The last official school day is Wednesday and hooray no more school lunch to pack! No more driving back and forth several times a day! The kindergartener will finally be going to full-day school in August (kindergarten here is half-day so he only goes from 1140-3pm, and to complicate things, every first Wednesday is morning session). Of course that means next school year, I’ll have to pack two school lunches. Oh joy. Luckily the kids are ok eating sandwiches some days…

Meanwhile, we have some of our summer planned out – the kids are attending a couple of science-related summer camps. So hopefully they will have fun and learn something. I’ll also take them swimming more often. And it might sound Tiger Mom-ish of me, but I also want to make sure they’re both prepared for 3rd and 1st grade! The two of them are in a Mandarin immersion program, and we don’t really speak much Mandarin at home so we are going to have to work on that, especially since it’s a big jump from K to 1st. And when we visited the 3rd grade class at Open House, I marveled at all the projects that were on display, some poetry, some research projects, some stories written, book reviews, some in Chinese, some in English. Definitely more challenging written work than in 2nd!

 

Things eaten last week:

I brought the in-laws out to eat dim sum. My father-in-law loves century egg porridge. Also one of my favourite things is the shengjianbao or a panfried bun with pork and vegetables.

I discovered that kimchi in a burger is an amazing combination. We ate at a fancy food court at the fancy mall so we had good burgers from Super Duper and my in-laws had rice bowls from KoJa and I took the kimchi and added that to my burger. Yummy

We made sushi for dinner and also had sashimi

More eating out – xiaolongbao

 

Hot pot on a hot Sunday.

 

 

Currently…

 

Reading:

 

 

 

Watching:

We watched Ocean’s 8 and boy was I disappointed. It was an awesome cast – Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling etc- but completely disappointing. Blanchett in particular was so underused. It wasn’t very clever and it strangely lacked tension – all the issues that cropped up were very easily solved. For eg, they needed a part, and tada one of the members just happened to have a genius sister who can engineer such a device. If this was the very first Ocean’s movie, it may have been ok. But how could this follow the first three? I mean, sure, it barely has anything to do with the original except that Bullock is Danny Ocean’s sister (and two original cast members appear) but with three exciting and relatively smart movies preceding it, this was such an utter letdown.

Eating:

Hot pot for dinner

Drinking:

Yuzu sake

Cooking:

To be honest I’m just excited that I don’t have to pack lunch on Thursday and Friday and haven’t a bloody clue what I’m cooking this week. I did however pick up some hamachi Kama (yellowtail cheek) from the Asian supermarket (6 big pieces for about $35) and will be grilling some. Just not today as I’m not turning on my oven in this heatwave!

Last week:

I read:

The totally awesome Hulk. Vol. 1, Cho time – Greg Pak
Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword – Henry Lien
Save Me the Plums – Ruth Reichl
Unmarriageable – Soniah Kamal
I posted:

Homemade chocolate ice-cream #WeekendCooking

Moon Rush: The new Space Race by Leonard David #TLCBookTours

Library Loot (June 5 to 11)

Top Books From My Favorite Genre #toptentuesday

 

 

 

 

It’s the last full week of school! The second grade teachers have the week planned out. The first two days seem to be board game days. One of the days, the kids are supposed to bring their favourite books and they will be doing some outdoors reading and they can bring toys and wear pyjamas. The kindergarteners are having a field trip to Happy Hollow and that’s going to be a full day event (kindergarten is half-day here).

Meanwhile, here’s what we did last week.

We went cherry picking at Brentwood. It’s about an hour drive away from us so we set off at 8 and got there at 9, when most of the farms open. A friend had recommended to us the farm directly opposite Nunn Better Farms, which is one of the more well-known farms in the area. I still have no idea what the name of the smaller farm opposite was, but their cherries were big and sweet! Apparently this is a good year for California cherries – we had a colder than usual winter and lots of rain, so the cherry season may be longer this year.

We had fun picking the cherries (and eating them!). My father-in-law picked the most cherries, and he was satisfied only when his bucket was full. We ended up with about 24 pounds of cherries. At $3.50 a pound, compared to $5 a pound at the farmers’ market.

 

 

Also, we went to see Detective Pikachu! The boys were very excited.

 

 

 I made chocolate ice-cream!

 

Homegrown radishes!

The weather was just nice for a Sunday BBQ.

