Category Archives: Perspectives – Living, Eating, Cooking

Beautiful Mesmerising Song = 千年之戀–(央吉瑪，呼斯楞)攝人心魂的天籟之音

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDSxzNrNxp0&index=1&list=PL3GpX4HB7kTMEUiIqeMvMsnBOuHk4qFon

i subsequently made an english translation of the lyrics here.

& another post “A Moment in Heaven” which included the english translation of another amazing song 莲花开了

i love this singer 央吉瑪!

she is from a minority tribe in tibet – the 门巴族（藏文：མོན་པ་，威利：mon pa), which has only 7,000 people.

first saw her on youtube for chinese idol 中国梦之声 (literally china’s song of dreams) back in jun2013. the judges were swooning over her & calling her 女神 goddess. it’s easy to see why. the voice is like descending from heaven. the chinese describe as 天籟之音, which means the sound of nature like the wind, water, insects, birds, literally the sound from heaven. 🙂

it is completely mesmerising 绕梁三日, which means a voice or music that circles the roof beams for 3 days long after the singing has past. 🙂

she went on & sang a whole list of incredibly beautiful songs including 醒来吧 & 央吉瑪 which she wrote both the scores & the verses. the latter was her song for the final competition. the song was also her name. it was not self aggrandising but to remind herself that she came to a huge city (beijing) of lights & attractions from a tiny village, was fortunate to be in the competition & more so in the finals & NOT to forget her roots.

she had been steadfast & very gently non-compromising & did not want to sign contract with the show organiser. many thought that was the reason she did not become the champion but only the runner-up & many believed it was 内定 & 黑幕, basically a sponsor/commercial reason driven pre-determined result. several lamented it was a regret 遗憾 NOT for her but for chinese idol!

we will never know the truth.  however the american idol format was changed so that the popular votes did not decide the result, and the judges had the balance votes, and all casted their votes for the other singer who did not get the popular votes.

anyway it did not matter really. she felt she was not ready for all the commercial obligations & prefers to devote herself to writing music & singing songs she likes & be true to her devotion to spreading the tribal music to the world. 🙂

& here are her many beautiful songs, in particular –

c.h.e.f andy

Reset Your Point of Happiness

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reading tan chade meng’s  (google’s “jolly good fellow”, his official title, & personal growth pioneer) book “search inside yourself”, about emotional intelligence.

interesting book.

he talked about a set point for happiness which we can train our minds to reset – that when he was young, the resting state was “unhappy”…if nothing good happened, by default he was unhappy..now it’s reverse, if nothing bad happens, he is happy! 🙂

the important takeaway is of course that one can reset the emotional resting state…& that emotional skills are trainable & free us from “emotional compulsion”. in the book meng quoted viktor frankl “between stimulus & response there is a space. in that space lies our freedom and our power to choose our response. in our response lies our growth & our happiness”

the emotional skills also help us develop calmess & a deep sense of well being…so that happiness maybe an “unavoidable side effect” of cultivating emotional intelligence. other side effects may include resilience, optimism & kindness. if one’s resting state is “happy” & “calm”, then one is naturally having a favourable view of life & so optimistic, less reactive to hurdles & failures & so resilient, and also in naturally expansive mood & so kind. 🙂

my blogging is all about happiness…like prayers (i am not christian) my blogging is to constantly remind myself of the good things in life, to relish, treasure & reminiscent. as in an earlier post, “grateful for what we have” opens our hearts, makes us appreciative, caring, generous, see the positives about ourselves & others & not stifled by negative emotions. it also has us enjoying the process, as in an earlier post “live to eat”..

