They found out 👀

Life in Lockdown: Week 8, Spain

It’s been seven of the weirdest days of our life: where the freedom of vanlife turned into quarantine in a 4m2 space. I look back on our documentary progress and life in València under lockdown.

The week started with the announcement that the biggest event in the Valèncian calendar, Las Fallas, was cancelled. This came as a real shock to us (just as I was wrapping up last week’s blog post) and at the time, almost felt like a bit of an over-reaction. Of course, those closely following the development of Coronavirus around the world, and particularly in nearby Italy, would understand the motivation behind such a big decision.

On Tuesday morning I attended a free event about Innovation and Design in cities, hosted by a group called ‘Designscapes’ who are conducting research on the topic in the hope of developing public policy. I’d been invited by Ramon Marrades who we’ve been working with at La Marina, and I quite enjoyed attending an academic event after being outside of the urban design industry for a while. I wrote an overview of some of the key takeaways from the event here, which included speakers from the International Centre for Design and Research, Aalborg University and The Tavistock Institute. Unfortunately, the event was considerably impacted by Coronavirus, and not only was attendance greatly reduced but many of the speakers were also unavailable to be present.

Attending the Designscapes Policy Forum was certainly a wake-up call about how seriously Covid-19 might begin to affect public gatherings, but I would still not believe the situation we’d be in just one week later!

While the cancellation of Las Fallas had affected some of our commercial work, the next few days felt as though most other things were unaffected. Plans for the documentary that our channel Broaden are making about La Marina charged ahead.

On Tuesday afternoon, we met up with Ramon to discuss people we’d like to interview about La Marina, València’s seriously impressive waterfront precinct. He took us inside ‘La Base’, the old headquarters for the Swiss Alinghi sailing team, a relic from when València hosted the America’s Cup back in 2007. La Marina now uses the building for events and offices, and while it’s not yet used as often as it could, it has so much potential and is one of many cool assets in the marina.

(images, left to right) Attending the Designscapes forum on innovation in cities, enjoying the sunset on the marina blissfully unaware of the lockdown that would soon be in place, and moody scenes from inside ‘La Base’, a building full of potential.

Filming for the documentary began on Wednesday morning, when we interviewed Manoel, a charming guy who has worked at La Marina for over a decade. Starting out as a deck hand, Manoel is now a senior staff member managing the nautical side of the marina, with its hundreds of moorings and associated facilities. It was fascinating to learn more about the operational side of running a place like this, and we were even treated to a guided boat ride around the marina which offered such a different perspective on this place we’ve both been documenting and staying in for over a week.

The following afternoon, we filmed our second interview, this time with with Julia Pineda, a socially-oriented architect from the co-operative practice ‘Crearqcio’ who has worked closely with La Marina. I was especially interested in the community engagement she had done, and the participatory processes with local residents and other stakeholders to explore names for new streets and decide on future uses for buildings there.

As George and I continue to work together as a videography duo, we’re refining the process of interviewing people, arranging shoots, preparing equipment and getting the perfect footage.

(images, left to right) Taking a boat ride around La Marina, speaking to Julia in Crearqcio’s office, and interviewing Manoel on a gloriously sunny day for the documentary.

Friday the 13th did indeed turn out to be pretty unlucky, as that’s when the situation in Spain relating to Coronavirus really escalated. We managed to squeeze in another interview with a member of La Marina’s team, the third of five interviews we had planned. Barbara was really accommodating and positive on camera, but even just the general vibe in the office while we were filming communicated that things were about to dramatically change.

By early evening, we were informed that some of our other commercial work would have to be completely cancelled, as all operations in Spain were starting to completely shut down. 

It was Friday evening when warning came of the state of alarm which Spain was about to enter.

The declaration was made on Saturday: to ameliorate the spread of coronavirus, everyone in Spain is to stay at home, leaving the house only to buy groceries or medicine. All bars, restaurants, museums, cafes, and any other establishments that carry out public activity are to be closed and no one is to use public spaces. As the week continued, further measures have been put in place, such as the closure of the country’s land borders.

And that is pretty much when the predictability of my and George’s lives ended. Just like that: an extreme measure is brought into place which affects every aspect of your life - your income, your freedom to move, your travel plans, your activities and your family. Of course, that extreme measure has been brought into place because of an extreme situation, but if only I could warn Bryony from a week ago, perhaps I would have told her to prepare in some way. What might I have said? To stock up on food essentials, to buy a couple more books, to have more money saved up and most critically, to brace herself for the physical and emotional challenge of being confined to living exclusively inside Suzi the Van.

(images, left to right) Powering through confinement in a van by writing letters and eating icecream, George going a teeny tiny bit crazy in our mini house, and sitting just outside the van on my virtual ‘balcony’.

We have left the van once since Friday, to go out and buy some food. I’m someone who likes to get out and about, so this level of confinement is pretty intense.

Aside from the supermarket run (to Lidl, which was surprisingly well-stocked), George and I have ‘stayed at home’, here in Suzi at La Marina. I’ve been really keen to go and find a camping spot out in the countryside, where there might be more possibility of getting some fresh air and a walk, but we’re conscious that where we are right now has all the amenities we could need: flushing toilets, hot showers, a laundry, rubbish bins, water, drain, and even electricity (which we’ve resorted to using today amid stormy overcast weather). Plus, if the last week has taught us anything, it’s that you can’t be sure of how the next week may play out. The safest option is likely to stay put.

As people have reiterated online, a period of isolation is a pretty unique opportunity for many of us to indulge in activities we don’t get around to. Whilst I’m privileged to have already incorporated diary and blog writing as well as a lot of book-reading into my routine in the van, these last few days have seen me do that more than ever. I also made another collage, and even got around to editing together a collection of images I took back when I was working in Sydney. This short stop-motion animation (below) had me thinking about seeing something inspirational in the same repetitive scene.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bryony Simcox (@bryonysimcox) on Mar 16, 2020 at 9:42am PDT

Might isolation do wonders for society’s increasingly short attention span and need for variety?

The current situation is a bizarre mix of feeling very isolated and very connected all at the same time. George and I use our phones a lot, and get constant updates both from formal news outlets and from friends and family. Anecdotes from Sydney and the UK, where measures aren’t quite as extreme yet, contrast with the sobering sentiments of scientists on podcasts or videos of Italians and Chinese who have been dealing with a total lockdown far longer than we have.

At times, I’ve even turned my phone off to try and tune out of the noise. Now that George and I are in lockdown, we aren’t able to contract Covid-19 nor spread it. So to a certain extent I feel as though keeping up-to-date as the crisis unfolds only makes me feel increasingly miserable and helpless.

(images, left to right) The deserted walkway next to our van, empty offices at La Marina, and the beach as viewed from the closed gate which confines the part of the marina that we’re parked in.

