My Top 2019 Whatevers:
Wow Moment: Reaching 100k+ views for the blog. It took years, but considering that I barely update and don’t ever promote it, I somehow managed to reach that six-digit number is quite wow.
Heart Pumping: The night we went in Asylum Manila. I was with four friends and it was just us five with no lines since we arrived on a weekday at 11pm at a time when there was a typhoon in Manila. It was heart pumping more than scary because they have this way of disorienting your senses with lights and noises then suddenly they shock you with a sudden bang or movement. I ended up jumpy at the same time amused at how they managed to make us scream so much the whole time. It resulted to a lot of hilarious photos of us.
Unexpected: It was a surprise when my eldest brother announced he was getting married. Also, getting invited to do a segment on Umagang Kay Ganda.
Most Stressful: August was quite a tiring month for me. It was the month when I was simultaneously helping with my brother’s wedding in planning and coordination, at the same time making preparations and getting everything done as we were close to opening our third Chicken Studio branch in Parang, on top of preparing a 200 pax feeding program at our farm for my birthday celebration. I think I lost a couple of extra hair stands last August.
Most Annoying: A lot of miscommunication within the business. I guess that's part of the job and life of having to deal with a lot of people.
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| Clockwise from top: Our poultry farm, my franchise study for Chicken Studio, the original Nena's Rose in Manokan country is where I love eating inasal and oysters in Bacolod, Calea with some of my favorite dessert |
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| Cana Resort in Amlan where we stayed, the feast we ate in Manjuyod, and the Manjuyod sandbar birds-eye view using the drone that we brought |
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| Jaro Cathedral in Ilo-ilo, Ilo-ilo Museum of Contemporary Art, Lunch at Tatoy's |
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| Molocaboc island in Sagay |
Scariest: That night at Bali wherein I had to go through a lot of not-so-normal circumstances. Here’s the link to the long story: Scary Stuff: Part 5
Worst: This was the worst in a sense that this scared the living hell out of me. It was more horrible than what I experienced in Bali that it took several nights before I got to sleep soundly again. Seeing a ghost and feeling their presence is fine, but the moment they get to disturb and dominate over you, like physically bother you that’s when it’s no longer amusing. Last December 8, I was woken up from a nightmare. I was dreaming about a procession being done at night on some remote canal with people wearing brown robes holding candles, then at one point I heard a voice telling me that a little kid is being mischievous by blowing a strong wind at me hovering 100 feet above my head. I stared up and saw a winged shadow creature like a cherubim right above me. At one point the nightmare kept on as the wind got stronger until I found myself awake and feeling something blowing at the back of my head so strong that my hair was parting down to the scalp. I tried shooing the thing with my hand as I kept my eyes shut because I refused to get up even if I was already consciously awake. I turned on my face so that my right ear was covered by my pillow while my right ear was against the wall, and that’s when I knew it was no longer normal. I felt the thing blowing at my nape move right at my ear which was a few inches against the wall, and blew even stronger that it was bit deafening like the air was sounding similar to being in a car running at a 100kph. For several seconds it kept on blowing at my ear and in my head I knew it was no longer a normal situation and that I needed to open my eyes and risk seeing something really scary because I just wanted it to stop. I gathered the courage to open my eyes and shoved it back only to see that there was nothing there. I could still feel the cold tingle on my arms and head as I sat on my bed staring at an empty room, the air condition quietly buzzing at the back. I remember freaking out at how vulnerable my situation was to have been physically woken by something paranormal right in my room. I screamed in my head and mustered the to exclaim, "Get out!” just casting away whatever it was because I was pissed off on top of being agitated at what just happened. That was really bad, and I wish it never happens again.
Heartbreaking: When we found out that Yee Peng was located outside of the city and when we got to the bridge of the supposed location where to release the lantern there were people telling us that the releasing of the lanterns was the night when we arrived late and saw multitudes of lanterns floating at a distance, and on the night we thought we were going to experience that magical moment it was no longer allowed. The news felt like a bullet struck out the entire purpose of the trip. On the bright side, we did manage to let a few lanterns fly and see it fill the sky, though not as much as I imagined it to be.
