Phuket (email) Enlightened in Thailand

Dear lord, 4 months of my life have just disappeared, I scroll through my pictures and India seems like a year ago. Not because life has been dragging on, simply because I have experienced so much between then and now. By no means was India a forgettable experience, if anything stepping off the plane and into the hot and humid Mumbai air, driving through ghettos, past cows, humans, dogs, and anything else you can imagine sleeping on the streets at 11pm is far from forgettable. Climbing into the Annapurna mountain range in Nepal was fantastic, Spending 7 weeks in China was outrageously unexpected, a extremely brief time in Malaysia was a bit sad, but now a solid month in Thailand has been fantastic. Starting off with Marty Barry, and just finishing up spending time with a new chef friend, his staff, and management in the resort he works for, they have made this trip to Thailand unforgettable.

Spending Time away from family and friends over the holidays can be a bit of a bummer but getting the opportunity to become part of a new team and family here at the Sala Phuket resort has been a blessing. I can’t say enough about the people who work here and the experience I have had. I see the end of my time here at Sala approaching and it makes me sad to say good bye to my new friends. The though of staying a bit longer is always in the back of my head, working a bit, gaining a bit more experience, staying in Thailand as long as I can and continuing to live a more relaxing life. It’s not a bad thing, and believe me if I stay here for any longer that fantasy would probably become reality, but lets face it, I am on this trip to TRAVEL, cook and learn, i'm compelled to move on.

Sitting here in Thailand working and living in an awesome environment, I find myself some times struggling with this question: why should I return to the States? I fall short in coming up with an answer almost every time i ask it, but at the end of the day, I guess it is still home. Being on the road has defintiely opened my eyes to a lot of things. Being in the restaurant industry has been a fun life for me, it has been countless hours behind stoves, in classrooms, in walk-in refrigerators, doing inventory in dry storage, working on menu’s, it’s a life I love, no matter how difficult it can be at times. Seeing it from another perspective (in Sala Phuket) has opened my mind to what life in a kitchen should be or better yet CAN BE. Should I be putting in countless hours in a kitchen, drinking endless cups of coffee, and sweating it out behind the line day in and day out because “that is what being a chef is all about.” For some reason NOW, I see that as being a bit of a martyr, in an unnecessary way, living and dieing behind the line is not for me. I’m not appose to a hard days work, or "paying my dues," I feel like now i can see the bigger picture. When ever I return to the states unfortunately I’ll probably fall right back into that same work ethic, but i have seen the light and i hope at least i can work my way out of it just as quickly as i fall back in. I feel like i have been exposed to another side of the kitchen that for so long I have been blind to. I guess what appeals to me the most is the Thai life style and the passion... Not just in the kitchen and at work but in everyone’s day to day lives.
Phuket, has helped me see that passion, being involved with a much larger cooking community, meeting new people every day and sharing food with them here in Asia is something I only dreamed about, while on arrival it quickly became a reality. I am unbelievably thankful for the experience I have had so far, Sala Phuket and the Chef, Jan Hollister has made my stay here in Thailand an unforgettable experience.

--5days later

As Most Good things do..... it has to come to and end, I'm now sitting in Bangkok thinking back to my island Paradise in phuket, although at the time the easy island life was tempting, the reality of my mission sets in, to continue to travel, cook, and learn. Bangkok, Chang Mai, and Heading into Laos is my next adventure.

--Enlightened in Thailand--