1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,160 The first time ever that Singapore produced winners for this prestigious award. 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:08,960 The only team to serve Asian cuisine for the competition instead of the usual 3 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:15,840 western cuisine and fine dining. Holy shit balls dude! One for the country man! 4 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:21,040 Oh hell yeah! And one for Asians! Welcome to the studio ladies and gentlemen. I give you 5 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:25,440 the young chef that will rule the culinary world, Chef Ian Tan. 6 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:37,120 I'm pretty sure Kai Pescely has tapped on the record button. Am I right Kai? 7 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:45,200 Yes. I can hear you. Oh already? Oh my my. Always be a recording. Always be a recording. 8 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:49,520 So you can grab the best stuff from time to time. Yeah of course. You see whether or not we want to 9 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:54,240 add these things in. But sometimes we don't. Usually we don't. But sometimes we do. It all 10 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:59,040 depends on the guest and whether the guest has said something that we go, wow that one we can use. 11 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:04,160 Are you picking up a lot of gunk from my mouth Kai? Oh you can't hear because you have no 12 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:11,280 headphones. I am picking up gunk on my own. Okay. Hi everyone and welcome to this episode of the 13 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:17,600 Chris Hansen conversation. Yes we have started the season. We're into season four and I'm back at 14 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:22,560 work and back at it and I've got someone really interesting in the studio. Someone actually 15 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:29,440 reached out to me and said Chris take a look at this particular article. It was a newspaper clipping 16 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:34,240 and I read it. I said yeah this I think this guy would be kind of cool to have him on the show. 17 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:41,920 So I had to do a little bit of digging and eventually I managed to find him and he's here 18 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:46,720 in studio and later on he's going to give us a little gastronomic treat as well. But before we 19 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:53,520 go there let me give you a rundown on who my guest is and I'm going to read this off the screen 20 00:01:53,520 --> 00:02:00,400 okay because the echolies are really crazy man so I got to read it off. Here we go. In the global 21 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:07,520 culinary scene Singapore had never produced a winner for the world young chef young waiter award 22 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:16,480 established since 1979. Arguably the most prestigious industry-centric dining and hospitality 23 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:26,400 award and in November 2023 in Monaco nine chefs nine waiters and nine mixologists from England, 24 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:37,040 Wales, Singapore, Ireland, the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Monaco, the US and Scotland competed 25 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:43,600 for the grand prize and of course they got to go through heats first. Here's a shot of the young man 26 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:52,240 I'm talking about when he won the Singapore round. You guys had two man. I had two man look at that 27 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:57,040 shot man I mean look at that short of armpits but then again the armpits are covered thank god for 28 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:04,480 that and then let me just go on down the line. Each nation sends in a team of one chef and one 29 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:11,360 waiter with mixologists being an option but Singapore sent up three including a mixologist 30 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:18,160 and the option for the chef is a three course meal presented to a judging panel. So representing 31 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:23,600 Singapore I'm now going to mention your teammates. We're mixologists Zana Moulman from Manhattan, 32 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:32,160 Singapore, waiter Bell Torres from restaurant Zen and my guest in the studio Chef Ian Tan 33 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:39,360 of Bottega di Carna, the emerge winners of the world young chef young waiter award. 34 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:47,440 There you go three very happy people. The first time ever that Singapore first time ever that 35 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:54,160 Singapore had produced winners for this prestigious award the only team to serve Asian cuisine for the 36 00:03:54,160 --> 00:04:01,680 competition instead of the usual western cuisine and fine dining. Holy shit balls dude one for the 37 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:07,920 country man oh hell yeah and one for Asians. Welcome to the studio ladies and gentlemen I give you 38 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:15,760 the young chef that will rule the culinary world Chef Ian Tan. Hello hello everybody it's uh I'm 39 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:23,680 extremely grateful to have this opportunity to meet Chris uh man myth legend of all the sexy voices. 40 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:29,440 Oh dear lord here we go. I've watched a couple like of your stuff and then I'm like oh man like 41 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:34,960 I get distracted because you have your guest and then there is you and then I'm just waiting to 42 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:40,160 hear a voice I hope it's I hope it won't be too bad this time around. Why would it be bad man 43 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:44,080 won't be bad you sound okay don't worry about that but thanks for the compliment though. 44 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:49,760 You know lots have been written about the competition and uh I'm not in the habit of 45 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,840 asking the same fucking stupid rigmarole questions that you've been getting. 46 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:58,880 Ah no no no. I'm pretty sure you know I don't like that because people keep asking the same 47 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:04,320 things in different formats and different versions and stuff um I just want to find out things the 48 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:08,880 other way because this particular segment that we have this show that you're on right now this 49 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:16,080 segment is called the I love my job series. And I love my job. Well it's usually the last part of 50 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:20,160 the show when I ask that question but thank you for volunteering and right at the beginning bus. 51 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:25,600 No it's cool it's cool uh let's start this way okay I want to start start off the show this way 52 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:33,520 okay in my usual fashion Ian Tan without the chef's hat all right who is he? 53 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:39,200 Oh my goodness this is an extremely tough question to answer Chris. 54 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:45,520 Usually is most people tell me that about this question. I spent probably close to 60 hours a 55 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:52,480 week in the kitchen without the chef hat I'm at home catching up on my shows I love the office. 