♥️♥️ 🍃 Hero worship is, I think, slightly different from having people you look up to. It’s great to have people to look up to, to want to learn from, to emulate as you find who you are. But i think people aren’t meant to be worshipped..? And at the end of the day, heroes are people, right? And i think this is kinda how we create that hero worship culture- We are taught from young to look up to and study other people’s stories and lives, which is great! We also learn from what we see around us. What i dooo find problematic, though, is how we are simultaneously kinda discouraged to view our own lives and feelings as valuable enough to be examined to the same degree. (I mean, how many of us reflexively think things like therapy and self care and listening to our feelings, or talking about them is self-absorbed and narcissistic and that we have nothing worth saying?) Unless you have gone through what is “widely accepted” to be great triumph or tragedy..? Like some weird dick measuring contest. But if we did BOTH, maybe we would find that, as Mariah Carey once sang, haha “a hero lies in you.” “If everyone is a hero then no one is a hero?” I dont really agree with that. Hahaha The Avengers all have different abilities, and they, like, take turns saving each other right? Hahaha and they dont really worship each other or put each other on pedestals (well, except Spiderman with Iron Man in the MCU? Haha). The other thing, when I think of the word, hero, what comes to mind is any person who at any point does something, anything, beyond what they thought they could do for someone else? (Sometimes that person is yourself). So, not “big” or “small”, just beyond what they thought they were capable of. What about you? Alright, enough rambling. have a great week ahead guys! And here’s to working for a world with systems of care where people aren’t relying on heroes and charity to survive. ✨✨✨😘

helmed by a Japanese Chef who’s proven his mettle but is now free to fully flex his culinary muscle. This is the new Sushi Kou (鮓煌) on Orchard Road. In the elegantly-designed light and bright space, only 8 seats are arranged along a blonde hinoki counter constructed from 300-year-old trees. Presiding over them is Sapporo-born Head Chef Yoshio Sakuta (@y_sakuta). Proving to be rather like his minimalist Edomae-style sushi, the man himself is spare with words, preferring to let his refined sushi do the talking. Due to strong relationships cultivated over years with suppliers at Toyosu Fish Market, he is able to serve seafood procured from different prefectures in Japan. Several of them, wild-caught specimens from sustainable sources. The “less intervention, the better” is how Chef Yoshio approaches each fish, mollusk and crustacean, all the better to let their individual attributes shine. To facilitate this, he places them on pedestals of carefully crafted shari, a custom blend of different rice from Japan’s Miyagi Prefecture seasoned with a mix of vinegars and salt, and served at exacting temperatures. If you choose either @sushikou.sg’s “Aya” or “Kou” Omakase Menus (priced at $380++ and $450++, available for lunch and dinner), three or five appetisers will precede the 10 pieces of sushi respectively. I was impressed by the five I had - the Wild Caught Ocean #Unagi the most. Commonly found in rivers, the eel was prepared in the “shirayaki” method - sprayed with sake to produce a very crispy skin. While the flesh remained moist and springy, it didn’t have the muddy flavour which tends to plague this type of fish. I was struck too, given its size, how incredibly tender the sake-steamed Abalone was. And the gelatinously crunchy Junsai (Water Shield), a plant from Akita, topped with Bafun Uni and vinegar sauce, was great fun to eat. As for the sushi , I enjoyed every single piece Chef Yoshio placed in front of me but the standouts (they still make me drool when I watch my video) were the oil-rich and very, very tasty #Nodoguro that came in a bowl, and the huge Japanese Tiger Prawn which was so sweet and succulent. ⬇️Continued in Comments⬇️

My whole life is my family, as you can see from my #bestnine2017 They are the anchors that root you to the ground. They carve values deeply into you, they love unconditionally and they are the reason and joy for enjoying this life day by day. 2017 has been a tough year for many. It’s been wrought with news of ill health, bad politics and ongoing war. My family wasn’t left untouched by its energies. Unwanted news fell upon us the last 6 months, but we sailed through the rough seas and made what we could of it. I dedicate this post to my family that I cherish and adore to the highest of pedestals . Doubt, tension and anxiety may have filled us at times, but if anything, this year’s life lessons have made us all stronger and closer as a unit. I love you all so so much. For 2018, my simple wish is just for more time with the people I love the most, for better health to all, and as the Chinese say, ‘10,000 more years’ to the people closest to me. Happy New Year. #lifeofchoy