Wandering Barefoot: Food & Tales

Hello steady Sunday. Listening to Adele’s I can’t make you love me while typing this post. Had this really strange but good dream earlier this morning. I was attending this seminar/event about leadership where at the end there was a surprise recognition of outstanding people. Jim Paredes of Apo Hiking Society took over the mic and introduced the AVP containing the profile of those who will receive the award. To my surprise, I found videos of me when I was a kid. It showed various shots of me showing exemplary intelligence during an early age, my awards and several recognition. I remember crying cause it was so unexpected. Though I show a lot of confidence, there will always be times when I question why I don’t get awards despite knowing what I can be capable of. I don’t know if any of you might have felt this, but sometimes I feel like I can do so much more but I tend to sabotage myself by slacking off or disappointing people’s high regard and expectations of me. But I’m not making this a pity party, the dream probably wants to send me a message. I’m at this point where a lot is expected of me, and I’m feeling the pressure and I’ve been seeing signs of self-sabotage again, and maybe that’s why the dream had to remind me of what great things I can accomplish. 

It was about the same month in 2010 when General Luna launched and my life was never the same again. I have become a groupie, a Cebu groupie with only one General Luna gig missed cause of work. I’d be talking about them, convincing my friends to listen, like and love them. I was so fan crazy that I even ran a tumblr fan page for the group. I had a love - hate relationship with the band, which of course was just inside me. 

They’re coming up with a new album to be launched probably next month. According to their producers and pre-press articles, this album will bury the first album to the ground. An album that is more about their kind of music, not the kind that just sells. 

I’m excited, they’re all sporting edgier looks with Alex going platinum blonde and Audry  going red head. I was able to listen to a rough version of Different Corners, not as catchy as their first single Red Heaven, but it’s more sophisticated and “mature”. 

I hope Cebu music stores will carry their album, although they’re signed under Warner Music, I had a difficulty finding their album. Good thing, someone gave one for me last Christmas 2010 and I’m looking forward that she’d send me a copy (I want to be the VERY FIRST among the fans) before it’s released in the market. 

Anyway, check out this really awesome music video produced by Cuervo Philippines. When I saw this, it totally sent me back to the time when I was just soo in love with the band. Once again, Alex was just oozing with appeal in this video. 

Can’t wait for their next Cebu gig.

I don’t know why this is going on but it’s been three days since I couldn’t sleep. I end up sleeping at 3AM and having to wake up before 8AM for work. It’s been a challenging week so far, with so many things to do and very little time left. With so many things to think about, but you don’t know which one to do first. The worse part is that I have been procrastinating and spacing out. My productivity sucks this week and I need to step up, or else I’m going to be dumped with too much workload.

Still I feel blessed cause the management is sending me to Boracay this Holy Week and lastly, because I have workmates that are awesome. Ms. Menchie, the liaison officer of our Sales director gave me 2 cute tops that she snagged during her thrift shopping. Great, since a few days ago our General Manager asked me to no longer wear T-shirts to work. 

I’ll be posting them as soon as I get it back from laundry. 

Okey, this is so random. I think I need to sleep. ZZZZ. 

Everyone’s back tomorrow, I predict a very busy Friday.

Most of you have heard about this foreign guy who claimed to have lived in the Philippines for more than a year, yet bothered to come up with a video stating why he dislikes the Philippines. Then, it spreads in social network sites where everyone throws in their 2 cents worth (including me), sharing and bashing, retweeting and demanding an apology….and it wasn’t too long when a politician decides to jump into the frenzy and portrays the hero… defending the bruised moral of everyone who was hurt by the truth that the video bravely showed to its audience.

Yes, the video is hurtful, most especially that it was shot in my city, who I and I’m sure majority of my readers, is very proud of. It was just unfair to us Cebuanos, that a guy who has lived in Cebu for the longest time, took his time, money and efforts in creating a video that showed the imperfection of my city (or my country), instead of focusing on the positive side of the city that has been good to him. (I presume that if he did stay here for more than a year, it could be because he was paid and treated well in this country, or else he could have moved to a different city… like maybe the cities in HIS home country) But it is but a waste of time, money and effort for a city councilor to pronounce this guy “persona non grata”, not to mention, the publicity and media mileage that he is getting from all forms of media (print, radio, tv and online). Good or bad publicity, is still publicity. I didn’t know him a few days ago, now everyone seems to know his first name, I don’t know with his last name since it’s too hard to pronounce. But why give him the attention, that he doesn’t really deserve? Don’t click or share, it’s like passing on a negative vibe for others to take.

