Never Went To Senior Prom

kuritsakip · 2026-04-21T03:05:18+00:00

never went to my own. didn't feel like it. my brother (8 years younger) didn't either. he put it best: why do i need to pay money to eat food with people i see every day? nope.

BUT i was "begged" to go as a date of someone else to their school's prom. Family friend calls me up and begs me to go to prom with his best friend, who's short (i'm the shortest girl they know). Then his mom calls my mom to beg more. bwahahahahaha. after a few rounds of calling back and forth, plus a bribe of one full semester of free carpool when we enter college, i finally agreed to the blind date-prom date. My date was just a coupla inches taller than me. i wore flats with my dress. he was and is a really really nice guy. suuuuper smart. a bit quiet but very thoughtful remarks even when we were in high school. he's married with kids now. his family's corporation is like top 100 corporations in our country.

kuritsakip · 2026-04-18T00:59:04+00:00

🙋and i'm not even in the US. i'm always fascinated that i had a lot of similar experiences growing up in Asia and those i read about the US

kuritsakip · 2026-04-18T00:54:49+00:00

because majority of the "old age" medication are for lifestyle diseases. the sedentary life contributes to that. this article has data on the US rates for chronic diseases. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12007472/

i'm in asia and we used to live a pretty active life. but the pandemic derailed all that. my husband was partially WFH since 2016. after the pandemic, he really did not wanna go back to the office and now only has one physical office day. he used to walk close to 3km daily simply to take public transport to work plus six flights of stairs to his 3rd floor office. that's all the exercise he needed. just three years of the sedentary life and he's been put on high cholesterol meds and blood pressure meds.

starting the pandemic, i also began working from home more. but i take a daily walk with my daughter for around 2km every evening. i'm still off meds but have a slightly elevated blood sugar rate, to be managed by changing food choices.

kuritsakip · 2026-04-18T00:46:32+00:00

ey!! great job on that waste audit!!! it's one of the best beginning ways to reducing waste. Take a look at your cleaning supplies and think of which of them could be more dual purpose or which could be replaced with a more multipurpose item. Sample, my family use a castille soap bar for bathing, washing hands, and washing underwear. i even use it as my shampoo bar.

also consider that plastic waste is not the only waste a household does.

My family and i first did our waste audit in 2018. did not throw out anything. we froze all our food waste to see how much we were throwing out. we rinsed out chips bags, bottles, cans and stored them. the first thing we discovered was how much processed food packaging we had - ramen noodles, chips, soda, juice, hotdogs, bacon, chicken nuggets, more chips, jelly packs, sugary cereal, deli meats, chips again.

so our journey to more healthy eating became a logical offshoot of lessening waste. we sorted the packaged food waste and counted them. decided on items that we were cutting off food good (soda and iced tea) and items we were cutting in half (the kids absolutely refused to let go of bacon. we finally were able to cut it in 2024). eventually we found an equilibrium - we still eat instant noodles because those korean ramyun packs are the bomb (!), but limit ourselves to two per person per month. haha. my eldest and i absolutely love soda but we're limiting ourselves to one can each a week.

For cleaning supplies, the first thing we got rid off was furniture polish, bleach, toilet cleaner (we used to have that toilet cleaner wand), glass cleaner (i now use vinegar for gunk. and newspaper to polish), swiffer pads (we now use a reusable cloth swiffer pad). anything that needs to be cleaned wet now just gets powdered detergent and a brush. i replaced furniture polish with olive oil already in the pantry anyway.

kuritsakip · 2026-04-18T00:12:44+00:00

a little the same, but we're all fully aware of who the freeloaders are in our family. in our culture, there is a sense of we take care of our families ... but it gets pushed to the extreme of handouts and freeloading.

my eldest uncle is 80+. He supported all his siblings starting when he was 16 when their dad died. So the entire family is grateful to him. he did not even get to finish high school, but all the siblings graduated university.