Currently…

 

Reading:

Unmarriageable – Soniah Kamal

 

I Did Not Kill My Husband – Liu Zhenyun

 

Watching:

On Saturday night, the husband and I watched Always Be My Maybe! It was such a great show, sweet and funny. I kinda wished we could have had more scenes with the younger actors!

Listening:

 

Save Me the Plums – Ruth Reichl

Eating:

Homemade walnut bread

Drinking:

Yorkshire Gold with milk

 

Last week:

I read:

Ayesha at Last – Uzma Jalaluddin
Edinburgh – Alexander Chee
Machines Like Me – Ian McEwan

I posted:

 

#AsianLitBingo 2019 Wrap-up!

Gula Melaka coconut ice cream #weekendcooking

Emergency Contact by Mary H K Choi #AsianLitBingo

Edinburgh by Alexander Chee #AsianLitBingo

Library Loot May 29 to June 4

 

 

 

 

 

 Last week…

We bought a Kitchenaid ice-cream mixer attachment. The original price listed was $70.99 and the Husband happened to check the Target app and for some reason it was listed there at $44.99 so we ordered it and picked it up after we watched Avengers: Endgame.

We’d been considering getting an ice-cream maker for a while. I didn’t want a big one like those with compressors (benefit: you don’t have to freeze the bowl first!) as it would take up too much space that I don’t have. And since my Kitchenaid mixer sits on my counter all the time anyway (I use it quite a lot, also it’s too heavy to move), an attachment seemed like the best thing to get.

Of course that meant we had to freeze the bowl for at least 15 hours!

But I also made the ice-cream custard (I used this lovely vanilla ice-cream recipe from David Leibovitz) and had it sitting in the fridge, ready to be poured into the mixer.

It did already taste great after 20 minutes or so of mixing. But it was already near dinnertime anyway so we put it in the freezer and took it out for dessert. Homemade vanilla ice cream is so delicious. It was luscious and creamy and had a big vanilla taste from the vanilla pod and extract.

 

 

Other things this week, lots of summer fruits at the farmers market – cherries, nectarines and peaches. I love nectarines. Peaches not so much.

Made japchae and a slow cooker honey-braised pork sirloin roast. The pork roast was so good!

Bookmarking it here myself so I’ll remember where I found the recipe.

 

 

 

Currently…

 

Reading:

 

 

Unmarriageable – Soniah Kamal

 

Machines Like Me – Ian McEwan

 

If You Leave Me – Crystal Hana Kim

 

Watching:

The husband and I finally got to see Avengers: Endgame and don’t worry, I won’t reveal any spoilers or anything. So I will just say that I really enjoyed it, except for one part.

 

 

Eating:

Homemade vanilla ice-cream (I’m writing this Sunday night)

Drinking:

 Lots of water

 

Last week:

I read:

Ayesha At Last – Uzma Jalaluddin

Edinburgh – Alexander Chee

I posted:

River of Stars by Vanessa Hua #AsianLitBingo

Library Loot (May 22 to 28)

Not Your Sidekick by CB Lee #AsianLitBingo

 

 

 

 

 

Last week…

 

My mother-in-law arrived from Singapore bearing gifts!

I made Pai Bao, a soft condensed milk that originated from Hong Kong. It uses the tangzhong method, which I really love using as it makes extra soft bread.

 

We ate at Super Duper Burger. Still one of the best burgers in the area!

The farmers’ market has nectarines in!

Korean food for lunch at Jang Su Jang.

Currently…

 

Reading:

Edinburgh – Alexander Chee

I’m slowly making my way through this one. There are some books you breeze through and some books you struggle through. But then there are beauties like this one filled with such great writing that you want to just sip at it and savour it before it is all gone.

 

 

Watching:

How To Get Away With Murder season 5 – I have a love-hate relationship with this show. It has moments of brilliance and it’s full of great actors (Viola Davis, Liza Weil, who if this name sounds somewhat familiar, played Paris Geller on Gilmore Girls) but sometimes things just are a bit TOO dramatic.

I attempted to watch Wine Country but gave up about 1/3 of the way in.

Listening:

 

Eating:

Pain au chocolat from Paris Baguette

Drinking:

Yorkshire Gold with milk

 

Browsing:
Cathy’s 20 Books of Summer is back! More specifically it will kick off June 3!

