Week one got off to a slightly rocky start with us all getting used to homeschooling (the husband had already started working from home the week before that).

I posted a little bit about that here. 

As I write this on Monday 9am, the third grader is working on an English assignment and the 6yo is grumbling about doing his English schoolwork. The third grader is more used to more independent-style learning and online learning too, but it’s not been easy for the first grader.

The husband braved the supermarket over the weekend so we now have some more snacks (very important to these hungry kids), more flour and sugar (I was running out! Also I have to make a birthday cake for my 8yo will be 9 next week!) and I feel better about having a bit more supplies.

 

An unofficial home economics class

 

Trying to get a slight semblance of regular life but buying take out from the Kebab Shop. This was just a portion of their family pack! Delicious!

 

Currently…

 

Reading:

Mistborn – Brandon Sanderson

Ok I am LOVING this

 

 

Watching:

Ugly Delicious

Listening:

Nothing at the moment. I just finished Double Cup Love yesterday and am looking out for a new audiobook.

 

Eating:

A chocolate oatmeal cookie

Drinking:

Coffee

Cooking:

 

I made some freezer baked pasta (topped it with bechamel after taking the photo)

Maybe some chicken rice made in the rice cooker and with a premade Singapore – style Hainanese chicken rice paste.

Noodles

 

Last week:

I read:

 

I posted:

 

Meals under a week of lockdown #WeekendCooking

Library Loot (March 18 to 24)

Spring TBR list #TopTenTuesday

 

 

 

Happy Monday to you! This is day one of COVID19 school closures. Our district’s schools have been closed for the next two weeks, although the surrounding school districts have planned longer closures of between 3 to 4 weeks so I suspect that this two week closure may end up being longer?? At any rate, we are waiting for more information from the school and teachers about what we are supposed to do, as the school closure announcement only came late Friday afternoon after school was out. Luckily my third grader’s teachers are very adept at online stuff, as they use Google Classroom in class, and they have been maintaining a class website for a few years now. But all the teachers sent the kids home with whatever workbooks they had in class so we will just await instructions!

Meanwhile, it was a very wet weekend, a much appreciated wet weekend! So a lot of staying in, Legos, baking, cooking, reading, and of course, Netflix.

 

Made some laksa using a premade paste and udon noodles

 

Currently…

 

Reading:

 

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

 

The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson

 

 

Watching:

Ford vs Ferrari (the husband’s choice)

Listening:

Double Cup Love by Eddie Huang

Eating:

Chocolate olive oil cake

Drinking:

Nespresso

Cooking:

I’ve got some tangzhong-style milk bread in the oven and I made laksa for lunch.

This week, I plan on making shepherd’s pie, maybe some chicken curry. Pasta probably.

Browsing:

Observer critics suggest ways to while away the long days of self-isolation during the coronavirus crisis

24 new books we couldn’t put down (Buzzfeed)

Playing scrabble in a pandemic (Slate)

Marjan Kamali on visiting the homes of her readers (Lit Hub)

Last week:

I read:

The Right Swipe – Alisha Rai
Empty Hearts – Julie Zeh
The Threads of the Heart – Carole Martinez

I posted:

Library Loot (March 11 to 17)

Review: Know My Name by Chanel Miller

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shopping in the time of COVID-19: very little rice left at the Asian supermarket on a Sunday. Luckily I was only looking to pick up some brown rice (which I didn’t find the right brand of) as I have enough jasmine rice and short grain rice at home (for now!).

I did however have problems finding the kind of noodles I wanted. There were still instant noodles but not the rice noodles I wanted.

We had some rain on Saturday after weeks of dry weather. February is usually the wet month but it was so dry. The gorgeous rainbow (actually a double but I couldn’t quite capture that in the car) was a nice end to a rainy day.

 

 

Currently…

 

Reading:

The Right Swipe – Alisha Rai

 

 

Watching:

Parks & Recreation. I’ve never seen it!

Eating:

Homemade raisin bread

Drinking:

Tea

 

Last week:

I read:

Know My Name – Chanel Miller

Night Sky with Exit Wounds – Ocean Vuong

I posted:

 

Library Loot (March 4 to 10)

#TopTenTuesday: Single-word Titles

 

 

 

Panic buying has started in the Bay Area. There have been a few cases, not in the county where I live but in the neighboring ones. But people have been doing crazy Costco hauls. I watched amazed as a couple lugged a cart full of bottled water – at least four or five Costco-sizes cartons worth. I just hope all these panicked shoppers don’t try to return all their excess food once they’ve calmed down a bit.

I turned to the husband and asked, do you think we need to stock up on stuff?

We do have extras toilet paper, tissue paper, frozen food etc. Maybe not so much of canned goods, but do I really need so much of that? Or am I getting caught up in all this mass fear and panic?

As some of you may know, I’m from Singapore, and Singapore had some cases of Covid-19 quite early on, causing the government to raise their Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) to Orange which meant travel restrictions, quarantine measures etc (they even stripped someone’s PR status and banned him from entering Singapore after he breached stay-home orders).

When that happened, there was panic buying in Singapore with long queues at supermarkets and people stocking up on instant noodles and other supplies. But things seem to be heading back towards more normal times, or at least from what I’ve seen on friends’ social media feeds.

Anyway, don’t forget to wash your hands regularly. And meanwhile, here’s something more calming to look at…

 

 

The husband and I tried this new-to-us ramen place. This is their “entry level” spiciness and yet boy it as quite spicy already! There are two levels above this one and I think you would need a metal mouth to eat them. Also, I don’t like when food is too spicy as then everything tastes only of the spiciness and you can’t taste how the broth is like.

