Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Binondo Food Wok Part 2: Walk? Wok?



I divided the Food Wok Tour into four, Walk, Food, Temple, and Friendship. This was a walk to remember indeed. Let's begin at the Welcome to Binondo (Chinatown) sign. As we enter, we were surprised by a dragon dance and more surprised by the things we met while walking. We went from one establishment to another establishment by just walking. Here are the charms and lucky finds we bumped into while Binondo hopping:


















Whoa! RED! RED! RED!

To be continued...

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Binondo Food Wok Part 1: Intro to Dong Ho's Invitation



I was one of the chosen ones of Dom of Dong Ho's Eskapo to join the fun DIY food walking tour at Binondo. I told him I haven't really gone to Binondo, and I haven't really, that's why I joined his contest.

It's been almost a month and a half after our exploration of Chinatown District in Manila and still I heard some bloggers during blog events that they envy those who joined the food trip with Dong Ho. I gladly raise my hand and say, "I'm one of the trippers. I'm not known in the blogosphere. And I think that's why they don't recognize me on Dong Ho's Binondo Food Wok Series, hehe.



As an introduction to my own version of the series, Archie and I went to Manila Post Office, as our meeting place for the said tour. We met Dom, Doc Gelo, Cher, Chyng and Josh. Dom told us why he chose us and then he gave each one of us the Big Binondo Food Wok Map, the ultimate food and culture guide to Chinatown.



And then the journey starts at the second post...



To be continued...

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Secrets of the Masters Taping

This was really my dream... to be seen on national T.V. (as a live audience though). My childhood dream came try as we guested last January 27 at Secrets of the Masters (SOTM), Channel Q11.



Two days after the announcement of winners at wmn.ph to get passes to SOTM, Ms. Digna Basilio and I were accompanied by Ms. Karyl Coseto, a wmn.ph writer, to go to Studio 3 of GMA Network, home of the Secrets of the Masters. Call time is 11:30 so we were there at 10:30.



Ms. Karyl showed to us first the dressing room of Ms. Issa Litton and gladly we met her there and took some pictures with her. She's so nice and so pretty. She looks like she hasn't given birth because she's so slim. Then it's time for her to dress up so we proceeded to SOTM's set.



The set is really different from what you see on T.V. Aside from the super big cameras and yellow and white lights, I am really amazed how the set looks bigger on T.V. but actually it was not.



As 11:30 is fast approaching, I still feel very excited. And then here comes the audience briefing. We were taught how to clap, when to stand, told to be quite while the camera is rolling, and not to flash on cameras. It's okay to take pictures inside as long as you don't use flash. And the fan part is, they taught us how to appreciate the food. How? Once the food is served, DIG IN! Remember, there are cameras all over, they are looking at you. Camera men love the ones who has big bites. Among the audience were HRM students from Batangas and some bloggers.




After a few minutes, Issa Litton entered the set, practiced her lines at the same time. And then 1, 2, 3, ACTION! It's funny because my heart's beating fast (as if I'm the host, hahaha). She's good in delivering he lines. Ms. Issa Litton, then introduced the chefs for the day, Ms. Penk Ching and her sister, Ms. Shen Ratilla. But before they actually started, the floor director said we should have lunch first and then keep the ball rollin'. Lunch is free, guys!



And then commercial, clap, and ready? ACTION again! The sister chefs started making their first Valentine treat, the Rubik's Cube Cake. Picture speaks louder than words.



And like in the other SOTM episodes, Issa Litton's famous lines goes, "Bring out the food and feed the audience!" Now, this is when we practice that big bite, huh? But surely you will really munch on it because it's yummy.





After the taste test part, I thought we'll proceed on the next pastry (excited for another one), but we didn't. The floor director and the camera men call the next part as "food shot". Now, I remember! If you watch SOTM, before the commercial break, you can see a close up shoot of the food. Ahh, this is it!



Here are the other mouthwatering creations of the pastry chefs:

Lemon Heart-Shaped Cake


Sweet Pizza Dessert


Yin Yang Cupcakes



Valentine Card


All of the goodies surely satisfy our sweet tooth, but the most splendid sweetie for me is the Yin Yang Cupcakes, perfect bite. But of course, we didn't eat the Valentine Cards (it's only for decoration).

I really had a great time at the show, and still amazed how a 45-minute show will be shoot for hours (almost four hours). After the taping, we had pictures taken with Penk Ching, Shen Ratilla and Issa Litton and of course took pictures at the set. Pack up na, guys!








Oops, I'm not yet finish! We still have an interview with Ms. Karyl Coseto and the wmn.ph editor about the experience we had at Secrets of the Masters. This was totally a different kind of experience. And now I can say that I now know the SECRETS behind SECRETS OF THE MASTERS.


WEBSITE: wmn.ph

Photo Credits: Digna Basilio
May Ann Saturno
wmn.ph

Monday, March 15, 2010

Garnier Guide: Review



The Garnier Light Face Routine Guide for Beginners

I have no one to ask when it was my first time to use beauty products on my face, so I really try to read over the labels. For starters, don't worry because I will share to you what I've read.

STEP 1: Cleanse your face with Garnier Light Clarifying Foam.
STEP 2: Hydrate skin before moisturizing with Garnier Light Milky Lightening Toner.
STEP 3: Moisturize with Garnier Light Whiten & Protect Moisturizing Cream SPF 15.


GARNIER LIGHT CLARIFYING FOAM
What's Chic?
*Clears impurities and make-up
*Clarifies skin
What's Cheap?
25 mL - P45
50 mL - P79
100 mL - P129

GARNIER LIGHT MILK LIGHTENING TONER
What's Chic?

*Lightens and smoothes skin
What's Cheap?
150 mL - P169

GARNIER LIGHT WHITEN & PROTECT MOISTURIZING CREAM SPF 15
What's Chic?

*Anti dark spots
*Lightens up skin tone
What's Cheap?
8 mL - P19
20 mL - P79
50 mL - P299

Other Garnier Products:



WEBSITE: www.rollinbrightness.com
Become a Fan: Garnier Philippines

*I won from a contest on their website, so I was able to share the product guide to you guys!*

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Winning Piece: WMN.PH - My Food Photo Entry

What's Chic?

This photo and essay served as my passes to get two tickets to Q 11's Secrets of the Masters taping.



The contest mechanics is to show a photo of you and the recipe that you've made that came from wmn.ph's food section. I also wrote a short description for my entry.

January 25th, Ms. Digna Basilio and I were announced as the promo winners at the wmn.ph page.

He're the screenshot of the photo article on wmn.ph.



And here is the article from wmn.ph:

Congratulations to Digna Basilio and May Ann Saturno for winning two tickets each to the Secrets of the Masters show! They each cooked up a yummy dish from the WMN recipe archives, and sent us a picture and a testimonial about their experience making their respective dishes.

Check out their winning entries below:

May Ann made delicious Corned Tuna Pizza as part of her resolution to cook more in 2010. See how her pizza turned out:

"Corned Tuna Pizza is the second dish that I've cooked for this year. Learning how to cook is one of my 2010 resolutions, so I was really happy to come up with this tasty dish. I didn't have olives so I substituted them with pineapple tidbits. This dish was really easy. I finished making the pizza in less than 20 minutes, but finished eating it in just a minute or two!"


Click here for more details on the article: http://www.wmn.ph/article/1141/two-wmn-readers-will-watch-secrets-of-the-masters-live

What's Cheap?

The two of us got two passes each to watch Secrets of the Masters. And what's really cool is I saw myself on wmn.ph website!



Watch out for my next post about our guesting in Secrets of the Masters.


WEBSITE: WMN.PH