厕所太香了

25th July (Fri)

The master toilet is overpowering alluring fragrant. With puns intended coz I broke the whole more than half bottle of Chanel Allure parfum when I was trying to place it on the sink top and I smack it against the side 😩😥😭 on Friday. H.E.A.R.T.P.A.I.N !! S$296 gone just like that! 😭 

Cleaned up the mess and left the tissues in the yard area for 香香. 

Came back home and scrubbed the floor with Dettol. The $296 perfume smell is 一分钱一分货 compared to the $10+. Now my toilet smells weird. 

26th July (Sat) 

Opened a new perfume. Do I need to bubble wrap this just incase the clumsy me break this as well? 

@ 6.48pm - When the smell in the bathroom is TOO GAGGING STRONG. Just imagine the strong smell when one walks past Hysses or Lush. More than half a bottle of eau de perfum NOT eau de toilette leh. More sim tia than anything.

I'll have to use my odour control blend essential oil.

Next is trying to find an extension plug and put a fan in the toilet. Hope this works!

Hmm… I think I made it worst when the fan, diffuser is in one confined space and the opened window is not exactly that huge to 💨🌬️ out. I was probably just circulating the essential oil in the toilet 😂. 

28th Jul (Mon)

Left the fan on in the toilet blowing almost 3 days. The toilet is a Chanel boutique. There must be a way, although I love this smell psychologically I think I’m going to be a walking timebomb who will die from inhaling poison. Will be an alluring death for me. I did a search on air filter then remembered I have 2 air purifiers at home. My goodness! How can I forget the items that I use during the haze, maybe it’s been too long since the PSI reached unhealthy range that I had to use them. 

Did some search into what’s in perfumes. And then I wonder if this is the reason why lung cancer is on the rise even with non-smokers? 

Does perfumes contain VOCs? 

Yes, perfumes often contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are chemicals that evaporate easily at room temperature and are found in many household and personal care products, including perfumes, air fresheners, and cleaning supplies. While some VOCs are naturally occurring, many are synthetic and can have negative health effects.

Here's a more detailed explanation:

Perfumes and VOCs:

Perfumes are designed to evaporate and release their scent, which is why they often contain VOCs. These chemicals vaporize and travel through the air, allowing you to smell the fragrance. 

Health Concerns:

Some VOCs, especially synthetic ones, can cause various health problems, including respiratory issues, headaches, allergic reactions, and even more serious conditions like liver, kidney, or neurological damage.

Fragrance and VOCs:

Many fragrances, including those in perfumes, contain a complex mixture of chemicals, many of which are VOCs. These can be problematic even if the overall fragrance is perceived as pleasant.

Examples of VOCs in Perfumes:

Some common VOCs found in perfumes include phthalates, a-Pinene, ethanol, acetone, acetaldehyde, and camphor, according to Molekule.

Regulation:

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) and other regulatory bodies set standards for VOC levels in various products, including perfumes, to minimize their impact on air quality and health.

Reducing Exposure:

To minimize exposure to VOCs from perfumes, you can choose products with fewer fragrances, opt for natural or unscented alternatives, and ensure proper ventilation in your living spaces. 

I will need to check on the air purifier models tomorrow. 

29th Jul (Tue)

@ 12.11pm. Had to remove some items then climb up the ladder just to get pics of the air purifiers. 

Tefal PU6025, Rowenta PU2120 and then did a search which of the two can remove VOC. Somehow it only shows me Tefal has this filter but Rowenta doesn’t (even when I keyed the models individually). I thought it makes sense that the newer one I bought will have this filter but not the Rowenta. Thus I dragged out the hard to reach air purifier. The whole time worried if I’d fall down from the ladder and possibly hit my head and die inside coz the air purifier is so damn heavy and coz of the position I could only use my injured left hand to bring it down. Maybe before I fall down, I’ll probably lose strength and control in my left hand and drop the thing on my feet.

Wah seh! Filter super dirty. I didn’t change so bought new filters for two purifiers from Shoppee at 1.12pm. 

@ 5.33pm - oh my! Purple colour doesn’t look good

@ 5.57pm - colour changed to blue. visibly look positive that despite the dirty filter something is working. 

30th Jul (Wed)

Filters arrived today at 5.13pm. That’s fast! But I was wondering why the box is so small, suddenly I have a bad hunch that I must have purchased wrongly. 

I keyed in PU4015 instead of PU6025, I missed the numbers not by keying one wrong number BUT 2!! 🤦🏻‍♀️ Wasted $28.80 coz of my silly mistake.

