Conveyor Belt HotPot and Hidden Japanese Gem

This chain has just opened a 4th restaurant and not only do they have individual hotpots (which is what the other 3 restaurants have), there's a little bbq hotplate thing too for you to grill your meats should you so choose. 

We tried their mutton shabu shabu (thinly sliced meat) - it was better on the grill than in the soup! Not bad overall.  

We've also recently been having dinner at not-the-usual times cos BIKSS has a shitty work arrangement at the moment. The hunt for a new job is still ongoing. Meanwhile, we've had to look for places that don't close too early cos he only gets done at 8-ish on some days.  Here's a Jap place near my house that came highly recommended. I understand why my friends are raving about it. It's a real hole in the wall kinda joint, a shophouse on the ground floor of a residential block. But totally worth the trip!

Mushroom truffle soup. BIKSS isn't a fan of truffle anything. And he's a huge fan of soup. He likes his soups a certain way. So for him to give this a thumbs up says something!

Sashimi salad with wafu dressing. Fresh veggies, fresh juicy sashimi slices, and they were generous with the dressing. I hate it when there's not enough dressing to go over all the greens!

The most delicious thing on our table. He like a good wok-hey in his fry ups. And this buttered mushroom stir fry had really good wok-hey! (Or wok-hei - I shared a video about this distinct wok aroma in THIS POST)

And finally, bacon-wrapped asparagus, chicken meatballs in tare (teriyaki sauce this one was), chicken breast with cheese, and bacon-wrapped tamago (egg omelette). I think in future I'm just gonna steer clear of the bacon-wrapped anythings. It's just way too salty for me. 

I think overall that was an A plus dinner! I definitely wanna go back again to try some of their other yakitori!

Enjoy today's chip pic! 

I'm Broke. Caregiver Updates. Calamity Bikss. More Food Pics.

Basically I have not a lot of cushioning in my bank account at the moment cos I've just spent a ton of money getting the replacement caregiver. And so I've been trying to buy groceries for cheap. Mainly whatever's on sale. I'm picking cheaper food options - Potatoes. Spaghetti. Sardines. And also whatever frozen veggies, fruit and cheap meat/fish that's on special! 

Not too bad, I must say. I'm going to have to steer clear of the fresh cheeses, artichoke dips and truffle mushroom spreads for a while. While I'm not a huge fan of frozen mixed veggies (carrots, corn and peas)  I'll eat it if I have to LOL. Beggars can't be choosers. A $5 pack will last us 4 meals. In comparison, getting fresh veggies comes up to something like $3 a meal. Frozen catfish is $8 for 3 meals. Other fish portions cost about $6 a meal. And there was a 2-for-1 on whole chickens so that was fortuitous. 

As for the new caregiver, when she said she could only speak a little English, she really meant a little English. That was all the English she knew. "Simple, a bit a bit" was what she said. And really that's all she says. So we're currently on a quest to get her comfortable with English words. Youtube pre-school phonics and simple vocabulary for tiny tots to the rescue! We've put together a playlist and she's watching that daily. When she can she'll follow along and mimic the sounds, but if not, at least it's just playing in the background and she can listen to the words being said. We're talking "C, A, T, cat, F, A, T, fat" level. 

And the previous caregiver? Her mum passed away on Monday. She texted to let me know. I felt bad for her, but it's a good thing she managed to go home to see her before she passed, I thought. I told the rest of my household about it, and that's when all the stories started flying fast and furious. Turns out she wasn't very conscientious about her work while she was here. We also have reason to believe she stole some money from my tenant. Basically my first / primary caregiver was picking up all her slack. She didn't tell me sooner because she didn't want me to question her thereby making things awkward between them. Le Sigh. Anyway, I'm feeling cheated, if you know what I mean - like I was taken advantage of. So I'm glad she was only here for a year. I hope this new one, no-speaking-the-English as she is, will be a more sincere / genuine carer to mum. According to caregiver number 1 so far she seems to be a "better" worker and a "nicer" person.

Recently BIKSS has had a bunch of bad luck with health related things. He had a cavity that needed seeing to. And then he caught a bug so he took a few days off work to recover. When he was getting over that his tooth began to hurt (he had trouble with our dumpling dinner - see pics below) and the dentist told him there was a chip on his molar. And, get this, neither he nor his dentist knows if the bit that chipped off was part of the tooth, or a previous filling. He also went to see the ortho guy yesterday for his meniscus tear. Turns out it's past the window for any surgery at this point or something like that. And so he's just going to have to live with a bum knee. 

