Cool Weather & Fungi Galore

Chicken sent me these photos of fungi or wild toadstools on the way to the wet market.

Her man pulled her back thinking his silly woman was so naive to be considering pulling these for food!

She laughed in her text messaging with me, with the laughing emoji and I told her that it does look good enough to eat and so fresh!

Fungi that Chicken Saw On Way To Wet Market

The weather last night was a wet one. It is damp and wet this weekend and I am not complaining as 35C was really too much to handle for me. Thankfully I was holed up in an office with air con temperatures set at 22C!

Don’t ask me why office temps are kept so low, but I ain’t complaining as Ms Feisty and I love the cold. I can see colleagues walking about with winter jackets!

Caucasians or foreigners who see us will always be amused as they live in a seasonal country and love our 365 days of summer heat, perennially!

So at 26C in the day out in the gloomy weather, I am not complaining.

We get to see a blossoming of fungi or toadstools.

Chicken remarked that my photos shown to her below looked like flowers, so pretty! I agree to, because when I was a distance away from this tree, I thought what a lovely floral bloom and thought that the Parks Board or someone had planted flowers around this big old tree. This tree is located on state land and is vacant with a lot of trees. I love this wooded area and would always pass by this place when I do my walks.

I am so proud of these pretty fungi and am showing them again! I hope you do not mind.

In comparing, I realise Chicken’s toadstool variety is a different from my 2 other species.

I am now intrigued to know just how many types of wild toadstools or mushrooms are there in my lil red dot!

I will now keep my eyes peeled whenever I walk to see the different types, photograph them and share with you all.

Happy Sunday folks!

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Spring In Eugene, Oregon

Daffodils reminds me of Spring in Eugene, Oregon as an undergraduate as my best friend Judy Hirotaka and I will take time to sit on the lawn and take in the sunshine.

During that time of the year, the sun is mild, quite unlike the summer heat which I call Indian Summer whereby without sunblocks of at least SPF50, one would end up with freckles or sun burns as the heat is piercing.

Tuesdays where Dairy Queen offers 99 cents cup or cone sundaes were a favourite stop for Judy.

Oregon retains a soft spot for me as I would go with classmates to Hinman Valley Vineyard for a sip of their infamous Zinfandel wine. Owned by a small family, this vineyard is not very big when compared to the sprawling acres of Australia’s vineyard sizes. Still, Hinman Valley Vineyard was picturesque in its own way as I remember walking through a winding narrow lane to get to its cellar door.

Florence Old Town was another nice place to visit, about 2 hours drive away for Salt Water Taffy wrapped in waxed paper foils. Mo’s clam chowder was to die for claimed my classmates as they would chow down a huge bowl followed by a large plate of baked oysters in sea salt.

My parents went there each summer and true to their taste buds, they would always clamour to go back each time.

As I was a non seafood lover and such dishes did not agree with me, I did not eat any of the dishes there except fish and chips.

I enjoyed the drives around Oregon as it is pleasant and quiet.

Lots to see in terms of scenery and a lot of conifers tower the roads as we whizz by.

I miss Eugene, Oregon and especially campus. My favourite past time was to sit and watch the world go by. There are interesting sights to see on campus as there may be buskers, someone setting up a bake sale or some local handicraft work somewhere.

Having visited campuses of local universities in Singapore, I find a stark difference. Our buildings where classes are held have no warmth nor historical feel. I call it sterile and cold as students waft in and out whereas in UO, I get individual wooden chairs with table with the options to select for right handers or southpaws like me.

I get to see squirrels jumping about from the giant oak trees that surround the courtyards on campus in UOregon as they gnaw on acorns that they pick off the ground. Reminds of Alvin and the Chipmunks except these do not sing and are not chipmunks!

In Singapore, I get ants, humidity, mosquitoes and poky grass!

Home Cooked Laksa By Ms Feisty

35 Degrees Celsius – Sizzling Hot & Cool Ices

Friday was when I had to take my mum to her regular heart center for checks.

I am pleased that the doctor felt that she has a good ticker for her age and shared with her to stop moaning so much as others with her age is suffering far more.