56 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:58,160 Oh which one the British version or the US version man? Only the US version you can't do 57 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:02,720 the office without Jim Helpin and Dwight Schrute. You gotta be kidding me man. Michael Scotland gang. 58 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:09,280 The English version man come on. That's the original right? Honestly popular to contrary 59 00:06:09,280 --> 00:06:14,160 believe I should start uh watching the English channels as well I haven't got the time to do it 60 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:21,440 but maybe one day I will so um yes I might commit to that. Okay so without the chef's hat 60 hours 61 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:28,960 in the kitchen outside of the kitchen who is Ian Tan? Uh you'll probably find me at hawker centers 62 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:34,160 you'll find me in bars. You're not getting the question man. That's about what you do in your 63 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:41,920 free time. I'm asking you who are you? Could you rephrase that question again so I can answer it? 64 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:49,520 Who okay who is Ian Tan without the chef moniker or title in the front? Who is he? 65 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:56,320 He's the abrasive loudmouth troublemaker. Abrasive. That can be can get on somebody's 66 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:02,880 nerves from time to time ask my lady. Don't worry about it I mean I mean we all guys get on our 67 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:08,880 lady's nerves man. True enough. Probably one of the biggest rebels of all time. Okay. Coming from my 68 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:20,160 teachers uh people who know me not as a chef but as a person. Yeah. Rebel. A thrill seeker. Yeah I 69 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:31,200 I do enjoy doing things that uh you know. What? When I was in uh when I was in the army I got a 70 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:37,680 fantastic opportunity to be paid to uh jump out of planes. Okay. And uh I absolutely loved every 71 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:41,840 moment of it. So when you tell me that you had the opportunity of jumping out of a perfectly 72 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:47,280 good plane um which means that this was national service right? Yeah. Let's go back a little bit 73 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:51,680 okay? Let me just try and dissect that question to be fair to you. Yeah. You said you were a rebel 74 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:57,120 in school which which school were you in? Uh I was in one of the most notorious Methodist schools out 75 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:05,600 there so you might relate yourself to. Geylang. Names. Oh my goodness spot on. Perfect. Yes I was 76 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:12,000 from Geylang Methodist Secondary School. Okay. Best place of all time. Uh I was the kid who 77 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:18,000 borrow a basketball just to treat it as a soccer ball in the netball field in the middle of El 78 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:25,840 Cuadraco. Probably broke a couple stuff. Uh I was that student counselor who would have extremely 79 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:34,080 long hair and still got away with it. But you were a student counselor nonetheless. Uh yes I was. Yeah. 80 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:40,400 I was. I was actually an executive community member of the welfare committee. Right. So but I 81 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:47,760 think I put on a good show for the guys as well as the teachers. I think one thing that I did that was 82 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:55,440 I mean yes rebellious but probably in the right ways. The teachers were spending so much time 83 00:08:55,440 --> 00:09:02,800 on let's say uh hey guys uh you guys need to get your socks on. You guys need to be wearing a white 84 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,960 socks, white laces and everything. Like you guys have to be dressed a certain way. Right. And then 85 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:13,680 there came a day we had a meeting and I was like teachers are you are you really certain that these 86 00:09:13,680 --> 00:09:19,920 are going to affect the students grades or graduating criteria or how well they did in school 87 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:24,480 or practically in life. A sock isn't going to change anything. A t-shirt isn't going to change 88 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:30,000 anything. But don't you think that is about that's about having some discipline, some amount of 89 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:36,640 decorum. I'd rather they put in uh this kind of values when it comes to studying and uh how you 90 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:42,560 conduct yourselves outside school. Not not not not too much on how you dress and lo and behold the 91 00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:48,800 the rule went through. Uh colored socks, colored laces and ankle uh like ankle uh ankle socks were 92 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:54,800 allowed in school. Uh this was quite a way back and the teachers had more time to teach. Right. 93 00:09:54,800 --> 00:10:00,080 Rather than catch students on their socks. That's how you see things huh. Yeah. Okay all right and then from 94 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:05,360 Geylang Methodist you went through of course you did your old's and where do you go after that? 95 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:10,880 I was a straight B student. I couldn't really decide between uh oh I was I was like looking around 96 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:16,480 the room and thinking how much it was to set up because I was offered uh uh two diplomas. So one 97 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:22,960 of them being uh currently defunct baking and culinary science in Temasek Poly. Is defunct now? 98 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:29,680 Is defunct now already. Do you know why? Uh what what the information that I've been given is more 99 00:10:29,680 --> 00:10:37,040 so like Singapore has been trying to move forward on our education on entrepreneurship as well as 100 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:43,760 business rather than things like cooking uh nutritional science etc etc. Right. So they 101 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:49,440 actually combine the course of culinary science together with culinary and catering management. 102 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:56,080 Okay. So instead of um being science focused, being research focused, being cooking focused, 103 00:10:56,080 --> 00:11:01,680 people could actually set themselves up uh for a better future. Let's say owning a business. 104 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:06,880 Like for example myself as a science student I'm a little bit more analytical when it comes to how 105 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:13,360 to cook. Like when let's say you want to cook a good steak I'll tell you uh how and why you can 106 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:19,520 achieve it. Like when you dry age it what goes on etc etc. But for a business uh student point of 107 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:26,880 view it would be more like a oh it generates better uh profit. I could get it on a higher profit 108 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:33,120 margin because people buy into dry age steaks a bit better. So what's your take on that? I mean do 109 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:39,840 you think it's it sounds to me you'd rather have let's talk about the science of cooking it rather 110 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:46,480 than the business end of it because it's got money involved. Each to their own I'm. But you? How about 111 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:53,280 you? I'm quite the geek and um I've really really feel most restaurants in Singapore the most 112 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:59,120 successful ones uh take a non-biased opinion. Sure sure. Max Wine and Kitchen for example. She's been 113 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:04,560 running a restaurant for 28 years. Yeah yeah. And if you've been running literally anything in the 114 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:09,120 planet for 28 years you've got to be doing something right. Yeah. And one of the things I see 115 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:16,400 is that she has never come out with anything gimmicky for better profit or upsell her customers 116 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:22,240 extremely luxurious ingredients. Right. She's not even really followed the trends. She does something 117 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:29,280 she does something to her understanding uh whatever she believes in which is just good honest cooking. 