is write some reviews to earn some coins that he can put towards his next purchase. Oh, and use up the points in the payment app for additional discounts! 

My mood pic today is a beetle peperomia that I potted up for BIKSS this afternoon ~

Interesting fact - if you wait long enough, even individual leaves will start rooting (see those leaves half poking out of the soil?). Whether they'll thrive is another story. This pot contains 4 stem propogations and 3 leaf propogations. I'm curious to see if they'll survive. 

Physio and Philodendrons

The mother had her first physio session today at the rehab centre. I went with them, dropped them off at reception, and then ran off to see to errands at the pharmacy - collecting meds, buying supplies and all that other fun stuff. Then I went home. 

I am just going to grumble right now about the incompetence of the staff. At the end of the session they said to mum's caregiver that she had to pay them for the transportation they arranged for us. Um. No. There was no transport. We called an Uber.

Last week Ms Admin lady rang to let me know that if we wanted transport we had to come to the centre at 830 in the morning, since that was the only available time the wheelchair transport service could fit us in, and they only operate in the mornings. I said no, cos we have only just managed to get the mother on some kind of regular sleeping schedule and that's just way too early for her. If we force her out of bed at 7 she'll be sleepy come lunch time and then she'll want to take a nap and then she'll be up all night all over again. 

So I said we'll make our own way there, and forget about the transport. Ms Admin lady said she would see what afternoon slots she could find for us, then rang me about an hour later to confirm our 330pm physio appointments. Twice a week, she said, both in the afternoon, she said. Cos we're not going to need their transportation service, she said. Right? Right, I said.

So what's this about asking us to pay for transport? 

My caregiver explained the situation but they insisted she had to pay them. Well, she said no, and got pretty annoyed with the lady at the counter before Ms Admin lady (who was sitting beside the you-have-to-pay-us-for-transport lady) looked up and said "But your daughter said she wanted transport so we arranged transport for you." To which my caregiver practically rolled her eyeballs back into her spine as she said "You said it was for 830am, and we're not here at 830am right? We're here now. In the afternoon. After having made our own way here in a car." 

Ms Admin lady then said she had to check. Which she did. And 10 mins later she agreed that we didn't have to pay anything. 

I was not with them during this episode. And only heard about it when they got home. 

1) How incompetent is she? And seriously? If your transportation service only operates in the morning and it is now 430 in the afternoon, and your physio sessions are all only one hour long, then OBVIOUSLY we couldn't have been ferried over on your transport right?

2) Why are you asking the non-spokesperson to pay for shit when you have my phone number and I'm the one who's settling all of mum's bills (and they know this because I signed a ton of forms during the initial assessment visit last week)? 

3) Why don't you just call me and get clarification instead of asking my mum's caregiver who is clearly not the decision maker? 

Stoooopid shits. I'm not impressed by their work - this centre is run by the same people who operate the community hospital where mum was transferred to after her surgery. And I found them seriously lacking at that point too. Argh. 

And before you say anything - we don't really have a choice cos 

1) the government subsidises seniors quite a fair bit so it's not like we could pick ANY centre (I mean, we could, but we currently only pay $17 per hour - which is 20% of the full rate - at a subsidised centre, but if we went to a non-subsidised one I would be a pauper before the year was up!); 

2) even if we wanted to pay full price there would be no point cos the other centres are full (I checked) and this was the only one left that was accessible and relatively nearby; 

3) they have decent therapists, and their equipment range is awesome! They just have crappy admin / operations staff. 

Anyway. That got sorted eventually, but I still think they're idiots. 

Meanwhile, as I was leaving the building (with my haul from the pharmacy) I saw a guy dealing with the hydroponic plants on the feature wall and there were all these cuttings just getting thrown away. 

It wasn't a sunny spot, so these were indoor plants for sure. Perfect for my home no? 

I asked (shamelessly!) if I could take a few of the cuttings home with me and he was SO friendly and eager to let me have them. Here's an anthurium. What about a fern? Want a fern? This is a lovely one. Hang on, where is it. I chucked one out.. ah here it is. Take this. It's good. You want a money plant? I have many. They grow really fast. No? This is a fern too... if you like it I'll look for a root and pluck it out of the wall for you. 