Had to re-order the correct filter. Will arrive on 4th or 5th Aug. Changed Rowenta’s filters, cleaned the machine only to put back in bomb shelter to collect dust again. 

A little kapo on what is really inside my air purifier 

*update* Initially checked and they only showed me Tefal has VOC filter that’s why I grabbed the innermost hardest to reach air filter. But today I checked again, the Rowenta has it too. Strange. 

Efficacy :

I only had it turned on since yesterday’s afternoon and I almost can’t smell the perfume in the toilet

31st Jul (Thur)

Left it on until evening time Can finally clear it but I left it in the yard area temporarily until the filters arrive. Will change for both machines and then put them back into the bomb shelter. 

Love staying home

It’s 31st July today. In my Life360 it showed last arrived home 2.57pm on Sunday (27th) after our lunch across the house. Yup! I can stay at home for as long as I can.

I can do so many things when I’m home. Apart from the ah-soh houseworks that will keep me busy, I have things to do on my phone. I can play the electone organ or piano, I can bake (if I’m up to it), I can go for a swim or gym, I can do facial, I can play music and stare at four walls or sleep. Yah, just tons of things to do at home. 

Do I hate going out doing nothing? Once in a while I guess I wouldn’t mind going out just to 吸新鲜空气。Other than that I only go out when I have a purpose/errand, then it’s 一出门就全部该做的做、该买的就去买. Even with the family on weekends, when we walk in the mall after our meal it’s always for a short while coz all of us get bored. When we walk we don’t even stop to look at clothes or shoes, it’s like going strolling in an air conditioned place. We shop when we need to buy something. I’d rather stay home, when you stay home you also won’t spend money unnecessarily 

N asked me in one of our convo if I am a homebody. I gotta agree that I am.

Next time in 8 years time, I will probably stay home even more often. And since we have foodcourt, supermarket and small shops across us it’ll be easy for us to get through our daily lives. 

Drop in tier

In less than 24hrs I will say goodbye to this tier I managed to reach. 25,000 elite miles to reach the silver tier. Of course I can’t compare with Elite Gold or PPS members, but at least I made it to this tier by own expenses. 

I’ve been on four flights after reaching this level, checked in in special lanes for Elite Silver members, clearing the check-in process faster. Elite Silver have no access to the lounge, anyway I don’t need any lounge access coz I can’t eat so much. But I do need the early boarding as I like to organise things in my seat, so I will miss this benefit come August 1st 😭. 

I must admit KF is not a generous frequent flyer program at all. 

Krisflyer started way back in 1999, then my boyfriend (now hubby) was also constantly flying with SQ on his business trips. When it started, I brought back a few forms for him to choose the numbers. Then the Krisflyer membership number is not generated like now, the membership number is printed on the application form. Like clockwork, I had to explain to him what Krisflyer was. Just glad that he was my guinea pig where I vomitted all information on him after memorizing them. I took the forms from two flights so the numbers don’t run the similar running numbers. After he and I chose our numbers, I returned the unused-don’t-like-the-numbers forms on my next flight. Krisflyer comes a long way for him as he is using the original pioneer number 😂, whereas this is a new number for me. I lost my initial membership details somewhere sometime somehow. 

Am I sad that I’m no longer an Elite Silver? Yes I am. Coz I don’t think I can rise up to that level anymore. I was only able to accumulate more miles in 2024 with the long flight to JFK and vv. 

Come 1st Aug I won’t see this Silver colour border anymore but the basic blue one.

Adios . Au revoir . 再见 . 

Auf Wiedersen . さよなら .

* EDITED. Turned to blue on 8th Aug 😭  

Tidying n clearing

The things that I always keep myself busy with at home - cleaning and tidying.

Had to throw away stuffs that I don’t use in baking cabinet 

Most according to angmoh label products are expired in 2023, but Japanese wrote as 賞味期限 (shoumikigen) which means it’s best before. 

Cleared the baking pantry cabinet. All written as 2023? That long ago? 

Wanted to make warabi mochi. But this expires in 2023. Having said that, does that mean the bracken starch I bought also expired 2 years ago? 

Actually they’re  賞味期限 not really expire as we know that Japanese are usually very conservative.

