From where? To where? For what?

Truffle chocolate half-covered with pure cocoa powder

There's no dramatic start, it's simply me. I'm Cheng Yu Hsuan,

a 22 year-old Taiwanese who loves chocolate in a sick way.
My craving for the dark brown, heart-melting delicacy began
as most ordinary children did. As a kid, I loved the taste of
chocolate (though my perception of chocolate then was quite
different from now.) Sweet candy, that's what it was. Only till
years later, when I was in college, did chocolate become the
dream of my lifetime.

During the my second college year, when Valentine's Day was
closing in, I decided to make my own chocolate as a Valentine
gift. "It has to be perfect," I thought, so a deep research was
involved, and I met Valrhona, one of the best chocolate brands
one can ever get.

I still remember the perfume of Manjari 64%; it was a total
stranger to my palate, an explosion of aroma that proved itself
extraordinary at the very second it was opened. The fruitiness
of Manjari─which resembles in wild berries, with a trace of
mango and pineapple─fascinated me. Its aroma was so intense
yet gentle, its flavor ever-changing from start to the end.
Stunned, I was simply stunned. The next thing I knew, the floor
started melting (and so did my ego,) and I sank into the world
of chocolates, forever.

Since handmade chocolate is a relatively new business in
Taiwan, there's not much resources or people to learn from. I
started a self-learning journey after my "chocolate debut." I
bought tons of books from Amazon and other places; it cost
nearly half of my soul ("No bargains,"said the devil.) The
books gave me a great start, and then I took off. Working
with some of the best couvertures (the French word for

ingredient chocolates,) such as Valrhona, Michel Cluizel,
Amedei, has been a pleasure. To see the silky, liquid
chocolate dive elegantly from your spatula into a bitter-sweet
ocean beneath; to see the cream and chocolate blending and
melting into one another, until the ganache shines like a mirror;
to see the look of other people's face, the astonishment,
the excitement, the enjoyment─these are the pleasures I get
from making chocolate, and I want more.

Next semester will be my last for college, then it's 11 months
of military service. After that, I wish to go to Paris, France,
to attend a pastry school and work as an apprentice. My
ultimate goal is to become a great chocolatier. Yeah, it may
sound like mission impossible, but, hey, it's a dream worth
trying for.

From Taiwan to France, here I come! For what? For chocolate!