Dianne's Delivery

Today I ventured into the world by myself. I went shopping for a spell at one store. After over an hour, my wound area became a little achy. Perhaps I should have worn my band around it like I do when I go to sleep. When I started to feel tired, I went home to prepare for Dianne's (aka Possum) visit.

How do you react when you receive a gift like this?



Dianne may have delivered it, but it was actually from her Filipino co-worker Mario. He is such a nut and thought these things would go well together and be a funny gift. I had no choice but to laugh hard. This is what happens when you get two crazy friends into an Asian market. Laughter is the best medicine I am telling you!

On the other hand, Dianne also brought me two hand fans, sesame cookies and these cute solar-powered Lucky Cats from her. (I mistakenly always call these Happy Cats.) Their heads bob from side to side thanks to the solar panel. These are the only cats I love. I can't wait to bring them to work so I can smile every time I look at them.



We made our way to a local restaurant after I opened all my gifts and had a great time catching up and laughing. Her visit was a great cheer-me-up. I had been feeling a little down after my shopping earlier when my body was reminding me that I am still healing from a big surgery. It is the stuff that can mess with your spirit and mind. Luckily, my new cats set me on the right path.

Hugs,
Sprinkles
xo

Dianne's Delivery

Sunday Race

I didn't mean for today to be another race against my meds, but I had no choice. Today was Kathy's last day at my place before she went back to her 2.5 hour drive up to Jacksonville. Her boyfriend Jamie was leaving on vacation the same afternoon and had to be home for their pets. I wanted to maximize my time with her.

Kathy kept joking about my energy. While I let her sleep in later than I did, I was moving around my apartment in stealth mode. None of my doors squeak in my apartment thanks to some special household lubricant called WD-40. Squeaky doors are bad feng shui -- means that energy is stuck in that areas of your life.

I made us a big breakfast and she expressed her desire to go to the Asian store later to buy some Asian veggies which I happily agreed on. We spent about an hour meandering about busy Asians getting their groceries before picking up sandwich orders for us and Tawny/Jeff for lunch. Jeff wasn't able to make it because he was still doing some pesky work for my company on his computer. This poor guy worked all weekend!

When lunch was over, Kathy cleaned the inside and outside of my sliding glass panel doors. I was more concerned about the dirty green pollen that had accumulated this spring on the outside. She also cleaned the front of my entrance door. All this to improve my feng shui. I do live feng shui as much as I can. It can't hurt, right? It just helps me focus on my intentions for my life with the universe... Tawny went home during the cleaning of the doors to take her husband his sandwich. Kathy would make a brief stop to their place to say goodbye to Jeff since he didn't make it.

My day wasn't over yet when Kathy left after 1pm. I did four loads of laundry, filled up the dishwasher, straightened the kitchen and took out trash as well as update my blog. As the afternoon wore on, my after care meds really kicked in. The mental fog began to surround my vision while my body seemed confused at the disconnect. I only have one more day to take the meds tomorrow. I dare not skimp on them just to avoid the discomfort. Sigh.

I spoke to Angie at night to let her know of my chemo day and other weekend adventures. She in turn told me of her adventures of hosting her mother/my aunt when she arrived back from her weeks long trip from the Philippines. Apparently, my aunt had an ear infection and a small cough, but they still had a great visit. I, myself, won't be able to see her until next Saturday; I need to make sure she is not coughing some crazy viral thing from the Philippines. It is a chance I can't take with my immune system.

So my lovelies...overall this was a great chemo weekend!

Kisses,
Sarah Sprinkles
xo

Sunday Race

Comfortable with Asians

Today was Michelle's daughter Eva's second birthday picnic at Ballast Point park in South Tampa. Amy picked me up so we could carpool together. It was a little overcast and it rained a tiny bit during the afternoon...

About 60 adults and children attended. Amy and I assisted Michelle with the kids' games after lunch. She was frazzled and had too many distractions. We did Pin the Tail on the Donkey first; stickers at the end of the tails were used in lieu of the pins. When it came to the pinata, I expected the traditional style with a bat. Not this year. They bought pinatas that used ribbon strings. Each child gets to pull a ribbon string from the bottom of the pinata until one eventually pulls the one that spills the candy everywhere. Odd but safer, I guess. There were two pinatas for Eva and her cousin Aidan who was celebrating his 3rd birthday, too. The candy filling spilled quickly from both and the kids went crazy scrambling for their loot.

