oh to extend my gifts

For those of you who are friends with me on FB, you might have seen the latest post about how I came across an unexpected extra birthday treat.

I think even if I had found out about the birthday treat earlier, I might still stash it for as long as I can, and risk giving myself a stomachache! >.<

I tend to keep precious gifts for as long as I can, trying to extend their lifespan. It's either because I have only one of them, or get them as a gift, or something my mum sent from home.

I bought these little jars of natural preserves at the Borough Market in London when I was there last summer. Because my little kitchen cabinet was running out of space, I had kept this in my closet. I do remember them when I peek at the little space beneath the clothes, but one day as I was cleaning out my luggage bag I decided to check the expiry date. And it was good that I checked, for some were about to expire!

Now I have good excuse to buy some bread to eat these with. I thought these were pretty exotic jams, would have cost me a fortune to get it elsewhere :
- Mulberry Jelly
- Somerset Cider Brandy and Seville Orange Marmalade
- Whiskey and Seville Orange Marmalade
- Damson Jam

Knowing how much I love home-boiled soup, my mum gave me some herbal soup packs from Eu Yan Sang. Of course nothing beats mom's soup, but I guess this is the closest I have. I can usually make 2 servings each time. The recipe says it serves 3-4, but looking at the amount of soup I drink, I can definitely drink more than a person's portion.

I try to make these after my period is over, but since I only have a few packets, I try to keep until I think I deserve a treat. I figured since these were dry ingredients, they could last a bit longer than the stated expiry date!

We received some White Day gifts from the guys in the department, one month after Valentine's. One of the bigger ones came from the CIO. I'm sure all the grrls have already gobbled up theirs, but since I have been on business trips past few months I was finally able to unwrap mine recently. Thank goodness it has not expired yet, so now I have some for teatime snacks in the office!


For those of you who have wondered why I have not used/eaten/drunk your present/gift/treat, you should be honoured because the more precious it is, the longer I try to keep before using/eating/drinking it!

new hair, hot springs, cocoa indulges

The CIO had made him apologise.

There's been positive changes since then, slowly but surely.

In the meantime, I have been busy myself.

To signify new beginnings and to usher in my favourite season, I decided to go for a hair cut. I found that 2 friends from church had decided to open a cafe-cum-hair salon in the apartment they used to share. The signboard outside states "Hiding Place".

It feels like going to a friend's home, but you get to be served tea time snacks and warm tea. And if you like, you get to have a haircut too and browse through the cute knick knacks on sale. There's a little box at the entrance, they depend on the goodwill and generosity of their friends and customers to pay them what they think the service is worth.

Actually, I was bit hesitant in cutting my hair as it wasn't even planned in the first place. So happened I had a free Saturday afternoon and I have been wanting to trim my hair for the longest time. An invitation came from Yumiko who was introducing another friend to the cafe and soon I found myself tagging along. Judging from the comments I've been getting, this seems to be a cute style!

Before it got too warm, I rounded up some friends to join me for a visit to the hot springs. We have been talking about since last autumn but I decided the last long weekend would be the only time to do it, and so we drove ourselves up to the Suzurandai countryside.

I also have been wanting to visit the cafe the church has started here, Little House but didn't quite know how. It's a quaint little wooden house just right beside the train tracks, in a oblong of space that would be too small to even build a proper house, but somehow with Japanese ingenuity they managed to even have a plot for the garden and a little shed to sell vegetables.

An afternoon of Japanese citrus yuzu tea and cheesecake, followed by lots of soaking in the hot waters of Suzuran No Yu, and enjoying the outdoor hot springs was just what I needed after past few months of business trips and work kraziness!

And of course my Valentine's Day treat - finally indulged in them before they start to expire! >.<

melting my worries

To treat myself after going through a particularly stressful time at work last month, I decided to finally enjoy the marshmallow treat from Dora. Due to the sensitivity of the issue, I won't go into details here, except that it's to do with a report I made on harassment in the office.

I'm glad I got the backing of the CIO and a senior woman colleague who were very supportive of my case, and while there seems to have been positive steps since the incident we would have to observe behavior to ensure it is not repeated.

Though HR didn't seem as supportive, perhaps due to language or experience, I hope through my personal experience there would be more awareness and empowerment.

