Korean High School Admission (Part 2)

The next part of the admission process is over and another waiting game begins.

Quick recap of this month:
Week 2. Part 1 Submission of documents online (3 days)
Week 3. Result for the qualified ones and submission of personal essay the next day (2 days.)
Week 4. The interview.

We were scheduled to be there at 12 o'clock which is just super fine with me as the official driver, moral supporter/parent. :D We had time to cook and eat hoteok as brunch (not necessarily the best choice for nutrition but all for setting the good mood for a possibly stressful hours ahead.) I had my gears packed: 3 screens, papers, and snacks. I knew we will be in for a long wait.

We got to the premises almost on the dot, drop the kid off and found myself a good place to park. There were already a lot of cars in the field/parking lot but not as full as it was during the "orientation." As few minutes after we got there, the morning set started to finish and leave.  I didn't bother to go inside for the next 2 hours since there were a lot of other parents going in and out of the building just waiting.

Much more than the interview that got us there in the first place, I was keen on working on my monthly plan, writing and figuring out my new Ipad. lol. Kidding aside, I knew it would be another few hours of hanging so gotta keep myself busy. I chose to stick inside the car but when I finally felt cold and needed a break, I went in to get some hot drinks. There were still a few more parents waiting inside near the heater, and inside the gym while some are milling about with younger kids in tow. I just can't stand sitting around with them while waiting for the interview to finish. I headed out for a walk to warm myself up.

I found a nice little hill behind the school with about a hundred steps to the top. It took me a minute to go up but almost two to go down. I had to stop in the middle as I've realized that it's because it's steep and I had to be more careful as I take each step while looking down. There's more "fright factor" in every step. Unlike heading up, my focus is on what's at the top.

It's time to head back to the car even if I still wanted to explore since my battery is almost gone. I had no idea when my kid will finish and call so better find a way to charge. It still took almost an hour's worth of me making a rough template on the "good notes" app. All is good for the day except for the blog writing that I didn't get around to as there was not much call to write for me. ;) (This came later day.)

My kid finally emerged from the building around half past four and he was, of course, hungry. We both were. I got a bit of quick run down of what happened at the interview in the drive back home but we left more details for later. We hurried home to cook rice and salmon for dinner with an hour or so before my husband got home around half past six.

So here is what we got from the kid.

The phones were collected and they were made to wear graduation gowns over their clothes. Only some papers were allowed while waiting. Unfortunately, kid didn't bring any book. And the gowns, I figured it's to keep any bias towards outfits and all. Hubs also thought the same. Pretty neat.

There were two rooms. One for the similar question and the next is for the more random ones.

There were 4 questions.
1st Q. They were given a few minutes and a sheet of paper to write down their answers. This, I think, is to jump start the interviewees to answer questions and calm the nerves. I really had no idea if P had to calm any nerves since he said that he fell asleep while waiting for hours. :D

2nd to 4th Qs. The basic oral questions which can sometimes be actually fun for both parties. As an interviewee, you have to think on your feet, be creative while being honest and leave a good impression. As an interviewer, it's interesting how different people will behave in such circumstances and how varied their answers will be for the same questions. I find interviews pretty interesting, generally speaking, as long as it is not an oral-quiz-kind of interview. That reminds me of something else that I really don't want to rehash right now.

Back to the present interview, the kid emerge not feeling very confident on how it went. It was all a very new experience for him. Some questions were from real life while some were a bit philosophical.

One question was about the country's declining population, and another from his self-introduction essay. He was pressed to come up with a "career type" of question and his answer totally had both me and his father trying to suppress our laughs. We instantly thought about the time when we were stressing out over his essay. Writer.

But who knows? The next three years of his high school life might be a revelation on what he can do, whether it be writing, public speaking, or something. I'll leave at that.

We got a few days to wait for the final result on this whole thing and I can now start on the "lists" and financial part of this next phase. One day at a time.

Korean High School Admission (Part 1)

It’s the holiday and I have this headache bugging me to get a nap but I can’t help the draw to write.

Part 2

We are in the middle of waiting for the second part of the process in getting into the target high school. I heard that a friend we know I had already got the result from another school that they had applied for around the time that our had started. This holidays had not been very specific yet as we still have to complete the whole process for ours. There are a lot of things going in relation to that school admission so other things had gone down the priority list.

The self-introduction essay has been the one that gave us a lot of stress for the past few weeks. We only got a bit of break after submitting it last week. Got a weekend off before the interview this coming weekend. I have no idea how other kids are preparing but we definitely are not. The initial documents screening has been a bit stressful as well because we had to keep an eye on the numbers coming in as compared against the quota set by the school. Fortunately, the numbers are almost perfect for what we had been hoping for. There was some worry on the second day when it didn’t add up but it went down the next day to the ideal numbers to keep our minds with less worry. We sure breathe a sigh of relief at the end of the submission period.

The next part is the interview this weekend and the final result will be released next Friday. This is also the same day as their middle school graduation so it’s going to be a pretty tricky day. There’s so much suspense in this schedule. I will have to start making a possible schedule on my calendar on what needs to be done around next week and after we get the results.

Let me just get this through one day at a time. On to my lists now!

Car Maintenance Diary

It's almost the end of the year and my wallet is almost empty even if I had just my salary this week.
Well, not quite empty but there is definitely some gaping hole. It would have been better if it has gone to some investment fund but it went into the car insurance and maintenance instead. Cars are really a double-edge sword when it comes to life. The cost of freedom can be pretty expensive.

Since this is a "diary" entry, I will try to recall the big ticket cost that I had to get done for the vehicle this year. There are papers related to this but it's currently unavailable. I will have to update my notes and files before the month ends. For the meantime, here's the list.

Early this year:
belt - Cost: around 350K, included washing liquid, maybe change oil?

(whatever belt was that) This is a pretty expensive belt as I had to change every part. The mechanic informed me that the belt was almost totally broken and it was a miracle that I was still able to drive without a big accident. I caught it at a critical time, having heard some strange noise a few days before bringing it in. I was actually more concern about the brakes, those being the only thing I was familiar with as the common problem for a newbie.

Oct. - Car insurance renewal.
Cost: around 600K.

Hubs managed to get a 100k discount (cash back actually) by acquiring a new credit card (Shinhan) but it will be reflected after a month. So far, we only have 2 CC, both acquired because of some discount from car insurances I think.

Nov. - 2 or more liquids, and rear light.
Cost: 200k?