Yes, it is a good wake up call especially to the government of Cebu City who’s willing to spend a lot on taxpayer’s money to beautify Cebu.  The things being pointed out by Mr. Sieczka, aside from making our parks look like the Plaza of the Spanish Era or make it look as pretty as Paris, suggesting the rerouting of public utility jeepney as to not pass the Fuente Circle, should be tackled and addressed first. 

Come to think of it, there are those who proclaim that they love the Philippines yet their actions are of the opposite. Learn to choose battles, if either it’s worthy or not. Focus on the solutions than bashing and hating those who we’re brave and maybe foolish enough to voice their opinions.  

Cebuano’s should just direct the energy and attention into a more positive news, like the voting of Cebu as one of the 7 new wonder cities. Let’s just move on and cut Mr. Sieczka’s 15 minutes of fame.

 And yes Mr. Sieczka, it is your legal right to express your opinions, but there are ways to practice it without having to disgrace or put a country in a bad light. Point is, you do not eat the arm of the hand who fed you or it will bite and at the same time kick you back in the ass.

Photos taken from Chuvaness.com

News broke out that Commissioner Cristy Ramos cried foul for sexual harassment against two members of the Philippine Azkals (Philippines’ National Football Team) during a team check-up before their game vs Malaysia. Read more about this here

The alleged parties, Moy and Guirado has expressed their dismay over the allegation through twitter with fans and loved ones, of both Azkals team members, defending the athletes and showing support.

Now, the controversy has spun into a “bigger” issue as GMA anchors Rhea Santos and Arnold Clavio released their two cents worth about the Ramos vs Moy, Guirado in one of their morning TV shows. Thanks to a simple click and share, Mr. Clavio received a lot of negative backlash about his statements, catapulting him as one of the trending topics of Twitter Philippines a few days back. Read more about it here. Now showbizlandia has stepped into the picture as this spin-off places the spotlight on celebrity Angel Locsin, rumored girlfriend of famous Azkal member Phil Younghusband.

In the Philippines, it inevitable to link one thing to another, now I’m wondering… will the issue of Ms. Ramos against some of the Azkals members be ever resolved? Now that spin-off issues, as I may call it, are starting to cover the original sexual harassment cry of  Commissioner Ramos. 

This is my take. 

It is NEVER easy to complain that you have been sexually harassed, especially in this country where double standards is strongly felt and practiced. Instead of being victims, most of these women are judged and are even blamed to be the reason why they were harassed.

I do not know Ms. Ramos but I am sure that she was brought up well by her parents to think of using the harassment issue to get attention of 15 minutes of fame. It was even foolish for some people on twitter who gave a comment that she was staging an “Amanda Coling”. 

True on untrue, it’s Ms. Ramos and the team’s word against each other. None of us will ever know the real truth, but one thing is for certain, there was a lack of RESPECT somewhere. Ms. Ramos has probably seen a lot of men in briefs in locker rooms, but for her to have felt uncomfortable during that instance, to the point of filing a formal complaint must give you an idea what really happened. It is her job, she has been doing that for probably years now but for her to cry foul makes me question the integrity of the Azkals’ statement. If you can’t respect the woman’s position, then respect her as a woman. We all make jokes and sometimes give them out with subliminal meanings, lesson learned for these men.

I’m hoping that the management of the Philippine Azkals has done action steps to discipline its members and take this incident as a reminder that women, regardless of age and or status, are highly regarded and respected in the Filipino culture. And nowadays, Filipina women already know how to speak up and refuse to be demoralized, in any way, by men. 

I am dismayed upon hearing of GMA Network’s official statement regarding the controversy that their top new anchors are in right now. I saw that comment by Arnold Clavio and Rhea Santos, and if the bright and intelligent people of GMA Network would carefully listen to the statements that they have aired on TV it was clear - the statements were malicious and slightly racist.

