Not a Newsletter: Oct24 Edition

Happy Diwali, Happy Halloween, and Happy Diwaloween. Also, Samhain and Beltane greetings! What an auspicious day today is!!

I am writing this from seat 36D, middle row, in the middle of Economy Class of GA 717 – on my way to Jakarta to celebrate Diwali with the fam. Celebrating as many Diwali as I was lucky to be blessed with by my parents was a resolution I made during Covid, and I have been ticking off for the last three years.

Highlights

🍣 ━ Fafa took me out to Ronin for a unique Omakase dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary. I’ll write more about it soon.

👩🏽‍🤝‍👩🏻━ Liz and I had a sleepover sesh in WeFo. Starting Friday night, we had dinner at Dainty Sichuan and a snack haul at Vogue Woollies. The next day, we did Gentle Yoga, where I introduced my fave yoga teacher to Liz and Liz to her. Then, I took Liz to the Indian grocery store for some cultural sessions in the West. She got curious about Bhakarwadi and bought it – it was good but nowhere as good as the one my neighbour got from India. We then went to the Chesnut Tree so I could introduce Liz to my favourite bookstore and the bookstore to her. In the evening, we went to Splatters Cheese Train Bar, then Barkley Wine Store for oysters, salami and anchovies. She introduced Liz to a friend from the BWC group and Liz to her. We stayed there longer than planned and continued the girl time at home with Dainy Sichuan leftovers and more wine.

👭🏽 ━ The week after, Jik came for a visit. We had YOI for lunch and went back to our respective offices. In the evening, we went to the monthly BWC session, where I introduced Jik to my writing gang and the gang to Jik. At night, we had Spicy Tofu Pad Thai takeaway from Thai Angels and chit-chat past midnight. The next day, we had pizza at Harley & Rose and started watching the iconic movie K3G. On Saturday, we went to the Secret Food Tour (Jik’s birthday gift for me), then Leonard’s House of Love and ended up at Srilankan Hopper Joint before going home to finish the second half of K3G. On Sunday, we had bagel brekkie at Migrant and went on a book haul at the Chesnut Tree before bidding each other a see-you-in-soon-Jakarta goodbye. 

📓 ━ The best book-ish event I attended this month was Ruth Cosgrove’s Journaling Workshop. I learned many interesting tidbits, including Ruth’s system for her extensive journal collection. The highlight of the evening was Ruth passing some of her journals so we could have a flip-through. Her generosity had a long-lasting effect on me and my journaling obsession.

🃏 ━ Inspired by Liz some years ago, getting a tarot reading on my solar return has been a birthday tradition. This time, I treated myself to an hour-long session with my favourite astrologer, Natta Jain. I wholeheartedly recommend it if you have never had a birthday tarot reading before. I attended the Italian Folk Magic book signing at the Claudron right before the reading. I learned many good things about Rosemary and Basil, along with the Hamsa Hand and Evil Eyes symbol. 

Found And Love

🖊️━ There is this store in Melbourne CBD that I have been meaning to visit for years but just recently got a chance. It’s a stationery shop called Bookbinders Design. I have always wondered about Melbourne not having one, and apparently, it was I who was too oblivious to see it! If you are in Melbourne, into stationery, after new journals, or just looking for inspiration, check it out.

Read, Watched, And Browsed

🕵️‍♂️ ━ One of my favourite moments this month is chilling in bed, ignoring my errands and devouring The Kamogawa Food Detectives in one sitting. The only time I paused was when I couldn’t stop thinking about what dish I’d want to be detected, and after some pondering, I decided it’d be my Atta’s Lamb Bone Marrow Soup. 

😈 ━ Aud, the super cool half-Indo writer and Tarot reader I met in BWC class, recently published their first book, Delivs + Heartbreak. I bought and brought it on this trip to start co-reading it with Jik, who also purchased the book.

🏢 ━ I had a low-ish expectation for The Office Australia edition, but it surprised me, tbh. The Office US edition is my all-time favourite TV show, and I also love the OG UK version. To revive it a decade later with a generous sprinkle of Australian pop culture and keeping it funny is a win.

👻 ━ Fafa took me to a gold-class cinema to watch Rajni’s latest movie. It had to be the gold class because Rajni movies warrant nothing less. I half-assed the annual tradition of Spooky Movies Marathon; the ones that were semi-memorable were Netflix’s “Woman of the Hour”, “It’s What’s Inside”, “Deceitful Love”, and the third and least favourite instalment of YouTube’s “I Am Haunted”. 

⚕️━ I also finished all five seasons of The Resident. I love this TV show – it feels like a kinder version of Grey’s Anatomy. Especially the friendships between the characters. Especially as I relate less and less to the dark and twisted Merideth anymore.

📖 ━ A current fave blog that I have been binge reading: Bizarre Journeys.

