Hello, I blog!
I share all my sporadic and toilet thoughts in here, because I am random like that.
Going nuts over allergies
I noticed how more and more cafés in Singapore, in their bid to “go vegan” and be more plant-based – are turning to almond as a key ingredient.
Nut allergy sufferer here, and I implore you to please stop.
The worst thing about this is how labelling allergens is not required by law here Singapore.
While some places like Privé (they even turned their ice cream vegan by using almond) and Drips Bakery Café in Tiong Bahru label their allergens, I only uncovered almond in all the bakes at a major chains like Paris Baguette when I opened my mouth and asked.
Nut allergy is serious business.
No one is going to die if they accidentally eat something non-vegan. It’s a lifestyle choice most of the time.
But nut allergy sufferers in general are already walking on eggshells navigating the food scene here. Don’t make it worse for them please. While I generally just break out in a rash (although I do not know what will happen if I accidentally ingest nuts in higher quantities, and no – I do not want to try), there are people who will die of anaphylaxis when they come into the slightest contact with nuts.
Do you want someone to drop dead in your café one day? I guess not.
So please please please for goodness sake, label your allergens. And while I have nothing against the plant-based movement, please at least have some nut-free food on your menu.
I’m going to use this post to compile all the nut allergy landmines in Singapore, and will keep adding to it to do a service to my fellow walking nut allergy time bombs. So please, watch this space.
Places that do not label their allergens:
PB by Paris Baguette + Paris Baguette: Almost everything has ground almond/almond flour.
Lady M: All their layered crepe cakes use almond as a base. Some of their regular cakes are nut-free, but please ask.
“Yi Dian Xin” by Imperial Treasure: All their dimsum items use peanut oil.
September Coffee: Occasionally, food items arrive with allergens (in my case, almond flakes) that are not mentioned in the menu.
Places that label their allergens but are not nut-allergy friendly:
Drips Bakery Cafe: Allergens are labelled but everything contains almond.
List last updated: 02/11/2022
Just saying
I hate how almost all of my recent posts are about the pandemic, and I especially hate how this pandemic has turned me into a judgmental old fart.
But I just had to put this unpopular opinion out here.
Even though there are VTLs (Vaccinated Travel Lanes) open, I do not personally think it’s right to travel overseas for non-essential purposes when we are still in a raging pandemic.
There are just too way many unknowns, with new variants springing up (Omicron and “stealth Omicron”, anyone?). And air travel is just too efficient a method of transmission since it connects two cities that can be thousands of kilometres apart in mere hours.
In rich developed countries, people be like “ooh look at me, I am vaccinated, I can finally travel again for leisure!”
Being vaccinated does not mean you are no longer a vector of transmission. It prevents severe illness but you can still transmit the virus. As long as there is human movement across vast distances, you may end up being the one bringing a new variant into the country you’re visiting, or transmit a new variant back to your home country.
Meanwhile, while the vaccinated from rich countries traipse around the world on VTLs, vaccine inequity continues and the countries with lower vaccine coverage struggle to even reopen their economies.
And we also have our foreign healthcare workers still stuck here fighting on the frontlines for nearly 2 years on end and unable to visit their own families back home. My helper too, has not flown home to be with her loved ones for four years. VTLs have not opened for most of their home countries because the vaccination rates are just too low.
It just… doesn’t sit right with me.
Meanwhile, I’ll just do my part by staying put until this pandemic is over. Because as long as human movement continues over countries and continents, this virus will never stop spreading and mutating, and we’ll never see the end of it.
Of course I crave travelling again. So very much. But I wouldn’t put my personal desire for leisure travel over public health. At least, not this point.
P/S: If you are reading this and are intending to travel for family reunions, I am not referring to you. Reuniting with family IS essential.
New clutter, visual clutter, mental clutter
Here’s a example of how excessive possessions can cause unnecessary stress.
I was at Uniqlo just the other day, and chanced upon a pair of black pants I’d always been eyeing but quickly went out of stock online when the price dropped. There it was, in all its sales price glory of $14.90, beckoning me over.
“Hi, it’s me! You saw me on your screen. Don’t you want me?”
I hesitated for a moment. I have plenty of pants, do I need another one? But hmm, I had always been considering it. And now the price has dropped. It’s the best opportunity to get it now, because I doubt I would be leaving the house again anytime soon.
So I grabbed it and headed to the casher.
—-
Once back in the safety of home, I took the pants out of my bag, glanced at my wardrobe and promptly facepalmed.
Sigh.
I already have so many pants.
The metal rod in my wardrobe is already overloaded.
I have no more hangers for trousers.
Well, I could always rearrange my things to make more space but that will just open up a rabbit hole wouldn’t it?
I was aiming to reduce my possessions, not increase them.
Besides, I don’t need more clothes. I barely step out of the house these days because of the pandemic. At most once a week, or even once every two weeks. And I’ve been working from home since 2019.
The pants was discarded in a corner of my room until I had the mental capacity to evaluate what I wanted to do with it.
A couple of hours later, I found myself getting annoyed with how that randomly-placed pair of pants was cluttering up my minimalist space and decided I should get it out of the way.
Visual clutter.
I rolled it up and stuffed it into a corner of my wardrobe.
It then dawned on me how $14.90 had not just landed me with yet another totally redundant item, but plenty of agonizing on “where am I going to put this?” and “what am I going to do with it?”.
Mental clutter.
—-
This year, I had embarked on a massive clearout of my room because of my recurring asthma, as I vowed to get rid of dust bunnies for good. Less possessions/loose items on display also meant easier-to-clean surfaces so my room looks significantly more empty now, with the remaining items neatly organized into boxes and drawers.
I’m definitely breathing easier, and I find myself feeling immensely happy looking at all the clean, clutter-free surfaces around me. I’ve always been a neat freak at heart and this is the kind of space I always envisioned having. (Previously, my room has always been generally neat – but clutter free? Not really.)
I always look back at 2015/2016 when I had clothes overflowing out of my wardrobe (and even hanging from my floor lamp) and wondered “how on earth did I even put up with that?”
Anyway, the deed is done and I have a new pair of pants. But I hope I don’t find myself dropping my resolve like that again, especially with Black Friday just round the corner.
And how did one $14.90 pants spawn an entire blog post? /scratches head
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