Where do we go from here?

To be honest with you, I never thought I’d be able to see myself on a graduation gown (or toga as we call it in the Philippines), let alone graduate in London. I know this sounds overrated but I seriously feel like everything was just a dream. Call me overacting or what but this was how I felt and I’m just so overwhelmed I want to cryyyyyyy.

Looking back, it seems just like yesterday I was fighting with everyone in pursuing Culinary Arts  because I didn’t want to study or attend college that wasn’t about cooking. Those 7 years went by so quickly and I just couldn’t believe I’m here now- though I know I still have a freaking long way to go but from the very scaredy-cat girl that I was, only dreaming about cooking for people and for the world and nothing else to well, a little bit less the scaredy-cat girl. It’s not really the rainbow with sunshine and sprinkles kind of life but so far, it has been an awesome ride and despite being unemployed for a few months now, I’ve always believed that everything happens for a reason and maybe right now it’s God’s way of saying I needed to take a break because the next chapter in my life will be tons and tons of work and that I should spend time with my family because who knows when we’ll be able to do this again. YUP. Being unemployed makes you realize a ton of deep stuff.

Okay, enough with the drama you didn’t came to read. I apologize but that little backstory has been the reason for everything and it got me to where I am now.

Anyhow, a couple of months ago when I finished my course in London and was getting ready to come back home to Philippines, I asked my parents for another big favour since they were happy with my school results that they asked me what I wanted as a graduation gift. If it’s not obvious enough, I asked to go back to London for my graduation. I was lucky enough to find a school that made students wear graduation gowns even though our course was only for a year. I never expected it since I’m so used to my country that the only time you’ll be able to wear it with pride only happens when you finish a degree in college- which I never did. There was nothing in life I wanted more than to make my family proud of me after all the crap I’ve caused, like for instance stepping out of the stereotype that we, a Chinese-Filipino family have to achieve a degree in either business, agricultural or medical related. Well, now I’m here. I survived (or should I say, surviving for now..) and eventually my family warmed up to me in my culinary dreams and fully supported/is supporting me.

So after a year of bliss in London, after all the hard work, every volunteer/stagier work my teachers gave me which I never failed to attend – be it far or near somewhere in London and the many rare sunny days that was so precious I had to miss because I was studying and doing projects – being afraid to fail because who am I kidding my parents spent a lot of money to make me attend school there and the least I could do was study as hard as I could with all the might that my tiny brain could endure. Well, I’m proud to say it was worth it and I’m fucking proud of myself.  Excuse my language but I thought it was an absolute fit for the feeling that I have for myself after surviving a year on my own..... so far. 

My chefs from Westminster Kingsway College (Chefs Ian, Miranda and Françoise) gave me an incredible honour of awarding me the Best Culinary Student of our course, Higher International Culinary Diploma and I’m eternally grateful for it. I’ve put myself down so many times that it was such an incredible feeling of having people believe in you even through the days when you don’t believe in yourself. I felt so loved and grateful by the people around me more than words can say.

Thank you to my now alma mater, Westmister Kingsway College, thank you to my chefs and the chefs I’ve encountered, to the many incredible people in London who became my friends and to the nice random strangers I’ve talked to along the way. My London experience wouldn’t be the same without you.

To my family- my parents, brothers, sister-in-law and nephew, my inspirations in life, thank you for every day and every single little thing. The amount of words in the English and every other kind of language on the dictionary  will never be enough to tell you how much I love you and thankful for all of you.

To my friends in my home country and to the new ones I’ve made, I couldn’t describe how thankful I am to every single one of you who made an impact on my life to get to where I am today and made me believe in myself more. You know who you are and thank you.

Like the cashier at Nando’s once said to me: “ No one’s going to believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself too. “

Here are some photos of our graduation! I was so busy catching up with everyone I didn’t have time to take some more!!

And we had such a short week in London but it was one of the most memorable ones and I’d like to say the jet lag was worth it.

^ Official graduation photos! Thanks William Northam! ^

Until next time, London!! You’ll always be one of my favourite cities. No doubt.

This here’s the original chocolate chip cookies and my basically my base for all these flavours (chocolate chips optional, of course).

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Soft, chewy and a little bit crunchy all at the same time.

* Lost the paddle attachment on my mixer so this is why I’m using the whisk for basically everything, if you’re wondering. *

1. S’MORE COOKIES:

Giant marshmallow stuffed which gave its gooey goodness. It was too sweet so I needed to lessen the sugar from the recipe and add some melted chocolate on top and finely crushed grahams.

