One of the best things I like about my job is that I get to meet a wide variety of people who I might otherwise have not come across in real life. They don't have to be celebrities. Some of my best interviewees were 'regular' folks, like the grandmother who talked about how she stepped out of the house carrying her son in the middle of WW II, only to have a stray bullet hit the boy in the head and the interracial couple who regaled me with stories of their courtship.

Another great thing that I love about my job is having the opportunity to experience things I would normally not have access to, like the time I rode around Binondo on top of a fire truck even though there was no fire. And then there is the Carnation Family Food Trip, where a bunch of people, some press, some food bloggers, enthusiastic eaters all, were taken on a food tour of the north. The event was hosted by Apetite Magazine, in cooperation with -- surprise -- Carnation milk -- and the point of the two day trip was to eat, eat and eat, then eat again.

Up, up and away!

Our day started at 5am, where we all met up in Ortigas and had a fast food breakfast before boarding a bus and making our journey up North. I went with Luis Katigbak, who writes two columns for Manila Bulletin (one on guy stuff, out every Wednesday and one on music, out every Saturday). We made new friends over breakfast. There was Vanessa Balagapo from Expat, Christine Nunag from the food blog 100poundfoodie.com and Dexter Matilla of the Inquirer. I also finally got to meet Annie Nisce of Appetite magazine. We had been corresponding for a while but had never met until that day. On the way up to Dagupan, our first stop, we had the option to sleep, talk to our seatmates, or watch the foodie films that were being shown. Throughout the course of the trip, I got to see Over the Hedge and Mistress of the Spices, which I hadn't seen before, and I got to re-watch Chocolat.

Needless to day, by the time we got to Dagupan, we were in the mood for food. Lunch was served at the Lenox Hotel, and, since it was near the end of the Bangus festival and Dagupan is the milkfish capital of the Philippines, our lunch consisted of the different ways Bangus could be cooked. If we had a local version of Forrest Gump, his best friend Bubba (who can recite a million and one ways to cook shrimp) would be from Dagupan City. We had, among other things, bangus pate, which is, well, pate made with bangus. It was nice and creamy, the bangus' subtle flavor, combined with the pate's texture making it interesting on the tongue. Knowing that the pate was made with bangus instead of the usual liver made it easier on the conscience... which was balanced out by the potentially heart-stopping Belly Burst with Rijak. You know, the sweet, fatty, least healthy part of the bangus that everyone fights over. And just in case eating bangus belly isn't unhealthy enough for you, Belly Burst serves it fried, too. I think I went back for seconds for that dish. There were also fried crablets, which are not bangus, I know, but which Luis loved anyway. For drinks, we were served gumamela tea, which tasted like a floral gulaman-sago, but without the gulaman and sago. I'm sure you know what I mean. Appetite also held a raffle, giving away goodies like salon gift certificates and L'Oreal products. I got... and umbrella. Don't laugh. That umbrella would later save my life in rainy Baguio.

Ready, set, eat!

When we got to Baguio at around 4pm, it was raining so hard that the planned Baguio tour was rescheduled to the next day. Everyone had a few hours to rest before the next big meal of the day -- dinner, which was to be served at Le Chef, Chef Billy King's Baguio restaurant up in The Suites, another part of The Manor Hotel, where we were staying. I was still jazzed up so I decided to train for the big dinner by -- you guessed it! -- eating. I picked a table that faced The Manor's beautifully kept garden. The rains had stopped but the sky was still cloudy, so I had a wonderful view of Baguio's famous foliage. Luis watched amusedly as I bought a Torta de Limon a la Menta (in English, Spanish Lemon and Mint Tart) from The Manor's coffee shop and dug in. The tart was not as minty or lemony as I hoped it would be, but then I was expecting grimace-while-you-eat, daig-pa-si-Datu-Puti tartness combined with a so-minty-you-freeze tingle that I don't think occurs naturally in pastries. It was good cake though, and I wolfed it down. My eating well-practiced, I was now ready for dinner.

Seven o'clock rolled around. The delegation was ferried via van to the nearby The Suites, where we were to partake of Chef Billy's feast. We were joined by Baguio socialites, people from Rustan's and the General Manager of Le Chef. It was, if you'll pardon the pun, fit for a King. There was roast beef. There was goat stew. There was a pasta station. There was oodles and oodles of dessert. There was creamed fish and buttered vegetables and vegetables au gratin. I got so excited I almost forgot to take notes. I certainly forgot to take pictures.

