The dissectologist's final piece

I have always enjoyed assembling jigsaw puzzles. I especially love puzzles with cats on them. I had so many completed ones, both framed and unframed, lying around that I had a hard time deciding what to do with them when I was packing for my move into my own apartment. With a desire to lead a more minimalist lifestyle, I did not buy any more puzzles and it has been 4 years since I assembled one.

During the Circuit Breaker and all the extra time social distancing at home, my hands (and mind) began to itch for a puzzle. In this climate of uncertainty, the prospect of a clear solution just waiting to be discovered is immensely alluring. Like cross-stitching and painting-by-numbers, it is also a healthier activity compared to staring at screens. I was so sorely tempted to get this particular one! 

Recently, I chanced upon a mini jigsaw puzzle giveaway on a blessing group and jumped on it! I could and would certainly give it away upon completion and pay it forward. I was also excited about the fact that this was a mini version such that the 1000 pieces will only reach A3 size. Talk about saving space, and I just have a thing for tiny, miniature stuff.

So the dissectologist, yours truly, got to work. I was really looking forward to the entire process from completing the frame to putting that final piece in its place, and that ultimate sense of accomplishment. In fact, I started to wonder which or where might my final piece be and muse about if there could be a significance to that final piece.. 🤔

My puzzle assembling skills are a little rusty that although I found the frame fairly quickly, my progress soon halted as I was getting distracted by pieces all over the place unsorted by colours. It was not the gratifying experience I was expecting. But herein lies the beauty of doing a puzzle, I get to decide when I stop for the day (unlike daily quests on my Two Dot game which leaves me no choice! 😂)

The following day I started by sorting the colours (which should had been the first thing to do after finding the frame!) and I did not want to stop. There is some real satisfaction in being able to recognise exactly where a particular piece goes, or placing a piece correctly by gut feeling. I was on a roll, grinning like an idiot with every piece that found its rightful place.

Before long, I could see that the final piece would probably be a green piece of a grass patch without any distinctive markings, not a blue piece of the water waves that looked indistinguishable from one to the other. So... green instead of blue huh.....

Except, my final piece was nowhere to be found. 

It was neither green nor blue or any colour because as I was searching frantically for the missing piece, I already forgotten which was the second last piece I put in place. I totally missed out on that thrill of the moment of epiphany when the whole picture reveals itself with the placement of the final piece.

The crazy thing is I was okay with it. If it had happened when I was younger, I would have cursed and  swore at the indignation, at the wasted time and effort to arrive at imperfection. But not today. 

Age does crazy things to you. Really had enjoyed the journey rather than focusing on the destination. 

And perhaps that was exactly the significance of this dissectologist's final piece.

One photo I took during CB

 

very appropriate isn't it? a masked face to represent the CB period. But but but I took this selfie because it is a Hello Kitty mask!! So much more breathable than the government issued ones and ten times more aesthically pleasing 😍

PS: couldn't resist including a second photo while reviewing my album. check out this odd-shaped egg! Took a photo (and ate the egg) but forgot about posting it so ta-da! Not all eggs are egg-shaped.

One recipe I tried during CB

Wow. I tried so many. Probably cooked more during Circuit Breaker than I ever did in the first 40 years of my life. 🤣 Thus all the dishes warrant an album on its own!

The one recipe that I would keep using (which I already re-used once when my parents came over!) would be the Oven Baked Chicken and Rice. I was sold upon reading "completely hands off" 😂 which goes to show what kind of a cook I am. (Read: not much of a cook) 

I was slightly deterred by the onion and garlic required as this was one of the earliest dishes I made and I still had a dislike for both of these aromatics then. But yes, I have come around as long as I am allowed to cook them to death 😝

It is an added bonus to me to be able to cook the rice with the chicken as I do not have a rice cooker! Yes, apparently a shocker to many of my Asian friends. But I generally dislike plain rice so rice cooker 👎 and any type of flavoured rice 👍 

So it really is as easy to make as stated. Both attempts so far had been well-received so will be on the lookout for more of such one pan meal where I can put our new Bosch oven to good use!

Too Environmentally Conscious?

I prefer dining in to taking away. Period. I honestly feel a heartache if I have to use one-time disposables. So whenever possible, I will choose to have a sit-down meal even if it means I have to look out of place eating on my own. I have become so thick-skinned in that sense.

Along my journey, I am really thankful to discover alternatives such as beewax wraps, Keepleaf and Roll'Eat that allow me to not incur disposables when I am in a hurry. When I was moving into my own apartment, one of the first things I "stole" from my parents was a tingkat container. Haha!

