#puff pastry for sale

[shopseranobakery]

Delicious Delights at Your Doorstep: Online Bread Bakery Delivery

Discover the convenience of fresh and delectable bakery delights with Serano Bakery's online platform. From bread bakery delivery to pastries and cakes, indulge in the finest baked goods with just a click. Savor the goodness of locally baked treats, and explore a diverse menu including fresh bread, pastries, and custom cakes. With Serano Bakery, enjoy the ease of online orders for a delightful doorstep delivery experience.

[intertexts]

tgifff :-)

[imnotsane-ipromise]

Post related to Persephone’s Kiss,

Macarons are now on sale, and the batfam cupcakes are out of stock. Bread related items are available, and highly recommended. Pastry puffs are also available.

Please just stop ordering the batfam cupcakes, im running out :’)

[autobahnmp3]

i bought these sugar waffles again and they're damn good......

[cranberrymoons]

sugar cookie daydream

prompt: enemies to lovers (@steddieholidaydrabbles) word count: 997 rated: t tags: baker steve, shop owner eddie, rivalry, flirting

welcome to Day 19 of the fic advent calendar – bite-sized fics posting every day during the month of december. enjoy!

Okay, so Steve doesn’t like to say that he hates anyone. 

And he doesn’t! Hate anyone. Just–

The guy who owns the shop across the street. Steve doesn’t hate him, because he doesn’t hate people as a general rule, but he maybe sort of… strongly dislikes him.

It’s just the fact that he’s been trying to move in on Steve’s territory by offering free Christmas cookies with any purchase when Steve literally runs the bakery right across the street, and that feels like it’s maybe a personal attack, or– okay, Dustin thinks he’s reading way too much into it or overreacting or something, but honestly? Steve thinks it’s perfectly reasonable to hate the guy who–

Not hate. He doesn’t hate him. He just– resents him. That’s a better word for it.

He takes a deep breath, squaring his shoulders as he arranges a fresh round of pastries in their glass case, smiling at the woman who’s eyeing the cream puffs at the other end of the counter. It’s not like he’s exactly hurting for customers, it’s just… the big Free Cookies! sign directly across the street feels a little pointed.

“What can I get you?” he asks the woman, who’s now moved on to examine a rainbow array of macarons. “Those also make great holiday gifts.”

The woman glances up and gives him a big smile, toothy and sweet. She’s pretty in a disarming sort of way, big eyes and long blonde hair pulled back from her face. She’s carrying a heavy-looking bag over her shoulder, loaded down with books that peek out the top. 

“Just picking up a few things to take across the street,” she says, heaving the bag higher on her shoulder. “Game night.”

She motions with her head in the direction of The Shop, and Steve resists the urge to make a face. Well, at least he’s getting one paying customer out of the place. Two, if you count Dustin, but he doesn’t ever actually pay.

After a few minutes of selection, he sends her on her way with a little box of macarons, plus a few other things, including an assortment of cookies to show off to his mortal enemy the guy across the street who’s innocently drumming up business for himself by undercutting Steve’s sales.

It doesn’t even matter. 

Whatever.

---

And then the shop bell chimes next morning, and he looks up from piping cupcakes to find the man himself standing there in front of the counter, as if he’s allowed to. As if he was invited in. As if Steve isn’t going to give him a piece of his mind and tell him what he really thinks of– 

Fuck. 

Of course he had to be hot up close.

“Hi,” Evil Shop Owner Guy says, giving him an awkward little wave and a smile. After a beat, his hand moves to rub over the back of his neck. “Thought I’d come say hi.”

Steve blinks. “Well,” he says. “You said it. Hi.”

The guy laughs, and he takes a step closer, which is decidedly not what Steve was going for. He sets down his pastry bag. 

“I meant– hi, like–” He lets out a breath. “I’m Eddie. I own the game store that just opened across the street?”

Steve gives him a tight smile. “Yeah, my cashier goes to your games on Thursdays,” he says. “Dustin? Curly-headed kid?”

“Oh yeah, he’s–” Eddie lets out a laugh that makes Steve soften slightly against his will. “He’s a good kid.” He squints. “Kind of an oddball, though.”

Steve laughs too, and his smile loosens. “Yeah, he is,” he says. “Kind of thought all you were until I met the rest of his friends, and– nope, mostly just him.”

Eddie’s shoulders have come down from his ears a little, and he rocks up on his toes as he laughs. 

“Listen, um.” He clears his throat. “I think we maybe got off on the wrong foot?”

Steve raises his eyebrows. “We did?”

“The cookie thing,” he says. “Dustin said you’re not exactly a fan.”

And that’s… not untrue, but still. Steve feels his face heat. 

“He shouldn’t have said anything,” he says. “I’m– sorry, it’s not like I’ve been– whatever. It just felt a little–”

“No, no, I totally get it,” Eddie says. “I guess I didn’t really think. And then my friend Chrissy brought over some of your stuff last night, and it was way better than the shit we’ve been giving out, and –” He takes a breath. “Anyway. I just wanted to say sorry, and – if you want, I mean – I kind of have an idea of how to make it better?”

---

Steve is a little unsure at first, but after a few days of Eddie’s plan to give half off dice to anyone who comes in with a receipt from the bakery, his sales have definitely started to inch back up toward where they were before someone started undercutting him. Steve even begrudgingly admits the dice are cool when Dustin shows off his new set after paying for his breakfast for the first time ever.

“I don’t really get what they do, though,” Steve says, turning them over in his hand to watch the way the light catches on the glitter trapped inside. 

“They don’t do anything,” Dustin says. “They’re dice. You use them to play.”

Steve makes a face. “Okay, I’m not that stupid, thanks.” He drops them back into Dustin’s waiting hand. “I just meant like – the game doesn’t make sense to me. But I’m glad you like them.”

“You could come over net Thursday,” Dustin says, raising his eyebrows. “I bet Eddie wouldn’t mind teaching you.”

“I’m good, thanks,” Steve says. “No nerd games for me. I’ll stick with my cookies.”

---

But that doesn’t stop him from asking Eddie out for a celebratory drink the next day, and if one thing leads to another, well – he never said he hated him.

[also on ao3]

[cloudcountry]

auburn's 3k followers bake sale!! (lasts from july 24st to august 6th)

order a baked good, get a complementary drink & fic! menu below!