* These failed ones right here are where the marshmallow oozed out which meant I wasn’t able to cover it fully with the dough. *

See what I mean with the gooeyness??!

2. OREO CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES:

Crushed oreos, cocoa powder, chocolate chips and white chocolate drizzle. It came out crunchier than all the cookie tests but it was still a great one. Kudos to the one who invented this special cocoa powder I used and sorry, but I’ll keep it a secret. *wink*

*made a trial batch of these in squares and it didn’t really worked out well so I’m keeping it in its original cookie shape *

3. MATCHA CREAM CHEESE COOKIES

Matcha (a kind of green tea), white chocolate and cream cheese filled with matcha cream cheese drizzle. I recently started loving matcha flavoured things (milk tea, cakes etc.) that I’ve come to the idea of making it as a cookie flavour and it turns out, this is my favourite one yet!!

Overall, It has been a rather exhausting but fun week, I've probably wasted a lot of ingredients already trying to come up with good results and finally got it right after some time. Well, this is what we do right? Practice, practice and more practice. Learning everyday no matter how tiring it can be. Okay, sooo to sum up everything,  I've made these cookies larger than usual trying to be different and all but costing them each came to an expensive price so I’m going to change the sizes of these cookies to produce more and have it cheaper as well. Stay tuned, CDO! Hope you'll enjoy munching on these as much as I've been making them!

                                           ** MAIN ARENA **

                                      ** PEPSI MAX ARENA **

                                            ** STAGE 3 **

                                             -- P E T I T E --

                                             Gian and I :)

So this day last year, I was singing my heart out and couldn’t believe my life that I was actually witnessing The 1975 before my very eyes and all the problems I had in the world were lost for a moment and I knew that everything was going to be alright. Coming from a small city in a far away country, we rarely have international people coming to visit and as over reacting as I may seem to you and to everyone else on that day, I didn’t gave a single care because I knew deep in my heart that these chances are rarely in my way and I thank God for giving me the opportunity to have it.

    LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT’S THE FUCKING 1975.

                             ** The best photo I had of the band!

                      (George had an injury so he wasn’t present) **

I didn’t have a lot of photos because I was .. 1. trying my best not to faint

2. busy recording on my camera and phone / singing / having the time of my life all at the same time.

After the band played, Calvin Harris came out and guess who introduced him?????? WILL SMITH. WILL FUCKING SMITH. DAMN RIGHT YOU HEARD ME. AHHHH IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!!

The only thing that wasn’t awesome was that my video of him introducing Calvin got corrupted!! :(

We didn’t stayed till the end cause we knew i was going to be too crowded/messy to get out of the park.

                    ** H E A D L I N E R: C A L V I N   H A R R I S **

So here you go, everyone. My Wireless Festival/The 1975/Near-faint experience. It was one of the happiest days I’ve ever had when I was in London, probably in my life as well and saying it was an amazing experience is an understatement.

Most of the videos I took were the shittiest and I apologize, I probably sang a few wrong lines which I am ashamed of as fan because I was so high on being happy of seeing them and I just didn’t mind at all.

To my favourite band: I love you, The 1975. Thank you for being you and I know I’m just a tiny pinch of the millions of fans in the entire world that you have, I’m still grateful to be a part of the tribe and just like them, I’m proud of you guys. Thank you for being the best and one of the bands that helped me got through rough and good times.  Love you lots, always.

lost my voice, danced a lot in public (which I NEVER do) and saw my favourite band. I had a great, awesome, fantastic, incredible, amazing, wonderful and unforgettable night I couldn’t believe.

P.S. Videos will follow in another blog.

Location: SOUTHERN GROVE, MILE END, LONDON E3 4PX

So these 4 kinds of plants/branches were dried up for a certain amount of time and you can actually put some hot water into it and drink it like tea! who knew! Mine was a touch of silver birch and juniper which wasn’t bad but I probably wouldn’t drink it again.

Okay, I gotta be honest, this whole situation was creeping me out a bit but you know what? It wasn’t as bad as it sounded! The tour was really interesting and helpful for us chefs (and for those who aren’t either - as long as you’re interested in nature and what lies underneath all it’s beauty, open to new things and experiences, I’m pretty sure you’d enjoy this tour. )

meet our tour guides!!

Kenneth Greenway

Very accommodating and absolutely passionate about what he does! Kudos to you Kenneth and many thanks again!