Yes, the constitution entitles us to voice out our own opinions but Ms. Santos, especially Mr. Clavio should have been more responsible with their use of words, even the tone in addressing his “concerns” and “opinions’ about some of the foreign blooded members of the Philippine Azkals. Clavio defended his statement, stating that he only gave his pov about the sexual harassment complaint filed by Ms. Ramos, but how does the statement “Hindi naman sila Pilipino e, nagkukunwari lang silang kayumanggi” relate to Ms. Ramos’ issue? Why would Rhea Santos say that these men are so used to women throwing themselves at them? Hasn’t Ms. Santos thought that she is, at the same time, degrading her own kind? 

Journalists in their caliber, should be more aware of the repercussions of irresponsible voicing out of personal and subjective opinions, most especially that they’re coursing it through a very powerful medium which is television. Viewers and people now a days are better educated, you cannot just lash out and when it backlashes do not take the responsibility, more so THINK that their opinions were not addressed to maliciously malign or embarrass the team and it’s management. 

GMA Network’s corporate communication and legal team should really think twice with whatever they release. I personally got turned off with the network and it’s news and current affairs team. 

I do hope everyone learns a thing or two about what happened. Let’s all move forward and discuss solutions and positive things. 

 Photos taken from Rappler.com and Spot.ph

I’m happy that this little blog of mine is starting to get attention from the blog reading community, and a testament to that is the invitation I received from Thirsty to attend their presscon. I was even more excited to know that they were sending me a tangible invitation. Got psyched cause Pia, asked for wanderingbarefoot and not the other site where I also share my insights about food. So thank you Thirsty! (Imagine me saying this feeling like I just won an award of something) hahaha

A Thirsty cup on top of an IPad. You’d have to pull the straw to reveal the details of the invite. Aliw!!!

Too bad wasn’t able to make it to the gathering cause of work but Pia was so nice to send me GCs so I can experience what’s new with Thirsty.

Thirsty was a brand that I grew up with and every now and then they add new varieties to their menu of refreshing beverages. 

Choose to be more adventurous this summer and try out Thirsty Mojo and Thirsty Rasta! Thirsty Mojo will tingle your tastebuds with the mix of sweet mangoes, fresh pomelo and the cooling taste of mint leaves. On the other hand, Thirsty Rasta will make you go YEAH MHEENN with its interesting mix of banana, coconut milk and cinnamon! (Yumm, I love cinnamon!)

And if you want to be the first few people to get a taste of Thirsty’s new summer drink duo, join Iluvcebu.com ‘s contest! Click HERE to join.

Excited?! wait… there’s more!

My healthy conscious friends will surely jump for joy with the even better Thirsty Fresh Fruit Salad! Why better? because you can now enjoy it with Nestle Fruit Selection yogurt! And who doesn’t love yogurt?!

Thirsty’s Fresh Fruit salad is a bowl of fresh mango, watermelon, apple, grapes, lychee, sweetcorn, buko and banana dressed with your choice of cream or Nestle yogurt. The better choice for health buffs and those who want to eat healthier.  You can enjoy your mix of fresh fruit in Small (65Php), Regular (80Php) and Large (90Php).

The good news doesn’t end here…

Did you know that you can now order your favorite fruit shake and ask the crew to add some Nestle Yogurt for FREE? yes foodies, for FREE! That’s health goodness without the extra cost! Great for those who want to shape up and save up.

Jump into the BBM bandwagon and get the chance to win a Blackberry by joining the Thirsty Photo Contest. See the deets below.

1. ENJOY Thirsty’s Fresh Fruit Salad (any size) with Nestle yogurt!
2. Take a PHOTO of yourself (or with friends) enjoying the salad
3. EMAIL your photo to pagesholdings@yahoo.com along with your 
complete name and contact number.
4. Your photo will be posted on facebook.com/ thirstyfruitjuicesandshakes, as
usual; the photo with the most LIKES will win!