If you let your mind project the implications of this virus in the future, it’s not too hard to find yourself in a dark place. Already, I see the failings of an economic system addicted to growth, the selfish panic-buying and disregard of facts by large swathes of people and the unfair advantage of exploitative multinational corporations. Take for example the fact that the aviation industry (led by millionaires, might I add) have banded together to ask for government payouts while young people, creatives, self-employed and zero-hour contract employees face a future of complete financial uncertainty.

I’m left asking questions like “how will people pay their rent?”, “where will this leave already vulnerable members of our society?” and “how will we even begin to rebuild life if and when this virus is tackled?”.

Of course, there are so many positive sides to be seen during this time too, and some of which offer answers to that last question. Already, we are seeing signs of generosity and kindness from health workers, neighbours, friends and strangers. We are seeing the emergence of an informal economy built on reciprocity and trust, where not just economic capital has value. We are seeing innovation on a massive scale, as people seek new ways of keeping their businesses alive, of cooking food with what’s left in their cupboards, of keeping the virus at bay and managing its spread, of boosting morale and of pooling resources.

(images) I’m trying to see beauty in things and keep positive-minded, even if that means snapping these colourful scenes from the desolate streets on our walk to the supermarket.

In some ways, perhaps we needed an event of this magnitude to shake up the entire way in which we exist, and to rethink our systems of living.

The irony is that we already have another event which threatens humanity in this way, but which we have been largely ignoring. This is, of course, climate change and the terrifying rate at which the earth is warming up. Mother Nature has been shouting about the catastrophe we are charging towards for some time now, and yet it has taken direct deaths on home soil and a tangible ‘thing’ like Covid-19 for us to react in a collective and decisive way. It also goes without saying, that my heart breaks for all of the victims of this terrible virus to date, and I would never wish that it would take fatalities to call us to action.

This blog is usually a very personal reflection on a very personal journey: where my partner George and I attempt to cross the world in an old Japanese campervan, making videos along the way. But the arrival of this virus and its direct impact on our journey has triggered a different type of reflection. Perhaps in the coming weeks, during which I presume we will remain in lockdown, I will continue to write and reflect on what I think it is to be human in a difficult time, and to assess the situation which we are now all in, together as humanity.

I hope that my writing brings us together in some way, across oceans, balconies and phone screens. Whilst I’m pretty sure that George and I will still be parked up in a marina on the Spanish coast this time next week, who knows where we’ll be, collectively? 

Hospitality

HOSPITALITY: HEALTH, SAFETY AND HYGIENE

A versatile, affordable and comprehensive multimedia learning resource

The DVD contains six video clips: Kitchen hazards - hot, sharp, wet Hazards of heat Safe use and handling of knives Cleaning, sanitising, disinfecting Manual handling: the hierarchy of control Hands, bodies and food safety

This outstanding educational resource provides an essential introduction to workplace health and safety for anyone training for a career in hospitality, through a series of video clips and comprehensive learning activities.

DVD (With English Subtitles) / 2015

KITCHEN HAZARDS AND FOOD SAFETY

A commercial kitchen can be a fun and highly rewarding place to work, but also one full of potential hazards and dangers.

This video is filmed inside the industrial kitchen at Bendigo Health in regional Victoria where thousands of meals and other food requirements are prepared for hospital and associated health services every week.

Food Services Manager Damian Martin comprehensively covers a wide range of workplace health and safety areas, taking us through basic kitchen safety in working with hot, sharp and wet equipment and surfaces; and safe and hygienic practices in the storage and handling of food.

DVD (With English Subtitles) / 2015 / (Middle Secondary - Professional) / 19 minutes

SERVING ALCOHOL RESPONSIBLY

Anyone serving alcohol to customers must do so responsibly. This includes owners and licensees of premises, bar and drinks staff and security and other staff who might make judgments about patron behaviour. Alcohol affects people differently and it's important to recognise when someone is, or is becoming, alcohol-affected to the point where no more should be served. Even more critical is the ability to deal with a situation effectively and appropriately without disturbing other patrons. This video covers the skills required to ensure the responsible service of alcohol and includes interviews with hotel and live music venue owner Greg Dodds and wine bar operators Mark and Meredith Telfer. It is an ideal resource for learners in Hospitality and related courses.

DVD (With English Subtitles) / 2014 / (Middle Secondary - Professional) / 17 minutes

SME CASE STUDY: CREATIVE FORCE - TECHNOLOGY DRIVING CHANGE

Businesses constantly face change. Technology drives much of it and has drastically impacted every industry and sector in recent decades. Successful small businesses embrace change and use technology smartly. Often it means continual reinvention. This video profiles Creative Force, a small business in regional south-east Australia that started as a print media-based marketing company two decades ago. Today it specializes in web and multimedia development for clients ranging from universities and major health authorities to individuals. The program explores the impact of digital communications and the role that technology has played in completely transforming all aspects of the business over time. It is an ideal resource for upper-level learners in business, small business management, technology and related areas.

DVD (With English Subtitles) / 2014 / (Middle Secondary - Professional) / 16 minutes

SME CASE STUDY: UNWINED - INTRODUCING HOSPITALITY TO RETAIL

Mark and Meredith Telfer purchased what a franchised retail cleanskin wine outlet. Over the course of nine years they worked the business hard ultimately transforming it into a unique wine bar, complementing the now more up-market wine and boutique beer retail section of their business. Their slogan is 'Come for a glass, leave with a bottle'. This video explores the journey of a small business as it re-invents itself across a decade. It looks at making business decisions, opportunities for growth and sustainability, planning and implementing change to meet customer demands. It presents an excellent case study for learners in courses related to Business Studies, Small Business Management and Hospitality.

DVD (With English Subtitles) / 2014 / (Middle Secondary - Professional) / 15 minutes

LE CIRQUE: A TABLE IN HEAVEN

Director: Andrew Rossi

In this portrait of Le Cirque founder Sirio Maccioni and his three sons, director Andrew Rossi catches the family at a dramatic transition: the closing of the restaurant in 2004, its celebrated re-opening two years later followed by the nerve-wracking wait for restaurant critics to weigh in on their new incarnation. A must-see for anyone who is passionate about food and dining, this film shows us a family embroiled in the age-old struggle between father, sons, tradition and change.

DVD / 2011 / 74 minutes

THREE STARS

Directors: Lutz Hachmeister

Focusing on nine Michelin starred chefs from three continents, Three Stars depicts the everyday drama of life in gourmet restaurants and includes exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes access to some of the world's most talented chefs as they work in their gastronomic laboratories, hunt for exquisite ingredients in local markets, and gather rare edible plants along rough coastlines. It reveals the business of cooking on the highest level and highlights the various kitchen routines and culinary philosophies of chefs like Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Yannick Alleno, and Olivier Roellinger.

