Reaching for their Dreams - Kaohsiung's Innovative Young Generation
What does it take to make a dream come true? The answer is "Everything and a little extra." We talked to two young people, and we found those who succeeded in realizing their dreams had the following in common: courage, imagination and determination.
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Shaking a Dream into a Highball
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◎English translation: Peng Hsin-yi
◎Photos by Lin Yu-en
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With his winning recipe of "Golden Year," a gin-based cocktail with citrus liquor, a twist of lemon and a splash of dry vermouth, Mr. Hsu Bo-sheng claimed the grand prize in the 2012 Asian Cocktail Championship held in Singapore. This is the ninth consecutive year that a Taiwanese contestant has won the championship. Mr. Hsu defended the title in his signature Spiderman getup.
Without the flashy costume, Mr. Hsu is a shy and somewhat introverted young man. He confesses that he was not interested in studying while in junior high school, and this worried his parents and teachers. To show the world there are other ways to make it than by getting high test scores, Mr. Hsu began to experiment in "flair bartending" while in high school. The learning curve was much steeper than he expected and he feels he might not have succeeded but for his coach, Ms. Hsieh Mei-mei. He remembers Ms. Hsieh giving him a lecture when he said he wanted to quit: "You can't give up without having at least tried. If you quit every time things get difficult, you won't succeed at anything!" He took Ms. Hsieh's words to heart, deciding to work hard and become the best in his field. Mr. Hsu dips his head with respect when speaking of Ms. Hsieh, explaining that without her support, he would not have had a chance to make it at all, not to mention the awards he has won over the years.
Mr. Hsu says his Spiderman persona was created by Coach Hsieh. She thought the eye-catching red-and-blue costume, in combination with his signature "wrist flick," would create a fascinating theme of "destructive creativity" that would endear him to the audience. Mr. Hsu debuted as the "Spider Mixologist" in 2007. With his flashy appearance and solid style at the bar, he was victorious in the Asia Cup and the Asian Pacific Cup, and took third place in the World Cup that year. With these awards under his belt, his parents were no longer dubious about his career choice, and they became his biggest supporters.
Earlier this year, Mr. Hsu received corrective surgery for an eye condition called strabismus. To get his eye-hand coordination back, he practiced up to 12 hours per day, and his hard work was rewarded when he defeated competitors from 16 countries and successfully defended his title.
With his superb skills and fighting spirit, Mr. Hsu bravely stepped into the international arena. His victories have shown the world that Taiwan has talented bartenders; they have also proved he was right to follow his dreams. With a little daring and a lot of hard Work, he turned his dream into reality.
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Tip:
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There are two different styles of bartending. Traditional bartending involves mixing drinks with simple yet fluid movements and focuses more on the depth and complexity of the cocktail itself, whereas "flair bartending" adds acrobatic elements such as bottle juggling and high pouring. In a traditional bartending contest, technique is worth 40% of the score while the cocktail is worth 60%. In "flair bartending," the scoring balance is the other way around.
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Let the Dreams Rise -Bread Baker Wu Zih-jing
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◎English translation: Peng Hsin-yi
◎Photos by Pao Chung-hui
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"I never truly appreciated baguettes until I traveled to France and had an authentic French baguette for the first time in my life," says Mr. Wu Zih-jing, owner and chief baker of Shakespeare & Co. Since then, Mr. Wu has worked hard to perfect his bread-making skills, finally mastering techniques that have allowed him to duplicate the authentic baguettes he had in France that had such an impact on him years ago. His bakery attracts many European customers; a French customer once told him he offers "a taste of home."
Mr. Wu was still a graduate student in National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism when he realized his dream and opened Shakespeare & Co. in 2010. At first, many people in the business doubted that a European-style bakery could survive in Kaohsiung. However, Mr. Wu proved them wrong. He now has four stores in different parts of Kaohsiung, showing that his dream has staying power. His fifth store is set to open in Chiayi County in November.