& the recurring theme of perspective…when we change our perspective (reset the point of happiness), we see the world in different light..1/2 full not 1/2 empty…as was said in the same post, 退一步海阔天空 or 山穷水尽疑无路, 柳暗花明又一村…its all about perspective! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

New Year Resolution 1Jan2014

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live everyday as if it were your last..

someone asked me on new year day when i said “i better do this” regards some matter – is that your new year resolution? i laughed & replied “better not, otherwise i may break it”..haha..

chefquak

chefquak

still reflecting on this new year resolution thingy, i do want to continue to spend more time with family & friends, to cook for them & to share views & insights & interests, to relish the moments & to treasure the memories... 🙂

one thing i read in the book “the monk who sold his ferrari” is something i can try to emulate-

shortly after you have awakened, go into your sanctuary of silence. get still and focused. then ask yourself this question: “what would I do if today were my last?”. The key is to really get into the meaning of this question. mentally list all the things you would do, the people you would call, and the moments you would savour. envision yourself doing all these things with great energy. visualize how you would treat your family and your friends, and even total strangers, if today were your last day on earth. When you live everyday as if it is your last, your life will take on a magical quality….

in the end, all of us human beings want the same things, happiness for ourselves & those we care for (and by extension, the lives we touch & all humanity)..it is for each of us to find his own path & share with others on the same…

c.h.e.f. andy

Homecooked Family New Year Dinner for 21pax on 29Dec2013

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i started serious cooking since my first home cooked dinner for friends in mar2012. 🙂

most dinners were 10pax sit-down course dinners. i also did a home cooked buffet for 22pax in nov2012 for my RI friends. 2013 is a special year for us as my cohort of RI friends are 55, so i did 2 55ers homecooked buffet for 21pax & 27pax respectively, and another for 17pax friends.

all these while i had not actually cooked for my brother & his extended in-law family and also my sister, so the new year festive period is a good occasion to do.

on 29.12.2013, i did a 11-dishes homecooked buffet for 21pax for brother, sis-in-law family & my sister family.

it was a very enjoyable get-together. I did my now usual teochew braised duck, braised egg/taukua/taupok, miso belly pork, char siu, nonya curry chicken, white-cut chicken & garlic dry-wok prawns and my helper did steamed spicy bean sauce seabass, black bean pork ribs, vege dish & chilli so tong (squid).

all dishes were all great, though i broiled the char siu & miso pork a bit too long, but my son still finished the few leftovers the next day.

its really a great thing to cook. it brings people – family & friends – together for fun & relaxing fellowship & sharing, and it feels good, is enormously satisfying & gives a sense of fulfilment when i am able to reproduce food that are enjoyed by my guests. i am truly glad that i took up cooking. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

50,000 Hits!

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c.h.e.f past 50,000 hits today 7.12.2013. some 83% hits were from Singapore.

i started this food/travel blog on 4.3.2013 for my personal enjoyment, recollections, relishing & sharing moments of joy & get-togethers/fellowship with family & friends. that is still my primary motivation.

still, i have gained tremendously from shared knowledge of friends & strangers alike on internet & social media, and if my posts can be of use or enjoyment to anyone, then super!

thank you everyone for stopping by. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

P.S. please also “like” my Facebook page.

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December 7, 2013, 10:52 pm

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Top Views by Country for all days ending 2013-12-07 (Summarized)

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Grateful for What We Have

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grateful for what we have is a very important mental state, it opens our hearts, makes us appreciative, caring, generous, see the positives about ourselves & others & not stifled by negative emotions.

even though i am not a christian, i enjoy very much the company of my many great christian friends, and especially the practice of saying grace before a meal, and before some events (as when 1 of my very dear dentist friend led a christian + dental mission to siantan pontianak to care for the children of an orphanage there. my youngest daughter, the only christian in the family had joined that mission). 🙂

saying thanks in earnest & humility for all the things that happen in our lives help us to appreciate, treasure & cherish what we have, instead of constantly chasing after what we do not have & missing out on every single moment of joy, happiness & peace that we have. it is of course easier said than done as we are swarmed by negative emotions every minute of the day & this is the same constant reminder to myself to awake to the joy of the moment, here & now, as spoken in an earlier post on live to eat. 🙂

so, thank you to my family, my friends and to Singapore! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Why I Blog & My Guidelines & Perspectives

