The Foodist Monk: Hua Hin, Thailand

It’s Throwback Thursday and US Thanksgiving – in honour of that here’s a repost of the original Foodist Monk blog.

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Getting off the train at the historic station in Hua Hin, with its red and white pavilion beckoning me to visit, I felt the welcome freshness of the seaside air. This is the playground of kings. King Rama VI and VII of Thailand, to be exact. They built their summer homes here. What better way to find relief from the stifling heat of Bangkok than to visit this sleepy, seaside town.

Bangkok friends had sent me to this town known for its beautiful stretch of beach; a great place to people watch from the seaside restaurants. I followed my nose to the fragrant aromas of spices and curry. As luck would have it, I did not have to walk too far to find some delicious seafood yellow curry.

 

Must be a good spot as many locals were here. While many seaside locales are popular hotspots for foreigners, Hua Hin is popular among foreigners and Thai alike.

The Foodist Monk: So You Think You Can Pitch

This was the unveiling of our documentary The Foodist Monk: Sichuan in Chengdu to the international community.  The jurors of this competition for the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival were Jennifer Chen, VP of Acquisitions and Programming, Channel Zero; Michael Fukushima, EP, English Program Animation Studio, NFB;  Stephen Gong, Executive Director of Center for Asian American Media.

This festival is one of the foremost Asian Film festivals on the continent.  And what an honour to be selected as a finalist.  Through weeks of preparation, this was the big time.  And we pitched our hearts out.  It was well received, and many commented on how we were able to make them hungry with our imagery.

And as we waited with bated breath at Toronto’s Momofuku Shoto restaurant, we mingled with the other filmmakers and film festival elite.  Now that we had pitched, we were ready to be festival goers.