Fiending for Sushi!

Sushis made in France 3
I stopped eating sushi around five years ago when I committed to low-carb dieting to bring my weight down. Sure I’d wolf down grams upon grams of tuna and salmon sashimi, but I stayed away from the rice rolls.

Since my weight’s now in the more manageable range, there’s no reason for me to enjoy these little nuggets of heaven. Three weeks ago was the first time the sushi craving struck really badly. I ended up in a Kitaro near our house and ordered their Crunchy Tuna Roll. It hit the spot momentarily, but that evening my parents and I found ourselves at Tempura Japanese Grill on Club Filipino Ave. in Greenhills, and we ordered the Caterpillar Roll (eel, mango, and cream cheese) — twice!

Today I was in Trinoma and came across Smairu (a Katakanization of “smile”, perhaps?) in the food choices area. On display at the sushi bar were packages of eight maki pieces each, priced at P88 per package. I bought the Hiroshima (salmon) and Bomb (spicy tuna) plates, and while they weren’t rolled as tightly as I prefer, it was still solid bang for the buck (pun intended).

Every time I look at restaurants’ sushi menus I’m surprised by the variety they offer. Back in the day I’d usually see only tuna (boring!) and california (I can’t eat crabstick) maki on menus. Now, with all of the choices available, I will definitely have more reason to eat sushi.

Itadakimasu!

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Quezon Province in Photos

On my trip last week to Quezon Province with the Living Asia Channel team, I took my sister’s digital SLR camera and managed to take some really great shots (so I think). I’ve uploaded the albums on Multiply so here are the links so you can enjoy!

Day 1; Day 2; Day 3; Day 4; Day 5; Day 6

And here are some of my favorite shots.

All Who Enter Have Entrance

another one for my collection of funny signs

my Converses on a basketball court

my Chucks on a colorful b-ball court

Kinabuhayan B&B at twilight

Kinabuhayan B&B; – one of my new favorite spots

Tomorrow

I thought it said “tomorrow”

Polillo Island, Quezon

a tidal pool on Polillo Island, Quezon

sunrise over the southern tip of Polillo Island

sunrise over Polillo Island, seen from a boat

Check out my travel blog, Trippin’ with Noelle De Guzman, to read up on my adventures in Quezon. And guess what? My travel blog got nominated for Best Blog in the Travel category at the Philippine Blog Awards!

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La Vida Living Asia: Quezon

Arrival

It’s almost ten o’clock and I’m typing this in the lobby of my hotel, Queen Margarette, in the city of Lucena. This is our first stop on our six-day tour of Quezon province and I’m so glad the hotel has WiFi (although it doesn’t extend into my room).

My room is a comfy “Superior” with two twin beds and cable TV. The room’s highlight is the tub in the bathroom. Yes, a TUB! The only drawback is no bubble bath mix, but it’s OK. At least I can get a soak to soothe my not-so-weary muscles.

I spent most of today lugging around my sister’s Nikon D-80 DSLR camera. She taught me how to use the shutter speed, f-stop, and ISO settings last night, and I have been experimenting with them. There’s nothing quite like getting one’s hands “dirty” (so to speak) when learning a new skill.

My favorite thing to do is turn up the aperture settings so the camera exposes a little longer. This gives a little more brightness to my photos. The places that are a dank and musty in actuality acquire a more cheerful tone.

sunlight shining through Tayabas Church’s domed ceiling

I also spent most of the day in my new and very first pair of Converse Chucks (the hi-cut kind, too). This trip is going to involve hikes, and these shoes came in handy when it was time to climb the 200-plus (or 300-plus, depending on which side you ascend) steps up the Kamay ni Hesus site in Lucban.

Now if only I could figure out a way to see what I’m photographing behind me when I turn the camera on myself…

Rain, Rain, Go Away
I was up before the crack of dawn (4:30am to be exact) and we soon were on our way to the heritage houses of Sariaya.

Sights at Sariaya Church

The day was overcast so everything took on a grayish tone, but I managed to find the white balance setting on “Olsen” (Marielle’s D-80) and was able to take some shots of the Marquez ancestral house. It hasn’t been lived in for a while, and it definitely shows — but what an interesting subject that made it.