DVD-R (Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese & Spanish with English Subtitles) / 2011 / 94 minutes

RESTAURATEUR, THE

Director: Roger Sherman

This intimate film about Danny Meyer, one of America's preeminent restaurant owners, opens in the dining room of Eleven Madison Park in December, 2009. Meyer confides to the camera: "After Tabla and Eleven Madison Park opened, I was convinced I'd made one of the worst professional mistakes of my life." Fade to a vast, concrete space, January, 1998. A much younger-looking Meyer, with Tom Colicchio (chef of Gramercy Tavern), enters the site; Meyer gives him a tour of his hopes and dreams.

We follow the restaurateur and his team for a year as they experience gut-wrenching construction delays, miss deadlines, and fire a chef. We visit Tabla's chef Floyd Cardoz in his tiny home kitchen where he creates his now classic watermelon curry. We're there as chef Kerry Heffernan takes over EMP just weeks before opening.

Danny Meyer bares all in this portrait. Watching him and his inner circle, we witness first-hand how difficult it is to create a world-class restaurant. The Restaurateur is nothing like those reality shows. This is real.

DVD / 2010 / 57 minutes

INSIDE A HOTEL

The MacDonald chain of luxury hotels serves business and leisure customers across the UK. People are integral to their success. This film goes inside one of its hotels to discover what they do.

SERVICE IS EVERYTHING: There's premium on customer service. Guests have to be greeted with a smile. One of the first people you're like to meet is Neil, the concierge. He's virtually a "personal organiser" for everyone who visits the hotel, taking on everything from arranging trips to the airport to finding parts for a 1933 Ferrari! The receptionist is in the front line, too, checking people in, dealing with angry customers, but also the occasional celebrity.

STILL WAITING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS: Giuseppe, the head waiter, has been in the restaurant business for over 30 years. He prides himself on the confidence his customers have in him. But things aren't what they used to be, he reckons - and many guests fall below his standards. They don't know what to wear, what to order or even how to eat their food.

THE CONFERENCE BUSINESS: Long gone are the days when big hotels relied on selling people a bed for the night to make their money. Now the big market is the corporate market, hosting things like conferences.

Conference and banqueting manager James has to meet the whims of his business customers - and take it all with a smile.

TRAINING: Human resources manager Fiona says you can train someone to lay a table but not to be good at caring for customers - it's all a question of choosing the right people.

THE MYSTERY SHOPPERS: Colin and Wendy are mystery shoppers who visit hotels undercover to check they're keeping to their standards. A lack of nibbles in the bar or newspapers which they order but don't turn up and Colin and Wendy marks the hotel down.

HIGHS AND LOWS: Working in a hotel is a bit like being on stage. The highs come when you meet your goals, the lows when you fail to make a customer happy. For the receptionist, drunken guests are the biggest problem. Working in the hotel and catering industry takes lots of energy and the ability "to talk to anyone".

THE OTHER SIDE OF HOTEL WORK: By no means all hotel workers find their jobs satisfying. A foreign hotel worker describes experiences of outrageous sexual harassment and bullying. She says she would never let her child work in the industry.

DVD / 2008 / 30 minutes

HOTEL MANAGEMENT AT THE HOTEL MONACO

In the hotel business, there are many opportunities to provide service to customers, and in order to remain competitive; the service design must be excellent thought-out. The Hotel Monaco, owned by San Francisco's Kimpton Group, is a boutique hotel with 7 locations around the country. In Chicago, its property is in a prime location on the northern end of the business district. Its location between two shopping districts and in the heart of the reviving theater district which helps them have crossover appeal for both business and pleasure clients.

DVD / 2003 / (Grades 9-12, College, Adult)

HOTEL MONACO-MANAGING CUSTOMER SERVICE

The Hotel Monaco Chicago is one of seven boutique hotels owned by San Francisco's Kimpton Group. Kimpton's service concept is to offer the same services and comforts of a luxury chain hotel, but with the personality and individual attention of staying at a friend's home. In an extremely competitive market, the Hotel Monaco Chicago has successfully chosen to feature luxury accommodations in a small, friendly hotel with unconventional decor and unique service elements.

DVD / 2002 / (Grades 9-12, College, Adult) / Approx. 9 minutes

MARKETING A HOTEL: THE CROWN, SCARBOROUGH

Jhe Crown Hotel, Scarborough, used to cater for wealthy holiday makers, but with the decline of British seaside, the Crown fell on hard times. In 2000 it was up for sale and falling to pieces. Then came new hope.

Local businessman Richard Frank set about restoring it to its former glory. He brought in new features — a gym and a cafe-bar. A website now offers a "virtual tour" of the hotel. Celebrities are used to get the hotel publicity and prices are cut to make sure the rooms are filled. The marketing tactics are radical — but will they work?

DVD / 2001 / 25 minutes

SYSTEMS IN A HOTEL: TECHNOLOGY IN HOSPITALITY

This demonstrates the systems in a large hotel. The hotel's booking system shows the rooms available and helps maximise income from the rooms, discounting prices when things are quiet. For each guest the system records a guest history, with details of their likes and dislikes.

When a guest feels a room is too hot, staff use a building management system to turn down the temperature. A housekeeping system records details of a defective lamp to be reported for repair. But while all these different systems bring efficiency, do they really improve the quality of a guest's stay? Or is it all a bit too impersonal?

DVD / 2000 / 27 minutes

INSIDE THE HOTEL BUSINESS

Bill Marriott of Marriott Hotels, and John Coleman, of the Ritz-Carlton in New York and in Washington and Tremont and Whithall Hotels in Chicago, discuss what it costs to build a hotel, how to choose a site, how you staff it and run it so the guests are happy and the owner makes a profit. Bill Marriott has some surprising information about the responsibility he extends to workers at all levels.

DVD / 1983 / (College through Adult) / 30 minutes

FOOD SERVICE EXCELLENCE: CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS

Gives students specific information about work habits on the job: the importance of appearance, relating to customers and co-workers, dealing with complaints and interacting with management.

DVD / 60 minutes

FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRY: CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU

Viewers will see how the increased number of food products and advanced technologies have helped national food and restaurant chains expand. They'll get a close-up view of careers, from packing and distributing to preparing, cooking and serving food. The program details the training and skills needed for a full range of food service careers.

DVD / 31 minutes

FOOD SERVICE PRE-PREPARATION: GETTING READY AHEAD OF TIME

how professional food workers work back from the menu to be sure all is ready for the rush. They'll follow the morning as bacon & eggs are prepared by the staff.

