Driving in December

Every time I drive, I have to wonder if it is so difficult to spend some time alone with your own thoughts or with the radio or some songs on the radio in the car. I dare say that 90% of the time, if I encounter a person driving, they are on the phone.  Their cell phone is either plastered to their face or to their mouth. 

Don't they know that there are gadgets easily available to "clip" your phone to the dash, the air vents or the wind shield? There are also those ear piece that comes with the phone, for you to be able to make a hands-free call. And for those who are holding their phones to their mouth, they are obviously using the speaker mode on their phone, don't they know that they don't actually have to hold on to their phones? 

It is crazy! I have even seen people texting while driving on the highway. What is it with people and their need to be talking all the time? Do they really find it so hard to be alone? Do they dislike themselves so much, that they can't stand to be alone with themselves? I really cannot begin to comprehend.

I'm currently staying in south Arizona, where the snow birds flock to, to escape the colder weather or snow conditions in their home state. So now, with the holiday season upon us, there are a lot more cars on the road - the cars that are usually out and about, the folks who don't often venture out but do so to get stuff for the holidays and of course, the snow birds. 

The point is, there are so many cars on the roads. It's already frustrating to drive with the increased number of cars on the road and then there are those who insist on talking on the phone or text. It makes driving so much more dangerous. You hear more honking on the roads and sudden braking. There is an increased need to drive more defensively.

I'm staying in an area that has a few miles of road construction going on, and the speed limit is either 25 or 35 miles per hour. There is increased traffic police surveillance in the area, but I guess many has not seen them around. There is only a single lane to travel each way, but there are people who are so impatient, I can't even! I have better use for my money than to pay for any traffic ticket and so I travel by the speed limit, paying special attention to my speedometer, especially in construction zones.

You would assume that people who have to travel the entire stretch of construction would have good sense to factor in extra travel time, but no. I mean there are times when you need to be at a complete stop because of the construction vehicles that need to get in and out of their work area. There are crazy people who zoom zoom so fast as if there was no construction going on. They are a menace on the roads especially to the construction workers. There were a couple of times when the car behind me actually cross into the opposing lane just to cut past me and a few other cars who were travelling at speed limit. It's just so crazy!

It's no fun driving with crazy drivers and those who insist on talking while driving. 

We went to Bugis and Sim Lim Square area. Initially we thought we could perhaps have our lunch at 18 Chefs but the servings look really large and we thought we would try it another time.  After walking around Bugis Junction, we took the link bridge to Bugis+. And we passed by the Ramen Champion and got hooked by the various kinds of Ramen available. Yum yum!

Our tags.

My Black Garlic Tonkatsu Ramen that Hubby ordered for me.

My 3rd time eating this but dunno why this has so much meat, which Hubby helped to eat 90% of it.

His Tan Tan Ramen, which was too spicy for me.

I felt the noodle was like instant noodle, very different from the seemingly fresh-made kind I had.

After a super tummy-bursting lunch of carbo, we spent maybe 1.5h walking a bit aimlessly around Sim Lim Square.  We had nothing to buy but coming to Sim Lim Square is what we usually do, since we started dating. This tradition has continued well into our marriage.  When we were in US, we missed it. Hehehe... just something that we do, I guess.

On the drive home, we noticed that the clouds was getting darker and darker ahead. Finally drove into the rain nearer to home, and it was accompanied by thunder and lightning, no less. Hubby dropped me off at the sheltered area at our block, before going to park the car. 

The rain was really pouring but somehow the camera can't seem to catch it.

Anyway, we relaxed at home until it was way past dinner time.  We headed to a coffeeshop in Cheng San area for dinner, before heading to Ang Mo Kio Hub to walk off dinner and to complete my daily challenge of 10k steps.  Done!

Hubby is back to work today. 

Dayre : Micro-blogging

Here's my updated micro-blog.

https://dayre.me/zoealvina

I couldn't access the previous one which I created while I was in the US. #clueless

It's ok, cause created another one last year. :p  The updates are sporadic, though, more mundane and day-to-day stuff.

Will be back soon! :)

Have an awesome Sunday!

Micro Blogging?

Yikes, it has been almost a month since I posted an entry here. I have discovered micro blogging... I have been doing that quite a bit. Try it out!  Just download the app on your phone.

Will be back soon!

30 Days of Thanksgiving : Part 1 of 3

I've been seeing people doing the 30 Days of Thanksgiving on FB or blogs.  Since the major holiday this month is Thanksgiving, I thought to myself, why not do the same?  I believe that doing this would help me to be thankful for all that I have or where I am now in life.  Instead of placing my focus on what I do not have, why not be thankful about what I do have?  However, instead of doing it daily on my blog, I will blog about it every 10 days.  I'm currently nothing it down in my planner daily.  So here goes...

30 Days of Thanksgiving

Day 1 (Nov 01)

I am thankful for being able to rent a house that's comfortable and being able to call it home for 2 years. =)

Day 2 (Nov 02)

I am thankful for my Murano, that's been faithful to us. =)

Day 3 (Nov 03)

I am thankful for my spiritual leaders (past, present and future), who follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and having no fear of man. =)

Day 4 (Nov 04)

I am thankful for having the ability to cook. =p

Day 5 (Nov 05)

I am thankful for a library that lets me have 25 books at one go, if I want to. =p

Day 6 (Nov 06)

I am thankful for being able to have 2 cars in the family, that allows for flexibility and freedom to move about. =)

Day 7 (Nov 07)

I am thankful for godly friends who listen patiently while I whine and after that, remind me to keep my focus on God, and encourage me on my walk. =)

Day 8 (Nov 08)

I am thankful to be fearless enough to attend gathering of the Singapore community here and getting to know more people. =)

Day 9 (Nov 09)

I am thankful for coupons! Bought $30 worth of tea today and paid $20 for it because I had a $10 coupon! =)

Day 10 (Nov 10)

I am thankful for having good, clean water to drink! =)

What are you thankful for today?