Marquez ancestral house in Sariaya

I also found the black-and-white setting on the camera, which was perfect for capturing the dark disappointment I felt when I had to rush back to our van to avoid getting pelted by the drizzle that cut short our shoot of the houses. But when the rain clouds lifted, so did our mood.

the obligatory vanity shots

 My favorite part of the day happened in the evening, as our hosts at the Kinabuhayan Bed & Breakfast served us a gourmet dinner with meaty conversation on the side, both courtesy of production designer-turned-resident chef Jay Herrera. The B&B, according to Jay, has a rustic, earthy, unpretentious feel to it, and I agree. There’s also a sort of bohemian wildness to the place: even though it is well-tended, plants are allowed a little bit of overgrowth and their animals (dogs, pig, chickens) have the run of the place. It’s like Sonia’s Garden, but a little smaller and less tamed.

Dinner at the Kinabuhayan Bed & Breakfast

Jay would have liked us to stay, and I would have allowed him to talk my head off, but we had already made arrangements to check in at the Silangang Nayon resort. Situated in Pagbilao, Silangang Nayon would be the perfect jump-off point for our destinations on Day 3: the Quezon National Forest Park, Pinagbanderahan, and the second-largest mangrove plantation in the world.

She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round the Mountain
“If a tree falls in the forest and no one can hear it, does it make a sound?”

For me, the thought became, “If I fall in the forest and no one can hear me, does it mean I’m done for?”

About 45 minutes before that came into my head, I had just started out on the two-kilometer trail up Mount Pinagbanderahan (elevation 1,600 feet above sea level). The cemented footpath was rising but level, and there were hand rails on each side. I thought, “Easy as pie!”

a tree in a forest in Atimonan

But soon the footpath disappeared entirely, and we had to follow our guides up and down the slope using roots and rocks as footholds, and vines as handholds. It probably was like following mountain goats: our guides were nimble and quick on their feet while I felt heavy and clumsy. Soon, I was sweating as if I had just taught two hours of BODYJAM.

Victory! We made it! (barely)

Setting foot at the peak, however, enabled us to see a 360-degree view of Quezon, from the waters of Tayabas Bay in the South China Sea all the way to Lamon Bay in the Pacific Ocean (Quezon is on the isthmus separating the two bodies of water). We also saw the strange limestone mountains of which Pinagbanderahan is only one.

limestone mountains

Pinagbanderahan is in Atimonan, but within the boundaries of the Quezon National Park. As we headed down to lower elevations we passed through the Eme (letter M), a set of hairpin curves down the mountains.

Eme Road, Quezon National Forest Park

That’s probably the last time in a while i’ll be heading for that peak, but what an experience. I kind of regret saying the following words to myself: “why do you climb the mountain? Because it’s there. Why do you come down from the mountain? Because there’s nothing there.”

There was something there. We were there.

The Island
Quezon is a massive province, stretching across the eastern coast of Luzon. It also encompasses the island of Polillo in the Pacific Ocean — and that was our final destination in Quezon.

To get to Polillo from mainland Quezon, we had to take a boat from the port of Real. The funny thing about the road system is that to get from the southern part (where the cities of Lucena and Lucban are) to the northern part (where Real is), we had to leave Quezon and pass through the neighboring province of Laguna.

I thought it said “Tomorrow”

From Real it’s a long boat ride to Polillo: about an hour and 45 minutes long. We docked at the port of Polillo, and from then on it was a crazy cowboy adventure off the beaten track, not all of it happy or pleasant.

The photos and video we took were beautiful, but oh what we went through for just one shot.

We make this look easy.

