This is one of my Jasmine plants that has been with me for at least 3 years. It has it’s own ups and downs as a plant. Once, it nearly died due to drought but I managed to revive it. I find that with Jasmine, it tends to bloom the best when it’s roots are in a tight spot in a pot. Yet it still needs external human support in terms of hydration and appropriate exposure to the sun. I have another Jasmine tree, outside the pot, planted in the soil. That one has a different character – it’s pretty wild. It just grows and stretches as further out as it can. I have yet to see it in full bloom although the buds seem scattered everywhere. Maybe it will give me a nice surprise one day.
As for the bunga kantan? The shoots are growing very high but the pink flowers are nowhere in sight.
Sunday is for rest and low-energy activities. Hence, everything resets on Saturday.
In fact, I am currently in my ‘House Fever’ phase. That means my energy mainly focuses on decluttering, beautifying, decorating and improving my home. There will be phases of ‘Journalling’ or ‘Health and fitness’ or whatever that I felt like doing at one particular time.
For the past week, I have been assembling new bookshelves, study tables, shoe racks, telekung stands, setting up plastic bins for storage and decluttering unused items since 10 years ago. That included wallpapers my husband doesn’t use anymore, baby items, old vacuum cleaners, outdated coffee machines, plates and bowls. I’ve also been clearing my wardrobe, getting rid of clothes that just don’t fit my XL size. It’s so sad but if I plan on getting into those clothes – I need to get back on the diet wagon again. I send my clothes to the bin at Lotus Melaka. As for the bulk items such as the old furnitures, I put them out front on Mondays cause that is when SWM, our local garbage handler collects ‘sisa pukal’.
I am also in Solar stuff again. I have been buying solar lights again for the garden. I remembered buying one for the garden gazebo at least 2 years ago and it is still functioning. One of the best purchases ever. I just need to learn how to drill these things better into the wall and reach further heights.
I organized my kitchen too. Colour coordinated things to a certain extent. Somehow the colour red kept reappearing, so red it is with a splash of white, grey and black. Not the most picturesque kitchen on Pinterest but I loved it all the same.
All these activities I do it on a Saturday as I wanted to rest more on a Sunday. To clear my head and be calm for the coming Monday. Reset Saturday manages my anxiety as it keeps me in control of things.
While we can find already find Teh Botol at Ninso, another of Indonesia’s pride Good Day coffee is still not easy to come by. We had this coffee during our family trip to Medan and Yogyakarta many years ago. I ordered this coffee online via Shopee as part of my Teacher’s Day and Farewell gift. It is going to be part of the goodie pack that also has a golden spoon with it.
The cappuccino flavour was easy to order. The other flavours are mostly out of stock. I bought a big box of Good Day coffee. Inside the box, there are about 120 sachets. Plenty of leftovers to enjoy myself after I make the gifts.
The coffee is featured briefly in this video. It’s a snippet of Eid and the recent farewell luncheon we had at The Windmill Station at Bukit Beruang. I tried the Wes Anderson trend in the intro of this YT video instead of my usual one.
Organizing an event after the Raya holidays require determination cause not a lot of people will be in the mood. However, having this luncheon is important as it is a farewell ceremony to a very kind and hardworking Family Medicine Specialist (FMS) at our clinic. At first, I had wanted to wait it out and let someone with more calibre take on the reins and organize the luncheon. Time passed and the silence got more deafening, triggering this anxiety within me to just take the plunge and be in charge.
Good Luck in finding colleagues better than us 😛
At first, we wanted to do the farewell at the clinic but the usual seminar room is already booked for another function. A colleague suggested we bring this outside for a change. I welcomed the idea and soon enough we chose The Windmill Station at Bukit Beruang as our venue. I wanted to make the reservation a few days in advance but the manager told me to make the call again on the day of the event.
I really wanted this to be a luncheon fit for Pinterest. On a budget.
So, I had a few ideas in mind. A decorative table, door gifts and delicious lunch.
Decorative Table
I enlisted the help of my colleague, Erenna who is known as The Decorator. As usual, she makes decorating so easy and I tried my best to be of help by getting some stuff that may be useful for her project. I made a trip to Kaison and got some beautiful trinkets and fairy lights for the table. I was selective in my choices because I wanted things I could reuse later for other social events and even for my own home decor. Erenna helped me to choose some flowers and matching vases to go with it.
Door Gifts
I started very early with my Teacher’s Day gifts by ordering some Indonesian brand coffee, mini spoons and packaging. I thought I could prepare the same for the luncheon. Indeed I spent a few minutes of my night after work putting some love into the labour of assembling this door gift. I also packed some chocolates I got from Langkawi into small packages as an extra touch. I just hope they loved it. I DIYed the frame.
As for the farewell gift, I made the trip to the new IOI City Mall in Putrajaya to get a bag from Sometime for the boss. IOI is huge and I feel it’s a great place to hunt for gifts which are exclusive by our local designers. Will blog about it in a different post.
Delicious Lunch
Everyone gets to order an ala-carte meal with drinks with a budget of less than RM30 per person. On top of the meal, I also bought a cake from my favourite, Italy Bakery. This time I tried something new – Cranberry Chocolate cake. A small one with enough portions for 13 people and extra for the guy on lunch call.
Craving for Nasi Goreng Tomyam
Organizing a social event is fun when people cooperate and you have the money to do so. I am excited to take on further mini-social projects in the near time which include Bridal Room Decor (for Matin), Eid Adha, Aug-Sept birthday party, clinic Open Day, listening party etc. In the meantime, Semester 11 is starting next week. We will see if I have residual social stamina to keep going.
I wish I have that brain elasticity I had in my youth – the ability to memorize foreign songs easily. This is what I have been jamming to in the morning commute to work.
I’ve just finished perfecting my presentation for a course tomorrow. I have a few antenatal cases to discuss with my specialist as well as a printout to show her. Feeling pretty upbeat as my on call week is coming to an end.
Minci Moss 