(thank you all so much for 3k!! ever since getting back into the twst fandom after a six month break, ive been reflecting on my time here a lot. i feel like the twst fandom is one of the few fandoms that i'll actually be able to look back on fondly and feel comfortable doing so. i've been connected to all of these character for about 3 years now and now 2 years with you guys. i know some of you may think i'm scary but i encourage you to take part in this event ^^ it wouldn't the same without you <3 and while im at it, thanks for 3,100 followers too!!)

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[kimaixun]

[It is what it is; Part Two] - [SKZ Bang Chan X M!Reader]

Part One

‼️Trigger Warning(s) : Bullied, Abuse, Rape, Depression, Suicidal‼️

“Are you still hanged up over it?” Seo ChangBin questions the red headed as he tried to secretly glance over his roommate who sat at the corner of the classroom. “If you’re gonna appear every single time we end a period, you’re labelling yourself as a creep. It’s been a week.”

It has been a week.

A week since that night where Bang Chan couldn’t forget the tiny little tint of hurt flashing across M/N’s eyes. He didn’t go after M/N when he left the restaurant but, as he sat back down, a sense of guilt ambushed him, stabbing his heart that the pain was almost physical. Why? Why did he feel that way? This shouldn’t be hurting him, this should only hurt M/N so why was he hurt? M/N didn’t come back that night and Bang Chan barely caught any sleep either. It was early in the morning the next day when Bang Chan heard the door of the dorm open and M/N came stumbling into the room, tipsy, stench in cigarettes and alcohol. Bang Chan got up to sit on his bed, his eyes observing every move of the latter who seems to ignore him indefinitely.

“M/N……I…. I can explain.” Bang Chan stammered.

M/N turned to him, his eyes glassy and unfocused, “It is what it is. You don’t need to waste your breath explaining and I don’t need to waste my time listening.”

That was all M/N said before dropping onto his bed, burying himself under his blanket. Bang Chan swore something in him cracked. Ever since then, neither of them shared any word or look even, at least not M/N. Bang Chan still stole glances over his roommate whilst M/N simply pretended as if Bang Chan was nothing but, a thin of air.

“Has M/N been different lately in class?”

ChangBin thought for a moment before shaking his head, “not really. He is still a quiet and reserved kid like he always was since forever.”

“T…That’s good i guess.”

ChangBin rolled his eyes, “seriously? Why are you so concerned about M/N?”

“I…I… I’m not concern about him, i….i just wanna see him suffer?” It came out as a question but for sure, ChangBin didn’t believe the latter.

ChangBin sighed and patted Bang Chan’s right shoulder, “I won’t judge if you end up caring about how he had felt you know. Besides, you did have to go through a lot just for a bet.”

At his words, Bang Chan winced. He did had to go through a lot to get to know M/N. He had to learn and study M/N deeply, taking notes of his liking and dislikes, his little pet peeves, etc. When M/N confessed to Bang Chan, there was no doubt that Bang Chan felt something, Bang Chan could feel the sincerity of M/N’s heart. Bang Chan had to do something to reconcile with M/N, or at least, get M/N to just look at him even for a minute and so the gifts came in. Bang Chan had left gifts with notes on M/N’s study table.

‘M/N, I bought you the cake you liked from the bakery nearby.’

‘M/N, I bought the puff you craved for before.’

‘M/N, i got this flowers cause it reminded me of you.’

‘M/N, look at this grumpy cat plush. It looks just like you.’

‘M/N, this was cute so i got it for you.’

‘M/N, the novel was going for sale at the bookstore so i thought of you.’

Bang Chan felt the ache in his heart looking at the untouched gifts on M/N’s table. It didn’t seem like M/N even care to look at them. This had been even worse than when Bang Chan had know him for the first time. The walls that Bang Chan had torn down previously was rebuilt with even more concrete security and to be frank, Bang Chan was losing hope.

Bang Chan dramatically plops onto the lunch table across ChangBin and whined, “he doesn’t even touch it, i doubt he even looked at it. I had to throw all the cake(s) and pastries that turned bad. Binnie, give me ideas please. I have to do something. I need to apologise to him.”

“You’re finally admitting that you don’t want to see him suffer?” ChangBin smirked. Bang Chan sighed in defeat and nodded to his words. “I mean, if the gifts aren’t working, perhaps do something more brazen? Like, just grab him and make him look at you and talk it out.”

“It could work, maybe?”

“Oh, by the way, have you heard about it?”

“About what?”

“It could be a rumour but proof has been circulating that M/N use to be a porn star. He was involved in a child pornography.” ChangBin said and Bang Chan gasped, “it’s sickening knowing that people are actually into it.”

“Please, tell me you’re joking.”

“I told you it could be a rumour. I haven’t seen it for myself.”

Bang Chan abruptly stood from his chair, taking his belongings before he rushes out of the cafeteria. Reality smacked him hard on the face. Just when he thought he knew M/N that well, there was still some untold secrets kept by him. Could this be the reason why M/N declared Bang Chan was his will to live? Could this be why M/N confessed that Bang Chan had saved him from himself? Could M/N have gone through severe depression because if the rumour had been true, it could tear down one’s soul? Now, Bang Chan felt even worse than before. The red headed find himself sprinting to his dorm room, barging into it. There, M/N sat on his bed with his phone in his hand.

“You,” Bang Chan took a deep breath, trying to calm the adrenaline from sprinting.

He locked the door to their dorm room, stomping towards M/N and he stood right in front of the latter who couldn’t care less to even look at him once.

“You…” Bang Chan breathed, “did you know that there are rumours going on that you were involve in a child pornography?” Bang Chan could see how M/N’s frail begin to tremble. “Is it true?” This time, M/N’s head dropped as if he was a child ashamed of being scolded. “M/N? Is it true that you were involved in a child pornography?”

“And so what?” Bang Chan breath hitched as soon as M/N spoke. It had been awhile since he last heard the latter talk and his voice still never failed to give shivers down his spine.