And his adorable 14 year old dog, Quinn!! This pup was too adorable and very accommodating just like his owner, by the way! Also, tried to lead the whole class which way to go as best as he could! 10/10 assistant tour guide pup (also very photogenic) * look at how he posed for me! LOOK AT HIM!!!! AHHHHH *melts my heart*

Alrighty then! Let’s get to it! These were all the plants that we’ve encountered and mostly tasted, straight from the ground. The information I’ve placed is just some bits I’ve learned throughout the tour so it’s not too thorough.

FUN FACT TIME!!!

1. PILEWORT / LESSER CELANDINE - Heart-shaped leaves, as you can see! - Both leaves and root are edible - Tasted lovely! It had that bean sprout flavour which was really nice and I felt a hint of sweetness to it as well (probably my most favourite of all) - Don’t confuse it with the Hemlock which grows on June-July cause its poisonous!!

2. COW PARSLEY

- Great for salad leaves - Comes from the carrot family

3. MUGWORT

- Good for brewing beers - Great for teas as well

4. GORSE

- Kenneth made us exhale deeply on the flower since it releases its natural smell in contact with warm air. It took a while since it was quite cold but eventually it release a coconut smell - Flowers all year round

5. ACHILLEA / YARROW

- Can be found anywhere in the UK, mostly grows in backyards, lawns etc. - Great for salads and teas

6. JUNIPER BERRIES - One of my favourites as well and the only one I was familiar with since we’ve used it in the kitchen a few times - Green berries are the ones not ripe yet and are only a year old - Black berries are the ripe ones that take 18 months to  2 years to ripen - Cooking trick: place in spice bags

7. SWEET VIOLET

- Perfect for cakes and other desserts - Smells fantastic too

8. STICKY WILLOW / GOOSE GRASS / CLEAVERS

- Has hairy texture so dip in hot water to lighten it’s taste - Great for vinaigrettes

9. CROW’S GARLIC

- Our crowd favourite! - Smelled absolutely wonderful with garlic - It’s slender leaves are used like chives - It’s bulb grows in summer

10. LADY’S SMOCK / CUCKOO FLOWER

- Probably the most interesting plant of all that day in my opinion - Has a hot-peppery-food flavour - GUESS WHAT?! It absolutely tasted like WASABI

11. WOODLAND WILDFLOWER / WOOD AVENS / HERB BENNET

- Root is the only edible part - Great with apples - They’re like cloves

12. BRAMBLE

- This plant bears blackberries in the summer - While it’s not summer yet, it has young unopened bamboo shoots which are nutty in taste - Careful with the thorns!

13. STINGING NETTLE

- THIS STINGS! Either grab it quickly or wear gloves - It’s branches were also an antihistamine when you break it and rub on the place you got stung - I know because I was reckless enough to get stung and Kenneth had to help but it was a very good learning experience for everyone though. - Also, the stinging feeling on my finger lasted until the next day which was a bummer. It was a really weird feeling. - To eat this, roll like you would with a basil - Cook it like spinach - Cooking trick: Add it in the last 5 minutes of your potato soup

14. ONION WEED / THREE-CORNERED LEEK

- It’s like a pickled onion without the pickling liquid

15. LORDS & LADIES / CUCKOO PINTS

- 2 words: POISONOUS / DEADLY

16. RIBWORT PLANTAIN

- Texture is quite hairy - Great for vinaigrettes and smoothies

17. SALAD BURNET

- Tasted like cucumber! I was very amazed.

18. WILD STRAWBERRY / ALPHINE

- The plant where ruby strawberries grow in the summer - Tastes sweet - Grows in the light and shade

19. WILD ROCKET

- Tastes sweet - Has yellow flowers

20. WILD CARROT

- Flowers in the summer - As it is still in winter, this is it’s skeletal frame which I think is beautiful

21. HOGWEED

- Young and unopened are great - Cook it like asparagus

22. PRIMROSE LEAVES

- Quite bitter in taste - The inner plant is best for eating raw

There you go! Some fun facts about our foraging trip. Sadly, the mushrooms had a bad year in 2016 which was why we weren’t able to see any, except for our chef!

Foraging that day was such a fun learning experience, not to mention a memorable one for me when my finger got stung. Nonetheless it’s such a vast topic to encounter and having an introduction about it by going out there and doing it ourselves made me appreciate nature even more than I already had before.

