Happy Habowin (as my nephew calls it). I’m celebrating it tonight with cousins — with Indonesian food, Australian wine, and a Chinese-made board game. But before that, here’s a snippet of October, which flew by far too quickly but ended on a very high note.
Highlights
🥻━ I’m in Jakarta right now to celebrate Diwali and my niece’s half-saree ceremony. Also, to inhale as much Indonesian food as possible and take as many photo booth pictures as possible. More stories about this trip soon.
🧳 ━ I flew to Auckland and then Wellington for work in mid-October. It was a packed trip with a few highlights (mostly food-related), which I’ll write more about soon, too.
📝 ━ I updated my bucket list — it now sits at 1,051 items. God help me and my overly ambitious past self.
Culture Chat
This year, I learned a few more things about Diwali and similar festivals such as Tihar in Nepal.
🏝️ ━ Indonesia’s village maintains the tradition of living on sand.
Foodie Guide-Y
🪔 ━ We had a Diwali celebration at work (this is the third year), and there was so much food. This year, more of us wore Indian outfits, which made it extra festive. The spread covered everything from street food to biryani, North to South Indian classics — plus Goan food by yours truly (I am now the meme: “went to Goa once…”).
I was on Chicken Vindaloo duty for Diwali and called Amma ten thousand times to confirm ten thousand things — including whether I needed to cook it in batches in my tiny pot. She is my ChatGPT before ChatGPT was ChatGPT. The vindaloo turned out great — colleagues ate it, no one called in sick. I properly enjoyed mine the next day at home… with expired bread for dinner.
🥮 ━The week after, we celebrated the Mooncake Festival (yes, my workplace is very inclusive). I tried pandan mooncakes and then shamelessly ate three more. If you’re new here, the Mooncake Festival is easily my favourite — a festival that’s forever tied to my Singapore life.
🍝 ━ Liz and I caught up at Cucinetta in South Yarra — once Australia’s smallest restaurant (I have a soft spot for quirky things, hence my obsession with ticking off Australia’s 22 Big Things, which Fafa still refuses to take me to). We ordered exactly what we had years ago: lobster pasta and tiramisu. I also tried Pinot Meunier for the first time. I only let Liz sniff because she’s very pregnant. But it was she who ended up telling me to go home because I looked tired — and she was right.
🍜 ━ Had a very random, very last-minute, very chaotic lunch at Doodee Paidang with colleagues on a random work day.
🍛 ━ My hazy study-weeks diet was an alternating loop of Indonesian Nasi Kebuli and Indian Chicken Biryani. On the weekend before the exam, Fafa got me Lobster Baby Pasta because it’s my exam tradition, and a weird tradition is to be kept in this part of the world. After my exam, we went to Leoonard’s House of Love to celebrate not having to study anymore (for now). And Fafa treated me to Ministry of Crab, where we stuffed ourselves with crab (then we went home, where I quickly packed for my work trip to New Zealand the morning after and finished the last episode of Ed Gein). It was a full-on day.
🍬 ━ Nikki — who baked me a whole loaf of bread last month — made Barfi for the office Diwali and sent me home with a whole tray for Fafa and me to share.
Read, Watched, And Browsed
📚 ━ 11 October was Love Your Bookshop Day, and this year, Penguin released a tiny penguin figurine for those who purchased from participating bookstores. It just so happened that my favourite bookstore — the gem of our neighbourhood, The Chestnut Tree Bookshop — was participating. I went as early as possible, picked up two books that had been on my list, and managed to acquire the cutest penguin, whom we named Puspa.
📺 ━ I watched and loved the latest Diplomat season. I have a minor crush on Kate Wyler, her uncombed hair and understated work/gorgeous evening wardrobe collection. Also, big crush on the president’s vacation home.
👻 ━ I watched a lot of Indonesian horror this month thanks to Amma’s Indonesian Netflix subscription. Most were deliciously trashy (and yes, I’ll keep watching), but a few stood out: Abdi Nan Jaya — visually stunning, Joko Anwar’s Nightmares and Daydreams (the one about the writer was my favourite), Dendam Malam Kelam and The Train of the Dead.
🪚 ━ As a kid, I watched a murder film where bodies were hidden inside walls — I remember feeling truly repulsed for the first time. I had that same visceral reaction watching Ed Gein: The Monster as an adult. I finished it reluctantly — not to savour it, but because it was too much to binge. If it intrigues you, listen to RedHanded’s episode on Ed Gein along the way.
🎧 ━ Hours of studying were powered by a rotation of Dexter and YouTube’s lolcow commentary channels. An oddly comforting mix.
🚢 ━ I had high hopes for Keira Knightley’s The Woman in Cabin 10— but it delivered the basic-B twist imaginable. The highlight? Realising how unfairly good Keira looks with short hair. I briefly considered chopping mine… until I remembered: not all KKs can pull off the cut.
Meanwhile, on Kulture Kween:
This month, I wrote about asking Amma to make Rasam.
Tiny Joys
A collection of small delights that made the month softer:
Asmi’s hand wrote her mum’s fish curry recipe for me ❤ MAC lipstick haul when I was stressing out about my exam which kinda calmed me down ❤ Nikki’s Gajar Ka Halwa ❤ sending myself a postcard ❤ Postcrossing ❤ coffee with a love note from Fafa ❤ Cadbury almond ❤ study leave ❤ time with Amma ❤ Crocs charms ❤ and plenty of selfies with Amma ❤ king size bed.
Time Machine
🌴 ━ The happenings of this time last year and last decade.
Things On My Mind
🚜 ━ Daylight savings always throws me out of balance, and I truly don’t see why we are still doing this; it’s the most unseasonal practice ever. Australian officials, please — can we retire this thing?!
Thank You, Next!
📬━ An indication of my mental health is slipping when I lose control of my work inboxes, worse if it’s my personal account. For most of this month, both were a mess. The good news? As of Monday, I am back to Inbox Zero.
🔮 ━ Tarot of the Month: The Lovers from Midnight City Tarot deck. The Lovers signals a month of choosing with aligned actions with values, choosing what (and who) supports the highest self, and letting go of what doesn’t. Speaking of letting go, look out and look up for the year’s final supermoon on the 5th. Let it illuminate what you’re ready to acknowledge as a sign you have been asking for one. This is it.
✈️ ━ I am heading to Singapore and Laos with Amma, Perima, and cousin WW (not to be confused with cousin W below) next week. No one I’ve mentioned Laos to seems excited — but I am thrilled. So that’s all that matters, I guess.
🚄 ━ The following weekend, I am off to Bandung by Woosh to celebrate cousin W’s milestone birthday.
💒 ━Post Bandung weekend, I am flying back to Melbourne for a breath of normalcy and catching up with abandoned domestic tasks before flying to Sydney for my Jik’s wedding… for which I have neither a dress nor a speech yet. Whispering to self: I’ve got time.
Alas, this month was spooky, spicy, and full. I’m craving a slower pace — even though my calendar suggests otherwise. Still, if it means more travel, I’ll happily wait for the downtime.
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Sounds like a packed but fulfilled October 😊
Iya and the above summary is excluding NZ and Jakarta 🙂