Getting out of the Rat Race

This week I have been feeling kind of lethargic and for two days, I actually took 2-hour nap in the afternoon despite have 8 to 9 hours of deep, undisturbed sleep at night. Also, I have been getting these neck/shoulder aches, which I always had when I was still working probably due to the long hours at the computer.

So yesterday I went for the yoga class with Anna whose husband is also in the same Class as Ah C. I have done yoga before when I had gym membership with California Fitness and True Fitness but yesterday's session was somehow the most relaxing one I ever had. They concentrated on breathing techniques and simple stretching moves which can be easily mastered by anyone with a few sessions while the yoga lessons which I had in Singapore tended to have some rather challenging moves which I felt can be too tough for beginners. I feel that yoga was never meant to help lose weight but to improve our flexibility, relax our muscles and joints (especially for people who exercise a lot but don't stretch enough) and helps improve our respiratory system. So I decided that I shall go for all yoga lessons, which is held three times a week :)

This aside, I feel very fortunate and lucky to be given this chance to take time off work, to reflect on my life for the last four years. I worked hard for the three years in the big four accounting firm, though not the hardest among my peers, sometimes even on weekends, having little time for personal hobbies and activities. Some nights I wake up trying to recall what I had to accomplish the next day and how much of my work was still outstanding. And I remembered during a inter-CPA futsal competition, I had to asked to be sub out during a game because I couldn't keep up with the game due to my fitness. That was the first time in my life I couldn't keep up with a game. Having been a very sporty person all my life, I felt like shit. Its not just about the looks, but most importantly, its about my health. We keep our bodies fit so that we can defend our bodies from sickness and diseases. And diseases doesn't just come with fat people. I have seen some peers who have lost weight I can tell you its not always healthy. The lack of muscle mass eventually makes injuries easier, weakens immunity system and makes you tire out easier as you age.

After I switched company (still working as an auditor), the better working hours meant I had more time to myself - time to read, to meet up with friends after work etc. But still I felt tired and fatigued. I still suffered from insomnia. Then I realise it was the job - the people and things that I had to dealt with on the job. I can tell you auditing is one of the most stressful job in the world. Not the toughest, but one of the most stressful. And its worse if you are not deriving any job satisfaction from it. And job satisfaction is not something "you get by with", but that you know you are working for a cause which you agree with or supports.

I see friends and peers consistently complaining about their job on facebook. Many end their week downing alcohol and breathing second-hand smoke in bars and clubs - need I mention the adverse effect alcohol has on our liver and the increased likelihood of cancer? Many of us probably does not realise the impact our current lifestyle have on us in the future - cos everyone is just doing the same thing. Just like everyone is in the rat race - but what are we exactly after?

I am glad to be given this one year time-off. Not because I can slack and do nothing. Not working does not equate to doing nothing (and come to think of it, working does not equate to something). But because I can now start being healthy again - I now exercise 4-5 times a week. I haven't drank alcohol for three months partly because i am on medication but mostly because I don't feel the need to drink to take my mind off something. I sleep 8-9 hours a day. I read so as to know more. I cook because its my interest and its what I like to do and also cos cooking home is healthier and cheaper than eating out.

Honestly I have no idea what I am going to do when I am back. But I know what I don't want to do - I don't want to be auditor ever again. If Ah C gets posted overseas for F16 training, I will follow. If he stays in Singapore, thats when i need to think. The "worst" scenario is that I will remain unemployed but we figured that we would still be able to live comfortably on Ah C's pay by our standards. Afterall, who's to determine what's enough?

I know not everyone has this chance, but if you could and you need to, take a break from work and figure out what you really want in life. Get out of the rat race, even just for a while. Because before you know it, you will be doing this for the rest of your life.

Bibimbap with bulgogi chicken

I realised that I haven't been eating much vege lately, partly because I only know how to cook vege with oyster sauce and I can't eat that all the time, and even back in sg, other than vege in oyster sauce, my other source of vege was mainly yong tau foo, which I can't really make due to the lack of fresh fish here.

I always thought bibimbap is one of the healthier korean food options due to the amount of vegetables that goes into it - carrots, beansprouts, cucumbers, spinach etc so I decided to make bibimbap with the gochujang (hot pepper bean paste) I bought from the korean market the other day!

So first, marinate the chicken meat (I use chicken thigh) in
1 tbsp of gochujang
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of sesame oil
1 tbsp of chinese cooking wine
3 cloves garlic
1 quarter white onion
1 tbsp sugar
for 1-3hours.

Different recipes you find online will ask for different ingredients (spring onions, honey, red pepper flakes etc) but I just made do with what I have. It still turned out great!

Gochujang

In the meantime, cut the vegetables (carrot, beansprouts -which is freaking expensive here, cucumber and green cabbage) into thin strips..


Once the meat is done with the marination process, heat oil in frying pan and stir fry the marinated chicken till fully cooked.


Now time to arrange all the items on the plate! Scoop a portion of rice into the centre of the plate and arrange the cut vegetables and cooked chicken around the rice.Top off the chicken with a sprinkle of toasted white sesame seeds. Finish up the masterpiece with a fried egg on top of the rice!


Serve with extra gochujang and sesame oil if desired. Its yums! :)

New Orleans

New Orleans is located in the South of USA, in the state of Louisiana, and is often referred to as the "most unique" city in America.

It is well known for

• its distinct French Creole architecture
  
• its cross cultural and multilingual heritage
• its cuisine (creole and cajun cuisine)
  
• music, particularly as the birthplace of jazz and
  
• its annual celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday. Popular practices include wearing masks and costumes, overturning social conventions, dancing, sports competitions, parades, etc.

