Pan de Sal

Nothing brings me back home like the scent of freshly baked pan de sal (bread rolls).

As a kid, I remember pan de sal in brown paper bags delivered to our door step every morning. I lived in my grandparents’ house – with my mom and dad, 3 siblings, 4 uncles, 5 aunts and 11 cousins. It was a busy household and I knew that if I wanted to secure my hot pan de sal for breakfast, I had better get to that door step first.

Pan de sal literally translates to “bread of salt.” It is soft in the inside, crusty on the outside and leaves a lot of crumbs on your plate after eating.

I like my pan de sal warmed up with peanut butter. But you can eat it any way you want. It can be toasted with butter and jam. It can be a substitute for rice. You can put anything in it (including ice cream) and call it a sandwich. You can dip it in hot chocolate, wipe any kind of sauce off your plate with it or just eat it by itself. That’s how good and versatile these little buns are! They are the staple at any Filipino breakfast table. But you’ll also find them at special occasions like Noche Buena (literally “Good Night”), the most celebrated traditional family dinner on Christmas Eve.

Living in Vancouver with my partner and Ponkan (my 12-year old pug-pomeranian princess), I no longer have to race to get to my favourite breakfast bun first. But it doesn’t just land on my door step either.

The other day my partner was craving for pan de sal, so I went to our local Filipino store “Aling Mary’s” at the corner of Main St. and 11th Avenue. The moment I got out of the car in front of the store, I was greeted by that familiar, sweet and distinct aroma. It was almost hypnotizing… and for a brief moment, I was home.

$3.50 a dozen

a little piece of home

A lean and mean all-Asian women production team!

I shot POW (“Powerful Out Women: On the Campaign Trail”), on and off, for a period of three years. It was not the easiest thing to do… following three extremely busy and active politicians around Vancouver. Filming them on “regular” days was tough enough. Running around with them during an election campaign was a thrill ride!

What a privilege it was to witness Libby, Mable and Ellen in action at the federal, provincial and municipal elections. And what a pleasure to sit down with them (and their partners) for an interview last December to cap three years of filming.

With my Director of Photography, Jennifer Lee, and production assistant, Kim Ngo, we officially wrapped production just before Christmas last year.

Post-production took place first quarter of 2012. Over 60 hours of footage were distilled into a 22-minute documentary. Fun! We’re down to the finishing touches and getting ready for our World Premiere in the summer of 2012. Stay tuned for details!

Meantime, click here to watch the POW trailer.

Mic test... 1-2-3...

Director of Photography Jennifer Lee

Quiet on set...

Rolling!

Ellen Woodsworth, 2-term Vancouver City Councillor

Libby Davies, MP for Vancouver East

Mable Elmore, MLA for Vancouver Kensington

Thai House in North Vancouver

Had a wonderful photoshoot this week. I packed up my gear and headed out first to Thai House in North Vancouver and then to Urban Thai Bistro in Yaletown. It was food photography on-location!

Thanks to the accommodation of restaurant owner Desmond Chen and his great staff, I took pictures of some of my favourite Thai dishes. They just kept coming. One dish after another. Each one looking more appetizing than the one prior. The only challenge I had with this assignment was fighting the urge to pick on my “models.”

Beautiful “subjects” in a beautiful “studio!” And the best part? I got to take some of them home. Yummy!

Appetizer Tray

Butterfly Prawns

Fresh Spring Roll

Crispy Wanton

Urban Thai Bistro in Yaletown

Thai House in North Vancouver

Crab in Garlic Butter Sauce

Tiger Prawns and Scallops in Yellow Curry

Chicken Satay

Papaya Salad

Chicken Curry Noodle

Thai House in North Vancouver

I worked in a food photography studio in San Francisco for over a year. I learned that, like anything else, making food look good on camera takes a lot of time and effort. Much of the action takes place in the kitchen, as in the studio. After very careful food preparation, it’s one part lighting, one part styling and voila… looks good enough to eat!

These images however did not require much food prep, as you can see. First of all, I don’t cook. And if by some stroke of inspiration, I decide to chop up some veggies and throw them in a pan, the resulting dish finds its way into my digestive system faster than I can set up my tripod.

I do love food… the beauty and the taste of it.

Fastfood

The Spoon

Pasta Curls

ChowTime

Orange Splash

Ice Water

Vitamin Water

Enjoy the fine weather while we have it!

Totem Poles in Stanley Park

Steamclock in Gastown

Harbour Centre in Downtown Vancouver

Gastown

Steamclock

Gassy Jack

Chinatown

Canada Place

Downtown Vancouver by Night

My insane PPV family!

