《好孩子》+ 除夕团圆火锅@ parents' + CNY大年初一@ in-laws + CNY大年初二@ parents’ + dad’s thyroid CT scan results + mum's bday zichar dinner

2/2/26 Mon: Damn I did not sleep well because I hurt my lower back last night so I feel so achy today. Had to stand straight very slowly and I only felt better in fetus position. 

Still cooked meatless pan mee for dinner and I added egg, chives dumplings, bok choy, shimeiji shrooms and enoki shrooms in there. 

Finished watching《好孩子》at night.

菊花嫂（洪慧芳饰）失智后，长子家强（吴清樑饰）要把她送到养老院。小儿子家好（许瑞奇饰）是不被家里接受的变装皇后，但他不忍心看妈妈被送到养老院，所以搬回家并以女儿的身份照顾妈妈。这过程中有趣事发生，但背后也隐藏着心酸和不为人知的秘密：家好是被领养的（虽然这个part我觉得有点惨上加惨了，不知道是不是真的Sammi Zhen的故事呢？）。

许瑞奇演得很好，举手投足间很有Drag Queen的味道。很多幕戏我看得哭了，因为很纠结。菊花嫂对着家好和他男朋友；允许他们“结婚”这件事上说了“政府不给，妈妈给”的那一刻也真的是经典又催泪！

其实我很喜欢本地电影，因为有很多本土文化的同时也有很多议题可以反思，很棒。

Rating: 4.25/5

3/2/26 Tues: My back still aches a little but better than yesterday. Delivered lunches to the elderlies this morning and it was breezy~ nice! *Mum has recovered from her previous itchy skin issue which bothered her for two months or so, which is good to hear. For me, PPPD has been around for two months but it's a lot better compared to before, and it seems to only be there or get worse when I can't help but think of it.* 

4/2/26 Weds: My back ache was much better, but the upper part of my right knee was still painful at times when I walk, so I did not join in Metabolic Plan class this morning. Went to buy three cans of abalone (drained weight 250g) at Hockhua tonic for $210... they did not have the 213g ones for now. 立春today and I know it's an irony, but I went to deposit money at POSB first before going over to UOB to collect my fit notes for CNY lol.

Cooked my favourite wafu pork belly spaghetti with bok choy, onions, shimeiji shrooms and tofu for dinner!

5/2/26 Thurs: Cancelled Aerial yoga class this morning and tomorrow’s Pilates intermediate class because my back still hurts a little, and my right knee hurts at times when I walk now haiz. Cooked my own Grandma Ong dried pan mee with bok choy, egg and pork belly slices for lunch... really enjoyable!

Enjoyed some tau kee and black fungus shrroms mum cooked and the石斑was soft and good! The bitter gourd and egg soup and lady’s fingers were also nice. Also put myself as the donee after dad did his LPA, which has to be certified at the clinic at Lakeside next Wednesday afternoon and the fee is $54.5. *I tried the ginger patch I bought for dad and it was so hot I had to take it down a few hours after sticking it on my right knee aiyoh.*

6/2/26 Fri: *Happy I didn't feel any dizziness while eating my fried bee hoon at Batok West Hawker centre this afternoon~ small win!* Had my first tuition with JX, a Sec 3 girl. Slightly rebellious, but I don’t think her level of chinese should be that bad. We’ll see.

Potato cooked scallops and crabsticks with egg, bok choy and enoki shrooms in tom yam maggie shiok~

7/2/26 Sat: I gave the toilets a good spray this morning lol before PotaTOHs spent the afternoon spring cleaning our kitchen together~ I also took time to clear out unwanted stuff from my drawers and settee storage areas. Tiring but felt good!

Potato cooked minced pork meatballs in mushroom cream sauce with maiitake shrooms~ they went well together! 

8/2/26 Sun: *Damn I was in this weird state of hypnagogia last night where I could hear Potato turning around but also dreaming at the same time omg~* 

Potato oven-baked the duck together with the cabbage, but the cabbage were still raw, so he ended up stir-frying them in the end. Been a while since we had cold soba~ shiok!

9/2/26 Mon: Boxing Cardio with coach Gerald this morning was a good one as usual, albeit I felt my left waist slightly achy after some reps. Also paid more attention not to strain my right knee. 

Air-fried kimchi dumplings and the skin came out crispier than pan-fried, but both of us preferred them pan-fried. 

10/2/26 Tues: Did大光明meditation at home this morning and though I did not focus well during the standing meditation, I did feel relaxed during the seated 30-minute meditation.

Potato bought us sushi for dinner~ so this can be our Valentine's dinner this year then haha! Our favourite sashimi and we loved it. Doesn't matter what we eat; it's always the company that matters! <3

11/2/26 Weds: Went for aerial yoga this morning after so long~ Nishy was as patient and we did a few poses. There were only four students, so I got to know Amy, Poony and Jamie, who is also the owner of the nice Akiya Potato ate at before. But given the eczema on my right three fingers for now, I should probably not do Aerial as often because sliding down means the feeling of "burn" is stronger.

