Tag Archives: Grocery shopping

Indulgent Shopping

25 Jan

The Lunar New Year is next week, my goodness! There are a lot of last-minute preparations to usher in the Year of the Tiger. Like shopping for new clothes, for instance!

The last two years, with the pandemic and lockdowns, we were homebound and did not venture out to the malls at all. There were grocery runs to our local grocer nearby, and basically, essentials but not indulgent shopping.

During the MCO phases, online shopping was my go-to if I wanted to buy non-essential things. And even then, it was mostly to buy my miniature sets and carving tools. But no clothes.

So over the weekend, we took the opportunity to go on a shopping spree to buy new clothes as it is the last weekend to shop. With no more restrictions on interstate travel, it will be a traffic nightmare next weekend when city-dwellers begin the exodus for Reunion Dinners with the family and loved ones afar.

I, for one, who usually buy golf clothes, suddenly find myself buying Chinese New Year clothes. I bought not one but two Cheong Sam outfits! It must be the festivity in the air or the sudden freedom to be able to go out and try clothes on.

My two lovely and elegant outfits

For someone who does not wear or buy dresses often, the purchases were an incredible feat by my standards. Well, lockdowns change people and their outlook in life, I suppose. I look forward to wearing the outfits to welcome the Year of the Tiger with good vibes and have a roaring celebration, pun intended.

Lion Dance at the mall

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Which DIY Set Next?

12 Mar

Last week, I caved and bought another two DIY sets from my favorite online shopping site! Unbelievable, considering I already have two DIY sets in queue plus a third set, which was a Christmas present.

The latest two purchases
The plan to combine two sets into one

I had this sudden ambitious plan to combine two sets into one unit, hence the two new sets for this purpose. I think it’s just an excuse for simply wanting to buy something. It’s been too long since we last went shopping at the mall, and like I always say, grocery shopping does not count. The need to purchase something is too strong to deny, so online shopping is the best to quell the urge.

And now that I have five sets, I have to decide which one to work on next. Once I get going, I should also have to be disciplined not to buy any more sets as spares.

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Nothing Goes to Waste

2 Jun

Ever since the MCO started, hubby learned how to bake and as such, the eggs in the fridge are used up very quickly. It used to take forever to finish them but now, they are always on the grocery list to be replenished.

The best part of this is recycling the eggshells as fertilizer for the garden instead of just throwing them away. And I seem to enjoy fussing over the eggshells.

I’d remove the membrane first before pounding them up with my mini mortar and pestle. Fine but not too powdery, the eggshells act as a good deterrent for the slimy snails in the garden. They are also a good source of calcium especially for the habanero chilli peppers and it shows with the healthy harvests.

Besides the eggshells, other food waste is also recycled to be natural fertilizer for the garden. Rice water for instance. Whenever I wash rice grains before cooking, the water from the washing is kept a day or two in a container to be fermented before being used.

Occasionally if there are juice pulps from juicing, these are instantly sprinkled around the garden amongst the plants. And banana peels are always fed to the staghorn fern for nutrition. Nothing goes to waste in our home.

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Better than Oh-so-good

5 May

We thought the Snickerdoodle apple bread was oh-so-good but it has been superseded by the latest baking attempt.

The latest loaf, a herb white bread is simply heavenly. Hubby managed to buy bread flour at the last grocery run and this made the difference. All previous attempts were using all purpose flour.

I remember he mentioned that the temperature of the oven was important. While I did not pay attention to the details of the whole process, I managed to take some progress pictures.

The mixer at work and then the setting of the dough

Shaped and into the pan to set again

Rise of the Amazing Dough

It was an astonished but delighted moment when the pan came out from the oven. The five inch rise of the bread was very impressive.

Look at that height from what it was originally

Heavenly herb loaf

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Impulse Buying

16 Mar

Sometimes the act of impulse buying is merely to appease the buying urge than the need for the item itself. That’s why it’s called impulse buying.

Once in a while, I succumb to this impulse when I am cooped up too long doing the daily routine and feeling like a robot. Life has been without excitement lately, and especially so given the pandemic Covid-19 that has gripped the whole world and crippling all sorts of movement and activities.

Like everyone else, we have been keeping abreast with the daily development of the situation and have been dutifully avoiding crowded places. Practising social distancing to stay safe, we haven’t gone to the mall for ages. So much so, routine has become so predictable, dull and boring.

Over the weekend however, I was at my golf club and there was a golf equipment sale and I bought a Maruman Conductor 5-wood! Honestly I don’t really need it because I already have my XXIO MP 900 golf clubs complete with the 3- and 5-woods plus a U-5. So why did I buy it?

Well, the impulse buying urge for one. Secondly, I haven’t bought anything of late and grocery does not count. So the purchase was for some form of gratification to excite the otherwise predictable, dull and boring life.

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My shiny new 5-wood to complement the other two clubs of the same series!

The new 5-wood complements the Maruman Conductor 3-wood and U-4 that I already have and had been retired for some time. Maybe from here on, I might change my XXIO MP 900 woods for this set for variation to make golfing more interesting.

