This was a link from Mark Ford, a writer, author, expert in investing, etc. that I like to follow. And after watching this, I also started following Dr. Chatterjee who does weekly podcasts. One of them was a very short one about doing what you love. I am going out to weed in the garden now – because I love that.

May you have a prosperous, healthy, and happy new year in this wonderful lunar year of the DRAGON!

(Aunty is a Dragon, rooooaaaarrrr!)

Sometimes Costco has pretty good packaged foods. Sometimes it just isn’t to my taste so I don’t like it but this time, it was really not good at all.

It was on sale. Regular $13.99. Now $9.99 with $4 off! Cannot go wrong – 2 servings, only $5 each and super easy to make. Put the dried noodles in a sauce pan, pour sauce over and heat until hot (about 8 – 10 minutes) on stove top. Super easy!

Super easy, but also super junk! Especially if you like Pad Thai. Maybe if you didn’t know what Pad Thai is supposed to taste like, you might think the mushy kinda tomato sauce with bell peppers (I don’t like bell peppers) was okay. But if you know how good Pad Thai can be when it is stir fried with fresh ingredients and served hot and aromatic and each bite is heavenly, then you will definitely NOT like this fake Pad Thai.

Just wanted to send out a warning. I was sucked in by the big sale price. Buyer beware!

I couldn’t go on the keto diet because I love my rice. One of my favorite meals consists of frying up some Portuguese sausages and eating it with hot white rice and some tsukemono on the side.

Since I now live alone, I just make one cup of rice in my Tiger rice cooker. I usually eat half of that and leave the rice in the pot on warm. If I take too long to eat it, it gets hard and crusty on the edges and mushy inside. Yuck. It gets thrown away – which is such a waste.

So my son (I wonder if I can call him my Portuguese son since he now lives in Portugal?) taught me a rice saver tip. I put the remaining half cup of cooked rice in a sandwich size ziploc bag, roll it up, and put it in the freezer. When I am ready to eat a meal with rice, I remove the rolled rice from the bag, zap it on a plate in the microwave for a minute – and I have perfectly cooked rice that is almost as good as when it was first cooked. As a matter of fact, because it is so convenient, I now make 2 cups of rice, eat my 1/2 cup, and put the remaining rice in 3 separate ziplock bags with date. SO much easier than starting from scratch.

Rice Snob

I am also a rice snob. I only buy short grain rice from the Rice Factory where they mill my order on the day that I place my order. I am signed up with my phone number and get points that accrue for discounts. Love it!

I recently discovered their Yumepirika crop which is longer than their short grain and super delicious. Sometimes short grain rice is too short so this new crop is perfect for me and I am addicted.

And here is a tip: If you call in your order or order online, you get DOUBLE the points for your order!!! Woohoo!

I thought this was so cute. Wouldn’t mind if I got the wrong order here. I tried to embed from an instagram post but didn’t know how so instead, here is one by Neal Foard on YouTube. And he tells a great story.

A few months ago I saw a coupon in those envelopes that Valpak sends to potential victims. I always save the Gyotaku restaurant coupon and there was one for Sam’s Club membership at 40% off. So I joined. (Side note: the latest Valpak deal from Sam’s Club was 50% off!)

I actually like Sam’s Club even though the parking is a bit gloomy and unfriendly. Their spring mix salad is better than Costco’s – no bitterness and it stays fresh longer. Their grapes are quite nice and the greeter at the front entrance always has a welcoming aura – like she already knows and remembers me.

The one disappointment is their chocolate – Members Mark. I tried their dark chocolate sea salt caramel because it looked and sounded awesome but – was junk.

Then, a few weeks ago, the cashier (I always go to a cashier rather than the machines) asked me if I wanted to upgrade to a Plus membership level for $27 and get an instant $20 discount on my purchases that day. Such a deal, right? So I said “Shoots!” and got upgraded. I was to go to Pharmacy to get a free gift (some samples and a bottle of water) and get my new Plus card at the membership desk.

Plenny Titas everywhere

So while waiting in the membership/return line, I had plenty of titas around me and listening to them talk was good fun. Dis buggah and dat buggah and what he wen do and how he wen do it, and no worries cuz he going get buss up if he acts up some more. The membership lady was also a tita and she took my old blue Sam’s card and swapped it out for the black card very quickly and told me about shopping online and getting free shipping, etc. And then she said that stuff like toilet paper, paper towels, etc. are cheaper online.

