I wish you a happier, easier and more magickally precedented year 💛 Also, happy Aquarius season ♒︎ guys! Earlier today, I went to the market to get a bunch of sunflowers and a loaf of bread to celebrate Lammas (Harvest Festival) tomorrow, which coincidently is the first day back to the office after almost a year of WFH. I just spent a half-hour ironing my work clothes. Ironing ━ is the one type of hell I didn’t expect to resurface this fast.
Let me start with giving thanks for the highlights, which include welcoming the new year at the Echuca farm, clocking in 70km running distance, and being served bed coffee daily. On the way back to Melbourne, we stopped at Bendigo, where we had not-bad-for-a-town lunch at Cantina Mexicana – though having to pay $3 for their bland AF sauce pinched me a little bit. Before leaving Bendigo, I went inside the Bendigo Art Gallery gift shop to almost buy jewellery that I thought was made by an indigenous artist. It wasn’t. I didn’t get it. Three hours’ drive later, we were back in our cozy Melbourne apartment. Finally, I was tired enough to take a short nap before the Japanese dinner we booked to continue the tradition of eating Japanese food and drinking sake on new year’s day, even though we weren’t in Japan. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a good experience. The food was below standard, especially for the price they charged. Oh well, at least we got to eat Japanese food and tried a new thing (we had never been to the restaurant before and never come back) on new year‘s day.
I went to the Triennial exhibition at the NGV, which made me think about leading a more sustainable lifestyle. I am also learning to respect the boundaries I set for myself and others.
This month, I discovered a few new things: Pamela Bakes Two Page (a second-hand bookstore in Fitzroy), Belle’s hot chicken wings, Njuda paste and Biryani Taco. All were good, except for the last one, some things don’t go well together.
The rest of the month has been filled with work, work and more work, Headspace meditation, impromptu yoga sesh with Adrienne, phone calls with parents, domestic thrillers (Confessions on the 7:45 and The Mother-in-Law), The Wildly Tarot Podcast and weekday TV-date nights (Come to Dine With Me followed by Law and Order SVU) with Fafa.
I use a 400-page black Moleskine for the journal. It was a birthday gift from Fafa. At first, I thought it would be my annual journal. But now, only five months in and have used up 3/4 of it; I think I will be getting myself a new journal for my half-birthday in March.
One of the reasons that I haven’t been writing much on the blog is because I am hitting a tarot-reading wall. For some reason, I have recently felt a little less excited about journaling about tarot. Not sure whether I am even allowed to say that, but that’s the truth. I have come up with solutions, though. I have started journaling tarot with prompts from the Moon Void Tarot‘s creator, Stefanie Caponi, to honour the Aquarius season (my Moon sign).
I also bought another tarot deck—my first-quarter purchase (hey, I lasted 20 days! Now, I have to go through the next 70-something days without buying another deck). The Fifth Spirit Tarot sits on top of my 2021 tarot decklist. Yesterday, I saw that Two-Sided Tarot has it listed on their website, and with only AUD10 shipping, I knew I shouldn’t wait any longer.
One last thing about tarot: I am looking for a tarot deck with continuity or a similar theme throughout the deck. The Moon Void Tarot deck has been the closest I’ve got, but the non-human court cards broke the singular theme it had going for it.
Even though I haven’t been writing much here, I have compiled random notes I wrote here and there — paper and digital — into my Day One App. Maybe I can share some of the not-super-boring ones here?
Also, even though I haven’t been writing much, I have been running. I registered for a measly 10km run in October. That gets me going. I am clocking in 3km every run, but with an embarrassing pace to be shared here.
The last best coffee I had was, well, not a coffee. So we went to Brunswick last weekend to feast on a crab at Miss Katie’s Crab Shack. On the way back, we stopped at one of my favourite coffee shops in Melbourne for some sit-down coffee chai.
This month, I dreamt of Fafa bringing and or showing me a ladybug. Twice. Google told me that it’s a symbol of good luck.
This week, I tried a new Thai dish called Hor Mok for the first time. It’s steamed fish cooked with coconut cream, curry and basil leaf served banana leaf cup. I ordered it because it reminded me of Kerala Meen Pollichathu, but it tasted closer to Cambodian Fish Amok.
Today, I woke up reminiscing about my Uni time. Jik and I used to sneak into each other’s class. Even though we majored in different subjects and went to various Universities. And hers was more fun than my boring Accounting lectures. But then, I realized that taking up CPA is like adopting the worst part of schooling-the studying and exam parts. Ugh!
I realize more and more that I am a creature of routines and rituals. So instead of ignoring it, I should use those things as a foundation of my daily life.
Half-naked yoga brings me joy.
I hope February will be with a smooth transition to another part of the new normal and more quality time with your loved ones ━ and I wish the same for you. Alright, guys, with that, let’s bid January goodbye with a jar filled with gratitude.
Time Machine
Read more about last year’s happenings.
♒︎ ❥K
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