Thank you chefs and to Kenneth, Quinn and Soanes Centre team!

Cheerio!

This is a Snapchat I took on that day while we were waiting in line with all these people! The line was actually longer by the way!!!!

---- PRE-CONCERT VIBES ----

Guest Stars:  Reef and Lianne La Havas.

I honestly haven’t heard of them till that day but boy, were they good.

Then *BOOM* COLDPLAY comes out, everybody goes crazy. I went crazy. fuck it. I didn’t care at all. I was sitting beside a dad and his family. I was just so ecstatic. Oh man. I sang out loud so so much, I danced (which I NEVER do!!!!) and I was jumping up and down, trying to record with my phone and camera (for myself and friends too) I just didn’t have a care in the world and it seemed like all my problems just faded away for a bit. It was crazy amazingly awesome.

* WARNING/ MORE LIKE HEADS UP about these videos *

- I literally have my voice in all of the videos I took so I’m just really sorry you have to hear my lousy voice singing (right AND probably some wrong lyrics, trust me, if I could remove it, I would.) in which I know if you were in my place in those moments you would do the same and not care at all. - It is shaky because.. do I really have to explain??? Dancing. that’s what it was. - I wasn’t able to take full videos (except for 1) because I was trying to be in the moment as much as I could even if I was enjoying it alone. - This has always been my dilemma, I didn’t want to record any of it and just be in the concert but I wanted to keep memories for myself and share to my friends who wanted to be there as well. *** Hate me all you want from my annoying voice but don’t say I didn’t told you so and warned you ***

- Also, I could only post 5 videos in 1 blog so just click the links to see the rest:

PAGE 1 (after intro) & PAGE 2 (near the ending)

Here’s the first: INTRODUCTION

POST CONCERT VIBES!!! #COLDPLAYHANGOVER

EVERYBODY WAS SINGING TO THE “OOOOHs” of Viva La Vida while we were on our way to the station. Crazy Awesome don’t you think???!!

OH MY GOSH. I COULDN’T TELL YOU HOW AWESOME THAT DAY WAS. It was amazing in every aspect. I have nothing more to say but

 So where were we? Oh right. Well, the day finally came and knowing myself, I wanted to be there! And because I’m one of those people who would wait in queue for hours and hours for famous food, roller coasters and my favourite bands. So bloody hell yes I was there. 

Opening time was at 8AM and luckily I was able to convince a friend to come and wait with me in the queue, my Filipino friend Ate (or what we call “big sister” to people older than us as a sign of respect in the Philippines) Olive Lopez! Though we were actually late because we arrived at 9:30AM but you know how things just fall into place sometimes when you least expect it? That was one of those times, 10 minutes into lining up, she was about to get coffee and when I saw some staff from the bakery giving out free madeleines to people on the queue, I pulled her hand and said “Oh wait, somebody’s giving out free food” (Shout out to my friends who know me well enough to know that I live for free stuff). So there we were, waiting for our turn to receive some madeleines when 2 people (1 with a microphone and 1 with a camera) went up to us and asked as if it would be okay for them to ask some questions and they said they were from “BuzzFeed” so we said alright and also to kill time waiting in queue. They were just asking normal questions like, “What time did you start queuing?” “How did you know about this?” & “Do you think it’ll live up to the hype?” Little did we know it was actually BuzzFeed. Good golly. I could’ve been more gracious or something, I really wasn’t expecting that but anyhow, it was so overwhelming to be included, even if it was just for about 2 seconds!! Who knew, we got to be in a known company’s video. So so grateful.  Thanks a bunch for featuring us, BuzzFeed UK!!! Here’s the clip if you guys want to see; courtesy of BUZZFEED UK P.S. I’m the one with the green hair and the green beanie *laughing with tears* with my friend Olive beside me at 0:22 here

After 3 hours of waiting in line and catching a glimpse of Chef Dominique Ansel himself, we finally got ourselves some Cronuts® !! Though, the rules says there’s only a maximum of 2 per person, so I got 2 because I am like that. Ha ha. I’m just kidding, I panicked when I was on the teller; you know how sometimes you’re just so overwhelmed and confused at the same time that you had 3 hours to think and prepare on what to order but when you’re there already being asked what would you like, you panic!!! No? Just me??! Well, so I had 2 and a Cannele (thanks to the guy who shared the last one- since he wanted 2). Just so you know, I didn’t eat them all at once and obviously had tonsillitis the very next day. No regrets.  Unfortunately, it was raining hard outside and we were late for a lunch date with our other friend, Swathi so we were rushing and weren’t able to eat The Cronut® immediately- which as they say is at it’s best when eaten straight away, but nevertheless it was still awesome. I loved it. I loved it. I loved it.  The flavour varies every month and the first London flavour is the Salted Butterscotch and Cocoa Nib which was amazing because I love butterscotch!!!!  Although I really regret not eating it immediately to taste that crunchiness of the flaky texture of the half croissant - half doughnut masterpiece but still, I found it such a sensation on my taste buds that made all the 3-hour wait worth it. 

