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A Quiet Celebration

27 Apr

Another year older, another year wiser, so the saying goes. This year, the birthday celebration is very different. Both of us are homebound, like 2020, unable to travel anywhere beyond our state border for a birthday getaway celebration. I supposed it’s okay. Better to be safe given the current pandemic that we are facing.

I have lost count of the number of CMCO extensions. And despite several extensions to curb the spread, positive cases are on the uptrend. Very worrying, so it is better to stay put.

The only thing different this year compared to last year’s birthday celebration is the MCO status. Last year, we were under MCO lockdown and had dinner ordered online and delivered. M2 was back then too.

This year M2 is not back yet, and M1 is still in the US, and we are under the CMCO phase, which allows dining in at restaurants. So hubby took me to dinner last night but not today itself. Today will be a round of golf with friends followed by a one-meter-apart-seating luncheon that I anticipate will be a boisterous occasion. So much for a quiet celebration!

I reflect on my life and am thankful for what I have and what I have achieved. The most important thing is I am healthy–save for my occasional Endometriosis issue–and able to do the things I love and be with friends I enjoy. A different celebration is, nonetheless, a happy birthday celebration!

A lovely Japanese dinner to celebrate my birthday!

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Chap Goh Meh 2021

26 Feb

In a blink of an eye, the Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year is ending. Today is Chap Goh Meh, the 15th day of the Lunar calendar. It has been a very uneventful Chinese New Year for us. No Reunion Dinner with our family and no ‘Yee Sang’ to toss as we avoided lunch and dinner gatherings with friends.

Under normal circumstances, we would have done several lunches and dinners with friends and family by now. The ‘Yee Sang’ dish would be the main attraction besides friendship, chatter, and food. But alas, this is wishful thinking for this year.

Given the current MCO status, none of the get-together and celebrations happened, despite the SOP having eased. I miss the boisterous New Year merry-making. I miss the lunches, dinners, get-togethers, and my friends. Sniffle.

I can’t wait until the day comes when we can all come together for a proper sit-down meal and interact freely. But until then, guards up, mask up, and stay safe!

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Where’s the Pineapple?

22 Feb

Just when we thought we were going to savor Spongebob’s pineapple because it was riped already, someone else beat us to it! Darn.

Caught in the act!

It was just a day before that I took a picture of the pineapple with the fake pineapple. The next day, it was gone, right down to the core. The garden squirrel had helped itself to the fruit! Hubby was surprised when he looked out the kitchen window and found the pineapple missing.

The scene unfolding before our eyes!

The culprit was still busy devouring the sweet fruit when I came downstairs, in time to snap a few pictures of the scene. The squirrel must be hungry, or the pineapple must be very tempting. There was nothing left, mostly the skin only. And after the first squirrel left, a second squirrel came around to enjoy what leftovers there were still.

The second culprit eating what’s left

Hubby was not too upset because he said during Chinese New Year, these creatures needed to eat. And we must be kind towards them during this time. Don’t shoo them away. But once Chinese New Year is over, he will do whatever is necessary to protect the remaining two pineapples that we still have.

He then recalled the last time we managed to harvest and eat one pineapple because he took measures to protect the fruit. He placed a wire mesh around the fruit. So we must remember this, or we’ll be asking again, where’s the pineapple?!

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Some Normalcy

19 Feb

The lockdown situation eased a little, and it was indeed good news when outdoor activities were allowed last Friday. Even eat-in, albeit two per table, was allowed but following a strict SOP. The eat-in rule has further relaxed this week.

When the news broke, we were ready for some golf and played our first game last Saturday morning. But we found ourselves having forgotten the routine to prepare after a month of no golf and took a while to readjust. The hardest part was waking up at 5.30am. Nonetheless, it felt good to be out on the golf course; the greens were in superb condition. If only we played better.

Then on Valentine’s Day, we took the opportunity to dine-in at one of our favorite restaurants, as this was also allowed. A welcome change and we had a good dinner with a couple of pints. Our decision also helped the restaurant owner to recover from its lack of business during these trying times.

A cold pint each, crunchy gizzards, marinated pork strips, Wagyu beef, and although a bland-looking paella, it was good and an enjoyable meal overall.

On Monday, we played our second golf game on the Hills course. Unlike Saturday’s game on the buggy, everyone used a golf trolley for the afternoon game. And it was a scorcher because typically, the Chinese New Year weather is hot and dry! By the 15th hole, everyone decided to call it quits because not only the heat got the better of us, physically, the will to walk with the trolley for the last three holes was not there. The stamina is off for everyone with a month’s lay-off from the game during this MCO.

The heat was unbearable!

It is nice that there is some sense of normalcy returning when dining-in at restaurants for occasions and outdoor activities are allowed. And this week, the 10 km travel limit restriction has been lifted, but interdistrict and interstate travel is still off-limits until further notice.

Nice as it is, the MCO is extended again until 4 March! I think we are immune to the extension already, having lost count. So adhering to the strict SOP rules at all times is the best way to keep things nice and stay safe.

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DIY Project #12

15 Feb

DIY project number 12 started immediately upon the completion of DIY project number 11. And it has been slow, very slow. There were things to do in the office, and I was busy. As such, there wasn’t much time to devote to number 12.

DIY Project #12, Dragon Gate Inn

The week before Chinese New Year, we were working late every day. I didn’t even have time to cook, what more to work on my miniature project?

Nonetheless, it is not a race to complete project number 12 but a time-filler to pass the time.

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A Garden Party!

12 Feb

Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year or the Lunar Year of the Metal Ox. A very muted occasion for us because our status remains under lockdown, with no place to go or family to visit. Honestly, it is no different from the past 12 months. There’s nothing to celebrate. Sniffles.