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i set myself a few guidelines (like to call it perspectives) when i started this blog-

  1. privacy – my blog is primarily for my personal enjoyment, recollections, relishing & sharing moments of joy & get-togethers/fellowship with family & friends. thus all posts/photos/stories/gossips on people are private & password protected.
  2. sharing with public – internet/youtube/facebook & social media have empowered us. i have gained tremendously from shared knowledge of friends & strangers alike, and if my posts can be of use or enjoyment to anyone, then super! thus i am happy to share my recipes, food reviews, travel posts & also photos of food & scenery with public.
  3. only things worth sharing – of my many food reviews, perhaps only 2 are negative. first, i try to be very selective if i am the one choosing the places to dine. second, for myself, i do not find any motivation to spend time posting reviews of places i didn’t like & won’t go back – doesn’t quite make sense to me though i can see there is some value in alerting other diners. still i get more kick sharing joy & things i like than things i don’t. 🙂 likewise for sharing good & successful recipes. i do share though on facebook bad dining experience & recipe failures. 

10,000 Hits in <4 Months

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my blog past 10,000 hits on 1Jul2013, less than 4 months from start. 🙂

today, exactly 4 months from 4mar2013, there were 10,308 hits, of which 7,878 (76.4%) were from Singapore, and the rest from 65 other countries.

i started chefquak as a food blog to relish, record and share my fun moments & joy in cooking, eating out & get-togethers with family & close friends & of course occasional musings on Perspectives on living, eating, cooking & on Fundonate (later i added also my travelogue including travel destinations & eats). 🙂 this will continue to be my single focus & motivation.

the internet & youtube have empowered & liberated so many, & i have learned to cook several decent dishes in a short time entirely by checking out internet & video recipes & learning from the experiences of friends & mostly strangers who shared their knowledge & skills on the internet & sometimes from great eating out places. likewise for travel destinations & eats.

so it will be great if my own experiments & mistakes are also of some use to others who may visit my blog as i have gained in learning from others’ experiences. 🙂

so thanks again everyone for stopping by my blog, and if you should enjoy my blog, please do visit & “Like” my Chef=cookhangouteatfun Facebook Page as well. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Fundonate – Share, Give & Receive

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who is my wise friend who said “money is NOT yours until you use it or give away…”? 🙂

in Feb2012, 3 friends & I started Fundonate = Do Something for yourself or loved ones & raise donations for the needy & less fortunate while you commit to achieve your personal goal.

Straits Times reported briefly = Raise money for charity and group adds to the fun(d)…whatever helps the cause. 🙂

this year, I turn 55 & am doing 550km run to raise donations for children of special needs at Rainbow Centre via Fundonate. it is also just to get friends together & share with my friends who are 55 this year to share their 55yrs as a fun contribution to children of special needs.

while c.h.e.f is a food & travel blog, for me perspective (like Live to Eat), sharing, giving, receiving, fun are all embodiment of friendship, eating, cooking, & travelling. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

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hi friends & 55ers
my 2nd update –
on 27Jun2013, i completed 320km of my 550km to raise donations for children of special needs at Rainbow Centre.  the 550km run is to get 55 or more of us friends here to celebrate our 55yrs as a fun contribution to children of special needs at RC, I will be writing to 12 more friends to donate $55 each if they wish to.
 so far 22 friends have donated $3270. guys – am really thankful for your strong participation & support.
for those who wish to donate rightaway, the link is here=https://www.give.sg/TeamGIVE/andyquak/celebrate-55-years-of-joyful-living-donate-to
You may already know Fundonate’s objective is just to share our experience that giving is really a “fun & feel-good” thing to do, and while every $ donation is important to the beneficiary children, Fundonate is more about sharing & involvement & not just the absolute $ raised. So do donate to share our 55yrs & the many years we will have before us with the children of special needs at RC. 
the next update will be on completion of 550km.
brgds

It’s a Joy to Receive!

