Early CNY reunion dinner with in-laws + start of three-month unlimited package @ Evolution Fitness + MCP lunch @ Peppermint, Yin Yoga Sound Therapy & Wheel Yoga + uterus & stiff shoulder treatments @ Ee Beauty Wellness + visiting Cara & aqua detox oxy-indulgence facial treatment + STC Townhall

1/1/23 Sun: Potato had sore throat and cough since yesterday, but he tested negative using the ART kit. We went over to my in-laws at 3.30pm to have an early CNY reunion dinner with the family since MM’s edd is on January 16. They prepared army stew cum steamboat, abalone salad and MIL also bought KFC for us.

2/1/23 Mon: Had Pilates reformer class with Hana this morning and I thought that the left side of the strap on my reformer felt tauter than the rope on the right… should check again before the next lesson.

Flipped one of the recipe book on vegetarian dishes and decided to try baked fresh mushrooms with black pepper for our meatless dinner. *Couldn’t find burdock so I went with radish and tofu soup instead.* I reckon I can add more salt and also some chilli powder or butter next time to the baked mushrooms to give the flavour more depth.

*rRandom rRant: alamak we found worms in the bathroom drains and also worms in my opened walnut pack recently… tsk.*

3/1/23 Tues: Did an interview with Harry this morning and took the afternoon to write the story and edit Larry’s article. Had dinner at my parents’ as usual and bro gifted me a box of pineapple balls from鼎记… nice.

Returned to aerial yoga class after signing up for their three-month unlimited package ($500). One of the move in the flow was slightly awkward but I managed to complete the flow anyway.

4/1/23 Weds: MCP went for lunch at Peppermint at Park Royal Collection Marina Bay today. Diane, Chris, CS and I took Chris’ car… quite an ‘F1’ driver there haha. Had a three-hour buffet lunch there~ took sashimi for a start but it was only so-so. I quite enjoyed the vegetable, laksa and udon though. RK, David and I shared a Grab back to office after that.

Was very full from the buffet lunch, but I still came home to the lovely chicken stew Potato made for us for dinner. I only ate the chicken, mushroom, celery, tomato and onion because I was leaving for two new exercise classes at 7pm and 8.30pm at Evolution Fitness studio.

Attended my first Yin Yoga and Sound Therapy class with Yip and while there were six other classmates, I’m the only first-timer. It’s basically release of tension in different parts of our body and I did feel numb doing some of them. We had to hold every pose for two minutes on average. For the last 15 minutes, we did Shavasana while Yip played the singing bowls… kind of relaxing I guess.

Wheel Yoga was totally different! I sweated and both my thighs were so tired from repeating the Warrior I, II and III poses~ I was obviously not used to rolling with the wheel and my lower back was tight as usual, but I tried my best. Also managed to squat on the wheel with two Yoga block on the sides, felt a little imbalanced but I shall try my best to lift both my hands next time!

5/1/23 Thurs: Poor Potato coughed quite badly last night, and he’s worried he’d wake me up, so he slept in the living room sofa instead. He’s seeing a doctor this morning, and hopefully the cough goes away asap.

Had the leftover stew from last night as lunch, and I went for the uterus ($48) and stiff shoulder trial treatments ($38) at EE Beauty Wellness. EQ used the负压养生仪to suck out dampness from my shoulder and back first. It is said to help improve blood circulation, relieve pain,祛风驱寒and改善富贵包. The suction felt more painful near the lymph nodes, and after 10 minutes or so, she showed me the maroon patches and even almost brown patch near the lower part of my spine. *我身体湿气好重啊~什么脾胃、胆、膀胱这些地方都不要太好alamak.* She also explained that this is different from cupping in the sense that cupping only泻气whereas this device allows补气at the same time, so it can be done more often than cupping (advised to do only once a month). My neck is no longer tight and could turn left and right much more freely after the treatment omg.