In a bid to spend less on dinners (due to my broke-ness), we went in search of near-residential-areas food centre fare! Here's the dumpling dinner that was giving BIKSS grief in the tooth - steamed chilli oil dumplings  and fried potstickers from two different stalls at an old food centre near Chinatown. The one on the right was featured in the 2016 Michelin guide.

We preferred the NOT Michelin version. Each plate costs about $5, which is dirt cheap really. Most places sell these for about $8-10. Some places even go as high as $12. We think we should sample some of the other offerings in this food centre. A good rule of thumb is that if ONE stall sells their stuff cheap, most of the others will do the same. 

We also managed a whole afternoon together yesterday after BIKSS' ortho appointment. We went to the indoor food court at a downtown mall, hoping (fine, I was hoping, but I think BIKSS was skeptical) for a cheap-ish lunch. I was wrong. The mixed croquettes and skewered meats and a bowl of vegetable soup cost us a grand total of $32.

Yikes. Ah well. Food is expensive. After that we went to a newly re-opened cultural museum for a quick walkabout and then had dinner at a cafe near my place. I thought this Star Wars plate was a hoot!

Japan, Saga prefecture, Arita 2017

Brussels Bacon - Those mini cabbage heads were cooked in bacon fat. OH SO GOOD!

Cauliflower Salad - Grilled cauliflower with baby spinach, quinoa, pine nuts, almonds, grilled halloumi and pomegranate which I could have done without, but still... mostly all of my favourite things!

And instead of chips, today I shall leave you with this :

Pine nuts and almonds on grilled cauliflower

Quinoa, tomatoes for heart boosting power

Throw in some citrus for flavour and zing

These are a few of my favorite things 

Brussel sprouts fried in some fat bacon drippings

Water is best for some thirst-quenching sipping

Spare me the carbs and the sugars they bring

These are a few of my favorite things

When im hungry, tummy’s rumbly,

When food must be had

I simply will order my favourite things

and then I dont feeeeeel so baaaad.

Purple Bread, Pizza Bread, Hungry Ghosts

Yesterday's breakfast. 

Sweet potato bread with beans and egg for breakfast. The best bread substitute I've found so far.

Recipe - boil and mash whatever sweet potato you can find -I used a purple one. 

Mix together 1 cup sweet potato, 2 eggs, 2 tblsp olive oil 

Slowly mix in 300g milk powder (I divided mine into 3 portions)

OIL YOUR HANDS thoroughly then use a spoon to grab dollops of the dough, transfer into your VERY OILY HANDS,  roll them into whatever shape you like before setting on a baking sheet (lined / oiled / buttered) 

Bake for 35 mins in a preheated oven at 160°C or in an air fryer for 30 mins at 140°C (I turned mine over and chucked them back in for another 5 mins just to make sure the bottom was nice and toasted too).

 

I halved the recipe and got 6 rolls.

We sent our caregiver to the airport yesterday. BIKSS came to get me after work, we ate a mixed plate of meat for lunch (with a caesar salad) and I did some grocery shopping, then he came back to my place to pick her up. After sending her off we went back to mine, where we played for a bit... then headed out to a little local place for sourdough pizza.

4 cheese and a side of dips with bread for dipping - Tzatziki, peppers+eggplant, and hummus.

Today is the first day of the 7th month in the Lunar Calender. aka - Hungry Ghost month

"According to Chinese folklore, the Ghost Month is a time when spirits of their dead ancestors and relatives visit the world of the living. As such, they refrain from doing things such as traveling, starting a business, or moving to a new home as these may upset the spirits." - from HERE

You can also read about it on Wikipedia:

"In Chinese culture, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm (diyu or preta). Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (or Tomb Sweeping Day, in spring) and Double Ninth Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, during Ghost Festival, the deceased are believed to visit the living."

In other words - the spirits are loose, don't do anything unnecessary. And by unnecessary the old folk mean anything that could potentially be risky. This includes travelling (including getting on a boat to go fishing), swimming, dangerous sports, embarking on a new career, giving birth (I'm not kidding!), scheduling surgeries or medical appointments, trying exotic foods... anything that could kill you in the process of doing it - DON'T do it. 