#ownvoices mysteries for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month – I’ve read the Widows of Malabar Hill, Shelter and Little Fires Everywhere

Find out which are the finalists in the Best Translated Book Awards

Last week:

I read:

Emergency Contact – Mary HK Choi
My Brother’s Husband Vol 2 – Gengoroh Tagame
Not your Sidekick – CB Lee
A River of Stars – Vanessa Hua

I posted:

My Brother’s Husband Vol 2 by Gengoroh Tagame

Bad Friends by Ancco #AsianLitBingo
The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay #AsianLitBingo

Library Loot (May 15 to 21)

Adaptations that are better than the books #TopTenTuesday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last week

My three fellas took me out to one of our favourite Japanese restaurants where I had the best seafood porridge which is loaded with crab and prawns and topped with ikura and uni.

 

And we were excited to see cherries and strawberries at the farmers market again! The price is a bit high at the moment but it will get cheaper as summer rolls around.

Currently…

 

Reading:

A River of Stars – Vanessa Hua

Not Your Sidekick – CB Lee

 

Watching:

Dead To Me

I wasn’t all that sure about this show at first.

Then I ended up binge-watching several episodes. And finished the rest within the next couple of days!! This is a dark and funny show and it is just a delight to watch.

Listening:

Still no personal audiobook at the moment. But the kids have been listening to A Boy and His Bot. 

 

Eating:

I made waffles this morning. The husband said, we can bring you out for breakfast! But really, I make better waffles than the diners in our town and so, homemade waffles it was.

Drinking:

Nespresso

Cooking:

I’m going to make a double batch of baked mac and cheese. And I’m trying to decide about adding either cauliflower or broccoli to it.

 

Last week:

I read:

Half a World Away – Cynthia Kadohata
The Way You Make Me Feel – Maurene Goo
Bad Friends – Ancco
The Far Field – Madhuri Vijay
I posted:

 

The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo

Library Loot (May 8 to 14)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last week felt like a looonnggg week. The husband was away in Denver for work and when he got back he fell ill.

It’s Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May and this month, on social media and blogs, I’m taking part in #LitCelebrAsian and #APICelebrAsian where we feature books by Asian and Pacific Islander authors. This past weekend was the topic of favourite API-authored books. And that was what I posted above!

 

 

Currently…

 

Reading:

 

 

 

Watching:

 The husband and I rewatched Infinity Wars

Listening:

Not listening to any audiobooks at the moment but I have a couple on hold

Eating:

 

I made this French chocolate cake (recipe from David Leibovitz) on Sunday and it was so good.

Drinking:

 Water

Cooking:

Fried noodles

Some kind of pasta dish

Maybe if I’m up to it, some bacon cheddar scones

Last week:

I read:

Woman World – Aminder Dhaliwal
Faith Vol 1 – Jody Houser
Watch Us Rise – Renee Watson, Ellen Hagan

I posted:

Quincredible Vol 1

Library Loot (May 1 to 7)

Crenshaw

#AsianLitBingo 2019 TBR list

 

 

 

Also, my parents flew back to Singapore on Saturday and we were all teary (and the kids were sobbing). It was great having them around, especially my Dad who was last here two years ago and doesn’t like cold weather.

 

We had a nice at-home Spring Break. It was really hot last week so the kids did some swimming, biking and scootering, gardening, and hanging out with friends at a trampoline park.

 And my younger boy turned 6!

So I made a funfetti cake with vanilla frosting as he requested.

Currently…

 

Reading:

 

Watch Us Rise – Renee Watson, Ellen Hagan

 

Under the Lilacs – Louisa May Alcott

 

Watching:

 

Street Food on Netflix – I loved the Singapore episode which focused on a few different hawker foods, and featured the story of the woman whose family runs the famous putu piring stall. Putu piring is a special dessert made of steamed rice flour, gula melaka (palm sugar), and coconut. It’s so delicious and we make sure to eat it every time we go back. Luckily there’s one near my Dad’s store in the Haig Road market.

 

Listening:

I just finished listening to American Like Me, edited by America Ferrera. And am looking for my next audiobook!

 

Eating:

Brie and a piece of toast

Drinking:

Water

Cooking:

It’s going to be a much cooler week this week, also the husband is away the whole week! So to make things easier on myself, I’m planning to make some baked mac and cheese. I usually make two trays worth so I can freeze one.

Last week:

I read:

Evicted – Matthew Desmond
Internment – Samira Ahmed
American Like Me – America Ferrera (ed)
Slow Days, Fast Company – Eve Babitz
I posted:

#weekendcooking – another month, another funfetti cake!

Library Loot (April 24 to 30)