Office Politics

The worst part about working has to be office politics.

I don't mind heavy workload and issues at work as much as I mind office politics.

What is office politics? Wikipedia has it as "the use of one's individual or assigned power within an employing organization for the purpose of obtaining advantages beyond one's legitimate authority."

Hm.. Perhaps.

I think office politics is about individuals navigating around within the organisation, getting things done the way they want. It is very much about "me, me and me".

Office politics is annoying and more importantly, frustrating.

But it is a little different if you read about it rather than experience it.

Perhaps that is why this particular Chinese novel is so popular in China. (So popular,  the writer wrote 2 sequels for it.) The story has also been made into a TV series and a movie.

The name of the novel is "The Story of Du La La's Promotion". It is my latest read. I'm currently at Book #2 and I must say... I've quite enjoyed Book #1 - I can quite identify with the protagonist's (Du La La) experience, especially because of my 3 years stint in China.

If you are read Chinese, do consider picking up this book. It gives an interesting insight to working in a foreign firm in China.

Laksa Linguine

This is very similar to the fried laksa I made a couple of weeks back.. except I used linguine instead of fresh thick beehoon. This is good for those who can't get fresh beehoon where they are.. or those who happen not to have any at home when cooking this dish (like me).

Be sure to add a little bit more of the pasta water when frying this, as the linguine soak up water pretty quickly.

Recipe here.

Tarragon Rejuvenated

I don't have green fingers.. and I have found herbs especially hard to grow.

Petunia gave me a pot of tarragon a while back.. and it was tall and beautiful, with lots of yummy leaves and pretty, fragrant flowers. I used the leaves in my roasts and the flowers in my salad. But alas, over a few weeks, the leaves turned brown and after a while, it became a pot of dried tarragon.

Frustrated, I trimmed away all the dried leaves and cut the plant up severely, leaving only a relatively short stump behind.

I thought I'd be throwing the entire pot away in no time.

To my surprise, however, green leaves started sprouting out everywhere.. and now, I have a pretty decent looking pot of tarragon again! No flowers yet.. but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!