 

 

 

Currently…

 

Reading:

 

 

I’m really enjoying this read!

Watching:

The Chef Show. Watching this show is such a delight. Roy Choi and John Favreau seem to have such a blast cooking alongside each other – and their guests.

Listening:

Still listening to Five Days at Memorial!

 

Eating:

Drinking:

Tea

Cooking:

 

 

 

 

Last week:

I read:

Stargazing – Jen Wang
Bloom – Kevin Panetta

I posted:

Baguette-r be good #weekendcooking

Stargazing by Jen Wang

Dystopian near-future or present? Reading A Song for a New Day

Library Loot (February 26 to March 3)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been such a dry February here in the Bay Area. Not good for us as it’s supposed to be the rainy season.

Had dinner at Dog Haus and I fell in love with their Thai Fighter which has a super spicy sausage with arugula, a spicy basil pesto, and pickled jalapeños. Delicious.

Made some baguettes too. Will be putting up a post later this week.

 

 

Currently…

I’m typing this out while (painfully) helping the 6yo with piano practice.

Reading:

 

A Song for a New Day – Sarah Pinsker

I’m loving this dystopian read with a music focus.

 

 

Watching:

Season 3 of The Chef Show. I really enjoy the Roy Choi-Jon Favreau collaboration.

Listening:

Five Days at Memorial – Sheri Fink

Not an easy one to listen to

Eating:

I made steel cut oatmeal for breakfast

Drinking:

Nespresso with milk

Cooking:

Japchae or Korean sweet potato noodles probably with sliced beef and lots of vegetables like carrots, cabbage, mushrooms

Last week:

I read:

Let Me Hear a Rhyme – Tiffany D Jackson

Dutch House – Ann Patchett

Stargazing – Jen Wang

I posted:

Library Loot (February 19 to 25)

Tuesday musings (Autumn Light by Pico Iyer)

 

 

 

 

Happy Monday! And to those in the US, Happy President’s Day. The kids have the day off school today and we are off to do fun things. Hope you had a great weekend.

 

Some things we did last week…

Played tennis

Ate some Hainanese chicken rice

 

 

 

 

Currently…

 

Reading:

A Song for a New day – Sarah Pinsker

Watching:

Ainori: Asian Journey (Netflix)

3 girls and 4 guys (yeah more guys to girls here) take a trip around Asia in a cute pink van and try to find love.

Listening:

 

Eating:

Toasted homemade bread with butter for breakfast

Drinking:

Tea

Cooking:

Last night we made sushi for dinner. And had some sashimi too.

Last week:

I read:

Bloodlust and Bonnets – Emily McGovern

The Wedding Party – Jasmine Guillory

 

I posted:

 

Library Loot (February 12 to 18)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It’s been a drier January than last year. We did see some fog last week and a bit of a drizzle but not really all that rain that we are always looking out for!

It was Super Bowl yesterday, in case you’re not into that kind of thing. I watch for the ads. And the snacks. I was mainly crocheting. My 8yo was very into it this year. Maybe it has something to do with all those STEAM field trips to the 49ers stadium (which is near us) that they do for the schools here. They learn about sport science and even do some math apparently – even the transportation to and from the stadium was provided in air-conditioned buses.

We had friends from out of town visiting us, they were driving up from Anaheim to Seattle and it was nice to see them and ply them with our favourite Pakistani food. Unfortunately I didn’t take a photo of it. So here’s a photo of my lunch on Sunday instead.

Bento box with saba, tempura, and sashimi

And here’s my latest crochet project, an African Flower hexagon cushion cover.

Currently…

 

Reading:

 

 

Wilder Girls by Rory Power
Night Sky with Exit Wounds – Ocean Vuong

 

Watching:

Next in Fashion

Ok I was so excited to watch this and yup, I binge-watched so many episodes and then more the next day! I’m a fan of Queer Eye and Tan France is my fave so was happy to see him in something else. And he’s got great chemistry with Alexa Chung. The contestants were surprisingly from all over the world – Mexico, the UK, Italy, China, South Korea, India, and of course the US. And also those judges! From Phillip Lim to Prabal Gurung to Public School. So awesome. I don’t think it was very fair to have the contestants compete in pairs for so long (six episodes!) though as some of them were complete strangers before the show while others had been friends for years. Some of them had very different styles and ways of working so I’m not sure if it was fair to be competing with those pairs who had known each other for years. But still it was an awesome show to watch and I think for a refreshing change for American reality TV competitions, the contestants seemed to genuinely care for each other, and even help each other out, even when they were supposed to be competing against each other!

 

Eating:

 A green tea wafer cookie

Drinking:

 Coffee

Cooking:

Mondays are busy evenings for us as the 8yo has tennis class from 530-7 and by the time we get home it’s about 730. He has a big snack before we go and then dinner after. So usually we have leftovers but today I’m cooking some fried noodles, something that keeps well as I will cook before we leave and reheat after.

I was thinking of making pizza this week

Last week:

I read:

Dreamin’ Sun vol 1 – Ichigo Takano
Dreamin’ Sun vol 2 – Ichigo Takano
Dreamin’ Sun vol 3 – Ichigo Takano
Dreamin’ Sun vol 4 – Ichigo Takano

I posted:

Library Loot (January 29 to February 4)

Weekend Cooking: Vegetable curry and coconut rice