118 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:35,520 Right okay. But when you're talking about young people going into say the poly and now that the 119 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:42,800 poly restructured reformatted the way this is taught uh I think there's two schools of thought 120 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:47,840 yeah I mean since we're on that topic man I know I'm still on the topic about who is Ian Tan 121 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:52,720 okay go for it but since you raised this uh and I don't want to jump off the opportunity I'd rather 122 00:12:52,720 --> 00:13:00,240 jump on the opportunity you're talking about this uh I've always believed you know uh in most most 123 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:09,200 professions especially it comes to trades um can I call this a trade yeah I think I can uh like for 124 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:17,040 example musicians uh entertainers you know and perhaps even chefs like you uh that it is always 125 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:22,480 important to also take care of your of your business because you know you have your craft 126 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:28,960 right and uh right now maybe the schools the polys are focusing more on that teaching you how to take 127 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:34,960 care of business uh because the craft you will eventually definitely get there what do you think 128 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:40,800 do you think I'm you think I'm I'm right or wrong about what I've just said it's a it's a very very 129 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:47,040 broad topic to be very frank um I mean I'm not in your industry so you know I'm just speaking out 130 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:51,840 loud thinking out loud what I've noticed in Singapore is that people we become way too business focused 131 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:57,840 uh some of the trends I've noticed I I started working in a ramen shop okay way way way back I 132 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:06,480 was I think 15 years old when I jumped on board um this there was not enough stuff in the kitchen 133 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:10,720 so they wanted to drag someone from the service side to help out in the kitchen so that's how 134 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:17,840 I got stuck and never left the kitchen uh since then ramen champion took quite a downfall when 135 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:26,000 after 2015 a multitude a huge tsunami of ramen restaurants came to Singapore right right you see 136 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:31,600 them popping out of nowhere literally at every corner of the island when it used to be the most 137 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:38,640 non-halal thing yeah they made a halal version out of it and it got sometimes even compatible like it 138 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:45,200 can get even better than the the supposedly non-halal versions however what happened at the end of the 139 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:50,400 day when you are also business focused when you're jumping on the train of guys this is 140 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:55,360 earning money let me do it too this strategy works let me learn from this person and then try and do 141 00:14:55,360 --> 00:15:01,680 better than this person it gets so competitive right they all kind of collapse that one go how 142 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:06,400 many good restaurants how many good ramen restaurants are left here in Singapore so what 143 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:12,800 you're saying is what you're saying in short would be to focus on like well you said that earlier too 144 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:19,680 well you know good honest cooking uh and stick to your guns and what you believe in right and 145 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:27,680 absolutely and not be too sucked into the business and economic aspects of the craft it might be even 146 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:34,400 a social thing uh people feel comfortable when they fit in with other people so if you purchase 147 00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:41,360 a Rolex as let's say uh you are a financial advisor and then you're young and budding and your 148 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:49,280 your superior wants you to say just like just like you should just like you can sell a financial plan 149 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:56,400 and then they're like hey you need to get a Rolex and when all of your peers are having a Daytona 150 00:15:56,400 --> 00:16:01,360 or something and here you are with let's say a Grand Seiko which isn't even that bad after all 151 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:08,880 you get pretty jittery however at the cost of fitting in you lose probably almost everything else 152 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:15,680 right okay okay right okay let's go on with who is Ian Tan? Don't get me wrong I'm still trying to 153 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:20,000 understand the question I'm not trying to run no don't worry I'm you don't I'm not here to pressure 154 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:25,200 my guests I never want to make them feel uncomfortable so I'll help you along okay so I'm 155 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:32,000 moving down the line this in chronology so after that you had two offers for a diploma yes oh yes 156 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,760 oh you went so far I'm so out of it no it's cool don't worry don't worry about it man don't worry 157 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:39,920 about it it's a podcast when we hear the it's a conversation it's a chit chat we're here to talk 158 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:43,920 I don't I don't even sometimes think about the cameras being in front of us it's cool 159 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:49,840 okay so let's go this direction now yeah so from you were offered two diplomas what did what did 160 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:57,040 the diplomas I was a drummer back in secondary school a what a drummer I hit stuff to make 161 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:02,720 things sound good I have some of my own gears at home which I haven't been able to use them 162 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:09,280 okay so I was offered a dpa into the diploma of music and audio tech in Singapore poly 163 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:17,360 holy shit man were you there no no way I I've been saying this on almost most of my episodes of 164 00:17:17,360 --> 00:17:24,720 I love my job this man has got a diploma in BTC what is that may I ask? 165 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:33,760 BOTATZEK. What is what? Oh my goodness what is that? BOTATZEK. You know what BOTATZEK is? 166 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:40,160 Don't. I mean I've got four levels is all I got man okay yeah no what I'm saying is that I would 167 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:45,280 have jumped an opportunity if I were offered a diploma like what you just had what you just said 168 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:52,880 the diploma in what in in music and music and audio tech oh geez my goodness okay super well 169 00:17:52,880 --> 00:18:00,400 sought after which means you you you you you pretty pretty good at the at the drums I'm I would say 170 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:07,040 I'm all right uh there are definitely you know the Chinese saying goes isan bi isan gao like you you 171 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:11,120 you can't just if you think you are good you just need to scroll youtube or just like flip on your 172 00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:14,400 tiktok and instagram well let's put it this way man you must have been good enough to be have been 173 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:20,800 selected for it well I'm humbled okay so and and what happened uh so I actually consulted one of 174 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:26,960 my greatest mentors in life i.e. my my mother okay I was like what do I choose there are two 175 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:33,600 there are two great loves in my life how could you just take away music or food like it's a super 176 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:39,520 tough question it's like if you if you love to drink and then like it's like choose whiskey or 177 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:45,440 choose gin and you're like you you can't do this to me you really can't do that um so I went to 178 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:50,480 a very practical human being and asked for very practical advice and the very practical advice 179 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:58,080 was in Singapore it's very hard to earn money or stable