I hope mum gets the message and stop moaning. I had to manage her wheelchair as she does not wish to walk these days and the bags of medications that I had to carry.

Thankfully there was a pole with a hook on the wheelchair that I borrowed from the hospital for use to wheel her from clinic to pharmacies and to the food court.

It is always a challenge to be one person handling every aspect of her trip there. I cannot heave a personal wheelchair to load and unload from the car trunk and so, I will always drop her at the passenger drop off point and get a wheel chair for her.

Dad is no longer capable of doing anything to help me, though thankfully at age 90, he is still fit and walks on his own. It is a pity as my dad has good health but a poor mind. A forgetful brain and incapable of handling small things like sitting to wait for meds or going on his own to get drugs from a pharmacy so that I can trot off to another.

There is no divisive work and me, myself and I need to do.

Finally by 7pm, I could sit them both down for dinner and ices to cool off.

I ordered mango pomelo shaved ice for mum. $3 a bowl but mum barely ate a couple of spoons of it before she starts to moan about leg pains. She left it uneaten.

Dad had Thai Red Ruby Pearls in coconut milk whilst I had the safest choice, ice jelly with aloe vera.

We were cooled off!

Mango Sago Pomelo Shaved Ice ( Mum Had This)

Aloe Vera Ice Jelly Sugarless ( I Had This)

Thai Tom Grub Red Ruby Pearls With Jack Fruit ( Dad Had This)

$3.50 A Bowl – A Steal For Wonton Noodles

One of my preferred meals is a bowl of wonton noodles with char siew.

Sold at the Singapore General Hospital’s Kopi Tiam for $3.50 a bowl, I find it good value for money.

It is substantial and really too much for me to finish at one go.

Just when I think inflation has hit my pockets, I take solace that for $3.50 I still find a decent meal plus my iced grass jelly with aloe vera $$1.90 my total meal at $5.40 is value for money when compared to me buying packet meals home from work at minimum $6 a pack without dessert.

Wishing All Mothers A Happy Mother’s Day Celebration!

Not all countries in the world celebrate Mother’s Day today. For a fact I know that Australia and New Zealand do not celebrate it today.

Singapore follows USA and we celebrate it today.

I did my part to take my mum and dad out to COMO Culina located at Dempsey.

It was a pity that I forgot to take photos of the other 2 dishes we ordered ie Fish and Chips with beer batter and Pasta with Clams.

I only remembered to take the pumpkin with rockets and spinach salad – I loved it! The pumpkin was roasted till soft and creamy and with balsamic vinegar dressing, it was just delicious.

Given mum and dad’s age, I deliberately did not over order and decided to let the 2 of them share the pasta with clams and fish and chips.

The portions were generous and the concept of this restaurant is that it is a grocer.

For the first time I saw purple radish and these were so quaint and tiny. These cost $5.90 a small bundle! Asparagus costs $11 per 100 gm or $110 per kilo!

It sells wine, fine cheeses, crockery and has a bakery too. The elongated cakes costs $10 per piece and the round ones on the left also cost $10 as well.

It has a wide range of fruits and vegetables including a frozen section selling shellfish as well as a fresh sea food section.

Grocery items are not cheap. Most of the items cost 150% more.

For example potatoes cost $1.60 per 100gm or $16 per kilo! Maybe these were gourmet ones without eyes and pristine skins!

I loved the experience and both mum and dad enjoyed themselves.

6.21 Km Or 8,002 Steps Or What I Saw #11 – Tranquil Lily Pads On Ponds

Till my next walk….this ends my walk done on 20 April 2019.

6.21 Km Or 8,002 Steps And What I Saw #10 – Soothing Vibes After Fungi!

6.21 Km Or 8,002 Steps And What I Saw #8 – All Things Prickly!

6.21 Km Or 8,002 Steps And What I Saw #7

A metal sculpture of Chopin playing his piano overlooking the Symphony stage.

Donated by the people of Poland, this sculpture reminds us of the greatest of Polish poets – Chopin!