Last 2 years...

It has been 2 years and more I wrote anything here. Who knows the January 2020 post was my last birthday that I spent with my late husband. So much have happened; work from home, covid and finally loosing someone I love to a road accident.

And I am at much better place compared to previous years. I am healing. I would not say I fully healed but I am healing. The grief strikes suddenly and I realized it will be always there. I don't think I will fully heal and this feeling is a scar that I will carry for rest of my life.

In the span of this 2 years I learnt a lot. I got married at the age of 24. Viknes was the only guy I knew since I finished Form 5. So loosing him and coming out of a long term committed relationship plus marriage has it's own side effects. I will keep it for another blog post.

Even while I type this, I can feel the lump in my throat; a feeling you get when you are sad. But, I am grateful that I have good circle of friends. I will not forget those who have been by my side. Some still are and their advises are something I keep close to my heart always.

Life is hard. You got to live with it.

Money Heist with Kollywood Actors

I just started working from home when I see my friends and those I follow on social media posting about Money Heist.

So I decided to watch it. Honestly, first season was a bit slow but it picks up from second season onwards. 

It will get you hooked, I promise. I watched it in Spanish. Well, there is subtitle. I might have learned some bad words in Spanish. And if course, some good words too.

So, everyone was coming up with their own version of Hollywood, Bollywood and Kollywood actors. Well, this is mine.

Money Heist Kollywood Version

Professor : Surya

Lisbon : Aiswarja Rajesh/Jyotika

Tokyo : Trisha

Denver : Santhanam

Rio : Goutham Karthik

Berlin : Arjun

Nairobi : Nayanthara

Stockholm : Aditi Rao

Marseilles : Babu Anthony

Bogota : Sambath

Sierra : Tabu

Moscow : Jayaprakash

😂

January 2020

Few days back, I did an Instastory questionnaire asking my friends and colleague on how was their January. Mostly answered the were broke, it was insane and some said awesome.

Personally, mine was a balance between good and bad. Like yin and yang. 

Let's begin with New Year. I made milo oreo pudding which turned out so well. 

Then, I made a promise to myself that I will wake up early and go jogging. 

I set the alarm at 7 everyday and I will wake up at 7.30 after snoozing. Still good. I did jog at least 4 times a week. Still a progress. 

I also planned to cook breakfast and lunch everyday. Dinner will be leftover from lunch. Did I achieve it? Yes, half a month. I slacked off since 16th January because it was emotionally difficult week. I had many issues going on this week. All sorted within that week itself. Phew! 

Pongal. 

I was not so keen on doing boghi because at that point of time there were bushfires at Australia and I don't want to contribute to more thinning of ozone layer. We already are without realizing. 

As much boghi was throwing away old things and cleaning house, I felt it was more important to do that to inner self. 

Pongal is a Thanksgiving day to Sun and nature in particular. I did not buy new pot, tie the thoranam and sugarcane due to some circumstances but I will do in future of course. 

How could I forget about my birthday. It was a good celebration. Batu Caves, Darbar and I ended it off with Cappuccino Cheesecake. 

My January take aways would be grab oppurtunies whenever it shows up, healing your inner self is very important, it is ok to say no if you are not happy about it and you can achieve whatever you set your mind into. 

Happy February! 

Lighten Dark Underarms

I like wearing sleeveless tops. But... I hate the fact that I have dark underarms. Years of shaving and I noticed that certain brand of deodorant made it look worse.

So, I googled tips to lighten dark underarms. The usual tips of no shaving, lemon juice, potatoes, baking soda etc. But one soul on Insta commented that toner works. So I was like, hmm let's give it a try.

So, off I go to a drugstore and got this bottle. 

It works. Just use it like how you use it for your face. 

And, I have a colleague who used it and gave good review as well. 

Disclaimer : It might not work for everybody. Use it under your own risk. 

Especially if you are a special breed where the world tells that it works but somehow it doesn't for you because you don't like the person who told you that 😂.

Hope you benefit from this tip. 

Sardine Sandwich

Yum, yum. Even writing the recipe makes me drool.

Ingredients :
425g Sardine (I used Ayam brand)
600g Gardenia bread
Bird's eye chili
Crushed onion and garlic
Butter
Mayonaise
Lettuce
Calamansi

Steps :

1. Heat oil. Stir the crushed onion and garlic until it is fragrant. Add bird's eye chili.
2. Add the sardine pieces with the sauce. While stirring, mince it and let the sauce thicken. Squeeze the calamansi juice and mix well.
3. Cut the bread pieces into 2. You can even cut it into 4 to make a mini sandwich.
4. Spread some butter and mayonnaise. Add lettuce. Then add required amount of the sardine.

Tadaa, the sandwich is ready.

This sardine mixture can last in fridge for two days. You can freeze it up for one month and use for your next sandwich craving. 

Mee Goreng

For dinner one day at home

For office potluck dinner

Since I have got good reviews from my husband and colleagues on this mee goreng, I decided to post the recipe here. You can adjust the ingredients quantity accordingly and skip some - all up to you. The sauce is the most important items and do not skip this. 

Ingredients :

2 packets of mee (each packet can serve 5 to 6 people)

2 pieces of tofu (cut into pieces and fry first) 

5 pieces of dried tofu (cut into 2 pieces each) 

Sawi (cleaned and cut as well) 

Beansprouts

3 eggs 

Onion 

Garlic 

Bird's eye chili

Anchiovies

Calamansi

Sauce (prepare this in a bowl) 

4 tbsp grind chilli paste

4 tbsp tomato sauce

4 tbsp chilli sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

Steps 

1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the crushed onion and garlic. I add crushed anchovies at this point too. Stir well until it is fragrant. Add the bird's eye chili. And stir. 

2. Once this is done, on the same wok, set aside the above mixture and fry the eggs. (You can fry them separately too if you don't feel confident. I have been there) 

3. Add the tofu(s) . Mix well. 

4. Add the sauce and let it cook a while. Add salt if required. Then you can add the mee. Mix well until the sauce coats all parts of mee. 

5. Add the vegetables and mix well. 

Now, it is ready to be eaten. The calamansi adds some extra ummph.

I did a vegetarian mee goreng for my office potluck. So I skipped the anchovies and eggs. 

I skipped the beansprouts too since it has a tendency to spoil fast. 

#seethacooks

Gratitude Challenge

I am not consistent here but I am updating daily on my InstaStory and highlighted it under #gratitude30.

I am glad I took this challenge because I know which part I need to work on and I feel 2018 was a mixture of good and bad.

So I guess this is my last post for 2018.

I don't have any new year resolutions. I am just going to go with the flow.

Talking about resolutions, I remember my brother and I would write down our goals for the upcoming year on 31/12 night.

And I remember writing down about my grades for SPM, meeting Viknes and some other things I don't remember.

Well, it was good time. Tsk ;)

Happy New Year!