My first kitchen job

One of my biggest concern about this career change was finding my first job fresh out of pastry school. Fortunately, with the recommendations of my chef instructor, I landed a job as a pastry cook at Watermark on Kits Beach, an upscale casual restaurant serving West Coast cuisine. Coming from a corporate environment, working in a kitchen is a completely novel experience for me. For starter, it's physically demanding. I'm on my feet for 8 or 12 hours a day. There are no chairs in a kitchen. It's inherently dangerous. There are sharp stuff, hot stuff, heavy stuff that can cause serious injuries. I must be alert 100% of the time. It's an honest day's work. There's no slacking in a kitchen. :)

In retrospect over the past 9 months, I went from someone who's greener than a steamed broccoli to someone who's much calmer, faster, and more experienced. I learnt a great deal about dessert making, presentation, became better at dealing with stress, curve balls, working with others, and being flexible. Even though there are days that are filled with chaos, stress and a few heated conflicts, at the end of the day, I know that my work brings a delicious and memorable conclusion, an exclamation mark, to many people's evenings, and that makes it all worthwhile. It is a very satisfying and rewarding feeling. I feel very blessed that I am able to do this. I am having fun and getting paid (albeit not much, but still) for it! I am truly happy.

So, how do I know if I made the right career choice? I don't. I'll never find out what my life will be like had I stayed with my old job. Life is about choices and the journey. The destination is the same for everyone. It's how we live the days we have that counts. For now, I sure am enjoying the journey!

The happiest 15 weeks of my life

Pastry school was a blast. It was the best 15 weeks of my life. Every morning as I was walking to school, I thanked God for giving me this opportunity to do something I truly love. The program was fast paced, and I was blessed to have Chef Marco as my instructor. He is truly awesome! We made over 20 types of bread, 10 types of cookies, countless cakes, tarts, torts, pies, and entremets. We also spent a lot time working with chocolate, making showpieces with chocolate and sugar, and had a lot of fun with plated desserts. You can check out the pictures here. In addition to learning about pastry, I also gained other insights. I learnt how I work, how to work with others even if I don't get along with them, how to communicate with others, how to maintain my composure, and how to stay calm under pressure.

Throughout the course, I've had smooth days when everything worked well, and I felt mightily pleased with myself, and I've had disastrous days when I managed to screw up every recipe, and I felt incompetent and deflated. Nevertheless, at the beginning of each day, I was just happy that I had this opportunity to do something I love. Even the worst day at school was better and more meaningful than the best day I've had at my previous work. Regardless of what kind of day I've had yesterday, each day is a new start, and I promised myself that I will make the most out of each day. This mentality really helped me focus on what's to come, instead of dwelling on past failures.

I thoroughly enjoyed my pastry school experience. I'm so happy and relieved I made this career change. I'm truly living my dreams now!

From Cubicles to Custards - in Pursuit of my Passion

'I don't know what I want to do, but I know it's not this'. I struggled with that thought for over two years. I was increasingly dissatisfied with my job as an Information Technology consultant, but I had no idea what I wanted to do in life either.

One thing I do know is that I love baking. What started as a casual suggestion from a friend turned into one of my life's passions. I love the sense of achievement of creating something with my hands, the heavenly smell of freshly baked goods that lingers in my apartment, and the satisfaction I derive from watching people's faces light up when they sink their teeth into something I created.

I don't know why it took me so long, but one day it dawned on me that I should pursue baking as my career. Coming from an engineering and IT background, this is a dramatic change. However, I'm relatively young and single, and now's the best time to be bold and take risks. After much prayers, discussions, debates, and cost-benefit analysis, I quit my job, and three days later, on January 2, 2007, started pastry school.