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hohoho!

received my first old age pensioner’s allowance from my daughter today. 🙂 what a joy! 😮

my eldest daughter started work almost a month now & this was her first pay cheque. we had the first conversation on this in my post Happy to Give & Receive when we were in Tokyo. 🙂

the work is tough, stressful, & very long hours. my daughter though is quite a workaholic, and she seems to enjoy her work challenges and also getting along well with her colleagues. those are what counts!

I am sure it must feel “shiok” (elated) to have a sense of financial independence and to be able to give, though it is just as important & joyful to receive. 🙂

my lovely daughter – I wish her all the best in life!

c.h.e.f andy

My 550km Run to Raise Funds for Children of Special Needs at Rainbow Centre

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today (9may2013) I ran 7km & completed 200km of my 550km fundraiser run. it felt good. 🙂

I was at 193km at yesterday run with a close friend who I run weekly with. I am going Hong Kong with some friends 10-13may & to Kyoto 16-22may & will not run much for a while so I wanted to do this.

my 550km run is to get 55 or more of my friends to celebrate our 55yrs as a fun contribution to children of special needs at Rainbow Centre by donating $55each =$1 for every 10km I run. 🙂 🙂

So far 15 friends have donated $2,660. 🙂 🙂
the aim of this Fundonate fundraiser is just to share our experience that giving is really a “fun & feel-good” thing to do, and while every $ donation is important to the beneficiary children, Fundonate is more about sharing & involvement & NOT just the absolute $ raised.

c.h.e.f andy
please “Like” Fundonate here=https://www.facebook.com/Fundonate?ref=hl
 The Fundonate concept = Do Something for yourself or loved ones & raise funds for the needy & less fortunate while you commit to achieve your personal goal.

Reclusive or Liberating?

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good friend of mine (ours) uses the word recluse to describe himself. 🙂

what he means of course is that there comes a time  (aiya..might as well say it, we are now at the age!) 🙂 where there is no need to put pressure on ourselves to do things or to socialize & so we do what makes us happy & make the people around us (loved ones and strangers) happy if we can (& I always believe in trying)…

I also believe there is no need to try too hard, not in terms of the effort put in but in expecting the results. If I have no expectations and do not need to have things done one way or another or people (friends or strangers) to react in one way or another (though I have a world view that I apply to myself only), then I will not be reactive or defensive.

to me, a relationship that has no expectations – and so no or few stresses – is truly liberating :-)… we do something not because we need to network or impress or name-drop to gain a business advantage, gain entry to some social circle or to be servant to our ego, but because we like it & enjoy doing it. 🙂

all of us have responsibilities and i am not suggesting we neglect them, so we will still need to discharge our duties and responsibilities & do things whether it is our favourite thing to do or not. but if we recognise this, then it becomes something we “will” do & don’t mind doing, and while we may not really turn it into our pet activity, knowing that we dutifully (rather than grudgingly) perform a task because we need to do it can itself be an affirmation of our self-worth and make us feel good about ourselves.

c.h.e.f andy

Happy to Give and Receive

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I was having coffee with my daughter & JH at a Shinjuku cafe after a satisfying meal at Ganso Sushi, a kaiten (conveyor belt) sushi (回旋寿司) shop on 12apr2013. My daughter just returned from a full & wonderful day trip to Hakone having glorious sunshine & clear view of Mount Fuji, and I was asking her if she liked to retire early as her hotel was at Asakusa area, but she wanted to have a coffee together.

We were chatting about various things including her starting work soon after graduation and the career options for her & JH. I asked about her starting salary & she asked what she should give to me. I told her I knew what she would give to my wife but if she would like to give more she could give all to my wife. She said “no la, I like it to be the same”. So I told her I would accept of course and that my belief was in life it was just as important to receive as to give, which my daughter nodded affirmatively her concurrence.

