Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate

When I was five years old, I had my first real chocolate taste when my dad went to Europe on a business trip. He sent me a Big Ben postcard from London which he wrote, "Be good. Read your story books. Papa is coming home with lots of chocolates." And came home he did, with bags and bags of chocolates - giant Smarties tubes, milk chocolate bars, Belgian gourmet chocolates and forbidden boxes of miniature chocolate liquor bottles.

For weeks after dad's return, my sister, brother and I had endless access to the chocolate stash in the fridge. One evening, after dinner, I thought I'd very much like to try one of those miniature chocolate liquor bottles which my mum vehemently forebade us to touch. There wasn't anyone in the kitchen. Quickly, I grabbed one chocolate liquor bottle and unwrapped the foil and popped it in my mouth.

At first, I tasted normal chocolatey stuff and wondered what was the fuss over this piece of chocolate. Then, the thin chocolate crunched on my tongue and a cool liquid flowed and tingled my tastebuds. It was too strange a taste for a five year old and I remember wanting to spit it out but instead, I kept swirling my tongue and the chocolate bits melted with the cool bitter liquor.

Soon, I was on a culinary mission of sneaking one chocolate liquor bottle whenever noone's in the kitchen and secretly discovering different flavours - cognac, whisky, midori, kahlua. Some tasted really foul, but I remember being fascinated with the sensation of cool bitter liquid that gushed on my tongue when the chocolate broke and that enhanced bittersweet flavour of chocolate & liquor.

And that started my fascination with chocolate. The real stuff. Dark, bittersweet decadent chocolate that tasted absolutely divine. Whenever I fly overseas, I'd hunt for those decadent chocolate liquor bottles at duty-free shops. I'd buy a box or two and look forward to savouring one mini bottle after dinner at home.

Beside those chocolate liquor bottles, I also like Kit Kat, Toblerone, Nestle's Old Jamaica, Cadbury's Raisin & Nut Milk Chocolate. Ferrero Rocher and After Eight mints. Two other chocolate which I often dream of tasting because I can't get them in Malaysia- Cherry Ripe from Australia and Nestle Yorkie Raisin & Biscuit from UK.

Sometimes, I add some Valhorna chocolate pieces to my Milo drink to give it an extra rich chocolatey taste. I also like to add a few Toblerone triangles to my morning oats for that special chocolatey almond honey flavour.

Life is so much more interesting with chocolate. I just can't imagine living a single day without them. :P

Life lessons

Looking back, 2006 was a year of taking chances on living my best life. There were several lessons along the way.

However, the one biggie- silence is golden. As trite as it it is, keeping quiet on issues close to my heart is the one big golden step to making dreams come true.

When I got back with Mr. J, I told no one, not even friends. When I broke up with him in October 2005, they wilingly told me what they honestly thought of him. I was sorely disappointed to hear their negative comments as half the comments were baseless. I knew him better than them. He was the one guy who brought out the best in me although I broke up with him for his partying ways. He's still partying every other Friday night but has compromised by having breakfast with me the next day.
Lesson learnt - Friends don't always give good advice.

When I made up my mind to go to London/France early last year, I told no one except for my mum. One month before leaving, I informed friends and clients of my trip which resulted in several scare-mongering responses. I found them all ridiculous as they, in the first place, have not even been to London or France. The answer was always "Oh, you know, someone I knew had that bad experience" when I asked if the experience was first-hand.
Lesson learnt - Follow your bliss. It's your dream after all, not theirs.

When I decided to try the cake business, I thought, I should go ahead and do it. Start small and build slowly. Learn from mistakes with each order. Take it one cake a day. However, the responses I got from people when they learnt about my cake business were bafflingly negative. "Why are you doing this? Do you know how many bakeries they are out there? The cost is so high. Your day job is paying well. Why do you want to waste time doing this?" I just merely shrugged and carried on making more cakes as responses from my customers were positively encouraging.
Lesson learnt - When the naysayers get louder, it's a sign you are doing things right.