DVD / 52 minutes

HAZARD COMMUNICATION IN HOSPITALITY ENVIRONMENTS

"Hazard Communication in Hospitality Environments" courses discuss the requirements of the HAZCOM Standard, the hazards that can be associated with different types of HAZMATs, and what employees can do to avoid these hazards.

Topics covered in these products include: Sources of HAZMAT information. Exposure to hazardous materials. Different types of HAZMATs Personal protective equipment and safe storage. Responding to a HAZMAT spill.

DVD / 21 minutes

SHORT ORDER FOOD SERVICE: GRILL MANAGEMENT

Illustrates cleaning and maintaining equipment, cooking zones and techniques for cooking typical menus items such as eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, hamburgers and home fries. Explains the importance of "prepping" food, managing flow of orders while timing for doneness. Discusses interaction between cook and servers.

DVD / 45 minutes

http://www.learningemall.com/News/Hospitality_202102.html

6-cheese lasagna w/roasted zucchini, garlic lemon zest

Today I had my first "real" interview for a job in probably 7 years.

I got my first job post-college, at Dominos, that I absolutely wasn't qualified for, after a short group interview that ended in assigning us our stores. They asked a few basic questions and made me an assistant manager at 18.

Then when I got my job at Little Caesar's in 2017, I happened to know the assistant manager, Rob, from Dominos. The manager asked if I preferred ovens or line, I said ovens, and she hired me.

I didn't even have to give my current boss a resume. I said I was interested and she brought me in the back and trained me. I started the next day.

I also walked into a job in September when I wasn't getting enough hours at my current job. I knew a bartender there, she passed on my resume, I came in for a trial shift and left with another shift the next day. I worked there until we had to lockdown again and haven't been brought back.

I decided to capitalize on the trend of line cooks being notoriously hard to hire and retain due to low wages and applied to some other bars. I got an interview at East Side Mario's, the Canadian version of Olive Garden, today.

They're desperate, but they did give me a real interview with the classic questions, but also some random hardballs like "what would you change about your current bar's menu?" and "what would you say is the best way to make Caesar dressing?"

They also had me fill out a pre-interview form with the dumbass question, "Itsa big italian dinner! What do you bring?" and I just let my hand write the following: "6-cheese lasagna w/roasted zucchini, garlic lemon zest" which I don't even know what it means.

The next question actually pissed me off: "Which family member do you sit with and why?" and I decided to point out the ridiculousness of this question by answering with the deadass truth: "I don't have a family, so no one I guess."

The interviewer was pretty interested in why I was leaving my current job, and to be honest, I probably won't be. But I told her the truth; they don't pay me enough for everything I do, and there's absolutely no room for advancement. I don't want to be a line cook my whole life.

"Would you say you'd want to be Kitchen Manager someday?"

"Definitely. I'm extremely organized and I know my strengths would make me good at it."

It went pretty well, and we actually connected over our shared love of art. She said it was great to meet me and she has one more interview and then she'll get back to me later this week.

But before the end, she wrote down some basics. "What's your availability?" All day every day baby. "Do you live far?" Nope, 20 minutes by bus, 40 minute walk. "And what is your hourly pay expectation?"

I currently make $14.50. Minimum wage is $14. I said $16, and she didn't even look up, just wrote it down as if I'd said "pay me nothing". I actually thought she'd come back with 15, and she still might, but for her to put that down like I'm definitely worth it... it felt good.

The location I'd be working at is literally the biggest and busiest location in all of Canada. I currently work at a tiny pub making bar food, where $400 is an amazing night. ESM does that in a half hour during dinner.

But the interviewer was very perceptive and she seemed to pick up on the fact that I was nervous about moving from a one-man-kitchen to a corporate circus kitchen. She said, "Everyone has their assigned roles and you'll rarely need to take over for someone, we always have at least 3 people in the kitchen, more like 8 on a Friday night, it's a large kitchen, it's a well-oiled machine."

This did relax me a bit, but it also made me think.

Part of what I love about my current job is that I get to do a lot of different things, and no night is the same as the next. I've never had to stand in front of a grill or fryer for 10 minutes let alone 4 hours. I'm zooming from cold line to grill to microwave to fridge etc.

Another part is working alone, which is the main reason I went into this interview without really thinking that I'd take the job. I love working alone. It's been years since I've worked with a crew.

Finally, everything at my current bar is easy. Bar food is 90% fried or grilled. I've never made pasta in a work kitchen before. And I used to make pizzas, but not *good* pizza that goes for $25 for a small.

I'm thinking, if I do get the job, I'll go for a trial shift. I don't think they can fault me for wanting to dip my toes in before diving into a new job and cutting ties at my old one.

One more thought.

It felt weird, because I'm used to faking confidence in interviews. And even though I'm probably not really qualified to upgrade from bar food to casual fine dining, I answered all the questions like a pro, and believed myself when I said I'm good under pressure, I learn super quickly and I'm very agreeable. Because I am.

I remember my last real interview, where I "lied" out my ass about being reliable and smart and capable. I thought they were lies, and interviews were mostly just about lying successfully. Turns out, when you actually have a shred of self-confidence, they go a lot easier.

Thanks for reading. Stay Greater, Flamingos.

Questions About Checking Accounts, Nintendo Switch, iPods, TSP, and More!