No no no, don't pluck it out. I'll just take whatever you've ALREADY cut off. These will do nicely. Thanks again!

So now I have a Boston fern (extreme right), and his anthurium and money plant turned out to be philodendrons - Imperial Green I think (the big leaf in the middle) and Heartleaf (smaller leaves to the left). 

I came home and potted them up. I don't know if they'll survive the transition from water to soil, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. The philos should be ok, they're hardy things. But I'm not so sure about that fern. It looks a tad bit delicate to me. 

If that big one (top right) is what the app tells me it is, then I'm all good cos it's a self-heading (non-vining) plant and will contain itself in the pot for a pretty long while. But when I took the cutting home it looked to me like it *could* have been a vine. Still, we'll see in time. 

And that was my plant adventure today!

~~~~~

My mood pic today is a forked-up plant! ~

(Mum isn't the only one needing a tongkat (walking stick) for support - I propped up a couple of my raphidophora tetrasperma leaves on take-away forks cos they were droopy. The two bottom leaves were pretty limp when I got the plant from the plant-mama, and didn't perk up like I had hoped.  I'm happy to say, tho, that the new leaves that have sprouted since it's been here are all much firmer and stronger and standing tall! )

The Mother had a Birthday

It started on a Thursday - an old neighbour and my sister came to visit for tea. This was the day I went on my mini 'vacation' day. This was the reason I COULD go on a vacation day. 

On Friday I got a Chinese restaurant to deliver lunch - the sister and brother-in-law went to get cakes from Lady M cos mum requested it. I told her that the sister was coming round again the next day, she said why - didn't she just come today? And I said it was cos she wanted to bring birthday cake for her. So then mama said to ask her to get that awesome To-Die-For cake that I said I had when we celebrated my colleague's birthday a couple of months back. That itself was a win. She can't remember something I told her 3 mins ago but CAKE she remembers!

From top left - Broccoli with spicy garlic, steamed fish with ginger and some 'special' sauce that's a house specialty (bottom left), the two round tubs are a Szechuan hot and sour soup (top) and fish maw soup (below that), and on the right is a stir-fried chicken dish.

Clockwise from bottom left - Strawberry Shortcake (with the candle - mum chose this slice to stick the candle in); Miroir Caramel (I don't usually like caramel anything but this one was chocolate below and like a caramel pudding on top - totally yums!); Checkers - vanilla and chocolate sponge - sounds simple but so delicious!

In the evening a bestie came round to pick us up for a car-ride so mum could take in the Christmas lights in town. We did two drive-bys before coming home, which took all of 2 hours cos traffic was a bit of a pain. But since we DID just want to ooh and aah at the lights, it was fine. Mum had a jolly time pointing out this tree or that reindeer, stars, balls, flashing santas etc. I needed an activity that would give her something to look at without tiring her out and didn't involve food (chewing is difficult for her), so a car ride to look at lights was perfect. 

On Saturday my aunt and uncle came round and sat with her for about an hour. 

And on Sunday her son came by and gave her a potted curry leaf plant. It was probably the worst present this son could give this mother, but whatevs. Traditionally (for as long as I can remember) the kids give our parents a red packet on their birthdays to wish them good luck and good health etc. - it's a Chinese thing I guess. 

Mum said - well, he gave me a plant, I guess that's his idea of a present. I said I catered lunch and arranged a car-ride (my friend wouldn't let me pay for petrol so I gave her a red packet by way of thanks) and still gave you a red packet. The sister went and got the most expensive cakes on the planet and also gave you a red packet. He could have just put a tenner in the thing and it would have been fine. But no... he decided that he would give you a baby plant that his wife propogated that cost him nothing, except the pot and soil that came along with it. 

(I have photo evidence of the sister handing her red packet to mum!)

Argh. Fine. I'm just bitching. 

Anyway, in other news, the mother is walking much better now, a month after her discharge (2 months post-op), and tomorrow she starts twice a week physio at the rehab centre. 

