ILLUSTRADO GO> ISSUE 7 > 07-08-16

ISSUE 07

07•08•16

kaartehan The vanity issue

#thirsty

Vanity Kills! Don’t be a victim > A Guide to The Perfect Lifestyle Photo> #GwapoProblems/#GandaProblems

EDITOR’S NOTE/ CONTENTS

#thirsty

“Uhaw.” Is that really the word of the season?

Or the sign of the times? Well, it’s easy to think so judging from the tons of selfies (or pics pretending not to be carefully composed selfies), not to mention body shots on social media. Then again, you might beg to differ, being conscious about oneself and appreciating one’s own fine features does not necessarily mean you’re self-possessed, right? After all, we belong to the hygienefinicky-beauty-worshipping-skin-whitening set, and vanity could just as easily be part of our Pinoy DNA. Not our fault. Of course, the logical would argue that there’s always a good and warranted version of being self-important, then there is the dangerous all-consuming, ego-bloating, insecurity-inducing type. So where do you think you belong?

ISSUE 07

15th • AUG • 2016

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Admit it. You’re so vain.

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And you’re right. This issue is actually about you.

LALAINE CHU-BENITEZ Editor-in-Chief

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PINOY PROGRESSIVE

ILLUMINATI: VANITY UNFAIR >6 KEEPING UP WITH THE CON GEN: THE RACE TOWARDS BEAUTY >8 POWER TO THE PINOY: HOW DO I LOVE ME? LET ME COUNT THE WAYS… >9 DEATH BY INARTE >10 GWAPO PROBLEMS >12 HOW TO TAKE THE PERFECT LIFESTYLE PHOTO >14 GEE, YOUR KABAYAN SMELLS TERRIFIC >30 RIHANNE GOES HOLLYWOOD >27 IT’S WHAT I DO: HAVEN HAMILTON A. VILLAPANDO AND JEFFREY S. VALERO >26 MONEY: THE SPIRIT OF FINANCIA PLANNING >50 LAW: HANDLING HARD TIMES >51

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

SCRAPBOOK: OSCAR “OZKI” REALUBIN AND RANNIE BOOTS TOMALON >28 ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: WYWY >38 ILLUSTRADO CALENDAR >48 ENTERTAINMENT >53

FASHION & BEAUTY

BEAUTY: CONFESSIONS OF A MAARTE>22 EDITORIAL: SUNKISSED >32 COUTURE GALLERY >40

32> WEARING IT WELL: JESUS SINDAYEN >49 REAL STYLE, REAL PEOPLE> 46

JUST BECAUSE

ILLUSTRADO STUFF >24 MY PINOY LIFE IN VIETNAM >16 SASSY GUIDE: SO YOU THINK YOU’RE HIGH MAIN >25 ONLI IN DA PILIPINS: HOW TO RAISE A BEAUTY QUEEN KING THE PINOY WAY>23 REST FOR THE WICKED: SOY GLAZED SALMON + SESAME SOBA NOODLES >54 THE ANNIE B. CHRONICLES: PITNESS PREAK >52

Contributors

LALAINE CHU-BENITEZ Editor-in-Chief “almost superwoman” Lalaine has been driving Illustrado’s mission to uplift Filipinos in the region for almost a decade now. A former corporate dynamo living in Dubai for over 20 years, her natural knack for marketing and mass communications makes her a formidable authority in any dialogue regarding the rebranding of the Filipino image on a global scale.

NICHOLO JALLORES

Associate Editor Nicholo Jallores used to be addicted to toiletries and pampapogi products – until he accepted the very basic fact that “Kapag gwapo ka, gwapo ka.” Case in point: you can drag Ryan Reynolds’ face across a puddle of mud and cow dung and he’ll still be one of the cutest guys in the solar system. It’s really the genes, infinitely more than the grooming. Now he sees vanity as a chore at best, and an impediment at worst. Just don’t try to make him part with his Kiehl’s products.

NINA PEÑALOSA-CARPIO

ABY YAP

What makes the Pinoy tick? Aby Yap’s longrunning column “Onli in Da Pilipins” often answers that question. She talks about the familiar Pinoy life, turning it into something fun and extraordinary. With a talent for finding every Juan’s funny bone, Aby’s wit and obvious affection makes the Filipino a whole lot more lovable.