I got this nagging feeling that I ought to visit the mechanic around the last quarter. First was to check those break pads again, and perhaps change tires in order to prep for winter driving. But it will have to be after the insurance and before the snowy weather.

This happened around mid to end of November. Again, I went in for a concern but ended up with a different thing. It was still the breaks but we only managed to change the liquid and the left rear light. The light was busted and filled with water but I had never noticed it at all. When I asked if I can put that off, I was told that it was the signal light or something and it will be awfully dangerous not to fix it right away. Who knows since when that got broken? My only guess is when I drove through automatic car wash.

Dec. 2 - total tire change, breaks, break pads, and trans/emission fluid.
Cost: 600K

Finally, my main concern from the beginning and the real big ticket item that I know coming has been dealt with. I now have the peace of mind of driving more safely in this winter season.

The only thing that I may have to put in my laundry list by next year is the battery. From the looks of it, the battery would still be at best until next winter. Well, that plus the insurance, 17K-won required car safety check, and regular liquid checks. 

My to-do list for car maintenance:
1. find all those docs from shop
2. figure out when and which liquids needs changing
3. put the info in the calendar for schedule and budget
4. start building another running SA account for those expenses
5. start saving up for another car when I decide to let go of this one in a year or two

Bottom line. Having a car is a liability. It's better to maximize this "asset" to be able to offset all the expenses that comes with it.

Moving Up to a High School in Korea

(15 Minutes. That is all that I have to write whatever in on my mind lately.)

This is just a SotM (State of the Mind) write up on how we are going with the upcoming phase in my son's academic life.

This month is the start of the application period for the high school that we are eyeing for my son. This was not really something out of the blue since this particular school has been an additional point of us moving to this side of the country. But through the following years, the reality of not being able to get in or even just trying has not been particularly encouraging. For one, my son has not been that keen on his academics as most Korean straight-A kids are because we started him here on a laid-back approach to first learn the language.

Middle School came a bit of a panic as some parents are already starting attending High School orientation programs even if the kids have just started middle school. Non-Korean me is basically clueless and a bit appalled at the idea and my Korean husband is not really quite helpful. By the time the 2nd and 3rd (final year of MS) came around, our son's grades has not really shot up to stellar levels that a fancy high school requires. Only one thing that is consistent is the English one which will be a no-brainer since that is his first language at home.

We had tried to gather bits of info about the intake system but the local MS he is at was not really very encouraging at all because of his "numbers" (aka grades) at school. I had to directly go to the High School admission office to get first hand information. That, itself, was another emotional experience that might be in another post.

My husband finally got around to really looking into the details and chances of admission as the date came nearer. The month is finally here. We are still behind the essay part since it's really harder to get my son writing as he grew older. The only good thing is he has chosen to do try for admission at least. We just need to work more for the whole process to end in a total admission into the school.

I happen to chat a bit with a few non-Korean moms a few days ago who had older kids and asked how did their kids transitioned from MS to HS, starting from choosing and getting into HS. My worry level this month is pretty high so I wondered about how other parents went through it. This is not exactly Sky Castle level (if you know the K Drama that I mean) but my question was met like, they didn't had to worry much. Their kids told them, "don't worry, I got this." Or their kids' simply followed where their friends were heading, which is usually to the most basic high school around. Either that these parents are clueless, or just so laid-off on their kids' academic life. One thing that a Korean mom - friend that I know is neither though. She's the one who suggested ideas for me to attend such and such where I am usually the only southeast Asian mom who shows up.

Looking further into these specialized school, we've learned a bit to encourage us enough to really try. We believe that there is a place for our son in that school. It might need a little more effort that just signing up with a name but it can make a big life difference. There are opportunities that one just have to recognize and act on it. Getting into it might also mean extra monthly expenses for the next three years but we will be able to do it even if that would mean more work hours. But that is putting the cart before the horse.