Mr. Wu is not only a successful businessman; his baking skills have won him awards in several international competitions. In 2011, Mr. Wu developed a recipe for bread using honey produced in Kaohsiung's Gangshan District. The result is a sweetbread with a distinctive hollow structure that resembles a hive. Mr. Wu named it "Beehive Bread" and it won the sweet pastries category at the World of Bread (Mondial du Pain) competition in France. But when asked what he considers a defining moment of his career, he says it was the winning of first place in the National Artisanal Skills Competition in 2006, while he was a college sophomore. After that win, he was invited to join the national team for the International Technological and Vocational Competition in 2007, and that's when his interest in bread making started to "rise." During the latter contest, he met many people who shared his passion; he was able to discuss various issues and find solutions with like-minded peers. He learned many things about dough and bread making, and made friends among some of the top bakers in the world, whose passion and professionalism earned his respect.
Mr. Wu says among his class of 47 students, he is the only one who has opened a bakery. He spoke at length with veteran bakers when he was in school, and concluded that if he followed the traditional route to work for his "seed money" to open a bakery, he would have to work for more than 10 years to accumulate enough cash. By that time, he would be in his late thirties or early forties, likely married with children and perhaps paying a mortgage. Many bakers never open their own shop because by the time they can afford it, they already have too much to lose and they cannot take the risk. Mr. Wu decided to break away from that pattern. If he had to fall, it might as well happen when he had just started climbing and was not too far from the ground. By taking a risk early on, his rewards also came early. Today, at the age of 26, he owns his dream bakery and has more than 50 employees. He admits that while his dream has been realized, much still needs to be done for the bakery to be profitable. Mr. Wu wants his kitchens to be bright, clean and spacious. He would like to encourage each baker he hires to hone his or her skills; his ideal is to groom each one into an innovative baking artisan capable of inventing new recipes. Mr. Wu now devotes much of his time to recipe development; his mind constantly revolves around new ideas, even when he is not testing them out in the kitchen. Because he and his partners agree that a baker can grow only when he or she is exposed to new techniques and new possibilities, Shakespeare & Co. sometimes sponsor employees' overseas trips.