income and much less likely to be successful 180 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:01,760 if you are doing music because it's just not supported and it's sorry who's who's it that to 181 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:08,000 you my mom okay yeah right right but right now times have changed obviously and things are getting 182 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:16,160 better um uh so I went forward and said hey it's not too bad after all if I'm still doing something 183 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:23,520 I love so I went to uh baking and culinary science okay so uh this baking and culinary science and 184 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:28,400 we know about the music bit because when you were in school you were drumming but then after that 185 00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:32,960 you decided to go into baking culinary science for your diploma instead of what was offered to you 186 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:42,080 for music and you mentioned earlier on that at 15 you and you were in the kitchen already yes now 187 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:49,680 let's go back a little bit then so which means that you during school halls yes you were working 188 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:54,400 in service correct can be talking a little bit more about that how did you first enter into this 189 00:19:54,400 --> 00:20:03,120 world um of culinary that is or fnb it went back like when I was secondary uh secondary too so I 190 00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:09,680 had a friend whose mom owns a chain of uh probably those cafeterias at condominiums so it was at 191 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:15,760 bay shore park condominium oh my goodness connie's it's I have no idea it's just called western food 192 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:20,080 I know it says western food at the corner is just next what year was this 193 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:32,880 when I was 14 now I am 27 this year so minus 13 20 2014 easily 24 I lived there for 11 and a half 194 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:38,800 years mama mia the one next to the highway and everything oh yeah the one where they had like 195 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:43,360 ultra delicious like naan yeah the indian oh my goodness the indian food that was incredible 196 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:48,560 yeah yeah okay I I left already by the time you started working there yeah okay yeah prior to that 197 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:54,080 I know the place uh prior to that was a place called connie's yeah maybe it's it's already 198 00:20:54,080 --> 00:21:02,560 changed by the time back to topic um she told me something really interesting I I used to play 199 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:07,120 arcade games so I like like those wangan midnight maximum tune in your time zones and virtual lands 200 00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:11,760 when they still existed uh virtual land uh time zone is taken over now virtual and I can't find 201 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:20,000 them anymore she was like hey uh my parents are looking for a dishwasher part-time like five bucks 202 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:27,920 an hour and when you were 14 at back back in 2014 uh five bucks an hour is incredible you felt like 203 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:33,040 you could rule the world with 25 bucks a week once you work once a week just by washing dishes and it 204 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:38,400 was an easy job but it's more like the smells and the sense that caught me I I had an incredible 205 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:46,960 indonesian uh from an indonesian helper from manado her name is like Rita or she taught me 206 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:51,840 how to cook in the kitchen I was the adhd kid running around the house and people couldn't 207 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:56,640 get me to shut up and she was like you know what just help me wash the dishes chop some garlic 208 00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:02,640 and I kind of just fell in love with the energy of the kitchen and if I'm in this environment and 209 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:09,040 it could get me money it's a win-win I kill some time I earn some money after that I play some 210 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:13,920 games in the arcade and I won't complain about everyone wins okay so that's how I got like 211 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:22,480 started so basically you basically the influence actually came from home from your indonesian 212 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:29,440 helper from manado spot on wow if you are hearing this podcast I love you I miss you hope to see you 213 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:36,800 soon yeah and and I know that um because right now we uh my mom has a philippine has a indonesian 214 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:42,000 helper from manado and I hear that her cooking is quite superb the manado cuisine oh man I think 215 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:47,680 there are a lot of very very underrated cooks uh sometimes they can be loitering around uh 216 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:56,400 lucky plaza um so on and so forth all right so so wow that's that's actually quite a good story so 217 00:22:56,400 --> 00:23:04,480 your you actually can attribute your beginnings into how you really started to realize the 218 00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:13,280 realization that you just might like this being in the kitchen is at home through your former helper 219 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:20,800 absolutely wow I would say definitely definitely true because for the competition 220 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:28,800 I even use a style of sambal that she taught me wow so that imagine that kind of impact of 221 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:35,680 that kind of flavor and experience holy shit man so I just bought it for a couple like like 13 years later and boom 222 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:43,200 yeah amazing huh well that's amazing okay um and you became as this dishwasher um in 223 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:49,200 Beishaw Park in a little cafeteria or little yeah it was a cafeteria anyway scrubbing plates 224 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:56,160 frying fries refilling mayonnaise with just two two other people in the kitchen one of them was 225 00:23:56,160 --> 00:24:02,960 from Myanmar she ate absolutely on fire spicy food and then there was a like Filipino head chef 226 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:10,000 I had pretty decent food and every day I got to do my own staff meal and he taught me how to cook 227 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:16,720 like those home style alio-olio where your secret ingredient isn't how you render the oil of the 228 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:24,320 oil of the garlic it's actually Maggie chicken powder it makes it makes the stuff taste like a 229 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:32,000 banger and I do not deny how well that works but a bit of uh as some I forgot I forget this chef's 230 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:37,280 name uh he's an Australian and he's recently a master chef doing his like flying lobster noodles 231 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:41,920 right and when he's doing his food he's like for like right now in this moment let's add a bit of 232 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:49,040 yum yum yes we are Asian people we need our yum yum oh man like back back to your question your 233 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:54,560 question who is Ian Tan outside uh the kitchen without a chef hat oh you're answering that you're 234 00:24:54,560 --> 00:25:00,240 actually answering the question because it's pretty tough yeah I know I know but uh I don't want to 235 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:05,440 know but what you do you see I want to know about who you are what kind of a person are you you've 236 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:10,960 really said quite a bit you know uh we started off that way anyway right you're the guy that's 237 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:15,520 a rebel you're the guy that just can't keep quiet and then you you talk a lot and so on but but that's 238 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:23,280 not just that I mean also about who you know was Ian Tan becoming who