Bang Chan honestly didn’t expect himself to feel anger arise in him at M/N’s response, “so what?! You should’ve told me! You should’ve explain to me the reason why you’ve been telling me that i saved your life! I could’ve understood you better and—,”

“AND WHAT?!” It happened in a blink of an eye. M/N stood up, pushing Bang Chan hard that he had fell onto his bed, “SO YOU CAN TELL CHANGBIN AND YOUR GROUPS OF FRIENDS THAT I AM THE CHILD IN THAT PORNOGRAPHY? SO YOU CAN CONFIRM THE RUMOURS THAT HAVE BEEN CIRCULATING AROUND?! SO YOU CAN JOIN THE SENIORS WHO ARE INTENDING TO RAPE ME?” Raged was seen across M/N as he towers over Bang Chan, spit flying from his lips. In that moment of anger he'd said everything, whatever was most hurtful, whatever would give him the opportunity to relieve himself, “IF I HAD TOLD YOU EVERYTHING THAT HAD HAPPENED IN THE PAST, WHAT COULD YOU HAVE DONE? COULD YOU SAVE ME FROM BEING ADOPTED BY CRIMINALS? COULD YOU SAVE ME FROM BEING SOLD TO PEOPLE, TO HUMANS FOR THEIR PLEASURE? WOULD YOU UNDERSTAND THE TRAUMA AND SUFFOCATION I FELT? WOULD YOU UNDERSTAND ME IF I SAID THAT I HAD TO KILL PEOPLE BECAUSE ALL OF THEM RAPED ME AT ONCE? COULD YOU BE HYUNJIN HYUNG TO ME? COULD YOU BRING BACK HYUNJIN HYUNG TO ME? COULD YOU STOP ME FROM TRYING TO KILL MYSELF EVERY. SINGLE. FUCKING. NIGHT?”

Bang Chan felt his heart throbbed immensely at M/N’s words. The pain and despair he had made M/N felt was nothing compared to what M/N had been through.

“I LOVED YOU! I LOVED YOU CHRISTOPHER BANG! YOU CAME INTO MY LIFE LIKE A FUCKING ANGEL IN DISGUISE. FINALLY, I COULD BREATHE! I FOUND A WILL TO LIVE! I WAS ECSTATIC GENUINELY HAPPY TO BE WITH YOU. I WAS HOPING THAT ONE DAY WHEN WE GRADUATE, GET A JOB, GET A HOUSE TOGETHER, I WOULD MARRY YOU. I WOULD MAKE YOU THE HAPPIEST MAN ALIVE IN THIS WORLD! BUT NO! EVERYTHING WAS A FUCKING BET! EVERYTHING CAME CRUSHING DOWN ONCE AGAIN AND I WANTED TO DIE IF IT WASN’T FOR HYUNJIN HYUNG’S LAST WISH! I WANTED TO JUST JUMP OFF THE BRIDGE THE NIGHT I—,”

M/N stopped himself abruptly, his breath ragged from his outburst, tears streaming down his cheeks. He took a second to breathe, rethinking about that words he had retorted. M/N felt guilty. He shouldn’t have burst out to Bang Chan out of anger. He should’ve just ignored him like he had been for the past few weeks. He shouldn’t have made the impression that Bang Chan had made M/N think about suicide. No one was at fault but, him. M/N was at fault to even exist in the first place.

“M/N,” Bang Chan’s chest heaved with each sob, breath catching in irregular gasps. Tears streamed down his cheeks, unchecked and hot against his skin. His throat tightened, a lump forming that made it difficult to speak. In that moment, M/N felt his heart shatter into pieces. In all his years of living, someone was crying for him. No one should need to cry for him, especially Bang Chan. He didn’t know what he should do and so, M/N left the dorm room, leaving the sobbing one.

“Here, I got you water.” ChangBin sat on the Bang Chan’s bed as the latter hide himself under the covers. Bang Chan finally crawled out and took the water.

“Why are you here?” His voice was hoarse as if he had been crying for days but, in actually fact, it had only been a couple of hours since M/N left him.

“M/N came running to find me. He said that I should come here and take care of you.”

“He did?”

ChangBin nodded, handing over a warm towel to Bang Chan, “i assume you guys had a fight? None of your faces look any better. You look like a puffer fish and so did M/N just now. I’m surprise you guys can see the world with those swollen eyes.”

“I fucked up ChangBin. I fucked up so bad that i just wanna go back to the time i met M/N for the first time.” Bang Chan sniffled.

“That bad huh?”

“I love M/N, i really do. Even if it wasn’t a bet, I would’ve still fallen for M/N.”

“Finally.” ChangBin smiled, “took you so long to admit it. I apologise to M/N earlier on and explain to him the real reason behind the bet. If isn’t for our seniors who threaten us to make our college life miserable on the bet, we wouldn’t have done it. Surprisingly, M/N asked for the seniors names and when i told him, he was silent.”

“What do you mean?”

“He said those seniors had been after him for a while now. He mentioned something about them knowing the truth from their government parents. I didn’t understand him though, do you?”

“Wait, did you said government parents?”

“Yes.” ChangBin affirmed, “Tae-il sunbaenim’s parents are apart of the government ministers.”

“If they are government minister, it means they technically can know each and every person’s background don’t they?”

“Technically yes,”

“Oh no.”

“Woah, where are you going?” ChangBin was taken aback when Bang Chan practically fly out of his bed, grabbing his phone and putting on his shoes. “Can you at least explain something to me?”

“I need to find M/N. I need to talk to him. I need to apologise. I need,” Bang Chan took a deep breath, “I need M/N.”

“Oh, good luck.”

Bang Chan wasn’t gonna waste anytime because if his institution was right, he needs to find M/N fast. Upon knowing another truth, Bang Chan assume that Tae-il and his gang of friends knew about M/N’s past thus they might have been the ones with the intention to rape M/N all this while. This time, Bang Chan was determine to be save M/N. He needs to. He spammed M/N’s phone with calls and messages but to no avail, there was no response. He searched through the campus asking around if anyone had seen M/N but everyone looked at him in disgust instead. That was until Bang Chan came across a group of seniors in the hallway, he didn’t approach them but, he overheard their conversation that put him sick to the stomach.

“Damn was M/N good.”

“I would do him again.”

“Tae-il is making a fortune.”

“Fucking him was definitely better than a woman.”

“Though the location could be better. The gym storeroom smelled horrible.”

BINGO.

Bang Chan sprinted as fast as a wind to the gym storeroom. He was met with groups of people hanging outside the storeroom. Bang Chan ignored the calls from the people that had deemed to be his ‘friends’ as he stomped into the storeroom. His blood turns cold the moment he was met with what was happening. M/N was tied up in ropes and Bang Chan could see the friction burns underneath it. He was naked, blindfolded, body covered in bruises and blood. As if M/N was a doll, three people were doing the deed, raping him simultaneously on the front and back. Tae-il sat by them, on the chair, cigarettes in his hand smirking proudly as if he had done the best thing in the world.

“FUCK OFF!”