KRIP YUSON Krip Yuson will soon have his third novel published, titled “The Music Child & the Mahjong Queen,” a follow-up on his seventh collection of poetry, “Islands of Words & Other Poems.” In this issue, the Palanca Hall of Famer chronicles the differences between the Martians and the Venites.

FRANCISCO COLAYCO

Francisco Colayco is an entrepreneur, venture developer and financial adviser who has written many books that advocate Filipinos to financially prosper. He is Illustrado’s resident money columnist and personal finance guru.

It’s almost ridiculous, how Nina perfectly fits the textbook definition of a “lady.” Gorgeous, intelligent, classy, charming, contemporary – this popular blogger, constant traveler, and style savant can disarm you in all kinds of ways. In this issue, she shares her tips on how take the perfect lifestyle photos.

CONSUL GENERAL PAUL RAYMUND CORTES When not performing his duties as the head of the Filipino community in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, or the obligations of a dutiful dad, passionate patriot Paul Raymund Cortes mulls over how to further enrich the local Filipino community by promoting a more progressive mindset.

BARNEY ALMAZAR, ESQ.

TOYM Awardee Barney Almazar, Director at Gulf Law in the Middle East, Philippines and United Kingdom, is ‘the’ legal vanguard for Filipinos in the country. He has authored 4 books dedicated to inform and educate kababayans in the region about the legal system, as well as financial literacy.

EXCEL V. DYQUIANGCO ANNA DE LEON KRISTINE ABANTE

An entertainment industry expert who spends her downtime looking for the next great adventure wherever she could find it, Kristine uses her writing to relive her experiences twice and to encourage others to join the ride.

TRACY LEY

Beauty expert and blogger Tracy Ley aka “Ms. Tracy” is Illustrado’s resident sassy lioness. In this issue, she offers some insights on being high maintenance.

“Life devoid of makeup and fashion is life lived in mediocrity” - a sentence that Anna has lived by since she discovered her 1st Vogue magazine at the tender age of 9. Empowering women through beauty has always been Anna’s passion and she believes that we can rule the world in our stilettos, red lips, and razor sharp intelligence.

Excel writes and edits for a coffee table books-publishing company. Since his boss is the former biographer of Fidel V. Ramos, he sometimes mingles with the top-tier politicians.

At one time, FVR even asked him to do push-ups (and we don’t know how that went!).

Excel is also the author of the immensely popular children’s books “I Don’t Like To Eat” and “Lala Burara” (Messy Lala).

From The Publishers of Illustrado Magazine

PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF LALAINE CHU-BENITEZ CREATIVE DIRECTOR MON BENITEZ ASSOCIATE EDITOR NICHOLO JALLORES COLUMNISTS ABY YAP ALFRED “KRIP” YUSON BARNEY ALMAZAR FRANCISCO COLAYCO KRISTINE ABANTE EXCEL DYQUIANCO CONTRIBUTING WRITERS – UAE, PHILIPPINES, CANADA ANGELA MAPA ANNA OPOSA BARBARA MARCHADESCH CANDICE LOPEZ QUIMPO DANTE GAGELONIA DIDI PATERNO KARA SANTOS MARY ANN MARCHADESCH MARY ANN “MAPS” SANTOS NEPHELE KIRONG NIKKA SARTHOU NINA TEROL-ZIALCITA PRINCES NEDAMO QUAY EVANO RACHE HERNANDEZ REGINA LAYUG-LUCERO SHERRY TENORIO CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS –UAE, PHILIPPINES & USA EROS GOZE RAEN BADUA IRVIN RIVERA JEF ANOG ALEX CALUENG CRISTINA LINAZA ROZEN ANTONIO HERSON NEBAYA CONTRIBUTING FASHION CREW - UAE, HONGKONG, PHILIPPINES GINNO ALDUCENTE JESSIE TABLA VALENTINO MONTUERTO JASMIN

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ILLUMINATI

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Deconstructing the Filipino zeitgeist. In short, dibdibang pagmumuni-muni.

VANITY UNFAIR B y > K r i p Yu s o n

If mirrors can speak, they will tell tales of forbearance, sighs, or smiles of gratification as tokens of self-assurance.

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primary source of dispute it has been - well, okay, mild disagreement at best between women and men — since cosmetics came to bless or plague humankind.

