Last week at Soul Circle we were talking about how most of us (and many women in general) say they are ‘Resilient’ as if it is something to be proud of. Meanwhile, being able to always be strong is not always a positive, it can also be a trauma response as Nikki our facilitator mentioned. My reply was to ask what is the alternative to being resilient? If it is a complete breakdown then I have had at least a couple of those, they are not to be recommended.
Then my very wise friend Tam said that when she thinks of women as resilient she thinks of resilience in the way that water is resilient. Water has the ability to continue to flow even if there are obstacles in its path, for example water goes around the rocks and fills the gaps or creates its own path if a path does not exist. Also, much like water, women are strong and soft at the same time.
Even applying this concept to me who has had a few breakdowns, eventually I was strong enough to carry on. Despite being completely devastated I got up, got dressed and showed up. I was blessed to have friends to carry me when I was at my lowest. All women. Those women kept me afloat when I could no longer keep my head above those waters. Thanks to their support I got back up and I carried on and eventually thrived. I am definitely resilient!
Last Saturday night after my day at Soul Circle, Norm and I went for Japanese food at the newish venue owned by the renowned sushi master Arata Koga who was recognized as 7th Sushi Master in the world.
His restaurant is Izakaya Kúkai and is located in Victoria Mall, 150 Empire Avenue, Victoria Road, Hout Bay so literally about 5 minutes from our house. It is a very simple and basic venue, black and white and with minimal space so it is purely functional. It reminded me of my time in Singapore where we would go to the food places the locals went to and hope for the best as we had no clue how to read the menus but the venues were purely functional and very clean.
We were seated at the back of the restaurant as every other table was occupied. That shelf over my shoulder was a bit annoying.
We had no clue what some of the dishes on the menu were and the waitress was very little help. I stuck mostly to things which I understood but I risked it on a rice bowl as I felt I needed at least a bit of rice.
Norm ordered pork and prawn gyoza pan fried dumplings which he was kind of enough to share with me. These little parcels of heaven were superb. The wrapper was so light and the inside was stuffed full of a soft and tasty minced filling. A definite 5 Kitten Stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I then had a portion of tempura prawns. These were hands down the best tempura prawns I have ever had in my life. They tasted of my youth when we went to Florida and bought these big bags of huge raw ‘shrimp’ and boiled them up in a big pot and did a peel and eat until we were ready to burst. These were so fresh and were obviously just recently out of the water and had never been near a freezer in their lives. A solid 5 Kitten Stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Norm had the sirloin ramen. You choose between a pork, chicken or miso broth and he had the miso. He rates it 5 Kitten Stars and that is something from Norm, he is much harder to please than I am. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I would have had ramen too except I am trying to avoid noodles / gluten / carbs. My health coach has cleared me to have rice in small servings. I asked the waitress what was the difference in the Rice Bowls and she said something about one of them is deep fried and one of them is just breaded. Why I did not google them at the time I have no idea, but I have now done so and I know for next time!
I wanted chicken breast and I got boneless thigh but the chicken was very tasty I just do not like the texture of thigh meat. The rice could have used a bit more sauce and it contained small pieces of Nori which I cannot even tolerate the smell of. I picked the Nori and the flowers all carefully out awkwardly with my chopsticks while Norman laughed at me. What am I a goat? I will not order this again I will try a different rice bowl now that I have googled the meanings. Silly me. I give this dish 4.5 Kitten Stars because of the dryness not because of my obscure texture and scent related quirks⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
The food was amazing and quick. We were in and out in less than an hour. They do not have a license so if you want to drink you have to take your own. We are going to add this to our list of quick date night spots.
The entire Western Cape had a severe storm warning for all of last weekend and on Sunday it started pouring rain and howling wind.
I was so grateful to have our solid aluminium window frames that no longer rattle in the wind. That morning when I did my prayers I asked for compassion for those in the townships and to not let any homes be damaged or people or animals injured. It must have been horrendous in a temporary structure. I know that there were deaths from the storm damage.
Africa is not for sissies. I guess you have to be resilient. *wink wink*
I still love a bit of fresh air so Finn guarded me when I left the doors open despite the mists and chilly air.
It was so cold we had our first fire of the year. Norm said it was not cold enough and of course I fell asleep once I got cosy and warm.
I had a delivery of groceries on Monday so at least we would not starve. I have no substitutions on because you sometimes end up with things I will not eat. However this meant I did not get the meat I needed. I received only a bit of minced beef. I had plenty of beans in the cupboard so I made a chili con carne and kept the tomato to a minimum as it is so acidic and I am trying to lower my acidity levels. We had a big bowl of it on Tuesday evening and then on Wednesday I made us both a big salad to go with it and made air fryer chips for Norm.
I had a beef fillet in the freezer so we thawed that out and it also served us for two meals. The first night I steamed some baby spinach and boiled 4 gem squash halves, mixed the insides of the gem squash, the spinach, a bit of smooth cottage cheese, some seasoning and added it back to the shells then topped them with cheese and popped them under the grill. I steamed a head of cauliflower to round it all off.
On Friday our friend Mark popped by so we sat outside chatting until it got too chilly. Hunter and Finn had a bit of time to fight and roar at each other. Finn kept taunting Hunter with Lola’s chewed up bowl. Finn loves Hunter so much and he could not understand why Hunter was not as enamored of the cat’s bowl as he is.
Tonight we will have the other half of our fillet with halloumi and a salad. We woke to clear skies today.
I had confirmation this week that the artist Ana Kuni has given her permission to print her “Not your wings” painting onto a canvas. The pixalot team created it in no time at all and had it delivered to me on Thursday. Once the wall and floor are grey it will look amazing hanging over my new grey unit!
The room feels so much more spacious without the larger Welsh dresser. I am ever so excited to see the floors and walls done.
We also had a new gate installed at the back of the property. It leads to the back garden. It had fallen apart and we had to keep it closed by stacking bricks in front of it so it was a pain if you wanted to use it.
Norm paid for the balcony railing this week so hopefully that gets installed soon so we can use that area for our morning coffees.
As well as the changes going on in the house I have a few other things coming up which I am excited about. I booked tickets for the Organic Magic Project in Hout Bay on the 26th of April. I am so excited about that because we had such fun last time. This time there are 4 of us going.
We also have mother’s day coming up soon and it is also Caitlin’s birthday that weekend so I am hoping that Lily and Josh can come down as it is Lily’s first Mother’s Day. I will try and manifest it so I can see my babies.
This weekend is the Two Oceans Marathon so our roads will be closed until late afternoon when the race finishes.
I have nothing planned this weekend so I am looking forward to feeding my birds and pottering about the garden. I hope you enjoy yours. Until next time, Kisses from the Kitten xoxoxoxox
Kitten in the City 
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