Rage was all he saw. He couldn’t think ahead as he lounge towards them. RED. That was all Bang Chan could see. He didn’t know how or what had happened but he felt someone pulling him away from Tae-il and he came into realisation. Tae-il lay on the floor a couple of feet away from M/N, beaten almost to death. He could hear ChangBin telling him that everything was okay now. No, it wasn’t. M/N was still blindfolded, unaware of what was happening, trembling and curling up on the ground. Bang Chan realised he couldn’t save M/N. He failed to save him.

“M/N?” Bang Chan’s hand trembled as he reached out to M/N. He released the ropes, covering M/N’s fragile frail with the blanket Lee Know had handed over. “M/N, its me. It’s okay. You’re okay.” Bang Chan removed the blindfold and M/N’s e/c orbs looked at him but, his heart shattered. M/N wasn’t crying neither did he show the intention to cry. His eyes wasn’t even watery to begin with. All M/N did was stare into Bang Chan’s teary eyes, lifelessly and Bang Chan broke down as he embraced M/N tightly.

What had he done?

••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Author’s Note: Apologies for the late update but, here it is! I might just add one last part to this! A happy ending? Or shall I wreck my own heart with a sad ending?

[silentmagi]

Rising Star

Main Page

Thank you again for continuing to enjoy the story and voting. I hope that you continue to enjoy it as we move the story along.

Next shop to visit?

This one had a tie, so I let fate decide and it came up

2. The Baker/Butcher

Feeling a little peckish after her visit to the herbalist, she decides that going to the baker and butchers was a good idea. The rations would be good to keep for the days on the road, but since they were in town, getting some fresh goods sounded like a logical idea. The inn would likely have a meal that they could eat before bed tonight.

Yes, the baked goods sounded divine right now. Moving swiftly, she forewent going to the butcher, heading straight for where the baker was setting out more of those pastry puffs she’d seen earlier. She was sure that Luna would like one of them, or maybe something without the cream to keep from hurting her voice. Some buns with meat would be a good lunch too.

“Ah! Hello pretty lady!” a little voice sang out as she sat on the desk next to a simple counting bead board. “Wow you gotta be one of those people from Castledale daddy talks about!”

Smiling, she stepped over to the little girl. “Oh, why yes, I am from Castledale, and thank you for calling me pretty,” she answered, looking over the goods on display. “Do you have anything you think is tasty?”

“Oh yes! The cream breads are great. They’re all light and fluffy and mommy makes the sweet cream inside,” she explained excitedly as she pointed to the treats. “It's special just for today, so you gotta try it. Oh! And daddy just got out some fresh rolls that are soooo good with butter, and… umm… I think the pies coming out this afternoon are good, but he doesn’t have any now.”

“That all sounds delicious,” Star agreed, smiling at the enthusiasm. “I will take four of the cream breads, and a couple of the rolls, would you know where I can get butter?” she asked, trying to indulge the child’s eagerness to make a sale.

“Oh! We gots a lotta butter, daddy always gives a small bit with the rolls. Now uhh…” she began working the beads carefully on the board, counting them before speaking. “That’s nine coppers for all of them. You should try the butcher next door, they have some really good cold meats that they smoke and flavor, and you don’t have to cook it. I think it’s yummy on the rolls.”

“You are a gem, are you not?” she commented as she paid the copper coins, and then put two into the small wooden bowl marked for tips. Best to not confuse the kid if possible.

The baker walked up with a warm chuckle as he held out the ordered foods, “She takes after her mother, sharp as a tack, and a natural talker. Tell Mitch over at the butchers that we sent him, and he’ll know what to get you.”

“Thank you, I believe this is enough for us, we had a hearty breakfast,” she commented, indicating the bard playing in the center of the town square. Getting a nod from the man, he moved to get another tray of bread from the back and set it out as other citizens came out.

Wandering over to sit by the show, she set Luna’s portion on a small cloth nearby, getting a nod from her as she continued playing for the milling crowds. After her light lunch, she felt better and much clearer in her head.

Dusting off her front, she stood, heading to get to the Town Hall.

Time to get some information from the Town Hall, but it’s also important to note just how the information is given.

[buffetlicious]

Went for a haircut and on the way out of the shopping mall, I noticed that Old Chang Kee (老曾记) had this new limited time Cheezy Chicken Bolognese Xmas'O (S$2.20) puff on sale. Got the puff, a stick each of the Gyoza and Crab Nugget to share with mum. The Christmas tree puff is not the pastel green as advertised but more “dirty” yellowish green in colour. :D Inside, you get a very moist filling of classic Italian meat-based sauce in a not buttery enough pastry. Hmm…, I should just stick to their popular curry puff the next time.

Topmost image courtesy of Old Chang Kee.

[shopseranobakery]

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[1starqi]

Cool Guy Gone Cute

genre: fluff, highschool!au

pairing: danceteam!chan x studentcouncil!o/c (again, could be x reader but I did give the o/c a name

summary: you need to do a bakesale

wc:

P1: 377

P2: 835

Total: 1.2k

a/n: this is all Sora's POV! I'm editing the next two parts and they're both Chan POVs. Also, all other people are made up. Even though Chaeyeon has the same name as an idol they aren't necessarily the same person but they can be if you want, I don't really care I just want my story to be enjoyed! Also look at me posting

Part 1

12:30, Wednesday

A storm is moving in. A translucent ray of light peeks through the windows in Mr. Kim’s math room where the Student Council is meeting. You couldn’t help but sneak glances at the clock hanging above the whiteboard, counting the seconds until you could grab your bag and rush down to the lunch room. 5 minutes.

“Alright,” The lanky student body president, Park Junyeop, says, “one more thing before we go.” Damn. “So we spent most of our budget on the festival last week, but the yearbook club switched to a different paper this year, so we need some more funds… Any ideas?” The window is suddenly pelted with the first of the storm.

“How much more?” Next to you, your best friend and irritated club treasurer, Chaeyeon, raises her hand lazily.

“Like $700?” Junyeop says tentatively. You’re pretty sure you heard someone groan.

“A bake sale?” You tilt into Chaeyeon.

“It doesn’t look like anyone else has anything to say...” She whispers back. Abruptly, she seizes your limp wrist and forces it up in the air.

“Chaeyeon? Sora?” Chaeyeon stays silent.

“We could do a bake sale…” You say weakly. You take a quick look at the clock. 4 minutes.