So basically The Cronut® queue starts at 8AM and the cookie shot one starts at 3PM. We missed it on the opening day but of course, I just had to have it so we came back the very next day at 3PM. I was queuing up for an hour or so because they decided to have one queue for everything which was not the best idea, in my opinion but gladly, founded new friends on the queue which was great! This time, I got a cookie shot and a DKA ( “Dominique’s Kouign Amann”-  croissant-like dough with a caramelized crunchy crust )

This was my ultimate favourite (more than the Cronut, to be honest!) The flakiness of the caramelized crust was pure perfection with the softness and chewiness of the dough’s inner layer. It was one of the best things ever, I’m not even kidding.

The cookie shot was amazing. I don’t know if it’s gonna be too sweet for you but it was just right for me. PERFECT in every way. Probably the only thing is that I left the milk for some time and it made a small hole on the cookie shot thus making it very messy to eat because it was leaking but other than that I absolutely freaking fantastically loved it so much.

Here’s a preview of the bakery inside and some of the other pastries I still have yet to try!!

Fortunately, this time, I got to see Chef Dominique in action!!! I was waiting for my cookie shot (which is baked to order) when he came down from the stairs and started working on some madeleines which made me star struck because when I saw him, he glanced to the queue and I just stood there.. and waved awkwardly!!! I can’t even. I was just so nervous, who, ironically also had the guts to take a photo of myself “with him in it” LOL.

AND OH. LASTLY. HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY BESIDES EATING ALL THESE AWESOMELY BLOODY DELICIOUS NUGGETS OF GOLD, *THE* CHEF DOMINIQUE ANSEL LIKED OUR PHOTO ON INSTAGRAM!!! WOHOOO!!!!

As much as I would love to spend my free days there just eating and getting fat with all these excellent pastries and (which I still have yet to try) savoury items!!! I’m just an international student with a budget and for me, the items were a bit pricey. Overall, the experience was incredible! I didn’t mind the queuing at all! Waved and saw the The Cronut® creator himself in action, got interviewed by BuzzFeed, spent some time with my friend and ate some delicious pastries. I’d say that was one hell of a pretty good weekend. 

Cheerio for now!

P.S. A little (Day 1 & Day 2) OOTDs for you. Which I know you don’t really wanna see but heck, I’m putting it here.

Me loving denim is an understatement.

WEEK 1&2: I got assigned in the morning team/finishing (decorating) team. Worked from 6AM - 4PM and as much as it was “fun” chasing the bus every 5AM, I liked working the early shift- and I’m a non-morning person. I work for 4 days a week since I’m only an intern but  I got to try all the different sections of the morning team which is nice. Though, I mostly go to counting afternoon teas and finishing tiny eclairs which I least like but I can’t and won’t complain. lol. Basically we [morning team] decorate, count and finish the desserts for the food halls & restaurants until 10AM, have our 1 hour and 30 minute-break. YES YOU READ IT RIGHT, 1HR&30MINS. I KNOW. Never in my life have I experienced a break that long. It’s great and all but it’s unbelievable how long it is in working in kitchens (in my opinion though). So yeah, after break we then mise en place, sauces, garnishes, decorations and other stuff we need. And that’s basically how the 6AM shift goes. 