is Ian Tan today with the 239 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:29,680 chef's hat right and that's a combination of the story isn't it so right now um we've stopped at a 240 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:35,520 dishwasher a bit and then what happened after that where did you go I figured out I wanted 241 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:40,320 something a bit more five bucks an hour wasn't quite making it so it was about the money anyway 242 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:46,880 okay I'm gonna shit because when you are getting a quarter inflation's coming in I have to live 243 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:51,440 because you were saying you know now everybody's worried about the money you're gonna have good 244 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:57,200 honest cooking but for fuck's sake when you started as a get into the kitchen as a dishwasher was like 245 00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:02,640 hey dude five bucks an hour man 25 bucks a freaking week man come on you know it's about the money 246 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:21,120 still right money does play a huge part oh no I'm gonna go ahead and yes work for money man bullshit dude in the end it is still about that okay I mean I'm not saying it's the be all and then all yeah yeah but what I am saying is let's not neglect that 247 00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:28,160 particular aspect don't you think yeah yeah look even chef Meg right she she's got a business 28 248 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:34,880 years as you said in the end hi Meg how you doing man you know but in the end right it's still about 249 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:39,600 the business yes it's got to be about the business without the business you ain't got no kitchen to 250 00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:45,360 cook in man come on still got to be about the business uh moving forward from the dishwashing 251 00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:53,120 thing what's next what happened you were a kid you were 14 oh the offer that I got when I was 15 this 252 00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:58,400 was crazy uh what happened at 50 where were you working ladies and gentlemen of this age if you 253 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:03,840 watch Naruto you would understand that this guy is absolutely in love with his noodles okay almost 254 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:10,000 after every big fight before a big scene he would go to this store called Ichiraku ramen you get his 255 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:15,920 miso chashu ramen you would eat hunks and hunks of it the way the Japanese animation has depicted 256 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:22,800 how good this simple bowl of noodle is yeah made me crave for it yeah I love ramen so from dishwashing 257 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:29,760 a friend came over and he was like hey I'm working at ramen champion the noodles are great I'm like 258 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:34,560 oh so what's the catch oh they need more stuff do you guys do you want to like hop over the pay is 259 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:40,720 six an hour I'm saying that's not too different he's like here's the catch bro you watch Naruto 260 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:46,880 yes how would you fancy a bowl of ramen every day for your staff meal I was like oh hell yeah 261 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:52,880 I was like give me the contract whenever wherever is it I'll go for it sign the papers and like 262 00:27:52,880 --> 00:28:00,880 yeah I was like when you when you're underage uh-huh 15 I think 15 was legal already 15 16 263 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:07,680 16 yeah but not 15 I think I signed the papers when I was 15 because I remembered like secondary 264 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:13,680 three oh boy are these guys are these guys still around is it are they still in business they are 265 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:17,840 still in business they are still in business but they've shrunk a lot I just hope they don't they 266 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:22,560 won't get in trouble because of what we just been talking about they'll be fine they'll be fine they'll 267 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:29,280 be fine all right so you oh I got a you know I've got the opportunity of eating ramen every freaking 268 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:36,160 day so I might as well go work this job so cool the hunger was the motivation okay the animation 269 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:41,840 was the motivation and you you took on the job to do what uh I was signed more like a waiter server 270 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:49,920 so I would stand at the gaze and be like that's pretty much it and then there came the day I think 271 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:55,280 it was written on the papers as well um we were supposed to have four staff in the kitchen first 272 00:28:55,280 --> 00:29:00,160 stall ramen champion was an amazing concept with six different ramen shops from Japan right 273 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:05,280 franchises that were bought in different concepts so you get ramen from literally like Tokyo, Hokkaido, 274 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:12,960 Fukuoka so you get like styles like Ieke ramen to Jiroke ramen to Hokkaido Sapporo miso style 275 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:20,720 ramen etc etc so we were supposed to have a minimum of six times four that's 24 staff 276 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:28,560 per week per week end shift so we are talking about at least we are filling up probably a thousand 277 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:35,600 more than a thousand customers a day each store is an average of 250 to 300 bowls of ramen 278 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:42,960 holy crap at its peak peak oh boy and one fine day two staff called in sick there were two people 279 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:49,040 in one of the shops and they're like you have to get in there like we need to churn the food yeah 280 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:56,800 but but at that time did you even know how to cook I mean I know you learned from home that's 281 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:04,400 Indonesian cuisine but when you're working there as a server or a waiter were you ever in the 282 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:10,960 kitchen did someone teach you how to cook up ramen so it was a split shift between three to five p.m 283 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:15,600 that's when I had my lunches yeah and when the staff was sleeping and they're like you want to 284 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:20,640 cook your own noodles go ahead go and do it okay they showed me once and then I kind of got a hang 285 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:25,840 of it not really more of the preparation work but more like the service steps so everything has been 286 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:30,400 prepped up the seasonings the noodles okay the stuff has been cut your spring onions are already 287 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:35,440 done your eggs are already cooked so you just have to put them together and so they were simple 288 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:40,880 it was assembly basically yes in my little puny little brain tells me it's fucking assembly okay 289 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:46,960 B put C put D put it together make sure it's nice and hot but on the menu there's so many items in 290 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:52,000 the menu man there's a lot of variations of putting things together right or you knew all that 291 00:30:52,000 --> 00:31:00,320 pretty much I studied the menu every day so part of my job was to recommend customers of what noodles 292 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:06,560 uh should fit their palette because okay six different stalls six different kinds of noodles 293 00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:12,480 right so I went to do a bit more research it being the geek I am so I'll go back home I'll open up 294 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:18,880 google and I'll surf the net upon like what kind what is a Tokyo shoyu ramen versus a Jirokei ramen 295 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:25,280 versus a Yokohama style Ieke ramen where did tsukémen come from I was I was a fanatic I went for it 296 