This—my game that is—has been too routine and boring as well; there’s no excitement anymore approaching the game. Same routine, same mistakes, same near misses… so predictable.

Well, put it this way, this impulse buy may be just what I need to vary the mundane, predictable and dull, be it my golf game or my daily routine, the story of my life now.

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Beer’s the Culprit, Part 2

19 Apr

Last week I was semi-convinced drinking beer was the culprit of my weight gain. This week, the suspicion has been reaffirmed.

This whole week, there was a lack of discipline because of timing and temptation. After the weekend escapade, we got home late because of rain and traffic, so there wasn’t time to do grocery. And when there’s no grocery done, there’s no salad lunches but regular hawker fare, noodles. Furthermore on Monday night, we had gym and no window for grocery-shopping still.

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The brewery visit, at the first stop for pictures

On Tuesday night, we had an invitation to visit Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia – an opportunity not to be missed, we went for it. Forget the 16/8 diet and the self-imposed restriction to avoid beer. It’s Carlsberg and Kronenbourg, how can I refuse?

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Visitors had to wear an orange vest for easy identification

It was interesting to see the beer-making process. Besides Carlsberg and Kronenbourg 1664, there are other labels too. My first encounter with Kronenbourg 1664 was back in 2013 when we went to Paris. What a lovely beer! It took sometime before this label came to Malaysia and now it’s brewed locally.

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My first encounter with Kronenbourg in Paris, 2013

That night, after the tour of the brewery, there was free flow drinks. And we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, hubby on Connor’s, Carlsberg and Brooklyn Lager, me on Somersby Sparkling Rose, Sparkling White and Kronenbourg 1664.

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Looks a lot but it’s not

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Feature beer wall at the brewery’s watering hole

So I am not surprised the weigh-in this morning showed an increase of 1.2lbs, the beer being the culprit again. Oh well. I am unperturbed, I figured I gotta live a little and enjoy the beer. Next week when I am back on the 16/8 and be more disciplined, the minor setback will be fixed.

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Such Bliss

28 Aug

I am in seventh heaven with the discovery of the perfect ice cream. It was the usual Sunday grocery chore and when I walked passed the freezer section and the pint of Ben & Jerry’s caught my eye.

Non-dairy! Whoa. That’s new and the first time I am seeing it. Of course I picked it up because it’s non-dairy and it’s a Ben & Jerry’s plus it’s my favorite flavor, Chunky Monkey.

Forget the sorbet (it’s still in the freezer) for I am going with this to satisfy my ice cream cravings without worry. Ahhh…. such bliss.

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Resistance is Futile, Part 2

20 Aug

I must say my food fancy have changed ever since the discovery of Endometriosis. It’s sad that I have to give up certain food but some things I just cannot give up.

Top on the list of food I avoid these days are dairy, wheat, onions and caffeine or should I say coffee. As for eggs and beef, the less I eat them, the less pain I would have to deal with. And so far, it’s been manageable.

I thought I could still do sunflower seeds after that last ordeal a month ago, dismissing it as an isolated case. I couldn’t be more wrong as I had some recently and suffered the consequences miserably. I guess I have to give this up too. Sigh…

I was at the grocery store over the weekend and the chocolate bar called out to me again and I couldn’t resist because it is one of the two things I can’t give up. I picked it up without hesitation. As I have said before, resistance is futile.

Although chocolate contains dairy, I manage and consume in moderation, so it’s bearable. It doesn’t cause as much pain as cheese or even the sunflower seeds. I would be terribly miserable if I can’t have my chocolate. Shudder…

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A Sweet Tooth

24 May

I must confess I do have a sweet tooth. Yes, I cannot resist chocolate every now and then or even dessert after meals. And occasional I’d like to have a lollipop to have a sugar rush.

The lolly of choice is of course Chupa Chups.

Recently, I went to the grocery store, not my regular store and discovered to my delight, Chupa Chups now comes in a can! A sparkling drink in various flavours. Wow, I never knew. Then again my regular store does not carry this.

But that day, I didn’t feel like having anything sweet so I gave it a miss. Maybe next time when I revisit that particular store, the range will still be there and I may pick one flavour up, just to try.

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Which one should I try? Hmm…

 

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The Prettiest Grocery List

14 Apr

Whenever I do groceries, I have to have a list. It’s a habit of mine that I prefer the old fashion paper and a pencil to check things off over a list keyed into my iPhone.

Sometimes I even add little doodles next to the items to make the list easier to see than read. After all, I am an artsy person, why not apply my skills to make the mundane more interesting?

When M2 was younger, I used to make her do my grocery list. There was once after she was done, she said excitedly, “Mummy! Here… You now have the prettiest grocery list!”

“See the flowers? They are growing!”

Indeed, my grocery list had very neat cursive hand-writing peppered with some decorations and a short sequence of the growing flower, from pod to bloom.

Pretty. I should make her do my grocery list more often these days.

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