Passed with Flying Rainbow Colors

Finally, exams are over and I just cannot express how relieved I am. I did pretty well this time in both theory and practical. I've definitely made improvements since Basic's exam last term, although I wouldn't be able to know until a month's time, however I'm pretty confident that I would get at least a Credit this time, instead of the miserable Pass that I had last term. If I don't, I'm probably gonna shoot myself in the head. Really!

According to Chef Vito, he really liked my main and dessert...but to be honest, I didn't think it was that awesome. Lol...I thought it was just "okay", coz there was nothing special about my dishes. The presentation was simple. So maybe the flavor was good...but then again, I have a hard time trusting people's opinions...especially good comments. Sometimes, I'm just so unconfident that I don't believe in my capabilities. It's just like guitar. My guitar teacher always compliments me for my skills (though he hasn't been lately..haha), but I never once took his word for it. I always have second doubts about it. I have a couple of theories....it's either I'm really unconfident of myself, or I have way too much expectations of myself that I keep pushing away all the good stuff about myself and keep embracing on the bad stuff. I don't know if it's good or bad....but one thing for sure, in order to be the best of the best, you cannot stop progressing just becoz someone praised or criticized you. You gotta set your own standards and try to exceed them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you should ignore feedback...I just mean that what other people say about you is not the most important...it's what you think of yourself.

Okay, I'll stop with the philosophy now. Pardon me but I have a bad habit of ending each paragraph with my philosophy...haha. Anyway, something serious occurred yesterday on Anzac Bridge. It wasn't published on the newspapers today, therefore I believe it's something really major and the government is probably refraining the details of the incident. While I was driving to college yesterday, there was a really bad traffic jam along the bridge to the north. I thought it might be an accident or something...but I never thought that it's something I've dreamt of witnessing (I know I'm weird). I believe there was a "threat" of some kind. I wouldn't be able to confirm the details of this incident, but based on all the spy movies that I've watched, that incident was definitely federal related.

There was team of SWAT officers that consists of 6-7 of them, at least 4-5 police rescue trucks and 5-6 police cars. I actually saw the SWAT officers in their full gear...armour, guns, etc. It was definitely something big. I was really curious about the incident that I tried googling about it, but there were no results shown. So I believe that the government hasn't issued a press regarding that incident yet. Despite the excitement of witnessing this incident, I was kinda pissed off too coz I was stuck in traffic for half an hour and I was 20 minutes late to class. And it was Chef Ross' class...my favorite chef!!

I practically ran to class after I parked my car. And you know what happened after I entered class?? Just out of the blue, everybody started clapping their hands and cheering. I was like, "What the fuck?" I was so freakin' confused...I thought I was gonna be awarded the best student in class or something like that....HAHAHA. I looked at chef with my confused face...and he just looked at me and laughed. I mean...if he was laughing at me, then there must be something fishy goin' on. So in the end, I found out that most of the students came late as well and Chef was saying to the class that whoever comes in late, we should clap and cheer at them just to make them feel embarassed. Lol....that is so contrary to the feeling I had...I actually felt good when they cheered at me...haha. It was as if I just performed a really good gig and my audience were giving me a standing ovation and asking for an encore.

At the end of the class, I stayed back to help Chef Ross clean up the kitchen. Zalfa stayed back too and she was chatting away with Chef. Me and Zalfa have always wanted to ask Chef about the music he listens to...coz according to Zalfa, I like to pigeon hole people according to their taste in music. I disagreed with her at first...but now that I think about it...it's kinda true. One of the very first questions that I ask ppl that I've just met is their music preference. Because Chef Ross is such an interesting character, I was curious as to what music he listens to, but never had the guts to ask him. So this is where Zalfa comes into the picture...

Zalfa was like, "Chef, can we ask you something that has absolutely nothing to do with cooking?"

Chef was like, "Erm...okay." He sounded so reluctant..

Zalfa then said, "What music do you listen to? Coz me and veron made a bet about this and we really wanna know. Also, Veron is like a music expert and she plays guitar...and she pigeon holes people according to their music tastes."

OMG...I was like...Damn it Zalf...I don't pigeon hole ppl according to their music tastes. And chef was looking at me...a bit surprised...and he was like, "Really, veron?" I felt a little embarassed at the moment, so I took some pots to the wash up area which is segregated by a door. Zalfa and Chef continued their conversation...and I had no idea what they talked about until Zalfa told me about it after we left the demo kitchen. Basically, the conversation went like this:-

Chef: To be honest, I'm not really big on music.

Zalfa: Oh no...Ssshhh...you can't let Veron know about this coz she'll be very disappointed.

(When Zalfa told me about this, I was basically laughing my ass off.)

Chef: Ohh...oops...but I like the guitar though. He was actually trying to play along and try to make me feel less disappointed.

So when I came out of the wash up area, I asked Chef what his favorite band was...and the funny thing was, he couldn't even name one. He was like stammering and I could feel that he was trying so hard to come up with a band name. Lol. Coz I was kinda looking at him with hopeful eyes and you could see that he didn't wanna disappoint me. HAHAHA...it's really hilarious.

In the end, he told us that he listens to 80s rock....and I was really glad that he said that. Coz I'd like to know that there are some similarities between us....coz when I look up to someone, I wanna know that there's something that the both of us share. It's like Kiefer Sutherland....I totally idolize him and I'm constantly trying to find similarities between us.

So I was like naming bands from the 80s....like AC/DC, Guns and Roses, Mr Big, Bon Jovi, etc....and I was trying to seek approval from him. He just kept saying..."yeah I like them....they're great...etc." But somehow, I felt that he was just trying to agree with me...just to make me happy. Lol. So now I know that he's not a very music-oriented person....but hey, he's still a hell of CHEF and he is still awesome to me!! I just hope that in the future, I'd be able to work for someone as passionate and skillful as him. *fingers crossed*

So...one more week to go and I'm done with Intermediate. I just can't believe how time flies. In a few weeks time, I would be in Superior...and things will start getting more real and in your face. To be honest, I'm really nervous about Superior...coz we have restaurant duties and we have to cook for real customers. It would be my first time ever cooking for real customers...and I'm kinda looking forward to it, but nervous at the same time. I'm sure it would be a great experience for me...and I can't wait for the start of next term. I'm just so motivated at the moment that I wish we're not gonna have the two weeks of break and just start on the Superior course right away. I'm really lovin' it...

Anyway, I gotta go now. I'll catch you guys later. Have fun! Cheers!