Tag Archives: Chinese New Year

The End of the Food Trail

7 Jan

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.

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Bak Kut Teh with two sides was a good farewell dinner choice

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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!

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Now We Wait

6 Jan
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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.

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Beginnings and Endings

3 Jan

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.

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Ushering in 2020 with some wine and cheese!

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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.

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Roaring display of the lion dance at the mall

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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.

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The Tea Drinker, Part 2

14 May

It’s a known fact now that I drink tea rather than coffee. My favorite cousin gifted me with a lovely Crabtree & Evelyn tea & cookies set when we caught up over Chinese New Year. The packaging is just so lovely. And I am sure the tea choice is equally lovely to enjoy.

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The tea came with cookies! Yum…

Besides my usual two tea choices (Japanese green tea and decaf Earl Grey), I recently bought two other types of tea to drink – Tesco’s Peppermint Infusion tea and Mark & Spencer’s Empress Grey, the peppermint for the office and the Empress Grey at home.

Very refreshing!

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The Challenge Begins

26 Feb

Last Monday, we finally went back to gym after almost a month’s break. Thank goodness I did not feel sluggish after so long. The past month there were all these reasons to skip gym – valid reasons though – M2 leaving for Ireland, preparing for Chinese New Year, leaving town for the Reunion Dinner and all. But now, with all these out of the way, there’s no more reasons to miss gym anymore.

And last night we hit the gym again because last Friday, Saturday and Sunday was packed with dinner dates, making me guilty, so all the more not to skip.

The determination to want to lose that awful added weight made me rather pumped up. And like last week, I used one ten-pounder weight for some of my routines, a big jump from my usual two four-pounders.

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My serious ten-pounder

Although gym session is only once a week, I think I am off to a good start on the challenge especially with the solid program that my trainer has drawn up. Besides working out with her, there’s also golf to burn some calories too. I just need to stay more disciplined with the food intake, after all there’s a whole list of things I avoid due to Endometriosis, then I will do fine. I hope…

Today I am sore to the core and it will be worse by tomorrow. The challenge is on.

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The Chap Goh Meh Challenge

19 Feb

Today is Chap Goh Meh, the 15th and final day of the Lunar New Year. And as always, the family will have a big festive dinner to mark this occasion.

Then after this obligatory dinner, I have decided to do a bathroom scale challenge on myself. Instead of staying aghast with the recent bathroom scale horror, I will work on losing that 15lbs that was added on me. Forget about accepting the initial results with a pinch of salt or not trusting the device, I give myself three months to prove Newbie wrong.

With no more big festive meals lined up, the challenge will be more manageable but still a tough one because the New Year cookies are still aplenty to tempt. Losing 15lbs is a lot…

So stay tuned with me on this! Gotta stay focused and disciplined.

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Killer Whales, Part 2

18 Feb
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The big and the mini vise clamps

A week before Chinese New Year, I bought a bigger vise clamp and put it to good use immediately over the weekend purchase. And in the midst of working on two whales back-to-back, I injured myself. But on the left foot! Huh? Where’s the connection here?

Let me explain…

The vise clamp worked beautifully and held the block well; I was able to shape the block without exerting any strength on the left hand which was good. But in the midst of the carving action, I got up too fast and caught the edge of the table so hard with my left foot. Ouch hardly describes the excruciating agony.

The shooting pain was right on the Lateral Malleolus, the bone bump and it bruised beautifully. What a sight to behold…

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Top (L): the day after, Top(R): after golf, a week later and Bottom: four days after the knock

 

 

 

Those cute whales are such killer whales I tell you. It was a good two and a half weeks before the bruise subsided. As for the pain, it is still there.

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A Lovely Surprise

15 Feb

It was supposed to be my birthday present this year from hubby but my iPhone5S had other plans. It just didn’t want to cooperate and be good. The battery issue…

When we went back to hubby’s hometown for Chinese New Year, my internet connection was with the phone and data. There was no wifi at the in-laws’ place so this rendered the iPad useless without connection unless I sync it to the phone which was unnecessary.

