BLOG TAKEOVER! Because Gabe slept in till noon (yucks) and missed taking his blood pressure and temperature check and picking up breakfast left at our door. Oh the privilege I had of discovering what was in this morning's brown bag:
(top left row to bottom - falafel hummus tabouleh wrap (ugh whut),
"snacks" aka would-not-touch, yay a timtam and a muesli bar (NEW!))
Because we told them to skip sending us breakfast packs, this was a downscaled version of what we're used to receiving (which includes tea and the rest here). We both ended up skipping the lunch of the day option and I went with a comforting Maggie cup noodles, while Gabe decided on a bold choice of,
Left: normal cup noodles (mine)
Right: poison. (gabe's)
"lemon myrtle chicken with roasted veg & ginger pumpkin"
Gabe says I'm food motivated. Like Lexus. Essentially calling me a dog. Hm. I suppose he's quite right - after all, the mind grows by what it feeds on. Com' on. How is it so that heartbroken and sickly people turn to their comfort foods like ice-cream and teochew muay?
Point is, the microwavable food hasn't been sitting well with my stomach. It gave me the runs and charcoal pills were needed to fix that. Side track - thankful for our typical Chinese mums who double and triple checked to make sure we brought medication along. Gabe's mother is alot like mine, in fact they both bought us cartons of masks to bring along and not forgetting the very-must-have 'po chai' pills, and 'axe oil' which is essentially Miracle Water in my mother's eyes.
So since that evening (quarantine day 2, only, I know), we've been having take-outs for dinner, four days in a row now. It started with Vietnamese, Italian (bad choice of restaurant), Japanese, and...Japanese! Because we had leftovers, and I have a silly rule that I just "cannot mix" - meaning you can't be having Japanese AND a side of pizza. It just doesn't make sense. Unless it's a buffet...ok going off tangent again. I am easily distracted. Am I really Lexus in human form?
Ok, tonight's dinner:
Looks pretty awful on photo, but this is a RAW account of our journey so photos aren't edited and people are not filtered, kay.
It was satisfying.
Not sure what we'd be having for dinner tomorrow, but being 5 days in, our days are starting to become more routine and predictable.
Morning 9.30AM: Receive brown bag of goodies. Whoopee.
9.31AM: Be disappointed.
Afternoon 4PM: Bye bye sunshine. Gloomz.
Evening 5PM: Exercise in darkness.
Night 8PM: Pick-A-Movie
Ok I kid. I spent the first half of the morning the way I'd usually do, starting with a skincare routine that was non-existent in Singapore. I'm not one to bother much with skincare, the only product I'd try to keep to is a facial wash and the occasional mask because,
Your skin is very dry hor? - said every facial therapist ever encountered
So I knew coming here in cold, dry Winter, that I'd have to bring out the big guns. Ok not really, some pistols. Here's my little army deployed daily:
It starts with a facial wash, followed by a toner, and a moisturiser (nothing new to women but kinda is to me, seriously) and then there's a wishful thinking eyelash/brow serum, a fungal nail treatment, body lotion (hotel provided!), foot scrub and lip balm and mask because,
Ger, your skin very dry hor? ~facial therapist
I'm not a beauty blogger but I guess this will be a good reminder (when I'm 65) looking back on the products that worked for me and how much I tried caring for my skin. It's been good so far, I was half expecting my lips to rot (like it did before when I was unprepared) and my skin to turn purple but it's not so it should be working. It takes 30mins just to WAKE UP AND BE READY. Gee, now I understand gurls.
After all that work I kinda feel like going back into bed most times, but I cannot risk going through that morning regime again so I don't and start with fruits for breakfast (because THIS IS THE WAY, Mando style), have yogurt because I brought chia seeds (hellyeah), turn on the TV knowing that either Ellen, Spongebob, Sellavision or Masterchef Australia Encore will be on. Pick out an activity (lately it's just been uploading and organising my phone gallery), have something light for lunch from 'goodie' bag, prepare to work out (which can be anything from Adventure Ring Fit, Just Dance, Yoga, YouTube follow-along workouts or a combination) at 5pm, shower, deploy little army again, dinner, watch a movie in the living room, watch a series in bed.
Gabe's found a new exercise in running up and down from the entrance door to the balcony which he says is 10m, but goes at it until he breaks an actual sweat. He did a record-breaking 4km today, while I sat there playing DJ / his run playlist. This has easily become our routine, and is something we've carried here with us from back home. We'd do our own exercises and 'regroup' for dinner.
Reminds me of a quote I came across,
We are, all of us, creatures of habit, and when the seeming necessity for schooling ourselves in new ways ceases to exist, we fall naturally and easily into the manner and customs which long usage has implanted ineradicably within us.” ~Edgar Rice Burroughs
We are creatures of routine. I am a creature of routine. So am happy (or ask me again on day 10) to be doing what I'm doing each day. It might get mundane soon, but I've got zoom yoga and zoom 'catch ups' scheduled in with friends so that keeps me going.
There is definitely correlation between change, and routine. A paradox of routines for change. I'm gonna read up on that, but for now,
Change is not popular; we are creatures of habit as human beings. 'I want it to be the way it was.' But if you continue the way it was there will be no 'is.' ~Robin Williams
This entire move 'IS', and so is this brand new routine and I know moving forward we're going to have to find our rhythm and build a new one together, where and whatever that might be. For now, we are, what we repeatedly do.
We practice, because "practice makes perfect" or that it makes a difference. In yoga, that's why I love calling it a practice (over a class/session/exercise or workout) because each 'practice' is exactly that - we're a work in progress. This entire move IS a WIP.
I enjoy routines, yet I can't stand permanency.
I don't like hot, yet I don't like cold (weather).
I enjoy long walks, yet I hate it when we're parked far.
I am a walking contradiction, that I'm sure. So let's see if this routine sticks for the next 9 days!
Day five check ✅
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