So you can imagine I almost never order deliveries. Generally too cheapskate to pay for the delivery fees but also just unable to deal with the amount of plastic that inevitably comes with each one. However, during this circuitbreaker period when so many of our hawkers are adversely affected, I do want to help in my small ways. I ordered something which I had been craving but unable to find anywhere within walking distance. And I intentionally chose a hawker who is engaging private drivers (as they will receive 100% of the delivery fee) to deliver their food so as to kill multiple birds with one stone. #HawkersUnited #savefnbsg Support local hawkers! Satay forever!

But without a dine-in option, meals have been mostly settled at home. Definitely getting more comfortable in the kitchen! In the rare times when I do dabao, I would certainly have to plan in advance. What to eat? Is it dry or soupy? What containers to bring? Are they big enough? And I think through my approach.. my first question to the seller is always if they will accept my container. Unfortunately despite the government's call to BYO, it is still the hawker's prerogative to accept them. And I am prepared to walk away if they say no. I also tend to approach stalls that are less busy and thus will be less stressed about a disruption to their routine. Yes, I recognise that it might break their flow.

From when I first began years ago, being embarrassed and paiseh about my request, to now after trying-and-testing at various places on numerous occasions, I thought I found my balance point between convenience and environmentalism. 

I was not prepared for today.

Out on my grocery run/cycle, I had my tingkat ready and brought along my all-encompassing food bag just in case the tingkat is too small for the char siew rice I had in mind. While waiting for my rice, I spied some chwee kuey nearby and since I had an extra container, I seized the opportunity to buy myself an extra treat.

"Auntie, 水粿5个. 可以放里面吗?" 
(5 please. Can you put them in?) Pointing to my bag.

She eyed my bag and gave a nod so I waited happily.... until I observed her scooping the chwee kuey while my bag was far from her.

"Auntie, 可以直接放里面.这个可以放食物的." 
(You can put them in directly. This bag is specifically for food.) 
I tried to reassure her as I had done many times with other hawkers.

She still looked unconvinced but with some gentle persistence, she finally transferred them into my bag. I mentally heaved a sigh of relief and hoped she becomes more accepting in future with this first occurrence.

As she watched me closed up my bag.... "你太环保了" 
(You are too environmentally conscious)

My heart and face fell. Or sank. So hard I thought I heard a thud somewhere. I was momentarily stunned and I did not know how to respond. I wondered if my eyes above my mask reflected what I felt inside. And I am still feeling it right now as I type. 🙁

I suppose this is the whole crux of the problem?

I get it that we are already used to a lifestyle where things are efficient and convenient. 
I get it that not everyone has had the same experiences as me to want to go to this extent to avoid plastic. 
I get it that my individual efforts right now may not so much make a dent of a difference to the issue our collective presence imposes on this planet. 

But, TOO environmentally conscious? How can anyone be too much of the right thing to do? How about just becoming more conscious of choices and decisions made?

My ideal CB day

 

Can we uninstall 2020 and reinstall it?

This one has a virus.

We are only one-third into the year and it already felt too long and too wrong. I should be on vacation in Germany right now but I am back home which I have not left since Monday. No work, no yoga, no meet-ups, null.

Had tried not to make too big a deal out of it in the early days but when weekly WCS classes became officially unavailable, it became impossible to ignore. I started a coronavirus timeline in my BuJo. It listed major events worldwide as well as in Singapore and I continue to update it..

As restrictions under the Circuit Breaker measure get tougher, I, like most Singaporeans can only stay home. Not that I am complaining as I can be quite happy doing my own things at home and it is quite amazing the variety of activities that can be done at home with internet access.

• free movies/concerts/musicals/performances online
• yoga and zumba via ZOOM
• cooking with online recipes 
• clap/sing for #SGUnited
• volunteering (MADWISH) and doing good (SG Assist)
• online gathering and even an online wedding!

Yup, a very dear friend of mine got married! She calls it "Love in the time of corona" and it was beautiful. She looked gorgeous in an exquisite dress while her husband was all decked out in a traditional barong while her friends and family from all over the world celebrated with them via Zoom and a live YouTube screening.

However, the days spent within the same four walls do get blurred together and it is so easy to lose track of time... I decided to do one of the collections that I have been meaning to do, with a twist...
Hopefully, I can follow it better now because I have been sleeping at 2 am lately...... 👉👈 And the opposite page is also dedicated to CB because so much time and so many free movies now!!!