What's-for-dinner??

Today I just made a record to myself watching Julie / Julia, an astounding movie of how cooking greatly influences lives, for the sixth time in a row ever since I downloaded in less than barely a week.

Have you ever experienced something extraordinary like chills and shivers down your back by watching a movie? The feeling is never new to me since I've had it with No reservations or even with Ratatouille in the past.

Julie / Julia just did that to me this time. The most bitter sweet part was I get so emotional which is very unlikely over a movie. But how can I resist when it is so touching and it just flashed back the whole chunk of sweetest memories I've ever had cooking at school and home with friends and family just like a set of colorful, enchanting motion picture flickering on the back of my brain in sequence.

Never in a million years could I ever imagine all these eatings and cookings can bring people together like I encountered back home in Burma as well as in Malaysia.

And how humble we could get before a satisfying hearty meal simply made out of love from your grandmas trying to bring the best from their tiny little smoke scented and charcoal stained kitchens... what else on earth can possibly beat that?

For instance like this wonderful cake and pizza bun that I made for my pastry exam back in school. The pressure was on as it was an exam yet I came to realize it turned out great with just a pinch of passion well mixed with two cups of enthusiasm...

And this is what I would say about when people are doing something they cherish, it just shows.

Even this Kimbap making time back home with little experience of whatsoever on how to get it done at first had brought me back the joyful memories of just having to be together and who cares if the food we made tasted weird. =)

This really reminds me of how real culinary admiration people possess on whoever cooks good and my favorite line from Ratatouille would be "great cooks can come from anywhere" even if anyone can not cook well...

And wait chefs can be goofballs too... You can imagine we still had time to play around with our phone cameras while waiting for our bread to be baked to crust, creams to be whipped until it looks like a soft moist cloud freshly picked from the sky or souffles to be risen and not to be collapsed again...

Afterall, all we bring to the table towards the end of the day are not just great food to be savored. There are still winning smiles on each and every face.

When all is said and done, food still can never be too good, in a sense, not to be shared even electronically over the Internet.

To all my friends and family out there whom I had fun cooking, baking, broiling, sauteeing, and most importantly eating together with... may we have some fun cooking times together again in the near future...

For now though...... what's for dinner?

Winter 2008 Vs. Winter 2009

Winter kicks in prominently these past few days. I am dying to capture these chilled moments just like last year when I was up in Lake Tahoe where I had my first white lovely Xmas. The thing is, Los Angeles is brighter than ever and we are having these beautiful sunny days almost everyday which would not give a single trace of coldness even if I try to deliver some pictures taken in one of these shivering mornings. But that is not even my point right now. I just can't find a nice good spot to portray my winter wonderland 2009 which could outshine the fabulous past year. Right there, a professional photographer would laugh at me saying "Dude, you don't need a nice spot to get good shots in fact they are everywhere!" Well I am trying.

Along came with this shivering winter early mornings was the warmth and the satisfying moments when you manage to capture something where there is someone out there who would actually care about you. The city notorious for high-end glamazons and excessively ripped gentlemen in their best outfits from Giogio Armani to the designer boutiques custom-made clothings, still has something genuine to offer. Don't get me wrong about those in their luxurious living style, all I'm saying is to be real once and for all then they will be good and charming human beings.

My bottomline here is I finally found friends whom I can hang out, crack jokes, cook dinners or just chill with and may be to be mean to each other with depending on our moods really. Even the little ones with wagging tails are counted in my list. What could be more rewarding for me to receive such heavenly gifts and more importantly this could be my best winter portrayal especially when I am so far from you, all my loved ones. Happy Thanks Giving!