“That would raise some money. Any other ideas?” Rejected, but you’re not exactly sad about it. You look around the room. Not a single hand is up. The rain is pouring torrentially against the window. 3 minutes. Junyeop shattered the blank silence with a timely, yet undesirable interruption. “Fine. If no one has any additional ideas, we'll do a bake sale. Who wants to do it?” 

“It’s spring break next week! I can't believe Junyeop expects us to take on extra work. Who does he think we are?” Chaeyeon gripes, right in your ear. 2 minutes.

“I’ll assign it if no one wants to speak up.” He menaces. 1 minute. “Okay.” He sighs. “Sora, you suggested it, so I’m going to give this to you.” You’re actually joking, you think. There’s hardly any time between homework and… you time, obviously.

Only one correct answer gives you a chance for re-election. You surrender, “I’ll do it.”

“Taking one for the team, nice,” Chaeyeon says. You smile and kick her under the desk right as the bell rings.

Part 2

18:00, Wednesday

Your arrival is heralded by the jingling of the door chime, and the minimart smell hits you like a 4-wheeler. It’s a stark contrast from the fresh spring rain, it smells like incense and cleaning products. “There’s no way I can have an entire bake sale ready by Friday! I put like… two adverts up this morning in the hall, but I doubt anyone saw it.” You complain to Chaeyeon and Yoonseo as you enter the aisle you've been looking for. Hell yeah, Cheeto puffs. 

“Hey Chae, are you free after this?” Yoonseo grabs a bright red strawberry soda from the big steel fridge and checks the price.

“I would not be walking three miles to Sora’s house with you two if I had to be somewhere after this.”

“Sora~ we’ll help you! We can have a baking party!” Yoonseo exclaims from across a snack aisle. She is always one for a party. Your lips curl in a smile. You appreciate your friends’ enthusiasm even if the baking itself is only half the problem. You can buy pastries, but you can’t buy off Ms. Yang to let you do the sale—you can send a strongly worded email, though.

Nonetheless, you couldn't resist the opportunity to make a mess with your two best friends. “Oh my gosh, you two are lifesavers.” You grab another soda for her as thanks, melon flavored. You grab a lemon-lime for Chaeyeon and wipe off the condensation on your blue pleated skirt.

Chaeyeon pipes up from somewhere unseen, “I don’t think that there’s any mix here, do you want to pop over to the place across the street to get some?”

“Yes! Let’s check out, and then let’s get chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies and cinnamon buns!” Yoonseo eagerly chirps. You flash her an ok signal with your hand. 

“Let’s make brownies too! The really fudgy ones are my favorite.” You add.

You unload your groceries onto the checkout counter with Chaeyeon and Yoonseo. Assorted sodas, chips, and a couple of hair ties. It’s an overall outstanding purchase. You look up to talk to the cashier—and he is cute, even behind his black cotton mask. He’s wearing a uniform black polo and has silver earrings hooked on his ears. He checks the final item as you remember something else—you just ran out of gum. 

“Cash or card?” His voice is deeper than you expected but still pleasant.

“So sorry to bother you, but could I add a pack of gum to that?” You ask him, hesitantly.

“Ah, I already put the—” He stammers.

“Oh, nevermind then.” You can't help but blurt out the words as you fumble to return the gum to its place.

“No no, it’s fine. It’s on me.” A clearly athletic arm rubs his neck as he makes the proposition. You could swear you see a red tint develop on his ears, maybe he’s embarrassed?

“Seriously? Thank you so much!” You stuff your purchases into your backpack. The girls are totally giggling behind you.

“Yeah, it’s no problem.” After exchanging an appreciative smile with him, you grab your bag to head out. Together, you three swiftly make your way out of the cozy store and into the midst of the pouring rain, bracing yourselves against the elements as you head out.

As you giggle entering the store across the street for the mixes, Chaeyeon turns to you with an almost deviant smile dancing across her face. “Isn’t that Chan? You know, the captain of the dance team?”

Yoonseo looks positively floored, “Oh my god. That was totally him! That’s crazy, did you see how he was blushing?”

“He was probably just embarrassed.” You brush them off. If you were Chan, you'd guess it’s embarrassing to be caught stumbling over your words. It breaks his cool guy facade. You don't want to accept the fact that he was blushing because you really don't need to deal with that at the moment. He’s like the archetype of a standoffish nonchalant guy—which isn’t exactly your style.

“Come on, you know you’re lying! He was totally blushing.” Chaeyeon stares at you, waiting for a reaction. “Ha! You’re blushing too! Oh my god, do you like him?”

“No way! He’s just cute. That’s all. Every other girl in our entire school thinks so too! It’s not like I’m weird.”

“I don’t think he’s that cute…” Yoonseo states unhelpfully. Chaeyeon shoots you a look that practically screams I-told-you-so.“Whatever! I don’t want to date him anyway.” You pause, “Ugh, that’s so far out of the picture! I literally ran into him at a minimart. We didn’t even talk about anything interesting. You’re making me overthink!” As you scold them, they exchange a meaningful glance with each other, conveying their shared understanding that maybe it's not that far out of the picture for you to have a crush on the dance captain Chan. Based on what they've been told, it was really unexpected for him to go out of his way for you.

[misiwrites]

Mayblade Day 10

[previous: chapter 1 & 2 | chapter 3 | chapter 4 | chapter 5 | chapter 6 | chapter 7 | chapter 8 | chapter 9]

CHAPTER 10 prompt: maid characters: hiromi, max, mathilda, emily, giancarlo, mao, rei, takao, yuuya (+ mentions of others) pairings: max/rei, hiromi/takao

Tsuki, the prodigious one-person textile factory, did indeed finish all the bake sale costumes on time. When the day of the event came, Hiromi put on a maid dress of pink and white and baby blue, complete with an apron and a little headdress.

The dress was frilly, flowy and had puff sleeves, the skirt bell-shaped in a way that made her waist look small. Perhaps it was a bit too anime for her general tastes, but even she couldn’t resist how cute it looked. The part that she wasn’t quite as enthusiastic about was a pink buckle choker she was meant to wear around her neck, but belts seemed to be Tsuki’s trademark and she didn’t have the heart to refuse it after all the hard work Tsuki had put into making the costume for her.

The costume proved popular with other people as well; the compliments started coming the minute Hiromi and Salima began putting up the vendor stall for 1-A in front of the school. The baked goods were mostly handmade by students and their families, now swarming in to bring their freshly baked products to display. Bey Town High had never smelled as good as it did that Saturday.