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:31,120 okay so so I've heard you use that term a few times already during the shoot geek I'm a geek 297 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:36,560 I'm a geek so in order in order to be a great chef you got to first be a geek right fuck and hell 298 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:44,480 I guess to know what you like to do I think you need to be very very obsessive about it okay so 299 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:48,960 be obsessive being obsessive doesn't mean you're a geek to the point where it's still healthy but why 300 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:54,800 were you obsessive about this is it because you were you've discovered that you're passionate for 301 00:31:54,800 --> 00:32:00,160 this or is it because you're just naturally like that you just want to find things out 302 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:06,240 in anything you do besides cooking you will want to find things out I'm trying to discover 303 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:13,520 aptitude here at that point of time I feel I didn't think too deep into what kind of a person I was 304 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:19,200 right the motivation came from a point of I'm hungry I want ramen how do I make my bowl how 305 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:25,440 do I make my stuff feel better day to day so yes I started throwing random stuff inside 306 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:32,000 okay and then some some were hits some were misses and yeah it's just about trying on an era and 307 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:37,680 I had so much fun doing it I never regretted a single day I had fun every day at work 308 00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:44,160 good as a part-timer so at 15 years old you were you ended up as a server in ramen champion and 309 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:52,720 then these guys uh one fine day two guys were on mc and you took over right uh and what did 310 00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:59,440 how did the bosses feel about how you did the bosses pretty much did not look too much as long 311 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:04,880 as the sales comes out right the new rules comes out there's no complaints right on google there 312 00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:09,760 were ratings just didn't go down from that day right I think they were okay with it they didn't 313 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:15,520 how did you feel about it I felt great I felt like time flew a lot of times when you're doing 314 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:20,240 any of your part-time jobs sometimes things can be a bit mundane when the day is really slow right 315 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:25,360 so if you're talking about how to get like nine hours passed really quick and then the day the 316 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:30,880 day just goes the week just goes especially during holidays when your schedule isn't filled or when 317 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:37,040 your parents aren't taking you out for holiday uh yeah and when you wait till the end of the month 318 00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:41,840 and then you get that well I'm caught red-handed again when you get the cash into your bank account 319 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:53,120 what have I done good honest cooking my ass good honest cooking from what kind of motivation 320 00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:59,920 what the fuck okay so I did it again oh my he's doing a britney 321 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:10,000 right so 15 years old school holiday work you were working for them you go into the kitchen 322 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:15,840 then you realize hey this is kind of cool time flies by it's great I'm earning the money and 323 00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:22,880 I get to fill my tummy I get to fill my tummy but I didn't hear anything about guess what I 324 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:27,680 really enjoyed this man this is what I want to do for life I didn't get that from you 325 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:35,040 I think I really really just didn't took things too seriously my focus was just on having fun 326 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:41,360 like how could I from time to time when the day is really slow so was this formative for you was 327 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:47,440 it a formative point in your life that you know at all that I want to be in the kitchen forever 328 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:52,960 no actually didn't happen then because back in secondary school I thought I still had a chance 329 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:58,800 I mean I think Asian parents do a very good job at pitching a good life to their kids and then a 330 00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:07,120 very stigmatized good life is that you need to go to Harvard you need to go to Oxford you should be 331 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:14,000 a doctor lawyer engineer till this day man till this day my generation of parents me I'm a I'm a 332 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:21,200 I'm a dad generation of parents I see every single day it's the same fucking thing it's crazy yeah 333 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:26,560 it's like do you want to do you want to be a cook you sure you want to be a cook uh-huh how about 334 00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:32,560 doctor doctors are quite cool right uh-huh yes yes why don't you go and be a doctor see here are 335 00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:38,480 books about being a doctor and medicine and you're like oh yeah okay Hannibal Lecter was a doctor too 336 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:43,200 and then your parents would be like oh thank goodness oh yes Hannibal Lecter is a doctor 337 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:48,400 he's damn good cook guess who else is a doctor me I amputate stuff from time to time 338 00:35:50,240 --> 00:35:55,120 amputate stuff from time to time actually to be frank I think chefs are pretty much a little bit 339 00:35:55,120 --> 00:36:00,560 to an extent doctors and nutritionists as well no nutritionists I agree doctors I wouldn't go 340 00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:06,640 that far uh poison with poison oh you're having a fever your tongue is too heady what do you do 341 00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:13,680 oh have a beer next day you're good it's worked it's worked if you are hearing beer and salt 342 00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:18,720 beer with salt beer and salt yeah spot on yeah only lagers though yeah I know no stouts no 343 00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:25,200 then after that well okay I'm not gonna advocate all this right now oh no but let's move on let's 344 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:32,240 move on so at that time there was no aha moment yet not yet yeah okay so not that I can remember 345 00:36:32,240 --> 00:36:38,240 then of course you you had to go you it's part-time work so you had school and you had your your your 346 00:36:38,240 --> 00:36:43,840 gce yeah and then after that whatever you went to you went to you took up your culinary science 347 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:50,480 diploma yes in Singapore poly yes I was in tamasic poly and culinary science ah okay I think I believe 348 00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:57,120 your next question is how did you move out of ramen champion not really because there's a part-time 349 00:36:57,120 --> 00:37:04,080 job tell me is this an important part that I should ask if it is tell me about it I thought 350 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:10,160 it was a good progression I was in ramen champion part-timing for I would say part-time it's quite a 351 00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:16,080 long like long duration because you told me that it wasn't formative for you that's ramen champion 352 00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:21,360 for three years okay but it wasn't yeah having fun but it wasn't formative not not too much 353 00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:27,280 mm-hmm that's why I moved on I want to find out where was it that was formative for you that you 354 00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:36,000 had that aha moment you decided to go to culinary you were in ramen champion you had another option 355 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:44,560 to go into music so why the fuck culinary was