Since yesterday evening, I started feeling a dull kind of soreness around my lower back and hips. I’ve eased up my exercise routine quite a bit since the transfer. The clinic suggested I forgo any rigorous exercise up until the day of my beta-HCG test. Since that day, I’ve mostly stuck with brisk walking on “hills” on the treadmill, elliptical for cardio, light yoga (no twisting or anything that could cause me to fall, they said), plus arm and leg exercises. So I knew that any soreness was not due to working out.

I experienced twinges last Monday, the day of the transfer, and a little of it the day after. The soreness I am experiencing now is often thought to be one of many pregnancy symptoms. But I don’t even know whether I should trust my body and any symptoms I believe I may or may not be experiencing. It could all just be psychosomatic. Maybe if I want to “feel” pregnant, my body will just make up the symptoms and tell my head to believe them. I’m at a point now where I can no longer trust my body to do anything on its own in the realm of reproductivity and just have to go by the actual facts… which leads to the HCG test tomorrow.

Who would have ever thought that nine days could go by so freaking slowly. It’s truly the worst wait.

Today, Chris planned yet another surprise food crawl for us, and this time it was to explore the area that is Spanish Harlem. And we had a surprise guest come with us, too: my friend who has been staying with us. She thought about spending the day preparing to move into her new place, but she realized she really wanted to take advantage of the weekend and “just have fun,” so she came with us. We went to a number of delicious spots, but for me, the biggest highlights were the Tres Leches Cafe and Lupita’s Restaurant. Tres Leches Cafe literally has just two items of various flavors on their menu: tres leches (or “three milk”) cakes or flan. And the flavors could not have been more mouth watering: cuatro leches (“four milk”), guava, passion fruit — HEAVEN! We had the guava since Chris was craving guava, and it was just lick your plate good — super milky, creamy, and indulgent. Chris noted how much I liked it because I went quiet while eating it. Some food needs no words. Lupita’s Restaurant nearby was also notable for both the dishes we shared: the birria tacos (beef) and also the sopa verde res (green beef soup). Ever since I had this incredible meat and vegetable soup in Puebla back in 2010, I realized how under-appreciated and unknown Mexican cuisine is for their soups. This soup was reminiscent of that richly flavored soup at that food stall back in Puebla — layered with flavors of many vegetables, meat, and with a nice kick that lingers.

This was definitely a good eating day. But it was also nice to have my friend come join us because I know that outings like this are not normal or even remotely typical for her, as her former partner would never be interested in a neighborhood exploration or a food crawl at all. We gave her a new experience today of a neighborhood she never goes to.

It’s been said that you aren’t supposed to lift or carry anything too heavy while you are pregnant. So I tried my best to exercise some self control when walking around Woodside, Jackson Heights, and Elmhurst today, picking up different Thai, Chinese, Colombian, and Indian ingredients and takeout while also not toppling over. It’s okay, though: I came prepared with my backpack in tow, and while I had an unplanned walk to Elmhurst since 3 Aunties Market in Woodside did not have makrut lime leaves (the main Chinese market in Elmhurst always has them), it actually helped me discover a new takeout dim sum spot called Rainbow Dim Sum that ended up being quite good. Not only did they have a fully digital menu, but many of the dim sum dishes, such as fresh rice noodle rolls stuffed with meat, are actually made to order. So I got a few dishes from here, stopped by Lamoon to revisit their delicious and fiery Northern Thai cooking, and also picked up some Thai groceries and ready-made food, including these delicious grilled pork skewers with sticky rice, pandan and coconut jelly cubes… and the biggest surprise of my visit to 3 Aunties — DURIAN ICE CREAM, HOUSE MADE! I couldn’t believe my eyes: they had coconut ice cream, which seems quite standard at most Asian markets, but DURIAN? UMMMM, GIMME! So I got a pint and went on my merry way.

Given it was house made, I knew it had to be promising. Plus, the first ingredient listed was durian, which made me realize that it would be packed with blended durian and likely durian chunks since when an ingredient is listed first, it’s usually because it has the most of that in the item. And the durian ice cream lived up to its hype: it was super creamy, very rich in durian flavor, and the chunks of durian were deeeeee-licious. And it was such a bargain at only $5.99 for a pint! I couldn’t have been happier today.

If there is one thing that my friend who is staying with us is, she’s extremely affectionate. She never hesitates to express her appreciation for you as a friend or a person in her life. She’s eager to hug, kiss, pick you up, nuzzle you, do anything to show she adores you. It’s one of the biggest reasons I love and appreciate her so much. She always expresses how thankful she is for the tiniest things you do for her, even if you just gave her a sticker that reminded you of her that you got for free at work. She’s the last person in the world I know who would take anyone for granted.

I’ve been cooking for all of us since she’s been staying with us for the last week, and while I don’t think I’ve made anything particularly out of the ordinary or laborious for me, she’s clearly been loving all of it. Every time I cook, she expresses how tasty things are and lets me know what she especially likes or finds addictive. She obsessed over the simple pea shoot stir fry I made. Even the crispy scallions that I made for the mushroom scallion oil noodles was something she marveled and went nuts over. It always feels nice to see how much people relish my cooking. I’m actually going to miss cooking for her and seeing her reactions once she eventually finds her own place. I really don’t mind her staying with us. If anything, I really enjoy the extra company and socializing. It’s been over a year of being locked down in this apartment, so it’s nice to have someone else around regularly here.

After two days of warmth and sun, the city decided to not be so nice to us and give us overcast, fog, and rain today. That was okay by me since I was mostly planning to do vegetable prep and cooking, but my friend had to go back to her apartment and collect some items, plus talk with her estranged boyfriend. I knew it would be sad. And it was confirmed when she came back and looked like she had multiple mosquito bites all over both of her eyes.