• Promo period: February 29, 2012 – April 11, 2012

Getting an ipod has never been this easy! Log on to your twitter account follow Thirsty on twitter @ThirstyFresh and retweet this @ThirstyFresh I love THIRSTY’s fruit salad w/ nestle yogurt #032contest to bring home an ipod shuffle that perfect little gadget for music lovers. Log on to zerothreetwo.com

WHOA! Thirsty is on a roll with contests and new drinks for everyone to enjoy!

Wanna tell Thirsty what you think? email them at thirsty@pages.ph or visit their facebook page http://www.facebook.com/thirstyfruitjuicesandshakes

Photo credits: Iluvcebu.com

I think its healthy to insert a little bit of emotion in to this blog. The last time I did it was….. a few weeks ago but I had to delete it simply because I felt like it was appropriate to do so. 

Today, I’ll talk about how little by little things are unfolding for me. To understand more about my weakness and to know that I have strengths that I didn’t put much attention but others can see it.

I’ve always thought that I didn’t love myself, or at least didn’t love myself the way I thought I should thus I kept on saying… I cannot give what I don’t have. But I have love and sometimes, too much of it. I love myself because I ask for the best, I strive to take the best. I love myself because I am confident enough to be who I am, never afraid to state my opinion and most of all, love myself enough to be comfortable and secure of what I have become.

It is true, I think I’ve overlooked those traits. 

Some people might comment on how shallow the Kardashians are but watching the show taught me two things… you fight with people you love, you talk about it and you forgive. Lastly, to learn to never own something that you can’t afford to lose.

The same friend who told me about how I am loving myself without me knowing, said that God puts any relationship to a test because He uses it to make each person grow, with faith that they’ll make it through the difficulty. Those who do not fight, aren’t strong enough.

I also realize how stubborn I am and how I have this twisted notion of what love is. Maybe its because I’ve never been with someone before or maybe its something else, and that I’ll know when the right time comes.

Being real. We all pretend and we all lie, we wear masks and give impressions that sometimes do not reflect who we are but we are given people who can see through us, no matter how tall or thick our walls are. And when you find that person, keep it. Know the good ones because it doesn’t come all the time. Keep those who have been through the really bad times but choose to stay despite of. Don’t push them to walk away, don’t make them think that its better if they walked away. It is true, no man is an island. Everybody needs someone.

I also learned that when you care about someone, it means letting them figure it out themselves. And I do have a hard time with this but I have to try and apply it or I’ll end up suffocating and losing people. I’ve been reading descriptions about Virgos, how neat freaks they are, and I always thought that this didn’t apply to me but probably the term “neat freak” can also mean control freak.

And to end this blog post… earlier today, I was randomly called by our CEO and gave his thoughts about what I do and the possibilities that I can do. It’s nice to be in a company where your efforts are recognized. I love that I am given the opportunity to learn, think and trusted to make decisions of my own. 

Sometimes it’s not until someone is no longer in your life that you realise how they were really affecting you.

I love, love organizing photoshoots. 

Here are BTS shots of the shoot we did for our last campaign.

I don’t know why but i absolutely love this shot! =D

The team minus othe photographer Hub.

With Alex “Phatboy” Lim of Sonic Boom Philippines.

Pegs that I presented during one of the meetings.

Briefing while Mycke does Paolo’s hair 

Accessories by Stylist Kryz Uy + Fish18 + Loalde

with Kryz and Cattski 

With Janet

Photos: Hub Pacheco

Everyday is a new beginning, an opportunity to change your luck and life.

I’m thinking of how to make the introduction sound more forgiving for publishing an overdue post. I just had to wait for the awesome photos to give you guys a visual of how marvelous and gastronomical that night was.

Kung Hei Fat Choi! Marco Polo Plaza Hotel with Cafe Marco invited this writer to their Yee Sang Tossing Ceremony, a tradition that the hotel has been doing for several years. To open the Year of the Water Dragon, the hotel lined up activities to make sure that guests can start their Chinese New Year with a bang!

Cebu City Governor Gwen Garcia attended this year’s Yee Sang together with the Chinese community, and prominent men and women of business, media and society.

