Hello, how are you?

Now that I have settled into my home for more than a year, I think I can slowly put into place decorative elements that adds to the warmth and cosiness of my place.

My Place at the Beginning

As the lease for the rental apartment that I was staying in was coming up, I had only about 2 months to renovate the original state of the apartment before I had to move in. With a limited budget, I know I had to prioritise what I needed. The apartment complex was built in 1995 and I love the use of original materials such as granite floor tiles, wooden doors and parquet flooring. I kept these elements without any doubt. I had to tear down and rebuild the bathrooms and kitchen, and the bulk of my renovation budget went to that.

Keeping Things Simple

I knew I wanted a modern minimalist design and muted cool earth colour palette, a place that is cosy yet soothing. I drew inspiration from Pinterest and chose tiles for new flooring and laminates for all the built in carpentry. It was such a daunting process, making decisions all on my own – it was thrilling though. When I requested for a one-sided arc in the ceiling of the walkway from the living room to my room, my mom looked at me doubtfully but I’m so glad to have gone ahead with this unique element.

I spent on getting a new bed with bed frame and a modular sofa, and kept furnishings to a minimum. I bought the rest of the furniture second-hand and I’m glad to give preloved good quality furniture a new home. They include my teak dining table with 6 chairs, TV console, 2 study table and 2 book shelves. As these furniture were pre-loved, I was spared from the VOCs that typically accompany new furniture.

Almost 2 Years Later

I visited a friend whose renovated home featured plenty of refurbished antique designer furniture and handmade lighting. Inspired, I decided that I could start to spruce up my place in small ways. So I did 2 things over one weekend a couple of weeks ago. I splurged on the Papermoon – a Washi paper lamp designed by Shigeru Uchida in 1990. They are handmade in the Gifu prefecture of Japan.

I also picked up a few giant greens at the local nursery. A monstera, a peace lily, a Begonia maculata (with polka dots) and a Staghorn fern Kokedama (moss ball in Japanese). These greens add so much life to my living area, I pray they will continue to strive in my care.

Being at Peace

I feel most comfortable at my place, my home now. It was such a terrible feeling and experience living in a space where I had little control over, where I kept trying to please. I was also walking on eggshells, often hungry, and left terribly alone when I was upset.

How did I come across this apartment? What was the deciding factor? I will share in another post. Meanwhile, I hope you have a safe and kind space to yourself, free of drama, free of tension. That is the fundamental of living simply and gently.

Hello, how are you? How was your weekend?

I saw the news about the new Amazon Kindle lineup and felt really excited about the new to market e-readers. My Kindle is one of those objects that are quietly a part of my life, somewhat a core reminder of my desire to read more when I was younger, and now a supportive anchor in that pursuit.

The First Kindle

I bought my first Kindle when I was an undergraduate, the Kindle Keyboard (3rd Generation) that was released in 2010. It featured a 6-inch E-ink Pearl display, physical QWERTY keyboard and 4 GB of storage. I love paperbacks but I remember feeling sad that the books I enjoyed reading were turning into yellow pages. I thought to give the Kindle e-reader a try, with Amazon’s promise of reading that is soothing for my eyes.

It was amazing, and very gentle — almost paper-like — and I loved “flipping the pages” with the forward click. The features that won me over most completely were the weeks-long battery life and the ability to carry a bunch of books in my bag. I remember reading on the subway the e-book, “The History of Love” by Nicole Krauss. I was reading and flipping and reading and felt breathless as the story flowed on. And I missed the train station that I was supposed to alight at. The e-reader was a small item, but for a reader it felt enormous.

Early Motherhood buried my Kindle and I

This subtitle summarises it all.

The Covid-19 pandemic hit the world and I gave birth to a little human. I only read the physical book “The Baby Whisperer” and nothing else. Literally, the days were short and the nights long. It was during this period that navigating full-time working motherhood consumed me while my marriage broke down. I do think the pandemic awoken parts of us that otherwise would not, and also broke down parts of us that needed to go.

Returning to Reading — and Buying My Second Kindle in 2024

By 2024, life was beginning to settle into a new shape. I saw my Kindle when I was moving houses and wanted to return to books to nourish myself. I am not a bookworm but I was taught and believed that literature can help heal and shape each person. My Kindle had served me faithfully, but it was time for something new.