Whats inside? Here are the questions answered in todays reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question. 1. Great advice for job seekers 2. Old hometown checking account 3. Making your own seasoning mixes 4. Inexpensive Nintendo Switch games 5. Partner has extreme debt 6. TSP contribution questions 7. Uses for old iPod? 8. Job search not that simple 9. Value of authenticating sports cards 10. Financial independence and career plans 11. Advice for selling books 12. True hourly discretionary income question I wanted to offer a little update on my switch to a standing desk for professional purposes. About two weeks ago, I moved my main workstation to a standing desk. The purpose for doing this was to significantly reduce the amount of time I spend sitting in a given day, because sitting for your job all the time has some negative long term health consequences. I did recognize that doing this fully cold turkey is a bad idea, and so I planned from the start to do it in stages. My plan was and still is to use the desk until I felt noticeable discomfort, then switch to a laptop in a chair for a while, then maybe alternate back later in the day. My goal was to simply raise my average time at the standing desk a little each week as I strengthen different muscle groups. After a couple of weeks of doing this, Ive found that the big impact has been on my lower back, with a smaller impact on my feet. Im able to work for about four to five hours a day at the standing desk, with other work time spent sitting in a comfortable chair with a laptop. What generally happens is that my lower back starts to get sore, not in a something is broken way but in a this is a muscle thats getting taxed due to exertion and needs a break way. Ill sit down for a while and itll feel much better. However, its constantly experiencing a low-grade soreness, the kind of soreness that happens when you exercise a muscle group. Theres nothing wrong here if I felt something wrong, I would stop using the standing desk for a while. However, it can be a little uncomfortable. Ive had some very minor foot discomfort, mostly on my heels, but nothing significant and it honestly seems to be fading over the last few days. Its hard to tell yet whether or not the standing desk is improving my health in any notable way. I certainly dont think its been bad, but I havent noticed a big health improvement. I do exercise most days, so thats definitely a positive factor, but its hard to extract the benefits of standing with the other benefits of exercise. I think its very likely that there have been some minor benefits, and I likely would have noticed more if I didnt already exercise. Its all about feeling healthy for as long as possible. On with the questions. Q1: Great advice for job seekers I wanted to share some advice from my own experience as an interviewer [in a large corporate HR department]. The big thing is that you shouldnt be hard on yourself if you interview for a job and dont get it. Often, there is already a candidate that is pre-selected and the interview process is a mere formality. Someone thought you were a good candidate and brought you in, but you didnt actually have a real chance at the job no matter how you interviewed. In fact, you should treat all interviews like that. Dont get stressed about them, because theres a good chance that theres already an anointed candidate. I would say that 75-80% of the time, we already have our minds made up regarding which candidate to hire before the interview process begins and interviews virtually never change our minds. Sometimes we will interview someone great and put them on a list of people to call in the future but almost without fail those people already have a job when we call them back. So please dont be hard on yourself if you dont succeed at an interview! And dont get overly stressed about it because theres a good chance that theres already an anointed candidate anyway. Just go in there and answer the questions and learn about the company and let the chips fall where they may. Alison This is great advice, and in line with some of my own hiring experiences in the past. I have been on all sides of this coin at various points. I have been the anointed candidate in a hiring process. I have also been one of the other candidates in a hiring process (where I knew someone else was anointed for an absolute fact). Ive also been involved with several hirings, some of which had strongly preferred candidates and some of which did not. The thing is, you never really know which kind of situation it is when youre interviewing. It may be a more open position where you actually have a good chance, or it may be a situation where you are one of the other candidates in an open process engineered to bring in the vastly preferred candidate with minimal questions. I think the mantra of dont worry about it is the right one here. Just go in there, answer the questions, ask some questions about the company, and move on and keep looking for the next interview or opportunity. If youre the right candidate, theyll call. Often, you wont be, and it wont be due to a fault of your own. Q2: Old hometown checking account I have left a checking account open at my old hometown bank for the last 20 years. It pays a very small interest rate 0.05%. I have a balance of about $1,200 in there. I have always looked at it as a last ditch emergency fund. If anything seriously goes wrong, Ill go there and use that money. But its just sitting there. Isnt there something better I could be doing with it? Dana I dont think theres anything wrong with having a last ditch emergency fund in a bank thats not easy to access. That idea is fine by me. However, its probably just going to sit there for a long time, so you might want to consider doing something with it that earns a better return. The next time youre in your hometown, stop by that bank and see what other options they have. Simply explain that this is an emergency fund for you and you want it in a place where it earns a little more, doesnt lose value, and could be withdrawn in an emergency but isnt likely to be withdrawn. Its very likely that theyll suggest a certificate of deposit, which is akin to a savings account except that it earns a bit higher interest rate and theres a small penalty for withdrawing it early. It wont take very long at all for the CD to earn more than the penalty for early withdrawal and then, after that, its onwards and upwards. Make sure that the bank allows you to automatically roll over the CD when it matures. Right now, with interest rates a bit higher than they were but still fairly low, Id choose a medium term CD, something in the range of one to two years. That will give you a higher interest rate than a short term CD but wont lock you in to these relatively low historical rates forever. Set it to automatically roll over, then forget about it until that last ditch emergency occurs. Q3: Making your own seasoning mixes Have you ever written an article about making your own seasoning mixes instead of buying mixes at the store? You can buy the component spices and mix them yourself and save a lot of money if you use seasonings a lot. I make an Italian seasoning and a chili seasoning and a toast seasoning myself. Margaret Toast seasoning? Youre going to have to send me that one. I have a bagel seasoning mix that I like to use on buttered toast sometimes I wonder if theyre similar. Although Ive mentioned seasoning mixes before and noted how its cheaper to make your own, I dont think Ive ever written a listing of the various spice mixes we have and how we store them. I store most of my spice mixes in large baby food jars that we still have from when our children were babies. I usually make them by mixing other spices by the teaspoon into a bowl and then stirring them thoroughly so theyre mixed, then I fill up the jar with the spice mix. I use masking tape for labeling. Using a mix is a learning experience. Over time, you start figuring out how much to put in stuff. Our chili mix, for example, usually takes a tablespoon and a half per batch, and a batch fills up our slow cooker about halfway. I could write a full post about this if theres interest, including some of my recipes. Just send me a message on Facebook if youd like to see that. Q4: Inexpensive Nintendo Switch games My husband and I bought our son a Nintendo Switch for Christmas. It is his first video game console and he had been asking for it all year so it was really fun to see him open it. Both sets of grandparents got him a game for it so he has had two games to play. His birthday is coming up soon and we asked him what he wanted and of course he wanted a Switch game. We asked him for a list of the ones he wanted and it has 15 or so games on it. The problem is that they are all $50 or more. Why are Switch games so expensive? Our full birthday gift budget for him is $50. Can you help? Anna This is a consistent challenge with Nintendos consoles, and it has been since the 1980s. Nintendo makes very high quality exclusive titles for their consoles those are usually the ones that wind up filling wish lists for console owners but they rarely go down in price until later in the consoles production cycle and the Switch is a pretty young system. Trust me your son isnt being greedy here. Hes probably listing most of the best games for the console, but they all happen to be expensive ones. I would guess that in a year or two, Nintendo will have a line of some of their top titles from a few years prior as Platinum titles for a much lower price point around $20 but were not there yet. So what can you do now? My recommendation is to visit a video game store that sells used games, like Gamestop, and see what they have available for the Switch thats used. Switch games, as you know, come on small cartridges, so its very easy to test a game to make sure it works you can ask them to test it before you buy. Getting a game used in the original packaging will still cost 50% to 75% of the sticker price and the selection may be a bit limited, but this is probably a fairly safe bet for getting one of the games he wants within your price point. A used Switch game is just as good as a new one in terms of someone focused on actually playing the games, so Id look there. Another approach would be to give him a gift card to the Nintendo eShop. There are a lot of very good downloadable titles for the Switch, and you use those gift cards to buy those downloadable titles. While this wouldnt give him any of the games he specifically wants, it would enable him to get a couple of games at least, and there are some very good games for $9.99 or less on the eShop. Q5: Partner has extreme debt I recently discovered that my bride-to-be (June) has about $140K in student loan debt. She had said that she had some student loans in the past but I did not have any idea how much. I am very uncomfortable with being saddled with that much debt. This has caused a great deal of conflict between us over the last few months and I found this out during the holidays. I am not sure what to do. Daniel The biggest factor Id look at is her day to day behavior right now. Is she a frugal person? Does she watch her nickels and dimes? Is she committed not in words but in actions to getting that debt paid off? Is she making extra payments on that debt? If you see that, then I wouldnt fret about it. On the other hand, if she seems to think that such a big debt isnt a big deal, she spends money frivolously all the time, and she isnt making much progress on that debt I would think very, very carefully about this relationship, because thats a value mismatch thats going to chafe for years and years. Beyond that, I would also consider what kind of field that her degree is in. Was the degree she earned in a field with a high income potential, or was it something that will never earn a substantial income? Also, Id look at other factors, like whether or not parental support was promised and then denied. If shes aiming for a high paying career, such as medicine or law or some types of engineering, I wouldnt worry too much about it. If she took out that much debt for a career path that has a very low likelihood of earning a high salary, I would be really concerned. I would also be concerned with that level of debt if there was also significant financial support from her parents where did all of that money go? The challenge with marriage is that you are financially tied to each other in a very deep way and her choices regarding the debt she took out for her education are indicative of the decision making process she will likely employ going forward except now youll be financially liable for them. Having that much debt unless you are both high income earners will significantly affect your life decisions for a very long time, likely for the rest of your life. It will delay your ability to have children that you can support financially, for starters. It will alter both of your career choices and possibilities. It will delay your ability to have a home of your own. I guess, in this situation, what I would really look for are signs of financial maturity beyond