We did, however, made an effort to liven up our situation for the Reunion Dinner. Instead of having dinner at the kitchen counter like every other night, we chose to eat in the garden patio last night! And have a barbeque while we were at it. We even had some feathered guests joining our party, but they ate earlier than us because bird seeds didn’t need grilling.

The birdies having a feast on the newly painted wall!

I thought we had to take precautions against the evening mosquitoes but there were none thankfully. We set up the table plus a side table at the patio and cooked up an eight-item BBQ menu for the occasion.

Typical Reunion Dinners are either six or eight dishes to signify abundance, but since it’s just the two of us this year, the eight-item course is more than enough and equally meaningful. And even though the dinner was technically not a Reunion Dinner, we enjoyed the change in ambiance.

Not the typical and traditional menu, I labeled it as an eight treasure platter.
The colorful spread on our Barbecook grill

Both of us laughed about whether the dinner qualifies as a Reunion Dinner because, firstly, we are always together, and secondly, it’s more like a garden barbeque party. The lengthiest duration that we are separated so far this past month has been five minutes? Having long showers does not count, though. Whether it is indeed a Reunion Dinner or just a garden party, we need to inject variation and humor into our lives to keep sane. Let’s hope the current MCO status will revise for the better come 18 February.

Until then, steer the Ox by the horns towards having a happy and safe celebration during this Chinese New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai folks.

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What Version MCO Now?

9 Feb

There have been several extensions to this year’s MCO, originally termed MCO 2.0. How do we categorize these extensions? Typically it’s a two-week duration, but the second nine-day one threw things out of order. Do we say version 2.3, 2.2.1, or part three for the latest extension for 14 days until 18 February? Sigh. Whatever it is, one thing is for sure, the coming Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year on 12 February will be very different with the latest MCO enforced.

No interstate travel back to hubby’s hometown up North to see his folks, no Reunion Dinner even with my Mom, my brother, and his family because we are well beyond the 10km distance allowed for in-state travel. Other secondary no-nos include the customary New Year golf game with hubby. The list can go on. A very muted celebration, if one can even call it a celebration.

Despite the bleak outlook, we have put up the customary red cloth at the house entrance to brighten the situation. And we will have to find a balance to keep well for the remaining MCO days until further notice.

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A Virtual Celebration

19 Jan

A memory feed popped up on Facebook this morning: M1 turns 18 today, and we celebrated. That was six years ago. Today she turns 24! Dang, time sure flies.

Wasn’t it just yesterday she turned one, and we had friends and family over for a party? Then the next thing I know, we were at her graduation commencement in the Summer of 2019. That was the last time the whole family was together. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree.

With both girls pursuing their education in two different countries, it certainly is hard to have a birthday celebration. Add in the three different time zones that we are all in, a virtual get together is the only way – either a FaceTime or WhatsApp group call for this occasion.

Happy Birthday, M1! Stay safe.

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The Year That Wasn’t

1 Jan

Goodbye Year 2020! What a year it turned out to be. I felt that it was a year that wasn’t – in other words, we were, firstly, short-changed for nine months in our lives and secondly, didn’t turn out so great as many envisioned it would be.

Before reaching this nice number, people, myself included, thought it would be a spectacular year. But alas, how wrong we all were. The Covid-19 pandemic created so much havoc in the world. And everything is never the same again.

Gone are the closeness and freedom that we took for granted with our movement with friends, society in general, and places we visit; in place, it is now constant caution, fear to a certain degree, and restriction.

For me, I felt my 2020 was just three months only, the first quarter of the year. After we went into lockdown in March, the next nine months, day-in, day-out felt like deja-vu. A new routine was born, and old habits had to give way because we had to learn to adjust to the new normal. Thank goodness we didn’t go crazy with cabin fever, and instead, discovered ourselves in many other aspects.

I learned to appreciate my friends, the home, and family more. Although work at the office took a beating to practically zero design work in March and April, it did not dampen our spirits. M2 came back from Ireland and had an extended six-month summer break. M1 stayed put, and we talked every morning to keep her company.

The new normal made both of us manage our time better to be more productive in other things. Hubby learned to bake, an unthinkable endeavor in all the years that I have known him, and I brushed up my cooking skills to widen the variety in our meals because eating out was not an option.

I also picked up a new hobby to keep myself busy after my Meranti wood supply for carving depleted by May. From June onwards, I started working on DIY miniature sets, and have completed nine DIY sets thus far in a spate of six months.

Another good thing that came out of this situation was my golf game, which improved tremendously. With downtime in the office, I was playing more golf than ever. After the lockdown eased, and golf was allowed because it is an outdoor activity, I was golfing up to four times a week! So maybe the year wasn’t that bad after all on the personal front despite being in deja-vu mode.

As 2020 is behind us now, it does not mean the pandemic is over. Far from it, in fact. We should remain vigilant, put on our masks whenever we are in public areas, and keep a one-meter distance apart to be safe.

A toast to a better year ahead – may 2021 bring better fortune and goodness for everyone. Happy New Year, and stay safe wherever you are!

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The Biggest DIY Set, Part 2

29 Dec

The IKEA display cabinet, the enormous DIY set, was finally set up on Christmas morning. It was a messy affair, far worse than Christmas present papers strewn all over the floor upon unwrapping. Thank goodness the living room floor space is large, and even then, the torn boxes covered the floor space.

We had to rip the box to get the things out

I must say the cabinet looks good with all my DIY projects proudly on display. Unfortunately, the space is limited, and I had to place some miniature sets back-to-back. And at the rate that I am making all these miniatures, one display cabinet is not enough!

I may have to buy another cabinet because project number five is left sitting on top, and I am currently working on project number nine. The display cabinet has no more space to fit anymore inside.

All my small DIYs inside the big DIY piece

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