How the gender from Venus takes so long to get ready to step out, while that from Mars waits with natural impatience or the unnatural practice of Zen. “But you knew the invite’s for 7, so why couldn’t you have calculated the time for prepping up?” The verb could also be primping. Or making up, that is, applying make-up.

For men, the women’s cornucopia with regards to this conduct can seem infernally infinite: cream, lotion, foundation, rouge, mascara, eyeshadow, false lashes, lipstick, perfume, ad nauseam… Comparatively, when the Superman who can achieve costume change in a telephone booth operates in the bathroom, he only has to rely on some talc to cover an oily shine, and a couple of dabs of cologne.

That is, until the metrosexual came with the millennium. And oh yes, since the gender affiliations, if not preferences, flew the flag of an acronym with at least four to six initials.

But back to the regular straight male attempting to improve on his often futile

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practice of Zen. Down the decades, he’s accepted the difference in devoting hours to prettying up or simply making one look presentable — that is, out of the bedroom sando and slippers, as against the more meticulous of the species donning a gown.

Meticulous to a fault when it comes to putting one’s best foot forward. Make that best face possible, best shape, most fetchingly attired, down to that foot arching high on stiletto heels.

On the other end of that vertical human landscape that has to be groomed for social witnessing, there is the head of hair that requires even more rigorous attention.

In that shared bathroom, beside the glass shelves that are dominated by the better half’s jars, bottles and sets of bristles, there must also be blow-dry weaponry ready to be plugged to an electric socket.

If mirrors can speak, they will tell tales of forbearance, sighs, or smiles of gratification as tokens of self-assurance.

And the performer in such rituals would of course more often be the better half, as the lesser half takes only about a minute to apply deodorant, pomade or gel, and a quick spray of that cologne.

Then there are the really dressy affairs that require “professional” care, such as what’s paid for in beauty salons. Add another hour or two to prepping for that evening engagement.

“Now, honey, since the invite is for 7 p.m., and it’ll take us an hour to get there through Friday traffic, that means I’ll be puffing on my last cigarette by 6 while I wait in the lanai, hoping you’ll be down by then. That means the salon appointment would have to be by 2 or 3 in the afternoon, right? And the driver gets you back here by 5?”

Despite assent to the arithmetic, more often than not that proposed precision of hours will be stretched, or tweaked. And pity the bitter half if he happens to have been a military general trained to plan coordinates of space and time.

The real master of the house holds the keys to the vanity kit, after all. Call it kikay kit if you will, throw up your hands if travel luggage includes a heavy overnight bag groaning with those jars, bottles, bristles and countless tubes and sachets — the contents of which will then occupy whatever generous space is provided in hotel bathrooms.

Beauty — imagined or aspired for — is in the eye of the holder of that key to enhanced pulchritude. Her ear will dismiss even the most diplomatic remark that there’s really not much need to gild the lily.

Such is life. Vive le difference!

KEEPING UP WITH THE CONGEN > Tales from your friendly neighbourhood Philippine Consul-General.

THE RACE TOWARDS BEAUTY By > Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes

Deep inside, I suppose most Pinoys would like to feel confident about themselves, but they need to be constantly reminded that beyond the physical, it is inner beauty that matters most.

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hat is it really that makes Pinoys go gaga over the international beauty contests? Are Filipinos by nature very critical when it comes to looks? Most ethnicities have pigeon-holed Filipinos into being extra neat, hygiene-meticulous, and uber-fastidious as far as grooming was concerned. We seem to put a higher premium on the physical and exert more effort in making ourselves look and feel good. We spend time and money (unnecessarily so!) on things that advertisers say would make us more beautiful, more appealing. For most Filipinos, however, our criteria for beauty is most often skewed towards the Western perspective – fair and tall, traits that do not describe the typical Filipino. Our passion towards international beauty competitions, therefore, poses a bit of conundrum.

Beauty tilts – per barangay, per town, per municipality, per province – even the Bb Pilipinas and the Miss Universe, Miss World, and all the other international pageant hooplas-- are events Filipinos love to gather to. In my tour of duty in Hawaii, there was never a weekend where I didn’t get an invite to crown pageants organized by local associations – hence, Miss Ilocos Surian, Miss INCAT (Ilocos Norte College of Arts and Sciences), Miss Hawaii Teen Filipina, the list goes on and on and on.

How then do we reconcile the seeming contradiction between our love affair with pageantry and our adopted perspectives of beauty, and the corporeal truths of most Filipinos?

