bak kut teh – Fairy Bread Life

New ideas

Do you remember my other blog that I started sometime last year? Well I sorta abandoned it when we moved to HK, while we were just settling into this city. Anyway, I’m thinking of actually deleting it and starting a brand new one: writing about my language journey as I learn Mandarin. And then hopefully other languages in the future as I continue on this lifelong journey. I’m really enjoying the journey, and I think it would be nice to have a written record of it, to see the frustrations as well as the triumphs, and to share with others on a similar journey the numerous resources that I’ve come across that have helped me (or still helping me) improve my Mandarin. Anyway, it’s just an idea at the moment, but one that is certainly piquing my interest 😊

We had bak kut teh for dinner tonight! 😋 N bought a few bak kut teh packet mixes from the supermarket in SG while he was there for work last week. Ah SG, how I miss you 😔

And then we watched the latest episode of Game of Thrones (season 8 episode 3) while we ate our bak kut teh. Stressful episode! But a damn good one. I don’t know how many more episodes are left, surely they’re close to wrapping up the series? I am thinking of making my way through the books now, surely they’re just as good as the tv series, if not better?? It’s not quite the genre that I like to read, so I’m not sure how I’ll find them. Maybe I’ll give the first book a go anyway. I’ll let you know 😊

A wet Saturday

I decided to wear jeans today. As soon as I walked out of the house, I could feel their heat insulating capabilities 😂 Why do I choose to wear jeans in Singapore, you’re probably wondering. I only wear them when I know I’m going to be indoors for long periods of time, because when you’re indoors here, you’re always in aircon. Always. Apart from when you’re at home, you can guarantee that you will be in air conditioned comfort. Shopping mall, restaurant, office, public transport etc etc. It’s only when you’re walking to these places will you be enduring the heat and humidity. And I get cold easily, so I get quite cold when I’m in aircon for long periods of time. Plus a lot of places have the aircon turned up to the nth degree, so my coldness is exacerbated.

So Chinese class; lunch (Bak Kut Teh! Haven’t had that in aaaages); and then a movie this afternoon (we watched Solo – not bad) – all indoors. My jeans were perfect 👍

And it turned out that by the time we were on our way home this afternoon, it started to rain, which washed away some of the humidity, and my jeans actually felt ok to wear on the walk home. Excellent choice in attire today 😊

But because it was all wet, by the time we reached home, we really didn’t feel like going out again. Plus N was feeling quite tired, so we skipped dancing tonight. But after a bit of rest, we still decided to go to the gym 💪 I actually didn’t have to fight with myself to go today, I think maybe because I already had it in my mind that we were going to dancing today, and the gym just happened to be the alternative.

And then we spent the rest of the evening watching Jurassic Park 😊 It’s been 25 years since the original was released, omg. A quarter of a century. No wonder I can’t remember it 😂 I want to watch the previous Jurassic Park movies before we watch the new one that’s coming out in June. I want to be all up to date, so that I know the back story beforehand. There were a few missing pieces in my knowledge when we went to watch Avengers: Infinity War, so I’d like to be a bit more prepared going into Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. So one movie down, three more to go…

Too much of anything is good for nothing

I went to Gardens by the Bay again today 😂 I have been here five times in the last month or so, which I think is a bit overkill, even for me. I may have to give myself a bit of a break for at least a few months before I return. I don’t want to get to the point where I find the place boring. Because if I get to that point, then I will lose my happy place, and that will be a very sad situation.

My friend and I then had a very late lunch at Marina Bay Sands, and then briefly parted ways as I had to swing by our dance studio to pick up our competitor number for tomorrow’s comp. We then met up again later in the evening with N, to go and have Bak Kut Teh for dinner! It was her first time trying it, and I don’t think she was terribly impressed. Not sure if she’ll want to have it again anytime soon… Hahaha oh well. At least now she can say she’s tried it 😊

It was her last day in SG, so we bid her farewell soon after dinner and wished her a safe flight home. She’ll spend a few hours at Changi before her flight, so that’ll be a great way to end her holiday (seriously! She’s flying out of terminal two, where the cinema is (!!), as well as a gaming room and a resting area, among other things 😊). I’m sure she’ll be happy to be out of the SG humidity. She was struggling big time while she was here – and it’s only “spring”! 😂

Argh, I’m starting to freak out again about the comp. Why do I get so stressed each and every time?!? There really isn’t any point stressing about it. I just wish I didn’t get stressed so much, so I didn’t waste so much energy unnecessarily – and instead redirect it to something more productive: my dancing!