Do I believe in it? Um, maybe? Let's just say if there's no reason for me to be out and about, I'll just stay at home. If I can exercise indoors, I will. Do I believe in spirits? Kinda...  But the bigger reason I prefer NOT to be out and about is the smoke and ash and burning incense that takes over the entire city.

It's like stinky fog. And you're not supposed to walk over or step on offerings either.. but they're strewn willy nilly all over the place. It's highly likely you'll have stepped over SOMEthing before the month is through. So yeah. I'll just sit my ass down at home if I can help it. 

Here's a Youtube video telling you more about the Hungry Ghost Month and The Hungry Ghost Festival (15th day of the 7th Month) - 

Enjoy today's chips! 

Shingrix Part 2, More Skincare Arrivals and The Perfect Dinner

BIKSS is out of town this weekend so I wanted to get my shingles jab on Friday and sleep it off since date-night's been cancelled. But I got a call the day before telling me I needed to pick up my replacement caregiver that day. At first I thought maybe I should postpone it, but in the end I decided to go ahead anyway - the plan was to get jabbed just as I was done with work, run down to the agency to pick her up before all the side effects hit, hop into a rideshare home, introduce her to everyone and then leave them to handle her orientation before falling into bed. 

It was a good plan too. I got back, showered, and promptly hit the sack. The second dose is supposed to hit you worse. They weren't kidding. I don't remember feeling this achey when I did the first one, even tho THAT was already bad enough, from what I remember. 

Today is day 2 and I'm still knocked out. Took something for the myalgia and chills, and drifted in and out of sleep all day. 

My skincare arrived - not the 2GF I initially went hunting for, that one's still on the way - and I am now happily pumping amino acids all over my face in an attempt to rehydrate it. 

Left - Ample N Ceramide Cream;  Right -VT Cosmetics Super Hyalon Ampoule 

(which contans 8 molecular weights of hyaluronic acid and a whole bunch of amino acids!)

I saw a tip on a skinfluencer's Youtube channel - consider layering the same hydrating essence or toner before moving on to the next step (serum or moisturiser), he says. He did his essence 5 times! I could definitely get behind that IF I'm sitting in front of the lappy or just chilling around the house. Not suitable for morning make-up before running off to work tho. Who's got time to wait for so many layers to dry? 

However, I do have a bottle of bamboo water face mist on my desk now. I'm enjoying the constant hydrating!

This RiRe Collagen stick is similar to the moisture stick I got for BIKSS. It doesn't SAY it's cooling but it IS, which was a brilliant surprise to me. It glides on super easy and isn't sticky / tacky on the skin. Perfect for vacays or just carrying around.

I've been using RNW's ceramide serum, and loving it, so I picked up their ceramide mist. Because I plan to mist a whole lot more now that it's hot hot hot where I live, and looks to be getting hotter! And your girl loves her ceramides.

Last week we managed dinner on Tuesday night before BIKSS left, and since he'd been having a shitty time at work and I'd been having a stressful week dealing with the employment agency, government agencies, and what not, I suggested getting dinner at a small quiet place where we could chill, talk and not be disturbed by noisy families or kids. We headed to the French bistro we discovered a couple of years ago. It has never disappointed and it didn't this time either. 

We had a cheese plate with fig jam, some duck rilette on sourdough, and slow cooked chicken with mushrooms and potatoes. 

Their dessert of the day was profiteroles - not the best I've had, but edible.

I wore a new dress, new sandals, and my new silver bag. Because I felt like pulling out the stops. Yes, it has been THAT sort of a week. This was my outfit - 

and I felt REALLY good in it! Sometimes you just gotta get all dolled up to pull yourself out of the doldrums. 😉

Happy Weekend all!

Friday's Food Find, Geeking Out about Growth Factors, and Amazing Amazon

Update on date night last Friday - I wore a spaghetti strap dress with my faux Fendis. It looked absolutely fantastic, in that effortlessly put together, casual sort of way, while still being polished and classy! I think the slippers are pretty glam, as far as sandals go! 

