Culinary Dreams and PR3!

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Mae, a member of my team, dreams of one day becoming a chef.

I found out about it during one of our early coaching sessions. In my attempt to get to know my new team, I had intentionally set out to have an informal chat with each one to learn more about their work and personality.

In turn, I also told her that I wanted to get better at baking, and how I’ve been looking at short courses being offered around the Metro. She was familiar with the culinary schools too since she’s been looking around. So that’s what we talk about sometimes.

Before she left the office today, she told me that she had heard of another culinary school – The Center for Asian Culinary Studies (CACS). I went ahead and checked out their website. Apparently, Chef Gene Gonzales is the founder and President of that school. I used to watch Chef Gene on TV when he still hosted a cooking show (How ’bout my place, and some others). My mom and dad liked to dine at his restaurants: Gene’s Bistro that used to be in Morato and the Cafe Y sabel in San Juan.

Their curriculum looks rigid and packed but there are no short courses offered currently. I sent an email inquiring about the fees and am praying I don’t get too shocked at the response. Culinary schools tend to cost an arm and a leg!

I remembered an info-mercial about a charity where celebrity couple Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo talked about the teachers they idolized. Juday’s was Chef Gene. True enough, when I checked out the Gallery posted on the site, there were photos of Juday with her classmates on their finals. The good thing is, the school isn’t capitalizing on its most famous alumna to promote the institution. They list instead their graduates who are now blazing their trails in the food and restaurant industry.

If my baking would give me as much as I earn in my full time job, I’d quit. Not because I don’t enjoy my work here, but because baking always makes me feel good. With or without culinary school, I’d still find a way to continue my home-based baking business. Sheesh, I hadn’t even baked anything in six months!

In my mind, that’s where my online earnings are going towards: a brand spanking new oven.  That’s my next big purchase. Though I am looking around for baking courses, I probably won’t sign up for as long as the cost is bigger than my own bank account.

It is Saturday again, the end of the work week for me. I’m thinking about my Scrapbook Saturday post since yesterday, but since I fell asleep when I got home from work early this morning, I didn’t get the chance to prepare and have it posted before Saturday expires in Manila. I’ll get it up, somehow.

I’m taking the night shift today, to cover for my colleague who’s going home to the north for the weekend. So Alfred’s here now and we have the same schedule for tonight. That means I’d have to make a conscious effort to pry myself away from the computer table to spend some quality time with him. Although I’m pretty sure he’d either be stuck in front of his laptop playing Cabal or he’d be sleeping already. I’ll distract him a bit and lure him into giving our little Zune a bath though! Haha 🙂

Oh and I’ve got great news, though I don’t know why this would be great for anyone else but me, hehe. Lookie here:


Check Google Page Rank

I’m not really sure how that happened, specially since I just launched this site last week! But I’m happy about it anyway 😉 My bravejournal blog is now a PR4!