I still can’t talk about it in detail because a lot of it is unbloggable (and quite frankly, traumatic), but just to give you a taste of what I went through…

My crew and I were sent to film an island off the southern tip of Polillo, called Balesin. In its heyday, it was a private members-only resort with a white sand beach said to rival that of Boracay.

shots from the boat to Balesin

Unfortunately its heyday was back in the 1960’s — but nobody had bothered to inform Quezon’s tourism office. So, we were expecting something magnificent, only to come upon decrepit cottages, overgrown golf course, and a debris-strewn beach that were just unsuitable for filming.

a Tree got washed up on the shore

The worst part about it was the 8-hour round trip boat ride, where I had to be in a boat with 11 men. I was the only woman. So even though it was nearing midday on the ride back, I sat on the roof of the cabin just to get away from all those men.

I sunbathed on the roof.

By the way, while we were in Polillo, the island came under red alert because the New People’s Army were supposedly about to invade the island. Even worse, the NPA already knew there were some media people (us) on the island. I had fears that what happened to Ces Drilon might happen to us, even though we’re not exactly mainstream big media and the NPA don’t hold people for ransom — they just demand a “revolutionary tax”.

Anyway, we came out unharmed and have some pretty nice pictures. There were also some lighthearted moments among my crew, and I guess that’s what pulled us through: our camaraderie, and willingness just to laugh things off.

the brothers from another mother: videographer Oying and driver Japs

But next time I go to Quezon, I’ll probably stick to the paths well-traveled. Polillo needs a bit more developing before I return.

From Quezon City to Quezon Province

Hey everyone! I have some great news. In the coming week I’ll be on another writing assignment with Living Asia Channel that will take me to the beautiful province of Quezon. I’ll see some old churches, new infrastructure, have a go at some eco-tourism, and best of all sample their specialty dishes!

I’m sure I’ll have some fantastic stories to tell afterwards. I’m really excited since it’s my first trip out with them in six months! See you later.

I’m up to something big!

Frozen Moment

Freeze-frame. The subjects of the photo, the situation, the surroundings are all frozen at that moment in time, crystal-clear (if your photographer has a decent hand), in color or in b&w;, for people to see for posterity — or at least until someone decides to destroy the original and all copies. Ü

I have a whole folder of photos in my 6-gigabyte flash drive; they are of events, places, and people I’ve encountered over just this year. Yet another folder is in a removable hard drive taking up about 4 gigabytes of space — and that’s just for photos of the past three years. The rest of the photos from my twenty-something years resides in drawers and boxes in my house.

Just last month I hit 1,000 tagged photos of myself on Facebook. My uncle tells me I need help, haha, but I love posting photos because time in its tyranny flows ever forward. Photographs are my only way, aside from (faulty) memory to assure myself that certain things happened, that certain people were in my life.

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Television Across the Nation

Since my day’s schedule is so strange, I’m usually not around a television when it’s primetime. And even when I am home, I don’t know what’s on TV unless I happen to be flipping past a station and the program catches my eye.

Regardless, I do love TV shows, so I compensate for not watching weekly by buying whole seasons of my favorite shows and doing marathons. Right now I’m watching Kyle XY season 1. The DVD has been sitting atop my player for five months, but this is the first time I’ve sat down with it.

The backstory reminds me of John Doe, about a man with no memory of who he is or where he’s from, but apparently knows everything else there is to know in the world. (That show lasted one season.) However, Kyle has the lead character waking up with no memory whatsoever, but with superhuman mental and physical capabilities. Of course the show deals with this mystery, but the target audience is younger and of course the characters all have their own thing happening as well.

OK, that’s all for now; the DVD player is calling me. The best thing about watching series on DVD is you can always fast-forward through any uninteresting bits.

And something to make you feel like dancing, since the song has “television” in its lyrics. Ü

http://media.imeem.com/m/80UPHYbB9_/aus=false/

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“I Letter to You”

It’s amazing sometimes the things people leave behind. I found the following letter lying on the street. Or maybe I didn’t. Anyway, I didn’t write it, and here it is in its entirety, including punctuation, syntax, and spelling. I added paragraph spacing to make it easier to read — if you can get past several major obstacles *cough cough*.

Dear,

Hi How are you? I hope before you accep my letter nasa good condation ka at good mood… By the way, before anything el’s I woul’d like to great to your circle family relative’s and mos’t specialy to you.

