Almost normal

DD and I went out for dinner on Saturday night. He booked us a table for two at the local Malaysian restaurant we love.

We ordered a glass of wine each, plus mee goreng and a chicken curry. We only stayed an hour so the table could be sanitized and rebooked.

I looked askance at another couple who brought their own wine – my suggestion to anyone eating out in a licensed restaurant that can only seat 10 people is not to BYO – the owners are struggling to make ends meet as it is and have months of wine sitting fallow in their storeroom. Pony up for some if you’re going to hog one of those precious tables.

Aside from that grrrrrrr moment, it felt so wonderful and normal to eat out again after so long. It was a very happy night and DD took some pics of me to prove it:

The curry was called Chicken Capitan, which always sweeps me back in time. Six weeks after I met my husband we flew to Penang for our first holiday together.

It was also my first trip overseas and I was awestruck by our taxi ride from the airport, which edged its way through a festival filled with dancing and music and vibrant colour.

That night, we ordered Chicken Capitan for dinner and it came out with a feather still attached to the thigh, which was a bit confronting for a first-timer, but the dish itself was delicious.

I got to do even more reminiscing after my most recent Chicken Capitan experience – we sat on the couch after dinner watching Talking Heads concert clips on YouTube – blimey that David Byrne is a quirky, amazingly talented bloke.

We were supposed to watch Powderfinger do a live concert on YouTube, but we got the date wrong – it’s next Saturday night.

Afterwards, I drove home via Mona Vale Road to avoid the Wakehurst Parkway ghost, then returned the next afternoon for my third walk of the day along the beautiful coastline between Newport and Bilgola. It was a glorious day and I was sad not to have my cossie.

We walked with one of DD’s oldest friends and his wife, then sipped a glass of wine around the fire pit on DD’s deck together.

It was a weekend filled with lovely moments that pushed away the realities of post-COVID-19 life.

My newsfeed is crammed with death tolls and protests and economic turmoil and threats of retaliation from China over the international push for answers.

It feels like none of it will end well, but I immersed myself in my little bubble of beauty and felt very lucky to have so much good stuff in my life.

I suspect that nothing will be “normal“ again, at least not like normal used to be. And while it’s natural to mourn that loss, it’s no use dwelling on it.

I am fearful and sad, but also fortunate to have a job and lots of love in my life.

Who knows what the future holds, but the now is still managing to be pretty special, much like the rainbow I saw on my Saturday walk:

I hope there was some special stuff in your weekend too.

Gotta dash, I’m off to see some more of this sort of stuff …

PS: Here’s a link to the full story about my mixology class last week via The Thirsty Travellers. I’m wondering if DD and I need a podcast … although, that would involve me actually listening to my first-ever podcast so I properly know what they are …