At this point, it didn’t even surprise Hiromi anymore when the people in charge of the stall for class 1-B arrived and one of them turned out to be Max. The other was a girl with short pink hair, Mathilda. She hadn’t changed her clothes yet, but Hiromi could tell she would look aorable in the dress. Mathilda was like a doll, slightly shorter than Hiromi and cute as a button.

“I feel like we are cursed to become friends,” Hiromi told Max while he was helping Mathilda assemble the stall opposite 1-A’s.

He grinned at her across the aisle between the stalls. “Yeah, I have that kind of effect on people.”

Fifteen minutes before opening the school gates to the public, a van drove over with a cargo of pies and buns from a local bakery and Hiromi volunteered to help carry and distribute the goods to all the different class stalls according to the inventory, nine in total crisscrossing on both sides of the pedestrian aisle. Since the first-years were at the very end of the aisle, they had a nice view of an open area where the public would be entertained by whatever shows the clubs had come up with for the event.

When she returned to her stall, Hiromi saw the 1-B vendor getting ready across her. In an identical dress to hers but with pastel orange in place of her pink, it was Max counting the change in the tin box placed on the counter. No sight of Mathilda anywhere.

Okay, well. He was bold, she had to give him that.

The bake sale ran smoothly. Hiromi enjoyed serving customers and got a lavish amount of flatteries for the cute look, something she wasn’t used to at all and made her self-conscious yet happy; she was glad everyone else wore the same cute dress, for she couldn’t have dealt with sticking out on her own.

Emily came over with one of her sports friends in tow. The latter decided to buy an entire cake, but Emily said she had to keep a close eye on her calory intake because of the enhancement program and couldn’t eat sweet pastries. What a bleak existence, Hiromi thought but didn’t comment anything beyond “I see” out loud.

“Oh, no.” While her friend was busy with the cake, Emily had been surveying the aisle. Now she frowned. “The Casanova is here. Hiromi, pretend you’re dead, quick.”

“What?” Hiromi tried to lean over to see what she meant. “Who?”

“The Tornatore guy. Probably caught the scent of girls in short skirts from a mile away. I’m out of here, catch you later.”

In a moment, Hiromi understood what she meant: a guy with fair hair appeared to be moving from stall to stall, stopping to chat with the vendor girls, borderline leaning into their booths with no intention to buy anything. So he was flirting with them all in turns, based on the Casanova nickname?

Hiromi didn’t pretend to be dead. She’d been emboldened enough by the Shell Killer and Hiwatari Kai shenanigans to not be fazed by a guy approaching her. Instead, she assumed the most charmingly fake customer service smile and greeted him with a “Hello, how can I help you?”.

Giancarlo Tornatore’s pale blue eyes lit up at the sight of her. “Hey, you’re new,” he said in a nasal voice.

“I recommend the pecan pie. It’s locally produced, all green.”

“Where have you been hiding up to now, lass? You’re from A.” He’d found the plaque featuring the class name. “Huh.”

“Personally, I’m partial to banoffee pie. There’s a pinch of salted caramel in it, too. It’s delicious.”

“The type to play hard to get, aren’t you? I like that. It’s feisty.” Giancarlo flashed her a sleazy smile.

Hiromi’s fake grin widened further, her face threatening to split in half. “Too bad - our booth doesn’t seem to have anything for you, sir. Maybe next time.”

He gave up faster than she’d expected; Giancarlo settled with winking at her, grinning, and turned away. Then gave a long, hard look at Max who waved at him from behind the opposing stall, smiling as bright as the sun. In Giancarlo’s defense, he did seem to weigh his options for a bit, as if seriously considering whether he wanted to go for it or not… before moving on and leaving without another word.

“Ouch.” Max raised a hand over his aproned heart. “My fragile ego just took a hit.”

“Guy’s got poor taste.” Hiromi snuck a few crumbs of the banoffee pie into her mouth in stealth. She’d reserved one to buy for herself – she hadn’t lied, it really was her favorite.

The next familiar faces to pass by were Mao and the purple-haired boy from her club. Mao was thrilled at the sight of the 1-A stall, beaming from ear to ear. “You have banoffee pie! Yes!”

“You have great taste.” Hiromi smiled back at her.

“I’ll take two. And you!” Mao turned to the 1-B stall, arms spread wide. “Max! Come on darling, show me – get out of there, I want to see your legs, boy. Woo!”

She clapped in excitement as Max did step out of his booth to do a little pirouette in front of her, the dress twirling around him. The maid costume did suit him oddly well, and he looked like he was enjoying it, too. Now Hiromi wanted to twirl as well, see the pink and blue hem open like an umbrella around her.

Alas, she had customers to serve. Hiromi packed the banoffee pies into a plastic bag and handed it over to Mao. “There you go.”

“Thank you! These will last me at least five minutes.” Chuckling to her own indulgent tendencies, Mao turned to the boy she was with. “You getting something, Rei-nii?”

He stood by the other stall, his back and long ponytail to Hiromi, evidently taking his sweet time choosing. “Yeah, yeah.”

“There’s cheese croissants here. We could take some to Rai-nii.”

“Yeah.”

Max leaned out of his booth, pointing at some of the assorted pastries. “All these donuts are amazing, for your information. These heart-shaped ones have a raspberry jam filling. I just had two mocca ones…”

“Are you supposed to be eating the inventory?”

“Ssshh, nobody needs to know.”

A new batch of customers rolled in, and Hiromi sold almost all the remaining pies. While stepping out to rearrange the goods and replace the empty space left by the sold-out pastries, she noted that Mao had already left but the purple-haired boy still remained, apparently still undecided… or maybe not. He sure looked like he was just there to chat with Max.

It was looking obvious now that this was the person she’d seen Max texting before – or attempting to text. She’d also seen him linger around the wushu club twice already. Hiromi pretended to have trouble finding the perfect placement for some random pretzel, all the while spying on the boys over her shoulder; she couldn’t hear what they were saying anymore but Max, who already looked like an angel in the effeminate costume, wore the damn smitten smile of a giddy girl talking to her crush on his face. Fragile ego has been patched, I assume.

After a while, Mao came around a second time, this time with Ayaka. She couldn’t believe Rei was still choosing, grabbed the back of his shirt, and dragged him out of there.

They had one hour left of the bake sale. Whenever the stream of customers dried up, Hiromi spent the time watching the performances taking place at the opening next to their stalls. By far the most impressive one was a combined dance and acrobatics performance by what Hiromi could only assume was the circus club, because who else would have been able to do such tricks with a hoop of metal and bowling pins that were on fire. There were only two performers and they looked so much alike, they had to be siblings, if not twins. Their number was over far too soon, and Hiromi clapped along with the rest of the spectators.

