WorkTrips Bleugh

BIKSS has been away 2 out of the 3 weeks this month so far. That means we haven't had a lot of opportunity for his birthday feasting. 

We did manage a Korean fried chicken dinner before he left on Monday.

Salad with balsamic vinegar dressing AND YOGHURT! What??? Surprisingly it was quite delicious!

Fried cheese balls. Nuff said.

Crispy Korean style soy wings! Very very good. We ate all of it, which is amazing cos we don't usually finish our meals out. And then the food coma hit. LOL.

Last Thursday I took a day off to head across the border for a spot of shopping with the sister. I ended up getting lots of supplement drinks (berry juice, prune extract etc) and bird's nest! It's pretty expensive, well, the undiluted versions that is, and with the favourable exchange rate it was worth picking up a few bottles over there. 

I also ended up getting chips from Marks and Spencer LOL. Why not right? NOM NOM NOM~~~

Reunion Dinner

Today is the eve of CNY and Chinese folks all over the world typically have what we call Reunion Dinner with family. 

My brother basically declared a fortnight ago that he's not celebrating CNY this year (I didn't know it was optional) and my sister decided it's too much trouble to drag her clan (7 people including her mother in law and her caregiver) all the way to my house. And it's gotta be my place cos my mama aint moveable. 

So in a last minute effort at making something out of tonight (it's supposed to be a special occasion innit?) I dug into the fridge and me and the caregivers managed to whip up a splendid feast! For very little money.

Abalone (FOC from last year's office gifting) and broccoli (a dollar!)

Chicken in a kebab seasoning - (chicken thigh - $2.50, seasoning mix, lime, tomato - free from my caregiver's morning jaunts to our equivalent of a soup-kitchen - it's a charity organisation that distributes bento meals and other stuff like bread, veggies, pre-mixes, PET bottle drinks, and we even got a box of Reese's pieces once). 

Vegetarian Ngoh Hiang (frozen) - FOC - from soup-kitchen place. Chilli sauce for dipping - courtesy of Betty's mum who makes a very awesome chilli dip.

Anti clockwise from bottom  : Stir fried veggies with mock chicken (both free from food rescue) / Braised egg tofu (free from food rescue) / Prawns (courtesy of the sister) and potato (soup kitchen) in a chilli (soup kitchen) gravy. Garnishings - from my own fridge.

We even got a bottle of non alcoholic sparkly bubbly - FOC from soup kitchen

Now how's that for an under $5 reunion dinner? 

The best part is that it was full of laughter and merriment and we all took turns to feed mum whom we'd wheeled over to the dining table so she could eat with us. And despite the spills and mum's less-than-perfect eating / swallowing skills, no one got flustered or upset, we just took turns to wipe up, pass clean tissues around, swap one towel for another, pass soiled tissues to whoever was closest to the bin... it was great. My heart is overjoyed for this 'family' that has developed in my home. And for the lovely joyous dinner we shared tonight. 

WITHOUT my siblings. Who always stress me out when they descend upon me. 

I dare say this was my HAPPIEST reunion dinner ever!

Happy 'Long' Year everyone (say it like LOAN but with an NG at the end). 

Physio, Audio and Sciatica

So my audiology test went great. The doctor says no deterioration. There IS some level of hearing loss but it has remained stable over the last 3 years... so that's GOOD! I don't have to see him again till Jan 2026! 

Meanwhile BIKSS discovered at physio that he can't straighten his right leg lol. He just never noticed that after the meniscus injury he kept compensating with the other leg and never worked to recover full range of motion in the bad leg. 

It's a bit too late now that the joint has healed in the fashion it's healed in. Ah well. He's not too bothered. He joked that the physio took his pants down while he was lying on the massage table. When I pulled his pants off that night he said "You're the second person (not counting me) to remove my pants today". Tsk. Well I bet HE didn't give you a blow job did he? HAHAHAHA

(Um he'd better not have.) 

Ahem. 

These few days with the impending CNY holiday (this weekend!) I've been cleaning (and baking) and my back has been acting up because of it. Additionally today I felt the annoying pains of sciatica attacking my butt and hip and back of leg as I got up to go to work. Gah. Just what I need right now. Never mind. Boswellia to the rescue! 

I'm also pretty certain it's because I'm stressed (and pissed) at my boss. Long story short - he mentioned that he could hear me hollering at my colleague and more and more these days it seems. I said that's because if I don't stop her from making mistakes she's going to fuck up. As it is I made a mistake on a lab form (nothing major thank goodness) because I'm constantly keeping one eye and one ear on her. How is anyone supposed get any proper work done when they're constantly monitoring someone else?!

Anyway today I popped a St John's Wort cap and went to work bright and early. Transferred some templates to the back station lappy (where the colleague usually sits) and parked myself in the front. Where the registration happens. I've decided that instead of the fluid whoever's-available-do-the-next-thing system we've been using I'm marking out clear and distinct boundaries so that I shall just do my own shit and she can do her own shit and stop watching her and correcting her. If she fucks up then she fixes it. If she doesn't know how then she can make it the boss's problem. 

As Betty says, he doesn't FEEL the pain cos he never has to deal with the backlash of her mess-ups. I've always either prevented the problems or fixed them for her. I'm done. If he wants me to holler at her less, then I'm gonna holler less. Or not at all. 

It aint my problem anymore. 

Grrrr. 

Ok so now that that's out of the way - here's a plate of Indian skewered roast meats we had for dinner the last time we went out - he was away last week, is back this week, and will be away again next week. I'm not happy about it. But I suppose I'll have loads of time to catch up on my course, since I did absolutlely nothing last week (and probably this coming week too) with all the CNY prep.

Today's chips -  a friend came in from Perth (by way of Bali) and brought me some awesome snacks from Australia. Specifically I asked for two of the Chef Series flavours (can't get them here) but he added this one cos it's his wife's favourite and she wanted me to try 'em! I haven't yet... but I'm sure it's delish. Especially since I love cheese!