Our goal until the end of next month is to get admission. I have no idea what other people did before or how they think but we will press on. I will try to document the process in case someone in the future might find this information helpful.

~~~
Year 1 MS: Get those stellar grades, specially on the subjects that matter, depending on the school of choice. Rake up the volunteer hours doing meaningful works. Start attending (solmyeonghae) to get direct information on such.
Sept - Nov: Attend the latest Solmyeonghae or get the final info on the specific dates for the process for the current year (application period, interview, docs needed like report cards, etc.)
Dec.: Finish the self-intro essay.
Week 2 : Submission of documents. First level results based on docs.
Week 3 : Submission of essay. Interview.
Jan. Week 1. Right after new year, Level 2 results.

This is the main deal. Pass this! The following weeks will be completing the final documents and such before the end of the month for the announcement of who will be the official freshmen for the next school year.

When all of these are completed, you got the month of February to chill and prep for the March school year to start. Sometime between these weeks will be getting the freshies supply ready for the dorm life in high school: uniform, clothes, beddings, personal effects (whatever that may be) and of course, mental and inner strength to face the unknown for the next few weeks at least.

11AM. One hour. I sure cannot stop writing once I get started. Signing off now. 

September, the Good Times and the Bad

As much as I like writing things chronologically, there are times when it's just too painful and complicated to make it on written form. Things that happen still have to be documented, but it won't be now. Maybe a bit later. This would be the "feel good" life episode.

A working woman has more financial freedom --- unless you're an heiress. :)  Well, I am not so I have to work and I like it. I may not have to pay the bills but at least, I can cover the grocery and my personal cravings. ;)   

My day has been a mini adventure today. I was able to attend a Korean-based training for after-school teachers after an hour drive, taste a worth-it fungi (mushroom) pasta, explore an area that I had wanted to check out before, and learn a few things even after a few kinks along the way.

On General Things
1. Research the target area more to avoid unnecessary expenses if possible.
2. Be more generous with "thank you" and "I'm sorry" as needed, but especially do more of the former. Think of Belle.
3. Relearn the Korean versions of these, especially the "kahmsahmnida" and "jal mogeutsubnida."

Specific Ones
1. Bring the parking stub with you to get stamped on especially in old buildings' underground parking. And do not lose any of it, parking stub or store receipt.
2. Always keep cash in the car, bills and coins.
3. It's a bit of a stretch to find parks in cities with good parking space so one has to do some diligent research or just risk parking anywhere.
4. It never hurts to ask questions. 

Work related ones:
1. English driver's license are available for request (with 10k fee) at police stations and not at pachulsu. It will take two weeks release if done there but it can be available right away if it is directly applied for at the driving testing centers.

2. The KFV will need at least 2 hours to maximize the 20k entrance. And the parking is pre-paid, 2K (for a small car) either by card or cash. (ATM inside is KEB.)

3.  ATC seminars can be worth the trip, mixing work with fun.

4. I've realized that the Confucian School that I was considering to write about has some conflicting points on my feminine POV so I will have do more online and library research before I finish my post on that. (along the lines of gender inequality and hierarchical social relations)

5. I've also searched the IG accounts of the other places that are on my list and they look promising.

Can't wait for the next meeting and be able to start the legwork before writing. 


Quote for the day which I believe is not really from Einstein even if it's been widely credited to him. This is what seems to be how my driving for the day pretty much ended -- a lone wanderer in that Confucian school.


"The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before."

Another Baking Weekend!

Quick notes for the stuff that I baked today: 2 lemon-related sweets and a yeast muffin.

 I feel I had to use up at least a few lemons from a bag that I bought early this week at Costco. Recently, 23 pcs pack cost 2500KRW nearby but I spotted this bag with roughly about a dozen pieces for 8000k. It's was time to make one of my dream pies and make some lemonade too!

1. Lemon Pie (originally a Lemon Meringue recipe)

 

This is a recipe from one of my fave blogger Jenny Can Cook who hardly uses butter for baking.
Her apple pie is my go-to recipe for anything pie crust related. The lemon pie included a meringue recipe but as usual, the amount of sugar already in it made me skip that part. The filling itself needed 1.25 C to 1/3 C of cornstarch which I understand since we're dealing with the 1/2 C sour lemon juice. That is my limit. I know I can very well cut down the sugars and it will still be good.

Result: It was a bit on the sour side but the crust made up for it. I've rolled the crust a little bit too thinly and unevenly so there was a bit of extra that I had to trim off the edges which I baked separately used to scrape off the leftover filling from the saucepan. That is how I roll. ;)

I've also attempted on the 3-finger scrimping but it's still far from satisfactory. And I also tried to remove wax from the lemons in the microwave so I can zest it. It was magical. I know that nuking something can have some micro reaction invisible to the eyes but boy, I was able to get a lot more juice easier than by just rolling it before squeezing. That was a cool hack that I learned from experience today.

2. Lemon Squares

 

I don't understand exactly why Jenny Jones' called it Lemon Brownies on her site but I'll stick with simple squares even if I didn't end up cutting them into squares. :D As usual, the amount of sugar it requires really put me off and I cut down the 24 T to 20 T. (I doubled the recipe to fit the only available pan I had which is a rectangle one.) I also skipped the glaze and good thing I did because it was already too sweet even with all the sugar adjustments I've made. Imagine, 2 C of flour to 1.5 c of sugar and only used 2 T of lemon juice? I didn't see that coming but I do have an idea now. The west really uses more sugar than I can imagine and I've gotten used to adjusting the amount of sugar in these recipes. Nonetheless, I am thankful that a site like hers exist. It makes me realize some personal baking goals that might otherwise have been harder for me to tweak.

Now for the notes:
I can possibly triple the recipe to fill up my rectangle pan. (I might really consider getting a square pan in the future, along with a pie ring for my pies. My baking hobby can really be making  on my budget.)

This is a fairly easy one to put together especially since I skipped the glaze part. It only needed 20 minutes in the 180 C oven.

As I've already mentioned, I need to adjust the sugar more next time. We used Nutella (yes, I bought it as a treat this month but it's a once in a blue moon thing) as a spread on it as if it wasn't sweet enough still. I do believe that lemon and chocolate will not be that bad. lol

3. Yeast  Muffin

This is nothing new in my regulars but I've doubled the recipe since I accidentally bought a taller muffin liner a week ago when I finally got a 12C muffin pan. (Can you even breathe though that sentence? Whew!) The original recipe filled the 6C pan with a bit more for another or two when I used the smaller liners. After my initial trial last weekend, I figured out that doubling the recipe (but not the yeast: 2.25 t to 3t) and using the tall liners will fill the whole 12C pan. Not so bad as I have a 200pc pack of liners that I had to use up. They're really big and filling.

I did half cinnamon and Nutella to jazz things up today. My son is pretty happy with the latter. It's a bit step up from the cocoa mix I used last week which he liked as well. But boy, cocoa powder can be pretty pricey if I use it that often. :D I made 12 cinnamon muffins but I added a dollop of N spread on the 6. Half and a half to even it up. If given a chance, I'll try the cheese next time. And raisins and nuts. If only not for my son... *sigh

The 6 cups of flour that I had to mix today fit perfectly in the 30cm stainless wok and the silicon pastry mat worked well as a cover while the dough rises.

