Back on the road again

After a bit of a break, I'm back traveling for work again. It has actually been about 6 weeks since I flew out of the Seattle airport. They've switched up all of the security lanes and now the TSA Precheck line is right where I usually walk in. So this morning I had my first experience with this line.

I was able to walk through a simple metal director with my shoes and suit jacket on. My laptop and my bag of liquids were kept in my bags. All I had to do was just put my bags up to go through the scanner. I fly so much that I can get through a normal security line incredibly fast. But total time through the precheck line? 10 seconds. It was insane. It feels strange not being groped or going through a full body scanner to fly!

So now I'm on my way to Dallas, with a brief layover before heading to RDU. Now I know we're in this advanced technological age but for some reason the fact that I can connect to the wireless on flights still boggles my mind. And yes, I still do not completely shut down my phone. And to think I have yet to bring down a plane with my phone on airplane mode!

I'll be in NC for about a week this time, given that I have client meetings again next Monday. It'll be good to see my parents in Chapel Hill over the weekend, particularly since they are a bit down from having to put our dog down to sleep a week and a half ago. Putting a pet down is always hard but I think the whole ordeal makes my parents think about getting older and what the end of their lives might be like.

Boo age. Yay mole.

Since moving to Seattle, I'm definitely more active than I've typically been, given that I walk a total of about 50 minutes a day to and from work. Yet I've gained about 10 pounds since moving here! I blame that whole slow down of the metabolism thing that comes with age. Apparently this damned age thing means that to simply maintain my weight I have to work out more and eat better? Damn you age, damn you! So in January I started trying to work on this in terms of working out beyond my walk to work and trying to watch what I eat a little bit more.

Now I'm not someone who could ever cut out carbs completely (um, hello Asian?), but I'm just trying to have them for lunch instead of dinner. I probably still have some carbs for dinner a night or two a week, but I'm focusing on a dinner of proteins and veggies the other 5 nights. I've also significantly cut down on dairy intake, though yes I still have cheese now and then. But gone is my habit of 3 or 4 greek yogurts a week.

So these slight eating changes plus working out just 2-3 more times a week means I lost five pounds last month. I need to lose 5 more, would like to lose 10 more, and would love to lose 15 more... though 15 is a stretch. I should probably try to find another yoga and/or pilates studio in order to keep this going. And in the same spirit, I guess I should pass on this new product I saw on the shelves the other day:

It's a little portable compartment with Nutella and bread-sticks. Honestly how could you say no to something so delicious and small and cute?!?! Though I laugh at the name... not the words so much, but the punctuation. Nutella and Go! Though ok, I guess I could get excited enough about Nutella to warrant the exclamation point. Because my love for Nutella is such that this is another viable option:

However given that I passed on the cute Nutella, I did treat myself to a pretty awesome dinner last night. I went to a chef's table tasting with 24 other people in the back room of what many call the best Mexican restaurant in Seattle, La Carta de Oaxaca. It's the type of place where you have abuelas making fresh tortillas in the back. One of their most famous dishes is their mole, a dish many consider to have originated in the Oaxaca region of Mexico. There were about 5 dishes during this chef's table dinner, but my goodness their mole...

I've never really been a mole fan, as most of the mole I've had has been too sweet. However, I discovered last night that I've just never had really good mole. Their mole was amazing... just such a complex, rich, smoky blend of flavors. When I came home I was intrigued and looked up a recipe online. Check out Rick Bayless's recipe. Twenty seven ingredients! Holy moly! Or is that Holy mole? (Har, Har, I crack myself up.)

I started this post talking about my weight loss and ended it talking about a dinner where I ended up so full that this asian had to pass on tasty rice that was still left on the table (sacriledge!!!).

Sigh.

Passion and Intuition

The above is a song called Weightless by Marconi Union. This eight minute track was created in collaboration with the British Academy of Sound Therapy and is regarded as the most relaxing song ever. According to scientists, it induced a 65% reduction in overall anxiety and brought test subjects' resting pulse rates to 35% of their usual resting rates.

Hmmm. So are you relaxed yet? Anyways so this is perhaps related to this "touchy feely... finding yourself bit" I've been contemplating lately. The first centers around a bit of what I addressed last week, trying to find or understand what my true passion is. The second I'm calling a need to strengthen my intuition. I think in the craziness of life we often forget how to hear ourselves. I think I've forgotten what its like to tune into that gut feeling... and even harder, forgotten how to have the guts to act on those gut feelings. I find these two related because I wonder whether I have to relearn how to really hear myself before trying to find what my true passion is.

For a while now I've honestly toyed with the idea of just quitting my job and traveling the world for a while. I would love to get away from my day to day routine and truly be able to quiet myself, so that I can really hear what it is I need or want.

Where would I go? Well I'd start here in Seattle and travel west, probably starting in Japan then Korea. Besides those two countries I'm a bit more open. Perhaps Nepal, Mongolia, and Turkey in Asia/Eurasia, then Croatia, Spain, Ireland, and Scotland in Europe. Considering my personality and that I was on the road most of last year, traveling the world for 2 or 3 months isn't as crazy a possibility for me.