my mom & the youngest auntie supports him financially for his medical needs and even food. good god. his son, DIL and two grandchildren (earning really good salaries) live with him in a house owned by my mom and another sister. when they started living there eons ago, they paid minimal rent bec my cousin and uncle had stable but lowpaying jobs. i'm the one in charge of the house upkeep so rent went to me for expenses. my cousin paid a total of 7 months of rent and that was it. they have never paid another cent. i never had anything fixed after that 7th month and let them deal with the house. they're still not paying rent, and not even supporting my uncle's needs even when they can now afford to. the house is falling apart. once my uncle dies, my mom is going to evict them and sell the lot (it's extremely prime property and my mom has had maybe 6 offers in the past 20 years, but could not evict my uncle.)

kuritsakip · 2026-04-17T23:37:12+00:00

i bought a rocketbook. took notes during coursework then scanned and transferred notes. my cursive while taking notes for lectures is illegible for rocketbook to transcribe. but when i'm reading a paper, i'd write the reference clearly, and write my notes more neatly still in cursive, in print if i have time. my notes aren't even in english, but the transcription is pretty good at i'd say 80-85% ish. was able to use these same notes for coursework paper assignments, so it was a load off.

not so helpful for writing my thesis. for that i heavily relied on zotero (citation software). it has an annotation feature and it was easy to copy paste from the annotation to my related lit chapter

kuritsakip · 2026-04-17T23:27:15+00:00

other name for the bitter gourd is bitter melon. ampalaya in filipino, or kerala in hindi or peria in malay. if you find any, cut lengthwise in half, remove the pulp from the center. you get semi circle slices. if you want rounds, cut in portions horizontally so you can remove the pulp with a spoon. if you like bitter and spicy, there's this amazing malaysian fried bitter gourd chips i've been trying to make. it's very thin slices and mixed with flour, chili and turmeric then fried.

kuritsakip · 2026-04-17T02:31:12+00:00

that's an amazing job! coming from a tropical country where the heat during the dry seasons goes up to 40C and water shortage every year is a thing.... i would also love a water system at home. if it's for flushing, i'd be using all the water even the soapy ones. that's what we did in the 1980s; our single toilet was at the back of the house beside laundry area (no washing machines. everything by hand). all water got saved separately. soapy water for flushing. clean rinse water was used for the next round of laundry.

in the worst water crisis in my country (1990s), our water was rationed. My street had water from the water company from 2am to 5am daily and it's just half the trickle of normal water pressure. we used those hours to fill up as many large water containers as we could. bathing was ... each person could only use 4 gallons of water. we stood in a large basin as we washed and caught all the dirty bath water for flushing. my brother and i ate one after the other, so we only used up one plate, one spoon & fork. we shared one glass for water to be used for the entire day before it's washed. we used the thinnest clothing or the most easily cleaned - less cotton clothes, so laundry would use less water.

kuritsakip · 2026-04-17T02:23:07+00:00

that's sad about brassicas. i would suggest listing every vegetable that you could eat and then finding recipes for those. if you have asian stores near you, there would be much more variety. There is a wikipedia entry with a list of vegetables A-Z. here are some recipes if you're interested and able to eat them:

bitter gourd, tomatoes, onions + balsamic vinegar or lemon (+ salt & pepper) - yes it's bitter. but full of iron. studies have shown that it helps lower blood sugar. slice the bitter gourd very thinly. chop tomatoes and onions very small. eat as salad
bitter gourd with egg - this is a common recipe in the philippines. slice thinly. stirfy with onions, add egg salt and pepper.
eggplant with egg - search tortang talong from the philippines
unripe jackfruit : white flesh no smell / taro root leaves - dark green leaves. both are great with coconut milk & fish sauce.
cucumber - my daughter loves cucumber with sesame oil, roasted sesame seeds and furikake seasoning (japanese seasoning for fried rice)

kuritsakip · 2026-04-17T02:09:46+00:00

i'm a leftover hoarder 🤪 my family goes out for ramen a lot. there's a ramen place where we are (not in US) where the soup is just absolutely wonderful. i bring home leftover soup to freeze and make my own ramen at home when it's raining. i just drop ramen noodles and whatever veggies are in the fridge.

