New Year's Eve 2020年除夕

Today is the last day of 2020 and I am sitting in front of my computer reminiscing on the events that occured around me this year. Sadly, the first thing that came to my mind was basically how the pandemic Covid-19 affected us in 2020. It has affected the way we worked, the way we shopped, the way we socialized, travelled (if there was any) and etc. 

As I grew tired of the situation, I heaved a sigh of relief seeing that more vaccines are approved and are going out to the public. It will definitely take time to "tame" the pandemic but it is already a good start :)

However, there are still some highlights for me in 2020. For example, I picked up Tai-chi (24-form) again during the furlough and surprisingly I am starting to appreciate taking long walks in the forest. Besides, I have learned a Qigong (8 Brocades) which was recommended by Linda. And we bought an electric bicycle just in case one of us decides to cycle to work.

Currently, both Taichi and Qigong are my practice routine before going to bed and I am starting to see some positive affects. Let's give it more time and I will write about it one day.

Attached are some pictures and links. Let's us greet the year 2021 with hope and joy!

由于这是2020年的最后一天，我坐在电脑前，默默地回想起今年发生在我周围的事件。可悲的是，我脑海里想到的第一件事是Covid-19的疫情，和它对我们日常生活的影响。它基本上影响了我们的工作方式，购物方式，社交方式，旅行方式（如果有的话）等等。

在这疫情的影响下，我已经倍感厌倦。所以当我透过新闻看到更多的疫苗已获批准并正在向公众发行时，我不禁松了一口气。虽然还需要花些时间来“遏制”这种疫情，但这已经是一个好的开始。

但2020年，对我来说仍然还是有一些亮点。例如，我在休假期间再次学了24式太极拳，令人惊讶的是，我开始体会在森林里散步是一种乐趣。此外，我还学了八段锦气功（琳达推荐的）。我们还买了一辆电动自行车，以防万一我们决定骑自行车上班。

目前，太极拳和气功都是我上床睡觉前的锻炼方式，而我也开始感觉到一些不错的效果。给我一些时间，找一天再跟你们分享！

我在这里附上一些图片和链接，让我们大家开心的迎接2021年的到来吧！

Taichi 24 Form 太极24式 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXYxqz5mIbU 8 Brocades 八段锦 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDIx22h2TBc 58 Things You Probably Forgot Happened in 2020 https://mashable.com/article/what-happened-2020/?europe=true

My Philips Noodle Maker - After 3 years 我的飞利浦制面机 - 3年后

Believe it or not, I am very much attracted to kitchen devices and their functions. Whenever I am in an home electrical store (like MediaMarkt or El-Giganten), I would make a bee line to the kitchen section to admire the coffee makers, kitchen helpers, air fryers, grillers and etc. 

While I admire the different electrical appliances in the store, I do not consider myself an avid shopper, neither a compulsive one. I would normally consider and reconsider before making a choice, and would certainly consult Linda (my better half) before making a decision. As we would both act as Lawyer, Jury and Judge and try to rationalize (or out rationalize) the buying decision, even though sometimes the verdict would depend entirely on "empati" :-p

Regardless of how the decision was made, we bought a Philips noodle maker 3 years ago and we have been using it at least once per month ever since, basically just to make egg noodles. 300g of flour, 2 eggs and some water would make a batch of 5 portions in 15 minutes and it is completely automated. As a tip, adding some sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) in the mix would give the noodles a "ramen" feel. The freshly made noodles are then placed in plastic bags and kept in the freezer for making soup noodles during the weekends.

How is the cleaning, you might ask? Quick and simple, that is another reason why we are still using it :-)

Let me share some photos below！

信不信由你，我其实是个厨房电器控。每当我在逛电器商店时（例如MediaMarkt或El-Giganten），我都会一股劲儿跑去厨房部，欣赏着不同的咖啡机，厨房帮手，气炸锅，烤炉等等。 我并不认为自己是一个无节制的购物狂，我通常会在做出选择前考虑再三考虑，并且一定会在做出决定之前和琳达商量。这时我们俩都将充当律师，陪审团和法官的角色，试图合理化（或不合理化）购买的决定，即使有些时候，所谓的“判决”完全取决于对方的同情 ：-p

无论如何，我们3年前购买了一部飞利浦制面机。从那天起，我们每月至少会使用它一次来制作蛋面。 300克面粉，两个鸡蛋和一些清水，15分钟内就能打出口感好的蛋面 （五人份），并且是全自动化的。作为一个小提示，在面粉里加一些小苏打粉会使面条更具有“拉面”的口感。制作后我们通常会把新鲜的面条包在塑料袋里，并把它们冷冻起来，以便在周末里煮汤面吃。

清理会麻烦吗，你可能会问？快速又简单，这就是我们仍在使用它的另一个原因 :-)

让我在下面分享一些照片吧！

https://www.youtube.com/philipsplay/search?query=pasta%20maker