2nd entry - Reflections of 2007 (part 2)

(Continued from part 1)

On a personal front, I was mostly busy with work in 2007. There were many changes in my workplace and adjusting to them was very challenging. First of all, a nice boss left and I had to adjust to the new boss's working style which is very different. Then, Two co-workers in the same section who I befriended and enjoyed working together with subsequently left, which made me feel very sad. Of course, I had to get to know new people who joined the section, but fortunately they turned out ok.

In the middle of 2007 I started looking for a new posting because I was disillusioned with the direction that the section is going, the fickleness of my boss, and I was increasingly convinced that I was unhappy with my work. After a series of interviews, I finally got accepted at another department dealing with purchasing. I wanted to be able to learn a lot more and try something totally different from what I had been doing previously.

In Apr 2008 I started work at the new post. To my dismay, I got more than what I had wished for: there is too much to learn and I was overwhelmed by it. By Jun I was once again on the hunt for new posts, hopefully with better chances of finding happiness and satisfaction with my job.


Updates for 2008


In early 2008, I discovered the job of making kimchi, a korean dish consisting of preserved radish, white cabbage ("wong bok" in chinese) and carrot, seasoned with korean fish sauce, chili flakes, sea salt, sugar, garlic, (spring) onion and ginger. The recipe is as follows:

1) sprinkle the cabbage leaves with sea salt and soak in cold water until soft (just put enough water to cover the leaves). drain, wash and soak the softened leaves in clean, unsalted water for 15 minutes (the cabbage should remain salty but excess salt should be removed so that fermentation can take place properly). drain and chop the cabbage leaves into 1-inch segments.


2) shred carrot and radish. usually the proportion is one medium radish and two red carrot to one kg of cabbage.


3) process garlic and ginger finely in food processor/chopper. i would use about 3 cloves of garlic and 1 large piece of ginger for the amount of veggies mentioned in point 2 above.


4) if you like spring onion, cut the stalks into 1-inch segments. if you like shallots, you can substitute the spring onion with these but make sure you also add them to the food processor with the garlic and ginger. about 4-5 shallots should do it.
5) in a mixing bowl, put all the veggies in and add about 6-8 tablespoons of fish sauce and 6-8 tablespoons of chili flakes (can add more if you like). add 3-5 teaspoons of white sugar or 2 sachets of Equal. wear plastic gloves and mix the veggies with the seasoning until evenly mixed. the color should be bright red.
6) leave veggies in room temperature to ferment in containers (preferably with lids). glassware would be ideal but ordinary tupperware or disposable, clear plastic containers will also suffice (the chili will stain plastic containers). the fermentation of veggies can take anything from 6-8 hours to overnight or even up to 1 day. the longer the fermentation, the more sour the kimchi will get.