11.116
30 (Thu) April 2020
Tangsu Yuk
2.0
from Jjambbong Janggun
at home
-Dasmariñas Village, Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines-
with the Family
ECQ Day 44 / Repax Day -34
Whereas COVID-19 is unprecedented on every aspect at every level, I never dreamed that anything in the universe could make me miss going to work. As recently as 16 March 2020, the day before the Philippine government imposed the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) across Metro Manila, which effectively barred “non-essential” staff like me from the office – so grateful to be considered useless – I’d been praying that we’d be ordered to work from home. 44 days later, I’m praying to go back. I miss the structure and scheduling of the day. I miss the office infrastructure, including the hardware and the software. I miss the people, even the ones that I don’t like. I miss the terrible food in the cafeteria. I miss asking my assistant, “Can I go now?” and signing off for the day – for me, physically leaving the office = no longer working – getting into my chauffeured car, texting W about what we should do for dinner, taking a nap along the way, hearing my kids say “Hi Dad!” upon arrival.
For now, I plan to drop in just once a week, like today, even if I only have a bit over 3 weeks of work remaining, or as necessary, like last week (see 11.109 Spaghetti al Pomodoro Crudo).
One of our favorite restaurants in Manila – Jjambbong Janggun – is open for business, at least for takeout and delivery. Supposedly, they’ve been open the whole time. As I was leaving work, I put in the order and picked it up on the way. 34 minutes from the moment that I made the call to the moment that the package was handed to me – I’ll never understand why food takes so long to prepare in the Philippines. 22 minutes from the restaurant to home. The food was still warm when we dug in.
The tangsu yuk was meh. Nicely crispy but otherwise flavorless. The sauce was bland.
Overall, the food was nowhere near as good as when eaten at the restaurant, and yet we were so utterly grateful.
Try Every Item at Jjambbong Janggun (see TEIJJ). I am eating my way through the menu, only 15 items in all – now 9 down, 6 remaining.