It's almost 12 midnight and I have a smile on my face as I stare on the 4 containers filled with the baked goodies sitting on the table even though I still have to wash the remaining dishes and stuff before bed. So off I go now!

P.S.
Recently learned about free Alexa Music by decade and it has been good keeping me company at home even if I have to be doing some Korean stuff instead. THAT is for another post. ;)
Currently listening to the 60's now as it is already late night and I just feel a strong affinity to that era somehow. Late-night rambling effects.

Dangjin Seafod Restos

This is a post from a few years ago just to get some idea on what Dangjin area has to offer.

Sea of Salt ^^ to cook the seafood in

Scents and Memories

Verbena, Freesia, Gardenias

Scents, along with music, brings us back to memories that would otherwise have been forgotten. It reminds me of some things, events, and most importantly, people. It's no wonder that the perfume industry has flourished all through the centuries.

Verbena
This is a scent that always reminds me of my grandma because of the verbena scented talcum powder that she always had in her ginormous bag. That bag itself is another interesting one to dig through as it will hold balms, ointments, lotions, and of course, tablet medicines for all aches. But if it's talcum powder, it will always be the verbena.

Freesia
This one reminds me of an era when cassette tapes are still in use and teens like us would use blank tapes to record our favorite songs from the radio. There was one brand that packaged their blank tapes with flower prints and some scents. I really don't know how that came about but I remember two options, rose or freesia. I went for freesia since it is yellow and not-so-common as the rose scent.

Ylang-ylang
Walking through a street lined with this tree in my hometown.

Sampaguita (Jasmin) and Gardenia
Flowering shrubs that we have in our yard that my father liked. I even tried and successfully propagated a few gardenias by grafting to practice what I learned in an agriculture class in high school.

Pine
Not so good memories for pine smell as this was almost always the car air freshener that most people use back in the days and it always makes me feel carsick inside an airconditioned car.

Orange
Slightly better memories than pine but almost the same. The good thing is that there is the real orange rind from the fruit that we could pick up from a fruit store and eat for longer rides. It helped settle the stomach and nausea a bit.

Land travel memories bring me back into the music connections.

David Gates and the Bread - a family trip to the north and that someone who recommended that album

Notting Hill OST - phone calls from hours on end with a friend who lent me a copy of this

It's amazing how our brains can keep these memories tucked somewhere deep only to be resurrected through other senses like our ears and nose. The olfactory sense is not something that we can just ignore, from the good-smelling scents to the obnoxious farts. :D

Hello June!

Just a quick one for the start of this month.

I had been occupied with other non-writing things last month that I wasn't really able to write a lot. I missed some writing deadlines I've set for myself because life happens. :)

This month's goal for me is to get my car checked, safe and ready for my daily work. It has been bugging me for a while now so that should be done soon. Another one is the phone that I also need for work. I still have a bit of work-related things on my list but those are the big ticket ones.

Reading took a backseat last month. I have Stephen King's book, "On Writing" still unfinished and got another book that I requested still sitting in my dashboard. I hope to be able to get back to those two books when I finally get the groove in my new workplace. The goal is to hit the point where you just show up without a lot of prep time needed and still have a good class at the end of the workday.

As for the writing part, I will need to finish and submit two articles that I had been drafting since last month this week. So far, I have the main part but will need to finish up the additional parts like the photos.

On the food and health aspect, I've signed up and attended one yoga class last week so I got a start on that now. I had also been seeking nature more this past few weeks to de-stress and to get the writing done without much success until yesterday. I found a school with a few trees that provided some shade on the parking lot and there was not a soul in sight until a family also showed up. That can be a short drive away but accessible for me now. Or maybe I'll try to hike by myself one day, do yoga and write on top of the mountain. :) That is the dream. ^^ That is my second best place to chill now since I have no idea how to find the seaside still.

Food wise, I got a few frozen stuff in the fridge and a lot of produce that is waiting to be cooked today. I am happy to see the vegetables and hope to make some nutritious food soon.

On that note, I'll start on it!

Plans and Expectations

I turned another year older this month and I have reached a point when I consciously don't try to do something that I like based on someone's plan. Sounds confusing?

Well, I am not keen on big parties and all that but I do want to do something that I like on special occasions and this is just another excuse to do so. It has usually been family dinner of my choice, of my plan and whatever shit that comes with it except that my husband will usually pay for the meal. :)

My birthday fell on a weekday this year and it would be tricky to schedule things so extra planning is needed. And as expected, I will have to do it myself. So I did but I didn't involve anyone in my immediate family. Let them figure out what they want to do on that day. I've wanted to eat at a vegetarian restaurant for a couple of years now but they don't want to go there with me, even on my birthday. I found another way this year that didn't involve them and I still got to taste those vegetarian dishes even though I went there a day earlier. That left them a chance to still do something on the day itself. Well, nothing much really happened except that I got 2 bars of chocolate from both of the boys. I still had to go pick up my own dinner and an attempt on a cake. I am almost close to just singing a birthday song for myself and be done with it.

I did get to talk with my folks earlier that day so that is the more important part, I think. People tend to value different things as one gets older. That has also been reiterated when I became a mom some years ago. Still, it's human nature to want to do something special on such occasions.

This year, I was able to do a couple of fun stuff this month. This has been a blessed month despite some setbacks on health around the end of the month. My husband got sick twice, left leg pain and cold. I also caught a cold but survived over the weekend with the help of lemons. My son also weathered it well being the youngest one in the household.

I also survived my first month of everyday work and commute, I got to try wall climbing (for free at that^^) and finally get to the vegetarian restaurant that I have long wanted to try. Plans were made but expectations were lowered, thus a little less friction for this month. So, yeah, all is well. I look forward to next month with a new set of plans and goals to accomplish.

Lines to Live By as Inspired by Nike's Just Do it! Campaign

If you don't know, ask.

If you want to know about something, do not hesitate to ask the right the person.

Most people are inherently good and you will always find someone who might be willing to help.

Have a goal and find ways! Sometimes, there's more than one way to get there. You only need to find which way will work for you to get to the goal. It's just like navigating the road. Just make sure you know where you're going in the first place.

It's okay to be different or to be seen as weird as long as you are not stepping on someone's toes.

Always have sincere and good intention and the world will push back the same to you.

If there's something that you want to do or accomplish (something good) that may seem impossible, just try it with your best effort. At least, you can look back to it and not regret that you didn't even try.

Just do it so you won't regret for not trying at all especially if that something can make you a better person.

That is my current mindset. Just try to do it!

Essay Mills

This article instantly reminded me of a couple of instances when I inadvertently committed one of a every writer's low point. While trying to help, I had this nagging feeling at the back of my mind that I shouldn't be doing that. It was never a monetary reason as that would not appeal to me but more on the part of being able to help someone --- through the wrong way. I will not write any essay or book report for someone else again especially if that someone is a student. 

