This is it! This evening the family sans our two girls will gather for the all-important Reunion Dinner. We chose to eat at a restaurant instead of dining at home, slaving over the stoves preparing the dishes.
A time for reflection: I would like to approach the year with more positivity, less pain and less judgemental so that life would be happier and more meaningful. Here’s wishing everyone a very Happy and Prosperous Year ahead, Gong Xi Fa Cai!!!
I played my third golf game of the year on Sunday and it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I have always said golf is a funny game and Sunday’s result takes the cake. It’d always catch you unaware no matter how prepared or unprepared you are.
Prior to Sunday’s game, both of us played our first game of 2020 a week ago and it was nice to get back to our usual weekend routine. However, my flight did not complete the round despite the weather being so good and the company pleasant. Instead we did only 15 holes because everyone felt tired for all sorts of reasons.
And I was no different, having laid off for so long when M1 was back, and played golf like a 9-hole player. In short, I held up well only for the first nine and then was out of sorts when we crossed over. So I was really glad we stopped with three holes left to play.
The second game a few days later was weird because I felt unprepared, having only five hours of sleep and my tennis elbow flared up again. In spite of the circumstances, I played one of my better games. But Sunday’s game was a totally different ball game altogether.
Hubby and I were ‘extras’ in our Club’s Interclub game as there were more home club players than opponents. So in this essence we would not be contributing any points for our team because we were playing amongst ourselves. But as the format was Best Ball Stableford, taking the better score of all partnerships would be tabulated to award the best pairs of both respective clubs.
I started out decent. But things fell apart quickly by the third hole–we started on Hole 9–coming back with zero points on the dreaded Hole 11 and unexpectedly on the next hole after that too. I steadied myself and managed a par at the next hole to salvage the situation, and was doing okay until Hole 18, my phobia hole. No surprise when I dunked two balls into the water. Oh well, as it was Stableford points, I did not attempt any further on that hole. When we completed the back nine, I scored only 11 points. Meagre…
I was like oh well, I’d just enjoy the front nine. Then things exploded! To cut a long play-by-play short, I played the front nine with two pars and two birdies! A rarity for me with not one but two birdies in a game. The Scotty putter was red hot, converting a lot of single putts from all distances, thus saving strokes and scoring a whole lot of Stableford points.
The two birdies came on the Par 3s, one off a crazy long putt from the front of the green to the back pin and another off the fringe of the green to the front pin. It was mind boggling! I seriously don’t know what happened because never before had I played to such levels, competition or otherwise, given that I have been constantly in pain with my injuries here and there. But it felt good and I’m certainly not complaining.
That morning, I scored a whopping 28 points on the front nine alone to cover the back nine and return with 39 points in total for my individual attempt. Unbelievable!!!
And to our surprise, both hubby and I were awarded the best runner-up pair for our Club with 45 points for our best ball effort! We couldn’t believe our ears when the announcement was made. And mind you, my golfer’s elbow was giving me problems all this time but somehow I managed and obviously the results showed. What a good and pleasant start to the year for golf. Let’s hope I can keep this up and not let this be a one-game wonder!
Feels good to be awarded for our effort!
It finally happened, the Candy Crush Soda Daily Bonus continuous streak finally broke! It was Saturday morning and as always, after waking up, I’d pick up my devices for the morning routine.
The morning routine being launching both the Cat Condo games to collect my millions and releasing the cats from the cages, then Homescapes then Soda for the Daily Bonus before reading the news. Somehow the day before I didn’t get to Candy Crush Soda on the iPhone XR, only the iPad Mini and I didn’t even realized I missed it out.
When I launched Candy Crush Soda on Saturday morning, I was on Day 1! Wow, after 1243 days at it constantly, the chain finally broke. Luckily on the iPad Mini, it was still captured at 1244 days. I now wonder if I should still go on with it. Hmm…
As of today, the streak on the iPhone XR is a lowly Day 3 while on the iPad Mini, it goes on for Day 1246.
The Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year is one week away, omg! This time, I really take the cake leaving it until the very last minute to prepare to usher in the Year of the Rat. What a champion.
According to the Chinese zodiac, the Rat is the first animal in the 12-year cycle and 2020 is the year of the Male Metal Rat. Do find out what the Metal Rat Year means for you if you believe in Chinese horoscope as it differs for all Chinese zodiac signs. For me, well… good fortune will smile upon me if I put family and friends first!
On the homefront, the customary red cloth at the entrance of the house will be put up this weekend (told you it’s very last minute!) and the customary gifts finally prepared. This year the Reunion Dinner will be with my Mom and my sibling’s family before we head North the next day to hubby’s side of the family. And for the second year in the row, both our girls will not be present for the festive occasion.
Of late, collecting money to evolve cute cats is becoming so mindless and so last decade. It’s been very slow to add a new species even though I am constantly at it. I think I just want to collect them all just to see what they look like. To divert my boredom, I started playing a new game, Homescapes.
Am up to Level 343 as of today, this morning.
This game has been around for sometime already but it never caught my interest until recently. As I’m getting tired becoming a gazillionaire with both the Cat Condo games, I decided to give Homescapes a try because it kept popping up (as an ad) when I’m tending to the cats.