All parents would be more than happy to receive any token appreciation from their children as they commence the next lap of their life’s journey with new jobs & financial independence, without placing too much burden on the children. It is both a great feeling for the children to offer and for the parent to cherish the offer & to reinforce the positive energy by showing appreciation for the offer.

Though we mostly know how short & transient life is, and what make us happy & how we should try to be positive, the world is so filled with tragedies, depression, anxiety, anger, sadness, and we are continuously invaded & distracted by negative thoughts throughout the day.

I constantly remind myself to make myself happy, and all my loved ones and friends happy (and strangers too) where I can without trying overly hard. This is of course just my personal views and may not apply to others – everyone would know how to make themselves happy if they want to &  if they try. 🙂

Why not try overly hard? The thing is that if you have expectations that others must share what you believe, think what you think, or understand or appreciate what you do, then (1) your mood which reflects your true self however you want your self image to be will not be relaxed & expansive & you will be just putting pressure on yourself (2) there will be lack of earnestness and instead of generating positive energy, you will be generating negative energy.

But effort is important! I used to tell my children – you must want something! if you don’t want it or treasure it or show the pleasure in receiving or achieving it, why should people want to help you get it? 🙂

So try hard we must, because without effort there is no earnestness. I recall The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho said something like “When you want something, all the universe is conspiring to help you achieve it”. My understanding of this is that when you do something in earnest without having an ulterior motive or expectation but at the same time you are serious &  fully committed and want it in all earnestness & enjoy & are happy doing it, then the positive energy trigger & bring forth all the positive energy from everyone else, so everyone is happy to help you achieve it.

So to me, the purpose must be to increase the happiness of myself and all around me. and so it is a pleasure to give. it makes people happy and make yourself happy. at the same time it is a pleasure to receive and to show the same earnestness in receiving – the appreciation & happiness. 🙂 if you belief that giving makes you happy because you also want others to be happy, then it follows that others feel happy when giving and if it also makes you happy to receive (please do NOT accept anything if it does not feel right or make you happy to do so!) then let others have that happy feeling of giving and positive energy & goodwill will multiply. Like the saying goes “sorrow lessen and happiness multiply when shared”.

We always teach our children – know when to say NO! that is correct of course. at the same time, we should know & treasure the moments when to say YES! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Live to Eat….

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I was doing my 10km run on this side of Ulu Pandan jogging track (Holland Grove View side) yesterday morning.

With this run, I completed the first 100km of a 550km run to raise donations for needy children at Rainbow Centre via Fundonate. I am asking 55 friends who are 55 this year to each donate $55, $1 for every 10km I run so we can all share & relish the joy of living all these 55 seasons of our passage on planet earth , and many afterwards. 🙂

My mind was wandering as I ran thinking of living, eating, cooking…

Eat to Live…Live to Eat…Eat to Live to Eat..one of those cliches we talk about ( kind of like chicken or egg?) occasionally but with no particular meaning or importance attached..indeed so..as we select words & phrases to capture what is important to ourselves & the same words or phrases extract different thoughts (or depth of what they represent) depending on what we attach to them.

My mind went jogging too, 10km was short for the body, 1hr+ was long for the mind..haha. 🙂

I think in my younger days I “eat” to live, or do everything else to live – study, work, business travel, entertain, network, struggle with business start-ups, etc..the goal (but what is the goal?) was important so the process was a blur – like the movie “Click” – and you don’t know what you are “eating” basically since you eat to live..

