Hello everybody! Thank you for coming back for yet another one of my daily rambles! I much appreciate everyone who reads every single blog post, or anyone who reads a few, or anyone who has just read one post and enjoyed it. That was a long-ass sentence haha and I think I should start proofreading these blogs a bit better. Anyway...
As the title suggests, I am exhausted today. Last night, Luke and I had some friends over to celebrate my birthday which was really nice but I definitely struggled standing up for long periods of time, which sucks because I want to stand up longer so my back doesn't get sore. But definitely appreciated everyone who came and also the presents - definitely did not need presents but thank you very much! When you're away from your home country and family, having people around at times like your birthday and other special occasions is really important. It wasn't a late one but I couldn't get to sleep for so long last night. I wasn't sure if I should take some of my medications after a couple of drinks but ending up taking them quite late just to help me get to sleep so I'm glad that I did. Although, Luke woke up super early this morning and I was not ready to get up. We had a little sleep in and then got up to clean the kitchen and have some breakfast before Luke went to cricket. I was then planning on doing A LOT more than I have done today (I'm writing this around 5:30pm) and feel a bit guilty for not getting everything done earlier that I wanted to but my body just wasn't having it. I've had a bad IBS attack today, awful tummy pain, and lots of nausea/exhaustion so it was one of those days my body decided to just say NOPE, let's rest. But let's not let you nap either. Hahah, I've been having a lot of those days lately. Anyway, the day has seemed to escape from me so far but I've been catching up on some YouTube videos and just chilling on the couch. I managed to do one load of washing, put fresh sheets on the bed, and do about a 15 minute walk - which was nice to get outside but when I got back, I was struggling to breath a little so I made myself a dragonfruit smoothie and decided to taken my iron and B12 meds a little early today. The doc said you can either take them at night or in the morning but I'm kinda experimenting to see what works best for me like whether to have them with food or without etc. I'm also learning about SOO many new IBS symptoms and it's always bad to google your symptoms (I know) but I have been doing it a lot to make sure it's just my IBS and not something else but there's so many things that are IBS symptoms that no one tells you about and things that are interrelated. All the specialists just tell you to change your diet and then not change your diet and then you get lots of conflicting information and healthcare providers who are just like "meh". Honestly, thank f*ck for the internet in this situation! It's really helpful and I can't wait for more studies to come out on chronic health conditions like IBS.
Okay, that's enough complaining for today! I do want to find some comfy lounge-wear that I can get soonish to be comfy in with these extra IBS flares so if you know any great-well-priced lounge-wear, let me know!
Random thought of the day - did ya'll hear about the man who bit a crocodile back after being bitten by the croc? Honestly, it's terrifying. Have a read of this article "here." Honestly, that's crazy IMO. I don't think I'd have the guts to fight a croc back, I think I'd just take the defeat. I mean, it would make a good story right? Although I guess I wouldn't be alive to tell the story, so maybe this guy has the better story there.
I also felt like doing some research today but I didn't want to do anything too extreme while feeling unwell and being inspired by my own past blog posts (hahaha stealing my own ideas, cheeky), I thought we'd explore some of the world's weirdest snacks! So let's get into it.
The World's Weirdest Snacks
Dried wild fish (Russia) - what the fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck? Looking at the ranges online, I kinda feel like these would taste like a cross between anchovies and licorice. I don't think I'll ever try it but if you have, let me know!
Hakarl (Iceland) - essentially fermented shark - this kinda sounds weird to eat shark this way but tbh, it's not that weird because so many NZ fish and chip shops use shark so I know it's good fresh but idk how it would go fermented??
Octopus flavoured chips (South Korea) - I lowkey wanna try this and they're on Amazon so maybe I'll order them when I'm feeling a little extra and we have less snacks in the pantry because rn we have plenty haha.
Fish and chips gelato (Australia) - HAHAHAHAHA I am putting this on my list to try (sorry in advance Luke) although we'd have to go to WA. I haven't seen anywhere in Melbourne that does it. Tbh, you can make any flavour into ice cream - whether it works or not is a different story.
Marmite potato chips (UK) - I would eat these - Aus has vegemite shapes - I haven't had those but I like marmite and vegemite, the umami taste is just great.
I also wanted to find something weird from NZ but I really struggled because I guess my social context is mainly from New Zealand so all the snacks seem "normal" to me but I did come across "this" blog post discussion the wackiest thing kiwis eat (and a lot of things on here are really healthy so idk???)
Anyway, I'm gonna end it there! But for today's question, I want to know, what's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten? Let me know in the comments below. For me, it was canned snails and it was not great hahahahaha (and I guess you could say anything I've eaten in NZ, maybs).
Ka kite!
Much love,
Ash xx
Tried bulls penis on a school trip to Vietnam because someone ordered it. Was so rubbery and eugh...