12/2/26 Thurs: Intermediate chair class with Elsie this morning was satisfying! I love how she goes into details for every move we do, and we practically worked every part of the body in that hour~ nice. 

Potato cooked minced pork collar with green capsicums and shimeiji shrooms spaghetti tonight~ hearty dinner with him as usual!

13/2/26 Fri: *Killer combo is Aerial yoga first and pilates reformer straight the next day~ DOMs like crazy lol.* Met dad for lunch at JW market after tuition with SE. He already had oats and three bread, so he wasn’t hungry. I had the shrimp dumplings’ noodles ($4) I used to like last time… still not bad. Then, I brought him to the Active Ageing Centre at Blk 528. The in-charge Derrick told me they have Rummi-O games on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays 1 to 3pm, dance lessons on Wednesdays and karaoke on weekends, but the place will be undergoing construction from Feb 25 to end of April, so dad probably won’t be able to join for now even if he wants to. *Dad’s memory can be good and bad, now and then… it causes problems for us at times.* 

14/2/26 Sat: PotaTOHs wrapped up spring cleaning for CNY by wiping the surfaces and things exposed to clean dust this afternoon and I spent some time alone figuring out the rules of  “Rummikub” too. 

Potato cooked okonomiyaki for dinner with prawns, crabsticks and cabbage~ satisfying! For the miso soup with shimeiji shrooms, tofu and onions, he used up the seafood stock but we thought it was a bit too heavy and prefer the usual chicken stock. 

We played one round of “Rummikub” after just learning the rules… and he’s still better than me hmph lol~

15/2/26 Sun: Potato cooked lotus root soup in chicken drumstick, scallop, red date and mushroom stock with tofu added~ quite nice. We also had stir-fried spinach with shimeiji shrooms, carrot slices and chicken meat. Glad for a good dinner on my working day!

16/2/26 Mon: Accompanied dad to NTFGH for his pre-admission anesthesia procedures this morning and I'm relieved he arrived before the appointment time at 8.30am. After doing the checks and questionnaires, the doctor heard murmurs in his heart and advised him to do a heart ultrasound to make sure everything's okay before he can proceed with his polyp's removal surgery.

PotaTOHs headed over to my parents' for steamboat reunion dinner in the evening! 

Mum bought less ingredients this year, but the portion was much better suited for five of us. She cooked the broth using pork bone for a few hours and after a while, it was very sweet and nice. Satisfying hotpot reunion dinner for us!

17/2/26 Tues: Arrived at in-laws on a rainy初一morning at 10.30am. FIL was already done with the dishes, so we didn't have to help in the end. MM's primary school junior came over with her husband and two kids too so the kids could socialise a bit then.

They left early afternoon, which was when cousin RW, her husband Jordan and two sons Joshua and Jedediah came visiting as they were back from California for two weeks. The two boys speak pretty good mandarin and RW was the one who taught them wow. RW's eldest sister YF and her two children, LY and LY came, together with XA and her son HY, who was hyperactive but impressed with his many CNY idioms when taking angpows haha.
Stephen's three sibling-cousins HR, HB and HY came shortly afterwards, and I thought HB's twin son and daughter looked alike. HR and his wife seems to like to travel, and we ended up talking a lot about our "exotic travels" lol.
They left mid afternoon, and FIL was happily drinking away and reminiscing his youth with me in the living room. MIL recently has pain from her left hip down and it seems to be affecting her quite a bit, but she said she'd go A and E if required. PotaTOHs had the leftovers from lunch for dinner and helped with washing up before going home. *Oh I was quite "floaty" after all the socialising... gosh my brain lol.* 

18/2/26 Weds: PotaTOHs took a photo together before going over to my parents!

Reached there about noon and saw三舅, who bought chicken curry, pork trotters and herbal bah kut teh三婶cooked. Lunch was great as usual~ 二舅came with his walking stick after his stroke and he seems much better nowadays, albeit still a bit unbalanced when walking.

They had their usual karaoke and mahjong sessions, while XY, SF, Potato and I played Rummikub together. It was more fun with more people and after a while, we got used to the rules and game play. Spent the whole afternoon playing that while getting updates of their lives. It was also raining the whole day like yesterday.

In the evening, XY decided to make an image of a horse on the lou hei for the Year of the Horse... turned out quite cute! She even added the sashimi on top of those carrot manes afterwards, which was a good idea. *I only suggested the coriander because horse eat grass lol.* 12 of us had a good lou hei afterwards and I suggested group photos because we always forget to take one together. It's when I realised my三舅and小舅likes to pose in photos haha. *Dad went to bed at 8.30pm after finishing a large plate of yusheng at 7+pm. Mum said he vomitted at 10+pm... well of course since his digestion is already poorer at old age and he lied down so fast after eating.* 

19/2/26 Thurs: Upper body workout with coach Gerald in Resistance Cardio Starters this morning and I sweated a bit haha. There's also this weird tightness and cracking sound on the outside of my right upper arm when I sweep it across on the floor, even slightly painful when holding onto a 1kg weight.