By all accounts, Mr. Wu is already one of the best bread bakers in Taiwan, but he has not let success go to his head. He humbly claims he still has a long way to go before he can be called a top baker. Still, the fact he had the courage to take a chance and open the bakery of his dreams - and by so doing allow those who have a similar vision to share in that dream - is worthy of great respect.
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Shakespeare & Co.
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07-5867256
No.51, Meishu E. 2nd Rd., Kaohsiung City
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築夢的年輕世代
◎文／盧怡如
◎攝影／林育恩
一個夢想需要多少時間來完成？美夢成真，是以勇敢為樂譜、築夢為琴弦，所奏出最動人的樂章！
以花式獨舞
調一杯夢想的酒
今(2012)年第21屆新加坡亞洲盃調酒大賽，許博勝以精湛的技術和蜘蛛人造型，加上以琴酒、柑橘為底酒，搭配檸檬、苦艾調配出的雞尾酒「黃金年代」(golden year)參賽，再度贏得花式調酒冠軍，順利為台灣取得九連霸的殊榮。
褪去舞台上的炫目光彩，私下的許博勝是個笑容靦腆的高雄囝仔。許博勝坦言，國中不愛唸書，是師長、家裡都很擔心的小孩。為了證明自己，高中開始接觸花式調酒，卻曾因練習的辛苦而放棄，所幸當時的教練謝美美的一頓訓斥：「如果這麼早就放棄，做任何事都不會成功！」激起他不服輸的鬥志。他更立下目標：「我要與眾不同，讓別人看得起！」許博勝謙虛地表示，沒有教練團隊的訓練與支持，他不會有機會站在舞台上。
許博勝說，教練思考以蜘蛛人造型表演，娛樂性強，經典的吐絲動作可增加觀眾的互動。這也是謝美美所說的，「破壞式的創新」。2007年，許博勝憑藉花式調酒技術與蜘蛛人造型，以及教練團隊的排練與支持，代表台灣參加三次國際賽事，不但獲得亞洲盃、亞太盃花式調酒大賽冠軍，更在世界盃調酒大賽，勇奪季軍寶座。有了冠軍「掛保證」，父母對於他練花式調酒的態度，從觀察轉為支持。
今年再度參加亞洲盃調酒大賽，許博勝為了找回手感，同時適應斜視矯正手術，他每天排練5-12小時，果然不負眾望，擊敗日本、南韓等16國選手，再度奪冠。
憑藉調酒技術和不服輸的鬥志，許博勝站上國際舞台，為台灣爭光，讓自己擁有與眾不同的人生舞台，他更以行動證明，只要勇敢築夢，人人都是夢想的實踐者。
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小知識：
調酒分為傳統與花式調酒，前者著重調製酒的流暢度與調酒成品，後者除了調酒成品，還講究專業、藝術兼具的酒瓶拋接動作，增加視覺感受。兩者比賽評分比重不同，以亞洲盃為例，花式調酒為技術60％、調酒40％；傳統調酒則反之。
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夢想「發酵」 麵包師傅 武子靖
◎文／侯雅婷
◎攝影／鮑忠暉
「第一次在法國品嚐到法國麵包，有種恍然大悟的感動，才明白道地的法國麵包是這個味道和口感！店裡販售的法國麵包很道地的還原在法國吃到的口感、味道乃至於外觀，法國籍的顧客曾表示，有回到家的感覺！」麵包師傅武子靖如此說。
2010年，武子靖在高雄餐旅大學讀研究所時首次創業，開設「莎士比亞烘焙坊」，一圓開一間歐式麵包專門店的創業夢。開幕之初，許多烘焙界的前輩對純歐式的麵包店能否在高雄生存感到懷疑，但2012年烘焙坊在高雄已有4家店，成功在高雄站穩一席之地；今年11月，第5家烘焙坊將於嘉義開幕。
武子靖在國際烘焙大賽屢獲佳績，2011 年他以高雄大崗山地區生產的蜂蜜研發成蜂巢麵包，獲得法國世界麵包大賽甜麵包特別獎。談起影響他最深的一個獎項，是大二那年(2006年)獲得全國技能競賽獎第一名，成為2007年烘焙組國手，取得代表台灣參加國際技職競賽資格，他對製作麵包的興趣開始「發酵」！談起準備比賽的過程中，全心投入研究和解決問題，這讓他對麵糰和製作麵包有更透澈的了解，也認識烘焙界頂尖的師傅，學習他們專業的態度與熱情。
現年26歲的武子靖提起，他是餐飲大學全班47個人中，唯一開店創業的人。在與許多麵包店老闆懇談後，得到一個結論，如果等到中年存到足夠資金才開店，屆時肩負家庭經濟壓力，如同只許成不能敗的賭注，讓他興起跌倒趁早，提早實踐自己和夥伴理想中的歐式麵包烘焙坊，這個決定讓他成為50位員工的老闆。他說以開店實踐夢想而言，他們做得很好，如果以追求獲利而言，他們還要多加油。武子靖表示，烘焙坊將獲利投入創造出明亮、乾淨的廚房工作場域，且訓練麵包師傅具備研發能力，而他只要有空，就會研發新產品，即便沒辦法立刻動手做，想法也不斷在腦中運轉，而武子靖和合夥人都認同多出去看一看，才能使製作麵包的路，走得長而遠，因此，烘焙坊提供員工出國觀摩學習的機會。
眼前這位台灣最具潛力的麵包師傅，仍孜孜不倦地學習，謙稱自己離最頂尖的麵包師傅還遠，但勇於實踐開店夢想，讓與他一樣對製作麵包懷抱熱情的員工有了發揮的舞台，開創出一片事業。
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莎士比亞烘焙坊
07-5867256
高雄市美術東二路51號
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