Yelly Writes

The prep

Yelly

All I can hear right now is the Coca-Cola advert when I think about Christmas coming.  I’ve started to listen to Christmas carols on the journey to and from work to lift my spirits.  Christmas is a busy time at work (it’s nearly the deadline of submission of annual tax returns in the UK – don’t forget your tax return folks!  The deadline for online submissions is on 31 January  For more information check the HMRC website) but despite the busy time, admittedly,I get the holiday blues being so far away from home.  Listening to carols reminds me of the good times and makes me smile and feel better.  Two years in the running now I’ve been listening to Pentatonix.  They’re an a capella quintet from Arlington, Texas.  I love listening to them because the harmonies remind me of the chancel choir I used to be part of at home in the Philippines.

In an effort to be a little bit more organised this year, Alan and I have devised a (more organised) plan.  We’d cook or prep and freeze things that we can prepare ahead of time so that we didn’t have to rush around like headless chickens the night before Christmas.  This year, right now, we already have the following:

  • A shared Christmas shopping list (courtesy of this handy app Our Groceries, and yes, there’s a free version on iOS and Android!) with most of the items ticked off
  • A rough (adjustable) schedule of things to do which should finish the last Sunday BEFORE Christmas
  • Gift wrapping supplies (for last minute gift-wrapping)
  • Pigs in blankets made (we bought sausages and wrapped streaky bacon around them), wrapped up, and in the freezer
  • Stuffing mixed and placed in baking tins, wrapped up and in the freezer
  • Braised red cabbage done and in the freezer waiting to be thawed
  • Baking supplies in hand for baking projects
  • A large shopping bag already filled with nibbles (i.e. crisps, biscuits, crackers, candy, etc.)

With Christmas 12 days away, I’ve got the tree up, Christmas decorations all over the flat and the fridge stocked with Christmas things.  I’m not feeling as rushed as I usually do at Christmas.  All we have to do now is get the turkey and get the veg and figure out timings for cooking the turkey and the fixings!

I am soooooooo ready for Christmas!

are-you-ready-for-christmas-32710

Yelly Writes

Tick tock says my body clock!

Yelly

My body clock is so screwed up at the moment.  It’s after 10PM and I am now wide awake.  About 2 hours ago, I was as groggy as can be.  It doesn’t help that I’ve just come back from New York (yes, I may have mentioned it in a previous post!).  What I found completely strange was while I was in New York, my body clock was still on UK time.  So I thought when I came back from the trip I’d be okay.

I didn’t factor in the fact that I could have post-travel illness.  I normally don’t get really sick after a trip, just really tired.  But this trip was different.  I came back with a sore throat with a slight tickle that made me cough and a fever with a slightly runny nose.  It’s gone down hill since Wednesday.  I am keeping myself up with all the coughing and have found myself drifting off to proper sleep at 4 or 5AM!  It doesn’t help that tomorrow is a work day and I’ve got to go in and catch up on a week and a half’s worth of work!

Where is that lottery win when you need it eh?

I loved New York.  I just wanted more time to reacquaint myself with the city.  I didn’t do a properly touristy visit when I was last in New York.  We went to a few choice places (I was with my parents and my baby sister) but didn’t really experience New York as such.  Not properly.

This trip was different.  I managed to see, maybe, 400% more than when I had when I was with my family.  I even managed to start understanding the Metro subway system, which, I think, in itself, was a major achievement!

Wollman Rink, Central Park

It was a good time because I was ticking off places that I’ve seen in New York movies.

Tomorrow, I’m going to get an antitussive so that I can stop coughing and get something to soothe my sore throat.  I’m going to go take a hot, steamy shower in the hopes that it will help my congestion.  One thing that the trip did highlight was the familiarity of the US pharmacies to what I grew up with in Manila.  I miss the familiar brands and the familiar generic medicine names.  When I’m less groggy, less coughy and generally feeling better, I’ll write about the food and my New York highlights!

Watch this space!

Yelly Writes

Pray for Paris

Yelly

A walk in Paris will provide lessons

in history, beauty and in the point of Life.

– Thomas Jefferson

I will never understand why anyone would resort to harming other people deliberately.  I will never understand the need for violence.  I will never understand why destruction was ever an option on the table.

Peace Paris

Yelly Writes

Sick bay after New York bay

Yelly

Soooooo…I went to New York.  I spent 5 days in the city that never sleeps and got home on Wednesday.

I am however, coughing up a storm and have a terrible cold.

I will eventually find the strength to write about New York.  5 days isn’t enough.  Figuring out the subway system is a whole day activity!  I haven’t ticked off the movie and TV locations that I wanted to visit.  I did love my 5 days in the Big Apple though.  There was so much to see and not enough time to see all of it!

I’m going back though.  I just need to save money so that I can stay longer!

I’ve got a few photos to share so watch this space!

Central Park

Yelly Reads

Book du jour: After You by Jojo Moyes

Yelly

Push yourself.  Don’t settle.  Just live well.  Just live.

But after the person you love the most in the world dies, how do you go on?

I’m guessing this is the question that Jojo Moyes attempts to answer in her beautiful sequel to the amazing book Me Before You.

I nearly fell off my chair (well, okay, that’s an overstatement as I was sitting on my couch when I found out Jojo Moyes had written the sequel of the heartbreaking novel Me Before You.).  If you haven’t read it, DO!  But be warned that the story will clutch at your heart and leave you reaching for tissues, more than once!  It is a story about a girl who cares for a paraplegic who is determined to end his life.  I won’t really say too much as I always think spoilers are what they are; they spoil stories for people.  I am not too bothered about finding out a story’s ending because even if I know how the story ends, I love finding out how you get to the end (I remember while in school in Chemistry, or Physics, or Maths, or Algebra, or Geometry or Trigonometry or Calculus I always enjoyed working my way back – I enjoyed knowing what the end was and learning how to work my way back to find out how you got to the answer.  Weird, I know!).  But there will be people who mind knowing how the story ends.  It was at times a difficult read, but in true Jojo Moyes fashion, she writes out these poignant scenes that are at the same time sad and funny.  You can’t help but cry, sniffle and chuckle at the same time.

