Works And Occupational Hazard

After completing the Sumba project, I thought I could have calm days ahead. However, another write-up project has waited just around the corner. This time, it's about the earthquakes that hit Lombok Island in 2018. I did not have to fly over to Lombok Island as the team promised to provide me with the necessary data. However, the data compiling process was not as smooth as I had expected and there were some interviews that I should conduct via Microsoft Teams, so the project was a bit delayed behind schedule.

 

The main issues that I needed to write were about emergency relief and disaster risk reduction. I am excited to work on the project because it is a relevant issue for Indonesia, which sits on the Ring of Fire and is vulnerable to various kinds of natural disaster. 

Tangent: it's a bit funny that I have been getting works on long-form articles because a few months ago, I sort of complained to a friend, wishing that I could write long-form articles.

 

Due to this Lombok earthquake project,  I downloaded Microsoft Teams on my cellphone, as my trusty old laptop (which will turn 11 years old this June/July) could not download the app. I simply hope that my cellphone (which will turn four years old this May) will be able to keep up working with Skype, Webex, Zoom, and Google Meet that have been downloaded previously.

Another issue that happened this week was my work partner experienced hernia nucleus pulposus (HNP) due to sitting for hours on the floor without any cushion during this Work-From-Home period. She was hospitalized for a few days, and then she was scheduled for MRI or CT scan (?).

On HNP, I have a few friends with the conditions, so I have been trying to connect my work partner to my friends. All of my friends with HNP recommended swimming or walking on the swimming pool as part of the physiotherapy. I relayed the information to her, but at the moment, she insisted on going to an acupuncturist.

I had to take over her duties because she was still in pain if she sit for too long. So this week, I had to adjust and worked around my schedules to ensure all works were completed on (or before) deadlines. My boss asked whether I needed a back up, but I think it would be a hassle to train an intern just for several months. I think the works are still manageable, as long as I stay on course.

Anyway, this incident that happened to my work partner has raised my awareness on the hidden risk of working from home. As working from home is far more comfortable than working from office, sometimes most of us could sit for hours, and this is not good for our backbone health. Now, I try to have a five-minute break after one-hour of work to stand up, stretch my body and have a glass of water. 

I guess I will have my schedules busy in months ahead, until she gets better and resumes her works. In the meantime, let's keep working and carry on stretching in between works and breaks, people.

When I Tried To Cook Prawns, But The Foods Did Not Turn Out As Instagrammable As I Expected

After months in the pandemic situation, people would start to do the unexpected. In my case, it was cooking. I can cook for survival, but I would not find any joy if I have to do it on a daily basis. This cooking journey began with me missing the restaurant foods and trying to be frugal since we have yet to see the end of the pandemic and the economy crisis. I ordered a pack of shrimp (or is it prawn?) from an online shop. 

Most of the recipes are from Devina Hermawan's YouTube channel, with a few tweaks because sometimes I did not have the exact ingredient at home.

Can you guess what these are? Well, they are supposed to be "lumpia udang ayam kulit tahu" (shrimp and chicken wrapped in tofu skin spring roll). The ones sold in the restaurant are usually in small sizes, but since I felt hungry and generous, I made them gigantic. Despite the ugly appearance, these tasted  quite okay.

 

This one was supposed to be Singapore chili prawn. I was afraid that it would turn out too spicy or sour, so I kind of reduced the chili and tomatoes, resulting on this pale-looking dish. But it still tasted good, at least M said so. We both ate this dish in one sitting.

 

I was trying to recreate ebi furai (fried crispy shrimp) of Hokben, and lo and behold, what the hell were these chonky-looking bent prawns? While I currently could not pass the appearance test in cooking, I tried compensate in the taste department. These were actually good and delicious.

 

I believed this dimsum was the most successful prawn-based dish I have made so far. But again, you can never fail in making dimsum. The best thing about dimsum is you can keep them frozen and steam them later.

While I enjoy cooking these dishes, I have to take a break from the prawns, because the cholesterol level has spiked afterwards. M actually loves it when I cook, because it means she does not have to cook. I guess you will see a similar post in the future under this label :).

Let's Do Something Different This Year :)

Found here