We had so many days of abundant food last week. Girls are off school starting from Thursday. Friday evening was chinese new year eve and it was MIL birthday so we had cake at lunch to save space for dinner.
We also had mini firework in our balcony, a must-do activity for new year.
Some dishes we had: we ordered the Pakistan food we liked, samosas
tofu noodles with parsley
biryani with lamb – Pakistan food
vermicelli with shrimp and garlic
curry chicken
girls’ requested special: sweet potato with marshmallow
we also had a steamed fish and few more vegetables. After dinner, it was time to watch the chinese new year eve show
I didn’t join them as I binged watched One Day! Soooooo good!!!! I finished 14 episodes in one day. So many reasons for me to like it so much: the plot is beautiful, sad, heart breaking at the time, and sweet; the acting is great, especially the lead actress; the lead actor is super cute; the English accent made everything more sophisticated; it reminds me of youth and first love. When I finished, I went to tell hubby: something to add to our love story. We can say we grew up together. 🙂
Saturday we went to the old town of Jakarta. We passed by chinatown and then had lunch at Cafe Batavia, a sampling of Indonesia food.
girls had avocado toast with scrambled eggs. Not a big fan of Indonesia food.
Our drive home took 2.5 hours because of pre-election rally. Traffic was massive, a good experience for my MIL as someone who never saw the vibe around a democratic election.
Sunday started with 16 miles of easy run. I took a pic of my arms as it was covered in crystal salt. It happens every time I run over 90 min.
It was almost a bad run because when I texted Sofia to ask her to join me for the last few miles, she wasn’t positive about it. I debated to let it go or force her to run with me anyway. After few more miles, I texted her to wait me at the lobby, that it’s Sunday, and on Sunday she runs. Obviously when I saw her, she was mad at me. I didn’t say anything other than what she wants to have for breakfast after the run. I offered few options and she got excited to go to McDonals. We run about 3 miles, super chill pace for me. She didn’t complain but I knew she wasn’t happy about it either. When we finished and got settled at McDonals. I told her that there are 3 reasons I think she should keep running, at least once a week.
- She has talent for running. I wish I was exposed to running or other endurance sport when I was a kid. So don’t waste her talent.
- If we move out of the tropical country, swimming might not be as accessible, so she needs to have another sport, and she’s not good with any ball sport. Running is a good insurance for her as tracks will be available in most schools.
- I love running, I love her, it will make me so happy to combine the two.
She was happy with my reasons and told me I’m very wise 😀 Hopefully we won’t have an argument about Sunday runs anymore.
Parenting preteens is definitely harder. I can’t make her do things even if they are good for her. I need to lay out the purpose, to discuss the pro and cons with her more openly and more often.
I watched two movies in addition to One Day: American Fiction, the Holdovers. American Fiction is good, the other not so much.
Have you watched Oscar Nominees? Which one is your favorite? Do you share a hobby with your kid?
Our New Journey 
I never get the salt thing but in summer months when it’s hot im just covered in water!!! Like just giant droplets and dripping and soaked to my shoes. I don’t think my sweat is that salty but my sweat rate is so high. Ha!!
I am amazed at your ability to not mind or at least not complain about the heat. I have looked at the weather app and your days are very similar to our summer (well like may to October) except it’s year round. I find it so challenging!! Trying to savor every winter run right now.
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I stopped complaining about it because it just makes me feel miserable. Now when heat is less than 80F, which is rare, I’m extremely grateful. ☺️
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I hate sweating; I think that’s my least favourite part of running! My husband LOVES to sweat.
That is so much food variety! I feel like I eat the same thing on repeat!
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Your experience with Sofia makes me think of similar situations with my daughter. It’s a fine line- we don’t want to push them into things, but also we want to encourage them when we know it’s good for them. I think your strategy was perfect- you gave her logical reasons (I know my daughter LOVES to have a good reason) and you offered a reward. Treats make things more fun, and you want her to feel like running is fun.
That food looks so good! Those tofu noodles… yum.
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Ohhh, I love this story with Sophia… I am still far away from pre-teens but even now, when my 6 year old flips out or is mad, I try to talk to her first. She received a 8 out of 12 on an assignment and when we divided 8 by 12 we got a 66, a D. I explained how the scale works and I could tell that she was disappointed. Well, i said, a D is really a message: for you to work harder. After we unpacked the project, She understood that she didn’t put in enough effort. It was a good teachable moment.
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It sounds like you have a great relationship with your daughter! Parenting is a marathon, that’s for sure, and the preteen years are a big change from the childhood ones. It sounds like you are doing a great job, giving her things to think about and allowing her to make decisions.
Happy New Year to you!
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I’ve had that salt on the skin experience in the summer here in Minnesota! It’s very odd to have salt on your skin after a run! I agree with SHU – you are great about not complaining about the weather! We’ve been so lucky this year with a mild winter (which is concerning as I think it’s related to global warming) so I try to appreciate it and now my oldest will say “what a beautiful morning!” when we go outside and it’s not terrible cold or he’ll say “gosh it’s not bad out here!” So our attitudes definitely rub off on our children.
I am glad you and Sofia had a good heart-to-heart!
You should check out the book “One Day.” And then watch the movie adaptation to compare/contrast to the TV series. I would like to try the TV series!
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