Gingered Up

Being in confinement actually isn't as bad as I expected. I am lucky to be allowed air conditioning and showering every 3-4 days with herb water. Of course, there were some days where I would feel extremely uncomfortable from the humidity, especially while breastfeeding. I do feel pretty tired from waking up several times in the night to feed The Baby so I try to snooze in the day time but hardly do simply because I'm not used to afternoon naps. I guess the only thing that can be annoying is that I can only drink ginger red date tea. It is believed that plain water has "wind" which is not good for a postnatal mother, and can cause bloating. It was rather trying when I came down with a slight cold but I loaded up on vitamin C which helped.

I have been taking to plenty of ginger quite well, much to my surprise. I have always disliked ginger and would only eat it with "xiao long bao" or as a form of herbal infusion tea. Now, its in all my meals, except breakfast and I find myself looking forward to crunching down on the strips. My meals have been tasty, comprising of ingredients that are pretty much the same everyday.

Breakfast:
Oats / Cornflakes / Bread. I am getting quite sick of marmalade and jam. I need some chunky peanut butter!!!

Lunch:
Lunch is more varied in terms of the staple. Sometimes its "bee hoon" or "mee sua" or brown rice porridge. Today I got "kway teow"! But its always soup with pork, chinese spinach and fish.


Dinner:
Served with brown rice, there is always a pork dish with vegetables. Fish is also an important feature because it's suppose to boost milk supply. Sometimes there is chicken or pig kidney or liver.


I still dislike liver. The texture doesn't do anything for me; its powdery and has a distinct "innard" taste. No thanks! But it's still palatable compared to a dish of pig trotters and old ginger stewed in black vinegar. It's got to be the MOST vile thing I ever tasted. I actually love vinegar, but this dish was sweet and the smell of it reminded me of a herbal feet soak my sister used to treat her eczema. And the best part was, the pig trotter was not meant to be eaten. Only the ginger. My sister said she would drink a couple of bowls of the vinegar when she was in confinement. Amazement!