Nonetheless, I have my Oompa Loompa Tan on; my nails are all painted (albeit dodgily, as always, but the judges won’t see them up close so it’s all good hehe); and I’ve done some visualisation of a few of the dances. Now I just need a decent night’s sleep, and I’ll be ready to go for tomorrow. At least physically. Mentally not so much 😆

All danced out

Heaps of dancing today, I was pretty much catatonic by the end of it. Latin in the morning for 1.5 hours, followed by a Ballroom lecture and then practice for about an hour. The lecture wasn’t all that strenuous: we were standing there for 1.5 hours, listening them talk about Ballroom technique, and doing the odd few movements to better understand what they were talking about. We then got to practice what they taught us after the lecture – but it seemed like most people just did their own thing hahaha It was a tiring day. And the fact that we didn’t really eat all that much during the day didn’t help our energy levels 😒

So of course we went and had Bak Kut Teh again for dinner hahaha

I then fell asleep on the couch when we got home coz I was so exhausted. Kitty kept me company hehehe

This weekend is actually our last weekend in the country for the year. It’s sorta a bit sad, actually. I feel like, in a way, my year is coming to an end already. I’ve already said Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to my regular Saturday coffee guy and to our Chinese language teacher! I won’t be seeing either of them until after New Years! Crazy stuff.

So I’m already starting to think about 2018 and what things I need to do differently to move closer towards my goals. And whether or not I want to change my goals. Time to take a step back and look at the bigger picture again.

A typical Saturday

Mandarin is getting harder. The sentence structures are becoming less and less like English, so translations are becoming harder. I still like the efficiency of the Chinese language, though: it is so logical; there are virtually no exceptions to the rule (like “i before e except after c” lol); there are no verbs to conjugate; and there are no tenses. Where a short phrase can convey so much detail and meaning. But it’s deviating more and more from English sentence structures now, and I don’t expect things to get any easier! 😲 More practice!

After lunch, we made our way to dancing. Mainly cha cha today, and then we worked on spins. Always makes me dizzy 😵 Good class, though, as always. I need to take better notes on our lessons. So many things to do and remember, so all the more reason to be diligent with my note taking!

And then we finished the evening with some Bak Kut Teh hahaha I’m just making up for the first two years that we’ve lived here when I hadn’t yet discovered this wonderful dish! 😊

A few disappointments

I went and had bak kut teh again hahaha no obsessive behaviour here 😇 the cleaner was coming this afternoon, so I decided to go out and have lunch in between running a few errands today. I ordered veges too, I thought I should add some to complement all the pork. But I was a bit disappointed with it, actually. It was just rather blah. Oh well, now I know NOT to order it next time!

I’ve been on the lookout for baby change rooms ever since JLP came to visit 😊 ION Orchard has an impressive layout: a nursing room AND a diaper room! I didn’t go in to check them out, but I’m sure they would’ve been just as impressive inside. Well done ION 👏 yet another reason why you’re one of my favourite Malls on Orchard Road 😊

And then I stopped by Takashimaya to pick up this acai bowl 😊

This place is normally busy as on the weekends, so I decided to take advantage of the fact that it’s a Thursday today. I’m glad I decided to stop by as there was NO QUEUE. Score! 😁

We finished the first season of 13 Reasons Why tonight. Left us hanging a bit, it was rather disappointing, actually. But overall, I’m enjoying the series. I’m interested to see how they develop the story in season two.

And I did a bit of work on my trading. That’s pretty much it for today. Pretty boring! But that’s my life in general. But that’s the point of this blog: it’s about my life, my experiences during my time overseas, the exciting bits, the sad bits, but mostly the boring bits. Which is why I think you have to find the beauty and enjoyment and wonder in your daily life, otherwise you will just never be happy, always searching for something more.

