Ayam Penyet House

This morning I read in the Straits Times about how Google serves gloriously delicious and healthy free lunch for its employees (check out the pics here!).

It's an attempt to keep the employees satisfied during working hours which in turn improves productivity.

And I totally agree with it!

Lunch time is a great stress buster; it's timeout from all that coding to let the eyes (and tummy) rest on food, oh glorious food. Luckily for me, there are several great places to makan in the vicinity of my workplace. And it certainly helps that I have colleagues who knows what good food is and where to find them :p

Here, I shall introduce the Ayam Penyet House, which serves authentic Indonesian cuisine.

This is ikan bawal penyet (smashed pomfret).. the pomfret is probably covered up by the chilli and dried prawn seasoning..

this is empal penyet (smashed beef).. the beef is also covered up..

and I ordered soto (chicken soup) with rice due to a bad stomach that day.


On another day, we tried the Lontong Cap Go Meh.

'What in the world is Cap Go Meh?', I asked my colleague. It turns out Cap Go Meh is 十五夜 (quite close to how it's said in Hokkien), which means the fifteenth of the lunar month. So, as you might have guessed, the Chinese Indons have this sort of lontong on the fifteenth of the lunar month.

The lontong is a delightful mix of rice cakes, drumstick, salted tofu and chicken insides all dipped in a kind of sweet curry gravy. I gave the extra chilli a miss, though. But it was still really yummy :p

The strange thing was that no one ordered the ayam penyet. Haa.. But I've tried it before, it's really yummy too. I'll post the pics when I lunch there again.

Career search

I'd been to several job interviews in the past several months and came to realise that job searching can be a rather complex process. I attribute this to the current buoyant job market.

The good job market offers plenty of opportunites, which can only be a good thing for job seekers. But opportunities aplenty means more choices; more choices means some decision making has to be done.

Ideally, I'd like to hold a job that matches my interests, abilities, knowledge and needs. Yes, ideally. Because very often, the job on offer satisfies only some of the four conditions above, not all. Then I'll have to weigh the options and decide which ones are more important, and this is a headache.

People around advised me. Work for small companies to gain varietal experience. No no, work for big companies. Big companies provide a stable income and room for career progression. Hm, how about working for your passions? Great, I love travelling and exploring. What sort of jobs will allow me to travel and explore? Lonely planet! That sounds absolutely exciting to me, but the elders will remind me to "please be realistic", find a good job and settle down.

All the above are valid advice. But there's a lot to consider. Again, headache.

What I gathered from the day I started writing and sending my CV, is that job searching is a process of self-discovery. At the very least, I learnt that I didn't know myself deep enough to figure out what I'd like to do for the rest of my life. Pessimistically, this will incur a lot of headaches from all that decision making. But optimistically, this gives me the freedom to choose and make good of what comes my way.

After 4 months of interviews, offers and rejections, I'm still at square one. A little bit frustrating, but it's a step closer to understanding myself and to the career that I will enjoy.

继续找工作!

Healthy food

In food courts, a cup of Coke costs $1+; a cup of freshly squeezed fruit juice costs $2+.

In supermarkets, a loaf of soft white bread costs $1.40; a loaf of wholegrain bread "enriched with vitamins and minerals" and endorsed by the Healthier Choice logo costs around $2.

In wet markets, a huge bunch of bananas that looks to expire within a day is going at $1; a bunch of bananas that looks otherwise costs, well, depending on its weight but definitely more than $1.

At hawker centres, to add a few more strands / leaves of vegetables to a bowl of noodles costs an extra $0.50.

In organic shops (assuming organic food is "healthier" than non-organic ones) a bitter gourd costs $8. A non-organic one definitely costs a substantial percentage less than that!


So, has the privilege to eat healthy food been reserved to the better off only?

This does not make any sense to me. Everyone should be encouraged to eat healthily and we should be doing more than making consumers pay more for healthy food.

New year resolutions

The word resolutions casts a different effect on different people. The people I know are either against it, or, are neutral about it.

The people against it probably do so for either of two reasons: the word resolutions is degenerating to cliché, or, they simply aren't into setting goals.

I belong to the neutral group. The word, as it is, is fine to me; and I think setting goals is quite a good practice.

So, my resolutions for 2007 are:

stay healthy
learn a dance
learn a third language


Selamat Tahun Baru :D

New year wishes for 2007

I just realised how unprepared I am for the new year.

I have not printed my new table calendar nor updated my organizer. I also have not thought about resolutions.

Anyway.

Godsis sent me a very nice and simple sms on New Year's day:

Peace in your heart
Joy in your soul
Contentment in your life
Warmth in your home
May you always be blessed with these timeless treasures.

Which pretty much summarises my new year wish for everyone too.


Cheers to another year of (life's many) frustrations, struggles and woes.
Cheers, also, to another year of overcoming all of the above :^)