The year is about to end again and I thought I’d just check in with my realizations in the current year. I have been blogging from when I was 11 or 12 maybe and I can’t believe that I will be turning 27 in 2020, a year that we have always been taught would be the year of the flying cars in our text books. Here to give you an update that as at 2019, there are still no flying cars at all.
This year didn’t feel like the most positive year at all.
I began the year on a burnt out note, slaving my ass off since 2018 without a proper break and finally leaving my job as an external auditor in April 2019. Things did not turn out as what I imagined it to be. It isn't so easy to just hop to the non-corporate side of things. Was I ready to let go of all the working experiences that I slaved off for the past four years, and not forgetting the two and a half years of burning the midnight oil in ACCA and giving up the 'university life' as a professional paper student. I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to let go of the comfortable paycheck that helped to pay for my newly bought car. If I were to really take a break and be a barista, what am I going to eat or give back to my parents after paying my car installment? That was reality right in my face back then when I posted about rejecting the barista job that I really wanted to try out.
I was unemployed for four months, and while I was unemployed, I helped Dad to sell his water jasmine bonsai plants which he planted from scratch. He is really really proud and passionate on this hobby of his. (Come on, he worries about going on holidays because he's scared that the plants will die). I'm really surprised on the amount of plants we sold in the span of 4 months, but from here I also realized how challenging is it to run a business.
A customer may want to buy the bonsai because it looks cute, but you got to educate the customer on how much commitment it takes to take care and maintain the water jasmine bonsai. Yeah, during the purchase phase, you will meet different kind of customers, some who insist to just mail them the plant as it is 'just a gift', some really caring customers who have a real interest in water jasmine bonsais, some customers who just wants the plant for display purposes, but later on when they don't take care of it and it dies. (Read: All the leaves have fallen off and the plant is all dried up) They come back and question on how to save the plant. Sorry its too late bruh.
Dad says this is how running a business is like, make the money selling the bonsai and telling the customer how to take care of it and following up with the progress is the least we can do, but if something like the above happens, we can't do anything about it.
I just feel the pain because these bonsais do not just take the span of a few months to grow, some of them take a few years to grow to the sizes they are today, if it is being sold to irresponsible customers, it is really heartbreaking and a waste, but it's just my personal feelings.
As you can tell from the lack of updates on the Apple Bonsai page, I got lazy halfway.
I also worked on my interests. Because from speaking to people around me, they said never try, never know where I’ll end up with, but I guess I still don’t have the courage to push myself beyond my comfort zone. Still ended up in another corporate job... But let’s talk about that later.
The first of it, was getting to attend fitness classes on a more regular basis and challenging myself to the next level. I know every year I talk about my fitness and how I struggle with accepting myself as who I am in terms of my body, I am learning one step at a time on how to be comfortable with myself and how other people’s opinion about my body does not matter.
This year, still go for body combat classes, occasionally body pump and RPM. But what really surprised me is going for the classes where I really wanted to try but always seemed too intimidated. I started going for yoga and core exercise class when Ray was like come come one day and I started going for it regularly. I really enjoyed challenging myself in these classes, always the noob and getting better and better at every class learning something new, like headstand, or handstand. Currently able to do supported headstand against the wall, as for handstand, need to train walking closer to the wall. Always have in the past thought yoga was too tough, yoga is too slow for me, but in fact maybe I’m just a noob. Baby steps and hoping to level up my practice this coming year.
I thought I had the chance to attend more classes this year as compared to the last, but ever since I started working it’s a challenge to get off work on time and in time for classes. :( Everyday after work I drive like a maniac towards the gym and if I really do make it in time I count my blessings wtf. What happened to new job so that I had more time for myself?! Doesn’t work that way.
However, on things like my diet, I still eat everything in moderation, if there’s a day I felt that I went overboard, I will work out extra hard to burn off all that I have eaten. I would say that this year I have cut down alcohol and sugary consumption by a lot.
On to the next, I would say that this year is the year that I really continuously baked a lot!
I remember trying to make sourdough starter but failed miserably and just got some from my cousin. I followed this how to make a sourdough for beginners on frenchguycooking’s YouTube channel.
The first time was a total failure hahaha but still edible.
As you can see, I tried again and again and again until I got a perfect looking loaf. This bread making process takes about 40 hours, and the output is definitely worth it. Sourdough goes well with just butter, marmite, lotus biscoff dressing or with vinegarette dressing.
Learnt how to bake scones too! Still needs more practice because it’s abit too dry.
Also took me a lot of tries to bake chocolate chip cookies! This one is the soft type and finally got the perfect chocolate chip and sugar ratio. I was quite motivated to bake chocolate chip cookies because one of my friends commented on the first few bakes that “see also know” that my cookie was not nice. Finally got pretty decent chocolate chip cookies after 84858689596696 tries of baking.
Made homemade granola multiple times too. Very easy to make and what I like to have for breakfast.
Also improved on my coffee brewing skills. Began to know more about specialty coffee about two years ago when I consistently visited the same cafe and got to know more about coffee beans. Got my own v60 filter around end of last year and didn’t dare to instantly practice on proper specialty beans. But over time, after trial and error, started buying Artisan’s beans to brew coffee at home and been loving it!
Been loving Alejo Castrok’s Costa Rice Volcan Azul which has papaya, tolberone chocolate and toffee tasting notes, which I feel is towards the chocolatey and sweet side. Hopefully in 2020 I will have the chance to try other roasters in 2020.
In the past, didn’t know much about coffee, just enjoyed visiting pretty cafes and snapping photos... Until I went on this supposedly cafe hop meet up where it was such a turn off wtf. I had to pick this person up from the train station when he initiated for the cafe hop meet up, was made to pay for his meal and he took like 30 over minutes taking photos until the food was cold. Then felt really turned off by the Instagram cafe hopping culture. Hopefully not everyone is like that.
Also went for a Matcha Appreciation Workshop at Kita Coffee some time back. The workshop was conducted by Matcha Hero Kyoto, a Japanese Matcha seller who has a shop in Pavillion.
It was around one hour and the workshop felt very personal with only 4 attendees. We got to learn the difference between sencha and matcha, tasting different grades of matcha and and at the end we got to whisk our own matcha.
Makes me want to get my own set to brew matcha but I’m not sure where to get a good quality matcha whisk at a value for money price.
This year I spent more of my time for myself, and learnt to understand that myself comes first. And there is a life outside of work and not work and work and only work. Who are you without the work? I always felt like I didn’t have the time for myself to explore and was always constrained by the work factor by having to work 7 days a week. Besides that, managed to spend time with my friends and family, something I really really appreciate.
I feel like I held myself back this year a lot, I hope to improve in 2020 and do more.
Can’t really think of what else to write, but just a short update..
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