Cooked Grandma Ong's dry pan mee with cabbage, mushrooms, egg and century egg and pork dumplings, and Potato helped me with miso soup with tofu and shimeiji shrooms for another rainy day on CNY~ nice and warm!

20/2/26 Fri: Accompanied dad for his thyroid CT scan follow-up… he was late… left home only at 11.30am and arrived at 12pm when I already told him to leave home at 11am hmph. The scan results revealed a 3cm lump, which was slightly bigger than the 2.5cm they usually accept, so Dr Cheong suggested they take a bit to send for biopsy. Dr Ong did the mini procedure using a fine needle inserted into his neck area and that plus consultation costed him nearly $180 today whoa. 

We went to JEM’s kopitiam for lunch and I treated him to the chicken rice. In return, he bought me watermelon juice when he went to buy kopi o… so rare he’d treat so I think I must buy Toto soon lol~

Potato cooked Japanese curry for dinner. He used cabbage in miso soup and it made the soup much sweeter!

21/2/26 Sat: Potato seared salmon (skin crispy as usual~) and made rosti with shimeiji shrooms, onions and cucumber slices for dinner on my working day~ yummy!

22/2/26 Sun: PotaTOHs drove to四马路观音庙using Ian’s car this morning. There were more people at the temple during CNY period, but I went to pray and got the amulets fast, hurried back to the carpark where Potato has just parked haha. We were first in queue at Ramen Soshiji at 11.30am and the place opens for lunch at noon. There were only 8 counter seats or so.

I ate the ginger soyu Niigata ramen ($13.8+) while he had the Hakata tonkotsu ramen ($17.8+). Mine felt warm and nice albeit a bit salty towards the end and his broth was really good. Not usually a fan of chashu, but their chashu were not too thin so they were to my liking.

Went to The Central just to take the dragon plushie I won in a UOB game lol before going to Ian’s to clear Beehoon’s poop. *MIL admitted herself to KTPH on Thursday and underwent steroid injection this morning at KTPH as MRI revealed there is compression to the lower spine that caused pain in her left leg the past two weeks or so. Hopefully it relieves her ache as much as possible.*   

23/2/26 Mon: Good boxing cardio class with coach Gerald this morning because I sweated as usual. 

Thankful to Potato for cooking meatless spaghetti with maiitake, shimeiji shrooms and cherry tomatoes for dinner despite his full-day course! 初七人日快乐!

24/2/26 Tues: Delivered the meals to the elderly this morning and saw a leftover packet from yesterday's lunch from one of their homes for the first time. No one seems to be home, but I hope everything is okay with that uncle. 

PotaTOHs drove to Ian’s to help with Beehoon’s litter and had Lao Wang Ban Mian at AMK. Their mhk was sold out by dinner time, so we ate their ban mian. It was okay, but on the expensive side. I reckon Marsiling Mall Hawker Centre one’s still better for the taste and price.

25/2/26 Weds: After tuition with Trinice, I attended Kaylor’s hip opening and back relief flow class. I have attended a more difficult class of hers before, and this is easier and her requirements of us are lower here obviously. It was okay, but quite a structured yoga class I feel.

Overkilled ourselves because I cooked a lot, especially protein, for dinner haha! I tried the doenjang stew sauce pack I bought on Shopee and added mushrooms, enoki shrooms, pork belly slices, carrots, shrimp paste, garlic, onions and tofu since the lala at Sheng Shiong don’t look fresh this afternoon. Also stir-fried bok choy with carrots and pan-fried eggs~ and to top it off with rice meant we might have gotten fat quite a bit tonight lol~

26/2/26 Thurs: Intermediate tower class with Jac this morning was quite tough~ and it’s her usual style to keep extending sequences… I couldn’t even do hundreds properly in the end lol.

Ordered Seafood Park’s zichar again for mum’s 66th birthday dinner and we thought the assam curry’s pretty good. The prawn paste chicken tasted a bit nutty to me though. Helped sign dad up for “Digital photography with smartphones” course at Bells Institute on March 7 and 14 too, hoping he can better take photos in future.

27/2/26 Fri: Used the leftover pork belly slices to cook with Grandma Ong’s soup pan mee and added edamame, cherry tomatoes, enoki shrooms, egg and chives and pork dumplings in my lunch pot. Wanted to add tom yam base initially but thought the soup was flavourful enough after the pork belly slices went in, so I had it as it was in the end.

PotaTOHs drove to Beauty World Centre hawker to try Shiok Hokkien Mee ($6) and the taste of wok hei was decent. Three prawns albeit portion of mee is on the less side for a $6 portion, which was their smallest plate. It was the wetter kind so I thought the portion was good enough, any more and it would have been too much for me.