Really? Free shipping and cheaper? So, I went down the aisle, found the toilet paper (Member’s Mark) and the price was $31.78 for 45 rolls, 235 sheets per roll. I have tried the Member’s Mark toilet paper before and I liked it. I prefer it to Charmin because it does the job better with more “grip”, if you know what I mean. Charmin is too soft and cushioney so maybe it would be good for the face. Ah, but I digress. I made a note about how much the toilet paper cost in the store.

I went home to check SamsClub.com on my computer and the price for the Member’s Mark toilet paper was $22.98. Whoa! Almost $9 cheaper and free delivery! Boom! I placed the order in the online cart, and had it shipped to my sister in Moanalua because she goes through toilet paper like crazy. Free shipping!

How much are the paper towels online? Bounty’s 12 rolls are $23.48 and Member’s Mark 15 rolls are $19.98. I think that’s cheap but I didn’t need any because I had just bought the Kirkland paper towels for $26.49 at Costco and that will last me for a long time.

Savers

And that’s the news for now. Oh – and one more thing. I went to the new Savers on King Street where Ross used to be with pal Wandaful. It was so clean and organized and we enjoyed perusing the aisles and picking up a few things that we really didn’t need but maybe we do need. If not, we donate it back. Which reminds me – if you are over 55 years old, you get a whopping 30% off everything on Tuesdays. And, if you donate anything to the friendly people outside, you will get a coupon for 20% off, any day of the week.

I really do love a good deal. I just have to figure out where it will fit in the house now.

Truth to tell, I think that I have great health and will be that way for many years to come.

However, today I fainted in my driveway while working on clearing out my garage with my daughter’s family and a friend. All was going well and the plan was to donate a bunch of stuff to ReUse Hawaii. I hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep the night before. I awoke with a slight sore throat but figured it would go away like usual. Breakfast was oatmeal and my free birthday Starbucks Iced Chai Latte. As I was standing by an awning post, I felt queasy and before I knew it, I was on the ground with a cut lip and heard someone calling my name and asking if I was alright.

That was really interesting – to have blacked out. The next thing I knew, my son-in-law is calling 911 for an ambulance. “No!” I told him – but he didn’t listen. And then lo and behold, a firetruck with sirens wailing came and a very nice fireman took my blood pressure and asked me a bunch of questions, and then after that an ambulance came with sirens wailing and released the firemen from watching an old lady sit up, vomit, and insist that she is fine.

At this point I was embarrassed so the paramedics and I went into the house for them to do diagnostics in my messy house. They were also really nice and said they liked my decor. I had a glucose blood test done as well as some other tests for heart health. My temperature was good as well as my blood pressure and I was given the option of going to the hospital – which I declined. The general concensus was that I was tired and dehydrated and I was to drink water, coconut water, and liquids slowly throughout the day, and if I fainted again, to call 9-11 once more.

I was really super tired so I sipped a bit of water and lay down to sleep. It was a luxurious sleep and I woke a few hours later covered in sweat. I must have had a low grade fever that broke while I rested. I was a bit woozy and a little bit dizzy but that soon passed. My daughter gave me a Tylenol pill for my sore muscles and now I am typing this out and getting ready for bed after I ate a delicious bowl of ochazuke with ume.

I did use an old Covid test to see if this was Covid (negative) but I really think this is the flu, or maybe food poisoning. Sore body and tired.

Throughout this ordeal, I keep thinking of my blogging friend, Kay. She has had a few bouts with vertigo and hasn’t been posting as much. It sure sucks to not have optimal health. We take our good health for granted but the older we get, the more we have to work at it.

Except for my 103 year old friend, Esther Nowell who is still going strong. Her walking is slower and she can’t hear too well, but she must be doing a lot of things right. Amazing. And she doesn’t drink stuff like Iced Chai Latte, even if it’s free.

Update, one week later:

Well, here it is – the next Saturday. I have had a week of carefully taking care of myself, drinking a lot of fluids, trying to eat healthy (i.e. less processed foods) and taking it easy. Getting up or down, especially on my bed, has me enduring bouts of dizziness – the worst was yesterday in the very early morning when I tried to get to my phone which turned out to be a wrong number. I felt weak that entire morning but by mid afternoon, I felt good and strong again. That seemed to be a pattern for me – unsteady in the morning but stronger as the day progresses.

And today, after a good night’s sleep, I feel 100% better. I did errands, worked on moving and organizing house things, and did a little cooking without any problems. Phew!

I will take this as a wake up call to be good to myself. Life is good if we avoid what is bad for us (iced Chai Latte) and do what is good for us. Amen!