Glen - The Ravenous Homecook
Issue: Jan 2016
Ask anyone, and his or her typical idea of a businessman’s life would be an hectic one, filled with long working hours that stretch into the night. That is the life of Glen Yang, a man who runs his own company together with his wife. Even though Glen spends most of his time managing his business, he always sets aside time for his true passion – cooking.
Glen always gets home late from work. For many years dinner has comprised of reheating meals lovingly prepared by his mum, hours earlier. Meals tasted bland and unappetising after being left out in the open, so Glen took to learning about cooking. He graduated on to reading and collecting cookbooks, while experimenting with recipes in the kitchen.
Without realising it, Glen was spending more time in the kitchen than anywhere else. His stash of cooking equipment, recipe books and kitchen utensils accumulated steadily over the years, growing in accordance with his passion. Glen prided himself on testing fresh, new flavour combinations, pairings, and techniques in cooking with his range of equipment. His cooking gear allowed him to explore new ways to prepare a wider range of ingredient, establishing him deeper into his new-found passion.
“I added one great built-in oven to handle the roasts, one microwave for speedy reheating, one crockpot for simmers and one high pressure gas stove for stir frying and steaming,” Glen quipped enthusiastically. “Over time, I also acquired a few more refrigerators, two electric wine cellars and one dry cabinet to store dry ingredients. As of today, my kitchen is full and so is my storeroom,” Glen said with a hearty laugh.
With his extensive array of items, we couldn’t help but wonder – just where did he store these items in his home? Glen bantered playfully, “Under my bed! Just joking. They’re usually kept in my storeroom.”
“Space management does become an issue because I have a sizeable collection of cookware, kitchen utensils/accessories and books,” Glen shared. He had always found cooking to be a form of escapism, taking his mind completely off the banal of daily work – partially because it is in no way related to his job.
Seeing beautifully plated dishes and works of food art draws admiration from him, but leaves him in wonderment of its taste. It is no wonder that he clings strongly to his precious range of cooking utensils, recipe books and quality ingredients – despite the lack of storage space in his house.
While talking about his ever-growing collection of cookware, Glen acknowledges that his shrinking space is a call for a storage solution in mind. “I have to consider outsourcing my storage needs,” Glen admitted, “StorHub’s self storage facilities can certainly serve as an extension to my existing storeroom. I like StorHub concept of scalability and the fact that they’re so conveniently located near my home.”
Whether it’s about creating more space to further live out his passion, Glen is undeniably a huge advocate for work-life balance. “I am privileged that together with my wife, we operate a successful company on our own. So in the essence of time, I have a little more freedom as the proprietor to exercise my work schedule,” said Glen.
“Having my life partner beside me in the course of work, I also have the propensity to share and enjoy those little things that I do as a passion. She's into photography and also happens to be my ‘dessert chef’ at home. We don't really find it a burden to balance passion with work. You just have to make time for it.”