Weekly Activity : Grocery Shopping

Over every Monday and Tuesday, grocery stores' circulars would come in the mail.

Normally, on Tuesday night, I would sit down with the weekly circulars and a couple pieces of paper (recycling from printed papers that are no longer needed) and a couple of pens. I know that there are some apps available to make this easier and also you could view the circulars online, but since they were already in the mail, I might as well make use of it.  I also like the opportunity to many of my pens. =)

I like to line up the circulars as such. 

I think I would go to Sprouts every week without fail because they have lots of fruits and vegetables. =)  The price of their organic produce does not cost that much over the regular ones at times, so it is a good place to compare "apple with apple", so to speak.  Normally if they are not too far off, I would obviously go with the organic ones. The rest of the stores, I would visit if they have something that I want for the particular week. 

Taking note of deals that interest me for the week.

I would go through each circular and noting down the items that interest me for the week (largely based on price).  After a while, you kind of know what's a good deal at what price.  =)  I would cross out identical items from other grocery stores based on the price.  

I know that Walmart does price match on the circulars, but I personally feel that if a particular store has a good deal on a particular produce, they usually have a much larger stock of that, and I can pick the best of the lot.  Walmart is good for variety but the choices are not comparable, in my opinion.  Like for example, if Sprouts has avocados on sale, they usually have tons of them out for picking.  

Also, I seldom buy canned or processed foods as we have made a family resolution this year that we will cut down on processed food and eat better. So far so good!  We cook almost every single day when we can.  It helps to know what we put in our dishes and know that we are eating better. =)

Ok, so that's one of the activity that I do each week to pay attention to my monthly grocery budget.  2 weeks ago, Sprouts had a good deal on avocados $0.48 each, and I bought 16!  Haha, there probably like 10 left in a drawer of the fridge.  I love avocados and I love great deals! 

De-Stress

Hubby was diagnosed with pneumonia on Monday. He was pretty out of it for the next 2 days with a strong dose of antibiotics and fever that doesn't seem to want to go away. Well, he is better today but I am not feeling so great.

Went for my monthly massage today and my therapist has to keep telling me to relax my neck. =/ I am really bad at this relaxing business. But I am feeling under the weather, probably caught something from hubby. Starting to pop ibuprofen to keep away the fever that keeps returning. 

On the bright side, it is finally cooling down my side of the desert, and I am hoping that this means wheeze-free me for at least another 3.5 months.

2 months left till 2014, do take the time to review your resolutions/faith goals. You still have time to move towards it, even if just a little bit. =)

Shall be back when I am feeling better.

Liberated!

Today is a day of freedom!  Our church had a special baptism for those who wish to participate.  The baptism is a symbolic ceremony of liberation - a sign that we have broken free of the strongholds that were holding us back.  Hubby and I each wrote down the strongholds that we would like to see broken, the list went into the waters with us. And we went through the baptism and we are liberated.  =)

I love my pastor and my church! I believe that it is most important to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit and not be concerned about how man would react or comment. After all, at the end of the day, we would have to stand before God and not man, to give an account. 

After the baptism, we went to change into dry clothes and talked with someone we have not seen for sometime in Church.  =)  Glad to see him back and to be able to catch-up with him again.  We left church and went to get water for the week, before heading to Village Bakehouse for our brunch to celebrate!  This was my 2nd visit and hubby's first. It was pretty crowded on a Sunday morning.

My Boss Sandwich (Half - Beef)

His Egg and Bacon Croissant

I love our brunch!  It was filling and yummy.  We also bought their new Olive and Garlic bread and a huge Crunchy Cinnamon Bun to go.  Alas! I forgot to take a picture of them. =/  Note to self : Must be more diligent about taking pictures of yummy food to share on my blog.  And I love the location too!  It is beside a Trader Joe's and needless to say, that was our next stop to get some fruits and whatnots. =)

Obviously, hubby was feeling better in the morning after the ibuprofen and we got to go to the baptism.  But after we got home in the afternoon, his fever came back with a vengeance.  And he had to take ibuprofen again.  He was still feeling unwell at 3:30pm, and we had to skip our Financial Peace University class for this week.  Hope he feels better soon as he has to leave for work at 6 in the morning. 

Pasta on Monday

Hubby is working the night shift this week.  My weekdays would typically start off with me being in the kitchen for a couple of hours each day.  I would have a light breakfast - cereal, fresh juice or oatmeal.  Afterwhich, I would be preparing for our lunch, which would also be what we have for dinner.  Hubby would bring a bento box of whatever we had for lunch, as his dinner.

I would typically prepare something that is convenient for him to bring and easy to heat up.  Today, we had a piece of toast each, while lunch is bring prep.  Felt adventurous today, so there's freshly minced garlic, tomatoes, fresh basil and a slice of gouda cheese on our toast.  I bought white bread this week, as it had been quite sometime since we had white bread.

It doesn't exactly look appetizing, just some simple and homecooked.

Lunch today was spaghetti with meatballs.  I made the meatballs with ground beef, chopped red onions, smashed crackers, some panko, salt and pepper.  I fried the meatballs and set them aside.  Afterwhich, I prepared pasta, mixed up some crimini mushrooms, onions and garlic with a bottle of Classico's Spicy Tomato and Basil sauce.  Add some salt and pepper to the sauce and then I added the meatballs into the finished sauce.  Served with some parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes.

It was simple and filling.

Just the way we like it.