I had the Marinated Salmon and Crab Roulade, smoked salmon wrapped around pieces of crabsticks, the fish's saltiness complementing the crustacean's sweetness. I had the Tuna Tatayaki, cut in sashimi-size pieces, seared on the outside and still slightly raw on the inside. I think I almost wept with joy. Then there was the "Boston Style" Seafood Chowder, which I had to have because I can never pass a cream soup by without trying even a little bit. It was creamy, hearty and warm. I wanted to take it home with me so that we could cuddle. I had the Beef Wellington with Steamed Marble Potatoes because I am a steak-gravy-spud addict, and this dish (though not steak) basically fulfilled that vice (and it had a cute name, too). I had the Steamed Sole in Berlinoise Sauce because fish + cream sauce is always a good idea. The fish was flaky, and it went well with the cream. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

Just for the heck of it, I tried the Malaysian Goat Curry. The curry was strong enough to mask the goat's gaminess, but since I'm not a big meat-eater, it wasn't high on my list of favorites. Same with the Mushroom Rice Risotto, which was too dry for my taste. I, however, loved the Gratinated Broccoli and Cauliflower, gratin (aka 'with tons of cream and cheese') being a magic word in my book.

Though I was pretty full by this time, I deemed it my obligation to give the dessert table as much attention as I had given the appetizers and main courses. It was still food after all, and I owed it to my gracious hosts to faithfully report on in not everything, at least most of what was served.

So even though my pants were threatening to burst from all of the food I had just consumed, I headed to the dessert table to try their wares. First was the leche flan, a childhood favorite of mine. This, I will automatically say is good because I will probably eat any sort of custard. We had fresh fruits too, and I think I practically inhaled the pineapple, which was really, really sweet. The Belgian Chocolate Mousse Gateau is the chocolate lover's dream of rich, sweet, creamy chocolatey mousse with fluffy cake. I also had a strawberry crepe flambe, which was prepared as it was ordered.

The highlight of the evening was to be Chef Billy King himself, who we were supposed to be given the chance to interview. Unfortunately, the Chef wasn't feeling too well, so the interview would have to be postponed to the next day. Still, it was as if we had met him anyway, though his cooking, if not in person.

When we got back to The Manor, Luis and I spent the rest of the evening walking off all the food that we had eaten. After that, it was off to bed. Christine, my roommate, and I stayed up talking about make-up before drifting off to a lovely sleep.

But wait, there's more!

The food trip doesn't end here. I still have to tell you about our second day in Baguio, what we had to eat, whether we get to meet the elusive Chef Billy, and how we got to sample all the culinary delights of Northern Luzon in one afternoon. Stay tuned!

More and more young people are living by themselves, away from the comforts of home. Whether it be due to necessity, like people who move so that the can live near where they work, or due to personal preference, one thing's for sure...

I envy them.

I still live at home, not by choice, mind you, but because my mother is one of the old guard who think that she should keep her children as close to bher as possible, so that it's easier to meddle with their lives. Just kidding! Hi mom!

Two years ago, I got the chance to interview Faye Fernandez, a freelance writer, event and children's party host and wonderfully independent spirit who moved out of her family house after college and has been living independently ever since. This interview was supposed to come out in a now defunct section of GMA news and since it never did, I'm placing it here. I hope the interview inspires you. I know it inspired me.

Y: How long have you been living by yourself?

F: I guess I’ve been living by myself for the past two years. I moved out of my parent’s house about six years ago, 2001, and I had a roommate, we were living together, and after that, I was living with a boyfriend, and then we broke up so I was living with a friend, and then finally, I moved out on my own two years ago.

Moving to Makati was a matter of convenience because my mom lives all the way in Las Piñas and I didn’t want to do the commute everyday. Living on my own was also – I jut wanted to. I’ve lived with a roommate, I’ve lived with other people, boyfriends and friends. It’s really just a different kind of freedom when you live on your own. You just do your own thing without thinking about anybody else. It’s a but selfish but, there.

Y: What were some of the challenges you encountered while living on your own?

F: It’s difficult to cook. I end up eating a lot of junk food because I can’t go to nice healthy restaurants all the time. Number one, because there aren’t any around in the vicinity. Number two, because the other alternatives are Jollibee and Chowking. And it’s really hard to cook for one because it’s really difficult to measure the proportions and I end up having a lot of leftovers and it’s really just a waste of food. It’s actually very difficult to cook for two, but for one, it’s almost impossible.

I also have to care for myself, pay all the bills, do all the laundry, get all the laundry shop, do all the errands by myself, no one to share that with. The loneliness part was never an issue because I live in a building where I’ve got three good friends in the same building, so I can always visit them whenever I feel like it.

Y: What's the best part about living alone?