Helping people and writing are quite a draw for me but I will have to find other ways to do both without the guilt.

The Rebel Singer/Songwriters

Jason Mraz and Sarah Bareilles. Too Much Food and Love Song. When they start singing about a song for their record labels, that's when I sit up and listen. I'll put it in a loop play.

I've rediscovered Jason Mraz's music today through a song that was released last called "Have It All." While digging deeper on his playlist, I found a couple more songs that I actually liked. I don't know if they are that popular but I just happen to like them. It reminded me of the first song that I heard from this guy a few years ago called "I'm Yours." Well, that turned out to be a popular one but I heard and liked it before I found that out. I am never really the kind to follow trends but sometimes, there are reasons why things become trends.

So now, I will have a few more distractions from my KLL (Korean language learning) as I try to put these songs on my playlist.

Living in the Moment
Three Things
Back to the Earth
It Only Takes A Taste
and more

I really like his choice of words (san the curse words), the general themes and of course, the sounds itself.

Recycling 3 Side Dishes

It is a puzzle how to reuse leftover food so as to save some money and avoid throwing food out. I rose up to the challenge this time. Reduce. Reuse. Recylce.

Yes. I like the idea of recycling and reusing that even food has no escape from me. I hate throwing out food that is still perfectly edible except that it already reached its limits when it comes to how it should taste in the first place. Did I lose you on that? Well, let’s just say that I’ve made some food, it didn’t taste as well as it should be or I’ve made more than we can consume at one go. It should last in the fridge for about three days before everyone except me will refuse to eat it again.

In order not to waste a lot of food, I make sure that what I cook is something that I won’t mind eating for days. If it doesn’t fall under that, let the boys make it themselves. I won’t be responsible if they decide to throw it later. This is how I ended up with three dishes in the fridge this week that needed to be put on priority before someone else finds and throws them out.

First Dish. Beef Bulgogi.

I seldom buy meat for health reasons plus it can be pretty heavy on the budget. I first made it for my son and he ate it at least once with a little hesitation. The second or third time, I might have had to bribe him. So this pretty pricey meat dish stayed in the fridge for a while. I tried to put it in fried rice but it wasn’t that popular either. There was still a bit that needs to be “recycled.” In the end, I added it in the pocket pizza mixed with bell peppers, onion, garlic, and cheese. Not my best pizza but it was my first decent looking pocket pizza even if my son didn't like it that much.

Second Dish. Canned Fish in Can.

I was slightly craving for fish after the bulgogi mishap so I opened this can. I discovered that I actually have 2 cans of this and I don’t remember tasting it yet. This makes me wonder what I must have picked these cans up twice with the intention of trying it out. Well, this fish in can turned out to be spicy for my taste. I was able to eat half of it but had trouble finishing it before it goes bad. It has coconut milk after all that go bad quickly once opened. I needed to google how to neutralize the spiciness.

My solution? Add some water! I do like thin liquid with my fish in coconut. But not only that, to up the chances of it tasting good, I also added a tablespoon or two of spaghetti sauce just enough to lose its white color and spiciness. Just like my accidental mix with the chickpea before, I managed to finish the whole thing even to the point of having to wait for the rice cooker to finish so that I can have more rice with it.

Third Dish. Chicken Teriyaki.

Made this as a freeze and dump for the slow cooker so it was the freezer for a while.

By now, I was already in my air fryer experiment mode so it was my first chicken to land in the air fryer. Such a waste as I skipped the thawing-well part that I almost burned the outer part while it still remained frozen inside. Off it went to the oven to no avail. It was thawed all right but the burned part just got worse. What did I expect? Nothing! I wasn’t thinking and wasn’t keeping a close eye on it while it was in the oven grilling.

Nonetheless, I tossed it with a sauce I hastily made and it was just so salty. Talk about a series of failure in one night. Well, I just cannot throw that out and thought I can make into a soup. It is well marinated and it still tastes okay save for the charred part and the saltiness level.

What did I do with it? Soup didn’t happen. I found that it’s easier to eat it with lettuce and rice. It wasn’t so bad.

With all of those meat and fish out of the fridge, I can now go back to the non-meat options. Oh! I almost forgot that I still have two leftover pocket pizza that I am saving for Sunday at least. I may try to look in the fridge again to find if there are any food that needs to be thrown out --- uh..I mean, recycle.

Science and Why I Like It #midnightmusings

Liking something and being good at it is totally different.  Let's just start at that. Why I took up a degree in sciences that came with not only life science but with Physics and Chemistry bundled in is just sheer ignorance and having no choice in the subjects that we had to get credits for.

I wasn't exactly a big fan of the those two but I've come to "embrace and appreciate" them after having to sit through hours of lectures and a few more for laboratory work. I really didn't care if I managed to solve the word problems in our class but I was more grateful for it is that it gave me answers or at least an idea on how and why things work. How would you measure the height of a flag pole without having the need to climb it up, what affects the speed of a moving vehicle and thus our safety, why I experience motion sickness with sudden lurches (inertia), how the size of a tube will affect the pressure and many more seemingly mundane things that happen around us but we just take them for granted. These things were explained and dissected in the Physics classes.

Chemistry, on the other hand, was a bit more abstract for me since it is not that visible always. It deals on the smaller and finer things which is just like physics but on a smaller picture unless one talks about nuclear bombs. My only favorite chemistry was biochemistry. It totally spoke to me even though our professor at that time wasn't really keen on her job. It validated what I had been taught all these years on the human body and health. It made me understand more of what goes on inside a living organism like our human body.

What I regret was not taking up psychology at least once in those undergraduate years. This I manage to get a bit through educational psychology in graduate school. That didn't satisfy me still and I gravitated towards buying and reading some books related to it later on when I had the chance. I would like to try to be in a class with challenging discussions about how the human mind works. I would like to learn more about it from equally curious people like me.

This curiosity about everything sometimes makes me wonder if my teenage son would also have a similar curious mind enough to push himself to get into a higher level of education. Or would the Korean educational system totally kill whatever tiny interest he had before coming here?

Life After Kids

36. 14. 

As I sit here in front of my trusty laptop, I reflect on these numbers. I am just half-way in the child-rearing journey and as I see my teen approach the bigger number of life, I just can't help but to equally look at my own numbers.

My life in numbers: 14, 20, 21, 22, 36. 5. I have a 14-year-old son, graduated from uni at 19, married at 20, had a kid at 22, and now at 36 years old, I am still at loss at what I want to do. Five. Five years at which my life was put on hold for the citizenship that I had zeroed in to acquire more than 5 years ago.

I had a job, I still do but it's a freelance job that is unstable as far as it can be. No work, no pay but I have the freedom to make my own schedule. I had not been very keen on the super stable job that my parents had groomed me from the beginning since both of them had worked in the government and they are now reaping their loyalty and dedication in their retirement years along with most people in their generation who sucked it up and went to work for an 8-5 job regardless of the pretty limited pay.

