Planning the next ten years
A little over a decade ago, I wrote a list of things that I wanted to achieve within a certain time period. I don’t think I achieved anything on the list — maybe one or two things max? I forget where I wrote it so I can’t check.
Rather than dwelling on that one, I am going to make a new list to guide my next ten years.
- Learn Mandarin and Japanese well enough to be able to speak, read, and write the language and communicate with others.
- Resign from my day job to begin a full-time career in F&B, making tons of things I like.
- Learn to sew to make nice, well-fitting clothes for my family.
- Grow my knowledge in Japanese and Chinese tea.
- Make enough to upgrade my baking space into a functional, climate-controlled kitchen (so I can make viennoiserie, macarons, etc).
- Take more courses in baking/confectionery and tea.
- Learn to roast coffee (well).
- Own a dedicated fridge and production area for gourmet kombuchq.
- Go abroad for a dance competition.
It excites me that so much on my list is related to food and beverage. I discovered my love for good food and drink some time in the past three or four years. Before that, I think I mainly ate for sustenance — i.e, just to survive. Maybe there were early clues, like when I willingly waited in line for Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle or spent hours trying to map out places to eat on day trips out of town. But things didn't really click until recently.
That being said, I don't think I've reached a stage where I can consider myself a proper gourmet, chef, or baker. I’m a creature of habit and don’t like going out much; this limits the amount of fresh or seasonal ingredients I can work with. I get tired of the cooking process easily and more often than not avoid eating what I’ve made. I mostly prefer foreign cuisine to local fare, which complicates the cooking-for-myself bit. eing a working mom in this country means it’s not so easy to just go out and try whatever piques my interest. And finally, I don’t have the patience to watch videos.
So far my learning processes work like this: I read a bunch of recipes, compare the difference, and then (a la Nadiem) hyper-experiment the hell out of everything. My hands itch. I’d rather do the recipe ten times in a day and fail until I succeed in understanding how everything works together than just… take someone else’s word for it.
Not sure why I've got such a staunch resistance to just… reading and studying properly, but que sera sera. (The answer, which I actually already know, is neurodivergency. I think. I've never been diagnosed or even assessed).
I'll revisit this page every now and then and continue to update my adventures on this blog. See you again soon.