August 24th
It was a typical working day for me. Nothing special. It has been two weeks since my last trip, and it’s time to start getting serious about self-learning, such as improving my English or developing other technical skills that contribute to my work.
August 25th
I made a Basque cheesecake because my colleague asked for one. Since he will be off starting Thursday, I wanted to bake it before his day off. I realized that it had been half a year since the last time I made one.
August 26th
I tried a new recipe by Akari Hasegawa. This recipe uses chicken, rosemary, and two zucchinis: one is cut into bite-sized pieces, and the other is grated. I have never thought of grating zucchini for cooking, but the texture combined with the chicken was delicious. I will keep this recipe in mind.
August 27th
I made dumplings from scratch, starting with the wrappers. Last time, I made two types of wrappers: one with rice flour and the other with wheat flour. But I felt the rice wrapper was too soft and easily got watery while cooking, while the wheat flour wrapper was a bit too chewy. So this time, I tried making wrappers by mixing rice flour and wheat flour together.
I really love using shiso leaves for the filling, but sadly I can’t find them in Irish supermarkets. This time, I used parsley and coriander instead of shiso, and it worked out so well! The parsley dumplings provided a refreshing flavor, and the coriander dumplings with prawns were also delicious.
I feel like I’ve mastered making boiled dumplings and would love to invite friends over for a dumpling party.
August 28th
I invited some Japanese women from other teams over for dinner tonight. There was so much to learn because we work on different teams and have different team cultures. It got me thinking about the challenges of working as a woman in a male-dominated team. Men can share their experiences much more easily, whereas women can easily be left out of those conversations, requiring much more intentional effort to connect. I can’t help but reflect on the disadvantages of being a minority in the workplace.
August 29th
We went to Russel Street bakery to get a savory baguette. We remembered that they make incredible savory baguettes, and it was just as delicious as we remembered. Their baguette is really crispy and pairs perfectly with the filling. It was so good that just one bite made me happy. After buying the baguette, we went to Decathlon to buy tennis rackets and balls. It was my first time visiting there. It was overwhelming because they have so many things, from tennis, soccer to all kinds of sports gear.
August 30th
Yesterday’s savory baguette was so good that we had it again for brunch today. But it didn’t taste quite as good as yesterday, of course because we had it just yesterday - of course, because we had just eaten it the day before. I guess we learned that the second time can never top the first.