Last week, I got back to Melbourne to a gateless home, Spring of Deception, and a jetlag-fueled flu. It’s only today that I’m finally starting to slowly feel like a human again. So hey, hi, how’ve you been?
Highlights
🧳 ━ Fafa and I went to Europe for a shared milestone birthday celebration (but of course, I ended up making it more about me). The trip was, in one word, epic. Also, we did so many food tours that it felt like food became the central theme of the trip — I’ll share more about that in separate blog posts.
🎂 ━ On the birthday front, I was set on starting some new traditions, mixing old ones (a miniature cake and helium balloons) with new ones, like train rides, sparkly dresses, and seafood feasts. Aside from the balloons (which were impossible to get since we spent most of the day on the train ride), I pretty much celebrated exactly how I wanted.
Culture Chat
💮 ━ Why I keep getting tattoos in my 60s: Mindy’s story.
🎶 ━ I don’t usually recommend or even listen to songs for that matter, but Dhee’s “I Wear My Roots Like a Medal” is something to be celebrated.
Found and Love
🌊 ━ I have added a new charm to the El Camino bracelet: the blue Aegean Sea.
🧖🏽♀️ ━ I am finally giving in to Korean snail-based skincare hype (I know, I know, I am like a decade too late, but I have always been a late adopter). So far, I like it, but I have yet to see the result beyond the dewy glow.
Read, Watched, and Browsed
⚕️━ I always had a thing for indie magazines; while in Amsterdam, I scored Fatboy Zine #5 TAIWAN: A Greedy Attempt to Document Asian Food and Identity, which I devoured on the plane back. And I still have Famous For My Dinner Parties #2 to accompany me on my work commute.
⚕️━ I’ve been watching the newly released The Resident on Netflix while nursing my cold. I’m on Season 3 now. Another Netflix gem: Jailbreak: Love on the Run.
🔖 ━ Newsletter should be letters 🔖 Disturbing Movie Iceberg? 🔖 This Colossal Apartment Building Is Home to Around 20,000 People
🐔 ━ If I had known about it sooner, I would have paid for Harvest Moon: Home Sweet Home to keep me company on the 3 eight-hour flights to and from Europe.
Foodie Guide-y
🍛 ━ Guess what was the first meal we had once we were back? Nasi Padang – because Fafa has been craving it for weeks.
🍲 ━ On my sickest day last week, I had fever dreams about porridge. So, for lunch, we went to Co Do in Sunshine, where I polished off a big bowl of century egg porridge. It worked just like medicine, but it was way tastier.
🌶️ ━ We went to Waroeng Sambal Special ‘SS’, a newly opened Indonesian restaurant in Carlton that specialises in sambal (Indonesian chilli paste). We had hot garlic sambal, the spiciest red sambal, anchovies sambal, chicken skin, fried chicken, sambal Kangkung, and my fave, Sayur Lodeh. They didn’t disappoint. We’re going back next weekend to try their other sambals and I’ve already told Jik I’m taking her here when she visits this month. Highly recommend!
🥟 ━ For the longest time, I’ve not-so-secretly wanted to be invited to a dumpling-making party. I’ve heard about them many times, usually during the Zongzi or Mid-Autumn Festival, and they always sounded so fun. Lo and behold, I was finally invited by one of my teammates last weekend. Though my dumpling-folding skills were horrid, the delicious fillings (prepared by her before we arrived) made up for it.
🍜 ━ The first day I returned to the office, the team CFO (Chief Food Officer) introduced us to Sora Ramen, a new artisan ramen jaunt. It was good, but too expensive for a work lunch. Maybe I will keep them as options on shitty work days.
🍖 ━ Our neighbour invited us for K-BBQ (yes, we won the best neighbour lottery!) and neighbourhood goss session. We left their place stuffed and equally intoxicated. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the Grand Final PH.
🍲 ━ Inspired by the most delicious oxtail soup I had at Bali Ravintola, an Indonesian restaurant in Helsinki, I tried to cook it once we were back in Melbourne. It wasn’t quite the same, but I want another chance! On a more positive note, I nailed the Indonesian spicy garlic fried rice recipe after a few trials and errors. I packed it for a work lunch one day, along with mini prawn crackers, and gave myself a pat on the back.
Kulture Kween
I wrote about Dojang Name Stamp: My Fave Cultural Souvenir from Korea 🖋️ A Few Unusual Darwin Foods I Ate in the Northern Territory 🖋️ Travel Journal 101 🖋️
Current Obsession
🛣️ ━ Death Valley — I first learned about it from my neighbour, who had visited it.
🦥 ━ Slow living — I have been watching Slow Morning Diaries videos most mornings over the past few weeks.
🍚 ━ I am in search of a safe “go-to” place, like the Japanese breakfast spot in Fitzroy that Fafa frequented every Sunday morning or Starbucks for Toeps.
📒 ━ Stationery, iconic stationery stores and journals — specifically, I have been wondering whether I should try a Leuchtturm notebook.
Tiny Joys
Smooth flights ❤ Food tours ❤ Rice ❤ Indonesian restaurants overseas ❤ Indonesian sambal ❤
Time Machine
Read more about last year’s happenings.
Thank You, Next!
📅 ━ Starting next week, my October calendar is filled with sleepover parties, a birthday tarot reading, a secret food tour, a road trip to Ballarat, an Italian folk magic book signing, and a journaling workshop. Meanwhile, this weekend — my one free weekend, possibly until the end of the year — I intend to take it easy with some R&R and P&P — Planning & Preparing.
🍶 ━ The October card of the month is King of Swords from the Fifth Spirit deck. I err… need time to mull over this because right now, I feel nothing of sorts – I think the night meds effect has started to kick in.
Follow me on Instagram @KultureKween for more recent updates.
💙 ━ Not so demurly KK.
But very mindful KK 😂.
Also what’s this new notebook now, udah laaa
Jangan gitu laaa Fa… as the solo supplier of my notebooks, I need you to be on board.