Manila-born Thess Hookway was in her mid-30s when she began a culinary journey that led to her new life as a superyacht chef in Europe.
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From being a housewife with two beautiful children, I decided a few years ago to go ?back to school? and study to be a chef. Today, I?m proud to call myself a superyacht chef and am spending much of my time in the south of France, starting to learn French.

I was born and raised in Manila to parents of Spanish and Chinese descent. As a young kid,?I was always a dreamer. My mum remains one of my inspirations, as she was the one always telling me to dream big ? after all, it?s free!
I was married at 21, then supported my husband?s career and didn?t work myself. We are blessed with two beautiful girls ? both now teenagers ? and I was a hands-on mum. Like me, they enjoy sports. We moved to Thailand about 13 years ago because of my husband?s work and I still do Muay Thai and go to the gym. I was 34 when I decided to go to Luzern in Switzerland for culinary school. Everybody around me said I was too old to study again and be a chef. None of these comments stopped me believing in my new journey, although it wasn?t easy.
I went there in the winter, in January 2014, and completed my Diploma in International Culinary Arts at IMI by the summer. I was happy to return to Thailand to see my family. From a comfortable life, I had changed my passion to my profess...