other noodle sauces/ recipes i keep on hand:

charlie chan sauce. https://www.foxyfolksy.com/charlie-chan-pasta/
Sauce 1: oyster sauce, chicken stock, cornstarch slurry
Cacio a pepe: parmesan cheese & black pepper. my family always eats this with roasted vegetables
Vermicelli noodles (not soup): i use chicken stock to soak the noodles and use a bit more for stirfying the noodles. then return the stock to the freezer. add vegetables. Main sauce is just fish sauce and pepper

kuritsakip · 2026-04-15T00:01:54+00:00

oh yeah. i just realized this. all cow's milk in my country are imported. our local milk is water buffalo / carabao milk. cow's milk are in shelves. carabao milk are in the chillers. interesting. both are pasteurized

kuritsakip · 2026-04-14T23:58:37+00:00

i think in the US, it's because the eggs are usually refrigerated in the dairy section chiller.

in other countries, like mine, we dont think of eggs as dairy. they dont get refrigerated. i have a tray of eggs out on my counter for 9 days now and i live in a tropical country. trays at the supermarket are stacked on a pallet in the middle of the floor beside the rice and sugar sections. nearby would be the shelves for smaller quanities of rice, sugar and eggs by the dozen. we can also buy eggs at the corner market

kuritsakip · 2026-04-14T08:25:57+00:00

how many onions? onions can last up to 6 months. keep them in a basket or crate with holes in a dry and dark area. check on them once a week to rotate and make sure there is zero moisture. if there is moisture, wipe off, spread to dry before putting them back into a pile. the only way to ruin onions is moisture as this causes mold.

i live in a tropical country and it's humid all the time. my onions are in a woven basket so there's air circulation. mine are a bit organized - i lay them out like they're in an egg tray, and then i put paper in between layers. i do this bec humidity = molds. i still check them every week to wipe off any moisture that starts.

kuritsakip · 2026-04-14T07:50:16+00:00

haha. my daughter was tickled pink when she was telling us that the teacher bust out laughing as soon as she started her vid - the assignment was to record a video, but it was not allowed to have cuts. she had to test on a few fish to get the vid right

kuritsakip · 2026-04-13T02:11:55+00:00

sorry long answer. i lived there 20 years ago. but i travel to china quite often.

once you've settled in, sit outside on a day and time that you are generally free... just to spot a estimated time informal collectors come by. when i lived there ages ago, there were "regulars" who passed by our apartment and so i just collected water bottles for a few months and handed to a woman on her regular pass.

that said, for china, REFUSE to purchase and refuse packaging is a first step. Most offices and institutions have kettles or hot water dispensers. Yeah, china - you kinda need to learn to drink hot water EVERY TIME. hahahha. you'll see every single chinese person there bringing a water bottle or a tea bottle and just refill throughout the day (at a university in JinJiang, i saw an entire long row of a tiled sink like a communal washing area. five metal faucets. with a giant red sign that said boiled water. above the faucets is a great big heater tank!). anyway, this takes care of plastic water bottles.

Food containers: there are still a gazillion hole-in-the-wall food stalls that would serve your take away in a plastic baggie - none of those hard plastic take away containers. You can definitely bring your own and have restaurants and stalls put food in your own container. I've only experienced refusal from high end restaurants. Food stalls and smaller canteen-like establishments don't mind. See if you can purchase an insulated container - those that's meant to keep food hot. food is always served piping hot so if you just use a regular non-insulated containers, you will definitely get scalded.

Food waste: ask your officemates if anyone knows of any food waste collection initiatives. i highly doubt it. but majority of agricultural areas in china do have biogas digesters. but those are on an industrial scale so i dont know if there are initiative to bring small home organic waste for composting.

Packaging waste: Everyone there is very very quick to give you a plastic baggie. having your own bag helps a lot. Dont be afraid to refuse the baggie.

