Sports and Porn

CIA vs. LCB? I don't know where to apply to anymore, CIA doesn't double major but I'll get in state while LCB has le grand diplome and my parents might send me to the one in Paris so I could get the full experience. What school do you think is better?

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:16:01 -0400

If you’re talking about the original Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, I would do it in Paris. I have nothing against the Culinary Institute of America, but if you have the chance to go to another country, belong in one of the very first culinary schools in the world and is a gastronomic capital… why would you pass that up?

Finesse over Power - A culinarian's perspective through fuzzy yellow balls.

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:03:32 -0500

Playing tennis is weird, because I kind of piece my life together when I do so. For example, I kind of found a groove on my serve today and I thought, “Hey, what the hell. Hit for more power”. Coach was kind of telling me today to just slow down a bit because my mechanics were getting a little funky and just think about depth and consistency. Essentially, keeping the ball in play because apparently 90 percent of tennis players hit the net on their first serve because they go too hard.

How does this apply to my life?

It’s cool that a bachelor’s degree has kind of given me a lot of options, whether it is going for a front of house position, or a back of house position. As I’ve said it before to few of my confidants, it would have been a hell lot easier to come out of AOS and work in a kitchen because I felt like working saute in American Bounty gave me that confidence.

At the same time, soon possessing a bachelor’s degree has forced me to amp up my ambition, pursuing a manager in training program which so far, I’ve been turned down by two companies because well… I probably can’t cut the mustard. My point is that, I was going for these positions so blindly thinking that this bachelor’s degree has been my trump card in that I forgot that there’s always competition around me: ones that went to more credible colleges bachelor’s degree wise who are better at thinking at their feet, at accounting, or business management in general. To be honest, they’re better than a lot of things than I am. And I can accept that.

But, as an athlete, I always have a trick up my sleeve, a certain advantage, a strength. I found that as a tennis player primarily playing doubles, I’ve become good with hitting my edges and keeping the ball in, which has helped me win the nastiest tie-breakers and longest sets. As a future leader in the industry, I find that my age, basic education, rudimentary culinary skill, mind and heart are my advantage. Primarily age, because it gives me room to grow and learn.

Despite these advantages, however, I am not special. If I am one in a million and there’s a billion people in the planet, there are a thousand people who are just like me, people who possess these same innate personalities and advantages. My perfect match(es), if you will.

How do I stand out of a thousand people?

I pick my spots, like I hit my winners using angles, wit and precision while playing the game. I love it when it happens, because I’m winning the way I want to - ugly, yet pretty at the same time.

With all that said, as there are twelve weeks left in my BPS career, it’s time to play tennis. My way. Pick the jobs that I feel like would help me to grow in the future. Pick the jobs that I would be comfortable and happy with. Pick the jobs that would baffle people’s minds at the end of the day. And last but not the least, have fun with it.

But for now, my leg hurts and I need a trainer to check it. My mind’s a little settled for now typing this rant, but hey. It’s a start.

Our Life Of Food

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 02:28:20 -0500

Our Life Of Food:

Aside from running my tumblr page at a mega sporadic rate, I’ve also started blogging for the school. Killing two birds in one stone, if you ask me. Efficiency, woo!

Wow. You're in CIA. The most badass culinary school that the world has to offer! I also plan to go to CIA after a couple years in the industry. How is CIA? Heard many stories of military like procedures. Is it true?

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:34:37 -0500

There’s a lot of different perceptions around. Some people like it, some people don’t. Based on how I got here and my upbringing, I’ve come to appreciate my experiences here than the average person would. Granted, I’m on tumblr some days when I should be doing something else, but it’s something I’d like to do to “escape” that world, per se.

As for military like procedures, it will depend on who you have. Some people are lenient, some people are strict. People are people, and they’re often different. Remember that.

Red and Yellow Curry

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 04:43:11 -0500

Red and Yellow Curry

Pho

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 04:42:48 -0500

Pho

Pan Fried Trout

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 04:42:10 -0500

Pan Fried Trout

Are you a culinary student?

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:19:25 -0500

Yes, I am.

Like I did with my class graduation picture, I will only do this...

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 23:55:00 -0500

Like I did with my class graduation picture, I will only do this once.

Before I headed out to the Culinary Institute of America four years ago, I had the opportunity to be an intern for the Youth and Government program. To keep the story simple, what the interns do is be an advisor for these incoming freshmen, to let them know what half the program, the serious part, is all about.

Me and JP (gray shirt, fedora, glasses) got the opportunity to mentor these kids regarding the topic of Immigration. I know, how cliche - two brown people of Non-American descent taking on the topic. Essentially, JP and myself guided these young men and women into constructing a bill that was to be debated and passed in a mock legislation format. Granted, there were some problems along the way such as people arguing, people procrastinating, and some people not being able to integrate with the group as well as they should have.

