7/21 I had dim sum (tea with small plates, Chinese style tapas) with my roommate. She ordered奶黃包 (steam custard buns) and榴槤酥 (durian cake). The steam custard buns is unique, instead of typical ‘sweet’ taste of milk and egg, it uses ‘salted duck egg’, when I bite into it, slightly salty sweet juice comes out, it works perfectly, warm and cozy! I had never had durian cake, neither the fruit, yet I’m happy to try it. Durian inside thin layered pastry, beautiful presentation and delicate texture. If you can pass durian’s unique smell, it actually tastes good. Thanks to my roommate or I’d not have them or think of ordering…This is interesting. Even if we are open-minded and love trying new things, habits unconsciously influence our behaviors and restrain us. To change that, we need to consciously choose differently. I decided to do an experiment – for a month 7/21-8/20, I’ll intentionally choose something new or do differently, let’s see how it goes~
Today at lunch, I looked around and didn’t see familiar faces. Normally (& probably for most people), I’d either bring food back to desk or eat alone at a table. To walk the talk (experiment above), I walked to a table asking a lady who I saw once at kitchen if I could join her. She said yes. I asked her summer plan and learned about her upcoming vacation. We then went on about apartment hunting, living abroad, food, museum exhibit….until I had to rush to a meeting. It was fun! ‘Breaking the ice’ took courage, once the conversation started, it’s much easier to carry on. It’s not as scary as you may think to talk to new people.