20 Things That Will Happen When You Become A Chef

Being a chef is one of the best things I've achieved in this life. That's not to say it hasn't come with some peculiar side effect, though..

1. Watching people cook will become difficult.
2. Eating others cooking will become difficult because people expect you to comment on their cooking, which leads to...
3. ... People feeling pressured when they cook for you.
4. "Oh, chef ke? Bagus la, boleh saya minta recipe nanti!"
5. "Sorry ye kalau tak sedap, maklum la, kita ni bukan chef."
6. People ask you when are you going to open a restaurant. All the time.
7. You get calls asking where is a good place to eat...
8. You are expected to know 100% everything there is to know about cooking regardless of your culinary background.
9. "Wah, chef ke? Bagus ni, nanti boleh jadi celebrity macam Chef Wan!"
10. You get asked why you didn't enter Masterchef.
11. And you go on to explain why.
12. You develop a new-found and deep appreciation for all grunt jobs: cleaners, garbage collectors, dishwashers etc
13. You acquire an appreciation for foreign workers and realize how most locals have it good at their jobs.
14. When you cook, you think about how the food will look like on a plate.
15. You very rarely lose your cool with waiters and servers during busy service periods like lunch or weekend dinners.
16. You dream of owning a restaurant. Or chain of restaurants.
17. You wish that Malaysians appreciate the culinary arts more than they say they do.
18. You watch ‘Chopped’ and think about how you’d do things.
19. You watch ‘Masterchef Malaysia’ and think about how you’re glad you didn’t sign up.
20. If you’re a male chef in Malaysia, EVERYONE will ask you if you’re gay.

I have no idea what I'm doing

Yet, I still love my profession

:)

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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.