that of the student loans. Is she focused on repaying that debt with or without you? Is she making the most of her degree? Does she spend frivolously? I cant answer for you whether this woman is worth it to you. She may be perfect for you in every other way, in which case youll be happier with her. However, having that much student loan debt, and given the alarm bells it sets off in your head, is a sign of likely incompatibility over financial issues, and thats not a recipe for a great marriage. As always, conversation is key, as is paying attention to her actions. What kind of steps is she taking (not just talking about, but taking) in her life knowing that huge debt is sitting there? If youre struggling to answer that and this debt makes you this uncomfortable, this may not be the best situation for you. Q6: TSP contribution questions I am 36 years old, single, no children, no plans to ever marry. I just got a government job that I hope to keep for the rest of my life. Knowing that I am receiving FERS and Social Security already in retirement, how much should I contribute to my TSP to be able to have a comfortable retirement?Want to retire at 65 and have about the same amount of disposable income when I retire. Janine For those unfamiliar, FERS is the pension plan for US federal government employees. TSP is an optional 401(k)-like plan for additional retirement savings. Based on this, FERS should provide about 33% of your final salary when you retire. Social Security, depending on your income level, will provide somewhere around 30% of your income. That means you need to make up about 37% of your income from TSP. If you contribute 5% of your salary to TSP, the federal government matches another 4%. Above that, theres no matching. Given all of that information, I ran some back of the envelope calculations and conclude that given your age and your aim to retire at age 65 with your full salary intact from your various retirement sources and that you want to be able to draw from TSP for the rest of your life, you should contribute 15% of your salary to TSP. This should enable you to withdraw enough from TSP each year to make up your salary shortfall when you retire at age 65 and the TSP balance should last for the rest of your life. Youll want to invest TSP fairly aggressively the target retirement options should work. While I cant guarantee that 15% will get you there, I can certainly say that it is extremely likely that it will either get you there or get you very close to your goal. Q7: Uses for old iPod? Found an old iPod in a desk drawer along with charging cable. Is there any use for this or should I just junk it? I powered it up and it turns on just fine. Adam I dont own an original iPod (I had one way back in the day but I sold it off circa 2007-2008), but a friend of mine keeps one in her car and listens to music with it every day using a cassette tape adapter. You could do the same thing with an auxiliary cable if your car has an AUX port. Just load it up with mp3s of a bunch of music and/or podcasts that you like, keep it in your car, and listen to it during commutes. If you have a charger that hooks into the cigarette lighting receptacle in your car, then you can plug into that and keep it permanently charged. My friend has hundreds of albums that she loved in her teens and twenties. If you like alternative or indie rock from about 1990 to about 2007, theres a good chance youll find a ton to love on her iPod. Just fill yours up to the brim with stuff you like and youll always have something to listen to. You can fill it up with the full archives of a podcast and listen to the entire run of a podcast, too. Old iPods are great for these kinds of things. In other words, use it for what it was intended for. Load it up with audio. Q8: Job search not that simple While I appreciate your regular encouragement to go find a new job if your current one is sapping you, its not always that simple. I have been working as a legacy systems programmer for the same company for 16 years. Most of my day is maintaining old code, migrating it to new machines, and dealing with corporate [nonsense]. I literally hate going into work each day. There arent any available jobs nearby that match my skill set. Trust me, Ive looked. I cant move because my daughter has particular health care needs and needs to be near a top notch medical facility. That also means I need good insurance. I cant just go into work and say, Well, time to find a new job today! Thats just a pipe dream. Terry All right, so what jobs are available in your area that are close to your skill set? Youre obviously in a metro area of some kind. I guarantee there are programming jobs in that area. Whats actually available? What things are most similar to your skillset? Once you know that, start honing your skillset at work so that you can make that leap. Learn how to write tools that will help you with the legacy coding you already do. Start trying to port your legacy code over to a new language for modern systems during your downtime. Use this as an opportunity to learn new languages and paradigms. Get involved with any and all local software development groups. Try to go to their face to face meetings and get heavily involved in any online spaces they have, being as helpful as you possibly can there. Build up some good relationships in your field, then just casually ask about positions that match your refurbished skill set. Also, keep your resume honed on LinkedIn so you can be discovered by people who might be looking for folks in your area. Dont aim for hopelessness. Aim for a light at the end of the tunnel. You can do this at any job. I had a job where I was literally shoveling dirt for hours and hours during the middle of the night by myself and yet I found ways to aim that toward my next step. Q9: Value of authenticating sports cards I have a bunch of sports cards mostly baseball and basketball from the 1960s. I have looked at selling some of them individually but when I look online almost all sales are authenticated cards in a special holder. I looked into this and it looks like you send your cards to an authentication service and pay them a fee and they put them in a special plastic holder with a tag that says its authentic and gives it a grade for its condition. Is this worth it for selling trading cards? Are there ways to sell cards without this kind of service? Marvin You basically described the sports card authentication world pretty well. It exists because there was rampant fraud in older sports cards and other trading cards for a while, so some reputable dealers popped up and started offering authentication and grading services so that people would know exactly what they were buying. Its become the de facto standard for any sports cards of significant value. Basically, if the card is older than about 1975 or so, the player has any name recognition at all, and the card is in reasonably good shape, youre going to make more money selling it after authentication than before, even including the cost of authentication. If its a no-name player or its beat up, youre not going to make a whole lot for it anyway, as people will just want those to help complete sets and they wont sell for more than pennies. What Id do is look for Hall of Fame caliber player cards from your collection (or, as a friend of mine said, Hall of Famers plus Pete Rose) and get those authenticated to sell individually. The rest, Id just divide out by set and sell in bulk. (I have an almost complete 1965 Topps set missing just a few commons that Ive worked on for literally decades, so Im fairly familiar with all of this.) Q10: Financial independence and career plans So how much financial independence would a person need to be able to have full career independence where you still want to have a career but you just feel empowered to make whatever choice seems exciting to you without really worrying about salary but still assuming youre earning a decent salary to live on? I make about $80K and think I can live well on about $40K so my savings rate is about 30% after taxes. How many years would I have to do this before money exits the equation as a career consideration? Barney I think the real question youre asking is how much do I need to save so that retirement is fully covered? This calculator is probably my preferred one. Youll want to play around with different settings to see how long youll need to save to hit your goals. The further you are from retirement, the lower your total savings goal will be. Also, if you assume Social Security benefits will come to you at rates similar to whats available today, the lower your total savings goal will be. You may even be at your target in several years. However, Id still recommend that you save for retirement after you hit your goal number if youre earning a good salary. This allows you to walk away even earlier if you just get tired of the rat race before a typical retirement age. Q11: Advice for selling books I have a collection of hardback books I want to sell. What is the best way to get maximum value for them? Tracy First of all, it depends a lot on what books youre exactly trying to sell. Are they novels? Cookbooks? Old Dungeons and Dragons books? Encyclopedias? Youll want to go to eBay and try to get a sense as to what theyre actually worth. You will probably get the maximum value from them by selling them individually. However, that is exponentially more work for only a fairly modest rate of return. You might be able to sell a lot of ten books for $20 or sell them each individually for $3, for example. Is that extra effort in packaging and shipping and tracking and communication for nine additional packages worth the $10 to you? Another note: if youre selling books, USPS Media Mail is your friend. Its a highly discounted shipping rate that applies to sending books through the mail, and it comes with a tracking number. (Its cheap because its slow and USPS knows a book can sit in a warehouse for a day with zero problems.) You should always use this when shipping books and magazines. Q12: True hourly discretionary income question I understand how this perspective helps to highlight the high cost of non-necessary spending now in terms of lost leisure in the future. But I think it overstates the cost of non-necessities in terms of hours worked. In your example where your annual net wage is $34,000 and your annual work hours is 2,740 (so you net $12.41 per hour worked) and your necessities cost $24,600/year, you should account for 1,982 work hours (= $24,600/$12.41 per hour) as covering necessities, leaving 2,740 1982 = 758 hours for non-necessities. In each of those 758 hours, you net $12.41/hour, and that is the cost of your necessities in terms of hour worked. So a $50 board game costs you $50/$12.41 per hour = 4 hours, not 10.5 hours. The key is to see that you still actually net $12.41/hour, regardless of whether those earnings go to necessities or non-necessities. One way to see this is to realize that the approach in the post can lead to unrealistic implications for the hours of work required to purchase non-necessities. For example, suppose in your example above, necessities are only $10,000 year, and non-necessary spending is then $34,000 $10,000 = $24,000. If your hourly wage for non-necessities is really $4.96/hour like the post says, then it would take $24,000/$4.96 per hour = 4,838 hours to earn that $24,000. But you earned the $34,000 with only 2,740 hours, so something is wrong. Max Max is referring to this article from last week, Using Your True Hourly Discretionary Income to Make Smarter Purchases. Youre just looking at the same issue in a different way. Rather than looking at each hour as being subdivided between essential expenses and non-essential expenses, youre doing the same thing with the total hours over a year. In that example, then, 1,741 of the hours you work essentially earn you nothing in terms of spending money, because all of it goes to essentials. So, frugality in essence just means that youre migrating some of the hours you work from your pool of hours spent on essential expenses to the hours you work for spending money. My angle was different. I divided the income from each hour into essential expenses and spending money. The essential expenses gobble up $7.45 of the $12.41 you earn each hour, while your spending money makes up only $4.96 of the $12.41 you earn each hour. So, then, you judge whether an expense is worth it using just the $4.96, since its the only portion you can actually freely spend. In this case, frugality moves a little bit of money from the $7.45 essential expenses per hour pile to the $4.96 spending money per hour pile. Got any questions? The best way to ask is to follow me on Facebook and ask questions directly there. Ill attempt to answer them in a future mailbag (which, by way of full disclosure, may also get re-posted on other websites that pick up my blog). However, I do receive many, many questions per week, so I may not necessarily be able to answer yours. https://www.thesimpledollar.com/questions-about-checking-accounts-nintendo-switch-ipods-tsp-and-more/