What grew out of these struggles was a bill that passed Senate, but not assembly. I remember the moment it passed senate. I teared up. I did so because there is just something so magnificent when people are up there, defending their work and their beliefs. It was not mine or JP’s fight at all - it was these kids’ fight. The way they handled themselves, with composure and confidence, along with a good result. The reaction should speak for itself.

After we took this picture, JP and myself gave these students their surveys to see how we did. Did they like the program? Are they ever coming back? I knew they were coming back for more, because I saw genuine emotions that they wanted to, even if they didn’t show it in their faces. Suddenly, one student asks me:

Are you coming back?

I had to say it: No.

Why? They asked. I said that I was headed to New York to study. I don’t know what else I said after that. Probably that I was sorry, and there is nothing I could do about it.

Today, as I see JP posting a status about facing reality after a Joint Convention at Sacramento, it hit me that this is the year in which these kids leave the Youth and Government program as a student. I am willing to say that whoever stuck around had the best times of their life participating in the program, and that those times will never forgotten, because it’s simply impossible to.

While there is some pain for these people to leave a program that gave so much to them, in terms of confidence, social life, or whatever else the program gave to these students… They’re about to realize that they’re about to have the time of their lives in the next phase of their life. College. Whatever it is they want to do, I’m pretty sure that they’ll succeed.

They’ll succeed, much like they wanted me to not leave for New York and hang out with them for another year. They’ll succeed, much like they did in constructing their bill, and debating for it against the masses. And finally, they’ll succeed because they’ll spark something great in someone else, just as JP and I have sparked something within them.

Just like how much I want to teach when I’m done busting my hump and when the time comes.

A superstar, humbled.

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 03:13:13 -0500

A superstar, humbled.:

misenplace:

“They’d grown close over that summer, and Francona believed that Jordan was ready – physically, emotionally and spiritually – to go be a superstar again. It was a great summer. Crazy, cranky, exhausting, but great. Jordan had not simply attached his name to baseball, but his heart and soul too. Francona was sure of that. He admired Jordan for his relentlessness and humility. He admired the hell out of him for hitting .202. He was glad he came.”

Honestly, I loved everything about this article. It focuses on the downfall of a global superstar, only to relearn everything - the passion that he once had for the game of basketball, and mostly happiness.

I don’t know what it is, but right now I feel the same way. I’m nervous for interviews, and I don’t feel like myself at all. Some days, I feel like quitting because I don’t know what to do in my life. Honestly, I don’t know what to do after graduation. Like Michael Jordan, I’m swinging my bat rather wildly and blindly in the future hoping to regain that passion and happiness again.

I know that I shouldn’t compare myself to a global icon, because I’m not that. But the commonality here is the element of human failure, and how it is dealt with. Michael Jordan did it well. He rediscovered it by doing the simplest things in life: Showing up on time, sleeping on the same hotels, working from the bottom up for someone who would win a couple of World Series rings as a manager (Francona).

It’s articles like these that make me want to break everything up in my life and rediscover myself. If I’m going out with a bang, I’m doing it my way. One bang for shattering my life and breaking it up to figure out the pieces, and another one for when it’s rebuilt and I rediscover myself as a person.

Maybe it’s just the stress that these interviews or the future stresses me out right now and I just really need to get away from it.

I just need to remember how to eat an elephant: One bite at a time.

No truer statement. I really believe in this.

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 02:27:15 -0500

No truer statement. I really believe in this.

Graduation party umbrella drink party

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 20:15:31 -0500

Graduation party umbrella drink party

Pinky up party cuddle party

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 19:49:08 -0500

Pinky up party cuddle party

End of Semester Party toto party wine party cheese party class...

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 19:31:12 -0500

End of Semester Party toto party wine party cheese party class party everybody party

Bacon Salad

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:41:16 -0500

Bacon Salad

Fifty shades of yellow

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:39:46 -0500

Fifty shades of yellow

Wine party class party

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 20:17:49 -0500

Wine party class party

I guess I’ll do a 52 week photo challenge and see how I...

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 00:16:00 -0500

I guess I’ll do a 52 week photo challenge and see how I stack up. For the first week, I met Chef Tom Colicchio, from Top Chef (just for those who do not know). He came in to speak to a graduation class, and I really wanted to meet him. So, I talked to my Editor in Chief for the paper and asked if I could get in on this. Surely enough, they did. And now, this picture exists.

Modified quick movie reference: He touched my hand once, it was awesome.

St. Andy’s Dorade.

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 20:09:00 -0500

St. Andy’s Dorade.

Pretzel dates!

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 16:39:00 -0500

Pretzel dates!