We all settled a bit after the games were played and cakes were served. The men were watching football on a TV plugged into the pavilion outlet while the ladies mingled. I met a couple of Michelle's husband's friends. One lady was Chinese and we enjoyed a conversation on Spam Musubi, a sushi sandwich type food made with Spam, Furikake (seaweed/wasabi sprinkles) over rice encased in a seaweed wrap. Her sister joined us and our conversation steered towards children. My own childless state was revealed and my increasing age. The sister was pregnant and already had a five year old. She shocked me by saying she was 39 -- she looked 2o and told her as much. We laughed at the old Asian age deception.

After the birthday picnic, I asked Amy if she wanted to take a tour of the big Asian grocery store downtown. We picked up a few things with Amy agog all over the sights and smells. I had one scare. Amy had ordered two fresh tilapia fish from the live tank after confirming the guys would clean them. They cleaned them all right: chopped the tail, scraped the scales and gave the fish a good rinse after eviscerating them just before double-bagging them in plastic for her. I pushed our cart through a couple of aisles and was reading something in the spice aisle. One of the fish in the bag started to flip-flop around. I was startled and freaked out. With a sheepish look at Amy, I joked that the fish had some nerve. It twitched some more after that and I told it that it was just being rude. Amy died laughing. Oh..well...yes, the fish eventually quieted down permanently. Hee.

I called Tawny in the evening and asked her if she wanted to accompany me to the store before I succumbed to the tiring events of the day. She agreed and off we went. Tawny and I exchanged stories of our recent adventures away from one another. Last night's Halloween party was a success, but she still missed my presence. You know what's great about doing normal stuff with one of your best friends? Everything. There is no pressure to be anybody but you and to share the truths that make you who you are and more importantly to be able to laugh about them out loud in between the aisles of shampoo and conditioner...

My mind kept thinking about the outing today at the park. It struck me that I miss being around an all-Asian community. What I mean is being surrounded by Asians all the time like how I grew up and lived while in the Philippines. My Asian side thirsts for more connections. The thirst is slaked a little during lunch at work with my Asian mafia and our outings. The need didn't manifest or was made known to me until the last few months. A part of me feels badly and maybe betraying a part of my life, but how can that be? I am a walking dichotomy. I am both Asian and white. When I am with Asians, my Caucasian side is what they see first and when I am with Caucasians, my Asian side is what they see first. There are worse things I suppose like running out of rice in the cupboard.


.

Comfortable with Asians

Sugar Apple

Chewing toasted sprouted English muffin can be an activity itself. It is made of food designed to make you feel full with the added bonus of providing better nutrition than traditional bread. This was my breakfast which meant I wouldn't have a mid-morning snack. I wouldn't be making my Mango Sprinkles drink (1/4 c. mango puree + 1 1/4 c. filtered water + 3 teaspoons powdered psyllium husk) which gives me about 15 grams of fiber. That's one of my snack choices during work to hold me until lunch.

My nail salon was very busy this morning. I couldn't wait to get my nails done and trimmed to a more manageable length. Too bad I ruined the polish on my left thumb within 15 minutes of leaving. I was at my apartment parking space getting out of my car. My right index finger got scratched, too, five minutes later while lightly pinning Cabal on the wall outside my door. The new neighbor next door was in the middle of moving in. I didn't think it was a good idea for her helpers to get startled by his loud piercing bark. I cursed and repaired the nails as best as I could with the nail stuff I have on hand. Only a close inspection would give me away.

My long-time-no-see friend Myrna picked me up for a Mexican lunch. On the way I told her about my new neighbor who is a true red head -- I am talking there is no mistaking ginger. Her family mirrored her coloring. I noticed a guitar so she must be musical. Not sure if she attends the university around the corner or not. Time will only reveal.

Our Mexican lunch was good, but made me uncomfortably full even in my loose jeans. It wasn't tight at all - my tummy just wasn't happy. We soon made it to a supercenter and threw ourselves in the crowd shopping. My tummy was thankful for the walk around. It was a mental idea to shop with the others who were trying to get ready for back-to-school on Monday, but we got through insanity to buy things like soap, toilet paper, etc. Myrna expressed her desire to go to the oriental store downtown and that's where we went right after.