Almost a typical Saturday

Almost got to a typical Saturday today… Almost. I don’t think we’ll get many typical Saturdays between now and the end of 2017. Sigh. Ironically, this was probably quite typical of pretty much the whole of 2017! 😜

Chinese class wasn’t too bad today. I didn’t feel as overwhelmed with new words and new grammar structures as much as I usually do. Or maybe I’m just getting used to being overwhelmed each and every week now?!

We then went and had Bak Kut Teh again 😊 I’m a bit obsessed hahaha they had a set meal, so we decided to get that. Pretty good bargain, but a bit too much food, as you can see:

We’re dancing tomorrow, so that’ll make me feel a bit better for eating so much for lunch today 🐷 but I’ll take it easy, still trying to recover from this stupid flu-like illness. There’s usually dancing Saturday afternoons, but I didn’t want to get too keen and get back into it so quickly, only to relapse quickly thereafter, as this has happened before 😔

So instead we went to Uniqlo after lunch, in preparation for our trip to Japan in a few weeks 🇯🇵 I’m a bit concerned that I may be travelling a bit light, and therefore not being warm enough for the cooler weather while we’re there. But I’m thinking Japan is Uniqlo’s home country, so surely we can just pop in and buy a few more items if need be when we get there?? Let’s see how far we can push this travelling light idea… we’re planning on going with just one carry on each for a 2.5-week trip – on the verge of a Japan winter ❄️ hmmm… 😒 lol

Actually, I should try and pack now. It’s not like I’ll be needing any of these winter clothes here in SG between now and our holiday – or ever…! 😂

Lots of sprinkles today

I was going through my Twitter feed this morning and stumbled across this tweet, which I thought was very timely, since I was feeling like I wasn’t progressing with my trading at all.

https://twitter.com/LanceBeggs/status/925391927213740032

So after seeing this, I vowed to review all my trades from October, and make sure I understand what worked, what didn’t and why; and how I can go about improving my process and understanding of the market. It’s like the universe was telling me not to give up, and gave me a sign to point me in the right direction. That gave me hope!

We had our Mandarin makeup class this afternoon, since we didn’t go on Saturday, and our teacher corrected my earlier message. So much for flawless Chinese! hahaha but hey, at least I gave it a go. How else do you learn if you’re not willing to put yourself out there and fail a gazillion times? 😊

Before correction:

早上好，对不起，我们今天不去上课。N刚刚到新加坡来的，他这个星期就出差了，他非常累。而且，我弟弟和他的家人都到新加坡来的。我们可以上makeup课吗？

After correction:

早上好，对不起，我们今天不去上课了。N刚刚回到新加坡，他出差了一个星期，刚刚回来，他非常累。而且，我弟弟他们家都到新加坡来了。我们可以补课吗？

Not bad. He understood what I was trying to say, but there was one sentence/phrase that stumped him, lol (the bit with 出差了 apparently does not make sense hahaha). Oh well, I gave it a go 😊

I went and had bak kut teh for the second time in my life today, which literally means “meat bone tea”. Not that there is any tea in it, so I don’t quite get why it’s in its name.

Despite it looking pretty damn boring lol it’s actually really nice! I like to have it with rice, but I’m sure you can have it on its own or with veges. It’s basically just boiled pork, but the soup must be jam packed with different herbs coz it’s so flavoursome. And definitely lots of pepper! Both times I had this, I choked from the pepper, not expecting just how peppery the soup would be hahaha

I was reading the Chinese on the sign thing on the table, and was impressed that I could read almost the entire thing. Except I didn’t know what 脸书 (liǎn shū) was. I know 脸 is face, and 书 is book, but it didn’t click for aaaaages hahaha even with the English right on top! One of my new words for the day 😊

We didn’t have our usual Ballroom lesson tonight: our teacher is in Vietnam for the coming week. Sighhhh… I can’t even remember the last time we had a Ballroom lesson (or a Latin lesson, for that matter!), other things just keep getting in the way! And we were gaining such good momentum too. Oh well, such is life.

We managed to get to the last hour of the Wednesday social, though, and we got to go through all ten dances in that hour, amazing. Well, as much of each dance that we could remember anyway. We could tell just how out of practice we are: Ballroom was so rough; Latin was not sharp. Blahhhh… I wore my new practice shoes – and they were gooood 😁 they did the job perfectly. Happy with my purchase 👍 now just need to USE them!