Now I am kind of live to eat…ok I like food, I am greedy..and now I talk about worthwhile calories, worthwhile cholesterol. and maybe they are just excuses to eat unhealthy food, but I guess one can say also there is some perspective to it – that if you have to eat unhealthy make sure they are food you really really like & enjoy and feel “shiok” not something so-so, can do without – hopefully there are not so many such food in that category everytime! 🙂

anyway my own solution to that is just compensate, make-up (just as in managing relationship)..if you have more this time, skip or have less next time! if you miss a run this time, make-up another (but MUST make-up la otherwise won’t work right..) 🙂 just like relationship, if you miss an appointment, if you are not there for someone this time, pro-actively do it next time! don’t angst over the eating, and don’t angst over the relationship…

So I live to eat, “eat” being everything else in the perspective of savouring & relishing the process, so that there is joy in the living..and for me there is no right or wrong or best way about this..everyone’s needs are different..I am applying this for myself only..say for my children, they do need to focus & work on their studies, their future careers..they have their own needs and what are important to them..and everyone do need to work hard (and work very hard in Singapore & really anywhere else – China, Vietnam, major cities like New York, London, Tokyo etc) to get the results, and the process of working hard & achieving something are themselves very rewarding, and sometimes with a perspective shift (haha..very “sian” to hear paradigm shift) maybe the process is more rewarding than the physical material rewards…whatever to each his own. 🙂

To me perspective is the key though of course like everything else it is easier said than done. We say 退一步海阔天空 or 山穷水尽疑无路, 柳暗花明又一村..buddhists talk about attachments as the source of suffering & pain…so if we can, change or see the perspective…if we cannot, well i also have no solution, think of some other ways to make up lor. 🙂

What’s Cooking?

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Couple of my friends cannot take certain food. One cannot take beef, another has intolerance to animal fat.

When I invite them for home makans (meals), I will plan before hand – like replaced the beef with GR (Gordon Ramsay) crispy salmon once previously, which I then proceeded to dish out an undercooked version no thanks to another friend buzzing in my ears offering unsolicited coaching. 🙂 Another time I replaced the beef with 3 pan-seared hokkaido scallops, this rather successfully. And in place of belly pork spaghetti or crab linguine in pink sauce (creamy tomatoes), I had a specially made single portion of seafood alio olio for the friend.

All my friends are by nature very “kek ki” (客气) & “automatic” – easy-going & accepting/non-demanding and not wanting to trouble others. 🙂 I am mostly of the same disposition, I might add, hahaha…

For myself as the person cooking, the perspective though is somewhat different. I understand now that I cook, that it is not about the thing you cook but about what makes your guests (family or friends) enjoy the food & relax & make that a memorable experience for everyone, that is important. So the person cooking will naturally want to find out what the guests need, and to plan the meal accordingly. It would not make sense for someone to cook (however special he might think the food to be) which did not suit the guests’ palette – the whole exercise would be quite meaningless. So it is no trouble at all to find out, and to plan accordingly!

I am sure it must be true though it still sounds corny to me that great dishes only come with love in the heart (from Korean soap operas) 🙂 but I know for sure that cooking is most fun when you turn out a nice dish according to plan (which is itself most pleasurable) or be it pleasantly surprised; and those sharing it truly enjoy it!

One thing I realised after I started cooking (which is not so long ago) is the importance of planning – I guess like all things else! And if you plan & get the things together & the sequences right, everything come together “magically” and you won’t be stressed, distressed & dis-oriented!

Here’s for more stressless, fun cooking, eating & hanging out!

c.h.e.f andy

I am NO chef!

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SORRY GUYS!

chefandy is NOT a chef’s blog! I am NO chef!

The only reference to “chef” you will find in this blog will be to the great chefs who I pick & learn my internet & video recipes from.

c.h.e.f stands for cook.hangout.eat.fun

I cook, somewhat belatedly in life I must add but in time to discover that I am really liking it (hohoho! so I am now an ardous advocate of better late than never!), and maybe because I have nothing better to do (haha! just being self-deprecating – learning to laugh at myself – a good habit that does no harm to ego or prestige).

The journey probably started on 12.3.2012, when I invited 10 friends for homecooked dinner. Looking back at the photos of the 5 dishes I did then, I am truly a lucky bloke to have all these indulgent & risk taker friends – if it were me, I probably won’t care much to be invited again. haha! anyway, that will be story & photos enough for another post.

see also why i blog & my guidelines & perspectives.

c.h.e.f andy