In Tagalog, they call it atis (ah-tis), but in English it is known as a sugar apple. Imagine my delight to find it in the produce aisle at Oceanic. I have only had one of these since I left the Philippines. That fruit gem was given to me by Ant several years ago. It is worth its weight and these modest three were almost $7.00! When they are ripe, I will take a picture and show you the creamy white flesh and the shiny black seeds.




I bought some cookies/biscuits and sesame candy for the Asian mafia next week. Since I tore into the banana ones, I guess I get to keep that package. The thing about Asian flavors in products such as cookies, is that the flavors are especially strong. You know what flavor you are supposed to have as you enjoy the flavor essence permeating the treat...Tapioca pearls for my boba drink...A bun with sweet red bean paste baked in it...A package of Kopiko (a Tagalog bastardization of coffee -- kopi and ko -- meaning mine) made it into my bag. Inside the bag has 22 packets of coffee/sugar/creamer mixture.




My piece de resistance was my collection of veggies from the Asian store. Feast your eyes on the eggplant (far left), snow peas (upper right hand), big hand of ginger (bottom front), and my bunch of water spinach (far right) mingling next to the more familiar fare.




The universe has a sense of humor. It urged me to look at the packaged and impressive European cucumber more closely. And do you know where it comes from? No? Are you sure? Ft. Lonesome, FL. I almost died laughing. I mean -- are you kidding me?!

I don't like putting groceries away. Now I am wondering if I should have bought some bottled water. Apparently a hurricane is on its way. Fay is on the Way. Let's hope she's a fickle wench and goes elsewhere.


.

Sugar Apple

Four Asian Markets and Little Philippines

Coffee from my French press was like nectar of the gods this morning. I had to prepare for a big day with my Filipino friend Sharon. Your AGOL was playing tour guide around town to four Asian markets and a stop for lunch at auntie's house to start.

Sharon received the quickie tour of the Sprinkles Sanctuary first. She told me how girlie I am yet how comfy my place makes her feel. The thing that surprised her the most was how tiny my kitchen was in proportion to all the kitchen paraphernalia. I showed her my overstuffed kitchen drawers/cabinets and revealed to her the other places of storage for kitchen stuff. She said I can open my own catering business with all of it. Nah...but close.

I had warned Sharon that my aunt's house was like Little Philippines with the tropical fruit trees around the house and the decor inside. She agreed after seeing everything. My aunt fulfilled my request for a certain Filipino dish and augmented it with other stuff that Sharon and I quickly wolfed down. The grandkids were over, too, so the rest of the household was still full from a late breakfast. I doubt they would've eaten what we had. In fact, little Kristen commented how something was stinky and I brought a serving bowl up to her nose which she quickly wrinkled.

The Brandon Oriental Market had moved to a bigger spot as they had outgrown the other place. They had things I have never seen before at an oriental market. Spent $23 and took home three bagsful of stuff. Sweet. You get way more and way cooler stuff from the Asian store.

Our next stop was downtown where Oceanic, the mother of all Asian markets in Tampa, was located. Sharon had a good time looking at everything. We both shopped conservatively. This was only Asian market no. 2 out of 4 after all. From downtown we stopped at MD Oriental Market which Sharon loved. We took home one large cooked tilapia fish each. The one store she loved the most was our last stop: Philippine Oriental Market where we ate halo-halo for a late afternoon snack.

Just a few of my groceries...


Both of these cost $1.99: Round wooden chopsticks for Sprinkles and red plastic attached cheater sticks for Bridget.


Who doesn't have fish sauce mingling with their Colman's?


Sharon brought in some of her cold items in my refrigerator so she could hang out with me a little bit. Tired and suffering from sensory overload, Sharon couldn't wait to regale her husband and her mother with our adventures around town. She's not much of a cook, but she loves to eat and vows to run more tomorrow to offset all the goodies she bought. I loved watching her childlike delight in purchasing items she hasn't seen in 2o years and I enjoyed reliving the Philippines with her. It's all in a day's work for this AGOL. Mabuhay!*

*Mabuhay (mah-BOO-hai) meaning long-live and more recently something said to welcome foreigners like when the Hawaiians say aloha.


.

Four Asian Markets and Little Philippines