Yee Sang is a salad that is prepared and eaten during the Chinese New Year to bring in luck and abundance. The ingredients’ various colors represent the different forms of good fortune like wealth, prosperity, affluence, good health and many more. “Yee” means fish or prosperity and “Sang” means to toss or a new birth. Interesting right? But what’s most interesting is the taste of the dish.

Before the tossing of the Yee Sang, we were greeted and entertained by a Dragon dance, spectacular fireworks and an overflowing of refreshments like tea, cocktails and wine that was served by the hotel staff that were dressed in Cheongsam. 

Marco Polo Hotel’s General Manager Hans Hauri and Guest of Honor Gov. Gwen gave quick speeches, wishing guests and Cebu a prosperous year. The tossing of the salad came after.

The salad had pomelo, raddish, carrots and other mixes of fruits and vegtables with plum sauce and sesame oil.

I couldn’t describe the taste but I guess the salad is a metaphor of the different experiences that we go through life, the one that leads to success - sweet, salty, bitter, spicy and sometimes a mix of everything. 

Now, if this salad’s fashion sense would be described, it would probably be Avant-garde. In art, abstract.

That’s Cebu’s Lady Governor tossing coins in the air for wealth and prosperity.

I’ve always been fascinated by the Chinese culture and traditions, at some point I even wanted to become a Chinese so I was so delighted to have attended the gathering.

But why am I extra lucky that night? 

Because of this!!!!! =))))

After the event, we were served a scrumptious buffet at Cafe Marco introducing Culinary China.

Cafe Marco’s interiors were adorned with pretty cherry blossoms, chinese lamps and rich red interiors.

I sat with friends from social media and met the other guys from Marco Polo’s Marketing and PR department. 

Happy to found a friend from STC, Mayann during dinner. She’s one of the chefs behind the ahuummaazzzing Marco Polo Buffet. 

Now…. brace yourself as the next few photos will be total food porn. 

Cafe Marco’s salad and appetizer bar

Century Egg with Capsicum

Fresh Clams

Crab legs

Scallops

Oysters

Fresh seafood for you to enjoy -grilled, raw, baked - name it and the chefs will cook it for you. Mama Orly, Edd and the rest of the guys in our table enjoyed the baked oysters! Nomnom

Veggie and Ebi Tempura. Japanese favorites like Miso Soup, maki rolls, tempura and sashimi were also available.

Vegetable Lasagna - one of my favorites from their Italian selection. It’s heavenly!

Fried gound pork filling

Crispy fried chicken with chili and crispy rice

Braised pork belly with chilies

Braised Sea Cucumber Fish Lip with Chinese Greens

Guests and diners

Steamed Pork with Garlic

Steamed Fish Fillet with Black Beans

Cream Dory - so rich and thick, just the way I want it!

Steamed Lapu-lapu with Ham and Mushroom

Fried Garlic Shrimps

Cafe Marco highlighted their Chinese inspired dishes like peking duck, dimsum and yang chow and added some Chinese feel to the usual dishes. I am inlove with their pork siomai, one of the best that I’ve tasted.

Moving on to desserts….

I had crepe with mango, banana and apples  smothered with slight caramel sauce and topped with Vanilla Ice Cream. It’s crazy delicious, I had to to get seconds.

Buchi 

Rice Puffs

Lychee flavored Gelatin/Jellos

Fungi-e with Melon slices. (Gelatin guys, its gelatin) 

Cakes, Halo-halo, Gelatto and Chocolate fountain cakes were available for those who want their common desserts.

After dinner fortune cookies were distributed to see what luck awaits them.

Thanks to Marco Polo Hotel Cebu and Ms. Yumny of the E-Marketing Department for the invitation. Looking forward to the next year’s event.

Also do check out Cafe Marco’s Culinary Canada this month.

Oysters from Vancouver. Said to be the world’s best.

Zerothreetwo’s Carlo Villarica with Jaime Picornell of Phil. Daily Inquirer

Marco Polo’s Cake of the Month for March!

For more information about Marco Polo Hotel Cebu’s events visit:

www.marcopoloplazacebu.com 

http://www.facebook.com/marcopoloplazacebu

http://twitter.com/5StarInCebu

Photo Credits: Tina Cantos and Marco Polo FB page.