My parents are still hoping that I get my act together and join the government job but with extra citizenship, I don't think that is still possible under the law. The only possible field for me is private: freelance, employed and self-employed in a business. The best combination is being employed but at the same time running a business. That is one rule of life that I have seen worked pretty well. But of course, there's still the just do the business but that is riskier. 

So until I get that citizenship card, I will have to figure out what I can do with the remaining more-than-half of my life, one of which is to be able to get my son on a good footing better than how I had been despite my college education. I know I still got time, resources and a lot of ideas that I just have to really zero in. I got 12 days then I'm done and ready for the next life task! I know there is a higher Being who knows the proper timing for me that will yield better numbers.

Blog Overhaul

Here I go again with an idea to try polishing this blog.
It isn't just a place to dumb my brain anymore. It has become an outlet with added purpose. I noticed that I had been baking quite a bit and every adventure and misadventure somehow makes it here that I had to clear up my notes somehow.

Scrolling down to the previous entries under the baking label made me look back on what I've tried to bake and all the editing failures I made. *shameful grin. You see, I hardly edit my post before since it's not meant for other people's eyes usually or I just wanted to dump my words somewhere. (Oops! I'm using that word a bit too often.) I might do a quick once over after I've written it but it's different if you left it for a while and return to it with a fresher eye.

Now, there's some parallelism between writing and baking, especially yeast bread. You have to leave for a while and come back to get better results. Of course, there are specific durations on when you should revisit your written output and rework your dough but the idea is there.

Another one is, of course, they both needs my fingers. Even with the latest voice-to-text technological advancement, I still get more satisfaction in typing or handwriting. It can be more of a personal or psychological thing but I've tried the google text feature and it didn't match my needs just yet. I tried dictation but the text output was not that perfect and it's easy to lose my train of thoughts as speak and check what is being transcribed on the document. No wonder transcriptionist jobs still exist. This also made me realize why I was never a fan of tablet computers. There are no keyboards to feel, touch and find every letter as to let my mind wander on what my next word will be.  This is why I sometimes miss some words when my fingers cannot catch up with the thoughts in my brain. Isn't the brain just an amazing thing?

Which reminds me that I should really get back to studying or starting another batch of bread. But here I am still pecking away on my keyboard.  Another one on my to-do list in the near future is to get on that category list. Adios for now..until the next irresistible urge.

Novice Homebaker Series: Ciabatta

Wet dough. That's what makes this intimidating. I've tried no-knead bread before but nothing with a fancy name that I can possibly buy at a local bakery here except baguette. Even with that, it's been a while since I got some personal satisfaction of being able to make one.

I started with this recipe from Jenny Can Cook but ended up cutting them up into smaller one by watching this video on the tube since that I thought it might easier and faster to bake and eat. I haven't exactly proven that but I only managed to make it into 4 and it was already tricky to make it hold a shape and not spread out on the tray.
It took me at least 4 hours to get it in the oven, being the slow and novice baker that I am. Then, the final result came past midnight after it has been cooled. It took a little bit self-restraint to just tear it up while it was still warm. If I had done so, I might have found it still raw inside, I think.

*
The long wait is over and I was actually munching on my ciabatta sometime between 2-3 am. It was crusty but pillow-soft inside. It's such a contrast with my usual bread choices for baking which are usually pretty solid and filled inside unless I use an egg. I ended up peeling one piece naked for the crust and trying to decide if I should bring out my homemade yogurt cheese or just stick with my latest experiment called no-tahini hummus. That, itself, is another possible post to write about later.

Happiness is when you bite into a bread you just made yourself in the wee hours of the morning. I can't wait for my son to try this possibly add this to our "fave bread list."

Future experiments.  More from reddit.

DDM2

Three entries for this week and I've just realized that it's almost every day.

Do I really need to write something as often before I get my shit done for the day? Is it really that hard to focus on studying?

Anyway, my catalyst for today is the stir fry noodles that I made last night. I used a frozen leftover boiled chicken but it's my first time to actually taste this meat as stringy. Now I understand what other people are saying about chicken meat texture. Note to self: use this kind of chicken in fried rice next time where it will have to be minced just for taste.

I hardly cook meat, much less buy, but it sometimes makes it to my freezer. Currently, I still have a couple of beef cuts that are waiting to be used. There are a few shredded chicken leftover that is bound for fried rice in the future, uncooked frozen chicken breast that is marinaded with I-can't-remember-what and maybe some more chicken bones for stock.

My clay slow cooker has been pretty busy lately as I try different things to cook in it. I baked bread, cooked rice, made some anchovy stock, softened chickpeas, and broiled (2) sweet potato on it since last Monday. It has been used more often than my other bigger Crock Pot. I also learned that coating the insides of the pot insert should be the standard. I didn't do that previously with the crockpot because that one has a smooth finish. I've read that clay pot inserts are hotter than the regular Crock Pot so I thought that I had to do it on my clay pot insert this time.  My bread came out well, along with the rice. The rice had a nicely browned bottom and it was delish! The bread, on the other hand, was left a bit too long on high setting that the bottom was tough to bite into. Regardless of that, it still disappeared. What I thought would be a candidate for bread pudding simply didn't happen.

For future references:

bread (3 C flour) : 3-4 hrs on low (too long) better do at around 2 hours on high or not more than 3 on low.

3 C+3 C h2o : 2 hours on high

5 medium-sized sweet potatoes: (washed, rinsed, no additional water) 4H on low.

2 C chickpeas + 6 C h2o: at least 4 hours, or more depending on softness level, There was a bit of leftover water just enough not to burn the bottom.

What's my next experiment? Not sure yet but I still have the leftover chicken stock which I can use for a soup soon. ^^

Daily Dose of Motivation

What are the advantages of acquiring a Korean nationality?

If you already have a non-Asian (Western) citizenship, there's really not much to benefit from acquiring a Korean one at first glance. This is especially if you are a young male and physically able to serve in the army. I am neither of those.

More than ten years ago, acquiring citizenship was a bit more lax but I wasn't really that keen on changing mine. Korea doesn't allow dual citizenship at that time and I didn't think I was ready to give up mine to have a new one. First, my Korean language was dismal, to say the least. How can even think of acquiring the citizenship of this country when I can hardly speak their language, understand the culture and how their government system works? Just because I married a Korean? That is not logical at all.

I was working even when I was pregnant up until I gave birth with just a month or so break and learning the language or acquiring citizenship was not really my priority. My husband had no regular job so I had to work and raise a kid.

Fast forward to 14 years now, my son is almost grown up (I'm pretty sure he'll like this part^^) and my husband has a regular job at least for the next couple of years, I am now in a better place to learn and really understand what and how it is to be a Korean citizen.

The naturalization process has gotten a bit more complicated but I believe it's all for the good of the nation in the long run. There are more institutionalized programs for people who want to get Korean citizenship specifically for married immigrants like me or even just permanent residency for some. Besides, the government now allows dual citizenship so that is a plus for me. I get to have another nationality and I have a better understanding of the country now and what role I can play besides being a wife to a Korean and a mom to one.

