August 2020

 

Another month has past. Same old same old. Usually in August, I'd be back in Penang celebrating my Dad's birthday. But the border between Singapore and Malaysia has not opened for leisure traveller yet, so I am stuck in a small island. The latest update from Malaysia side is, border will be closed till next year. Bummer. 

So how did I keep my sanity in this tiny island without going mad? Well luckily, the month of August is also National Day month. So we get a holiday, and lots of promotion to keep me sane. I will share more. Please read on. The other silver lining for me was that the gym was slowly opening up, increasing the number of participant in the class. I was so happy to be back doing slow yoga and zumba again even if the competition was stiff. 

One of my accomplishment for August was finishing one of my creative project, a pencil colouring picture of Tokyo. Since I had so many half done project lying around, I told myself that I'm gonna at least complete something in August. And since I missed Japan so much, I decided to complete this 2SGD drawing I got from Daiso. If I use a water brush to paint over it, it actually transformed into a water painting. But I'm too lazy for now, so it will remain as a colouring picture for now. 

I was so proud of it that I went to Ikea to get two frame to put them in. I have another drawing of Kyoto which I am also looking forward to complete one day. So above is where I kept the painting, above my bed in my bedroom. Hopefully one day, they will hand beautifully in my new home in Penang, reminding me of my beautiful memories in the land of the rising sun. 

Just for fun, while I was decluttering, I also came across a mooncake box that I couldn't quite bare to part with. So I made the above two Japanese dolls to put them in and decorated it to make it into a frame. Pretty cool huh? I love the fact that the black background is actually shinning in material. I call this, autumn scene with sakura flowing down from the trees.... hahaha. 

Before all this Covid started, I actually planned to go to Kyushu in August. One of my new joy in visiting Japan now is to buy Japanese books. But since that plan is being scrapped, I decided to give myself 50SGD to splurge on Japanese books in Kinokuniya. So one day on my half day off, I went book shopping and got these two delightful books. I love these books cause they make me so calm reading them. It's like reading about my soon to be lifestyle! Hahaha. 

Since there was the National Day long weekend, I also decided to use the time to cook up all the food that I was craving. A week before, I had went to a yakitori izakaya with my friend, and had a nice lunch that cost me over 90SGD. But I wasn't satisfied as they didn't make their chicken skewer juicy enough. So I decided to make my own. And it was a success! Probably cause I tend to undercook my food, so the leek and the chicken was just nice and juicy. I plan to make this again cause it's the only way I get to really eat as much awesome food I want without bursting my bank account!

I also decided to cook Sarawak laksa one day. I got these sauce while on my two weeks cruise around South East Asia. The first stop was at Kota Kinabalu. I made a bee line to the supermarket and got two packs of Sarawak laksa for my souvenir! Because I was deprived of Penang food for the past 6 months, this dish was a welcome comfort food for me. 

As I mentioned early, August tend to have lots of local flavoured promotion for the residence of Singapore. National Gallery decided to give all residence a one-year insider membership for free. So I signed up and went to activate my membership on my half day off. I have visited the place twice since, and each visit, I discover a new thing to see, experience and explore. It's a nice place to go for some quiet time whenever I am in town. 

Garden By The Bay decided to give residence 6-month free entry if we buy a 20SGD ticket for two observatory. It was a worthwhile deal. I've been once so far, and I love the smell of all the plants inside. I will take this as my forest bathing 6-month treatment, and plan to visit it at least once a month till February. Hopefully I will get to see the autumn fest, October pumpkin, christmas, and Chinese New Year decoration. 

Just to finish off. I am having a slight coffee crisis here. I am running out of drip coffee, and the brand that I want is out of stock in Singapore. Bummer. But I also bought myself a Devil's Brew one day while taking a break from work one day. It was so good! I signed up for their loyalty program for 20SGD, which gave me an total value of 22SGD, and 20% off purchase. So far I have drank 2 cups. Each cost around 4SGD actually. I found a breakfast promo which I can get half a sandwich or a scone with the coffee at 3.50SGD, so that's going to be my Friday treat until I ran out of money in my e-wallet.

So that's all the updates I have for August. September should be quite fun as I would be starting my leave clearing. By November it would only be a weekly affair. I wonder what fun things I would entertain myself with. Since I can't travel, I tend to have a lot of cash to spend in Singapore. Even if it's staying at home and cooking up a storm. Stay tune! And Stay Safe!