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Personally, I find it incredulous to bequeath to a few judges the right to determine who should claim the title The Most Beautiful Woman in the Universe (or Earth, or Asia, or the World for that matter.) After all, standards of beauty differ from person to person and for them to decide who the most drop dead gorgeous candidate is subject of much scrutiny and debate.

It baffles me then that, year in year out, town in and town out, wherever we go, Pinoys find themselves in the middle of heated exchanges as to who we should field in as candidates to these pageants and who rightfully deserves to be crowned.

Just a few weeks ago, whether or not the Philippines should host the next Miss Universe was debated over FB, one of the manifestations of how much the Filipino is agog over such events.

That most Filipinos put in so much attention to height as a major determinant of beauty is likewise quite a puzzle for me. It is a given that in beauty contests (just as in basketball --- which because it is another Filipino passion makes me, taking into account our physical realities, markedly flummoxed), height is what makes or breaks the dreams of those running for the title. Early in life, I’ve been made to believe that height makes men and women attractive. The magazine ads says it all. Most models are slim, tall, square jawed -- never mind how they look but almost always, the height does the trick. The array of Philippine movie stars prove it – most are taller than average as if standing taller than the rest makes one a more likeable person. They may not say it out loud but Bb Pilipinas obviously prefers taller candidates

than the petite ones. Was there ever an international beauty queen who stood at 5’4” or less? As far as most societies are concerned, the shorter you are, the less attractive, the less stunning, the less likely you are to be called beautiful, the less of a queen or for men, king you are. Physically, the average Filipino is shorter than Caucasians or Africans or other ethnicities and yet, Filipino communities all across the globe celebrate local and international beauty stints, as if postulating whether or not our height really matters to the world as far as beauty is concerned.

Deep inside, I suppose most Pinoys would like to feel confident about themselves but they need to be constantly reminded that beyond the physical, it is inner beauty that matters most. Our penchant for beauty contests probably mirrors our preferences towards certain criteria for beauty and how the rest of the world perceives our non-Western physical attributes.

Perhaps there is this desire to prove to the rest of the world that predetermined notions of beauty as dictated by so-called prestigious pageants are feeble attempts at categorizing humanity as either pretty or not, appealing or repulsive, capable of love or not. Most of us have fallen in love with non-beauty queens or those less than tall, dark, and handsome and as such, we are perfectly aware that standards of beauty as normed by those international competitions do not eventually and essentially matter when we truly understand and accept what it means to truly feel the ethereal glow of love, the ultimate element of our souls.

POWER TO THE PINOY

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Towards empowering Filipinos.

LET ME COUNT THE WAYS… By> Lalaine Chu-Benitez

Honest to goodness self-love requires something deeper than just these superficial “feel good” things. It is about true self-acceptance and having self-esteem – knowing and embracing who you really are.

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o. Your week on social media can be charted through your one hundred selfies. You spend a stupendous amount of your disposable income on make-up, bags, clothes, shoes, gadgets – things that you think will make you look appealing to your legions of Instagram followers. You like to wax poetic about how much you deserve the best things in the world, and how you like to take care of yourself, and how everybody should try to think, look, and live like you. Certainly, you are self-involved. Certainly you are self-obsessed - but self-loving? Ah, that’s where we hit a snag.

age philosophy is – very few seem to really practice, even understand it.

Self-love is probably one of the widely promoted catchphrases of the new age.

You’ve heard it from the world’s most popular opinion leaders – from Beyonce, to Michelle Obama, to Deepak Chopra, even from our very own Bo Sanchez. You see the concept discussed on talk show upon talk shows, chick flicks, books, sites online, and etc. Yet considering how common this new

But don’t get me wrong, self-love is not about being an egotistic narcissist, drowning in one’s own ‘delusions’ of grandeur, or having the ability to be loud and being able to summon superficial bravado. Nor is it just about giving yourself “me time,” a spa day, or a much needed make-over.

And then you look at Filipinos; us folks who have been reared on a steady diet of selfless love and sacrifice; who get into trouble for being over-eager to take care of our families and relatives without leaving anything for our own future; and for whom being pragmatic, when it comes to matters of the heart, is as rare as the Kohinoor diamond.

Sometimes, when you look around, you see very little signs that there IS indeed love for self.

