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A Quiet Public Holiday

26 Jan

Malaysia is a country with a lot of public holidays within a calendar year. Yesterday was the first of the many – Thaipusam, the Hindu festival to celebrate Lord Murugan’s victory over the demon Surapadman. Typically, I welcome such weekday holidays and would do something enjoyable.

However, it was nothing enjoyable or any different for me. I was a sloth the whole day! I had to give up my golf slot because my horrible cough turned out to be tonsillitis! Ugh. I have no choice but to rest, having already given up the Tuesday game earlier.

I should not complain as this is for my good, health-wise. Any extra quiet days to recover are much appreciated. I have a game lined up on Saturday, but most likely, the outing will be a half-hearted effort. I don’t feel my strength returning yet. We shall see.

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Limping, Not Leaping into 2024

2 Jan

Several days before ushering in the New Year, I was out with a nasty cough and flu. It was most depressing. Even the New Year fireworks at midnight could not lift my spirits.

You could say I limped, not leaped into 2024. I have been sapped to the core, nursing a watery nose and teary eyes. The sneeze just cannot come out! Ugh. What a weak start to face the new year. I’m just hoping for a speedy recovery.

The good thing about this misfortune is the sudden weight loss. I have been trying so hard to shed some pounds towards the fourth quarter of last year but have failed miserably. With so many occasions and birthday dinners, it was hard.

But with my current situation, I have no appetite, and going out is too much of an ordeal. And the pounds are gone! It’s nice to know there is light at the end of the tunnel. I will recover and face 2024 head-on.

Happy New Year everyone!

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Goodbye 2023

29 Dec

We have two days left of 2023 before we bid the year goodbye. It has been another eventful year for me. As we count down to the New Year, I reflect upon the past 12 months, and here are some highlights of the good times and not-so-good moments.

The biggest highlight would be the two weddings in the family! My only sibling’s twins got hitched within three months of each other. It was a very happy occasion for the family.

Before the weddings, I started 2023 with a bang, getting myself hospitalized for kidney stones. I thought I pulled a back muscle from gardening, but it was more than that. I can laugh about it now!

After that scare, my diet changed to one that is low-oxalate. It took a while to adjust, but I have gotten used to it now. It is always best to stay healthy than to have a recurrence.

The year also saw me having a constant battle with putting. I suffered putting yips every so often with the many rounds of golf I played this year. The musical chair with my Peanut Putter, Scotty Cameron Squareback, and TaylorMade Spider Mini putter choices was a regular practice. Towards the end of the year, I had to retire my Peanut Putter because the grip was disintegrating. Boo hoo hoo. For now, the Mini is in the bag.

There were no family holidays this year as both girls are working, but I’m okay with this. Instead, hubby and I made several golfing trips with friends, locally and abroad. As a result of the constant golfing, my craft work suffered. I slowed down building miniatures, and the latest DIY project, number #32, is incomplete and collecting dust at my workstation. Sigh. Perhaps I can revive it at the beginning of the new year. We shall see.

2023 was not all fun and happy or frustrating. There have been scary moments that I wish not to be repeated. We experienced two spine-chilling episodes with friends after golf, but quick thinking and action saved them. However, no amount of action could save the loss of others due to other issues. Unexpected and untimely, this is the cycle of life, and we have to accept it. I avoid elaborating much on these occasions because I feel it’s best to remember these people in happier times than upon their deaths. Peace be upon their souls.

What will the new year bring for me? It would be materialistic to wish for this and that. I will be practical and say better health more than anything else. With each year passing, the body cannot take the strain regardless of what I do. This dinosaur is getting old!

Well, 2023 has been happy and sad all rolled into one, to sum it up in one sentence. Goodbye 2023, thanks for the memories, and a toast to the year, now stored away as I await the New Year with an open mind.

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Merry Christmas 2023

26 Dec

Merry Christmas, everyone! It has been a low-key festive time for us because of the wet rainy season. When it rains constantly, the mood is not there to do anything! Luckily, we did most of our Christmas shopping online, capitalizing on the 11.11 and 12.12 online sales blitz, and there was no need to go to the mall at all.

As usual, the family had our Christmas dinner on the Eve, and it was a good spread of choices. I baked a pork tenderloin and called it a ‘Pork Log’ because of its sheer size to feed 16 people!

The Pork Log process. I cut off a portion to fit the Pyrex!

Initially, I was fickle-minded about what to make, as recipe ideas kept popping up on my Facebook news feed. The final dish was my third choice after two earlier attempts at something different.

Here’s wishing everyone a wonderful time, and let there be peace. Merry Christmas once again!