They were finally able to talk through things calmly, and he admitted that he didn’t always see things from her perspective and definitely could have expressed appreciation for her more. But the sad thing is… it’s kind of too late. It is always unfortunate when it takes extreme measures for someone to finally listen to the other person. They’re officially on a break, but from my opinion, if she chooses to get back with him, she’s just caving in once again. He had better be kissing her feet and literally treating her to every possible thing on earth she wants if they get back together.

We went exploring another neighborhood during our Saturday food crawl today. This time, we were exploring Murray Hill and Flushing. Murray Hill/Flushing has a pretty sizable Korean area or Koreatown that tends to get forgotten because of the Main Street Flushing Chinatown area being so compact and massive. The biggest issue with the Korean area, if you are traveling on foot, is that it’s quite spread out, kind of like the way it is in Koreatown in Los Angeles. It’s almost like there’s an expectation you are coming with a car. Chris found a really delicious Korean barbecue spot that we started our semblance of a crawl (it wasn’t a true crawl; starting at a Korean BBQ place already means you will have TOO MUCH FOOD!), and at this spot, I couldn’t believe how generous they were. The banchan variety was quite eclectic, plus they gave us not just the delicious Korean steamed egg custard I love, but also a mini tofu soup that was super flavorful and toothsome. Maybe it was because of COVID, but they didn’t let us cook our own food, and instead one of the workers grilled all our meat for us. Of course, we didn’t finish, so we had a little doggy back to bring back with us.

On our way to the BBQ spot, we noticed Croffle House, which makes a hybrid of a croissant and waffle, which is becoming very popular. Despite a waffle + croissant mash up sounds quite rich, this place somehow managed to make it quite light and airy. It wasn’t too sweet, either, with the cream just subtly sweet with some fruit on top. I probably could have eaten two of them on my own.

We probably need to spend more time exploring and eating in this area. It just felt so much more homely and quaint in this Korean area, not to mention the portions were huge and the banchan variety crazy. These are the benefits of eating Korean food outside of Manhattan, in areas like Queens and New Jersey.

It was super warm today, a real 80 F day in New York City, so we knew we wanted to dine outside today. We decided to go to Sushi Nonaka, a Japanese restaurant that opened right before the pandemic began on the Upper West Side. They offer two types of omakase menus and also outdoor garden dining, which I thought would be good given COVID-19 still penetrating our lives.

While it was a bit windy, it felt soooo nice to finally eat sushi and hand rolls again, to have a tasting menu after over a year. The time almost went too quickly because instead of serving one piece at a time, the restaurant decided to group three pieces at a time. If I had no self control, and if they offered a la carte pieces, I could have easily eaten 10-15 more pieces of handrolls and raw fish. But, no, we exercised some self control and declined to order more (that also helped the wallet). But we did get the hoji-cha panna cotta, which was an incredible end to what felt like a real dining experience — the first real dining experience out since before the pandemic. It’s so crazy that over a year has passed since this all began.

Tonight for dinner, I made lime leaf sambal broiled salmon, roasted broccoli, heirloom carrots, and quinoa for the three of us. My friend supplied the broccoli; she’s offered to be our FreshDirect while she stays with us, which I’m happy to take advantage of. We sat in our lounge room and ate together, and while eating and relishing the food, she said that it suddenly dawned on her that she couldn’t remember the last time anyone had made her food before yesterday when she came over (aside from ordering at a restaurant, obviously).

“Was the last time someone made me food…. you? It was probably you!!” she exclaimed. She paused between bites. “It feels nice to be taken care of.”

I patted her back and glanced back at her contemplatively. She’s right. It is nice to feel like someone is taking care of you, whether that person is doing your laundry, getting your groceries, making you dinner, or doing all the repairs around the house that you hate doing. And it’s really sad when it feels like no one, even your own partner, has done anything even remotely to take care of you at all, and you’re the one who has done every imaginable form of “taking care of” him.

I discovered the joys of what a lamington were quite late. Chris had waxed on and on and on about how delicious these fluffy blocks of vanilla sponge cake, coated in chocolate and rolled in dried coconut flakes were. The best ones, he explained, are filled with a nice jam, usually raspberry, and some are even filled with jam AND cream. You could get basic ones from Cole’s or another grocery store, but the best ones always came from local bakeries in Australia.

Unfortunately, the very first one I had was at a Pie Face in Melbourne. It was not filled with anything. It just seemed like a big slice of vanilla cake coated in chocolate and coconut, which really was not that exciting to me. It was just vanilla sponge inside – what’s the big deal? I didn’t get the hype and immediately wrote the experience off.

But then, Chris discovered Bushwick Hot Bread, owned by an Aussie chef who works at Eleven Madison Park. Given the pandemic, she’s out of work, so she’s started a side hustle preparing Aussie treats and delivering them on Sundays. He ordered her lamingtons, and it was love at first bite: it was super moist, almost to the point where it felt like it was SOAKED in liquid, and the jam on the inside was fruity and delicious. I loved everything about it. We have since ordered many more, in addition to her other baked goods, as well, and none have disappointed.

Then, I noticed while at Super Moon Bakehouse this past Friday that they had their own rendition of a lamington that was filled with jam AND cream, double the size of Bushwick Hot Bread’s. So I bought one and brought it home to compare side by side. The vanilla sponge was good, but nowhere as moist as Bushwick’s. And the cream layer was almost triple the amount of the jam to the point where it overpowered the jam! In many bites, I could not even taste the jam. One glance at the innards after I cut into it, and the Australian in Chris went nuts. “No, I can tell it’s not as good because the ratio of cream to jam is completely off!” he exclaimed.

We all have strong opinions on something, and when it comes to Aussie treats, Chris lets it all out. Bushwick Hot Bread won easily.