Day 5: Poasito

Although it was certainly more brisk than normal when waking up, I think I slept better last night than I have so far on this trip! I just really dig the Casona. The fact that our breakfast wasn’t just rice and beans was also a huge plus. My one complaint - being so close to the road made it sound like a tractor trailer was about to come careening into our room every time a truck passed buy. But thankfully, that didn’t happen, so all’s well that ends well. However, this morning was definitely the coldest it’s been so far, so I wore my long, thick pants to keep warm (which, as I would soon realize, was a big mistake).

Today, we got to visit the La Paz Waterfall Gardens & Peace Lodge (which, by the way, is redundant when translated, because “paz” also means “peace”), a very, very upscale eco-hotel. Even the bathrooms were insane - you turn a “stone” by the faucet and water just trickles down out of nowhere! I could have taken a picture but would have felt a little ridiculous. But I digress - forget about the bathrooms and check out that view!

The hotel is also connected to a nature preserve. It had a lot of elements that seemed very zoo-like to me, but I was assured that the animals placed in captivity were orphaned/injured and could theoretically hope to return to the wild one day.

I (no lie) probably took more photos during our 10 minutes in the butterfly room than I have on this entire trip so far. Of course, that’s not to say the pictures were any good - most were blurry as I ran off in pursuit of one butterfly or another, so only a small fraction made it onto the blog. That being said though, I think these ones turned out half-decent:

The “less pretty” side of a blue morpho butterfly which, in my opinion, is still pretty awesome.

The bright blue side - of course I messed up the exposure and it looks faded in this picture, but you can get the idea.

A stunning monarch butterfly, just like the ones we have at home. Really puts things in perspective - we complain about the long airplane ride while we sleep and enjoy ourselves, whereas these guys do all the flying themselves! Pretty mind blowing.