So using just my phone, the battery problem spiked; I could feel the heat at the back of the phone if I use it too long. So much so, in a day I had to charge several times. I literally had to live with the lightning cable and power bank if I don’t stay put and have the power socket nearby.

My problem started when I updated to iOS12 last year. Prior to the update, when the phone was still on iOS10.3, it was fine. The battery could last a day without any issues or even longer with minimal usage. But after the update, the phone just couldn’t support the newer iOS. Even without usage, left idle after a full charge, the battery would drain to half. When things are not right, it escalates the problem. Sigh…

After holding out for so long, I finally replaced my once-reliable Apple iPhone5S. I must say, it was good while it lasted. Thanks for being such a wonderful device the past five years. But I have to retire it and move on because I cannot take the battery aggravation anymore. And it’s pointless to change the battery because the cost to do so is not worth it.

It’s been a week with me now joining the legion of oversized smart phone users with my spanking brand new iPhone XR. A lovely surprise indeed.

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Killer Whales

12 Feb

Actually, carving on Meranti wood is not good for me. While it may be satisfying to channel my energy into it and then feel the joy whenever a lovely piece is completed, the choice of the wood is the culprit that adds to my Wrist Tendonitis woes.

I was carving a lot of Meranti whales in December and they are much bigger pieces than the Gnomes and Citizens, which unfortunately have not increase in their population count. And being bigger pieces, it magnified the Wrist Tendonitis on the left hand because I have been gripping the wood block too tightly, looking back at the situation now. Sigh.

Although I have a vise clamp albeit a mini one, it cannot clamp the block for me to work on. And I have not been using my workbench enough to ease the situation. It is not the repetitive motion that’s causing the flare up because the repetition is on the right hand, the carving hand, and not the left hand – the non-working but gripping hand.

If I am not carving daily, the situation can be contained because with ample rest, nothing gets aggravated and it’s fine. The therapy sessions, which concluded, helped but I must not overdo things that can cause a recurrence. That something obviously being carving, of course. And I guess I overdid it in December. Oops.

Then in January as we were busy preparing for M2 to leave, carving took a backseat. But after M2 left, I was back to carving whales full swing AND playing golf before Chinese New Year, double whammy you could say. I felt a teeny weeny set back. Uh oh.

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The whales, cute as they may be, are really killer whales. And I’d better take care especially if I want to play more golf this year. Perhaps I should go back to balsa instead of Meranti or get a bigger vise clamp if setting up the workbench is too much? Something to seriously consider.

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The Bathroom Scale Horror

11 Feb

Horrors of all horrors! Just when I thought Newbie the new bathroom scale was more reliable than Trusty, I have been given the shock of my life! All this while, BOTH scales have been lying to me.

Over the weekend, I downloaded a health & fitness app, Yunmai to sync with Newbie. Newbie being a Yunmai Mini 2 – the same brand as the app, is a digital scale that has bluetooth ability to pair to a smart phone for data analysis. Measuring from inside out, it can calculate body mass, body fat, skeletal muscle, bone mass, right down to water and a whole lot more, not just the weight. A state of the art bathroom scale indeed.

To my aghast beyond belief, the app gave me an extra 15lbs!!!

Goodness gracious me. How is this even possible when three days earlier after returning from hubby’s hometown, I stood on Newbie, the same scale, no less and there was no increase in my weight. I couldn’t possibly have piled on so much in three days after that! Somehow something has gone awry shocking me with this horrid reading.

The next day I decided to read up on reviews for Newbie and discovered that while it’s a good scale, one should apparently take the measurements with a grain of salt because it tends to show a slightly higher reading! Wow. This is especially evident when compared with a scale of another brand for weight and fat percentage measurements.

The reviews are comforting and good to know otherwise I should just forget about stepping on a bathroom scale. Ever. Again.

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