Her new drugs seem to be working - she's calmer, not agitated, still says some strange things but doesn't get stressed out about stuff, and today she was absolutely brilliant. We sat in the room and watched telly on my laptop together. At one point as I settled into bed to lean on the pillow beside her she reached for my hand, and we watched most of the episode holding hands. That was the best part of my day!

My mood pic today ~ 

Fondles' Day Out and Dim Sum 101

We went mall-walking to get in our 20 mins of exercise. The mall opens early for the breakfast places to open up shop, even tho most of the main stores were still closed. We started at the top and went round each floor, making our way down to the supermarket where I picked up some of my favourite Bluebird potato chips! 

It was a good start to the day! 

Then we went to breakfast at a place known for its award winning barista. I didn't think the coffee was anything special. I mean, the mocha tasted like the mocha at Starbucks. The swan was pretty tho. BIKSS had a shlong cos it was a shlong and he was curious. We looked it up. I think it's an Aussie thing.

He said it was very sour, and very strong. Well, that's what you get for ordering a shlong! And now, moving right along! LOL

Breakfast was some truffle mushroom thing with poached egg and avocado for me, and spicy egg with chorizo for BIKSS. Like shakshouka but with hidden eggs.

It wasn't cheap. But it was very good. 

Next, a train exhibition where we got to walk through the cabins of the Orient Express. 

That typewriter!

BIKSS was the one who noticed the olde calculator. Fascinating!

That's me creeping up into the tiny compartment where I think the driver sat. Are train drivers called drivers? I know very little about trains, clearly. There was a tiny seat up there, and later on BIKSS said to me "If you had given me a blowjob in there I could say I got a blowjob on the Orient Express!" Yeah, no. That seat was filthy. Beyond filthy, even. Yuck. 

They even set up a "dead body" - hat tip to the Agatha Christie novel!

After that we headed back to the peking duck restaurant for dim sum! Lunch was considerably cheaper than the previous night's dinner. Heck, it was cheaper than breakfast! 

Here's a before-and-after. Clockwise from far left - 

• BBQ pork buns aka cha siu bao;  (learn to say it HERE)
• xiao long bao (dumplings filled with meat and broth) - each one sat on a slice of carrot so the skin doesn't stick to the basket it's served in, which is a trick that other restaurants should employ, imo; 

Learn to say it here 👆

• fried prawn and mango beancurd skin rolls (aka fu pi juan - sorry, couldn't find a video)
• har gow  aka shrimp dumpling (or bonnet! - isn't that a cute name?) (learn to say it HERE); 
• fried shrimp wontons / dumplings  (learn to say this HERE);
• and in the middle, steamed dumplings in a red chilli oil which we call hong you 紅油 (red oil) chao shou 抄手 (what these dumplings are called - NOT every dumpling goes by this name fyi) , but some places call them suan la 酸辣 (sour and spicy) chao shou 抄手 (dumplings). You can learn more HERE  

Because Dim Sum is a Cantonese cuisine, a lot of the dishes are known by their Cantonese names. However since many Chinese communities now speak Mandarin (we learn this in schools here) some of the dishes are also known by their Mandarin names. 

For example, har gow, won ton, and cha siu bao are Cantonese, while xiao long bao, fu pi juan and hong you chou shou are Mandarin names.

Anyway, it was awesome and after that we went to catch Venom : Let There Be Carnage. But there was some time before the movie, so we roamed around a bit and found a Daiso. We ended up buying some teabags for his loose leaf teas, a pack of teeny pots for my baby plants, and then it was movie time! We shared a large mixed popcorn and Coke Zero and by the end of the movie I was rather stuffed! I didn't have dinner that evening. 

After the movie it was time to head home. BIKSS made a detour for me to pick up something from a friend's place and then dropped off a very exhausted Fondles back home! 

And that was our mini 'vacation' day! 

It was perfect!

My mood pic today ~ 

LoL Day Number 16

I will be coming up to my 10th year of blogging soon and in all that time the one thing that has kept me coming back each time I've taken a break is the kindness of the people in Blogland. 

The people who understand me, not just the spanko bits or the DDlg or D/s bits, but me - the regular person with regular problems who's navigating life as best she can, with a side of kink, preferably! 