So anyway we went to a Vietnamese cafe that we saw on a blog, and the Bun Cha is the best one I've tried so far! The soup was identical to the very first one we had in Hanoi. Unfortunately I can't say the same of the noodles. Still, it was very delicious. I think that's going to be our default Bun Cha place from now on. For starters we had yam and pork rolls... delish! Altho to be fair I'm biased. I love yam rolls. 

And that's the bun cha platter for 2, with a honey, lime, chrysanthemum drink. 

**** From this point forward I'm going to be geeking out a little bit about skincare, 

so if that's not your thing, please feel free to exit... stage left. ****

And now, on to EGF in skincare. If you haven't heard of it, it stands for Epidermal Growth Factor and you can read about it on the INCI decoder website.

In a nutshell (taken off the INCI site) :- 

• Growth Factors are cellular signal molecules that can stimulate cell growth, proliferation, healing and/or differentiation. 
• There are lots of Growth Factors and EGF is just one of them. 
• It has pretty well-established wound healing and skin renewal properties.
• According to a 2012 study on a serum containing barley bioengineered epidermal growth factor, "clinical evaluations showed statistically significant improvement in the appearance of fine lines and rhytids, skin texture, pore size, and various dyschromatic conditions apparent within the first month of use, and continuing improvement trends for the duration of the study" (which was 3 months).

Be warned tho (also taken off the INCI site) :-

The first and biggest concern is that if EGF is so good at stimulating cell proliferation, how does it relate to cancer? Is the definition of cancer not "cells proliferating out of control"?  Most experts agree on this answer: EGF is mitogenic (= stimulates cell proliferation) but not mutagenic (= does not alter the cell to make it cancerous). If you do not have cancer, you will not get cancer from EGF. However, if you have cancerous cells, EGF will help them to spread, just like it helps healthy cells. So if you have a lot of moles, excessive UV exposure in the past, or if you have any of the skin cancer risk factors, we suggest you should think twice about using EGF products. The same is true if you have psoriasis, a skin disease related to the abnormal growth of epidermal skin cells. You do not want to add fuel to the fire with EGF. 

Other (less serious) concerns are if EGF can properly penetrate the skin (as it is a medium-sized, polar molecule, so a special delivery system is probably needed), if it can affect collagen synthesis (or just works on the surface plumping up only the upmost layers of the skin) and if it has beneficial effects at all when used in isolation versus when used in a "conditioned media" that contains lots of growth factors resembling the synergistic balance found in the skin. 

I don't think I'm a particularly high-risk candidate tho, so I decided to go ahead and get something I've had my eye on for a while. 

Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Hyaluronic Botanical 2GF Wonderful Ampoule

On the website where I usually get my Kbeauty stuff, the Haruharu 2GF Ampoule costs about US$60. Their official retail site lists it at the same price.  But on one skinfluencer's Youtube video she mentioned that it was way cheaper on Amazon. So I looked. Yup. US$20.90. But then I'd have to pay for shipping. Unless... 

So I went to look at the price on my own country's Amazon site - similar - and free shipping with minumum purchase. Right. Let's pick up something else that qualifies for the same shipping offer.

One Cerave product I've not seen in where-I-live is the Skin Renewing Eye Cream - which contains both peptides AND ceramides - two of the things I get excited about in skincare these days. (If you're wondering what else turns me on, I'm also loving anything-ferment, aka probiotics - which you can read about HERE - and of course, good ol' retinol. Oh, and AHAs.)  

Cerave Skin Renewing Eye Cream

While shopping I discovered two more items, from a brand that was new to me. Another Kbeauty oldie but goodie - Easydew. It boasts EGF in its entire range, but I'm assuming at these prices the concentration's gonna be pretty low.

Easydew EX DW-EGF Nutrition Ampoule Intensive Eye Care

(I don't know why it's so expensive on the US site, I bought it for US$8 on my local site. You should check out your local Amazon to compare prices, methinks.)

The green one I got is a firming anti-wrinkle formula, and there's also a pink version for brightening (dark circles anyone?) which is creamier and better suited for night time use. 

I'm also loving mists right now, cos the heat is stupid maddening. I have a bamboo one, a ceramide one, and a ceramide+peptide one on the way. BUT which mist-loving girl will say no to an EGF mist right? 