When the acrobats were replaced by Brooklyn doing card tricks to children, Hiromi took out her phone to check the notifications. Then she checked her socials, then did the dailies in one of the mobile games she played. Then, once out of digital entertainment, she ended up passing the time playing around with the skirt. She wanted to get it to twirl as nicely as Max’s had.

She started out small, moving back and forth to make the airy fabric move in fun ways. Eventually, meaning only seconds later, it escalated into her spinning uncontrollably in the confinement of her booth; when the space got too narrow, she stepped outside – and stumbled, her head swimming and feet tripping all over themselves as she went. She wobbled like a drunk, fell backwards, and crashed right into someone. That someone caught her by the shoulders.

“Hey, wow wow, look out!”

Blood drained from Hiromi’s face at the sound of that voice. She turned just enough to see Takao’s face. For what felt like an awkward eternity in her imagination but must have lasted only a second in reality, their eyes were locked into each other’s.

Then she moved away, hastily, despite the world still nauseatingly spinning inside her skull. What were the chances of her bumping into Takao there and then? Probably close to zero, yet that was exactly what she’d just done.

“Sorry,” she mumbled and knew her face had gone beetroot red. She swiftly returned to her booth and sat down on the lone stool, breathing in slowly through her nose in an attempt to calm down and clear her head. Why did she keep embarrassing herself like this? And why did Takao have to, like, exist? He made her feel so many chaotic things in her small heart.

Max, on the other hand, had started laughing over on his side. “I totally get you, the skirt is addictive,” he told her. Then he proceeded to greet Takao – and Kane and Zeo who tagged along, of course, Takao wasn’t ever alone anywhere – and ask if he was there to buy something.

In addition to her classmates, Hiromi heard a fourth voice start talking, one she didn’t recognize. “Hello, I’m from the photography club! Could I snap a few pictures for the school paper?”

Hiromi stood up and saw a short, thin boy with plain brown hair and a camera hanging from his neck. It was rare to even see anyone carry a camera around in an era where phones had all but replaced such trinkets and many others.

The camera boy didn’t seem very impressed by the sight of Max who was preoccupied chatting Takao and the rest up. He turned to Hiromi instead. As soon as their eyes met, his were filled with one-sided recognition that said absolutely nothing to her.

“Ah! You!”

“Me?” Hiromi raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, who are you?”

The boy, who was dressed oddly formally in a suit-and-tie attire reminiscent of Professor, came over to her stall. He spoke fast and with inexplicable agitation to her: “Excuse me, my name is Yuuya. I’m from the photography club and we haven’t exactly ever met face to face, but I saw you – a week or two ago, I think? You were at a park in the east district, weren’t you? The large one with the pool. You were with Hiwatari—”

Hiromi yelled. Or it wasn’t so much a yell as a prolonged “ah!” sound to drown out Yuuya’s voice. Hopefully for ever.

“No I wasn’t,” she immediately said.

“Oh… Is this not you?” And the pesky photographer boy took out his phone and, to her horror, showed half a dozen paparazzi-like shots of her and Kai in the park together.

“Wha— Why do you have these? Isn’t it illegal to take pictures of people without their consent?!”

“Um… No, in public spaces it’s not, miss.” It was Yuuya’s turn to become flustered. “Sorry, I only took them for personal use. But it is you, isn’t it?”

Hiromi coughed.

“No,” she said and pulled at the collar of her dress.

Yuuya looked at his phone. Then he looked at Hiromi again.

“You are not Hiwatari Kai’s girlfriend?” he then asked.

She shoved a hand in front of his mouth.

“No, I’m absolutely not,” she hissed at Yuuya’s face, leaning in closer and mustering all the intimidation she could while wearing a frilly pastel dress in a stall full of cakes. “Don’t say that ever again and don’t show those pictures to anyone. Actually, I want you to delete them, okay? Understood?”

He nodded with so much vigor, his head would likely have come off its hinges soon if Hiromi hadn’t let him go a second later; once her hand left his mouth, the boy let out a heartfelt sigh of relief.

“Good,” he said, soothed. “I really thought he had gotten a girlfriend for a while there. All right.” He put the phone away and grabbed the camera proper again. “Anyway – could I snap a few pictures of you for the school paper, miss?”

This, she gave her consent to. But she felt sick to her stomach for a good while afterwards, feeling like her heart was about to climb up her throat and out of her mouth any second now.

[noortjelanterfanter]

I love how this is only 168 calories, that is insane to me. I've treated myself to 2 frikandelbroodjes for breakfast, which is puff pastry with some kind of mystery Meat in there. But to compensate I have a Light Lunch, nevermind it's nearly 4. I haven't decided what I want for dinner yet. It's either going to be a tuna pizza, or it's going to be Broccoli, potato and some kind of bacon thingamajig. I feel a lot better today. I got a few bags of candy too, because they were on sale, but they're not my favourite kind, so I should have control over it. We'll see :p

[egghead91]

