Tag: Locals

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Scenes of Thailand

Freeze frame from a bus window.
The best part of coconut water: the flesh. Industrially packaged coconut water can’t compete.
Thoughtful social commentary in the form of murals all over Bangkok.
A bit of infrastructure next to a bit of poverty. Welcome to Southeast Asia.
The glittering Grand Palace.
The briefest respite from the glaring sun.
The thousands of gold squares that make up the Golden Chedi of Wat Phra Kaew.
Chao Phyra (river) that runs through Bangkok.
Spires into the sky at Wat Pho.
Sunset at Chatuchak Market.
Ubiquitous street food carts.
Beach time at Koh Samet, a small island off the northeastern coast of Thailand.
Still life in a tropical setting.
Idyllic.
A beautiful bit of coral rock washed up ashore.
A gift from Mother Nature.
Satiated after a grilled seafood feast.
Motorbike fun!
If there’s a sunset, there must be a sunrise.
Pinterest in person. Design ideas.
A spritzer from One Ounce of Onion cafe in Bangkok: dragonfruit, strawberry, lemon, honey and rosemary. Hit the spot perfectly.
Hands down the best food during my trip at Err: Urban Rustic Thai. The menu was curated by Bo & Dylan of Bo:lan. Here: a squid wing salad made like larb gai.
The cocktails at Err were perfect palate counterparts to the spiciness of dinner.
Riding the bus after the King’s birthday celebration next to the palace = sardines in a can.
I found six puppies. Heaven.
Damnoen Saduak floating market, a day trip away to the west of Bangkok.
Everything is sold for tourists: fruits, food, trinkets and clothing.
Cooking on a boat. Maybe a challenge for some, but not this man.
Traffic jam of boats.
Captures perhaps what life may have looked like here years ago.
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Motherland

Taiwan is my “what if” country.

What if my parents had never immigrated to the United States? What if I had been born and raised in Taiwan? What would my life be like? Would I have the same personality, same career, same way of life? These questions re-surface every five years or so, every time I visit and reconnect with family.

But this trip felt different. This time, I wasn’t weighing Taiwan against myself, but I was comparing it to the rest of the world through an alternate lens—its food and dining culture—just like every other country before it.

How did it fare?

Continue reading “Motherland”

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Part I | Let’s play gestures!

Note: Because my stage at Narisawa was a new experience in many ways, I will split my post about it in two parts. First, the culture in the kitchen, and second, the food itself.

When I worked at Restaurant Daniel, Relais & Chateaux was celebrating its anniversary by sending chefs to prepare dinners at fellow R&C establishments, and Chef Emmanuel Renaut came to New York City to cook with Chef Daniel Boulud. He brought along his sous chef and pastry sous chef, who was Japanese, spoke fledgling French and no English.

The pastry sous chef struggled to communicate in our kitchen and was frantic trying to finish his prep for the special dinner. I did my best to assist because having done events myself, not knowing where things are in a kitchen is a major hurdle.

One morning, I came in early to help him. He asked me to make a sable dough and I skimmed his recipe. All of the ingredients were written in French, which was no problem, but there was one item on the list I couldn’t translate because it was in shorthand. I tapped him on the shoulder, pointed to the ingredient and had a puzzled look on my face. He thought about it and said in a heavy accent, “Yellow.” I worked the riddle out in my head and a light bulb went off. “Egg yolks!” He nodded his head enthusiastically. I thought, “Yes. This will be okay. We will make it work.”

This was a harbinger for my experience at Narisawa, which is considered the best restaurant in Asia and number eight in the world. There were many, many riddles to solve every day: culturally, linguistically and technically. Mental and physical exhaustion beckoned with the 16-hour days ahead of me, but I was determined to make the most out of my experience here.

Continue reading “Part I | Let’s play gestures!”

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Mbok Crystal

The first leg of my travels have officially concluded.

It’s unbelievable that after two months I could be so attached to a kitchen staff, but that’s the nature of a professional kitchen. When working under pressure with a group of people for ten hours a day, six days a week, a family forms. There’s no option but to be close to one another.

Continue reading “Mbok Crystal”

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Bathroom or bottom?

The first day at a stage is undoubtably the hardest. You’re always in the way because there’s never enough room, you never know where to find anything, and no one knows you. Mentally it’s a lonely day.

Now compound this with being in a foreign country where there are language and cultural barriers. I was treading new territory and feeling a bit of trepidation.

I should have known better in Bali.

Continue reading “Bathroom or bottom?”

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