Funniest: It wasn’t necessarily an appropriate venue where I experienced this year's funniest moment, but it cracks me up every time. We were at the wake of our uncle, my cousin, her husband, my brother and I went there together and stayed a bit longer when we found out there was going to be a mass held there. Right before the mass my cousin and her husband said that we should sit at the back of the chapel because we should leave the front pews for the direct members of the deceased, but then my brother decided to sit at the front row and present himself to the priest to be his assistant for the mass since he was a sacristan years back. Instead, the priest mistook his offer and gave him the booklet for the mass and assigned him to read the First Reading and Responsorial Psalm. To his horror it was written in tagalog, with words using those old poetic terms with syllables that can make your tongue stutter. Well…it turned out more horrible than I expected, I had to pretend I was coughing to stop myself from laughing at the way my brother read, he was like a three year-old learning how to read. What was supposed to be a two-minute read ended up twice as long on top of him skipping an entire paragraph because he couldn't take the embarrassment any longer. Our relatives were taking photos and video while all I could do was bite my lips to stop my giggling. At the end, just gave up and handed me the booklet to read the Responsorial Psalm because it was a pitiful situation for him. We were laughing at the end of the mass, and our cousins and uncles were commenting at how comedic a supposed solemn mass for our dead uncle turned out because of my brother. The priest was supposed to let him read again the prayers of the faithful and another novena but the son of our dead uncle stepped in to ease the unfortunate situation.
Most Fun: It's going on a day trip with two of my girl friends to Molocaboc island in Sagay. It's one of those spur of the moments wherein we just decided to go relax somewhere new. I was supposed to drive half-way while the other half was my friend, but then her mom was having none of it so she made us take her car with the driver and an assistant...and that was really fun to just explore a place with nothing to think about but just swim. We had so much fun considering that there were no other people but us, plus just the boatmen whom we asked to take us to the island. That was a wonderful way to start the year, and one that I wish I could get to do more often. Here's a link on that trip: Molocaboc
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| Chicken Studio South in Pacita, San Pedro Laguna |
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| Coordinating and event styling for a friend's wedding last March 2 |
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| Clockwise from top: Tres Leches and Blueberry Jubilee at M Bakery, Salted chocolate cake at Elephant Grounds, Brown sugar cheese foam at Black Scoop, Macapuno Halo-Halo at Ben's, Cereal Milk at Kumori |
Un-luckiest Moment: That moment I fell flat on my back after jumping down our steel counter. It’s been a while since I hurt myself like that, and it hurt bad everywhere…the only lucky thing about it is that no one saw me fall very badly
Stupidest: At the house of my friend’s brother, five of us came to see his newly finished house. On our way out, right after the house tour, his brother sat on the living room while our friend sneaked in the kitchen to scavenge his fridge. There he found an opened box that’s full of Toblerone. He started eating away one chocolate after another; he then called and showed us his find. All four of us were quick on our feet and started grabbing a whole bar each, to which his brother simply encouraged us to get as much as we want. Excited, we all bit into the sweet triangles, chomping down the odd-tasting Toblerone. After several bites, we started making comments like, “It tastes weird” or “It tastes different from the ones I buy,” then it went to “Maybe Toblerones from Japan tastes different” and “They must’ve used a different kind of nut!” Deep down I knew it tasted off; the first thing that came to mind that it was expired. I’ve eaten a lot of expired chocolates in my lifetime, and this was a taste that was all too familiar. I flipped the wrapper and saw the culprit, right on there was printed EXP JUNE 2017. It expired two years ago...and my friend's brother said it's fine...so we all spit it back inside the wrapper and returned the half-eaten chocolates in the box.
Regretful: It’s not really that regretful, on my part at least. Right after coordinating for a friend’s wedding, the team decided to hang out at CBTL, and while some went home for dinner, three of us stayed behind find a place for dinner because right across the cafe where we were sitting were blaring signs of Chinese restaurants. So, we were fixed on having noodles for dinner, but it was choosing which one that got us confused. After checking three places out, we decided to try this new-unfamiliar restaurant named Oriental Red Restaurant located on the second floor. The moment we entered we were greeted at the door, they had us seated and before we can open the menu they served us complementary side dishes. Immediately I realized we were the only locals eating there, and when we opened the menu we started giggling at each other. Page after page after page, everything was fiery red, if not on the photo, it is described as made out of chili. At one point, we had to ask, “Is there anything here that isn’t spicy?” The waitress gave us an apologetic look and said, “No, everything has chili. You can either have the medium spice or the authentic spice.” And so, for the whole duration of the meal, we were laughing at ourselves in pain as every bite was a spoonful of chili. Seriously, all our orders were floating in chili oil. BUT! In defense, the food was delicious, it’s just that the kind of spice that they used was the numbing kind that none of us managed to consume half of our serving.
Coolest: Riding at the back of the motorcycle down the mountain from Lempuyang Temple as the sun was setting down at a Mount Agung.
Heart Warming: When I saw my brother teary-eyed and smiling as he saw his bride walk down the aisle. I’m so happy for him.
Proudest Moment: That day when I received my share of income from the restaurant and realized that I had managed to reach my goal of earning more from my business over the high-paying job that I left so I could start Chicken Studio a little over a year ago.