As terrible as it is, whenever I see these guys I inevitably think of the Froot Loops Toucan - guess I really am the product of a consumerist society!

*Not shown - Kayla trying to get this bird to parrot “Wah-hoo-wah”*

If stares could kill, I’d have died right then and there.

Jack and his true love, the ox Sansón.

Perhaps the best part of the waterfall gardens was, you guessed it, the waterfall(s)!

The normally stunning view was spruced up even more for a wedding ceremony that we of course unwittingly crashed

You can barely see it, but this was the bridge we stopped at last night to take pictures! It was awesome to see the waterfall from a different perspective.

Unfortunately, because of some stragglers (a group that incidentally, I was not a part of!) we were running a little late at this point, and had to forgo our scheduled stop at this place that supposedly makes incredible strawberry milkshakes. Not gonna lie, I’m still a little bitter, but Costa Rica is basically paradise so I’ll live. 

Following La Paz, we hit the road again for Café Britt, a company making sustainable (and supposedly delicious) coffee. I’m not a coffee person, but I did sample their chocolate, and it was pretty darn good, so I imagine their coffee is equally delicious. 

After a much-needed lunch break, we listened to a presentation from Pablo Vargas, Britt CEO, about the company and its mission. This might have been my favorite lecture so far - I found it very interesting how Britt seeks to be perceived as a local business in all of its retail locations even as it expands internationally (a multi-domestic model, as I learned in corporate strategy). It also seems that their primary presence is in airports, which is certainly an interesting business tactic. Slightly disappointing was the revelation that actual coffee makes up for a pitiful proportion of total sales dollars - basically, Britt is actually a t-shirt company. Still, the talk was interesting and I felt that I gained a lot of insight into the company from it. Not to mention, it was a real privilege to get to listen to the CEO of such a respected organization.

Following the lecture, we went on a tour of the facility with perhaps the most charismatic tour guides I’ve ever met. It’s hard enough to be funny in your own language, and these two had their act down-pat in English. I wish I could have heard their full shtick in Spanish - maybe it would have been even better! They were really effective at making the tour amusing and entertaining while at the same time educational. They were also good at getting us involved (see picture below of Preston and Jyotika learning how to taste-test coffee like pros).

Following the tour, I was finally able to speedily change out of my pants (I had been sweltering since this morning - it got hot again as soon as we left El Churrasco and headed down the mountain) and into shorts for our ride to Monteverde. Ironically, I could have used the warmth again, because we went right up another mountain back to where it was cold!

On the van ride, someone had the idea to ask each other this set of questions. They’re actually designed to make two people fall in love (lol) but we figured they would help us get even closer to one another. Because we went around in a circle with well over half the van participating, this helped pass time on what was quite the lengthy van ride. It was great to be so vulnerable with each other (the questions get increasingly probing as you go on) and I really do feel like the exercise brought us all closer together, as silly as it was. I’ll never forget that we all got very emotional during one of the questions that asked about our relationships with our moms. Maybe we were just more sentimental than normal because at the time, we were risking life and limb driving on dirt roads up the side of a mountain with a very, very steep drop-off, but in any case, we all resolved to tell our moms that we loved them that night :)

For dinner, we got to experience a Costa Rican take on Italian food at Il Tramonti, which consisted of ~pizza~ (after many nights of the usual rice and beans, to say we were all excited for dinner would be an understatement). We were a little less excited, however, to find out after finally reaching the top of the mountain that we had just two rooms in a hostel - one for guys, one for girls. Let’s just say that the van ride brought me emotionally close to my classmates, and this hostel stay will bring me physically close to them! As of right now, we have no running water. We’re also staying here tomorrow too... it could be an interesting couple of days!  

High 10 Qualities To show In Job Interviews

Prime 10 Qualities To indicate In Job Interviews

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Discovering Fusion Cuisine

Have you ever experienced fusion cuisine? It’s far more complex than simply tossing a variety of ingredients into a pot and seeing what comes out. Discover more about the elements of fusion cooking and how you can enjoy some fusion dishes yourself.

What is Fusion Cuisine?

Fusion cooking is the act of combining certain cooking techniques, traditions, or concepts that are normally separate. When you carefully blend the right recipes or techniques, you can create something new, unique, and wonderful. The fusion of cuisine from different countries or regions has produced some of the world’s most delightful and flavourful dishes.

The Purpose of Fusion Cuisine

Chefs and food lovers like to experiment and invent new dishes. By skilfully fusing dishes from multiple cultural backgrounds, a chef can produce a signature style that is all his own, or produce a special dish that brings him or her extra attention in the culinary world. It’s a way of developing one’s own identity as a chef and offering original, palate-pleasing dishes to diners.

Examples of Fusion Dishes

One instance of fusion cooking is the “taco pizza.” The idea of a pizza originated in Italy, but has since been developed more thoroughly in the United States. With the taco pizza, the pizza toppings are distinctly Mexican, including ingredients like refried beans, salsa, sour cream, and other options. It’s a blending of Italian, American, and Mexican elements.

Another example is Greek-style “fusion sushi,” which incorporates Greek-style rice and grape leaves, encircling capers and spiced ground lamb. It’s an Asian specialty re-imagined with classic Mediterranean flavours.

Levels of Fusion Cuisine

Not all fusion cooking is as bold or obvious as taco pizza and Greek sushi. In some cases, the fusion of the elements is much more subtle and complex. Since many Asian countries use a similar set of spices and ingredients, fusion Asian cooking can be a wonderful path for a chef to explore.

Fusion Asian Dining from a Singapore Caterer

If you’re interested in sampling some fusion cuisine at your next big party, corporate event, or family gathering, contact Eatz Catering. Our chefs are experts at blending the unique flavours of different Asian countries into a magnificent buffet spread. On the Eatz Catering website, you’ll find a selection of Fusion Asian menus, including options for groups of 25, 30, 50, or 70 people.

Fusion Asian Menu Selections

Our option for 25 guests includes a noodle bar featuring traditional Nonya Mee Siam, served with chives, lime, Tahu Pok, hard-boiled egg, sambal, and gravy. Explore the flavours of grilled Tandoori chicken, Korean-style Bulgogi beef, Tempura prawns, Grandma’s Sambal Udong, or other selections from our rich and varied fusion menu. Golden creamy spinach cakes, squid ring with mayo, black pepper fish fillets, and stir-fried garlic broccoli and carrots are just a few of the delicious buffet sides available. To see the complete list of menu options or to place an order, check our Singapore catering website, or call us and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

from Catering Singapore Blog http://eatzcatering.com/blog/discovering-fusion-cuisine/ For a Halal certified food caterer in Singapore go here: http://eatzcatering.com