Bought this wanting to make Japanese bread but …… so I wonder will it make any difference to the bread I make? I love freshly made bread but it takes an arduous effort. Buying a bread machine takes away the thrill, doing manually takes away my energy. And I haven’t had time to translate the Japanese baking books  

Even the konbu and katsuobushi disposed. Wanted to do a keto friendly dashi stock. Now I’m using the white tetrapack dashi stock so 不需要了. Next time don’t anyhow spend money. Must make sure I will do it before I buy the ingredients. 

Expire in 2023 also. Actually I did check and clear between 2023 and now. I kept them thinking I will surely use it but still end up not using. Next time shouldn’t have this bad habit of buying things and thinking I’ll do it but I end up not doing so. 

That’s the problem, sometimes I buy coz I want to make something but I either end up getting so tired each day that I don’t feel like making it. 一天拖一天变成拖了两三年. Wasted to throw away new food stuffs but if I can delay for 2 to 3 years what makes you think I will start making something tomorrow or this week? 

Mood —> drink

The types of drink I want to drink is dependent on my mood. Most days it’s just plain water.  But there are days when I feel sad, I’d reach one for chamomile. 

On 24th June (Tue), just a week back after my solo trip, I started to miss Japan and made a matcha latte. Infact, I dragged myself home from the airport 😜 that day.

Today, 29th July (Tue) just feeling so shitty over so many things. I needed a boost and I reached out for the KitKat nepresso drink. Added a bar of KitKat. Did the drink and chocolate release any endorphin?

Did this drink make me feel better? Am I still mentally fatigued? 

Looking at the older version

of young che-che.

She must have been bored. She walked to the kitchen and suddenly she picked up the bottle and started picking the onions out from the plan bilis. 

I looked at her like seeing the mushroom head young girl, now taller doing the exact same thing. She’s so patient. I can’t bear to scold her coz the way she was grinning with joy and the way she smiled at me when she saw me sneak videoing and taking pictures of her will only make me an evil person. 

So funny when I think about it. 

@ 6.19pm

With her huge fingers she’s able to pick out the teeny weeny bits. The EYES too! Haha! She used to munch on these small fried fish when she was young. Then one fine day, she gasped in horror to the grandma "ee....the eyes is looking at me. so big." Grandma spoilt her by pulling out the heads after that.    

要省钱也不是这样

Saw this in FB and it reminded me of one junior FSS in one of my team.

She rarely joins the crew for meals outstation, but once I happened to ask her and she says she only eats green apple for her meals. Initially I thought she was on a diet but no, her excuse was that she wanted to save money. And she told me she managed to save more than $15K in 6 to 8 months. OMG! Of course I had great admiration for her being able to save that much in such a short span, but I can suspect she doesn’t have to give parents any allowance or pay for any food back home to be able to save that much. 

A few times I asked her out alone and gave her a treat. I cannot tolerate seeing people stinge over meal, anyone can forgo luxury goods but not food.

Peach gum

After Fight-Do class on Thursday I was going around packing lunch and dinner when I suddenly craved for cheng teng. So tempted to go all the way back up to food centre but remembered I have peach gum at home and decided to cook instead. 

Actually if can tahan tahan until today to cook means I could infact go without it. I can't say about chocolates, i dont think I can tahan that long.

Soaked the peach gum before I left home yesterday. Pity I couldn't cook for K and LL ystd coz I have to clean the peach gum. Ah nia take a long time to clean. (However I think I can't clean too as it didn't puff up that much when i checked on the two bowls when i arrived home with them.) Next time 吧！When I am expecting them over then I’ll cook the day before. 

Cooked two portions - one for the girls to bring to bro tomorrow, another portion for us. 

Before cleaning 

Using the same recipe, but this time instead of adding 40g dried longan I added 50g. I didn’t want any leftover in the pantry = forgotten after some time. 

Adding the boink boink goody for skin peach gum

Transferred into a pot so to speed up cooling the dessert. Using portable fan to help me with it.

Packed for bro while I was preparing the second batch for ourselves

Ours

When I was preparing the ingredients, che-che saw the dried longan and peach gum. She further asked 

if peach gum is “the jelly jelly thing”. It was ‘the thing’ she tasted before and requests that next time when she wants to eat it, to give it to her without the soup. Well, it’s sounds really positive that she’s eating something new.

Why didn’t I ?

>> look for this pot in Japan?

Aiyoh! Right after I came back, I wondered why I didn’t look for this. This price is in USD. Abit siao if I were to have it shipped from US when I could have it shipped from Japan which is nearer to us.  

When I was in Japan I thought it’ll only make my luggage heavier or I might have to carry this onboard. Might be just an impulse to want to buy it.

