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The Tea Drinker

30 Apr

Ever since I stopped drinking coffee last year due to Endometriosis, I turn to tea and drink it more than ever. Decaf Earl Grey for breakfast, Green Tea throughout the day and sometimes, Camomile in the evenings before bedtime. All these choices using tea bags though.

Occasionally I’d brew a cup for variation. And being a somewhat serious tea drinker, I do have some gadgets to ensure it’s a satisfying experience. At the office, I used to steep loose leaf tea for my cuppa with a tea ball infuser. But I find the holes of this device too big and some of the fine tea crumbs or dust end up in my tea. So I stopped using it and use the bright pink strainer purchased from Lane Crawford in Hong Kong two Christmas’s ago instead.

The tea infuser strainer is perfect to steep the loose leaf because the tea dust do not escape into the brew. And it’s a refreshing change from the daily Green Tea.

At home, the mesh ball with handles is the go-to gadget to use if I don’t fancy brewing with tea bag.

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My tea infusing gadgets

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A Behemoth Munch Pot, Part 2

23 Apr

Yesterday was a typical morning like any other as we got ready for work except that we had a caterpillar to check on. We looked for our behemoth Munch Pot, straining our necks upwards to look at the branches of the tree in front of the house. And we couldn’t find it! It was there on Sunday night. No… nooooo……

 

Just when we thought something so monstrous in size could thrive, being so hidden under the leaves, tragedy struck? But hubby said, there was poop evidence on the lawn, so perhaps it’s still around but just not at its last place we saw the day before.

Last night when we got home and checked again, nothing. Even with the flash on the iPhone XR to take a picture, there was no evidence, compared to the picture taken the night before. Oh dear…

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The glow on Sunday was a giveaway on its position, but no glow on Monday

Perhaps it has reached the pupal stage and we should be looking out for a cocoon instead of the four inch fat caterpillar.

This morning, lo and behold, we spotted a cocoon! Thank goodness. I had to climb up the ladder again to take the picture. So now it looks like our behemoth Munch Pot has safely reached its next stage, and it will stay like this for a month.

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A Behemoth Munch Pot

22 Apr

I couldn’t contain my excitement when hubby told me he spotted a huge caterpillar on the branch of the tree in front of the house. I didn’t realize how huge it was until I saw it with my own eyes. Dang! It was gargantuan. All the earlier ones we found on the Calamansi Lime tree were puny compared to this fella.

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Utilizing the zoom-in on the iPhone XR

 

I had to get the ladder to climb up close to see. And standing two-third high on the nine-foot ladder (the ground wasn’t even to be higher safely without falling), we figured the big fat fella’s at least four inches long. It’s a stupendous sight and discovery indeed!

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This may sound disgusting but even its poop was big, peppering the front lawn untidily, as I took my ruler to measure – one centimeter wide. Eeesh…. Eeeesh. This is the real munch pot!

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The behemoth creature was proving to be a delight in other aspects too. We discovered that it sort of glowed in the dark. I took a picture of it in the evening and it stood out with much contrast from the foliage. Pretty cool.

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We are no caterpillar experts and had to google to find what species it might be because the features are not similar to the earlier Munch Pots at the garden. The exceptional features were the long tubercles on the body and no other color markings. As I researched, I found some interesting caterpillar facts and eventually, managed to identify my behemoth Munch Pot.

It’s an Atlas Moth caterpillar. Wow.

And looks like I will be monitoring the branches the next few days because eventually it will morph into its next stage. I just hope it can last till then because these fellas, being at the bottom of the food chain are easy meat for predators if discovered. So far, it’s survived well to reach this size, hiding under the leaves and branches to eat and eat and eat.

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Quite a sight this behemoth caterpillar

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The Dinosaur Who Eats Like a Rabbit

12 Apr

This week I have been very disciplined to stick to the 16/8 diet with salad lunches for four days in a row. So much so, I felt like a dinosaur that eats like a rabbit though. Perhaps I should have had a herbivores Brontosaurus tattoo instead of the carnivorous T-Rex to depict the current situation. Heheh…

But it’s been a good and focused week. This morning’s weigh-in showed excellent results and I am pleased. A loss of 1.6lbs and I am now a mere 0.7lbs to reach my target goal! Woo hoo!!!

However, three nights ago, I had a chunk of my molar tooth chipped off whilst chewing on a mouthful of vegetables for dinner! Goodness gracious… And it made me wonder do real dinosaurs actually chip their tooth too over a meal? What more vegetables?! Hmm…

No salad for lunch today to take a break and I will see the dentist next week to fix up the molar.

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Win-Win-Win-Win Situation

11 Apr

This 16/8 diet seems to be really good for me. So far, coupled with my activities, it’s been effective – I feel good and there’s more to this. That’s why I call it a win-win-win-win situation.

The 16/8 is strictly on weekdays but I have lost weight. Win number one.

On weekends, I play golf. Win number two. And after golf, a nice lunch where I would eat and basically don’t restrict myself. I only avoid food that can cause discomfort due to my Endometriosis. But as I now eat at a 16/8 time frame, my tummy has shrunk and no matter what nice food are on the table, I don’t eat a lot.

The best part, I also drink during lunch. Win number three. A couple of whiskey shots, not necessarily excessive but enough to feel good. Sometimes at home at night, a glass of wine to relax. Alcohol, I must admit is one thing I can’t give up. I should stay away from beer though because unlike, wine and whiskey, I tend to drink more and that’s not good.