F: Like I said earlier, it’s pretty much doing what you want to do without anybody having a say in it. Not that I think it’s a good thing, but it’s a lot easier to do activities that you don’t want others to know about.

Y: What’s the reaction you get when people find out that you’re living alone?

F: The main reaction, especially when I tell them that I moved out year 2000 is always ‘Wow! That’s so independent. That’s so Americanized.’ That’s the reaction because yeah, syempre you live with your parents. My sister still lives with my mom. She was the one who got stuck there. My brother got married, so he had a legitimate reason (to move out). I moved out, (my sister) has a car, so she can’t move out now (because)my mom’s going to be alone!

Y: So the reactions have been mainly positive, then?

F: It is. I like it a lot. I haven’t had any major drawbacks, there aren’t any pangs of loneliness or anything. I think it’s because it’s more of a choice for me. I guess in other countries, it’s more of a necessity. You move to a different town, you move to a different city or whatever, you don’t know anybody there. Here, it’s jut really, I could always find a roommate, I could always move back to my mother’s house, but I choose to live alone, so I can still keep the best parts of it intact, I can still go to my mother’s place every so often for family lunch or something.

Y: Tell us about the convenience of living in Makati, of being able to walk everywhere.

F: I’ve never even considered buying a car here because, number one, traffic and parking are horrible. It costs money to park here. Yeah, I walk everywhere. Actually, I’ve gotten averse to taking cabs in the city. Anywhere, actually. Some of these cab drivers can be real assholes. Alam mo yung, you’re just going somewhere within Makati, mangongontrata pa? I hate that! I’m not even leaving the city! They don’t even turn their meter on! So I just walk everywhere. I walk as far as Landmark, Glorietta, Greenbelt. So that’s like four, five city bocks away.

My only problem is my building doesn’t have a good gym. I enjoy running. I don’t like running on a treadmill, but there’s nowhere to run here in Makati. There are the parks, but it gets pretty boring after you’ve run around the park like, 50 times. So I like running around the city, long distances, but it gets a bit smoggy. No, a lot smoggy. So I don’t think it’s too healthy.

Y: Doesn’t it get scary jogging in the cit because of all the cars?

F; No, because we’ve got a pretty god sidewalk system here in Makati. I also like taking the underpasses.

Y: Do you have any strange stories about living by yourself?

F: There was this one time when – I wasn’t living alone, I was living with a roommate – I got locked out of my apartment and my roommate had gone to watch a movie. I was sick. I was home sick from work. I got locked out, my roommate had already gone out of the office. So I had no cellphone, no keys, and no wallet. I didn’t know what to do. I was in my pantulog.

Y: Why did you get locked out?

F: The door wasn’t very good. It was one of those doors that you lock from the inside. Here in my apartment, I have to lock the door with a key, so I couldn’t possibly be locked out. There, it was this thing that had to be pressed. I go to the nearby McDonalds – I’ve eaten there a few times – and I ask the manager if I can borrow his cellphone. And I was sitting there with his cellphone, wondering who to call, and then I realize that I only memorized the numbers of my three ex-boyfriends. And I didn’t want to call any of them. Especially the most recent one because it was a really bad breakup. So I was just, ‘What am I gonna do?’ so I just text all three of them and waited for whoever came to my rescue first.

Y: So who came to your rescue?

F: My first boyfriend came to my rescue first. He was really the nicest boyfriend I ever had. Too nice, I think. He was the one who responded and I finally got home after about two hours of being locked out. That was the strangest story, pretty much. It was pretty bad.

Another strange story is I live here now, and I’ve got this guy who I kind of see at parties, a friend of my boyfriend’s who kind of has a crush on me. I get down from my unit one time and the guard said, ‘You know what, may naghahanap dito sa inyo kahapon.’ Buti hindi siya pinaakyat, at nagwawala siya. Lasing na lasing siya kahapon. ‘Pero sabi ko di siya pwede umakyat kasi wala naman kayo binilin. Di niyo sinasagot yung telep[ono niyo. Sabi ko, ‘Oo nga, buti na lang.’ That was pretty freaky because he was just trying to barge in. It’s one of the advantages of having a guard in your building. It’s pretty scary because if you live in such a small community, everybody kind of knows where you live. I’ve had parties in my apartment, so they know.

Y: Have you had trouble with bills and stuff?

F: Oh yeah. Especially since I’ve been freelancing for the past two years. It’s funny, because I moved into this apartment and I didn’t have a regular job, and I’ve been freelancing – everything, children’s parties, events hosting, writing, design, marketing, anything I can get my hands on. It pays to have a pretty good connection network, which I got from my four years in McCann and also from my friend, especially if you hang out with expats. My social network is pretty good.