WEEK 3&4: Since it was my last 2 weeks, I asked our Head Pastry chef Alistair to rotate me to try all the stations of the pastry team and I was lucky enough to be able to do it. Bakery team: which was pretty cool too! Not as bad as they say actually. We work at 7AM - 5PM and produce and bake breads for the food hall. I also got to try working on the night shift at 10PM - 8AM once and it was not bad. It’s just the time you get to be so sleepy but the work load is actually good, more on measuring a lot of big batches for breads and oh my gosh the smell when all breads just come out of the oven are beyond amazing. I had to take my break at 2AM because I was so hungry and I couldn’t wait for their break at 5AM. So I just decided to walk around the halls of the malls, all alone and it was obviously scary. And oh, did I forget to mention that the staff cafeteria is on the 6th floor? YEAH. Imagine that. And I came from the sub-basement.  Afternoon (big production) team: Working from 8AM - 6PM making the big production of desserts that the morning team finishes- cakes, macarons, eclairs and others. Quite fun to make big productions! It made me miss my first ever internship when I was 16.  Georgian restaurant: Working at 10AM - 8PM finishing the afternoon teas, the red glamour, macarons, banana cheesecakes, mille-feuilles. Preparing scones and doing service at the tiny pastry section. Godiva Cafe: Starting at 10AM - 8PM, making mise en place for service- chocolate garnishes, strawberries and croissants and doing service- making crepes and other made-to-order desserts Ice Cream Parlour: Starting at 7AM - 5PM making ice cream for the parlour which opens at 12PM. I got sent down back to the pastry kitchen since there wasn’t any thing left to do after making the ice cream- just waiting/checking how much ice cream is left and make some more if necessary. 

I had a great time on the Pastry team and I really appreciate how extra patient they were with me with all my probably stupid questions. I can say they were stupid because all of the people in the kitchen are pastry chefs/commis, even the interns are all pastry majors which makes me a little bit insecure since I am not like them. Don’t get me wrong, I liked working there and I’m so thankful for my instructors for letting me try something that is out of my comfort zone since I told them I just recently fell in love with pastry over a year ago (but of course, culinary will always be my first love). So I’m really lucky to have experience it, I did my best- like in all my work placements and I really learned a lot. Made me love pastry more.

Super big thanks to Harrods pastry team!! Cheerio! <3

Chef Alistair! Our Head Pastry chef! Unfortunately I wasn’t able to have a photo with our Executive Pastry chef Marcus. Look how tiny I am. lol

^ Mustafa or aka Moose, one of my favorites since he is super funny/friendly!

^ Ravvy my Filipino friend!!!! It was so great having a fellow Filipino to work with! Made me a little less homesick

Florentine & Julia- my co interns from Germany!!!! Whom I got close with just within a week! Miss them!

         ^ 3 interns with one of the mentors, Benjamin! This guy’s the best!

                                       ---- behold the kitchens! -----

here is my night shift face or eyes ^ sort of.... 

6 days of prepping for the big 4 day event and it was so much fun!!!! Learning everything and also getting amazed with almost every little thing (as the ignorant person that I am. LOL). The work they do, how they come up with these ideas is just too bloody amazing for me. We had a 1 day off after some time and it was my first day off in 9 days of working (from Galvin to Hotel Cafe Royal) but all the body pain, exhaustion was all worth it in experience.

SERVICE DAY 1:  I was assigned in peeling and cleaning 150+ langoustines and I seriously sucked at it. It took me the whole morning from 9AM til our 1PM while everybody was running around and doing other stuff. Although when we got into the service moment, every thing was a bit chaotic at first but it was so amazing how all the plating turned out!!! I wish I could’ve taken a lot of photos but we were so busy pushing hard to serve food on time and everything was just too beautiful. It’s so crazy and amazing how every single thing on the menu was intricate and composed with a lot of things. It was awesome.

SERVICE DAY 2 &3: We started late at 12:30PM and I was on the langoustines again and I was called out to help in the pastry service which was so cool!!!! We ended up having snack time or 2nd dinner after service and it was delicious!

SERVICE DAY 4: LAST DAY OF SERVICE I was stuck again with the langoustines, for the last time. I actually did better now after 4 days of doing it and also had some help, thank goodness. The last day was so amazing and it was so humbling! The Roca brothers all called us out into the dining room with all the guests and thanked us all individually and 2 of us won the scholarship to go to Spain! It was so awesome! I was a little bummed out of course (as like a normal person would because we all wanted it) but I was so happy for my 2 friends who won and deserved it!!! Experiencing all the work was already a win for me too! Then when we got back in the kitchen all the staff were clapping for us and it was such an awesome feeling. After work they held a party and I joined for a little bit since I was going back for my last day at Galvin at Windows the next day. I had so much mixed feelings since I experienced SO MANY GOODBYES MY HEART IS  JUST TOO WEAK TO TAKE. 