🔖 ━ Pesto the Penguin, Melbourne’s version of Moo Deng The Hippo  🔖 Best train journeys 🔖 This Colossal Apartment Building Is Home to Around 20,000 People 🔖 Preston’s Bell Station has been named one of the most beautiful stations in the world 🔖 Photographer Ketaki Sheth’s project of Patel twins Portraits in the UK and India 🔖Meera Naranjan’s concept of having an exciting day – everyday 🔖 Another inspiring story: a Hawker Center stall owner in keeping the meal price affordable 🔖Korea Travel Journal 🔖

Foodie Guide-Y

 🥣 ━ As usual, I fell sick after the big trip, making me crave a soupy bowl. This time, I went to Ilza for their hearty chicken noodle udon. I recommend it 10/10.

 🦪 ━ Once I got better, Fafa and I accidentally started a new spring tradition of Friday oyster dates at Wine Store in Barkley.

🍘━ I was tasked with making Biryani for Diwali lunch at work, so I tried different recipes of Thalassery Biryani Fafa found on YouTube every Sunday this month. The result was a success, but we also swore off Biryani for the rest of the year.

🍜━ Meanwhile, I am still on a Buldak Ramen recipe haul almost every week. My latest fave involves a half-cooked egg.

🥧━ I found a blog reviewing Pho, many in WeFo. This time, I self-promised to try some instead of postponing them and missing my chance, as if I were trying Pie Thief’s pies. It also prompted me to try the new-to-me dishes at Chai Walla at Southern Cross. This time, I introduced my office mates to Onion Kachori.

🥡━ Speaking of trying new places, Liz and I went to the newly renovated one with an inflated price tag, South Yarra Dainty Sichuan. Thankfully, the food was as good. We had our old favourites, including the cold noodles, and Liz introduced me to a new favourite: Stir-Fried (slightly smoked) Ham with Bamboo Shoot.

🍛━ Jik, Waggs, Fafa, and I went on a double date to our current fave, Hoppers Joint, where I made a repeat order of two portions of prawn curry. I also made a repeat visit to Old Beijing – for Chong Qing Chicken and Cumin Lamb; Dumbo – XO Folded Eggs and Arroz Caldo; Lulu Char Kway teow – blood cockles Kway Teow; Waroeng Special Sambal – Mango Sambal; D’Bakmi – I tried their new dish Ayam Bawang which unfortunately not as lovely as the Ceker Ayam Pedas.

🍲 ━ Inspired by the most delicious Javanese Oxtail Soup we 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 positive note, I nailed the Indonesian spicy garlic fried rice recipe after several 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. 

 🍤━ I made prawn roast and Rassam combo on a rainy day, and Nance’s chicken wings for Fafa on a random Tuesday night. 

Kulture Kween

This month I wrote about About Blanks Notebook* 🖋️ Darwin Laksa 🖋️A Bowl of Eggy-Yog Brekkie in Kaptafa BudaPest-i 🖋️Beer, Beef and Becherovka: Prague Beer Hall Trifecta 🖋️

Current Obsession

📚 ━ Journals, journals and more journals*.

Tiny Joys

New bed sheet ❤ Recreating viral Buldak Ramen recipes ❤ Italian Japanese Fusion cuisine ❤ My colleague getting me breakfast during a hectic work week ❤ Fafa buying and cutting me a good mango ❤ Buying produce from pop-up stores on the roadside during road trips ❤ Road trips ❤ Road trip to Ballarat ❤ Ballarat! ❤ Getting back to walking routine ❤ Yan Yan haul at the fully stocked Asian Grocery store – Repeated double rainbows sighting ❤ Journaling for hours* ❤ Daylight saving ending ❤ New hair ❤ Finding the exact woo-woo amulet I have been searching for ❤ Work gatherings that involve lots of food ❤ BWC events 💐 Roses blooming in our frontyard 🪺 Pigeons nesting in our backyard ❤

Time Machine

Read more about last year’s happenings.

Thank You, Next!

 🔥 ━ The November card is Ace of Wands; I can’t think of a more fitting symbol for the Diwali season.

🪔 ━ ’Tis the brown season of Diwali, starting tonight! My parents are waiting to have Diwali dinner with me. Tomorrow, I am visiting the eldest aunt’s house, followed by Umeshu and Udang Sambal’s Diwali party, which is in ours. The weekend after, we continued the celebration at the eldest cousin’s.

 🛬━ I have a two-page to-do/eat/see list in Jakarta, and I am looking forward to ticking it off one by one—mostly the eating part. 

 🏖️ ━ Mid-month, the same cousin gang is flying to Bali for a long-overdue weekend sleepover party. I proposed #BaliPostDiwali and #SpicyAunties as our gateway hashtags ━ , but they have vehemently denied both.

Follow me on Instagram @KultureKween for more recent updates.

*I am in my journaling era.