Taking the St Charles Streetcar and moving along the Garden District and Uptown area, we saw beautiful and large mansions of the wealthy population in New Orleans. And as Halloween is round the corner, several of the houses had some really interesting and spooky decorations!




It is not uncommon to see musicians and dancers performing on the streets.

The days that we were there, there were these lighted parade trucks that were moving around every evening, and the people on it (appears to me like they are tourists) would throw strings and strings of colourful beads to passerbys. It was interesting but I still have no idea what it was all about.


Cafe Du Monde is an extremely popular and CROWDED coffeeshop and is opened 24/7 (except for Christmas day). It has a very limited menu - which is not a deterrent factor for people to stop by, because everyone is here only for their famous beignets (french donuts) and cafe au lait.


I kind of thought the texture tested like our butterfly fritters in Singapore, just with additional confectioner's sugar on top - a close "taste of home".

Louisiana Creole cuisine is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana which blends French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, Asian Indian, Native American and African influences, as well as general Southern Cuisine.

Fried oyster and shrimp po-boy
traditional submarine sandwich from Louisiana. Consists of meat, usually roast, or seafood, usually fried, served on baguette-like New Orleans French bread, known for its crisp crust yet fluffy center.


Crawfish etouffee
on base of roux (cooked mixture of wheat flour and fat as thickening agent) dark brown in colour seasoned with cayenne pepper, paprika, white pepper, garlic, parsley, salt and others. Served over rice.


To the wetlands for a swamp tour of American alligators!


Raccoon vs Alligator (over marshmallows)

Alligator feeding - not for the faint-hearted



A glance at the Audubon Insectarium and Audubon Zoo

At Audubon Zoo, the animals seem particularly lazy on the day of our visit..






Except this young orang utan He's so cute! Holding a rubber tub with his feet and swinging around!
We also visited the World War II Musuem and enjoyed the 3 hours there. I love history and always prefer a history museum to art museum. Art requires the skills or mentality to be able to appreciate it, while History is something that easily relates to everyone.


Amidst the flourishing tourism, I can hardly imagine New Orleans as the city which was worst-hit by Hurricane Katrina in Aug 2005. 80% of the city was flooded and and it is still on its recovery to pre-Katrina days.

Korean Market Rocks

Four hours from Del Rio is Austin where there is a reasonable Korean population for Korean markets and restaurants to survive.. and this is where i bought all this


A whole jug of home-made KIMCHI! - US$8.99

Kimchi goodness. yumsssss...

Grilled saba and kimchi for dinner - I learnt how to use the broiler (part of the oven) to grill my Saba!

Updates!

I have been pretty occupied lately hence the lack of updates!

Ah C just finished his last check ride ( kind of like a test) for the current phase so we drove out of Del Rio for the weekend. We headed to this city called Frederisksburg, which is a German town where early German settlers resided. It still retains part of the German culture and is home to Texas German, a dialect. As last Saturday was Oktoberfest, there was a three-day carnival and we went for a half-day visit for some German bratwursts and German music & dance - pictures are up on facebook!

We also went outlet shopping AGAIN. As we are going snowboarding in November during Thanksgiving break, we went in search of some ski jackets and pants. We have shortlisted a few but will probably buy them later since it is still more than one month away. There are a few shops which i frequent while i am at the outlet so i am going to list down my favourites:
1. Calvin Klein - for underwear and lingerie! its really 60% cheaper here than in singapore, sometimes i think its crazy.
2. Crabtree and Evelyn - i bought 4 bottles of 500ml Jojoba Oil Moisturiser at US$49. I just checked the Crabtree sg website and a 250ml bottle retails at $35.
3. Ninewest and Aldo for shoes and bags.
4. Banana republic, Gap and Guess for clothes.
5. Kate Spade is cheap too but recently I haven't seen any nice designs.

Before the drive back to Del Rio, we made a stop at the oriental supermarket to stock up on some cooking supplies - i think i went crazy there. We chalked up a bill of USD198 all on food, food of all sorts - unagi, sushi rice mix, fishball, meatballs, xiao bai cai, nai bai (vege), pandan leaves, anchovies, groundnuts, rock sugar, hua diao jiu, egg noodle, lotus paste and red bean paste baos, hello panda, pocky, chocopie, korean seaweed snack, hichew etc etc.

At the rate I am cooking, I think I might be able to operate a hawker center when I am back....

I tried making char siew this week and it was yummy! Ah C say got hawker center standard. haahaa.



I also made dumplings last week and to make it less sinful, I used grounded lean turkey instead of grounded pork - partly cos the ground pork here is prepacked and i don't have the option of asking for leaner cuts. There is no dumpling skin for sale in Del Rio so I had to make some from scratch. Its a tedious process - I spent the entire morning, mainly to make the dumpling skin but the result was satisfying. When Ah C says "Its damn good", I know its all worthwhile :)





And....
I have decided to start my driving lessons here... and my instructor will be none other than TAY AH C! Haha. Its rather convenient to get a license here. Just need to pass this theory test (much like our basic theory) to obtain the learner's permit and I can start my driving with any licensed driver as my instructor. So right now, I need to mug this book, which unfortunately, I haven't started since obtaining one week back:


Ah C will be finishing his last flight today for this phase and he got permission to apply for leave the coming week. So we will be going to New Orleans for holiday! New Orleans has been named the most "unique city" in the United States hence I am really looking forward to it. I hear there is a lot of nice food there - 2 more days!