May month – what a drag! My May was the complete opposite of comforting Taurus energy. My days were filled with an unwelcome thing: overtime. I felt like I was thrown back to the Singapore era, where work and work pressure were the all-encompassing problems of life.
Thankfully, this time, I managed to recognise it sooner and equipped myself with tools to nip the nonsense in the bud. Now, I just need to apply it IRL.
Alas, that’s my May in a nutshell. How was yours?
Highlights
Despite the work drama, I had a few best moments this month – here are some that I could recall:
🥘 ━ We had our friends over for Srilankan Biryani and mulled wine on the weekend. We chatted, drank and ate plenty of Prawn Vadais (at least I did). Similarly, we went to Shiv’s place for a delicious home-cooked meal feast on another weekend, where I drank Cylon Arak and ate plenty. These two events were truly the highlight of the month for me.
Friends are the best, and having good groups of friends is a privilege.
🏃🏽♀️ ━ I went to Albury for work for a couple of days. We stopped over at Norma for Italian dinner on the way there. I also ran in the morning after and went for a drive to a beautiful hiking trail called Huon Hill.
👩👧 ━ We hosted my niece and her friend this month, which was an interesting adulting experience. Over that weekend, we took them to Haiku for a Japanese breakfast and then to Kerri Greens for some wine and cheese.
🦄 ━ I coloured my hair purple. I don’t know whether I like it yet.
✍🏽 ━ I went to Kris Kneen’s Memoir Weaving class and made a writer friend. Kris themselves was wonderful, can’t wait to start reading their latest memoir: Fat Girl Dancing.
🛌🏽 ━ I managed to squeeze in a do-nothing day amid the crazy work and errands weeks. It was glorious. I didn’t do anything except for eating leftover food and horror movies marathon, including Evil Dead and #Float.
Read, Watched and Browsed
📚 ━ I read two thin books this month: Patti Smith’s Devotion and the almost century-old Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Check them out if you are after light reading material.
📺 ━ Succession was AMAZING!!!!! So was The Yellowjackets. Another TV show worth checking out: Fatal Attraction – after Dr. Death, I would watch any crime-themed TV with Joshua Jackson in it. Grey’s Anatomy season 19.
🎙️━ The best podcast episode I listened to recently: How to start running when you’re out of shape. I was thoroughly inspired by Creating a Journaling Practice with Amber Burns. I am also back on The Wildly Tarot podcast wagon.
🔖 ━ On Tina and Temperance ✿ Is Therapy-Speak Making Us Selfish? ✿ Danish traveller Thor Pedersen completes 10-year round-the-world journey without flying ✿ An open letter to Airbnb: 15 things you need to do if you want to be cool again ✿ Interview with Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa ✿ Bluey’s Dad Thinks He’s So Great ✿ Google Maps has become an eyesore. 5 examples of how the app has lost its way ✿
Foodie Guide-y
🍲 ━ FINALLY, after craving Bakmi (Chinese-influenced Indonesian chicken noodles) all my immigrant life, an Indonesian Bakmi restaurant has opened up in Melbourne. I have been going there every week to eat their spicy noodle with a side of spicy chicken feet.
🍲 ━ The Indo gang went for k-bbq at Yuk Gam in the city for a catch-up and to share tiny celebrations with a copious amount of Lyche Soju.
👩🏽🍳 ━ Still about Indonesia, I have been trying Indonesian recipes throughout the month as we want to invite our neighbour friends who kept feeding us for an Indo lunch as a thank you. So far, I have tried Tempe Sambal Goreng (spicy fried Tempeh), Soto Ayam (Indonesian chicken noodle soup), Sayur Lodeh (Indonesian veggie soup), Kentang Balado (Indonesian tempered potato), Ayam Rendang (Indonesian roasted chicken) and Ayam Gulai (Indonesian curry chicken).
🍲 ━ Chris, our work-appointed food connoisseur, took us to Pho Thin 13 Lo Duc in the city. It was the best not-at-all-oily Pho I have ever eaten in my life. I also tried young eggs for the first time, but I am not sure whether I am into it yet.
🥖 ━ When venturing to West Melbourne, Nhu Lan Bakery‘s Tofu Bhan Mi is a must-try.
🍤 ━ We finally got an air fryer! It came today, and I am looking forward to making some easy workweek dinners.
🍷 ━ Wine of the month: Peter Lehmann’s The Barossan Grenache.
Tiny Joys
Rainy day in Singapore ❤ Mustard-coloured armchair placed in a corner ❤ Coin-operated laundromat ❤ Reading the blog of a published author ❤ Chubby roses ❤ Hexagonal-shaped corner, with windows, turned into a reading nook ❤ Wall-to-wall bookcase ❤…and wall-to-wall windows ❤ Savouring cold bread dipped in pipping hot day-old fish curry ❤ Period house with cracking floor ❤ Indie tarot decks that come in a tuck box ❤ Big bookstores and thin paperback ❤ Wireless things ❤ Books that can be pocketed ❤ Soaking the Friday afternoon vibes at work ❤ Foreign language songs played on repeat ❤Singular-use kitchen gadgets ❤ Japan ❤ New notebook ❤ Therapy session that opened up a new way of thinking.
Meanwhile, on Kulture Kween:
Goshuin A Mark of Pilgrimage in Japanese Culture ❀ Running in Albury-Wodonga Australia ❀ Ticking A Bucket List Item in Book and Bed Tokyo Shinjuku ❀ Tsumugi’s Temple-Inspired 18-Dish Breakfast in Tokyo ❀ Auckland Cheap Dumplings Walk ❀
Time Machine
Read more about last year’s happenings.
Things on My Mind:
Watching the reality TV show as a self-care, taking shower cap and normal deo for next travel, Turkish rice, Wiccan cuisine, Robert Timms coffee and washing the washing machine, Le Creuset cookware.
Thank You, Next!
❄️ ━ We are officially entering Winter on this side of the world and with it, the social Gemini season. I envision some socializing around the fire pit with my people.
🏆 ━ I also pulled a card to represent June – Knight of Cups. I haven’t worked much with Knight of Cups (any Court card tbh), and looking forward to learning all about the card and finding connections with real life throughout the month.
🙏🏽 ━ I am doing a Yoga Philosophy course with Kalpana. So far, we have learned about Ahimsa and Satya. Her teaching is easy to understand and, more importantly, unlocks things in me.
🛫 ━ Next week, I am off to Apai Samoa with Jik for our annual girls’ trip. We have never been there and look forward to repeating glorious Fiji-like days. The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li, our book club’s book of the month, is coming with me for the trip.
🍲 ━ I am going to Bathhouse at the end of this month. I got it as a treat-your-self gift to ward-off winter blues.
Alright, I can only think of those things for next month. Wishing you ice cream-drizzled June!
Follow me on Instagram @KultureKween for more recent updates.
Keep Kultured! ━ KK.