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Chinese Winter Solstice Festival

22 Dec

The Chinese Winter Solstice Festival, or Dongzhi Festival, is today, and the family will celebrate the occasion with a meal together. Typically, the highlight of the occasion is the Tang Yuan, the glutinous rice balls dessert, and not the dinner, which is usually nothing too extravagant.

Over the years, our family’s version of Tang Yuan has evolved in taste and color. It used to be just the traditional white and pink balls, but more colorful ones have appeared over the last few years. In terms of taste, besides serving the balls with piping hot sweet ginger syrup, we have crushed peanuts with sugar sprinkled over the colorful balls. However, we hardly make them with sweet fillings, such as black sesame or red bean, because it’s too much work.

Another thing about this festival is the occasion being everybody’s birthday. When one eats a glutinous ball, you are officially a year older. When I was a kid dinosaur years ago, eating one was never enough. And I worried about eating a dozen glutinous balls because I would have to add a dozen years to my age. Hahahaha.

Here’s wishing everyone good health and happiness during this Dongzhi Festival!

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Better Than Phenomenal

15 Dec

With two weeks left before 2023 ends, I’m cutting back on my golf games for two reasons. Reason number one is the wet weather conditions. It rains daily, and being out on a soggy golf course is not enjoyable. The round of golf becomes more like a field-plowing exercise, chunking the shots constantly on the soft ground instead of playing proper golf.

Reason number two is the festive season of Christmas around the corner. This year, I’m playing more Christmas carols on my Spotify and indulging in Christmas shopping. It’s a fun season, and I am enjoying it.

However, I must highlight the last golf game that resulted in better than phenomenal putting. I’d take this highlight anytime! The score was not the best because of chunk shots on the fairways. Even at the tee boxes that were soft and soggy, I could not stand firm and ended up with several mis-hits. But putting with the TaylorMade Spider Mini made up for all the mishaps.

I made 26 better-than-phenomenal putts! To break that down, it was 12 putts on the first nine and 14 on the back nine. There was even a silly three-putt, but the eight one-putt and a chip-in for a zero putt made up for the lone ugly blemish. The thing that helped tremendously was the short game. I was accurate and gave myself many opportunities to putt well.

I should hold my head high with this new putting achievement for this year and hope this phenomenal putting can continue. Maybe it’s the focus that creates confidence. I look forward to better-putting results next year!

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A Welcomed Holiday, Part 2

12 Dec

Just when we thought we were down to one last public holiday (Christmas Day) on a weekday, Monday was the Sultan’s birthday, and thus, a public holiday! Yay. Another welcomed holiday to recuperate from the busy weekend.

But as always, the extended weekend threw off the mind frame, and I thought it was a Sunday. Nevertheless, with the year ending soon, the welcomed break was good to catch up with neglected things, like Christmas shopping and house chores!

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Three More Weeks Left

8 Dec

Would you believe that we have three more weeks left for 2023?! To say how fast time flies is correct and sometimes not.

Time flies when one’s having fun. However, time does not fly when one is at home and bored to tears, with nothing to do except count the ants on the counter and listen to Spotify on a loop.

I am not reflecting on my eventful year yet, and I’m sure the right moment to pen down my thoughts will hit as the year draws to a close. Until then, I better make the most of what’s left of 2023. Then, I will have much to say and reflect on later.

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A Mixed Up Sunday

14 Nov

Holidays are always appreciated! Yesterday was a replacement holiday as Sunday was Deepavali or Diwali, the Festival of Lights. However, the public holiday being on a Sunday threw a curve ball into keeping track of time for me. Happily, I thought yesterday was Sunday.

As such, I was busy with house chores and overlooked writing, hence no post. Oh well, I think this new schedule is a nice change. Two entries per week, with a two-day and three-day break in between, I have more time to do the things I enjoy.

Of course, when I travel, the entries will be more. I appreciate and thank all my readers for staying with me until today.

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Double Happiness Thrice Over

9 Oct

This year seems to be a year of weddings! First was my nephew, then my niece, and now it’s my cousin’s daughter. The best part of such happy occasions is seeing the extended family again. And some new faces whom we’ve never met before.

Last night was another happy occasion, thrice over that we saw everyone, if not most, again. Everyone looked great, from the aunties and uncles to the cousins, nieces and nephews. We caught up from where we left off at the last wedding.

The lovely bride looked beautiful and blew my mind away from what I recalled of her during her younger days. The bride and her groom made a lovely couple. Congratulations to my cousin brother and his wife for having a new son-in-law.

As we grow older, such family gatherings become more treasured. The photo session to have everyone in becomes a priority. Perhaps there will be another such occasion soon, and I look forward to it.

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