Hello, Kitty!

The cutest

My girlfriends are the best - not only do they tolerate my very frivolous and bimbo side, they often indulge it. 

Case in point, dear J gleefully made sure she passed these cute saucers to me before I headed out for the holiday. "Something random and fun! I saw these and I KNEW I had to get them for you." she grinned. 

I unwrapped the boxes and burst out laughing. Of course she had to - two cutest Hello Kitty ceramic saucers, that were just the right balance of cute but not tacky. The artwork was beautifully done and the saucers were well made too. 

When I asked her what the Japanese script on them meant, she deliberately did a Google image translation to show me. Literally "Hello, Kitty". LOL. I was so amused. 

Took these plates out on the first day of LNY, to have a piece of pineapple tart, and one almond cookie. I'm not usually one to have sweets for breakfast, but these were surprisingly not cloyingly so, and perfect with a cuppa Americano. :)

Blends right in with my home decor

Found mâche!

A favourite salad base that la belle-mère uses is mâche (corn salad in English, a far less enchanting sounding name, if I may say so) a variety of the honeysuckle family. 

I love it - its taste is mild but still tasty, with just a slight crunch and texture to bring interest as well as stand on its own, and grows in cute little bunches of roundish leaves, in the prettiest shade of light/lime green. I was rather woeful at the end of my trip, as I don't recall ever seeing it here in Singapore shops.

Back home, I was mighty pleased to find that I was able to procure it from Le Petit Depot, my trusty source of all the European groceries I miss. And as most things on this dependable site, it was reasonably priced (same or slightly cheaper than my standard spinach/arugula mix in the local supermarkets) and offered in very easy 120g packets. Score. I gleefully added 2 different brands to my cart, alongside some of my standard orders from the grocer. 

I believe this is the most excitement I've ever felt over vegetables, hahaha. But I really do love my greens, and salad is a staple in my home meals, so this was indeed worth squealing over. :D

Split the first packet over two meals now, one as a side to accompany some grilled chicken and pasta, and another as a meal in itself together with tuna, sunflower seeds, dressed simply in a mustard/olive oil dressing with just a dash of salt and pepper. It was most satisfying, heh.

Je l'adore!

 

A quiet afternoon in

Thanks to Lunar New Year starting on a Sunday, it was such a treat to have the third day of LNY off as well - somehow even though we still get 2 business days off, mentally it made a difference. 

Had L over for the afternoon, which was perfect for me to order an easy delicious lunch from Suguru Dining, this small business that started in the midst of the pandemic and has consistently churned out decent home delivery of fresh Japanese seafood. This day, we also scored a one-day special offer and had their full Couple's set, with 100g of Hokkaido Bafun uni, snow crab, scallops and ikura alongside their signature truffle somen. I added on an order of half a dozen of their sashimi grade Hyogo flash-frozen oysters, and it made for a beautiful lunch at home, washed down with an easy bottle of Sancerre 2018. Yum. We took our time savouring the food, and chatting about various topics - this is another girlfriend I see often, so our conversation topics really range from the most frivolous trivials to random deep thoughts that we were musing on lately. Ha. Given that the meal itself was relatively light, we indulged in some cheese, as well as chocs and cookies that I'd brought back from Luxembourg. 

Then it was retro movie/tv time, as I introduced this poor deprived girl to The Sound of Music, as well as Ally McBeal. Haha. Over the past year, I have been notorious for snarkily judging some girlfriends on their sad childhood/teen years and forcing them to watch my favourite Disney/Hollywood movies. I say forced, by truthfully they were very willing participants who all enjoyed the education, so it's win win all around. :p

Times like this make me realise how much I really love having friends over, or spending time at friends' place sometimes - these easy chums whom I'm shameless to impose myself upon, are the same ones I would host anytime, having the luxury of just doing nothing and anything together in our own space and element. Quality time indeed.  

Cosy!

初二会好友

初二陪妈去拜祭外婆后，开心地约了Imp喝咖啡。度假回国后的一个多星期，我们的时间表一直没法对上，所以这还是今年第一次与她会和。算是庆新，我们也象征式地点了Prosecco，嘿。

乖巧的小狗陪着妈妈应酬了一天，当然特别欢迎她跟上。我们吃着芝士萨拉，闲聊各种话题，Choya如往地趴在女友的椅下，看起来像享受一天忙过来的宁静，哈哈。

友情真的是如此微妙：都是好友，但一些不常见面的相聚时却好像没分隔多久；像Imp呢，没见一个月心里就会觉得怪怪的，会牵挂想念。真高兴能在这新年公共假期能与她倾谈片刻。

🧡

Back on the wheels!

Happiness is getting back on the bike for my first ride of 2023, on the first day of the Lunar New Year. :)

I never thought I would utter these words, but I've missed cycling, over the month-long break from it due to travels and un-bike-friendly weather when I returned. 

Thanks to this unusual rainy weather too, I had to settle for a much shorter (by distance as well as duration) ride just in the hood, squeezed in between showers that morning. 

Not a big deal though - truth be told, I was also slightly apprehensive but majorly relieved that I actually finally understood the saying, "It's like riding a bike", hahaha. That was something I never related to, seeing that I never figured out how to ride, so it never made sense. 

But as I climbed onto the bike and kicked off, the muscles just knew what to do, and that still-new-but-familiar joy and pleasure and exhilarating feeling of freedom came flooding back. Wheee. So fun! 

It was a short 45-minute ride, just enough to refresh the techniques I had picked up last year, and remember crucial details like turning on the front and back lights. :p

Now to wait for the weather gods to bless my next ride, hopefully before this lunar new year ends!

For posterity