Different folks, different strokes. I did not sign up for this just because of that. I want to understand how this country works. Acquiring Korean citizenship is not just an additional passport. It legitimizes one's existence in a country where one can figure out what role he can play for the common good.

Let's move on from the ideals get down to the practicality of it. Why am I going to acquire that citizenship? What are the advantages and disadvantages of a non-Korean living here?

Let me just count the ways that I have come across the idea that having citizenship would have made things easier.

1. Getting those documents from the automated machine. Only citizens, 19-year-old and above, can use those machines. I'm pretty sure there can be a technical way to allow registered expats for such but it's exclusively for the legit Koreans this time.

2. Additional medical and other documents especially when applying for a teaching job. There is a drug test required with the assumption that foreigners would have more likely been exposed to such. I believe it stemmed from some previous misdemeanors that came to light a few years ago. Aside from that, other documents will need to be sourced from one's home country: criminal and educational records, etc.

3. Signing up to certain websites, financial products (i.e. loans, mutual funds, digital currencies, anyone?), and other services that are non-foreigner friendly. This thing just comes up every now and then in my five years of living here. Not only that there is a language wall to scale, but there are also times when there is another wall to break --- citizenship.

4. Government social programs (education, health care, pensions) -  I am not very big on this since I am married to a Korean national and has access to the national health insurance but I am very sure about the pension system. It's common knowledge that Korea has an aging population and this doesn't spell rosy future for everyone concerned with pensions. That's something that I have to research some more.

5. Unrestricted residency. No need to report to the immigration office that you moved but you can do so at the nearest jumincenter if you are a citizen. Although that is not really such a big deal for me. I generally like the rules but it's just pretty inconvenient for non-citizens like me.

6. Political rights. No one can question if you want to join the candlelight protest or any street protest that fancies you. :D Well, what I'm actually saying is that I can vote for the president. Not that I don't like the current government. On the contrary, I would have liked to have been to able to cast my vote during the last presidential election.

That's about it,for now, to motivate me to hit the books and do well on this upcoming interview.

Three Hours!

More than 3 hours had passed but I still can't focus on studying. I got a lot of distractions. How can I get on like this?

I got my topic list waiting for me but I also got my baking list among other things in my mind. Interests and ideas of things that I should like to write about or do in my other life: 😄 in a life where I don't have to study for that freaking citizenship interview and just show up there to chat and let them just hand me that jumin card.

Let me get to the list of my "other life" for now.

• write my blog about figuring out Korean gov't sites for document retrievals etc.
• find out how to really make my indoor gardening better and not just throw it out and give up
• connect my fb group to some pips
• get some baking done with stuff from my freezer
• research financial investments here and in my home country
• create an info site for expat parents about raising kids here
• volunteer at the nursing home regularly
• get my hands on some real estate

Unfortunately, everything should be on hold now until 16 days later. Not anything more, I pray. 

The Dream

We just moved into a four-bedroom house by the stream and every room has a bed. It has a kitchen and dining room even both are a bit cramped. The windows and curtains are all remote controlled.

There were three doors to get in the house. One is the main door that opens up to a narrow hallway leading to all the parts of the house: two regular rooms on the left, kitchen and dining on the right, and two other bedrooms at the end. The two other bedrooms each had extra doors that open outside. One is a bit smaller and cramped with a queen-sized bed while the other one was more spacious and has more windows. You will find a small garden as you step out from the door of the smaller room. The other door of the bigger room opens right outside on a not-so-busy street along a stream.

The stream is clean. A father and his son are trying to catch fish on the other side of the steam. One thing that seems to ruin this idyllic atmosphere/picture is the train station located a little above the stream on the other side. There people roaming about as the train has just made a short stop at that time. It isn't as busy most of the time.

We were just getting settled and discovering our new home when we got people knocking at the doors. The first two were asking if we have room for rent which we simply replied with a negative. But when the third caller appeared, we were put on the spot and finally considered to take in a renter. My husband was quite surprised as he gave out a price for the bigger room that I felt was better fit for the smaller one.

The possible tenant was a widowed old lady who still has a family but would like to live alone. Her family were the ones who came looking for a place for her. Their idea is that she can live by herself but would still have people nearby for company. She has her own room and her own front door but the food will be shared so as not to bother her much with running a full kitchen. The whole set up seems perfect for her and for us so the family insisted on putting down the advance payments right then and there. This was an opportunity us all.

After they left, I asked my husband, "wait, are we even allowed to sublet this place?"

Fortunately, he answered on the affirmative but this was after I woke up from my afternoon nap. 

Financial Literacy Level

Let's be honest here. I am just like any other girl who is not susceptible to the instant gratification after shopping. It may be a small thing or a big ticket item. I do like being able to buy what I want or need. That is the reality of being human.

At my age, I should already have mastered the financial skills needed to survive in this "buy me" world. My pitfalls: I don't have a regular job. I can't keep an expenses list regularly. I am a bit easy to bend to some temptations. But what I can say is that I got some principles and ideas on finances, even though it's a bit scattered.

Here are things that I learned from my father, a retired skilled government employee, who kept his job for more than 30 years. He hardly took vacations at all, sent 3 people to university for that diploma that evaded him decades ago partly because his parents cannot afford to send him to school, took on parttime jobs and unending loans. People of their generation are made of sterner stuff than millennials of today. He might not have to school, read tons of financial books, and earned a big salary but he has some wisdom when it comes to basic finances.

First, live within your means. If you cannot afford something, try to do without it or make it yourselves like simple toys for kids and stuff like that. People existed without a lot of things before and so can you.

Second, if you're are going to borrow money, make sure that you pay it back on time and it will be used for something that will also create money in the long run and not just to satisfy a fleeting want.

And beware of banks. Getting your money is their business. Unless you are confident that you can outwit them or at least get even, never take out a loan that you might have trouble paying back. Better go with the loan sharks! Kidding!

Third, take advantage of government insurances and other programs backed by the government. These would usually provide a safety net for the employed and even tax breaks.

Fourth, if you're employed, find other legal ways to earn that will not necessarily interfere or cause a conflict of interest to your current job.

Fifth, work, work, work. BUT never forget the sixth ----

Have faith!

State of Mind

What do little kids and elderlies have in common? 

I am not sad. It just feels like I have my heart bare-open with issues and possibilities that can make my life's existence more meaningful. Don't get me wrong as I have my immediate family that includes my parents who are generally good health, brother, husband, and our son.