If there was a group like PPV while I was growing up, then coming out and living as a gay woman would have been so much easier.

Pinoy Pride Vancouver, or PPV as we call it, is a community group for Filipino-Canadian LGBTQs, families, friends and supporters. While not all members of the group are gay, everyone IS gay-friendly. I’ve always felt warm and welcomed in the company of my PPV family. It’s an environment where I feel completely safe to be me.

In the past year, PPV has organized parties and events that gave the Filipino-Canadian LGBTQ a strong presence in the community. No longer hiding in the closet, trying to blend in, or worse, pretending we are who we are not, PPV has given us a strong and proud voice.

I know what it’s like to live in the closet. I grew up in a conservative and largely Catholic society. But when I moved to North America in 2004, just a few months shy of my 34th birthday, I discovered what it was like to FINALLY come out. For the first time in my life… I could breath.

This one is calling me.

For a woman who doesn’t own a single dress, you can imagine what a treat it was for me to photograph 52 exquisite and one-of-a-kind shimmering gowns.

These are no ordinary dresses, mind you. These are dresses… for men! Yes, you read that right. Dresses specifically designed and created for female impersonators, female illusionists and transgendered people. It’s about time!

Walk This Sway is couture for the man who loves it! Whatever the occasion, there’s a dress for it. Whatever your body type, there’s a dress for you!

Check out the online store or make an appointment to visit the studio in Vancouver. Not only are you guaranteed to find the dress that fits you, you will also be treated like the queen that you are.

And if my dear friend, Kevin (creator of Walk This Sway), can teach me how to walk in heels… I might soon find my first dress here!

With Josh Vander Vies and his family, Dalia and Karolis.

It was an evening I will never forget.

After wandering about the gi-normous University of Southern California (USC) campus with our map and GPS, my partner, high school buddies and I reached our destination. The pillars, the fountain, the courtyard – it was like entering another world. And why not? It was the USC School of Cinematic Arts. With the Steven Spielberg Building on the right and the George Lucas Building on the left, you cannot get more “cinematic” than this.

This was the site of the 7th annual My Hero International Film Festival. It’s an online film festival that celebrates the best of humanity using the power of film/video technology. My Hero recognizes films that inspire hope and honours the “heroes” who work to make this world a better place. This year, my short film “Josh” was one of them.

“Josh” – 1st place winner for Heroic Individual – was screened that afternoon to a most appreciative audience. With the theatre’s state-of-the-art equipment, it was like watching the film for the first time. Josh and his family (Dalia and Karolis) made it out to the screening, as well. For me, watching the film with my dearest friends on the big screen and hearing people’s reaction to it were priceless!

The screening was followed by a meet-and-greet cocktail party, an awarding ceremony and a dinner reception. It was an evening filled with inspiring stories and incredible heroes. What an honour to be part of this “movement!”

Halloween 2010: Zorro, Elena and the Bat Girls

I never used to dress up for Halloween. I was the one to stay home and give out candies by the door. As an adult, with no kids to shepherd round the neighborhood, I was happy just to see big and little kids whiz by in their creative costumes.

But the past couple of years, I’ve decided to dress up and celebrate Halloween, not so much to party and win prizes, but to mark the day I met my partner three years ago now. No, we were not wearing masks when we met. We played ourselves that night, and have since been learning more about each other.

This year’s post-Halloween party hosted by Pinoy Pride Vancouver at Numbers Cabaret was particularly fun. It was an evening of divas and goblins and everything in between. It was the first time I dressed in drag… drag king, that is. And all I had to do was raid my honey’s closet.

Happy Halloween!

It was my junior year in high school (some 20 odd years ago) when I was first introduced and immediately fell in love with the stage. I can never get over the thrill of live performances and the instant gratification from a live audience. And while it was never a practical option for me to pursue a career in theatre, I would always come back to it as a die-hard fan.

So, when the opportunity came for me to be part of a theatre production again, even for just a couple of hours, you bet I grabbed it. And it was just as fun as I remember. There really is nothing like the world of “play.”

“Supernatural Noir” opens in Vancouver on October 28th at the Waterfront Theatre in Granville Island. This murder mystery chamber operetta is written by Kico Gonzalez-Risso, with music composed by Cameron Wilson. The show stars Matt Palmer as Slim Diggins, Melanie Adams as Margot McGillen, Laura Di Cicco as Ronnie Bouvet and Alex McMorran as Corbett MacPhee.