Tag: journey

A Time Machine

I know most people wanted to turn back the time and changed everything that they thought they’ve done wrong, but is that really what they want?

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I haven’t really updated this site since late 2015 and my readers have probably already gone but that’s okay, I’m not writing to gain readers really although it makes me happy if I could help them by sharing my life story. The truth is I did stop cooking for a while and work at my dad’s company.As you probably have known I have run my cake business for more than a year. I stopped in January because it drove me crazy, I was not satisfied with any achievement that I could get, no matter how big it is. Most of you guys would probably know this feeling. People would look at you and say that you’ve done a great job and what an effort ! However you were just like, “meh..”, because you were expecting so much more, because you set your goal way too high in such a little time and end up disappointing yourself.

I’ve learned a lot in 2015.

That running your start up business alone is not a piece of cake

That the power of passion is one of the keys to success

Appreciate every little step you take because you have a courage to take that step

Learn from your mistakes because that’s when you grow

What everybody said to you is not always right

But listen to them because listening is learning

Many people will tell you what kind of person you are but you know deep down that you know yourself better than anybody.

I have lost so many opportunities doing stupid things and yet people often said to me, “Oh What the hell, you’re still young..” It’s as if they think it’s okay to do stupid things, to fail or to slow down at this age. When I look at myself in the mirror, at this age I saw it more as an opportunity to try better things, age doesn’t even make any changes in this case. I’ve had classmates twice my age, it’s never too old to learn and it’s never too young to try to get bigger and better things in life. Why would you waste your time if you’ve had the chance to get it now ?

I have resigned from my father’s company and I have a new project coming up. I started taking cake orders on my free time. Looking for that passion back deep in your heart because if it really is a passion, you can’t really throw that away and you wouldn’t want to, sometimes it’s just buried deep inside your heart.

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Sometimes I just look back to 7 years ago when I was still dreaming to go to culinary school. How scary it used to sound, and I look back to 2 years ago when I finished my Diploma with 3 Certificates on my hand during the graduation, for the first time in my life, the chefs were putting a tall white chef’s hat on my head, like the one you’ve seen on TV and 2 silver medals and 1 gold medal from Le Cordon Bleu. What a great memories right ? and then 2015, is definitely not a good year for me. I broke down and you know the rest of the story. So, if I could turn back the time, would I do things differently ?

I would say no, because when people say “I would do things differently” that means they have learned their lessons, they have realized what mistakes they have made. You shouldn’t turn back the time to change that, you should change your future with what you’ve learned from that mistake. So, no, I will not change anything because if I did, I will not learn HOW to appreciate or WHY I should fight for my passion. Make mistakes while you’re young, I agree with that one but don’t do it intentionally. I will keep fighting for something that I love because as I said before in the past, love is always worth fighting for. There’s always ups and down in life ,hopefully this is my turning point. One thing for sure I wouldn’t want to use, is a time machine.

Life Journey

I’ve always talked about my culinary journey. How about my life journey ? What leads me to this awesome culinary adventure ? What my life was like before cooking ? People always judge me without even knowing the story of my life, or even worse when they judge me without even knowing me in person, but that’s just how people are.

 
I was born on 4th August 1996 in a very traditional home. Both my parents were bankers but since 1994 my mom has been dedicating her life to take care of my brother and me. I didn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I had limited toys to play with, my dad traveled all the time and he did not have time to spend with his kids. However, if he didn’t do what he did, I would not be able to do all these things that I want to do now. When I was 13 years old I moved to Singapore and finished my high school there and got my O level certificate. I continued my studies to Melbourne, Australia for about 6 months. My relationship with my family was getting worse, I didn’t even miss my dad at that time. I moved again to Wellington,New Zealand for about a year and finished my diploma. I moved back to Indonesia and created Nana Cake Boutique.

When people read this, most people will think “everything always goes right in her life”, “she has got everything she needs”. What people don’t know is the struggle behind every story. People think that it’s nice to study abroad and move from one place to another, travel the world, but the truth is you get lonely. You moved so much you don’t even know your friends anymore. It’s also not easy to adapt with new people and new environment. When you get used to it, you had to move back home again, and you had to adapt AGAIN. So it’s not as easy as you think. Things don’t always go your way but you just had to make it work somehow and people didn’t know the struggle behind it all. So be thankful with what you have and where you are now. If you told me that your life is bad, that’s because you make it bad. Life is full of choices, whether you’re happy or sad that’s because of the choices you make. If you chose to be happy, you will be. If you chose to be sad and you wanted people to pitty you and listen to why your life falls apart, then you will be.

