Housewarming @ James’ + “Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal earthquake” + “Balance: How to Invest and Spend for Happiness, Health, and Wealth” + Yayoi with Justin

8/4/23 Sat: Busy race day but I was so happy to come home to Potato’s homecooked pork collar and onion in honey sauce and the plate of colourful broccoli, sweet corn, carrot and mushroom for dinner!

9/4/23 Sun: PotaTOHs took bus 188 over to James and Sophie’s new 4-room flat at Clementi, and we had Pizza Hut and Collin’s for lunch. YB was there with BY and Ethan, then there’s also PH, Jess, Ben, YL, Tania and their 4-month-old daughter, Elle. As expected, it was almost a “parents’ gathering” because the focus were on their kids lol.

We celebrated James and Sophies' belated birthdays with Wunderfolk Tarts, and by the time all the other “parents” left, Jess, Ben and I stayed back to play some games with Charlotte, Charlene and James haha.

PotaTOHs bought扇贝泡饭 ($14.60) for two and one popiah ($2) from Blk 150+ for dinner… the泡饭was not bad but I think I’ll get sick of it if I eat it too often. 

10/4/23 Mon: No Pilates reformer class today as Chisa is on leave and I’m the only sign-up for the Group class… more time for me to recuperate then!

Followed the下厨房app to cook cordyceps flower soup with (too much) tofu (again), tomato, egg and spring onion in chicken stock. It has a unique sweet taste, but probably not my go-to recipe in future. As for the mushroom and potato slices I’d stir-fry with oyster sauce, light soy sauce and starch flour… it was way too salty!

WL and WS came over to our place and we discussed further about our trip to Mauritius in June… seems like I’m the only “planner” in the whole group haha. I’ll gladly look into the details then!

11/4/23 Tues: Resumed Aerial Yoga class and for the first time, I’d succeeded in doing the advanced crossback-flip tonight! Also did simple drops and I’m glad I enjoyed my first class back after COVID-19, albeit I did get a bit tired towards the end.

12/4/23 Weds: I spent my half-day off in the afternoon watching a 3-episode short docuseries, “Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal earthquake”.

That disaster in April 2015 not only affected Mount Everest, but also Kathmandu and Langtang Valley. Terrifying.

Rating: 3.75/5

Used the roller in Yin Yoga and almost every part of the muscles that I rolled on felt painful lol. Yip taught some difficult pose in Wheel Yoga… barely managed to do some but not others.

14/4/23 Fri: Did my third session of香柏木and拔罐session in the morning with Sherlyn. Can tell she did not go all out today but my left upper shoulder is really tight and painful. Also really felt a bit giddy when I got up from the bed at the end of the session and she told me to take it slow as usual.

Think I accidentally sprained my lower back a bit while doing Piloxing in the evening, so the right lower back felt a bit painful when touched and also a bit stiff whenever I get up after sitting for too long.

Messy affair in the kitchen as I whipped up Japanese-style chicken thigh and shimeiji shroom cream spaghetti for dinner haha~ luckily it turned out pretty good and PotaTOHs enjoyed the meal!

15/4/23 Sat: *Fun but also tiring as I researched for our trip to Mauritius in Jun the whole afternoon. Oh I hate computer screens!* Potato started making the stew for Kakuni since afternoon and Japanese-style pork belly stew turned out yummy! He added egg, radish and bok choy to the soup, and edamame as sides. He also chopped up some scallion but forgot to top it up to the dish in the end keke~ only recalled after we slurped down everything!

17/4/23 Mon: Was a bit unhappy to be told last minute by Shirley that Pilates Reformer class was cancelled the night before but luckily there were still slots for the Pilates Fitball class at Yip’s. We worked with a pair of 1.5kgs dumbbells and the fitballs this morning and it was a good sweat-out.

Enjoyed a simple meatless dinner with the Taiwanese ramen, egg, bok choy, dumpling and mushroom cooked by Potato at night.

Finished reading “Balance: How to Invest and Spend for Happiness, Health, and Wealth” by Andrew Hallam.

Very all-rounded advice he has for readers, but first, we'd have to start with letting go of material stuff since they rarely boost satisfaction in life but only a short-term "sugar high" from which we quickly slump (and the evil cycle repeats). Also, we may not realise it but sometimes, we buy things so we can "show-off" to others. I would prefer to spend on experiences than on stuff.

It knocked some sense into me about the relentless pursuit of higher-paying jobs too. If it reduces my life satisfaction by taking my time away from my family, friends, hobbies and health pursuits, then it ain't worth it. The values shared were mostly what I very much agree with in life and have also put them into practice but can be further improved, like going deep into relationships with a few good friends, be true to myself and not chase status or a lifestyle that others expect and limiting the time I spend on social media.

I also agreed with four of the top five regrets of dying patients revealed in the book. They wished they'd live true to their values instead of a life others expected of them, wished they hadn't work so hard, wished they had the courage to express their feelings and that they had stayed in touch with old friends. 

Helpful financial advices are given in the book too like not timing the financial market and how DCA is very useful for lazy investors like me. For those with children, teaching them financial concept (spend/donate/invest) and encouraging them to do household chores since young and limiting their screen time will hone their social skills, discipline and responsibility with time.

Lastly, I'm also not into retiring early. I'd like to work in my golden years if I can because I believe spending time with people and learning makes me happy.

Rating: 3.75/5

18/4/23 Tues: Didn’t manage to complete the flow in aerial yoga class tonight but I did my best!

19/4/23 Weds: Yin Yoga and Sound Bath class was okay tonight, but I tried to do wheel-assisted headstand for the first time in Wheel Yoga class and I obviously couldn’t get my legs up at all lol. Also tried to balance ourselves on two wheels using our arms and quad strength to bring ourselves off and legs horizontal to the ground… hard but I did it for a while haha. *Potato was waiting for me at home with salmon sushi from NTUC hehe~*

20/4/23 Thurs: Debbie, Shelley and I brought Cherry to香港珍达记at Marsiling for XO fish head bee hoon and zichar.

I cooked prawn, shimeiji mushroom and onion using Prego’s tomato, basil and garlic sauce for dinner which tasted good. Also cooked a pot of radish soup with wolfberry, tofu, egg, and anchovy in chicken stock, but we found it a bit bitter somehow.

21/4/23 Fri: Treated Justin to dinner at Yayoi at Star Vista. The DIY tonkotsu ramen I had ($25.90), which came with three chicken dumplings, was very salty. Justin seemed to enjoy his seafood泡饭though. After that, we chatted for a while over drinks (his treat) at a cafe downstairs. My yuzu lavender kombucha was not bad. *I support his career decision, and I think he's already more than responsible to inform friends and clients before he quits.*

22/4/23 Sat: It's been very hot and humid the past few days, so PotaTOHs nua-ed at home today. Potato cooked teriyaki salmon and stir-fried FIL's prawn dumplings, black fungus and snow peas for dinner!