There are still a lot of things that I want to try and do. Some fleeting, some deeply rooted. I am most happy with working with people in need especially those starting and living almost at the end of their lives. I am usually drawn to these age groups.

On the other hand, I also enjoy writing. I would like to write about children and old people. I am daydreaming of writing books about growing up in a multicultural society, about caring for the elderlies, about bringing different views on the table that people can find the courage to talk about it and at the same time improve the lives of those in vulnerable situations. Some works might be heavy but I would like it to be light but thought-provoking.

I may try to browse big books for the elderlies. How are they different from regular adult books? What topics do these books cover? If I were to put myself in a senior person's shoes, what would I find interesting? What would help me ease the inconveniences of living with old age?

Novice Home Baker Series: No Knead Bread

This is my 3rd attempt at trying this seemingly-easy no-knead bread but I haven't been successful so far. Well, the verdict for the third one is still up as it is still in the oven right now.

I first tried this when I first got a medium-sized ceramic pot but it didn't go well. The pot was too small and the bread didn't rise quite well. I had to forgo this bread for a while.

Late last year, when I was able to score a decent Lodge Dutch oven but it was too big for my old oven. Now that I have a newer and bigger I oven, I determined to give it another try. The thing is, I forgot that the Dutch oven won't fit with the lid on. I have to improvise with the flexible foil and I'm waiting how it will turn out.

My second attempt was yesterday but it didn't rise well I think so I had to "rescue" the dough and turned it into bahn-mi bread instead. I had to add more yeast, flour, and water but it turned out good enough for my son to consume. :D

The Dutch oven is still waiting to be used so I tried another attempt and mixed the dough. I used a recipe from Jenny Can Cook but she mixes the yeast with flour which I did the first time. I wasn't sure if I killed the yeast with the hot water but I had to make sure that the yeast is alive and "kicking" this time. I mixed it with the water first to see. It might not be how it was done from the recipe but there's a way around it. And it did rise beautifully!

I mixed it all up and let it rise for at least three hours. Fortunately, it went up to the rim of my wide yellow aluminum bowl. Then, I put it on a lightly floured surface as per instructions to fold it over a few times before moving it again into the smaller glass bowl for another 35-minute rise. It is a no-knead bread but it still needed to rise twice. Oh, well. That is a yeast bread, indeed.

Now comes the tricky part of putting the parchment bottomed dough in the HOT pot. The pot is big and hot. The lid doesn't fit. Boy! This seemed to be a complicated first time in baking this simple bread.

I've just removed the foil from the top and it looks promising. It rose beautifully but I have yet to see it browned well not to mention if it's totally baked. Chances are it will be baked, yes. I mean, even if I set the temperature at 230 instead of 235 C, there should be enough heat from the oven to the pot to bake it.

Fifteen minutes. I am just waiting for it now to see the final result of this 3rd attempt.

10 minutes later:
                                          

It browned well and a little bit on the bottom since I forgot to remove the paper for the last 15 minutes. I still need to wait a few more minutes for it to cool and hopefully, it is well-baked as well.

6PM

Waiting...( I'm tempted to put it out in the "veranda" to cool it faster in this winter cold of Korea.)

Talking Clocks

Either you hate or love it.

"Talking clocks are the worst ever invention of humanity," says my son.
Haha!

I'm on the opposite side of that! I like talking clocks especially when I am in the middle of doing something that I literally lose track of time. I needed to hear the clock to set my brain to hurry up more or adjust my tasks. For example, it is very useful to hear how many minutes I had been in the shower or how many minutes I should need to get dress.

Looking back to a couple of decades ago, my father got a wall clock that plays a song every hour. We know what time it is whenever we hear a specific tune. But now, it's not just by the hours. No music, yes, but a voice that gives the time on how frequent you want to set it. Some have the option by minute, five, 15, 30 minutes or an hour.

It's pretty cool to use it nowadays, be it online or on the phone. My favorite online one is online-stopwatch.com. It has a lot of different clocks, alarms, timers that I can use but my go-to is the talking clock. I can set the frequency and hear the time as I set it.

Then there's the talking clock app on an android phone. I missed this one when had an iPhone but happy to find it when I went back to an android one. This is pretty basic: gives the time as I set it and can also change the voice into male or female. I usually run the app when I'm in the bathroom or when I am heading out somewhere.

Now that I have a bluetooth speaker, which I got for free from a phone center over the change of year, it will be more fab to have it running in the bathroom while I wash and get ready before heading out. It beats the Alexa speaker that my husband got last December. Now, that might be for another post.

For now, I am happy with the existence of talking clocks online when I'm on my laptop or on my phone when I'm out and about.

Baking Bliss (voice-to-text on Google but total fail)

I like baking. I think I've been using the oven at least twice a week lately.

I usually bake two batches of bread in a week: at least one in the weekend

and another one sometime during the weekdays. Since I usually bake yeast bread,

it spoils faster and can only last for 3 to 4 days. It’s either because of that or it's all been consumed or eaten. My son eats it for breakfast and sometimes snacks as well.   

We rarely buy bread ever since I got the oven coupled with the time to bake.  Sometimes, I would still buy some bread on a whim or when I don't have time to prepare something for breakfast the next day.  But it seldom happens nowadays. It's either homemade bread or cereal for breakfast. And when I buy bread, I would usually go for the Roman wheat bread with nuts and stuff. Or I would pick up some sweet bread when I feel like eating one but don't want to be troubled to use of all of those butter. I do feel guilty when I see how much sugar and butter go into those bread. So in the spirit of “ignorance is bliss,” I just trying to buy a bit of this and that just to satisfy my cravings with lesser guilt.

I usually bake a loaf of bread or Pinoy bread rolls. Most of these, if not all, have yeast, water, oil, bread, and sugar --- just the basic ones for baking. It doesn't even need oil sometimes which is quite surprising. Sometimes, I would also try quick bread that uses baking soda or baking powder instead of yeast. These would usually be a muffin, some rolled bread or a cookie. Quick bread usually needs more sugar and maybe even butter so I tend to baked things like that rarely. Not only that it's not healthy with all the sugar and butter it needs, but it's also expensive because of the butter so I seldom bake sweet quick bread.

I found myself baking and kneading quite often nowadays and I feel like kneading by hand takes so much time for me that I really wish that I have a stand mixer. I mean, I like the kneading part especially if I am watching something interesting that I would hardly notice the time passing while my hands are busy but “people” in the house are complaining how much time I spend baking. Don’t they know….? They clearly have no idea!

Now, I really wish to be able to buy that stand mixer! 180k grand. I need to save up for that first after I’ve paid my husband for my car. Yes, that was the deal. Instead of me being able to send my annual savings to put in some funds and stocks, I will have to shell it out for the car this year.

My big ticket purchases last year, aside from the trip home and the car, were the oven, Lodge cast iron skillet, Dutch oven, and a Pyrex loaf pan. I still have to complete the car thing with some car tire changes and brake pads sometime until the middle of this year, I hope.

Going back to baking. I will get a stand mixer this year. I’ll have to keep an eye on some sale soon. It will fall into place. :)

(composed using Google docs voice typing tool, Gradeproof add-on, and good old manual editing)