i didn't go to sleep until 5am last night and even then, i woke up at 7am to use the bathroom because my internal clock got all messed up and thought it was already time for my morning poop. i promptly went back to sleep, where i didn't wake up until 11am. i left by noontime for my parents' place, to eat more turkey and do some black friday shopping online. i took the motorcycle; there was so much moisture in the air (i think there was fog overnight) that condensation had formed on the chrome parts.

i was so busy telling my parents what i ordered late last night that i didn't have lunch until around 1:45pm.

i was having buyer's remorse over the t-fal cookware set i got for just $49. i think the material's very cheap (just non-stick aluminum, not anodized, not ceramic), maybe okay for simple cooks, but not a seasoned food maker like myself, i deserve something better and longer lasting. i got lost in the battle between quantity versus quality, and as a self-professed cheapskate, the allure of the low price was too great to resist. maybe these can be for roommates, and have another better set for when i live alone.

i also told my mother about ordering the samsung S9+, but she already knew that because her amazon app is under my account and it sent her an update. i was worried about cancelling-then-uncancelling last night, but the seller was okay with my indecision. but just today i came across the TCL 10 pro for $314, and it looked like an S9+ (with the curved screen edges), except there's a row of 4 cameras in the back (many with OIS). there was also the motorola edge (also an S9+ clone) for $400 (though the cameras don't have OIS). i started to think i acted too hastily in getting the samsung, but after reading a few reviews, the consensus was they looked good on paper but weren't great mid-tier phones. the S9+ - despite it's age - was the samsung flagship phone, so it has all the bells and whistles.

finally, i was looking up japanese apricots, after the opposite door neighbor handed my mother a note with the website to buy prunus mume saplings for planting in the spring. they were all out of the deep red varieties, only the pink (which look similar to our kwanzan cherry) and whites, so we ended up not getting one (frankly, we don't have the space either).

only when my mother came back from her walk did i finally have something to eat. today was a mostly grey day but warm, with temperature in the 50's again, similar to yesterday's weather minus the rain.

my parents decided to buy a joyoung electric baking pan (JK30U-D1). i was going to buy it from huarenstore.com (the same place where my parents got their joyoung soy milk maker), bit the $10 off black friday coupon was only good on purchases over $100 but the baking pan was just $99.99. we tried to pad the purchase but they had nothing we want. fortunately i found another place - yamibuy.com - that had it for the same price but with a 12% off black friday coupon so it was even cheaper. i'd never heard of yamibuy.com but my sister recognized the website, said one of the astrophysicists upstairs buy from them all the time judging from all the yamibuy logo boxes. besides asian cooking appliances, they also sell asian foods and cosmetics. we added some concentrated plum juice and hot konjac jellies, the final price was $95 including free shipping and no taxes.

the last thing i bought today was a pair of extended baofeng batteries (3800mAh) for $25. i found what looked to be similar batteries for $24 and was going to go with the cheaper option, but then discovered that the $25 batteries could not only be charged by the baofeng cradle, but through a special USB cable as well, which we bought ($4.74). i was also trying to see if i can get a pair of cheap DMR transmitters but the cheapest one i could find was still $75 transmitting on UHF/VHF at 5W (baofeng and radioddity).

instead of having turkey rollups for dinner, we had noodle soup in turkey broth.

my merrell moab 2 waterproof hiking shoes in beluga size 7.5 ($80) was waiting on my doorsteps when i got back home. i ordered the same size as my previous pair of moab so they fit perfectly. my old pair was not only worn out on the inner back heel, but it also lost its waterproof capability as my feet were wet the few times i went out in the rain with them on. even worse, they've developed a shoe funk i haven't been able to get rid off, i'll probably need to unlace them and soak them in some oxiclean to get rid of the smell. these not only serve as my hiking shoes, but also my rain and snow shoes (when it not too deep out, otherwise i wear my rubber boots as winter boots, although i should get a proper pair of waterproof winter boots as well, they not too expensive, i saw some waterproof nortiv 8 brand for $40).

i got really sleepy in the evening, almost decided to call it an early night and go to bed at 9:30pm. but i caught a second wind and suddenly regained all my energy.