Easydew EGF Cream Glow Mist with Niacinamide, Panthenol, Peptides & Vegan Extracts, Intense Hydration for Dry & Dull Skin, Soothes and Strengthen Skin Barrier I Not Tested on Animals, Clean K-Beauty

I just love the descriptions on shopping sites, don't you? LOL. This one's got adenosine, peptides, niacinamide, and EGF! Plus a bunch of flower extracts that are supposed to be great anti-oxidants. I got mine for just under US$10. (The US site lists this as US$20 for a 2-pack so it's pretty much the same price, only you gotta buy 2.)

Anyway, so that's that... I'm going to wait patiently for the stuff to arrive :) 

Meanwhile, I'm off for a walk with the mama!

 

Friday Night Outfit Ideas Anyone?

I have a date with BIKSS tomorrow night and I'm excited to take these out for a spin.

The NOT Fendi slides arrived this morning - more comfortable than I imagined so that was a happy surprise...

...along with the NOT Gucci bag strap - the colours were more intense than I expected, based on the pics I saw online, so another happy surprise.

I just don't know what CLOTHES I'm wearing with them yet! I'm accepting suggestions for outifts! 

Meanwhile - and this used to be a sex blog so I guess I can talk about this here - I have a little bump/abscess at the groin / inguinal crease - at least I THINK that's what it's called / bikini line.  And it lines up perfectly with my underwear so that it hits me right about where the X is on this picture - 

And now I'm on a course of doxycycline to try and bring the inflammation down. 

The doctor did mention that if it's really tense and hard she might be able to slice into it and get the "juice" out - her words not mine! But at the moment it's not quite "ripe" yet so let's just try and coax it down. It might flare up again (it's the not first time I've had this pet bump show up) but until it's more solid (which she thinks will eventually happen if it keeps on coming back again and again) we won't be able to do much by way of excision.

Me, I'm not convinced that she knows what it is. And she didn't give it a name except to say it's some kind of folliculitis, like an ingrown hair... which, again, I'm not convinced it is. 

Of course I turned to the internet for help, since my boss taking a look at it would just be all sorts of weird, and I've decided it sounds very much like a blind pimple. 

Or, the boss says, it could be a cyst. In which case if the antibiotics succed in bringing down the inflammation now, be warned that the walls of the cyst will still be present and it could always rise again. Like the machines in Terminator 3. Yeesh. 

But at least it's not keeping me awake at night anymore like it did 2 nights ago. 

I'm going to have a chocolate chip cookie today instead of just potato chips. Because it's been that kind of a week! 

Shopping, Spending, Saving

I showed BIKSS this moisture stick that I thought might come in handy for him. He sometimes gets flaky/dry skin on his forehead and has discovered that moisturizer works wonders. He said he wouldn't mind giving it a try, as it might be less messy than a tube / cream version. (USD$3.20)

While I was adding to cart, I also added these Valentino dupes (original - US$1,037.88) which arrived today - and I'm loving them. (USD$5.60)

(Left, my feet in the dupes. Right, a model's feet in the originals.)

And I love a good tote, who doesn't right? At 6 bucks, why not!!

All in all I actually paid USD$7.37 for all three items cos I had some points in my wallet. 

How's that for a steal. 

But sadly I think my shopping days are over. 

My second caregiver has had some bad news from home and I asked her if she wanted to terminate her contract early so she can return home to care for her own mother. I can't in good conscience keep her here to look after MY mum when her own mum is in worse shape right now. So I'm back at the agency applying for another live-in caregiver, which will cost me an upfront payment of something like 5 grand, which includes a non refundable fee of about 1.6k. Ah well. It is what it is. She's been good to mum and I'm sorry to see her go, but what can we do eh? 

So that's it for my shopping sprees then. I'm just glad I didn't make any LARGE purchases when I thought I was a little more fluid. Instead I stuck whatever I could in bonds and bills and time deposits, so, really, all the bits and bobs were paid for by interest I'd earned over the months from all the squirelling away of funds. 

I honestly don't know the exact number, but I'm pretty sure I've made about 200 bucks from interest in various places over the last half a year or so. Considering I don't have a lot of capital to begin with, that's better than nothing. At the very least I'm not out of pocket for all that shopping! 

Now that I'm going to be emptying some of those time deposit accounts, it's time to start saving up again.

Today's chip pic is something close to my heart...