EATING FOOD WHILE IT'S HOT

"I sometimes can get to a clean plate when the food is cold but it takes a lot of discipline . It often gets left out there cold and unfinished . No one gets prizes for food unfinished . Not even participation trophies ."

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It’s always best when it’s hot . The flavors are at their most flavorful , the smells fill entire rooms , and all I can think about is taking the first bite . That’s when the food is at it’s truest form and meant to be experienced . I am most likely to finish all of my food when it’s hot . The plate always gets cleaned . That’s when the food is at it's best . Hot .

When it’s warm , I can still eat it , it still tastes pretty good . All the original flavors are still kind of there and I still remember my first bites while it was hot . I might get distracted a little but I always come back to my food and it will get finished .  

When the food gets cold it’s tough . It just doesn’t have the flavor and enticing quality it once had . It doesn’t make me salivate . When I’m away , cold food doesn’t make me think about it and make me wanna rush home to finish it . I sometimes can get to a clean plate when the food is cold but it takes a lot of discipline . It often gets left out there cold and unfinished . No one gets prizes for food unfinished . Not even participation trophies .

Reheating food . I can do that . I mean , it’s definitely not as great as it was when it was originally hot . but it’s technically hot again , I can get through it . I sometimes can get to the end and get to my clean plate when I try to reheat food . 

When food is cold , eating feels more like work than pleasure . That’s why I have to try to finish my food while it’s hot no matter where I am or what I’m doing . Or at least take my first couple bites out of it so that when I have to reheat it later , I can imagine what it tasted like when I first bit into it while it was hot . To try to recreate that experience .

This is also why I try not to eat too many different dishes at once . Maybe 2 or 3 MAX and that’s even stretching it thin because you have to switch between the dishes before any one of them gets cold . Its tough to juggle . Maybe with fast-food you can juggle easier , but if you’re out at a nice restaurant with quality food ? Food that puts fire into your heart ? I highly recommend eating one hot dish at a time . 

This is really just a reminder to myself to focus on one hot meal so that I can really develop that one hot meal and produce one exceptional and extremely clean plate . A plate that will let the audience know how the food made me feel when it was hot and fresh and moved me to eat it . 

Jacket - Obey

Shirt - Zara

Pants - Top Man

Shoes - Toms

Photographer - Hey Yeh

*** This outfit was thought of while I was on a trip to Chicago . I came home to shoot it the next day to try to recreate the feeling I had when I first tried it on in the store and imagined a version of myself that would wear this jacket .  

MIXING , MATCHING AND NEVER FITTING IN

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"Though I may never feel like I fit into one group , I find comfort in knowing that there are plenty of worlds that I'm blessed to have experience and that I can bring together"

Growing up as an Asian Immigrant in a predominately hispanic neighborhood , I never really felt like I fit in any where . And to this day as a citizen of many worlds I still don't feel like I fit in anywhere . After years of feeling this way , I've discovered part of the reason for this is that I don't seem to fit into any particular category no matter how much I had wanted to . In high school , I wanted to be an athlete , but I never connected with my team mates . I was also in a lot of advance placement classes but I didn't related to them either . I also wasn't savvy enough to bounce between the two worlds . I was stuck in between and it was hard to make friends this way especially in high school when you don't have an identity that people can understand you by  , I sort of drifted .

Even in dance which I've been doing for 15 years . I came from a choreography team background then I moved into a professional company of predominantly trickers , bboys , and soloists . I'm not the strongest in any type of choreography not am i the strongest in solos . Even friends who've seen me dance for years can't really understand what it is that i'm doing . I'm not a Bboy , I'm not a popper , I'm not any category yet I can do a little of a lot of things and it all sort of blends into my own style . 

Unconsciously , because I've been drifting through different worlds since moving to America at the age of 8 , in trying to fit in as a young person , I picked up different perspectives and tastes for all the different groups that I was a part of , and even though I didn't completely identify with any one specifically , I was able to absorb all the things that I love and exchanged what I brought from different groups . When I brought into Quest , I brought skills in choreography , dance stage direction and team organization of a crew of amazing soloists and from my crew mates I was able to learn a little from their strengths . This became my identity to myself . Other people may or may not understand it but as with all people I am a sum of my experience and knowledge and though I'm not an expert in one area , I have gained so many varied experiences from different worlds that I am able to combined it all into something thats just me . 

I feel that the way that I dress is a physical representation of that . I'm never going to look great in outfits that are put together in a magazine , movie , or commercial . I don't fit into those molds , I mix and match all the things that work for me that comes from different genre's and that makes up how I dress and who I am . In this outfit , I'm wearing pieces from 8 different brands that cater to different demographic . Though I may never feel like I fit into one group , I find comfort in knowing that there are plenty of worlds that I'm blessed to have experience and that I can bring together .  

Jacket - Marshall Artist

Flannel - Alternative

Beanie - Woodlands

Glasses - Toms

Photographer - Courtney Yeh