I browsed Amazon and decided to get another Kindle, this time the 2022 release, 11th Generation, Amazon’s lightest (158g) and most compact 6-inch basic e-reader. It has a glare-free touchscreen with sharp 300 psi resolution and an adjustable front light. With 16GB of storage and a battery life of up to 6 weeks, this means I could have the company of thousands of books on a long road trip (on my Wishlist, with my son).

The e-reader was really sleek and light, the suede pocket that I bought to hold the e-reader is probably heavier than the e-reader. The touchscreen streamlined the reading experience altogether and I quickly fed the e-reader with the books I wanted to read. It felt like I was returning to an anchor, to calm in my life.

I love audiobooks, no doubt about that. Audiobooks grant me the freedom and convenience of listening to books on the go. My Kindle accompanies me with a different selection of books, while waiting for a friend to turn up, on long flights, and at night (if I can stay awake, free of K-drama).

And Now There’s a Colour One

Just a couple of days ago when a friend shared that she bought the Kobo, I was glad to learn that the Kobo supports e-books from local libraries. It was then by chance that I searched online to see if I could link local titles to my Kindle and saw the new Amazon Kindle lineup. While I thought other e-readers and gadgets had flooded the market, the Kindle remained popular with double-digit growth globally in the past 3 years!

The new family of Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Coloursoft are said to be thinner and lighter with new displays and edge-to-edge colour! And I was so excited to see the Kindle colours (Seaglass green!) and especially Kindle Coloursoft which can deliver rich, paper-like colour. I have not decided whether I need one of the new family members yet — my 2024 Kindle is still very much my companion — but I would be lying if I said I was not tempted.

Still Reading

My Kindles — both of them — have been present for some of the most significant seasons of my life. They have held books that comforted me and challenged me. I do not think technology replaces the magic of books, I still purchase books when they call out to me at the local bookstore (a dangerous place, like the nursery with plenty of beautiful greens) — I think, when it is done well, it just gets out of the way and lets the books do their work. For me, the Kindle has always done exactly that. And I suspect, whatever comes next, it will continue to.

Do you use an e-reader? How has it been for you?

Hello, how are you?

The week flew by in a blink, didn’t it? Today, I thought about sharing how I simplified my life with really easy, home-cooked meals. I’ve stripped my cooking down to the essentials. For meals at home (mostly dinners) with my young child, I aim for efficiency (approx. 30min prep and cook time), nutritious (least processed possible) and delicious outcomes. I try to use only up to 4 ingredients and basic seasonings. That means on the days that I cook, I would have on rotation the air-fryer cooking a soy/ miso/ mirin/ brown sugar-marinated cod or salmon fillet, and on the stove I have a small pot of udon/ soba/ Korean rice cakes with vegetables (corn/ carrots/ cabbage/ sweet beancurd skin). We will have cold soba or udon on a really hot day, and hot miso soup with rice cakes on a normal, cool or rainy day. Sometimes for variety, I roast the vegetables in the air fryer with a knob of butter and a sprinkle of Italian herbs.

In February earlier this year, I finally unlocked the virgin experience of choosing and purchasing a whole salmon from the supermarket, and had the fishmonger clean and fillet the fish. These salmon fillets were so fresh and creamy when I air-fried them, and I no longer browse prepackaged salmon fillets in styrofoam trays on the shelves. I keep the salmon in the freezer so I can use them whenever. It felt as though I levelled up in my game of grocery shopping.

Of course, I also prepare pasta for dinners and after trying a few brands, now exclusively use La Molisana brand of pasta for its quality and bite. Penne and fusilli are my go-to pastas because we just need a spoon to eat and there is no mess on the dining table. Besides the usual bolognese sauce – made in advance using lean minced beef, carrots, cherry tomatoes and either celery or cabbage – we also love pasta with tiger prawns, cherry tomatoes, and miso paste and butter, finished with a squeeze of lemon (optional bonus).

Most of the time on either Friday or Saturday evenings when I’m spending time with myself, I keep it simple and treat myself to an air-fried medium-rare Denver steak (max 240g). Occasionally, for variety, I will have a small pot of kimchi “stew” using supermarket kimchi, Pulmone brand of tofu for stews and their rice cakes made from wheat flour. I’ve also used the same rice cakes, corn niblets and leftover cabbage for a simple miso soup dish.

Yes, I’ve tried to keep things really simple (think washing up after cooking) and nothing fancy. At the end of the day, home-cooked meals are the best, and I’m doing my best for my child and myself.