it because there was an influence from ramen champion 356 00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:50,080 I just felt when I was in ramen champion I did learn a few tips and tricks on how to cook 357 00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:55,120 and how to put stuff together so outside of ramen at home sometimes I would be hosting guests 358 00:37:56,000 --> 00:38:01,440 and people do know me as a baker from time to time back in secondary school right so they'll 359 00:38:01,440 --> 00:38:07,280 be like hey Ian my friend's birthday is coming up would you like to make a cake and I think this is 360 00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:12,480 the aha moment okay okay you guys you ran my thoughts already okay here we go so uh we have 361 00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:16,960 a couple friends birthdays from time to time and then they were like hey Ian would you like to bake 362 00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:23,600 for his or her birthday whoever and the level of satisfaction when you get to be able to 363 00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:30,480 put food forward or put a gift to anyone on someone's special occasion birthdays for example 364 00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:37,840 even anniversaries I think you feel incredible I think you're really great to contribute to 365 00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:42,400 somebody's special occasion right to help them make that special occasion more special do you feel 366 00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:48,080 do you feel that way I feel great okay feel great I was like oh my goodness like it wasn't really 367 00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:55,840 much about the cake right it was about the you open that box and then a whole crowd comes forward 368 00:38:55,840 --> 00:39:00,960 and sings happy birthday to you usually the the cause of that right now could be anything it could 369 00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:05,840 be a candle literally on top of a fresh iphone right off from the box from Taobao or wherever 370 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:12,160 but at that point of time in school it would it would be a cake right it usually is a cake unless 371 00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:16,000 you're talking about culinary school sometimes it's a bouquet of kale or watermelon I mean if I ask 372 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:21,520 if I ask someone to bake a cake for me you know I hope you hit I hope the cake to be a big one a 373 00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:29,840 stripper comes up on the top or something I mean that would not really be a cake anymore it'd be a 374 00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:37,680 box actually you have to get that somewhere else right so so you feel that at that time the joy 375 00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:44,160 of baking cooking which part parcel culinary right is to be able to provide to give that kind 376 00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:50,880 of joy to others contributing to something special in a special occasion right just repeating what 377 00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:58,480 you're saying so that you know this context again okay right so now at that time you felt that was 378 00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:04,400 the aha moment because when it came because to me the what I get from this so far until you just 379 00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:11,040 mentioned this was that when you were offered the two diplomas between music and culinary science 380 00:40:11,680 --> 00:40:19,280 it felt that you were more in tune towards music than you would be towards the kitchen you are not 381 00:40:19,280 --> 00:40:25,280 wrong yeah and and making the decision because based on what your mom's advice was I mean you 382 00:40:25,280 --> 00:40:30,560 know musicians are all these band boys don't make money sorry but that sounded absolutely just like 383 00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:39,120 her oh no not not not that deep though but yeah it was there it goes and uh and but it did seem to me that 384 00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:44,240 culinary was your second kind of your second choice if your mom didn't say that to you 385 00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:51,040 would you have gone to music I will have pretty much landed myself in the music industry in 386 00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:56,400 Singapore I don't doubt that if it doesn't work out for me who would have known I might have been 387 00:40:57,600 --> 00:41:04,320 car sales property sales just like quite a good number of people I don't mean to discriminate I 388 00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:11,760 think it's a good career however a lot of times when my friends get drunk who can be like looking 389 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:16,080 for like I have a friend her name is Audrey is really really fantastic person I think she was in 390 00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:22,000 aviation because her parents asked her like it's a good career you got something coming up for you 391 00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:30,480 after pursuing I think she got a degree she totally did not enjoy her job every time we went out we 392 00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:37,920 had a meal or anything there was no spark of life in her her passion was a lot on marine biology 393 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:46,160 right so she altered her career path after like being in it for like couple years like easily 394 00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:52,400 five years now she's a full-fledged marine biologist and she happy she's absolutely happy 395 00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:59,760 she's like hey what do you call those little sea slugs again new nudie something with you dude I 396 00:41:59,760 --> 00:42:05,680 don't know anyways she would she would spam me pictures of you're asking me difficult questions 397 00:42:05,680 --> 00:42:11,840 like that she would spam me pictures I'll try and stop to get like as mentioned can be a bit of a nerd 398 00:42:13,520 --> 00:42:19,440 there we go so she would send me pictures I'll be scrolling on days on end on like little cute 399 00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:24,000 sea slugs that you can find off Sisters Island right right right and that's I feel like that's 400 00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:30,560 life because she had she because you do basically what you're saying is love what you do do what you 401 00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:37,120 love amen hallelujah yes yes I I really believe so but I think that if that's the case if you 402 00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:44,720 had pursued music and you love music you love drumming do you I do I still do love okay so 403 00:42:44,720 --> 00:42:52,400 you could admit it your own as well to an extent I also feel your passion projects or how like 404 00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:59,120 whoever whatever you're doing you still have to make it sustainable like at the end of the day 405 00:42:59,120 --> 00:43:06,000 we need to put food on our table of course yeah money can music yeah money food yeah okay I get 406 00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:14,160 it I get it Chris we still need to put food on our table so to an extent if I want to continue 407 00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:21,280 drumming I still need a job that helps me to drum yeah but then again being in the music industry 408 00:43:21,280 --> 00:43:26,400 doesn't just surround drumming alone because if you get a diploma that says audio tech as well right 409 00:43:26,400 --> 00:43:32,960 I think I will be the person who look at the board like the sound board if I'm staring at that right 410 00:43:32,960 --> 00:43:40,480 now or whatever he's staring at I my brain's gonna burst no I get I get I get a headache sometimes 411 00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:45,120 when I do a little bit of costing and the excel sheet comes out right I'm like I can't do this 412 00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:52,640 anymore I need to watch a show I need to go for a run and then if I just kind of like so maybe it 413 00:43:52,640 --> 00:44:00,320 wasn't too much for me the logistics and everything because back to back to what the music industry is 414 00:44:00,320 --> 00:44:06,720 like your show is let's say an hour and hour and a half right but the setup could be days the 415 00:44:06,720 --> 00:44:15,040 organization could be months so I feel being in the kitchen at the end of the day coming from my 416 00:44:15,040 --> 00:44:22,720 part-time job as well as drumming from time to time being in the kitchen has more