January Hodgepodge

I got my family a new coffee maker. And it's a pretty snazzy one too: a De'Longhi Argento Flora Drip Coffee Maker. It's actually really expensive but I decided to get this for several reasons. First, our old one was broken. Second, practically everyone in my family drinks coffee so a fancy new coffee maker would be good value, especially if it works and lasts better than our old one. Third, it was kinda like a Christmas gift to all of them. Finally, it looks really nice haha (or well, to me it does). My family started using our new De'Longhi coffee maker in the new year and my brother told me that it works so much better than our previous one. It also looks really nice in our kitchen. I think it looks bright, clean, and sleek. While it is really pricey, I'm quite happy that I got it for my family. Hopefully it lasts us a long time!

Our new De'Longhi Argento Flora Drip Coffee Maker

I also got a Uniqlo Rugger Polo for myself. And yes, it's the shirt that went viral haha but I got one in a different color combination. I know that most people don't like wearing a shirt that many other people wear, especially if they wear it at the same time as someone else. However, because this rugger polo went viral, it actually brings a smile to my face each time I see someone wearing it. As such, I decided to get one for myself. My initial plan was to get either the blue and green or the red and blue. However, once I got to Uniqlo, I saw that this shirt came in another color combination: white and blue. I found it to be the most striking visually so I decided to try it on and I thought it looked good on me haha. So instead of getting either of the two color combinations that went viral, I ended up getting the one that people aren't as familiar with. That said, the saleslady told me it was actually the most popular of the three shirts, which kinda made sense because it was the one they had the least stock of.

Uniqlo Rugger Polo

My family caught a snake at home right before New Year. It was really interesting because my nephew called me and asked me if I knew of any place that can take care of snakes. He told me that they managed to capture one at home and they didn't want to release it back into the neighborhood because they were worried that it might end up in someone else's home and they might kill it. I suggested that they take the snake to Parks and Wildlife, which my brother did the next day. My suggestion was right because the park accepted the snake. My nephew told me that they kept the snake it a box that night but it actually got out so they had to catch it again. I have no idea how they managed to catch it twice but I am really proud of my family for not killing it and making an effort to bring it to an organization that would treat it properly. I gotta say, it was actually a beautiful snake.

My nephew took this photo of the snake they captured at home

On the downside, I had a flat tire the other day. I was driving home and about a kilometer or so away from home, I started to hear a weird sound coming from the back of my car. I couldn't figure out what it was. As soon as I got home, I noticed my rear left tire was deflated. There was a vulcanizing shop a very short distnace away so I decided to drive there really slowly and have my tire fixed. The guy at the vulcanizing shop almost immediately spotted the issue: a pretty big nail pierced my tire. I hope I didn't do major damage to my wheel by driving flat. (I should have it checked soon.)

A big nail pierced my tire

I also got to catch up a bit on my streaming platforms. Over the holiday break, I got to see three animated films on Disney+ that I had been wanting to see for a while. Pixar's Soul kinda gave me Inside Out vibes and I understand why many of my friends found it to be introspection-inducing. Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon was also good and I love that it is inspired by South East Asian cultures. Pixar's Onward was surprisingly enjoyable. I hadn't heard much positive feedback from people about it but when I watched it, I found myself very thoroughly entertained. (It does have a high rating on Rotten Tomatoes so maybe people who saw it didn't talk about it as much, especially since it was released right as the global pandemic hit and theaters were starting to close). Top Gun: Maverick was just released on HBO Go so I naturally watched it again. I really do love this movie! Finally, I saw Glass Onion on Netflix, which is a sequel to Knives Out which I love. As a fan of whoddunit mystery stories, I really enjoyed this movie. Hopefully, we get more sequels.