Anyways, this birthday treat has been a little delayed. Those who know me would know that I take a long time enjoying my gifts because I want to prolong the lifespan of the gift!

It has still been a little chilly despite it being spring. One late evening as a night cap I thought I'd try the marshmallow birthday gift to cheer me up.

I had to carefully lower it with a spoon as I didn't want kitty to drown too early.

I needn't have worried because it stayed floating for a bit.

Slowly the surrounding parts started to melt, but the head and paws were still visible amidst the frothy surface.

Later I found out that a Japanese online shop creates these marshmallows by hand, and only makes a handful at any one time. These were initially created for coffee lovers who wanted cute designs on their latte. They then branched out to more than just kitten paws, but other shapes and even different seasonal creations for special occasions.

ginseng candy

Feeling kinda like ginseng candy now. You know it's good for your health, and you try to eat it convincing yourself of its benefits, but it leaves a bitter aftertaste. You imagine it's like candy but with a different flavour. After awhile, the bitterness will fade away.

Maybe I need to start picking up the habit of eating more sweet stuff... like these chocolate flakes I got from Amsterdam. It's the first time I've seen or eaten anything like this. I guess It's kinda like Nutella but instead of creamy it's shaved chocolate sprinkles. I find that if you spread butter over first, it enhances the chocolatey taste.

framing it

I've had the joy of getting out a bit more lately thanks to spring!

No more heavy down jackets, though it can get a little chilly in the evenings. But at least I can explore more freely and get other colours into the picture other than my usual green jacket >.<

of spring birthdays

I had meant to share a little more about the blessed birthday celebrations I've had this year, but since it coincided with some sad news from home, I decided to lie low for awhile. I haven't even logged into FB to reply back to all my friends who wished me happy birthday.

I was just thinking 8 March is significant not only personally it's my birthday (yay!), but also it's International Women's Day. 6 years ago, I missed the election tsunami that almost overturned the ruling party and this year even though I'm away I have been following closely the baffling case of the missing MH370.

So in the meantime I made collages of the various birthday cakes, presents and makan-makan throughout March, as a way to immortalise those special moments. Lots have happened last month, starting with the ski trip, me recovering in time for my birthday, and then just before I could enjoy the gifts had to go off on a business trip, then came back for more treats.

Of course March also signifies the end of winter as the weather gets a little warmer. Even McD's is celebrating spring with their special sakura fizzy drink, and sakura burger special menu. I have not tried the cherry blossom burger but apparently the bun is fluffy pinkish and sakura flavoured, while the patty is topped with creamy pink sakura mayo!

birthday and white day, yes again

春は大好きな季節です。私の誕生日で、天気はまだ寒かったのに、だんだん温かくなします。

去年と今年も、神様の恵みに本当に有難うございます。

skiing in kannabe p2

Even though the ski trip was a month ago, the friends I made during that trip still say hello sometimes when we bump into each other at the corridor. 2 of the ladies are friends of Aino-chan, and another is a sister of one of the 2. The rest of us are from the IT department, and Leon who was on business trip got invited because he happened to be in Kansai that time.

I have difficulty remembering Japanese names, but better at faces, because of the long syllables! But I must say, I remember Malaysians better because there is so much variety - we are of different ethnicities, colours and personalities that it makes it easier. In a homogeneous country like Japan, I sometimes have to meet a person twice to remember the face, and speak more often to have the name stick.

The other day, I happened to take the same train back as one of the ladies. Usually Japanese are shy and a little hesitant to open up and be close during the first few encounters. So I've gotten used to this somewhat seemingly cold reception living here (of course there are exceptions).

As we started chatting on the way, I remembered she was a China-born Korean, but we both spoke Japanese to each other. She started offering me some snacks as it was way past dinner time (eating in trains is a no-no in Japan), and started asking rather personal questions like my rental and such (apparently this kind of questions is common in Kansai!). She also asked if it was too late for me to go back to cook for my husband.

In my tiredness, I thought I had misheard, or my Japanese was not good enough to capture her question. When I tried to clarify, she said Aino-chan had told her I was married. I responded that I didn't even know I was married!

The things you hear about yourself sometimes from seemingly strangers @.@. I wonder how Aino-chan got that impression, or how that piece of information got passed around. I forget sometimes I'm a foreigner and possibly a novelty still to my Japanese colleagues.