Asos Arrives and Marmite Spaghetti

We've been having a crapola of a week with one mishap after another (driving around without air con in 30 degrees Celsius weather in traffic jams because the car's air con went bust, Bubs's mouth injury, borrowing Dad's car because the car was at the workshop and then accidentally drowning his car's remote in the washing machine ... to say the least)

Sooooo ....... I was totally over the moon when my Asos order finally arrived in the mailbox *woots* It's a French Connection rosehip/unicorn (sounds so much better than plain ol' maroon and white, doesn't it? :p) stripey T-shirt dress on sale. 

Kids of the 70s and 80s would remember growing up with Bovril (for those that eat beef) and Marmite. Usually our parents would mix it into hot rice porridge for that extra flavour, so there's a certain comfort along with nostalgia that comes with that salty, yeasty dark coloured paste. 

I was intrigued by this Nigella recipe that promised quick and easy comfort food with only 4 basic ingredients: Marmite, butter, spaghetti and cheese.

Sorry Antipodeans, Vegemite costs more than double so I went with Marmite instead. Interesting fact: Marmite and Bovril are stocked at the nutrition supplement section of Tesco.

Marmite spaghetti in a nutshell:

1. Cook spaghetti in salted water
2. In a separate small pot, melt a small amount of butter
3.  Mix a teaspoon (or more!) Marmite into the melted butter
4. Add in a bit of the pasta water to the Marmite butter mixture
5. Drain spaghetti and toss everything together
6. Serve with grated cheese

The verdict? Me likeyyyyy ... incredibly fast and simple and ooooh so good!

Hubs refused to touch it ("I'm not a Marmite kinda guy") and Bubs cautiously took a mouth but found it far too salty.

I finished the whole portion happily. Mmm ... Marmite :)

Frenulum of lip

frenulum of lip - a median fold of mucous membrane connecting the inside of each lip to the corresponding gum.

And we learnt this new word because …?

Bubs and Hubs were roughhousing as usual. Bubs was asking for his “kee kee kok” (piggyback) and when Hubs dropped him onto the bed, Bubs started crying furiously, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Sad to say (and I feel incredibly guilty now), my first thought was that Bubs was being overly dramatic until we saw blood oozing out from his mouth. His face was all scrunched up and red from all the wailing and my heart sank.

I’d nightmares of his teeth being knocked back into his gums (which was what happened to my friend’s child previously) but all his teeth were fine and his gums weren’t bleeding. Where on earth was all the blood coming from? Hubs gingerly peeled back Bubs’s upper lip and I nearly fainted, not from the blood that was trickling out but from the little torn line that connects the lip to his gum.

Hubs consoled Bubs and I ran to get a wet cloth wrapped around ice cubes to staunch the bleeding and we were debating rushing to the ER. The bleeding was slowing down and Bubs was distracted by playing with my mobile phone. I kept telling Hubs doesn’t every body part play an important function and if that little line is torn, what if means that he’ll never speak again! We looked at Bubs who was now occupied scrolling through my phone.

Hubs: “Say banana”

Bubs: “Ah-na-na”

Hubs: ”Say strawberry”

Bubs: ”Ah-po-chi”

Hubs asked what was that little line called so we could at least call the hospital to check if it’s serious. I was stumped and typed in “little line in upper lip” into Google.

Thank you, Google! I didn’t dare look at all the pictures of torn lip frenulum  which was super gross and  asked Hubs to look at the pictures to make sure that it was the correct thing.

I called both the ER and an ENT surgeon to ask if a torn lip frenulum was anything serious and was told as long as the bleeding stopped, it would be fine and if we were still concerned, we could bring him in anyway.

Still unconvinced, we played Dr. Google and checked online. *blushes* It turns out that it’s really common in children, especially toddlers learning to walk and tripping and once the bleeding stops, it’s okay.

As for Bubs?

The next morning, I asked him, “where does it hurt?”

He looked puzzled, then pointed to the mossie bite on his leg.

All's well, ends well!

More Graffiti and Walks

The graffiti artists have become more and more sneaky. You can hear them conferring in hushed whispers but you never really catch them in the act. You can tell when they have struck again by periodically checking their favourite sketching places.

This gives under table acts a whole new meaning. 

One graffiti artist turned himself in by excitedly repeating "eh-mo!" over and over again while pointing under his chair.

The best way to deter graffiti is to bring the younger artist on walks, preferably very long ones. He gets all excited at the prospect of walks and shouts "walk walk! shu! (shoe)".

We spotted piles of discarded trimmed tree branches. I was sorely tempted to drag a few back for an arts and craft session but gave up the idea because there were ants on some of them.

I'd to snap off a "steeck" for Bubs who demanded one. He likes to hit the ground as he walks.

And then he insisted on helping Hubs wash his car, dipping his hands into the bucket full of suds, sometimes slapping the bubbles onto the car, sometimes smacking the bubbles onto his chest (he probably thought it was bath time), trying to pick up the hose to water the car but ended up hosing himself instead. As they say, the more hands, the merrier :)

The Gremlin Strikes Again

Le Petite's a mum-to-be and the other day, her mum thought she was going to the Botanical Garden then immediately cautioned her not to look at monkeys. We were all mystified why couldn't she look at monkeys until she explained that it's a pantang for pregnant women to avoid looking at monkeys lest your baby ends up resembling one!

I thought hard about it ...............

Hubs must have watched gremlin movies while I was pregnant, LOL

Look out gremlin like Bubs is:

Out of nowhere, he'd run and hop onto the windows, holding onto the bars, rattling them. Natural born gremlin instinct, me thinks.

Once when he was unbelievably quiet for a few good minutes, I saw a gremlin run out with oven mitt clad hands. What astounded me was how he even got them on both hands without any help.

And where the gremlin goes, he leaves behind a path of mess and destruction. Often, poor Elmo is the victim of his misdeeds.

Remind me the next time I'm pregnant, to avoid watching any gremlins at work.

My Cousin's Big & Colourful Indian Wedding

My cousin J got married in a lavish Indian ceremony at a temple and it was a feast for the senses, incredibly bright and colourful, festive music playing, the scent of incense burning and the solemness of all the rituals. The earlier part of the ceremony was done separately with the bride and the groom going through the rituals separately.

My cousin J looking so pretty and radiant in her wedding saree. Look at how elaborate her hair is with all the tiny jasmine buds and jeweled accessories. She even had her ears pierced for the wedding!

Her handsome husband K with a flower garland around his neck.

It was a photography nut's dream come true ... I couldn't help myself exploring the temple (and hopefully didn't get in the way of anyone or offend anyone) taking so many colours. I spotted a pair of tourists at the temple who were also fascinated with the wedding.

Most of the guests were decked out in gorgeous sarees and dresses of all colours. Even the little ones looked festive.

My aunts also got into the spirit by dressing up.

 Unfortunately Bubs threw a tantrum so we had to leave early. Congrats again to the happy couple! :)