a midnight pastry shop called hwawoldang - lee onhwa (2026)

[spoiler alert] in the usual slice of life-interconnected short stories-with some fantasy thrown in genre that the modern asian writers do best. perhaps a little bit more fantasy than the japanese cat stories or the korean laundromat stories but as enjoyable, although it is taxing to read a series of short stories each of which (you realize quickly) ends in sudden demise. 

nice interlude to my streak of murder stories.

after the storm

two wonders here that i confess

my worth and my unworthiness

- getty & kendrick

in quietness of soul today in church, after the past fortnight of tornadoes with Ji J2 A and E. we are grateful for the time, as we are grateful for the rest. thanks be to God.

start CPR! (or not)

early this morning we meet a man lying at the shop front. 

hello! are you ok?

he doesn't respond. start CPR? call 995?

fortunately there is a nice pulse going and he is breathing peacefully so we leave him to sleep off his booze. HOM asks if we should call the ambulance nevertheless but i think the resource will be better spent on someone else.

they need to update the training algorithms. right now every simulation starts with hello! hello! are you ok? and proceeds immutably to call ambulance! get AED! start CPR! and doesn't leave space for the poor bro who just needs to lay down his poor head.

visit's end

we say goodbye to Ji J2 A and E. their last day is marked by fevers (A and E) vomiting (A and E) disrupted plans (all) much stress (all) with every indication of the same continuing in-flight.

all in all a lovely visit topped with pain. very grateful we have O to help keep the place looking and smelling civilized.

in other news, E the dog looks positively distressed and lethargic as well, possibly in sympathy.

bus ride

thoughts about my ride on the interstate express bus back to the homeland today:

• semi-modern architecture with typical rustic-level decor and down-on-the-heels feel
  
• 'orrible acoustics so the announcements come out like banshee wails
• and loos where you have to pay to enter and pay some more for access to paper

      BUT

• tech infrastructure to rival the best, with scanned ticketing and on-the-dot departure!

the journey is smooth and i arrive as promised. at the checkpoint, a nice elderly fellow takes me under his wings and shows me where to go to clear immigration and where to find the bus again after that. 

back to the grindstone tomorrow.

melaka

quickie trip to the old faithful location with my mum and with Ji J2 and their girls. inevitable meltdowns notwithstanding, we have a precious time catching up. very thankfully mum is a well super-ager A willfully and charmingly wraps us all around her little finger and E is sunny good natured and blissfully unaware that she should be acquiring stranger anxiety any day now.

time out

life hack: steal time for morning coffee* in the midst of grandparenting chaos.

*my first visit to margaret drive hawker center since they re-opened, and rather a disappointment it is too, in missing the energy and accessibility of the old one. they don't build 'em and cook 'em like they used to.