So there it was.  I was freaking working for the Roca Brothers basically even if it’s just for 2 weeks. Never in my whole life imagined such a thing. It was probably about 6-7 years since I last saw them on the telly and now I couldn’t believe what was happening to me-meeting them and working with their team! I am just so thankful. I couldn’t even describe it. I don’t know whether to smile til my mouth cramps up or cry or laugh. I was so tired from working from place to place in a matter of weeks but I was really happy, honestly. I tried to grab every opportunity I could get even if it means being so exhausted all the time but I didn’t care anymore. I was just so hungry for more chances to do something good and being a part of kitchens that I never imagined I could be in. I mean, it’s freaking London, England after all. I’ve been dreaming of this for so long that I just don’t want to miss any chances. 

Thank you so much to our school Westminster Kingsway College, our instructors, schoolmates, the Roca brothers, BBVA company, El Celler de Can Roca team, Hotel Café Royal staff and the guests. 

It was such an incredible experience I will never forget for the rest of my life. I’m sorry I’m really running out of words besides awesome/amazing/incredible to even describe how it all was. 

‘til next time! Adios! Muchas Gracias amigos!

Here are just some little bits and pieces of memories from my absolutely amazing experience!!!! 

The Roca Brothers:  Jordi:The Pastry Chef, Josep:The Sommelier, Joan:The Head Chef

I feel so lucky to have a photo of them 3. Yay!!! 

our kitchen at Hotel Cafe Royal!

                                --- MEET THE LONDON TEAM!! ---

                       Westminster Kingsway College students!!!!

DAY 1: My first day was quite a mix of emotions! I got up, rode the bus and arrived an hour early but I saw a little park behind the hotel and sat down and browsed my phone since I didn’t know what to do ha ha. I probably was so excited to start that I went out super early and I didn’t even eat anything. Anyway, I went   in and unexpectedly, me and the head chef, Chef Joo Won came inside the staff entrance together and he showed me the way of course. He gave me a tour and the view was ahhhh-mazing!!! It was so beautiful. Too beautiful. Met the staff and practically did what anybody told me. I was their girl. Also the only girl stage on the hot kitchen. Woooh. It was pretty cool for me though. So while working I got a text from my brother that our dog in the Philippines, Poochie died and I just couldn’t. I wanted to cry so bad but I had my first day of work going and I just thank the heavens I got my shit together and powered through the day. Made some tortellini using some wanton wrappers. It was great idea though, Asian-Italian fusion of some sort. So cool! Also they said it looked nice! Hurrah! I was so proud!  Went home around 6PM and there was this baby on the bus smiling and giggling at me because of my blue green hair so that really made me smile despite what has happened. Ended up crying when I arrived in my room though. LOL

DAY 5:  I asked to stay late until the end of service to try out the evening shift since it was already my day off the next day and I had only a few weeks left so I wanted to learn as much as I can, turns out. IT WAS THE BEST DECISION EVER. I got to plate with the people on the larder section (cold kitchen-salads) and after some time, Chef Jamie called out and order of a “VVVIP”. In my head, I was like “Never heard that before. 3 Vs on a VIP word. It might be the president or something.” He plated the salad though (of course) and turns out it was for RAYMOND BLANC. LEGENDARY CHEF. I mean I honestly didn’t know about him til I came to London but I’ve heard of him from somewhere before for sure. I MEAN WHO KNEW. LITTLE MARY LOUISSE ISABELLE M. YAP FROM A SMALL CITY IN THE PHILIPPINES WOULD EVER SHAKE HANDS WITH A LEGENDARY CHEF IN HER LIFE. I seriously couldn’t fucking believe it. After his dinner he came into the kitchen and we were all cleaning as fast as we could to go home early and he walked up to all of us one by one, thanked us and shook our hands. I MEAN C’MON!!!!!!!!!! IT WAS LITERALLY SO HARD TO SAY “THANK YOU” TO HIM WHEN HE SHOOK MY HAND. I WAS FREAKING STARSTRUCK FOR CRYING OUT LOUD but thankfully the words came out of my mouth. I couldn’t even remember what I was  going to clean after our encounter. No shit.

What luck I had to stay in at that particular day. whew. Thank God. 

DAY 7: It was a good day today for me since I was so productive, ALSO because I was probably  the only intern/stage in the hot kitchen for a few hours. People who needed help came to me, I was their girl. I fucking ran and chopped and was all over the place that day. Boy, I was feeling super hyper. Also, people were extra nice to me today! Not that I’m saying their not, OKAY! But you know I told them it was creeping me out, somebody gave me coffee then another gave me water and I was like “Guys, why are you all being so nice to me, it’s creeping me out a little bit” and they just laughed ha ha. But they also said I did a very good job in chopping the bloody roasted eggplants (WHICH IS NOT AS EASY AS YOU THINK IT IS BTW) which also made my heart flutter a little bit, thank you guys. Well, I ended up staying the night again since it was my day off tomorrow! Kinda fun actually. 

