"Famous for the 'wrong' reasons..."

A video from NHK's "Second Time in Malaysia"

When the past catches up with you...

I stopped writing about food more than two years ago. Excessive eating and uncontrollable carbo-loading led to a massive weight gain and the only way out: was a cold turkey.
The decision I made came with dire consequences. But once I made up my mind, that was it. I have no regrets walking out of a chore that has no benefits to my health.
After years being out of the scene, I was contacted by Tomoko Kurahashi, an editor with a Japanese magazine based in KL.
We met a couple of years back when "Food Trail" became a book. It was a weekly column in The Star where I worked as an editorial staff with the Metro section. 
Kurahashi's team interviewed me for an article. 
Later, she asked if I can help a Japanese TV crew to introduce some local food. 
A show director from the Japanese Broadcasting Company or NHK came for a scouting trip sometime in February. 
We made contact and I showed him around.
Then, came a television crew and I spent half the day with them on their recording session. It was a great learning experience for me and I was told that the program was slotted for June in Japan.
It was a hour-long series and my interview will be dubbed in Japanese.
So, to cut the long story short, the guys in Japan had sent down a DVD on the program. 
Miho Tanaka, the go-between person told me that the show had quite a high viewer rating in Japan when it was aired. That's just good enough for me. At least my work was recognized internationally.