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What’s your go-to comfort food?
My absolute comfort food is kind of boring, but actually isn’t. It’s a sandwich; just a sandwich. It’s not my family staples of Chinese or Japanese food. It’s just a good old fashioned sandwich.
I won’t get into all the details of which sandwiches are my favorite, or which condiments I like to put in those sandwiches. That topic would take way too long for me to explain. Also, I won’t get into the whole debate on whether or not a hot dog is considered a sandwich, which by association, that should mean that a hamburger is also a sandwich. Lots of American eateries even use sandwich bread to make their own hamburger recipes.
I have been eating sandwiches ever since I started going to school, even in pre-school & summer school where we were asked to bring our own brown bag lunches. My mom would make me a ham & cheese sandwich with mayonnaise on white bread (until I found out I was supposed to be allergic to white bread). That was my earliest memory of eating sandwiches. Ever since then, I have grown very fond of eating sandwiches.
Sandwiches are easy to throw together when you can’t think of anything to actually cook. They are versatile; I mean, you can put just about anything you want in a sandwich, savory or sweet, & you can use any kind of bread you want. Sandwiches are also very portable & easy to eat when you’re on the go rushing out the door, or having a leisurely picnic.
I just very much enjoy eating sandwiches. That’s why I would say a sandwich is my go-to comfort food. It’s something I have always eaten since childhood, & besides, who would actually say that duck a l’orange or coq a vin served with a side of haricots vert is their comfort food? That’s ridiculous. I want to eat something quick, easy, & delicious. Sandwiches. Boo-ya! Cheers.
Today’s song of the day:
What strategies do you use to increase comfort in your daily life?
I have a few game-time strategies to increase the comfort(s) in my life. My strategies revolve around a daily schedule that I have built up over the course of this past year. My daily schedule is not rigid, however, I am quite firm on staying as close to it as possible. It also depends on how my little one is behaving on any given day.Mine & Jian‘s best friends have a set schedule with time frames written out clearly on a dry erase board they keep in their living room. They are extremely diligent on staying true to their strict schedule, except on weekends.
When I am taking care of my little one by myself (without the extra help from my mom & Jian), I try to stick to my daily routine as much as possible. I don’t give myself strict time frames, but I at least have a general timeline of when to accomplish target tasks.
First thing early in the morning, I head to the kitchen to grab my kid a cup of milk. I pour myself a cup of leftover coffee (lately I have been really into drinking iced coffee). My little one & I will lounge about in bed for a little bit. She will play toddler games on my iPad while I watch the morning news on TV. She drinks her morning milk, & I drink my coffee. This is one part of our daily routine that is definitely a luxury. It starts our day on a happy, positive note.
After breakfast, I clean up the kitchen. This is when I will play some music on Spotify or play a movie to run in the background while I am washing dishes & such. I will also take some time to top up my coffee cup, check my Instagram feed, or watch a few YouTube shorts. This is my equivalent of a 15-minute smoke break in a corporate office. However, at least one to two times per week, I will use this in-between breakfast & lunch time to wash my hair. I cannot wash it at night when I shower because it takes too long.
During my little one’s nap time, which I call “quiet time”, is where the fun starts for me because it is now my do-whatever-I-want time, or more accurately, the do-the-things-she-won’t-let-me-do-while-she’s-awake time. I will use this time to grab my 2nd full cup of coffee for the day. Also, right now, I am currently in the process of building 4 toy brick sets from CaDA Bricks. I use my little one’s nap time to work on my brick sets. If she were awake, she would want to grab all of the pieces & scatter them all over the house. Just a few minutes before the little one wakes up from her nap, I will carefully put away my bricks.
Carving out this 2-hour window each day to work on my brick sets or read up on trashy celebrity gossip is one of my day’s comforts. It allows me some real time to relax & not have to think about chores or daily work. This time when my little one is extremely precious to me & I make sure I set aside an allotted amount of time each day to do something I enjoy, like writing this blog. That pretty much sums it all up. There’s not much strategy other than setting aside some uninterrupted time to do things I need to or want to do. That’s all. Until the next one, cheers!
What is your favorite genre of music?
This quote I found on Pinterest completely describes my musical interests. Also, yes. People still use Pinterest.
I am willing to listen to just about any type of music, even music in languages I don’t understand. I like songs in almost every genre or category, except Gregorian Chanting. That’s where I permanently draw the line. (I do not consider that music in the least.) My dad once bought a Gregorian Chanting CD from a CD subscription catalog (yes, that’s how looong ago it was), & he played it the entire time our family drove from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It was torture, but he wouldn’t allow us to change it. My mom was so irritated after that 7 hour car ride that she forbade my dad from listening to it on the drive home.
I don’t listen to a lot of songs from all genres, but there are a few songs I like from each category. For example, I don’t frequently listen to Country Western music; I listen to it very rarely, but there are a few Shania Twain, Taylor Swift, & Patsy Cline songs I like. I also don’t frequently listen to Reggae music, but I have been known to bop along to Bob Marley’s greatest hits.
Another genre that I do not listen to is Chinese pop, like C-pop or Canto-pop. It’s not that I think the music is bad. The one thing that turns me off from listening to this genre is the fact that all of the songs & their topics/themes sound the same. Every song is a love song, either about unrequited love, lost love, heartache, cute love, or sad love. There is no variety in the song subjects, & most of the songs are ballads. It just feels repetitive to listen to C-pop or Canto-pop music a lot of the time, so I avoid that genre most of the time.
Three of the biggest music genres I listen to the most these days are J-pop, Alternative Rock, & Jazz. I also love listening to other genres relating to these main categories, like: J-rap, Brit-Rock, & Bossa Nova. I used to be a super huge fan of Japanese male idol groups from the talent agency Johnny’s Entertainment, but since most of my favorite groups have either retired, broke up due to public controversy, or have disbanded, I haven’t really payed much attention to the new idol bands.
If you were to ask me which bands are on my repeat playlist, it would be:
I would definitely say that my preferences in music lean towards catchier songs, you know, songs with a catchy melody or chorus to sing along to. I also enjoy songs I can sing & bop along to. I wouldn’t say I have a great singing voice, but it’s at least adequate enough to carry a tune when I sing karaoke with my friends. Also, I have sung karaoke in public more than once & have not yet been booed off stage, so I’d say that counts as me being an okay singer.
I also like electronic music with no lyrics, LoFi ones that I can put on all day while I’m writing or doing house chores. Sometimes I will find a low key LoFi music stream on YouTube & run it in the background on the TV while I am playing with my little bean. She enjoys it as well. At least I think she does. It keeps her focused on playing in one spot & not running around the house like a child strung out on a sugar rush.
That pretty much sums up my taste in music. I could go in depth about every single specific type of music I listen to & which bands from each category I like, but that would take FOREVER! I’d like to end this post with my usual song of the day, but I will insert a playlist instead. Cheers!
Today’s PLAYLIST of the day:
Rabbits & Foxes 
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