Cuisine Cup and Graduation Day

The day before the graduation, Chef Paul (chef de cuisine) asked superior students to compete for one last time. We were given the opportunity to go to the fridge and freezer and take any items that we wanted. We were divided into 2 groups to make 6 plates of mains and 6 plates of desserts. There were supposed to be 6 people in the competition but 2 couldn’t make it so only 4 people left ,2 in each group. 1st group: Kaylin & I ; 2nd group: Jonathan & Hood

The photo below shows Kaylin’s and my dishes. We made sirloin steak with carrot & squash puree and lentils cooked with duck confit.

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The desserts are mini baked Alaska, with chocolate cremeux, caramel sauce, raspberry coulis and freeze dried raspberries.

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The winner was announced on my graduation day and I will post some pictures of the night of my graduation.

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And yes Kaylin and I did win the cuisine cup. I was so grateful because not only that I finished the course, I finished the course proudly, I was one of the top 2 students in Patisserie class as well as Cuisine class. That really was a dream come true. After everything that I’ve been through, this was and still is the greatest moment in my life.

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Homesick

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Hey guys ! This is one part of my culinary journey. Besides cooking in the kitchen, I loveeeeee to eat at different places ,especially new places. This is a picture of me in Shang-RiLa Hotel in Jakarta. I was having a buffet and there were lots and lots selection of food. I absolutely love the dessert section, not only they looked beautiful but they taste amazing. Yes, I got homesick sometimes because I couldn’t find some food in Wellington that I usually eat back home.

However, 2 months and a week to go and then I have to leave this beautiful small city. I’m sad of course but my journey has to continue. I’m going to be in Jakarta, Indonesia for another 2-3 months and I’m going to Paris in September. My journey is getting more and more exciting ! So don’t ever give up on your dreams because it may come true. Work really hard to achieve your goal !

My Dream

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Hey guys ! I just received this email yesterday and I’m soooooooo happy. No words could express how happy I am right now. I’m going to Le Cordon Bleu Paris ! Yup that’s right ,PARIS ! It’s gonna be amazing. I’m flying off to Paris in september. I’m still gonna finish my grand diplome course in New Zealand.

I’m applying for a new program in Paris called ‘Restaurant Management’ program. The program is amazing. I’ll learn about how to start a restaurant, how to manage it, learn about winery, the finance, marketing and etc. The duration of the program is 1 year (6 months study + 6 months internship in Paris). Honestly, I was interested in this program because of the internship. As a foreigner, it’s really difficult to work in Europe or to get a work visa, this program offers a 6 months internship, which means I could get a working experience in Paris. This is soooo exciting. Can’t wait !

Examination

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So, this was my opera gateau for pastry exam. Both exams (cuisine and patisserie) went really really well and I was really happy to hear the good feedbacks from the chefs. I really enjoyed this semester, I’ve learned a lot. Next term is my last one, Superior level, 3 more months to go and I’m done! Superior is going to be amazing and exciting. I can’t wait! Thank you to all the amazing chefs in Le Cordon Bleu Wellington. I’m flying off back to my hometown and I’m gonna be back in Wellington in April. More food posts !

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The Big Step

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My BIG FIRST STEP to realise my dream was to be bold. I live in a country where a good, qualified and known culinary school is really difficult to find. I knew I had to move somewhere to learn how to cook and I was 16 at that time and I didn’t have much of a choice.

In November 2012. I found out that Le Cordon Bleu in Wellington, New Zealand allowed student at the age of 16 to enroll. No words could explain how excited I was. However, my mom didn’t allow me to go as it was too far away from home. My heart broke into pieces </3 as if my dream was just a ‘dream’.

In May 2013, I was studying in Melbourne, Australia at that time. I wrote my mom and dad two pages of a long letter and for the 2nd time asking their permission for me to move to Wellington. and guess what..

I am a Le Cordon Bleu student now, majoring in Le Grand Diplome (Cuisine and Patisserie) I’ve been living in Wellington, New Zealand since October 2013 and I’ve learnt so much here and I’m still learning something new every day. No regrets.