DAY 8: There were so many things happening that day! Everybody was so busy and all that I was doing things for 2 stations today. It was crazy but I liked it! It was actually great that I got busy prepping for people’s stations.  I got an e-mail from my instructor at school saying there was an opportunity to work for the Roca Brothers as they were coming to London for a pop-up event! and just like that, I immediately signed up after I read the e-mail within a heartbeat. Well, that meant leaving Galvin but honest to God I know I’d regret it if I don’t take the opportunity. 

DAY 11: I had so much things to do today! Got assigned to help out the garnish section and apparently, it was my last day of work as well!!!!! It turned out that the El Celler de Can Roca (the Roca Brothers’ restaurant) staff typed my e-mail wrong and I wasn’t able to receive any messages regarding the info about the pop up event! After work, I received a couple of messages from my classmate at uni saying where was I and I was just casually telling her I just got off work and asked if everything was fine and she was telling me that they were all at Hotel Cafe Royal having a meeting with the rest of the staff and already starting the prep the very next day which meant I needed to go immediately and luckily I was still in the building and talked to our Sous chef since Head chef Joo was on his day off. It was so crazy how everything was happening so fast! My instructor texted me that she’ll talk to Chef Joo for me. Well, the situation couldn’t be avoided but I personally believe that what I did- leaving on the spot was a bit rude and they didn’t deserved to be treated like that since everyone were all so nice. I couldn’t even dare to do that to my shitty head chef 3 years ago and I disliked him. But I had to go, I needed to. I just told them I was gonna come back on my expected last day, August 6th, since the event will end on the 5th. It was crazy. I mean I was so stressed out of my mind that I subconsciously rode the bus home and I had to take a seat in my favorite spot at the park near my apartment. I just had to.

DAY 12 (August 6): Yesterday, August 5th was the last day for the Roca Brothers event so for me personally, I needed to come back to Galvin, to at least say goodbye and thank you to them, you know? So.. Saturday meant the restaurant only opens for dinner so we were scheduled to come in at 12 noon. Chef didn’t expected that I would come back though but I remembered we talked about it before that my last day would be on the 6th so I did. I helped out mostly on the meat and garnish section and no complaints but IT WAS SUCH A LONG DAY. I mean really long, I didn’t know why. Weird. Anyway, Chef Joo was so cool he assigned me to be in the pastry service for the night after prepping stuff and I was so happy at least I got to try it out (although I still wanted to try out the hot kitchen service with the meats and all but I know it’ll take a while to get used to and to not fuck up so I understood that completely that I couldn’t be assigned to do service there because I was only gonna stay for a bit.) Anyhow, my last day was good, we finished at 12AM and I felt a bit sad leaving, guilty too. Well, I am the type of person who gets attached so easily so probably that’s why I got a bit sad but life goes on, right? 

Galvin at Windows was so much fun! Met people who were so nice and sweet which in life, it’s not that easy to find nowadays. So so very thankful to everyone there and I couldn’t be more lucky enough to have the most humble and kind head chef (Chef Joo Won) I have ever met so far in the last 5 years I’ve worked/interned in kitchens, honestly. OH WOW. Those 2 weeks just went by so quickly. I learned as much as I could in those weeks and it was such a great experience. Truly. 

Well, here are some photos I took on my last day, there were still quite a few people I weren’t able to take pictures with though but here’s some of the Galvin team! :>

^ Head Chef Joo Won!!! Such a great chef!

^ Sous Chef Ben

^ Massi- one of my mentors who I prep stuff for. 

Jimmy from Larder!

^ PASTRY TEAM!! Bohyun, Veronica and Ernest!

Luis!!! One of my mentors too! I mostly prep stuff for him as well! This guy’s just the best! Definitely one of my favorite people!

Ernest trying out to squat down to my size ha ha ha 

^ Aoife my soul sistah!! 

**** KITCHEN SECTIONS ****

^ Watching the master do his magic!!

here’s some of the dishes of the restaurant!

desserts!!!

*I missed out on a few more dishes though*

-----------------  Thank you Galvin team!    -----------------