The problem with freelancing is there are times when you’re super loaded and you have to turn some jobs down because you can’t take on any more projects. And there are times where there isn’t anything at all coming. So those times, I kinda have to struggle to get by on my meager savings or whatever. And sometimes, yeah, the bills just have to not get paid. But it hasn’t gotten to the point where I’ve missed like, months of rent or I got my water cut off or my electricity cut off.

Y: So as a freelancer, you get to work from home. Is it fun?

F: Yeah, it’s fun. I realize that I don’t have any trouble with the discipline thing, as long as I have a deadline. If you give me an open-ended project, you’ll wait forever. But if you give me a deadline, I’m pretty ok with it.

Y: What are the things you miss from living with your family?

F: Oh, gosh, free everything. Home-cooked meals. Now I have to home cook my meals. The fact that when you live in your mom’s house, you don’t have to worry about anything. Your sheets get changed, your laundry gets done, your dishes get done, the bathroom’s always clean. It’s actually quite hard to organize. For example, it’s pretty cheap to get a cleaning lady here, of course, but you have to let the cleaning lady in, you have to introduce her to the reception, you have to leave your key with her, you have to pay her, you have to ask the laundry to pick up the laundry…. It’s not that I wouldn’t want to do the work myself, but it’s still organizationally, things that I’ve never thought of before. If something gets broken, I have to go out and buy a bulb or whatever, I have to call maintenance.

Y: What are the things you don’t miss?

F: Having to consider other people. I can watch whatever I want on TV. I can listen to whatever music. Especially since I’m a freelancer, I can stay in bed as late as I want and nobody’s going to say anything. When I’m in one of my moods, I can sty in bed and watch DVDs all day without even getting up once. And if I lived with anybody, my mom or my boyfriend or whatever, they would have something to say about that. But that’s something that I can do when I’m alone.

Y: What kind of personality suits the independent lifestyle?

F: I guess you just have to be very brave. I’m not really brave more than carefree. Or careless. It’s actually a pretty dangerous thing, living alone, when you think about it. It’s difficult, there’s nobody to take care of you. If you fall or slip, what are you going to do? If you get sick? You just sort of have to let go of these things. You have to have the kind of personality that you don’t think of these things too much and you jut go and do whatever you need to do.

Y: Would you recommend living alone? Any tips?

F: Some tips? Move into a building with other people you know. That’s always a good thing. Be on good terms with the staff because the staff becomes a really big part of your life. Everybody should do it. It’s like living in another country. If you have the opportunity – I guess a lot of people don’t have the opportunity or the means to do it. But if you do, you really should do it before you get married. It’s very common where you live in your parents’ house until you get married. You get to find things out about yourself that you would never find out, like what would you like to do? It’s finding out exactly what you want, exactly what you like, without other people. I would recommend it.

Faye is back in Manila from a stint as a TV personality in Europe. Now isn't that independent or what?

I'm not a big fan of his music, but I will always have a soft spot for Christian Bautista. And not just because he's cute. There are a lot of entertainers out there better looking than he is, but with attitudes so horrible no amount of talent or good looks can make up for the sub par way they treat other human beings. Christian, though he has been reserved in the past, has always been courteous. Plus, he saved my life once (though he doesn't know it), and for that I am indebted.

Which is why I'm happy that his career is not only going strong, but going in different directions as well. Aside from his new album, Captured, he plays Tony opposite Karylle and West End's Joanna Ampil, in Stages' upcoming musical, West Side Story. Aaaand, he's also learned to make jokes as well.

“My first single is called 'The One Who Won My Heart,” he says, “But if you're a girl, it could be 'The Juan Who Won My Heart.” Cute, isn't he?

And how does he find working with Karylle? “Working with Karylle is good kasi madali siyang makatrabaho,” Christian says, “She's very professional, shes experienced with theatre already, having done The Little Mermaid before. We were friends from before so walang problema.”

West Side Story also has a live orchestra with Gerard Salonga as musical director and a first-rate artistic team with Audie Gemora as executive producer, and Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo as director.

“Si Direk Menchu, again, magkatrabaho na kami before in Trumpets. And napakagaling niya talaga because she knows all the side stories of Sonheim, of Bernstein, naeexplain niya sa amin kung bakit ganito yung note na ito... lahat naeexplain niya. Naiinspire niya kami. She doesn't even have to be angry kasi napapasunod niya kami,” Christian says.