For all of you I am grateful. 

For those of you who comment and write to me and share your private lives with me, I am honoured. 

For those of you who read but don't comment, I thank you for stopping by and I hope what I write makes you feel not-so-alone, comforted, encouraged, commiserated with, or even fill you with a touch of Schadenfreude if that's what you need at that moment! 

I write because of all of you, and most of all I couldn't do it without BIKSS' encouragement and support. 

I daresay he's my number one fan. 

While we haven't had a lot of playtime in recent months / years, we're glad for the lessons of the early years - communication, patience, respect, etc etc. You know the list right? 

These are things that have kept us able to stay sane during this strange time of upheavals in my life. 

So here I am. Because of all of you. 

Thank you for loving us! Happy Lol Day everyone!

(Thanks to Hermione for hosting!)

The Pre 'Vacation' Day Dinner

Once a week I travel to far far away for lessons and that far far away is really pretty close to BIKSS' office. 

Yesterday was such a day. We met for dinner after work at a very old established Chinese restaurant serving Cantonese fare, but with some Teochew style desserts on the menu.

The foodie app gave us a 50% discount and even then the bill came up to $80. It's not a cheap place for sure, but it *is* a bit of an institution in the world of Chinese restaurants. The food was good, the service was excellent. And the restaurant was pretty much all ours for half our meal, before other diners came in. (Covid restrictions etc.)

The two wait staff you see at the far end were busy preparing our Peking duck! It's not something one has at a regular everyday meal, but since it was halfway affordable at 50% off, we decided to have some! 

We also had a crystal prawn wasabi thing that BIKSS didn't think was the greatest, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. 

The fish and tofu are served in individual portions. Original price - $20 each. Yup, without the foodie app I don't think we'd even think about stepping into this place. 

Steamed Fillet of Sea Perch with Mui Choy in Superior Soya Sauce

It really was quite delicious. That soya sauce was also quite superior. LOL. I mean, it wasn't sharp and overly salty. Just the right amount of umami to go with the salted mui choy (preserved mustard greens).

Braised Home Made Tofu with Local Spinach and Baby Abalone

BIKSS isn't an abalone fan. I am. I had the abalone. Which tasted of everything else except abalone until I got to the very middle of it as I was chewing and then it was ALL abalone in my mouth and I could taste nothing else. It was an interesting experience! He is, however, a tofu fan. And I think he had a good time with this one. 

Dessert was so decadent I feel like I've made up for a whole year of good eating with this one extravagance! Deep fried red bean pancake is a popular Teochew style dessert that's really just a sweet red bean paste (yes, carbs, yes, sugar) inside a deep fried pastry shell (yes, fried, yes, carbs, yes, oh just YES to all the bad stuff!)

BUT SO GOOOOOOD! BIKSS had 3 squares, I had 6. And the remainder is sitting in my fridge. 

And today we head out for our 'vacation' day! I think there might be a way for us to squeeze in a dim sum lunch at the same restaurant (they don't have dim sum in the evenings or I would have totally had some yesterday!) before we catch a 3 o clock movie! 

I'll take more pictures :D

My mood pic today ~ is a tradescantia z that was given to me by a patient! It wasn't the healthiest looking plant when it came to me. So I took it home, pruned, trimmed, chucked out the rotting bits, and repotted. Taller stems in one pot, and shorter ones in another.

'Vacation' Day

We decided to take the day off work this Thursday and go do stuff together. We're gonna have a leisurely breakfast at a place with an award-winning barista. Then it's off to some garden thing and a pop-up exhibit, where there is a Michelin star cafe and restaurant on-site that costs way too much for our budget. So perhaps we'll get us a quick coffee there, then a dim sum high tea for some real food after. I have to get that bit sorted with BIKSS.

Then we're hoping to catch Eternals in the afternoon and that's as far as we've gotten in our planning. Me. I mean me. That's as far as I've gotten in the planning! LOL. I can't check showtimes right now cos the schedule changes every Thursday and most cinemas only release timings on Wednesday evening / night. This is not good when I'm trying to plan the day in advance haha. 