The harder part is going to be whether I have the guts to take off, not knowing what would be here when I came back. It'd be different from traveling the world knowing you had a job or an offer to come back to. This is where the practical asian side of me goes "Are you freakin' nuts?!?!" Luckily I can more than afford to do this, heck I could afford to be without a job for over a year. But I've always been a pretty strict rule follower. I've always done what was expected. Can I take this big of a leap?

This has been on my mind for a bit, but I know I have to think about it more. Perhaps the rumblings will get so loud to where I can't ignore them. Or perhaps I don't need to do something so drastic. In pondering what my true passion might be, I've been asking myself a number of questions. These questions in a way seem so simple and innocuous, but I find that they are deceptively difficult to answer.

What do I love to do?
What comes naturally to me?
What do I feel passionate about?
What have been the happiest times in my life?
What have people always told me that I'm good at?
What did I always want to do when I was a child?

I'm working on my answers, though I find it difficult to just answer them and without automatically trying to tie them to some career choice.

To be a shokunin

It's been a while since I've posted on this blog, but I'm hoping to be a bit more regular with it (I'm sure much to the delight of a certain someone in New Mexico...) Anyways, I want to talk about a documentary I saw about a week ago that has made a huge impression on me.

It's called Jiro Dreams of Sushi and chronicles Jiro Ono, who must now be an 87 year old sushi master. He is the owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro and he was the first sushi chef to receive three Michelin stars. Jiro has been making sushi for over 75 years.

Yes, the movie is about incredible sushi... probably the best in the world. It also includes incredible detail about how much attention is given to every single aspect of the meal. This includes things like the order in which he presents his 18 or so pieces of sushi, the roasting of the seaweed, and the rice.

Oh the rice... which honestly is my personal kryptonite and why I could never completely cut out carbs (come on, I'm asian). The rice used here is bought from a vendor who notes that he will only sell to Jiro because only he knows how to properly cook it. I've long known that the best sushi restaurants often spend just as much attention, if not more, on the rice than the fish. But the expertise, mastery, and dedication to only the best quality rice that this rice vendor exhibits is inspiring.

Likewise the documentary will introduce you to a shrimp vendor and a tuna buyer, men who have also devoted their entire lives to mastering their craft. The tuna buyer's expertise is to an extent where he can take a small sliver of tuna, mash it between his thumb and index finger, and then use the look and feel on his fingers to determine the quality and taste of the tuna. Honestly it's mind boggling.

 They use a term in the documentary called shokunin. The best translation of shokunin would be:

"The Japanese word shokunin is defined by both Japanese and Japanese-English dictionaries as ‘craftsman’ or ‘artisan,’ but such a literal description does not fully express the deeper meaning. The Japanese apprentice is taught that shokunin means not only having technical skills, but also implies an attitude and social consciousness. The shokunin has a social obligation to work his/her best for the general welfare of the people. This obligation is both spiritual and material, in that no matter what it is, the shokunin’s responsibility is to fulfill the requirement.”

Here's a clip where you may get a sense for Jiro's dedication to his craft:



This documentary made me think about a lot of things. It made me jealous that these people have found something that they are so incredibly passionate about, to the point where they strive every day to be better than the last.

In one sense it did make me wonder whether I should complain less about my current job and just decide to commit myself to it for a certain period of time, trying to be the best that I can be at it. Haven't we become a society where we think the grass is always greener on the other side? Perhaps if I commit to my job and not constantly wonder whether there is a better job out there, I would be happier?

Or perhaps I need to find my true passion... something that I would be willing to become a shokunin in. Ultimately I'd like to find something that I'm truly passionate about, something I'm excited about, and where I feel that what I do makes a meaningful difference in the world. I wonder if I'm asking too much?

Or perhaps everything is about perspective and how you look at something. Perhaps my current job could be my passion and could make a meaningful difference in the world, if only I make the choice to look at it that way.

Ok now my head hurts. And I'm hungry for sushi.

Job and Seattle update

So I'm at the end of my first two weeks of work. It's going well so far, though I'm at that early stage where I don't really have enough work to do. I'm sure I'll be missing this stage very very soon. Perhaps as soon as next week when I am slated to have 43 hours of billable work across two projects.

The other change for me is that this office, or maybe its a West coast thing, seems to be a lot more flexible in terms of work hours. People come in between 8:30-9:30 and leave between 4:30-5:30. This is crazy to me! But I think people are given the flexibility to work out or do whatever family things they need to do, then they work a bit in the evening.

I fly back to Chicago tonight, though I'll be back here on Monday for another two week stint until the 14th. I will probably try to nail down an apartment here next weekend, the weekend of the 7th. I'm looking to get an apartment within this neighborhood that would be a 20 minute walk to the office. How awesome is it going to be that I can walk to the office?

When I get back here next week I definitely need to make a trip to Trader Joes because the constant eating out is getting to me. I'm also trying to balance wearing more sensible shoes, especially with the hills in the downtown area. It reminds me of the 4 months I lived in San Francisco and how I was in the best shape of my life when I lived there. Perhaps I can get back to that again...

But despite the hills, you just can't take the shoe addict out of me. Thus, I have gotten so many compliments on these pair of really cute heels:

Finally my condo officially went on the market last week and has had 6 showings, with another one scheduled for tomorrow. I am definitely keeping my fingers crossed...