Back in SIN I couldn’t find anything in Meidiya and Takashimaya. The ones in Taka doesn’t have the string on the top, I have to use my hands or a cloth to lift it up??

Perhaps I might find it if I made a trip to the kitchen ware streets in Osaka? Does this warrant a trip on my own? 🤭 可是想了又想 I buy one can only have one person cooking, we have 4 people at home. I don’t have space to store 4 of these at home. 虽然看起来 presentation is very nice I have to wash so many things in the end. I need to buy the candles also leh? 

Sigh… maybe I should make careful consideration if this is going to be a waste of money.

Gashapon

I never liked to collect rubbish (or maybe I do 🤭) and tho I always find gashapon are cute I also find it a waste of money until ….

I saw this in Japan and couldn’t resist. Did 4 times, wanted to do more but the machine keeps purging my coins. I should have been thick skinned and ask the staff to change money for me. 后悔莫及

Anyway I thought since Che-che and lil’ one will be heading to FUK soon, and they will be a ritual trip to Joyfull, I’ll ask them to help me. When they were there told me they didn’t see the machine. Or maybe they did but they lied? 

I emailed to check with Joyfull and the gashapon company - Toy Spirits - but nobody responded to me. Why are they so rude? Japan leh! I would expect them to reply me but …. Argh! Really regretted not trying harder to complete my collection. 

Complete Lineup (6 Types)

• A. Twin Hamburger Steak Japanese Set Meal (ツインハンバーグ 和食セットA)
• B. Joyfull Salted Fried Chicken Set Meal (ジョイフル塩唐揚げ定食)
• C. Chicken Nanban with Plenty of Tartar Sauce Set Meal (たっぷりタルタルソースのチキン南蛮定食)
• D. Negitoro Don / Minced Tuna Bowl (ねぎトロ丼)
• E. Stamina Pork Bowl (すたみな豚丼)
• F. Chocolate Parfait (チョコレートパフェ)

I’m missing B, E and F

Link to Toy Spirits website, click HERE

My collection displayed out 

Basic courtesy on the plane

A little out of the blue topic today after I chanced upon a video about people kicking the airplane seat infront of them. No no I don’t kick seats infront of me or had fellow travellers kicking my seats before. It’s the basic reclining seats. No choice lah! Me is poor people so can only travel in poor people class so EY configuration is tight. 

Usually when I need to recline my seat, I will turn back and let the person behind know I’m reclining my seat. I don’t ask for permission 🤣,I let them know (so if they have a cup they will hold onto their cup while I do so. Not nice for me to suddenly recline while they’re watching movie.) Once done I turn back and thank them. No need for all these courtesy talk talk but ….imagine confined in that small metal plane and goodness knows how long those people have flown prior to this sector, the last thing I want to have is a confrontation between the person behind me and I. 

As for the people sitting infront of me, let’s say 9/10 people don’t bother to tell me and just recline quickly and suddenly or maybe some wants to let me know but I’m already 💤 in my lala-land 😂. In all my travels, only twice I had the person reclining his/her seat suddenly (coz they don’t have the habit like I do to check behind) when my big head was there 🤣 and hit me. Once I was putting my pouch in the seat pocket and it dropped all the way in, I leaned forward digging so I can bring it up for easy retrieval when I need. Another time was to reach for my bag on the floor. Both times I made a soft ‘ouch’ and tapped the person on arm (or maybe they also felt the resistance - my head is big rmbr?). Both of them brought their seat upright. Once I’m done, I let them know they can recline their seats. Ok lah! They happy I happy. One of them upon disembarkation apologised to me but I said it was alright she didn’t know. I laughed it off saying that we both moved at the same time but I hope I didn’t shock her when I had to tap her arm quickly. 

For my Seoul flight last year, the lady infront of me let me know she’s reclining her seat. Which is really rare for me to encounter lor! Then in my solo Japan trip this year, I was so surprised that a Japanese mother asked me for permission (even before the plane was taxiing) to recline her daughter’s seat. Ehhh…..of course she has the right to recline her seat. But I guess this is the polite Japanese style. 

I had an embarrassing incident when both the latch and the metal thing holding the tray was tight. The lady had her seat reclined and I was keeping my tray table. The screeching sound and soft push coz I couldn’t get the hinge up and my “aiyoh” made the lady bringing her seat upright. I had to tell her it’s ok to keep her seat down but I do apologise if I pushed her seat coz the hinge wasn’t that smooth gliding and latch is tight. Two meal service on that flight 🤭, second time same thing happened again I had to keep apologising to her. Thankfully she knew it was no bad intention from me. Upon disembarkation, I had to apologize again. Not that bad lah! She’s a nice understanding lady. 