Barodian Summers: Part 2

The afternoon lunch is taken with the compulsory watching of cartoons on TV. Mother disapproves of this heartily as we grow older and insists we take lunches with her at the table where we talk about this and that, family, friends, acquaintances or just life in general. Afternoons are swelteringly hot and there is usually a government issued advisory recommending that people don’t step out during this time to avoid getting heatstroke. The doors are shut, most windows too as the heat is so great. Most folk turn on the air coolers, with the more affluent ones turning on the air conditioning. Buttermilk is consumed in great quantities, sometimes with ice to help battle dehydration. The younger ones often demand something sweeter. And this is where mothers whip up juices and coolers. Rasna (a popular drink) sales are at an all time high during this time of the year. Mothers usually mix the Rasna powder and syrup with water and sugar to make batches of juices in various flavours: orange, mango, pineapple, lemon and a personal favorite - kaala khatta and store them in glass bottles in the fridge. The official reason for this is to have something in handy to serve unexpected guests. But children usually wheedle their way into having a drink or two with chunks of ice cubes, almost serving as ice golas than juice. Summer Afternoons are also that time of the year when mothers whip out their cooking skills and experiment with different types of cakes (carrot, pineapple, chocolate), pastries, custards (with grapes). Or while the afternoons away making Indian snacks (sev, potato chips, naan kattai, bhel, bhajiyas). The TV is turned on there whole time with cartoons or movies playing in the background. Parents also take naps during this time but children are restless. It’s only this time of the year they truly get the afternoons to themselves. Watching cartoons, movies, reading the latest fantasy novel, or that eponymous enid blyton novel, comics (Archies, tinkle, champak, gokulam, chandamama, TinTin, asterix and obelisk). The afternoon wears on to the evening. Where the dust settles somewhat and the heat cools slightly. Evening chai or tea is a must accompanied with whatever snacks are at home. Or father steps out sometimes for the evening batch of samosas or puff from the nearby Farsan shop. Sometimes he buys some ice cream too - mostly Chocobar or small ice cream cups or lassi or if in the mood to splurge he will buy icecream cones for all. Evening snacks are usually accompanied by chatter and discussion with in the family or a look at the latest news on tv. A mandatory watering of the plants and a small walk on the large terrace admiring the coral blue sky streaked with tiny white puffs and wisps of clouds or streaked with pink and orange bands and the setting sun in its golden orange yellow glory, warm and not harsh like its afternoon counterpart, letting the stars peak out like diamonds as the skies darken into dusk, purple blue and a slice of the pale white moon shyly peeks out. Signalling the end of another idyllic day. Sometimes a slightly cool breeze plays across the cityscape, ruffling the leaves of the trees and the plants as they themselves cool and sometimes you can smell the water quenching the earth from when the plants were recently watered. The sky is so clear that you can see great groups of birds flying home to their nests and mates and babies in beautiful formations, their chirping and cries sweet to the ears. Kids rush out to play, their bats and balls and rackets in hand. As if they are afraid to let even one day of their precious summer vacation go waste without playing.

End of Part 2

[cloudcountry]

hiii auburn congratulations on your bake sale <3 i'm sure your baked goods will be as lovely as usual, today i'd like to order some grape juice in mostro lounge™ sponsored collaboration cup along with apple slice rose puff pastry.

Thanks in advance, i can't wait to taste these upcoming sweet treats hehe

WIFEEEE <3333333 MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE WHOM I LVOE

an order of platonic fluff with epel felmier!

You can act like it bothers you all you want, but Epel knows damn well you’d still risk your neck for him. Maybe that’s why he finds so much joy in being reckless sometimes, because he knows you’ll come through. Maybe it’s because nobody ever has before.

You stare at his bruised knuckles as he chomps down on a bag of potato chips—like his chewing wasn’t louder than your questions about why he had to hide something like that—and frown.

He’s been your friend for so long, and yet he hasn’t changed even a little bit. You feel like you’re changing every single day, from your growth spurts (however impressive or unimpressive they may be) to your hair and sense of style.

Epel is still completely Harveston, through and through. It makes youw onder if he ever really left.

And maybe that’s why he still feels like home.

“What are you thinkin’ about over there? Ya look so serious.” Epel comments through a mouthful of chips, cramming more into his mouth as if ten at a time wasn’t enough.

You roll yoru eyes but there’s no malice. Just like always.

“You are unbelievable.” you say dryly, and Epel makes a soft noise of pride.

He’s so smug. He’s always been so smug.

A beat of silence, filled only by his chewing. Another.

“You haven’t changed a bit, you know? Sometimes I look at you and still see that little boy who played with me all the time.” you say softly.

He stops chewing and swallows, looking entirely unconcerned.

“That’s because we’re in this together right? Thick and thin?” he smiles, and you try not to notice the potato chips stuck between his teeth.

You smile and nod, feeling at home.

“Yes, thick and thin.”

[40sandfabulousaf]

大家好! For a change, I had a simple breakfast of local coffee and potato curry puff on a return to office day as a show of support for starving Palestinians in Gaza. Curry puff, or epok epok, is a crispy (sometimes flakey) pastry shell that contains fillings like curry chicken, potato and egg, curry potato or spicy sardines. I chose the humblest of them all - curry potato. Ingredients used to make this puff were basic, but the curry was tasty and the potatoes melt in your mouth tender. Pairing this with fragrant local coffee was satisfying even though I was very hungry by lunchtime. Whilst the gnawing hunger can't be compared to what Palestinians in Gaza are going through, it does give me a glimpse of the sheer magnitude of their suffering.

There's usually a long line of customers in front of the shao la (roasted meats) stall at the coffee shop I sometimes go to for WFH lunch. I was tempted to try their food, but the thought of queueing for ages just to place my order was a turnoff. On Saturday, I reached the coffee shop before lunchtime and, lo and behold, there was nobody! After collecting my duck noodles, I happily tucked in. It was admittedly good, the mee kia (thin egg noodles) was very QQ, the duck was quite tender and the sauce coated the noodles and meat without being too salty. But it wasn't exceptional; I don't get the fuss. Won't stand in line during busy meal times for it, but don't mind having it again if there isn't a queue.

Sunday was Father's Day. What better way to spoil Pa than with a delicious meal? I treated him to lunch of braised lobster yi mian (ee fu noodles), followed by local tea (for him) and local coffee (for me). Both of us polished off the giant plate of yi mian; not a strand was left. The meal was so filling that we decided to postpone dessert of ice cream and waffles, Pa's favourite, to another time. The enjoyable afternoon was spent leisurely discussing health and nutrition and current affairs, as well as updating each other about what we did during the week. To Pa, the most precious gift of all was the gift of my time. I'm glad he felt so happy and enjoyed our lunch.

The smoked salmon I ordered last week arrived. I've decided to have it as part of a normal meal. Palestinians in Gaza struggle to have adequate nutrition, let alone the luxury of chilled foods. What I did instead was open a can of baby corn for my weekly simple breakfast, since canned goods are included in the food parcels which Palestinians receive. To be frank, baby corn is delicious when stirfried with straw mushrooms, sweet peas, lotus root and macadamia nuts but quite horrible on its own 😅 That's precisely the whole point of this exercise - to understand and highlight their suffering. Palestinians in Gaza don't get to choose what kind of food they eat.

Today is Tuesday. Yesterday was the Hari Raya Haji public holiday in my country so our Muslim friends can celebrate Eid al-Adha. Things were much more sombre in Gaza where Palestinians mourned friends and family members who've perished in this genocidal war. Malls and dining establishments are usually packed on public holidays and it was scorching hot yesterday, so I stayed home, rested, exercised, danced, caught up on current affairs and wondered when the world will finally enjoy global peace again. I hope it will be soon. All of us thrived then. 下次见!