This week we welcomed the new microwave.

There's a back story here. Last year I scorned the idea of needing a microwave. This year, after many months in rented accommodation that DID have a microwave, I decided it would be useful to acquire one...

When we got home, we discovered we could get one for free with our credit card points. Except they won't deliver while the Movement Control Order is still in force... Which means they'll probably never deliver, because can you imagine this thing EVER finishing...?

Typical bank. They give with one hand. They take away with the other.

Anyway, we decided we'd go ahead and get the damn microwave anyway. The day we had the power cut gave us the ideal excuse to hang out in a mall for a while, and return with a handy new kitchen accessory.


We have already established that it will very efficiently warm up the leftovers from Saturday-night delivered meals, and make mug-bread.

In terms of external food, we have noticed, as we continue to pace the familiar streets, a few more (presumably covid-induced) absences. Nuromen seems to have closed its doors. (POSTSCRIPT 28 September: Nuromen was serving again today, so it was maybe just a temporary interruption.) And the man who does the awesome pork leg noodles has not been visible.

But there are a couple of new kids on the Jalan Padungan block, and we tried out one of them this week. Really good. We'll be back for more:



Not at all far from our pad there's a Spanish restaurant called La Boca Ria. They do a REALLY nice cafe con leche, which took me straight back to that wonderful, wonderful trip we went on before the world all fell to pieces... And the menu looks very tempting, so we'll return one day to eat.



While you're at the mall, avoiding the power cut and putting off weighing yourself down with a microwave, you can lunch at Pho Master. The only problem is that their yummy roast pork banh mi -- a real institution in Viet Nam -- just makes you want to fly straight off to Saigon.

Which, as we all know, you can't...


It feels like a gazillion years since I had an affogato. Well, on Saturday, I put that omission right:


In case you're wondering what's happened to the low-carbing, well, we're still doing it 95% of the time. I'm still making low-carb pancakes and buns and muffins. And now we have the microwave, I can get back into the low-carb pizza business. The breakfast we eat out on the balcony most days is totally correct. And we continue to consume vegetables by the truckload.

But it's pointless being here if you don't make the most of the local food. So we do that as often as is sensible.