So far, it has been holding my interest well – I’ve been playing it at every opportunity and even into the wee hours past midnight. But we shall see how long this can last.
My fascination with caterpillars subsided when there wasn’t anymore to be discovered. Partly also, I’ve stopped going out to the garden to specifically look for them because the mozzies would get to my arms and legs.
The two potted plants at the front of the house do not seem to have anymore caterpillars too until recently. It was discovered quite accidentally.
A rather unusual species this time, see if you can spot the caterpillar. I’ll give you a hint: it’s not green and its scientific name is the Geometridae family.
We have dived straight into our 16/8 diet this week and pleased to say we are holding up okay. There’s no withdrawal symptoms from the change in pattern nor from the diet that now consists of minimal meat/protein, some carbo and lots of fiber.
I have gone back to my usual tea only in the morning before the salad lunches and healthy home-cooked dinners at home, all within the eight hours window to eat and no further intake during the 16 hours except for one night where we had fruit cake and tea at a friend’s.
I am also mindful to move to burn some calories but exercising has been a challenge when every evening I’d sit at my little corner to work on my carvings. I’m not too worried though because this would be resolved once we go back to playing golf.
But of late, the endometriosis attacks have been rather frequent and the pain level ranges, it’s unbearable and hard to do much. The night when we were at the airport, I had to take my painkillers twice in a span of three hours apart because the pain was simply horrible. There’s no words to describe this. Sigh…
Other than this problem of mine, I’m glad to say the both of us have adjusted after the food trail, with our weight almost back to pre-M1’s arrival.
M1 has arrived safely this morning after a long but on time flight. So the adventures of her food trail officially ended on Sunday with an early dinner before leaving for the airport that night. With the end of the food trail, this means no more constant heavy meals for us except for several upcoming Chinese New Year-related dinners with friends that have been pre-arranged earlier. We have gone back to the 16/8 diet routine immediately, kicking it off with a salad lunch yesterday.
Bak Kut Teh with two sides was a good farewell dinner choice
Contrasting the meat-based dinner, lunch the next day was just fiber and more fiber
The big question I’m sure that must be on everyone’s mind, did I gain weight? Of course I did! How could I not when the eating window was switched to 16 hours and the non-eating window reduced to eight hours or less, three quarters of which was being asleep. So essentially there was very little time in between for a meal to be fully digested before the next meal.
There were nights when I fretted to step on the bathroom scale knowing the numbers I’d see would not be pleasant. But I took it in stride because I knew the situation was temporary and it won’t last long.
There were several times when the weight climbed steadily upwards, it was rather horrifying. However the numbers fluctuated when we ate less; I even managed to squeeze in a couple of salad lunches to lessen the guilt. Thankfully, yesterday morning when I stepped on the bathroom scale, the final result was somewhat comforting for I had expected it to be more. I gained only a kilo (2.2lbs) which wasn’t too bad considering it did spiked up more than that!
I’m sure within a week, this gain would be erased and the 16/8 continues until when Chinese New Year comes around, a new round of festive eating to indulge in!
We thought it was rather cute to stand in front of KFC’s Fun Land signage at KLIA.
Last night, we sent M1 off. The two and a half weeks of wonderful quality time together has come to an end, so has the gastronomic food trail too. She had a long ‘To Eat’ list and we got most on it covered. But towards the last few days, hubby and I surrendered and was glad her friends took her out for a couple of dinners giving us a breather.
Now we wait, having heard from her this morning when she arrived in Incheon Airport on time and departed for Narita two hours later. Soon we will hear from her when she arrives in Narita to complete her second leg. After that we will have to wait until the wee hours of Tuesday morning (or Monday past midnight) when she lands in Portland to hear from her again. Long wait. Long trip.
No tears this time and like I said, acceptance. And quietness all over again at home. Sigh… best if I channel my focus now towards preparing for Chinese New Year.
The new year started off rather quietly for us. We stayed home that evening and had a fun time cooking together, preparing dinner for a very leisurely paced New Year’s Eve meal. I felt this was better quality time instead of going out and be squashed in the crowds.
Ushering in 2020 with some wine and cheese!
Sautéd mushrooms, baked potato wedges, honey-glazed carrots, pork steak, greens and a pasta. Quite a meal!
By midnight after seeing some of the fireworks that we could see from our windows, we continued to watch Netflix, waiting to Skype with M2. After we finally heard from her, we went to bed after that! No revelry beyond as it felt just like any other day.
The new beginning is supposed to bring new excitement. We have not even fully digested the spirit of Christmas, New Year’s mood, suddenly at the turn, Chinese New Year things popped up! Decorations at the mall were updated, along with cookies, clothes especially Cheongsams and all things Chinese New Year related were on full display. I am so not ready yet for the next festive celebration.
Roaring display of the lion dance at the mall
The new beginning means an ending for us. The food trail is coming to an end as M1’s time with us is ending soon. It’s not sadness all over again but acceptance.
As we cherish the next two days before she leaves, we hope to spend quality time with her again in the future. It has been truly wonderful. Maybe we will visit her in the US again? Who knows? The year 2020 will be full of surprises.
Angieneering 
Remarks