How I Became a Vegan (Part 2)

In college I studied accounting, and after graduation I worked as a CPA in a fast-paced and competitive public accounting firm. It was the kind of environment that really discouraged cooking. There was barely enough time to even eat, let alone cook, so I never bothered to learn how to. Thankfully all this changed when I discovered veganism.

Since I didn’t want to eat any more animal products, I had to start to learn how to cook. It started with one cookbook, then another, then 10 others, until I’ve cooked more in 6 months than I’ve ever did in my entire life. While my co-workers were mindlessly eating take-out chicken Caesar salads and grilled salmons in front of their computers, I brought freshly-cooked lunches every day, and it made me feel so accomplished and healthy even though I could only stir-fry. But man, I was a mean stir-fry master. There was honestly nothing I could not stir-fry, and that I give credit to my Chinese heritage.

As I cooked more, I discovered so many different kinds of foods, tastes, cooking techniques, and cookware that made my life so much more colorful and delicious. It was like an awaking of senses and sensibility. I discovered so many different kinds of foods, tastes, cooking techniques, and cookware that made my life so much more colorful and delicious.

As my passion for vegan food progressed, I just wanted to immerse myself in it. All I wanted to do all day was cook. I daydreamed about what to make for dinner while I’m at work, and I practically danced through Farmers Markets with Broadway tunes in my head. Cooking made me feel alive and purposeful, so there was really only one thing I could do: learn how to cook vegan food for real.

So I did. I moved from LA to the east coast and enrolled myself at one of the few vegan cooking schools in the country, Natural Kitchen Cooking School. I live in Western Massachusetts, so for 10 months, I took 6-hour bus rides to Manhattan every other weekend to take my classes. I never missed a class as it was invaluable to me. I learned so darn much from that program that I seriously never would’ve had the knowledge and the confidence to cook I way I do today if it weren’t for NKCS. So here’s a little shout-out to them. You rock!

Hmm… I was hoping to write my “short” story in two parts, but it looks like I’m a lot chattier than I thought. I still have an awesome third chapter that I’ve got to tell, so if you’ve got the patience, then hang on for the unanticipated THIRD part to my vegan story, which is really cool. I promise.

***Stay tuned for Part 3!!***

How I Became a Vegan (Part 1)

This is the story of a girl who discovered the true meaning and effect of conscious eating. This is not a top 10 bullet list or an argumentative essay with the thesis of converting people to veganism. This is simply a story, hopefully a story that people can connect with and be entertained by.

I’m Chinese, specifically a Chinese that was born in Taiwan. There is a saying that I heard that goes something like this: “The Chinese will eat anything with the back to the sky.” Although this may sound extreme, as far as I remember, there really wasn’t anything that the Chinese won’t eat. Frogs, snakes, dogs, pig blood, chicken liver, pig hooves, cow tongues, and chicken claws are just some of the most common foods that Chinese people eat pretty much on a daily basis. And yes, I’ve ate all of these before. It wasn’t a big deal! Having chicken intestines for dinner in a Chinese home is equivalent to having spaghetti in America. It’s simply a way of life and a culture that has developed for thousands of years, as absurd as it is.

When I was 9-years-old, my family immigrated to Los Angeles, where I was told that the ground was paved in gold, only to find that it was neither golden nor commutable without a vehicle. Within 5 years of coming to the States, my dad went from owning his own business to being bankrupt and bedridden. That’s when my mom discovered Buddhism, which lent her a spiritual support that she desperately needed at that time. As she became more devout, she vowed to never eat meat again. At the age of 15, I ate what my mom cooked, so when she asked both my brother and I to be vegetarians with her, we mindlessly agreed. Little did I know that it was to be the best gift my mom has ever given me.

Now let’s travel in light speed ahead to 2007, after I’ve been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for 9 years. It was a perfect summer day in LA, so I decided to treat myself to a book under the sun. For really no good reason other than curiosity, I picked up Skinny Bitch at Barnes and Nobles and proceeded to finish the entire book in one sitting all while laughing out loud at the mall patio. I’m not going to lie and say that it’s not embarrassing that I have to say the word ‘bitch’ every time someone asks me how I became a vegan, but there is no denying that Skinny Bitch deserves all of the credit of how I discovered veganism. I’m sure I’ll eventually write a review on this hilarious, no-BS and immensely informative book, but now on to my vegan journey...

***Stay tuned for Part 2!!***