The Diarygame (26-10-2025)A day of Rest rounded up with a few rounds of PS2 Game!!
Today, Sunday, the 26th Day of October, started off quite peacefully and calmly, as most of my Sundays usually do. Actually, Sundays are my rest days, and I usually do not wake up early. For a construction worker, I work over 48hrs a week, which is quite a lot, and Sundays are the only days I can rest properly and unwind. Not like I'm proud of this, though; I haven't actually been to church in over two years, though I intend to make a change in that regard.
So, I finally got off my bed at about 10am!! (You got that right, though 😅), said my prayers as always, then started my day. I cleaned my room, made my bed, did the dishes, had my mouth cleaned, and then next was what to eat for breakfast. I already had rice and stew in mind, since I haven't had that in a while, so it was easy for me.
On my way back from work yesterday evening, I had purchased most of the items I would be needing for the stew, including rice, except fresh tomatoes. I had bought rice (3 cups, since I live alone), groundnut oil for frying, goat meat as protein, cubes, red bell peppers, and other stuffs. So, this morning, I left for Anua Market, which is a much bigger market compared to the one where I stay (Use-Offot market).
On getting to Anua Market, which is about 500m from the village where I live, I met a POS attendant lady, made a withdrawal of three thousand Nigerian Naira (N3000), and then went ahead to get the fresh tomatoes from the Hausa guy (we call them aboki here in Uyo) and left for home. I bought tomatoes for two thousand Naira and kept the remaining one thousand Naira for miscellaneous. I trekked back home, cuz I didn't feel the need to board a transit, since I wasn't in any rush.
On getting home, I brought out the fresh tomatoes, cleaned them, and cut each one of them into two, put them in a pot, and started to boil. I added just a little water, since tomatoes usually have a lot of internal liquid content in them. It took about 15-20 minutes for the tomatoes to get soft, and then I put the pot down, transferred the already soft tomatoes into a mortar (since I have no blender), and started to grind gently. I had to be very careful while grinding to avoid splashes of hot water on me, since the tomatoes were still hot. Though, in a few cases, I still had the tomato water splash on me (this is inevitable 😃).
After grinding the tomatoes into a paste, I then transferred it back into the same pot to boil, so as to get rid of the remaining liquid in the paste, so I can proceed with making the stew proper. Once the tomato paste was ready, I proceeded with making the stew. I poured groundnut oil into a pot, let it bleach for about two minutes, added some sliced onions into the oil to release its aroma, and then I poured in the tomato paste into the boiling oil. I let it cook, while I stirred at intervals to avoid the paste getting burnt. It took about 8-10 minutes for the tomatoes to be done.
I then went ahead to add my already cooked protein (goat meat), added three cubes of Maggi seasoning cubes to taste, a pinch of salt, fresh ground pepper, and continued to stir. At this point, the aroma of my stew was nose-blinding!! 😅 After a while, I then added the meat stock into the pot of stew and let it boil to mix properly. This took about an extra five more minutes before I put the stew pot down.
After the stew was ready, I placed another pot on the gas, added about two cups of water, let the water boil for about four minutes, before pouring the rice into the pot. After about eight minutes, water had reduced, and then I put the pot of rice down for washing. While washing, I put a kettle on the gas and added about three cups of water and let it boil. After washing the rice, which didn't take long, since the grains were stone-free, I poured the already boiling water in the kettle into the pot of rice and then poured the rice back into the pot and placed it on the gas to cook. Reason why I usually boil my water before adding the rice is so the rice cooks faster and so that it doesn't get soggy. Since it was an already boiling water, it jdidn't take long for the rice to cook.
In less than 20 minutes, my rice was ready. I then put the pot down, once water had dried up, and then dished out some of the rice into a flat bowl; breakfast is set!!! 😃 I ate to my fill and then took all of the stuffs inside (which includes my cooking gas cylinder, bowls which I had used for the cooking, amongst other cooking utensils). I then sat up for a while, so the food could digest properly, before proceeding to lie down on the bare floor. While laying down, I fiddled on my phone to while away time. In no time, I had dosed off.
I slept for about three hours, and before I woke up, it was almost 2pm (WAT). I had a few dirty clothes to wash, this I did, knowing fully well how busy my week days usually are. It took me about an hour to do the laundry, and then I went back to sleep again. Actually, I sleep a lot on Sundays, since it is my only free day of the week.
When I woke up, it was already past 6 o'clock (pm). I don't have enough water left for bathing, so I grabbed a bucket and left for the tap to get some water. On getting to the borehole close to me, there was no water there, due to there being no light. The poor power situation in Nigeria is quite documented. So, I had to trek a bit more, about 500m more, to get water. Finally, I got water and left for home.
On getting home, I poured the water into my bathing bucket, went to the bathroom, and had my bath. After bathing, it felt like heaven!! I felt so fresh and brand new!! 😃 So, I got dressed, picked up my phone (at this point, my battery percentage was at 8%), so I went out to look for where I could charge my cell. I checked a few places around, but there was no light, so I proceeded to a Gaming House across the Street. Luckily, the generator was ON, so I went in, found a place on the socket, and plugged in my phone to charge.
While my phone was charging, I grabbed a pad and proceeded with playing a game of football (Pro Evolution Soccer; PS2). This I haven't done in a long time. I had a friend join me as well, and I must confess it was quite fun!! After about four rounds of playing, the game house owner (we call him boardman) began to signal for us to round up, that he was about to close. He did shut down at about 8:50 and then put the Generator Off. I grabbed my phone and left, so I can find a nice place to write about my day and share with you all!!
As I reflect on my day, I'm grateful for the opportunity to rest and recharge. It's been a peaceful Sunday, filled with simple pleasures and quiet moments. I'm looking forward to another busy week ahead, but for now, I'm content to unwind and enjoy the evening.
So, ladies and gents, that sums it up for today on THE DIARY GAMES on my blog. See you all once again tomorrow for another episode!! Byeee!! 🥹 I love you all!! 😘
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