There was supposed to be a posh spa session in between but when I rang to make a reservation they informed me that all the massage slots had already been booked up and the soonest they can fit us in is DECEMBER! 

Maybe we'll go get a massage elsewhere. Lemme see what I can find. 

For now, that's what I'm looking forward to. A vacation day with Daddy without leaving the country!

My mood pic today ~ 

Scoop Wholefoods And BIKSS Swoops Whole Crabs

The one TINY spark of ttwd (that I'm not putting in caps because it's just so tiny) that surfaced recently happened yesterday. But first, the story.

I was waiting for BIKSS to get done with a client meeting and had gone to wander around a nearby mall. I picked up some mixed chocolate covered macadamia balls from Scoop (overpriced, if you ask me) and a bunch of yoghurt covered apricot + almond nuggets (those squarish shaped things). This bottle (plus 5 balls and 3 nuggets) cost me about US$12.50. And they're not even as awesome as some of the chocolate treats I got when I was in Sydney or Perth. On the tub it says things like "A staple of Australian chocolate shops" and "An Australian best-seller". Pffft. I don't think so. 

(Coaster for size reference)

While there I saw this and thought it was funny. Balls would have been fine. But calling them BLISS balls, that tickled me somewhere in my brain. At US$2 a ball, I didn't bother buying one to try.

So anyway BIKSS got done and texted me to head back to the appointed pick-up point. As I was waiting for him to get there he sent me a text. Remember how we said we were going to try new places depending on what the food-discount app threw at us based on our location? So earlier he had suggested eating at the Halal Chinese Fusion restaurant we'd been to a few times before, and I reminded him of our try-new-places plan. He agreed. 

So that text I got? It said "U looking where to go?"

Oops. Me : "I am *NOW*"

BIKSS : "Gd Girl 😍"

Now sometimes he makes the plan, when he has time to much about in the office while I'm running around dealing with mother issues, but seeing as how I had an hour on the train doing nothing, and another 20 mins to kill buying chocolates, and lots more waiting time in between this and that, it didn't seem fair that he should also be the one searching while driving to come get me! 

We ended up at a really old, NOT fancy hotel that reminded us of the place across the border that we used to drive to for mooncakes and Chinese New Year treats,  and I laughed and said - hey, since we can't travel due to this wretched Covid thing, at least we can PRETEND we're in another country! 

He agreed that it did have a very, um, old and rustic feel lol. 

So, it was an actual buffet this time, not a semi one, but instead of helping yourself to the food, you tell the servers behind the counter what you would like and they heap it onto a plate for you. 

Sorry Roz, look away, it's gonna be all about seafood from here on. 

I don't often have crawfish, but this black pepper sauce was pretty yummy. Pity the effort to returns ratio for eating crawfish is so NOT in favour of the returns. BIKSS peeled a couple for me and I gave up after that. 

Crabcake sliders. We ate the insides, and left the outsides. When we went back for seconds we asked the kind lady if she could forget about the bread and just give us the crabcakes. She obliged, and we were happy. 

That's crab in some kind of curry-type gravy that I wasn't a huge fan of. BIKSS had a total of maybe 4 of those servings. Maybe 2 whole crabs in all. He really enjoyed his dinner. 

We also had salmon sashimi, a salad, some sushi (by some I mean a piece each lol), some roast beef with a side of pumpkin and potatoes, I tried a bite of his lamb, and he went on to have some mushroom soup, crab soup, roast duck, and pork knuckle. Dessert was a slice of durian swissroll each, and I had a bit of chocolate fudge cake while he had the cheesecake and a bowl of hot barley with gingko nut.

I only realised when we finished dinner and were getting back into the car that I had totally failed to take any more photos after the crabs. So you will all be spared pics of raw fish, roasted meats and sweet treats! 

I am officially declaring all our meals from now till the end of the year Christmas dinners! Yes I've decided that BIKSS and I shall enjoy our infrequent dinners as much as we can since Covid and mum's condition have pretty much stolen everything else from us! 

My mood pic today ~