Fan-girling

For as long as I've remembered, I was never a fan-girly kind of girl. Granted, I sort of gushed about Kian from Westlife when I was in Primary 6... and I really like (still do) croaking to Westlife's love tunes... but, that's just it! *fingers-crossed*, let's move on... And during the CCHMS days, taiwanese boy-bands were all the rage. Sure, those boys were good looking, and I was caught up in all the taiwanese drama serials, but I never understood how some of my friends are willing to spend so much money on buying their endorsed products, do whatever they can to imitate their idols, much less the time to queue up for autograph sessions or concert tickets for that matter.

is it just me or were they better looking before?

I don't know if people see me as a prude because of that, but in all honesty, I just happened to not understand what's the big deal about them or justify my peers' excitment about them. I couldn't appreciate anything further than these guys' good looks (okay, maybe their slick dance moves too), and I guess that's the main reason I haven't gone gaga over them.

pretty boys secondary school girls went crazy over...

I can still remember the guys who tried to have the same hair cuts as them.. ha!

With that said, I think I've just found the person that I'd really like to idolize. He travels, he eats, and he's hungry for more. He's not exactly a looker, and I'm really drawn to him because of the common interests in life we have; food, travel.

I've read his autobiography (keeps it real, something I really appreciate) sometime back (the book stood out specially for me on the library shelf, I swear), and I am really in awe of how he transformed from a druggie-hippie (aka good-for-nothing) into a world-renowned chef, step-by-step, oyster-by-oyster, dish-by-dish, restaurant-by-restaurant. And it is not just about the transformation; he accepted the fact that he was making mistakes (gaining no respect from fellow chefs with his wayward behaviour), took responsibility for that, and decided on change. That is totally someone I hope to become; a person who is not afraid to just take responsibility for her mistakes, but also right all that wrong.

simple and yet amazing-tasting food.

So apart from reading his autobiography, I've tried to follow him on telly (and youtube) too. It's not an easy thing to do, all that fan-girling, I assure you, but hey, I'm lucky his shows are aired on one of my favourite channels, Discovery & Travel Living, so I have it much easier, I suppose. Anyway, I probably have raved about his TV programmes somewhere in this online space before, but, I'm going to do it again anyhow. He gets to travel to the most fantastic countries in the world, and eat the most exotic foods he can get his hands on. He has the most awesome job and he does a pretty damned good job at convincing viewers (like me) of that; all that food that he says is good, he does so with much conviction that I cannot help but disagree, even if it's really the most simple-looking food in the world. He makes everything (yes EVERYTHING) that he's going to put in his mouth look and sound tasty, and the most gloomy country sound fun (hats off... like seriously?!). If he says it's good, it's got to be good.

All that... it just boils down to me wanting to follow in his "foodsteps" (hur hur), and disliking people who show little appreciation for food. That's what makes food tastier and a whole lot of fun to eat, showing appreciation for the people, the ingredients that go into the final product, and the processes. Thank you for making me fall in love with food and travel! 

and there you go, Anthony Bourdain.

I don't think I've done a good job at exemplifying my appreciation for this guy or show what real fan girls do, but hack, it doesn't matter a single bit. If you're keen, go google him or something!