immediate results 417 00:44:22,720 --> 00:44:28,960 okay most of the time I'm not getting to like fermentation or like 128 dry-aged steaks but 418 00:44:29,600 --> 00:44:33,920 yeah I think there was there was a little bit more kick in the kitchen for me at that point of time 419 00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:39,040 so when you entered into getting the diploma into Masek 420 00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:49,840 were there any tinge of regret at all? Not at all actually I found myself to be 421 00:44:51,040 --> 00:44:57,200 enjoying my course a lot even though I had a hawking chef to come in the kitchen and be like 422 00:44:57,200 --> 00:45:03,920 hey guys like first lesson ever his name is chef Gary amazing amazing gentleman this guy would give 423 00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:10,960 up more than himself to teach his students so when we had competitions he would stay he's a married 424 00:45:10,960 --> 00:45:18,240 man with kids he would stay past his curriculum hours to 10 pm 11 pm just to help train his 425 00:45:18,240 --> 00:45:23,360 students for competition right so this man was standing in front of me he was huge hawking figure 426 00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:31,280 his first words were this is going to be the first practical lesson for you guys my advice is that 427 00:45:31,280 --> 00:45:37,520 if you can't find it in yourself to give up your holidays the time you spend with your family and 428 00:45:37,520 --> 00:45:44,240 friends when they can spend time with themselves or you can't commit to more time for others than 429 00:45:44,240 --> 00:45:50,160 yourself I suggest you leave the course right now that was my first ever lesson. That's wisdom there 430 00:45:50,160 --> 00:46:01,440 and I asked myself could I give that up for a future I was like I think I have been I counted 431 00:46:01,440 --> 00:46:09,520 all the Christmases the public holidays the the ph the weekends and I think I give it all up but 432 00:46:09,520 --> 00:46:25,120 for a reason which I'm not very proud to say ph has double pay a good honest cooking 433 00:46:25,120 --> 00:46:37,840 good honest cooking ph is double pay ph is double pay but yes I could I could spend that kind of quality time 434 00:46:37,840 --> 00:46:44,000 uh on my on my breaks and vacations as well so am I okay with not being on the hype train 435 00:46:44,640 --> 00:46:49,840 with everybody else who was going to marina basins to catch fireworks I told myself I'd be cool with 436 00:46:49,840 --> 00:46:56,480 it so I stuck by it and I really really enjoyed my time in tamasic polytechnic so you you decided 437 00:46:56,480 --> 00:47:01,920 there and then that I can do this I can I can make that sacrifice the the thing in my head was like 438 00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:06,560 why not just give it a shot and right now you've been you've been working in the kitchen for a 439 00:47:06,560 --> 00:47:15,360 total how many years professionally after NS I would say uh 22 22 23 24 25 I think about a good 440 00:47:15,360 --> 00:47:19,600 five years okay this five years has gone by now that you're in my studio now that you've 441 00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:24,720 recounted this story to me but what chef gary had said whatever he said to you then at that time and 442 00:47:24,720 --> 00:47:31,520 you said okay I can fucking do this it's been five years so far only been five years so far okay 443 00:47:31,520 --> 00:47:37,040 a good five years because you you got this equity which is freaking amazing thank you really really 444 00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:43,280 thank you so much on behalf of Singapore again thank you but I would ask you you made a decision 445 00:47:43,280 --> 00:47:46,240 then when chef gary spoke now it's been five years 446 00:47:49,120 --> 00:47:56,640 do you still feel the same way I do that this decision you've made to sacrifice all that time 447 00:47:56,640 --> 00:48:06,880 as a chef in the kitchen any regrets no not at all I'm pretty sure we all in any kind of job and 448 00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:11,920 situation have our up times and our down times are you being politically correct here 449 00:48:13,680 --> 00:48:20,080 yes I am fuck that I want to know the honest truth how do you feel about it I feel amazing I feel 450 00:48:20,960 --> 00:48:25,120 back to the back to the feeling where you give up your time after school 451 00:48:25,120 --> 00:48:29,760 where people could be studying playing frisbee and soccer right you give up your time you go to the 452 00:48:29,760 --> 00:48:34,960 supermarket you buy ingredients you bake a cake for your friends and everybody gets so happy you 453 00:48:34,960 --> 00:48:40,160 just feel like you've contributed greatly to this kind of so the sacrifice that you said that you 454 00:48:40,160 --> 00:48:44,720 are happy giving you know making giving up all your free time for people you love 455 00:48:45,760 --> 00:48:52,560 and it's made up for because you give joy I guess it's safe to say that you know why I'm 456 00:48:52,560 --> 00:48:57,360 asking all these questions me no the reason why I'm asking all these questions because people who 457 00:48:57,360 --> 00:49:03,200 watch the show man and I ask people my guests from different walks of life on the series I love my 458 00:49:03,200 --> 00:49:08,400 job what makes them tick what makes them want to go on there are people out there who are making 459 00:49:08,400 --> 00:49:13,200 decisions the people out there thinking about especially I like to do a lot of mid career 460 00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:19,120 change talks you know chats with people with my guests those who have made the take take it a 461 00:49:19,120 --> 00:49:24,800 plunge yeah but you're different you're a young guy you've been in culinary practically all your 462 00:49:24,800 --> 00:49:30,320 life easy to say safe to say yeah since the time you were 14 as a dishwasher and until now 463 00:49:31,040 --> 00:49:37,280 and and it's a little different it's not a mid career change kind of thing but what made you 464 00:49:37,280 --> 00:49:42,960 come to this profession what made you tick what made you you know still happy being where you are 465 00:49:42,960 --> 00:49:50,160 you know it's an emotional it's an emotional thing that's why I had to ask who is Ian Tan 466 00:49:50,160 --> 00:49:57,440 then what made him tick you know what makes this guy move on like this in this world you know 467 00:49:57,440 --> 00:50:04,640 because chef Benny Sito yeah who was on my show actually said yeah he's a great guy man 468 00:50:04,640 --> 00:50:10,080 he's a real funny guy too you filled my childhood with 18 chefs the cheese baked rice was the stuff 469 00:50:10,080 --> 00:50:15,200 of dreams I traveled all the way from Aljuni to Simei to have that stuff hey chef Benny if you're 470 00:50:15,200 --> 00:50:20,560 hearing this thank you very much shouting out to you chef Benny chef Benny said this you know he 471 00:50:20,560 --> 00:50:26,800 said it's so funny if not verbatim yeah uh-huh if you want to ruin someone's life convince him to 472 00:50:26,800 --> 00:50:36,320 go into fmb whoa quite a quite a way to put things but I don't deny it the fmb it's really not for 473 00:50:36,320 --> 00:50:45,200 everyone yeah we've had people uh my dad for example so uh he was in McDonald's not cooking 474 00:50:45,200 --> 00:50:51,040 up a storm but as a server or kitchen staff however he did it he was there part-time in his youth 475 00:50:51,040 --> 00:50:55,600 right and he felt really nice about it every day he got burgers and fries and back then maybe in 476 00:50:55,600 --> 00:51:00,400 the 80s or 90s it's like hey it's a good you know it's good sustenance people were paying 477 00:51:00,400 --> 00:51:05,760 probably like seven like five to seven dollars and in that back in the day it was a lot of money oh 478 00:51:05,760 --> 00:51:11,680 yeah but you got your staff meal it sounds like your dad's about my age yeah I guess he's I think 479 00:51:11,680 --> 00:51:21,520 60 no if he's 80s and 90s I don't think so I think maybe maybe maybe 50s he's he's in 60s I think 480 00:51:21,520 --> 00:51:31,600 really in the 80s in 60s or back back back then in general yeah so he would be telling me stories 481 00:51:31,600 --> 00:51:35,360 on like how McDonald's was great because when I started part-timing he started sharing his 482 00:51:35,360 --> 00:51:41,120 experiences it's true it was great yeah working for McDonald's yeah fun so uh he retired he was 483 00:51:41,120 --> 00:51:48,880 working for net steel as a I think oil engineer or shipyard supervisor right so he retired and he 484 00:51:48,880 --> 00:51:54,160 wanted a more chill job and he looked at me coming back home really happy with a belly full of noodles 485 00:51:54,720 --> 00:52:00,560 and he was like oh F&B doesn't really sound that bad he got his full hygiene certificate right he 486 00:52:00,560 --> 00:52:11,520 went to cook at an izakaya he left in three hours uh he was like nope no way no can do bye bye this 487 00:52:11,520 --> 00:52:19,280 is the end of chapter one catch chapter two next week