Stages'’ production of “West Side Story” is its third major musical production after “Footloose” in 2005 (starring Jay-R) and “High School Musical On Stage” in 2007. “West Side Story” will run from September to October 2008 at the Meralco Theater.

Tickets are now sold at Ticketworld 891-9999 and www.ticketworld.com.ph. Ticket prices range from PhP 500 to 1,200.

It's been a week and still, everyone is reeling from the Eraserheads concert, already a historic event in itself, but which was made more historic by lead singer Ely Buendia's collapse backstage and subsequent trip to the hospital.

Because of some miscommunication, I was one of the few pathetic people who did not get to see the concert. I did, however, make it to the sound check the night before.

It all started with a text message. Luis and I were at another event when he got a message from Star columnist Erwin Romulo about how the Eheads were having their sound check right that very minute. So we did what any sane Ehead fan would have done -- hightailed it to The Fort Open Field.

Security was tight. Good thing we found Sputnik's (the melting comic book store in Cubao Ex) Ramon de Veyra, who was returning to the sound check with some grub. So we got in, where we met up with Neva Talladen (who makes Leyende, my favorite skincare line), Quark Henares, Marie Jamora (who did the videos flashed behind the Eheads), Kelvin Yu and Jugs Jugeta of the Itchyworms, Miguel Naciancino (who I met in a past life), the always cute Nina Sandejas, The Dawn's Francis Brew, and assorted other people who had come to watch the historical rehearsal to one of local music's most historical events. I could see photographer Mari Arquiza snapping away near the stage. We stood in what was going to be the SVIP section, pretty much having the whole place to ourselves. I'm not going to lie, it was great. It was wonderful. It was pure awesomeness.

So what was it like watching the country's most influential band? To misquote Po from Kung Fu Panda, awesomely awesome. They didn't play everything that they were going to play the next day, and most of the sound check was exactly that -- a sound check, which is basically, to my untrained ears, a lot of random noise made to make sure that all the equipment was functioning properly.

It was wonderful to see the fab four on the same stage again. Raymund was sporting green hair, his trademark in the 90's, Ely was wearing this cute sweater-polo getup that made him look like a schoolboy. Buddy was cool and steady, like he always is, and even Marcus seemed enthusiastic onstage.

The did, however, play a couple of songs, and it sounded like they had never broken up at all. We were all talking, milling about when we heard the first strains of a familiar song, followed by Ely's voice singing "Ziggy played guitar..." It was "Ziggy Stardust." The Eheads were covering David Bowie. We could not believe it. It wasn't a concert-caliber, must-impress performance. It was just a bunch of guys having fun, which made it even more poignant. I, having been jaded by time and experience, didn't think that I would be very affected but I found shivers running down my spine.

The excitement only increased when they did play one of their songs -- "Alapaap," to be exact. Everybody rushed to the stage. People were cheering, some were singing along. It was like it was 1992 again, and everyone was getting into this fairly new band made up of scruffy looking guys who wrote songs with incredibly catchy pop hooks (even though they don't look scruffy now). Funny how that also describes The Beatles. Also interesting is how everyone refers to the Eheads as "the fab four." I like to ask people what their most vivid Eraserheads memory is. Mine was that they played in our school's variety show -- a real feat for the student council since a lot of parents (my dad included) didn't like that they sang about drinking and other things that could potentially corrupt the minds of innocent young girls. I had almost every Ehead tape (hard to remember a time before MP3s) and I swore that if I ever left the country, I would take every one of them with me. And while I have gotten the chance to meet some of the members in real life (and they are all very nice), inside, I will always be the high school girl yelling "O Diyos ko, paano ba naman ito" in her schol variety show.

They also played "Magasin," which I hear they didn't get the chance to play at the concert. It was hard not to cry. I know that the song is about a young sweetheart who goes and poses in a men's magazine but you'd think that Ely was singing it about the band itself, and everything it went through. "Iba na ang 'yong ngiti, iba na ang 'yong tingin, nagbago na ang lahat sa 'yo-o-o-o..." The only difference is that unlike the guy in the song, we were glad to have seen the band again. It was like water after years in the desert. Colored TV after decades of black and white. An ice cream sundae after not having an ice cream sundae for a really really long time of wanting to have one. I was sad that I wasn't going to make it to the next day's concert, but I was glad that I got to at least see the sound check.

Ramon told me later that he had caught up with Buddy after the concert. Buddy said that it was a shame they didn't get to do the second set because they had something special planned for the fans. He did say that the rest of the band would be interested in staging a new concert, depending on how well Ely recovered. If that happens, I'm going to try my best not to miss it this time.

What I'd like to know is what's your most vivid Eheads memory?