Rewind to one month earlier.
A recent trip to LA, inspired me to do a cleanse - to detox my body from my daily abuse of gourmet yummies, and to also lose a few pounds before I went to visit my sister in Hawaii. About a week into this cleanse, I am invited to a dinner with VIP guest, Chef Martin Yan at the California Culinary Academy. Do I interrupt my joyous vegan/gluten-free diet of only fruits, veggies, and juice to dine with one of the most famous and established chefs in the world? Hell, YES!!
After a cooking demonstration and a tour of the school facilities, we sat down with Chef Martin Yan at the Technique Restaurant, for a dinner which was prepared and served by the students of the CCA. During our meal, Chef Martin chatted with the bloggers about his experiences and many of the current activities on his plate - new restaurant, new shows, etc. He mentioned that he was taking a group of people to China on a charity tour benefitting The Leukemia Lymphoma Society. My ears perk up! I reminded him that I had actually met him earlier this year at a Leukemia Lymphoma Society charity luncheon for my friend Rosemary Gong. It turned out that this trip to China was part of Rosemary's fundraising campaign!
Chef Martin casually says, "You should come too!" A seed is planted......
I start to ramble "It has been years since I have been to Asia, my parents are from Taiwan......"
Martin says, "You should add an excursion to Taiwan - I know some people there that I could introduce to you..." Seed sprouting.....
Martin continues, "I'm leaving for Beijing in two days, but if you have time to come by the office tomorrow, my staff can give you the details." Leaf, leaf, roots......
The next day I drive down to the San Mateo offices of Yan Can Cook. I walk into Martin's staff meeting complete with flowers, balloons and refreshments - the team is waiting for Martin's wife to get off the phone so they can give her a birthday surprise. Martin introduces me, and everyone shifts so I can join them. While we are waiting, I look around the office - every wall was covered with plaques, awards, honorary degrees, and pictures of Martin with everyone who is anyone in the culinary world. I had pinch myself to make sure that this was really happening.
Martin was leaving the next day to Beijing for business, but he spent the next two hours talking to me and showing me around the Yan Can Cook enterprise. Wow!
After I left the offices, I immediately called my family to discuss. This trip would be a huge financial outlay - as a freelancer, my stream of random projects barely covers monthly expenses, I would need to dip into my savings. I was leaving in 6 days to visit my sister for two weeks, getting major dental work ($$) while I was there, and would be leaving for this trip only a few days after I got back. Should I go to Taiwan? Should I stop by anywhere else? How long would I stay? Where would I stay? Would my friends and family be available during this time? Blah, blah, blah.....
Who was I kidding? This was an opportunity of a lifetime! And exactly what I needed. While my life is full of amazing experiences, I had been desperately looking for inspiration for the next phase of my life. What would be a better source of inspiration - than an adventure to new places, with new friends - and with interesting and delicious new foods?
The next few weeks were a blur - finalizing dates and destinations, contacting friends and family, visas, travel insurance, major dental work, Halloween, nephew's birthday, last minute preparations.........
And so there we were - at 11/11/11 at 11:11 - all of us with our eyes closed at that magical moment - making a wish, and about to embark on an adventure.........
Details of our adventure to follow...... stay tuned!!!!!
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