Actualy I letter to you because I have importan’t matter and I hope you under’stan’d me. Tao lang ako. No man is infallible.. at isa ako jan. Aminen ko I mad a mistake. 4R relation shef. Piro alam mo kong anu ang dahilan f nagkaganito… Before begin relationshep… You cannot trus’t me. Mahirap yon para sakin. I know jealousy is the cause of trouble. Diba. Piro hinde yan maiwasan..

Minahal kita I know you diba… Piro date yon. Hinde na ngayon. Because I cannot comprehen’d you’r klay’s… Dati tuweng nag uusap tayo. Sinasabihan mo ako. Bakit ganon ka. Alam mo I can’t make out what u mean’s. Date but now I realize… gusto mo palang malambeng ako sayo. Sory kong ganon ang pinapakita ko sayo non piro kahet papano minahal din kita… Piro alam mo I was pining for the gone by day’s.. mga hapening natin…

Actualy my answer to your question me… I don’t know anything concering that matter. Plz don’t misunder’stan’d me.. Alam mo. Pari pareho lang naman tayo it is easy to be a man but it is difficul’t to be real man…

I’m sosory ha.. Alam kong andito ka parin sa puso ko. But I cannot analyze the problem me… Kaya nag kaganito… I understand naman… Dati tinatanong mo sakin.. what is your belief about love… Answer to your question.. love is spor’t.. Like anything.

But I realize.. I mad ah mistake 4r answering you. Because. Love is very importan’t all woman…

[unsigned]

Um… It’s like the culmination of all the funny signs I see in the metro!

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Audition Me

Not many of you know that I auditioned for a lot of different things this year. Amazing Race Asia 3, a hosting gig for Ube Media, Survivor Philippines (in a private casting call at GMA7, no less) …

http://images.multiply.com/multiply/multv.swf

…None of which I got a callback for. Haha. But in true bullheadedness I went to two auditions the past week. The first one was casting hosts for a Studio 23 lifestyle show catering to a “high-end market” (their words). So I was told to come dressed for cocktails and bring a set card and portfolio.

I said, “PORTFOLIO?!” Well, thankfully it wasn’t really a requirement, but when I got there I was confronted with the sight of a dozen women and half a dozen men — all commercial/print models — bearing “black books” of their most attractive photographs (and maybe collaterals of their ads). Some of them were even familiar-looking.

Anyway, I got through the audition process, which was my first for a major TV network. Maybe I was reaching a bit too high for my first time out, but at least it’s toughening me for further rejections along the way. Ü

Well, tough enough to handle not getting a callback for another audition I went to, this time for Globe Telecom. We were asked to say, “Bakit ba?” (Why?) using different emotions. I waited three hours just to say that in front of a video camera five times.

Though tortuous, these auditions are actually a lot of fun, particularly when you start observing the kinds of people that go there. (Yes, I know I can be put under the same scrutiny.) There are those who dress scantily and skankily to get noticed. Then when it’s a casting for specific roles, everyone who comes in has the same look about them. Coming from an outsider’s perspective, it’s all pretty funny and surreal.

Can’t wait to do it again!

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The Incredible Shrinking Woman

I took a tape measure to myself this morning, despite last Saturday’s binge with friends which took us from Banapple to Dairy Queen to Mexicali and finally to Starbucks. To my surprise I measured vital stats of 33-26-33. The last time I took my measurements, I was at 34-27-35. For someone who’s been in the Battle of the Bulge for the past six years — in active combat, so to speak, for the last two years — it’s big news. Well, never mind that it spells trouble for the “twin peaks” (I still have enough, and at least my hips are the same measurement).

Thing is, I haven’t even been trying particularly hard. I have, however, started to internalize my job as a group exercise instructor more. Les Mills‘s push this year is all about fighting “globesity”; its instructors are “warriors” in the battle against sedentary lifestyle. This quarter’s launches have really challenged my fitness, and in the build-up to the launches I had to be wiser about food choices and lifestyle so that I could look the part.

transition to Warrior 1
Work 'Em Hips!

Side Planks
Dancing, Rocker-style

I told a friend today, “Do what you need to do to perform well. If you get smaller, but you’re still healthy, that’s OK.”

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