April 10, 2008

• Sick of Work

  I’m sick again with a cold. 
  I left work early on Monday afternoon to work from home.  My head felt as if the Kodo drummers have been pounding on it.  I took
  Tuesday off and slept most of the afternoon. 
  The much needed rest threw my sleeping pattern off.  Sleep finally came to me around 3 AM.  I went out for a brisk walk  yesterday, had
  some herbal tea and contact C.  I felt my body rebounding and warning me to slow down.  I stopped by  Starbucks for a coffee in the afternoon and read a bit. I didn’t feel the least bit guilty even as work piled
  up.  The sun was out and I could feel its
  rays warming me up.  It felt like a towel
  fresh out from the dryer. I shouldn't complain about my workload.  There are others who have it worse than I do.  I complain about the chains from work.  I also know I control my destiny.  I think I'm just literally sick of work.
  

  So I’ve been “working from home” for the past few days.  I play hide and seek with my manager who is
  looking for my monthly reports.  I
  haven’t shaved since Monday and I look “scruffy”.  I really wish I could grow a beard.  My cousin has a goatee and it looks good on
  him.  His fiancée would beg to differ
  though.  I mean we have similar genes
  right?  But I found out a few years ago
  that he has some Japanese blood in him. 
  Yes, it must be the hairy Japanese gene. 
       

  The advantage to working from home is that I can “quit” work
  at a reasonable time and make dinner. 

  This is beef and broccoli in oyster sauce.  I added some garlic, ginger, scallion and an
  onion.  I had some leftover preserved (salted)
  turnip from the previous day so I threw that in too.  The beef had been marinated in soy sauce,
  corn starch, sesame seed oil and a bit of pepper. 

   

  I had some Udon noodles in the fridge.  I threw in some pork strips (pre cut from the
  supermarket), thinly sliced onions and Napa
  cabbage; added some soy sauce and oyster sauce.  I also added some home made hot sauce from my
  bf’s mom.  It gave it just a bit of extra
  kick.  The only thing I didn’t like about
  the pork was the amount of fat.  Most of
  it renders out when it's cooked but it’s best to trim it before you cooking.  I also marinated the pork in the
  same marinate above.  

   

  My mom used to make this dish during the summer with garden
  fresh tomatoes.  In the winter, she would
  use tomatoes that she had frozen.  I had
  some beef left over from the beef and broccoli dish.  This is actually quite simple.  I fried some onions, added the beef, some
  garlic, a can of tomatoes and some frozen peas. 
  I couldn’t get a smaller chunk of peas from the bag.  It was a bit watery so I made a slurry of
  corn starch to thicken it.  I added some
  sugar and Worcester sauce.  It's nothing fancy but it's quick.
  

   

  

  • 9:59 PM
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