I couldn’t help but buy the (Kindle) book when I found out that the sequel to Me Before You was out.  While the story broke my heart, I loved Lou (Louisa) and I wanted to find out what happened to her after Me Before You ended.  Jojo Moyes did not disappoint.  She has written a lovely story that while intrinsically connected to Me Before You, you can very definitely read this book independently.  This book was one of the reasons why I was happy to go to work and why I was so eager to get on that train home.

I finished reading the book this evening, just as the train pulled into Harwich International.  And while I was feeling a bit weepy, there are benefits to reading in a public place.  You rein in your emotions but you’re more aware of how emotional the book makes you because when you struggle to keep your emotions in check, you’re more aware of how emotional you are!

Even if you haven’t read Me Before You, read After You.  It stands on its own merit and it is, as all Jojo Moyes books are, beautifully written and the insights into people’s emotions are amazing.  It is a must read BUT you must remember two things when you start reading this book: you will, at some point, need a box of kleenex and the book is unputdownable!

After You

Yelly Eats

The (Chicken) Bucket List!

Yelly

Chicken is probably my favourite meat.  I mean, truth, currently have a lot of pork in my freezer at the moment (I once had a 2kg pork shoulder joint hiding in the bowels of my tiny freezer) but my meat of choice is chicken.  It’s so versatile and is probably the healthier option (granted, fish is probably the healthiest option but if you want a perfect middle ground, trust me, poultry is king!) than pork or beef.  I’ll take chicken any which way.  I love it baked, broiled, stewed, poached, steamed, roasted, barbecued…I could go on.  I’d probably eat chicken however way it’s prepared. I may have already done so.

My all-time favourite chicken dish, however, is Southern fried chicken.  I loved it so much that every time I hear of a chicken place that claims to serve “proper” Southern fried chicken, I ask Alan if we can go and try it out.  Thankfully, Alan is almost always too happy to indulge this particular obsession.

I’m truly grateful that Alan shares my passion for finding the perfect fried chicken (Southern).  We scour – well, okay, scour is probably too strong a word – we peruse social media, read through the food section of newspapers and magazines to read about these chicken-serving places and make mental notes of the places that we want to visit.  We’ve discussed chicken places to death so it dawned on me that the next step in this fried chicken journey was to put together a list of chicken-serving places that we wanted to try.  So we’ve written up a rough list of the places we’ve either tried or want to try.  The qualifying characteristic?  They claim to serve some sort of fried chicken.

And so…presenting our chicken bucket list!

1.    Roost
2.    Spit and Roast
3.    Mother Clucker
4.    Bird
5.    Clock Jack
6.    Wishbone
7.    Red Dog
8.    Jubo
9.    On The Bab
10.    Stax
11.    Ruby Jean’s Diner
12.    Joe’s Southern Kitchen and Bar
13.    Chooks
14.    Meat Liquor
15.    Rita’s Bar and Dining
16.    Eat 17
17.    Jackson and Rye
18.    Clutch

So watch this space as I write through the (chicken) bucket list!

Yelly Writes

iOS 9 data warning!

Yelly

This is not a tech blog.  I repeat.  This is not a tech blog.  But I thought I’d share this little tidbit of information, as shared with me by Alan tonight.

Do you have an iPhone?  Have you updated to the new iOS9?  Do you use data…a lot?  Well, do this now: Head to Settings, then Mobile Data, then scroll to the bottom of the menu where you can turn Wi-Fi Assist off.

I have a little gizmo which is otherwise known as mifi but I noticed that since I upgraded to the new iOS, my phone automatically disconnected from the wifi connection from my little mifi thingmebob and switched to 3G.  This happened only when my wifi signal from the mifi was weak or when the connection failed.  I don’t mind so much, but the whole point of my mifi is so that I don’t use up all the data that I have.

Apparently, the new iOS has a feature called “wifi assist” which automatically helps you connect to the best data connection.  So if, like me, you’ve a mifi thingmebob or mobile broadbandy thing, and the little doohickey has a weak connection, your lovely iPhone which you dutifully upgraded to the next brand spanking new operating system, will disconnect from your weak wifi mifi and connect to the strongest wifi signal around.  If said wifi signal isn’t available, it’ll use your data connection.  If, like me, you’re trying to be diligent and trying not to use up your data allowance, then this spells bad news.  Luckily, I’m on a prepaid account so I can still monitor my usage.  But for everyone on a mobile contract, you might see your data usage skyrocket ergo, HUGE mobile phone bills!

So, have a care and head to Settings, then Mobile Data, then scroll to the bottom of the menu where you can turn Wi-Fi Assist off.

If you’d like to read more, the Washington Post article is one of the best articles that explains this.

Really, Apple was a bit naughty doing this, but I forgive them.  Am just thankful the tech boffins cottoned on to this little hiccup before I managed to use up all my mobile data!  Phew!

Yelly Writes

Radio silence

Yelly

Sorry about the non-updates.  Life has a way of interrupting writing goals.

In my head, I’ve got this all planned.  But the to-do list in my head doesn’t always translate into what I want to do in reality.  I need time to think about everything I want to do.

Yelly Writes

Old thinking

Yelly

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes.
Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow.
Let reality be reality.
Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
Lao Tzu

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Sometimes the old quotes grab you.  They made a lot of sense in the old days.  They make sense now.  There is a certain timelessness in true wisdom and true insight.