After that, she worked on my stomach and womb area with the same device and though it’s quite scary to see the stomach being stretched upwards because of the suction from the cups, it’s still quite comfortable and not as painful as the back. Again, it’s said to help with anti-aging, ovary care by improving the ‘cold’ in the womb and improve gastrointestinal function. After nearly 1h and 15 minutes, EQ helped massaged my stomach and much as my body was “damp”, I felt the “heat” in my back after the whole treatment, so she said that’s a good sign that shows我身体底子好haha. *养生很重要。I signed up for five sessions of uterus and womb treatments, three for the shoulder and back and she gave me one free head treatment. Don’t know how good these can be for my health, but I shall monitor.*

*Was pleasantly surprised to see Potato waiting for me downstairs to go for dinner together after tuition. <3*

6/1/23 Fri: *Though a little painful on the back at night, I slept rather comfortably and woke up feeling quite refreshed the next morning. Poor Potato had to endure his cough though.*

For dinner, he cooked prawn, egg and tomato using tomato sauce and another plate of celery with mushroom and black fungus. It’s the usual home dishes but comforting as always.

7/1/23 Sat: After the first race day duty of the year, I came home to yummy teriyaki salmon with broccoli and radish prepared by Potato! He followed a recipe on下厨房app for the radish dish and though it tasted good, it was way too salty, so we thought we could do away with the light soy sauce next time.

8/1/23 Sun: I bought a slice of cheesecake ($4.50) from Swee Heng 1989 and went to WZ’s place for Pat’s belated 34^th birthday lunch. I shared the minced meat rice from Eat 3 Bowls with Pat and drank the bubble tea latte while Joel ate the rest ($60+). Saw WZ’s second daughter Cara awake for a while, and though Vera was running a fever, she kept wanting to be near her younger sister haha.

Left at 3pm to come back to Beaule Beauty and Wellness salon at Le Quest mall for my aqua detox oxy-indulgence trial facial treatment ($38) session. Sherlyn said that my skin is oily on the inside but dry on the outside (different from what some previous therapists said before though) and there’s a number of milia seed on my face, so she took quite some time to squeeze 70% of them out… ouch. She told me that I must exfoliate twice weekly and put hydrating mask for my skin to balance the oil beneath and on the skin surface. After that, she put on a tea tree gel and rolled on my face which felt comfortable. For the last step, she left on a mask for 20 minutes. The whole treatment took close to two hours! Moving forth, the cheapest cost for one session would be $78, so I’m still contemplating if I should sign up for it.

PotaTOHs had batang fish meat soup with rice and thick bee hoon ($6 each) for dinner and it was quite nice. He also proudly showed me that he wiped all the windows at our unit (bar the toilets) clean today! I am very thankful because I only helped him with the living room windows this morning before I headed out.

9/1/23 Mon: Woke up feeling very refreshed this morning, albeit a wailing toddler downstairs somewhere was irritating. I could do my chin-ups in reformer class much more easily as my neck is not as tight as before now after the “suction” treatment. Came home and prepared the ingredients for my meatless soup to be put into the Thermos: mushroom, enoki, onion, celery, carrot, black fungus, red date, wolfberry in chicken stock and water. Potato helped cook the rice and add in the black fungus and meatless dumplings while I was at tuition.

He also fried sunny side-ups for us~ yummy! Plus kimchi as a side, it was quite a flavourful meatless dinner tonight.

10/1/23 Tues: Wasn’t too focused at the start of aerial yoga class tonight because I was thinking about possible travel options in June, but the flow at the end definitely “woke me up”.

11/1/23 Weds: Attended Townhall in the morning and we enjoyed a good lunch in the Derby room because it was pouring outside. Kylicia came back to “visit” us and we got the angpows from Pools haha. *The Hydro Flask STC gave is useful too!*

Attended yin yoga and sound bath class with Yip and he used this “heart song” essential oil blend in class which smell so good! Also took the chance to ask him about certain moves we do at the start like biting our molar for 24 times, snapping the index finger behind the ears for 36 times (to wake up the nerves apparently) and swiping our tongue in front of our teeth six times clockwise and then anti-clockwise (to work the facial muscles) etc.

Wheel yoga was intense like last week’s, and we tried wheel-assisted chaturanga pose for the first time, as well as this pose that reminds me of a “scorpion” haha…

I managed to do it on my right leg with the help of Yip and my classmate, but the balance was just off on my left so I did not manage to “stand” on my left knee. It requires a lot of balance, some core but not much arm strength actually. *Came home to two maki rolls Potato bought for me because he knew I’d be a bit hungry hehe~*

*Good to see that Potato has recovered pretty much and the coughs are mild now.*