Welcome to Small Joys, a bi-monthly(ish) newsletter about all the little things that bring great joy. Here are a few things that have done that for me recently.
Eat: laksa from the grocery store aisle
Every time I’ve traveled to Singapore, I’ve arrived with a list of places to eat and have proceeded to have my mind and taste buds blown. One time, I dragged my husband to 328 Katong Laksa. Even in the million-degree heat, it was the best mouth-on-fire, sniffly nose, delicious experience. Before we flew back home, I grabbed a couple of packets of an instant laksa mix from the local grocery store (as many as would fit in my suitcase). It didn’t beat the real thing but it was pretty close.
A couple of months later, I stumbled upon that exact same made-in-Singapore laksa mix at my local T&T—Prima Taste’s Laksa La Mian—and I almost wept with joy. The block of noodle comes with a packet of laksa paste and a packet of coconut powder. It cooks in seven minutes flat and is pretty tasty. I eat it with a boiled egg, some cilantro and a spritz of lime, but you can add tofu, prawns, chicken, bean sprouts or whatever else your heart desires.
Watch: Ted Lasso
Ted Lasso is the most wholesome and earnest show I’ve watched in a long time. It’s the kind that makes you smile with your whole face. The Apple TV+ series follows a small-town football coach (played by Jason Sudeikis) who moves to England to teach a Premier League football club (the soccer kind) with zero experience and long story short: no one is rooting for him. The entire cast is amazing and there are so many witty one-liners. You don’t even have to like sports to love and appreciate this show.
In an episode of Brené Brown’s Unlocking Us podcast where she interviews the co-creators, she mentions how senior leaders have used the show as a leadership instructive. Which is great because we could all be a bit more like Ted Lasso. I have so many favourite lines, but I think this is the one I love most as someone who often takes things personally and sometimes holds grudges forever:
Buy: a little magique
I’m really into graphic designer Milou Neelen’s work and have always wanted her prints. She recently released a collaboration with Anthropologie, which has a few prints (this is my most favourite) but also some other equally covetable things. I love this stylish tote bag in green, which looks expensive and is perfect for park hangs. These slides would look good with a striped summer dress and a straw hat (and even better on a sunny vacation). The scalloped Bonjour pillow is also cute because, scalloped.
Read: a few great local newsletters
I love receiving newsletters in my inbox, which is a nice feeling to have when we tend to associate our inboxes with dread. Here are a few local newsletters I enjoy receiving:
Friday Things by Stacy Lee Kong is celebrating its one-year anniversary! It brings you smart takes on pop culture every Friday.
The Knowhow by Wing Sze Tang shines a spotlight on ambitious women doing noteworthy things.
At the End of the Day by Hannah Sung helps you process the daily news in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming.
Food and other things from Tara O’Brady delivers delicious morsels of food-related thoughts and recipes to your inbox.
From my bookmarks:
I love Jenna Lyons’s bathroom, which looks like a five-star hotel bathroom parked itself in a museum.
This story about taking up TikTok-endorsed punch needle embroidery made me happy and want to try it for myself.
Amanda Gorman on finding hope and resolve in 2021: “Hope isn’t something you ask of others. It’s something you must first give to yourself.”
The first two beautiful paragraphs in this story about why she bought a bookstore at 29.
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Have a great weekend!
Mishal