Cutest: It’s my experience up-close with the elephants in Chiang Mai. It was the first time I got to touch, feed and embrace the beautiful giants. It was a real intimate encounter, to have a real interaction and not just watch them at a distance. I got all giddy when I saw baby elephant Lanna slowly made her way from the crowd to say hi. I was all smiles as I hugged her head even if it felt like I was sticking my body on a huge block to steel brush. The joy of the baby elephant’s gesture overcame the pain I was feeling of her tough hairs pricking at me.
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| Clockwise from top: Beef Tenderloin Tataki Style at La Mere Poulard, Salmon TNT at Tomatito, Chicken something at Oriental Red Restaurant, Mayonnaise Bun at Kumori Bakery, Tokusen 7 Sashimi Mori at Ogawa, Prosciutto pizza a Gino's Brick Oven Pizza |
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| Our mural painting for a friend's AirBnb in Pundaquit, Zambales |
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| Celebrating our friend's 30th birthday at San Rafael Rive Adventure in Bulacan |
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| Cafe and temple hopping plus food trip in Bali |
Most Mischievous: It was definitely pulling a prank on my employees for our Christmas party. My brother and I were paring down on the stuff we’ve accumulated through the years to declutter our place. Turns out one of the things we’ve been holding onto were the nice empty boxes of certain products such as liquor boxes and gadgets…so instead to throwing it out it the trash, we agreed to mess with our restaurant’s staff by getting their hopes high by using the boxes of our old phones that tallied up to 5 cellphone boxes, a whole lot of Jack Daniel’s and Johnny Walker boxes that thrilled the boys, plus random paper bags from exclusive shops. The game was like beer pong, except that instead of beer in cups it’s numbers that corresponds to a gift. People were jumping with excitement until it was time to open their prizes. To make it fun, everyone had to open their prize together, and so erupted a flurry of laughs when they saw the randomness of items inside the boxes. I placed bottles of oil, soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, juices, and whatnots, while inside the iPhone boxes were bouillon cubes and sachets of seasoning. It was hilarious as they were laughing at each other and one of the most fun pranks I did because they got the joke plus it was fair since no one was lucky enough to receive a proper prize and everyone’s hopes were equally crushed.
Wildest: It’s not that wild…it’s just learning how to ride and drive a motorcycle and then crashing at a tree stump and getting a huge bruise within the first five minutes of one riding solo…just because my friend who was instructing me how to ride didn’t teach me how to properly execute the breaks.
Most Challenging: Having to simultaneously plan and juggle a couple of life-events on dates that tend happen side-by-side.
Magical Moment: Doing the ritual at Tirta Empul Temple at 2AM with just the three of us in the temple.
Awe-Inspiring: I remember right after I had my first spine alignment, some sort of drug rushed through me that resulted to me producing four acrylic paintings within a week. It’s hard to get that inspired-grove back, making art one after the other with no pressure constraints.
Best Feeling: The first time I did an AP Balance to get my spine aligned...I had the best most well-rested sleep I had that night.
OMG Moment: At Choui Fong Tea Plantation...when I reached their viewing deck that had a cafe and souvenir shop and I saw at how beautifully laid out the tea plantation was, it was exactly as I imagined it to be. I remember being happy just by being there and looking at the landscape while drinking their tea. It's a sort of goal that I wish to someday achieve with the farm...but it won't be tea that I'll be planting...but the souvenir shop and cafe I can see it happening someday soon. Going to a beautiful tea farm has been a dream of mine for many years, but Taiwan's Maokong tea plantation failed me, and this was a nice redemption of tea farms for me.
Best Discovery: Adobe Premier…well, it’s actually learning how to use it. Fotogra, the picture book company that I’ve been using to print all my travel photos. KA.RA.DA. is this Japanese body therapy place that I’ve recently subscribed to fixing my back and do spine alignments on me.
Most Thankful For: The p2p buses that goes between Taguig and Makati, as well as Taguig and Ortigas.
