From Kitchen Intern To.. Well, Me

It's 2014. I've been a formally trained cook/chef for close to... 9 years already? It seems just like yesterday when I put on my chef whites for the first time and learned, formally, how to cook.

Looking back, I can unfortunately say I don't recall much. I do recall enough, however, to have kept on being in love with making food until today.

I've worked in hotels and restaurants. I've taught. I've done basic food styling for TV shows and photoshoots. I've even managed to host my own TV show (seriously, I have). I've led a team to culinary competitions and lost and won, and I've led a fledgling team to recognition from nobodys to somebodys.

I've had failures, I've had success, I've been put down and have had my name held on a pedestal. They were all different experiences. They were all in one way or another, beneficial, even if I didn't see it at first.

What all these experiences have in common is that they all revolve around the most fundamental of things: food. As the years go by I've just become more interested in making good food. It doesn't matter if it's char kuey teow or foie gras. Good food is good food and I absolutely enjoy making and eating it.

I could have been an engineer or a doctor or a lawyer bringing home a fat paycheck every month. But somehow, by Fate or whatever, I became a chef.

I may not have Michelin stars or a chain restaurant in my name, but I know enough that being a chef is all I want to be until the end of my career.