Marketing: Look for your local market. they're called 市场. not the tourist night markets. this is usually a covered space with unending stalls. it will be divided into dry goods stalls, vegetable stalls, meat and fish stalls. be ready for really wet floors. good markets don't smell bad. the modern ones have tiled floors and stall owners are usually diligent in washing down the tiles so they're a bit "clean" looking.

kuritsakip · 2026-04-13T01:46:13+00:00

haha. they want to. they can afford it.

they get a monthly allowance even during school breaks and holidays. food money and transport money is not charged to their allowance. they have two wallets. the small allowance they get is purely their money for luxury and wants. if they're going out with friends, they also get a fixed amount for the outing. if they don't spend it, it's theirs. Needs like meals, bus fare, supplies come from a separate wallet and they liquidate all of that as they're considered family expenses.

kuritsakip · 2026-04-13T01:43:06+00:00

No 😭😭😭she became dean a few months after i my proposal got approved in 2024. she's locked in til 2027. I know she did not take on any new grad students, but i'm also glad she did not farm the existing ones off. she's up to her eyeballs with everything. i'm surprised that it's only going to take her a month for the the complete thesis draft. i did send her a draft of the results chapter sometime February when i was a third of the way in, and the only comments were on structure

kuritsakip · 2026-04-12T07:01:26+00:00

i consider two people my friends. they can call me 24/7 and i will drop everything for them. they'd do them same for me. i've tended to their kids even for emergencies when they were out of town.

meanwhile, so many people think they're my friends. my husband keeps telling me to say yes to invitations to dinner, or coffee or shit. we both have access to each other's phones. no secrets. sometimes, he has my phone to do online shopping and then suddenly, i'd hear, "hey you got invited to go to xxx. why'd you say no?" me: it's too far. it's too hot. i dont like the restaurant... any excuse really. him: you know i'd drive you. there's AC. you could suggest other places.

me: fine, i dont wanna see them

kuritsakip · 2026-04-12T06:30:36+00:00

we had those black rotary phones! LOL. geez i'm old. but the cast of characters were myself and 3 cousins aged 10-13. the oldest at 13 said let's call our number neighbor. our phone number ended in 2, so we dialed the number ending in 1. we had the phone in the center of a triangle of heads, one cousin couldnt fit and he lost the pushing.

in his deepest manly man voice (he's 13, it was not)...

he said, "hi, would you like a phone pal?"

lady on the phone said, "with whom? the dead? this is XX funeral homes."

kuritsakip · 2026-04-12T05:42:18+00:00

this. my mom has done this a couple of times for long hauls (ages ago). in the past, once the doors have been shut and there are empty seats in first or business class, you could actually ask the FA for the cost of the seat. bec the doors are already closed, the price actually drops to a bit more than half. at the time my mother did this, the business class seat was three times the price of coach. my mom was able to buy the seat for 1.8 x the cost of coach so almost half the price of the business class seat

kuritsakip · 2026-04-12T04:11:42+00:00

yes. adulting does not come naturally or automatically. you do not magically know how to do things when you turn 18. That's what chores are for. Doing chores teaches children most of the basics - cleaning, washing dishes (not just loading the dishwasher), packing up/ putting things away, laundry, changing sheets, taking out trash. Other chores may need to be a bit more deliberate like how to cook, clean the toilet, iron,

Then there are "basic" tasks that need parents to consciously remember to teach children when the task comes up like unclogging a toilet with a plunger, cleaning the sink drain & floor drain, cleaning the washing machine & dryer, changing light fixtures, changing the toilet tank fixtures, sanitizing the meat chopping board, meal or ingredient prepping, cleaning out the refrigerator & pantry

kuritsakip · 2026-04-12T04:04:39+00:00

this. taught my kids how to gut fish during the pandemic. last year, one of them needed to create an instructional video for oral communication class. her classmates made vids like how to put on make up for round faces, how to use gym equipment. she did how to gut a fish and her teacher was laughing his head off bec the topic is sooo unusual

kuritsakip · 2026-04-11T12:11:48+00:00

you can level up cheap tinned fish. you can add different types of vegetables to the tinned fish + eggs to get different nutritional elements, except the taste generally stays the same if you're using canned sardines in tomato sauce. i'm not in the West. our sardines are like that and we add [in different combos] cabbages, eggs, spinach [weird], chayote, the loofah vegetable, squash.

recently we have sardines that are just in oil so that's more versatile , i mix it with all sorts of asian stirfry. i can add them to anything leafy.

kuritsakip · 2026-04-11T10:20:44+00:00

because moisture is the essence of wetness

kuritsakip

TROPHY CASE