Hmm….makes me wonder why is it that most times it’s the females that had the interaction with me. The guy who hit my big head didn’t interact with me. Ego? Travelling with spouse? 

Do you check before you recline your seat? 

Gujo hachiman

Before I went to Gujo Hachiman, I read about their odori which is held for 30 festive nights. Foreigners are encouraged to join in the bon dance, I think it’ll be so fun. But will this two left feet person be able to catch to the dance steps? I have problem following Kpop fitness, what more the Japanese music which I’m not familiar with. 

I love the peaceful vibes there, but of course with this odori, the town will be so crowded. Plus August heat is no joking matter. CAN DIE! 

Somehow Gujo Hachiman got my heart. I love the place, although it’s small and all sights can be covered in 1 day, the peace is something that I would love to have. In the city where only the streams are loud and rushing but the people live a slow life. I enjoyed watching the men fished for ayu in Yoshida River, the kids playing at the junction of Kodara River and Yoshida River and even staring at the gentle stream of water in the city drains. Sometimes catching sights of koi in there as well. 

Review of hotels

Nagoya - SancoinN 

- opposite train station. A few eateries, spotted Denny’s, a few Sekai Yamachan tebasaki makan places 

- entrance / exit into the underground shopping mall ESTA. Never really got to venture the whole underground mall.

- opposite BIC. Aunty me likes to check out their microwave, fridge and stove but .... can't use it here lah!  

- small cozy room

- hate that there’s no socket at bed head so everytime the phone alarm rings I need to get out of bed. Advantage is that I won’t have the excuses or chance to go back to snooze for another 15mins or so. 

- like all Japanese hotels - small! But it’s ok, only 3 nights here and I left my luggage standing all the time until I need to get things from my luggage. 

- toilet to room the height is so high, almost forgot once and was shocked when there was a sudden drop 🤣 when I walked out of the bathroom. So it's good that Japanese hotel rooms are small and narrow, I was able to use my hands to support myself on the other side of the wall. If it's wide, I'd fall flat on my face. 

- size good for single traveller. Not sure how big is their twin bed or family size. Anyway, the girls like it when hubby book two rooms with connecting door in some of our recent travels. 

- love the laundromat on 10th floor. Can see the progress of my wash. There’s a vending machine next to the 3 machines. 

- That’s not all. On 5th floor, can find ice machine and 4 vending machines, one of them is instant noodles. 

They are not found in all parts of Japan. Would love to join their membership if they have more hotels. 

Only 15 hotels in these areas. Osaka’s hotel is not in Namba. Which has better access to food, and getting to airport and from airport is easier as no need to transfer to another subway. 

Gujo Hachiman - Yoshidaya Minokin

- Room is surprisingly big for Japanese standard 

- has a free bath area which I didn’t check out

- convenient as it’s just next to the bus drop off area. Far from the train station, it's walkable but since I opted to go into and out of GJ by bus, this hotel is the best option for me. 

- less than 50m is a huge souvenir place and a restaurant on second level. Good for last minute omiyage shopping. 

- no charger by the side of the bed. On the table which is what I hate, coz I gotta stumble out of bed go turn off the alarm. Similar to hotel in Nagoya.

Shirakawago - Kidoya 

- 750m from bus station. It's flat and the view is serene, before you know it you'll reach the minshu

- it’s a gassho style minshu. I mean I came for this experience. 

- wanted to go out to stargaze but the floor creaks and I paiseh to disturb my host 

- lots of weird insects. I use up a lot of my isopropyl alcohol spraying the insects. 

- otherwise really it’s a good experience

- food is yummy. Be prepared to sit on the floor. I'm not sure if they have table option for those who cannot sit on the floor.  

- it’s cold in the night, even during summer

- will I want to go back again. Yes! Even if it means I have to kill the insects in the room and listen to weird insects or frogs croaking in the night.

- Host is lovely. Next time if I go, I'm going to pack some souvenirs from Singapore for them. 

Toyama - Comfort hotel Toyama

- only a less than 10mins walk from JR station, in my slow old lady walk. 

- laundromat on 2nd floor

- free breakfast. 

- love it that the toilet has the laundry string, not many Japanese hotels have that. I didn’t have to use the laundry clip I packed.