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| My birthday party at the farm where I made Jollibee dance for me, plus my birthday cookie cake from Aperitif |
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| My brother's wedding. This is the first wedding for our family since we're really not into getting married early in life. |
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| Elephant Retirement Park in Chiang Mai, the Yee Peng Festival in Chiang Mai, Singha farm in Chiang Rai, Choui Fong tea farm in Chiang Rai |
Favorite 2019 Drink: Brown Sugar Cheese Foam by Black Scoop, Cereal Milk by Kumori, Es Daluman at Kuta, Hoegaarden Rosée, Mango Passionfruit Yogurt drink I get at a Chinese grocery with a blue plastic container
Favorite 2019 Food: Kwek kwek drowning in suka with lots and lots of cucumber and onion slices, Japanese-style soupy spaghetti, Nachos with lots of cheese and salsa, Sake flavored KitKat, Smoked fish, Prosciutto and Arugula combination, beef steak cooked to medium
Best Thing I Ate: Tomatito’s Salmon TNT, smoothie bowl at Nook, that street side Nasi Ayam at Ubud, Crispy Beancurd Sheet Rolls with Fresh Shrimps and Chives by Tuan Tuan
Favorite 2019 Dessert: Greek Yogurt with blueberry compote, Macapuno Halo-Halo by Ben’s, Black Sesame Crème Brulee by Gaja Korean Kitchen, Tres Leches by M Bakery, Salted Chocolate Cake by Elephant Grounds
Favorite 2019 Restaurant: Chicken Studio is my biased option, Wasshoi Japanese Restaurant in BGC, Antipodean Manila in Makati
Unforgettable Meal: The lunch feast I ate during my uncle’s birthday at our farm. It was the most I probably ate this year because I missed eating the food of my favorite cook tiyo Peing who has been the family’s cook since my grandfather’s time. He cooks the best paklay, kaldereta, and asado as it’s our family’s tradition to slaughter a goat on special occasions and have him cook the goat 3-ways. It’s his goat dishes that makes lechon or any other dish on the table seem second rate. Little did I know it would be the last time I got to eat his food as he recently died, just two weeks ago. His food is the taste of my childhood, and luckily he did show me his techniques and ingredients in the dishes that I so love…but it’s not gonna be the same because I want someone to do the cooking for me.
Weirdest Thing I Ate: The mayonnaise bun of Kumori Bakery. It was literally an entire soft bun filled with what seemed like half a cup of Japanese mayo. I couldn’t finish half of it.
Favorite 2019 Hang Out: I liked staying in random cafes around BGC.
Favorite 2019 Songs: Pange Lingua Gloriosi by Gregorian Chant, We Are by HAEVN, How Do You Sleep? by Sam Smith, Araw-Araw by Ben & Ben, Boxes and Squares and Rollercoasters by Tank And The Bangas, Into the Unknown both versions of Idina Menzel and Panic at the Disco, Show Yourself by Idina Menzel, Somebody to Love by OneRepublic, Presence by Brittany Howard
Favorite 2019 Movies: Aladdin because of how colorful it was, and a nice retelling of the animated version; Maleficent: Mistress of Evil…because of the world they created for the dark fey, and Angelina Jolie…the script annoyed me to no end though; Joker because of Joaquin Phoenix’s commendable performance and its captivating storytelling of a broken character; Frozen 2 is the only movie I watched twice in the cinema this year because I couldn’t get over it the first time around...okay, I'm a fan of Disney so most of the movies I watch in the cinemas are by Disney
Favorite 2019 People: Kristen Bell…ever since I saw her interview on Ellen where she had a sloth breakdown I became obsessed with her interviews because she’s too adorably precious yet at the same time has a good sense of being with the way she responds to questions. I love her interview on Armchair Expert with her husband Dax in particular, and most especially the game they played called Taste Buds on Ellen.
Will Be Most Missed in 2019: Eating the food cooked by tiyo Peing.
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| Chicken Studio Parang branch, Marikina |
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| Some of the paintings that I managed to get done. I love using metallic paint, hence the repetition of colors with copper and gold over black as my main themes. The one on the lower right is a screen shot of My Time at Portia that amused me for many hours this year. |
Achievement Unlocked this 2019:
1. Getting a UMID
2. Learning to drive a motorcycle
3. Riding a motorcycle…don’t ask, I was always scared of riding one
4. Stepping foot on Bali
5. Returning to a foreign country a second time (Thailand)
6. Creating a painting series
7. Opening two additional branches for Chicken Studio
8. Having my photos turned into a photo book, finally
9. Learn to edit videos on Adobe Premier
10. Hugging an elephant, a real one
11. Attending the Loy Krathong and Yee Peng festival
12. Adding more insect species into my food repertoire like grasshopper, silkworm, small cockroach, locust plus crocodile barbecue
13. Making a guest appearance on Umagang Kay Ganda. It's the not my first appearance on TV, but it's a first on ABS-CBN. Jessica Soho I'm coming for you!
2019 Realization: “I don’t like to think of it as giving back; I like to think of it as just giving.” –Mario Batali
It's the end of a decade. We'll be counting in 20's in a few hour's time.
Lesson Learned for 2019: 30’s is where better days await.
First Time Places I Went to this 2019: Bali, Indonesia
2020 Bucket List:
1. Every year, I’ll probably say this…I need to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
2. Paint more paintings.
3. Have all of my travels documented and printed as a photo book.
