Little Stories 295 : Beautiful Brunch, Books and Broom

 

Staying Over at Ma's and Big Brunch:

I stayed over at my mom's again - for almost a week. 

I had a follow-up appointment at the KK, got cleared from TB, and received medication for the phlegm and vertigo. Then I kind of overstayed because I was still a bit unwell with the vertigo, it was nice to be well-fed 3 times a day and jalan2 like I don't have any problems in the world. But Sofi missed school the whole week. 

Then again, around 2 weeks later Sofi had a fever, and I was back at my mom's. We stayed for a few days until her fever subsided by day 4, but the cough was still bad. I planned for a big homemade brunch on Sunday - just for fun. My brother was the head chef, and we were the minion sous chefs playing grown-up versions of masak2. Trying to give him a taste of leadership and pushing him to hone his skills. 

There were mainly Western-style big breakfasts and additional shakshuka that my brother wanted to try to make. I was craving for baked potatoes and croissants. I woke up early to prep for all the basics (food for 8 adults + 4 kids), it took us around 4 hours before we could finally sit together in the garden and eat. The challenge here was preparing each meal as an individual meal for each person instead of the usual buffet style, but anyhow, we had fun. 

His croissant bread loaf is divine - I would want to buy this in the future.    

Look at this beautiful ray of colours:

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Slow Reading:

I just finished Elena Ferrante's The Lost Daughter on my Kindle. I watched the movie on Netflix first, then I read the book. Curious. The part where Leda left her daughters, I can't relate. The book was more personal, and the movie was slow-burn, and then, pow! I love Elena Ferrante's writing, she seems to be writing about female angst perfectly well, just like Annie Ernaux. Unapologetically for us, the female species. 

Then I bought another copy of Yasunari Kawabata's Penguin Classics version, I found it on Carousell (preloved but still in the plastic). I purchased one of his famous classics, Snow Country, and started to read it soon after I finished The Lost Daughter. But it was short, I finished reading it by the end of the weekend at my mom's. I woke up super early every day and sat next to an annoying super bright desk light at the corner of the room and read until Sofi woke up. 

Snow Country is about a married man who is in love with a geisha, and he comes by every year to visit and spend time with her =.= A lot of unsaid things, not very expressive in terms of their feelings, as a reader, I need to actually imagine what both were feeling to understand the heaviness of their relationship. I don't like reading between the lines, I read books because I want them spelled out for me, these emotions, I want to read them word by word. If I wanted to read the vibes and analyze unsaid emotions, I'd watch movies.

Currently, I'm, reading The Premonition by Banana Yoshimoto soon after, back on my Kindle. This is also a quick read because I just started it yesterday but already reached the middle of the book today.

By now I completed 36 books this year.

Way slower than in past years, but I'm not complaining. 

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A Day Out with my Siblings (sans the youngest one)

My brother asked me out on his off day, and I took that chance to go to the library to return the books I borrowed 1 month ago. Aja tagged along, of course. It's been a while since we went out; everybody is busy, and I'm not. It's weird to be the one with free time. 

We went to Broom at BB because it was closed the last time we went there. I ordered a savory breakfast, we chatted, and we planned for the next thing to do. Apparently, we are really bad at planning for any family activities because we don't do that much except for activities that revolve around food. Each of us loves to do very different things. I'm the boring one, so I love books and walks, my brother probably loves exciting activities + foods, and my sister loves things like shopping and karaoke (which I mostly detest). How to find common ground, right? Oh, and none of us do sport.

Finally, I suggested we watch Deadpool and Wolverine. So we did, and it was entertaining, with a bit too many icky, unnecessary blood scenes, it was great to see Logan alive again, saying goodbye to old, non-forgotten characters, and cameos were much appreciated.  

Ada bincang kenapa kita ni rasa dah tua sgt, badan sakit2 rasa fatigue, adakah sebab kita da nak reach 40-an? Lepas tu tgk Wolverine and google umur Hugh Jackman adalah 55 tahun ya. Hihi. 

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Melaka Trip:

We also went to Melaka, just a short 2-day trip in the hot city.

Sofi was experiencing everything for the first time, so it was super exciting for her: the Taming Sari at night time, the bubble and train ride in Pantai Klebang, the cendol, and ABC, the night market, the bright colourful beca, the museum walk, the failed hot walk in Jonker Street (that ended with Sofi having a super tantrum) :F She was so happy. 

2 days later, she had a fever and bad cough T^T

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Random Ayat:

I love that in the Waqi'ah, this line is twice mentioned, esp when it is recited by the end of the surah:

فَسَبِّحْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلْعَظِيمِ

So glorify the Name of your Lord, the Greatest - 56:74 & 56:96

and it was also mentioned in Al-Haqqah 69:52

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Health Wise:

I recovered from my vertigo.

My cough and phlegm condition are still around, especially the residual phlegm. When I needed to cough, it sounded quite bad, but mostly because of the stuck phlegm. Other than that, no itchy throat or greenish-coloured mucus is coming out. I read that the aftermath of a viral infection will take some time to clear off from the system. 

I'm officially on week 8 and still taking daily honey with habbatusauda, when I feel like the phlegm is a bit of a nuisance, I take the medication for the phlegm - maybe once or twice a week. Other than that, I try to trust the body's recovery process and leave the rest to Allah. 

Oh, I also went for the Tit Tar Man trial - neck, shoulder, and lower back alignment + consultation. Basically, I can't do anything with my back hump, my neck and shoulders are a bit problematic so that will cause a lot of problems in the future if I don't manage it well - but I'm an illustrator/designer, and it is my job. My left and right back muscles are not balanced due to sitting improperly, which, I can't deny, I love to sit one leg up. Anyway, I will do yoga stretches after this, I proooomise. 

 

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Something from Anais:

"We write to heighten our own awareness of life. We write to lure and enchant and console others. We write to serenade our lovers. We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection. We write, like Proust, to render all of it eternal, and to persuade ourselves that it is eternal. We write to be able to transcend our life, to reach beyond it. We write to teach ourselves to speak with others, to record the journey into the labyrinth. We write to expand our world when we feel strangled, or constricted, or lonely… If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don’t write because our culture has no use for it. When I don’t write, I feel my world shrinking. I feel I am in prison. I feel I lose my fire and my color. It should be a necessity, as the sea needs to heave, and I call it breathing.“ - Anais Nin

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Note: All events happened in August, but they were written non-chronologically. Sometimes I don't feel like sharing, and sometimes I do feel like sharing. So some stuff was drafted for a while until I finally sat, finished writing them, and clicked 'publish'.

Beebeeboobooboo.