Marcella Purnama

Marcella Purnama is a blogger and author of What I Wish I Had Known: And Other Lessons You Learned in Your Twenties. She is currently obsessed with finding the best recipe for bread rolls and keeping her sixteen plants alive.
517 articles written by Marcella Purnama

To say that so much has happened in 2020 is an understatement. To say that it hasn’t felt real, like this still feels like a dream, is an understatement. To say that life seems to hit pause button, that’s everything is frozen, is an understatement.

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Hopefully you never have to call triple zero. Or 911. Or 112. Or whatever the emergency telephone number the country you’re in. Hopefully you never feel threatened that you are really considering calling the police.

I did.

It has been a tough few days, if I’m honest. I’ve always thought of myself as someone who would be calm, or at least I expect myself to, in regards to emergency type of situation. I’ve watched countless movies, read countless books. I’ve pictured myself as a hero in those dystopian stories—the one who would actually take chances. But when it’s happening right in front of you and your mind draws a blank, remember this above all else: do not freeze.

I froze.

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I have to admit, I haven’t been reading as much in February. I’ve read one fiction, which is so good, and one nonfiction, which is good as well. That being said, I DNF (did not finish) one.

I rarely DNF a book and probably this is only the second time I’ve done it. But I’m trying to be better at DNF-ing books that I know I don’t enjoy reading, as there are too many good books to enjoy instead!

Reading has definitely taken a back seat these past few weeks, as I’m deeply engrossed with other projects (indoor gardening and cooking), but there are a few books that I’m really keen to be reading soon, so perhaps I’ll read better in the coming month.

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Last week, I attended a situational awareness training at my workplace on how to deal with upset, difficult, or aggressive customers, and the trainer was talking about empathy. I know that this doesn’t seem like it has anything to do with cooking, but hear me out.

He told us about his encounter with a stranger on a train with whom he felt a strong connection to. At that time, he was undergoing a really difficult time—his wife had just died. He was sitting on a train, reading newspaper, when a woman in front of him asked him whether he was divorced. There was a line on his finger where his wedding ring should be.

He told her that that he has been widowed for three months, and that he has three little children.

“So you know how difficult it is to be in the kitchen then,” she said to him. He was offended. Just because I’m a man doesn’t mean that I can’t cook, he thought.

“Oh, no, no,” the woman said, realising his face had changed. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m referring to feeling the dread when entering the kitchen, thinking, What should I cook for dinner tonight?”

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Is it just me, or every time I buy a package of Enoki mushrooms, I couldn’t finish it in one cooking, and half of them would end up in the fridge somewhere, forgotten, before being discarded?

Probably it’s just me.

Anyway, I was buying a package of Enoki mushrooms the other day to make Kimchi Soup, and I realised that using the whole thing is just too much Enoki. So I save half of them in the fridge for another cooking, determined that I would cook them tomorrow, because if not, I’ll forget.

After browsing for Enoki side dishes, I’ve decided to make this recipe. And it’s so good, it will straightaway go to my weekday rotation!

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