The List: June

We are already halfway through the year and I've used this checkpoint to reset and work on my wellbeing. It's only been a few weeks but I'm already feeling better for it.

This time last year, HusbandMan was in hospital, where he remained for 41 days. It has been an unforgettable year for all the wrong reasons. But we survived and some normality is now within our grasps.

Friends often ask about how I’m coping but when you’re keeping your head above water, you don’t think about it. You just do. I’ve taken little steps towards some routine and finally feel like I am getting back some control in my life.

I’ve kicked my sugar habit and I’ve gone back to being more active and I feel stronger for it. Being outdoors during this time of the year is undoubtedly easier. The trees around us are full and on some of the narrower streets they canopy the roads and when the sunlight dapples through the leaves, it’s a sight that’s definitely worth getting out of bed for.

Sight

Live recording of Have I Got News For You

I have a fondness for a particular type of British telly: panel shows. I love Would I Lie To You, Never Mind The Buzzcocks and Have I Got News For You. In a world that takes itself too superficially and/or seriously, it is reassuring to know that there is space for the kind of entertainment where being quick-witted and silly is celebrated. We were watching an episode on HIGNY when on a whim, I applied to be in the audience.

So that is how we ended up sitting in a studio in Hammersmith on a Thursday evening watching the filming of the season finale. We couldn’t believe our luck when we learned that David Tennant was presenting that evening (especially because we’ve been watching Rivals). It made our Thursday evening extraordinary and it was totally free too!

Sound

I had a deadline and needed some music to help focus. I decided to put on the soundtrack to Minari and was instantly reminded of how much I love Emile Mosseri’s score.

Minari Song Reader

Curious, I looked to see if I could find the sheet music and found A24’s Minari Song Reader—a box set with 16 sewn booklets of sheet music with beautiful illustrations by Ping Zhu accompanying each piece. It also includes a statement from Mosseri:

I was deeply moved by Isaac’s story and wrote a bunch of melodies in the spirit of his childhood. The thing that stuck out to me the most was this idea of childhood memory, and the challenge of trying to musically capture that spirit with these pieces. It’s so subjective, what does a childhood memory sound like? What does it feel like? I think I gravitated towards dreamier, more impressionistic melodies because we all look at our childhood through a romantic lens, and naturally fill in the gaps in our memories with dream-like emotionally-biased stories, so I wanted the music to reflect that. I wanted the music to let the audience feel that this was an emotional recollection of Isaac’s childhood (through David’s character) from his perspective.

I’ve loved playing these pieces on the piano. It pleases me to know that these beautiful pieces have a home in a stunning box set.

Smell

Photo by Tina Xinia on Unsplash

Elderflower grows widely (and wildly) here in Britain. The delicate and pretty white flowers signal the start of summer. My Substack feed reveals its popularity and there have been many a recipe and tips on how to cook with it.

Elderflower has an intoxicating aroma. It is sweet and floral. At a sauerkraut workshop run by my friend and master of ferments, Clare Heal, in partnership with Growing Communities (find tips on how I make use of my bag here) we were served some canapés to showcase how delicious fermented and pickled food is.

I loved the carrots that were part of her pickle platter. They had a sweet and floral smell and such a unique taste, having been fermented in a brine with elderflowers, then pickled in an elderflower vinegar. The scent and flavour of the elderflower lent a sweetness to the pickles. It was divine and I loved them!

A pickle platter by Clare Heal.

On another nose note, the sauerkraut I made from the workshop is finally ready. I had a big old sniff of the jar today and it smelled funky and tasted perfectly sour and crunchy. I can’t wait to have it with my meals.

Cabbage and kohlrabi saueurkraut with fennel and caraway seeds

Taste

Filipino Thai Friendship. Photos by Dhilan, Christy and Shell.

I want Filipino Thai Friendship to feed me forever. It is the culinary coupling combining the talents of Swilipino and Dow. I went once during the earlier days of this residency with a friend and came away reminded of the early days of Singburi. Since then, I’ve wanted to go back to try the rest of the menu. When I saw that Wednesdays had an event there, I joined them to feast on the entire menu.

Each dish worked well as part of a bigger family style meal and was well-considered. My favourite dishes were the naem in caul fat (grilled fermented pork served with basil leaves), smoked aubergine salad, prawn ball piyalam and the coconut sorbet which was served with a fish sauce caramel, peanuts and crispy mung beans. The flavours in their cooking is always lively with a play on textures, making this one of my favourite meals of the year.

Touch

Nick & Susie Cave

I am often reminded of how lucky I am to have the experiences I’ve had, and to have met the people I’ve met.

Not too long ago, I had an appointment in the enigmatic Susie Cave’s new boutique: Weddings & Funerals. She was showing a preview of the collection and telling me about the fabrications and techniques used in the collection when our conversation drifted to jewellery (she liked my earrings) and on to Nick Cave. I confessed to her that I was a fan and that Into My Arms is one of my all time favourite tracks. Nick appeared, as if conjured by our conversation and Susie took me over for an introduction. Of course I had nothing intelligent to say to him and was gawping the entire time but I managed to touch shake his hand like an Asian businessman.

I went away feeling giddy thinking about how my younger self living in Kuala Lumpur would never have imagined this moment. That I would meet some of my heroes in such intimate settings—oh, what a privilege!