disclaimer

If I am to do a blog, I wish to do it properly! I shall get a pretty camera and take pretty photographs. Everything is to be documented categorically with a Canon Powershot G12 and nothing else is acceptable. I am slightly OCD perhaps. I am also now in a slight quandary as the said camera is sitting half the world away in a Fedex warehouse in 'Chek Lap Kok' Hong Kong. But it needs to be here with me now as I bake otherwise I cannot take photos and subsequently cannot publish posts. So, as I sat around painstakingly plucking my hair from my head, teeth on edge, and waiting impatiently for my camera to miraculously drop through the letter box, I thought I would submit a little disclaimer.

Firstly, concerning food: I am by no means a qualified chef nor anybody of any weight (lol) in the epicurean world. I merely have a love for food. As previously mentioned, I am attending Le Cordon Bleu. But this hardly signifies; it just means some unfortunate chef has watched on in misery as I mauled my pastries. My poats are always open to dispute and I will be happy to stand corrected. If my ignorance is really blaring out, I will be grateful for guidance.

Secondly, the photography: I have, as you will soon see, minimal experience with photography. The creation of this blog felt a good way to rectify that, and I have been diligently perusing the net on all things photography since. The G12 seemed an excellent choice to facilitate this transition. It has plenty of twiddly dials conveniently placed at hand so I can easily compare the effect of the settings on the shot. No doubt my photos will scream incompetence to the discerning, but it shall be a steep learning curve I hope. Obviously, I welcome any critique/advice.

On the whole, a little patience from the kind people perusing my blog would be appreciated, as would blunt honesty. More importantly, thank you all for your time!

no miss-encounter

This happen about a month ago as I was cycling to Le Cordon Bleu, where I am currently enrolled. I had happily put the incidence from mind when an impromptu gesture from a heavily perspiring sportsman brought it all flooding back:

It was a lovely morning, albeit ridiculously early, and I was on the last leg of my journey peddling away in a fairly congenial state of mind. Then, as I squeezed past an ill-placed bus, a large fellow strolling on the pavement turned his head roadward and let fly an immense globule of spittle. I watched in mingled horror and disgust as it splatted down right in front of my wheel. Trapped as I was along my narrow strip of road, and moving at a goodly speed, there was no possibility of a timely swerve to save me. Indeed, it was with the greatest of dismay that I squelched through that veritable pool of bodily fluid. Already fuming inwardly at this indecency, matters did not improve when I rounded the next curb and rolled over a stray avocado, leaving a vivid green smear in my wake.

(Fellows ought not go gobbing over the streets, it is a distinctively unpleasant habit.)

all in a name

A brief explanation on the title of my blog seems a good way to start. After all, most names tend to be reflective of the contents of the blog and subsequently also its author- both probably being of interest to any reader.

I think blogs are by definition just a little egotistical. Considering that, it feels rather appropriate to name a blog after myself-ish. The root of my name is the Latin word 'amabilis' which, according to the worthy source that is wiki, means loveable or worthy of love. So, I have substituted that for my name and, in keeping with the Latin, stuck ‘ad esse’ on in order to get the title of my blog: to be me (love worthy!!). Thus this blog, not unexpectedly, shall be about me, my life, and a subject my life gyrates around: FOOD.

NB- I prefer the latter definition of my name. Lovability may be an intrinsic attribute, a quality of that person. However, to be deemed ‘worthy of love’ implies value!