And I wouldn’t say I eliminated sugar totally as I do find myself snacking on some candies and cookies occasionally during the window to eat. Win number three and a half?

For the final win number four? Carving of course! I have turned to balsa for now because the existing stock pile of Meranti wood are not the right sizes for carving any Whales or even Gnomes. Basically a lot more work is needed to cut them to size and I avoided this to preserve the wrist prior to the Iron Challenge golf tournament.

But now that the tournament is done and over, I am in a good place to go back to carving, first with balsa to increase the population count of my Citizens of Gigglesville and eventually back on Meranti. What a win-win-win-win situation indeed.

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Beer’s the Culprit

8 Apr

I am semi-convinced now that beer is the culprit on my weight gain the previous weekend, having down three glasses. This week, despite two big birthday dinners, a little champagne, wine, whiskey and cake but no beer, there was no weight gain which is good. In fact, I am starting the week with a slight 0.2lb decrease from last Friday’s weigh-in. Yay!

If things work out this week and looks like I am back on track, I anticipate a couple more pounds can be shed by this Friday. Stay tuned for the weigh-in then.

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Not Being Disciplined

5 Apr

This week I was not being very disciplined as far as the 16/8 diet is concerned. I didn’t keep to the 16/8 window, rather it was more like 15/9. And I snacked throughout the week on things that I don’t normally eat. Bad…

Subconsciously, I wanted to see if what I ate had any bearings on the outcome, whether it would affect the weight within a few days. I hope not to repeat this again though.

So what exactly did I indulged in? Sweet preserved Chinese plums. Sugar right there! And cookies and candies. More sugar! I even ate chocolate and suffered the consequences, remember my Endometriosis?

Prior to the start of the week, on Sunday night, I drank three glasses of Kronenbourg beer to replenish my soul after that morning’s energy-sapping golf game and this immediately spiked up the weight. And although we had gym on Monday, I didn’t push myself enough to at least burn off the beer calories.

Thankfully all the week’s snacking did not add on anymore weight and only a teeny weeny reduction when I stood on the bathroom scale this morning for the weekly weigh-in. So the increment at the start of the week was due to Sunday’s beer. I think by not keeping to the 16/8 regime played a role in this result. This is not the way to go if I want to reach my target weight goal; I’d better be more disciplined.

But April being the family birthday month – Mom’s, the twins’ and mine, it’s impossible to stay disciplined when there are birthday dinners lined up to celebrate. In fact, I have a big birthday dinner celebration tonight with my golf friends and with the family come Sunday night. Hmm… I’d have to manage and stay more focused.

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The Predator

2 Apr

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It was a sad ending for Munch Pots 5.1, 6, 7 and 8 over the weekend. Right after discovering the Calamansi Lime tree having four caterpillars to my delight, they all mysteriously disappeared the next day to my dismay. What a quick turnaround within a day!

Initially, I thought the rain displaced them or even some birds came swooping down on them for food. And I found myself standing in front of the pot, staring intently at the branches looking for caterpillars! It was quite a funny yet sombre scene. And it’s something more sinister that I discovered…

A predator.

One level higher in the vicious food chain, I found this grasshopper lurking amongst the leaves. And it could only mean one thing, feasting on juicy fat caterpillars. Oh my poor Munch Pots…

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5.1, 6, 7, 8!

28 Mar
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A day in the life of Munch Pot 5.1

It’s a bittersweet moment as far as the caterpillars are concerned. While Munch Pot 3.1 is clearly no more after so many days with no evidence of metamorphosis or a shrivelled body or pod in sight, Munch Pot 5.1 continues to grow. And to our delight, we found more babies, 6, 7 and 8 to be exact on the Calamansi Lime tree! Hahaha… the poor tree.

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Top: Munch Pots 7 and 8 saying “Hello”! Bottom: Munch Pot 6

I guess there’s a never ending supply of caterpillars on this particular tree to keep me enthralled.

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Rescuing My Caterpillar

25 Mar

Of late, caterpillars have become very fascinating to me. It’s so fun checking on them every morning and evening, and taking pictures of them. Honestly, I like it when all the leaves on the Calamansi Lime tree gets gnawed on and even hubby doesn’t mind this.

Munch Pot 5.0 before it evolved

Munch Pot 3.1 doing a vertical stand

3.1 up close

The munch pots are growing and happy. Munch Pot 3.1 have grown beautifully and even 5.0 have evolved. So now, it’s 5.1.

What a cutie 3.1

5.1 on Friday night, having evolved

But on Saturday morning, a slight mishap occurred and we couldn’t find 3.1. Oh no, it’s gone! Lunch for the birds? I couldn’t accept this so we looked and looked. And lo and behold, it actually fell off the tree onto the ground. Oh dear…

Poor 3.1. I wonder if it’s traumatized?

5.1 looking good

Looking disheveled but hopefully not traumatized, hubby picked it up with a bamboo stick to place it back on the branches. I thought our little deed was whimsical, rescuing a caterpillar that some people consider a pest. I hope 3.1 will be okay and evolve to its next stage. It was still okay on Saturday afternoon when I checked on it again.

Unfortunately after that, the last two days as we stood in front of the Calamansi Lime tree to scrutinize every branch looking for it, we cannot find Munch Pot 3.1. Sniffle…

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