DenialBagel.github.io

Rachel Yu's digital garden

Who am I?

A picture of Rachel taken in El Sauce, El Salvador
A picture of Rachel taken in Phillip Island, Australia

My name is Rachel. I am 21 years old. I was born and raised in Hong Kong. I have been working and travelling ever since I turned 18.

I love languages. I speak four (Cantonese, English, Mandarin, Spanish), teach three (Cantonese, English, Mandarin) and am currently learning my fifth (Portuguese).

Never have I ever thought I would become a language teacher, but here I am, sharing my passion for acquiring languages with my lovely students.

Learning languages is also a big part of my everyday life. Lately, a typical day for me consists of talking to my family in Cantonese, typing in Mandarin, chatting with my friends in English, journaling in Spanish, and learning Portuguese.

A photo of Rachel bench pressing
A photo of Rachel squatting

I am a U56 JR powerlifter. I started training in 2023 and took part in my first competition in August 2024.

On top of the massive increase of strength, powerlifting has had a huge impact on how I am as a person. Through training, I learned to maneuver the delicate balance between pushing myself and giving myself grace, which has been of tremendous help in every single aspects of my life.

The gains don’t just stop there. The precious community that I am now in became a huge part of my life, and I am so lucky to be a part of it.

prawn
cauliflower steak
beetroot salad

I am also a line cook. I worked in restaurants, cafes and hotels.

I have a love-hate relationship with this line of work but mostly I love what I do.

The kitchen is such a unique place, there are a lot of knowledge and skills that I would not image being able to learn anywhere else. The heat,long hours, high level of stress, heavy lifting are surely not for everyone. Though now that I am out of work, I miss dearly the sense of accomplishment of filleting a fish up to standard, swearing with the guys during service, the freedom to whip up food when my stomach growls, and so much more experiences that only a kitchen can give you.

In my last hotel job, I dipped my toe in the art of catering. Laying out dozens of plates at a time and cooking for hundreds of guests was the highlight of my weeks. Upon leaving the hotel job, I put the skill I learned from catering to outside of work. When I am out of work I like to cook for friends and family. When I travel, I cook for my hosts.

A picture of Rachel backpacking in Shikoku, Japan
A picture of Rachel hitchhiking in a truck in El Salvador

I am a solo backpacker. As of the making of this website I have just come back from an epic 3-month hitchhiking adventure to Central America.

This trip has been the absolute best thing I did for myself. I learned a language, step foot in stunning places, discovered so much about myself, trained myself to deal with problems alone.

Though if I had to pick one thing that made this trip so special, was how far kindness can go. The amount of kindness i received absolutely blew my mind.

From the start, i made two amazing friends who helped me tremendously in adapting to travelling in Nicaragua. I look up to their fearlessness and open-mindedness a lot. Also the locals who showed me around their town, everyone who picked me up when i hitchhike, those who welcomed me in their homes, they made me feel welcomed by their country.

Everyone i met was a bridge into a world I didn’t know about, and I experienced so much of the local way of life that i otherwise wouldn’t even have been aware of.