Honest to goodness self-love requires something deeper than just these superficial “feel good” things. It is about true self-acceptance and having selfesteem – knowing and embracing who you really are – your gifts and your limitations both. It is about realizing your importance and the importance of truly taking care of yourself. More so, it is about having self-worth – being aware of your true value, and having the chutzpah to demand what you deserve from life, and the discipline to exercise self-respect.

So while the tendency for you is to focus on the outside, it may well be worth it to delve inside of you and to nurture your one and only ‘you,’ because only then can you truly do justice in sharing love to those near and dear to you.

My dear Illustrado’s, take time to blush, to hug and to kiss. But never forget to save yourself the biggest love gesture of all. And for goodness sake, put the camera phone down. illustrado go>11

FEATURE

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D E AT H B Y I N A R T E : How Your Vanity Could Kill You

B y > Te a m I l l u s t r a d o

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t has been said that the devil’s favorite sin is vanity. After all, Lucifer’s fall from grace was not precipitated by bloody murder. His descent into the nether realms came about shortly after he looked at God and said, “Hmmm… I could do better.” Following this line of narrative, it can even be argued that vanity is the original sin. Vanity is a sophisticated, malleable evil, able to take many forms or augment the gravitas of other trespasses.

It latches unto our deep-seated insecurities akin to a voracious moral barnacle and makes us think and do stupid, senseless things – like getting cheap cosmetic enhancement.

The issue is not as trivial and banal as it sounds at the onset. On one end there’s the complex need to be appreciated and validated. On the other end, there’s the stupid and senseless need to be appreciated and validated as quickly and cheaply as possible. This is not about the grandiose kind of ambition that is realized through incremental improvements. This is about the fast fixes – the quick emotional band-aids that come in the form of a botox injection, a collagen filler, or a shot of glutathione to the system. That you have to sometimes suffer for beauty is menacing enough; that you also have to suffer cheap cosmetic procedures is just plain absurd.

Consider this: you must not think so highly of yourself if you’re willing to have a loaded

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syringe plunged unto your forehead at the mere cost of a few loose change. You’re not getting a bargain. You’re compromising your health and sense of self-worth. You’re not making your life any better. Chances are, you could be mutilating yourself.

TUROK PARTIES

In the streets of your childhood, you used to make tusok-tusok (the fishballs).

Now, in the lavish parties of your noveau riche friends, you make turok-turok (the face). To define the term for the blessedly uninitiated, Turok Parties are soirees that include getting “minor” cosmetic enhancements such as botox injections and glutathione shots as part of the event repertoire. In lieu of a magician or clown, the intermezzo is led by a medical practitioner, usually unlicensed to perform such procedures. What kind of overzealous demon socialite birthed rituals of this ghastly nature, we may never know. But one thing is for sure: Turok Parties are fast becoming a trend amongst the affluent and their hangers-on – and a potentially lethal one at that.

A correspondent who refused to be named (no surprises there!) told of his experience in a recently held gathering in Downtown Dubai for a friend’s birthday. The invite said “Spa Party,” so he came in expecting facials, massages and foot scrubs. He

didn’t expect free glutathione injections.

“I knew I was going to a birthday party, so I was prepared to take shots. But not that kind of shot!” exclaimed CorrespondentWho-Must-Not-Be-Named. “I refused at first because I’m afraid of syringes, but everybody was really into it, so I had to do it. They said it was free, and I was already accounted for. If I refused it, I’d be wasting the host’s money. So I did it.”

Another correspondent who refused to be named spoke of an even greater horror: getting an invite to a Botox party. However, unlike our Correspondent No. 1, she was fully aware of the nature of the gathering, and was informed of the rates for the procedure. “I found it really strange to receive an invitation that had a price tag. It was a bit like getting invited for a wedding reception, and being told that you had to pay for your own dinner,” said AnotherCorrespondent-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Furthermore, she could not fathom why she, a spritely, healthy woman in her early 30’s, would ever be thought of as in need of Botox injections. She thought of the invitation as an insult. “I may not have the most flawless skin in the world, but I don’t have any wrinkles yet! The nerve!”

She politely declined the invitation, and spent the rest of the week ignoring the inviter’s calls and text messages. They have not talked, to this day. She received the invitation over a year ago.

FEATURE

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If you must make inarte, then by all means make inarte.

Just don’t die for it, darling.

NO TUROK, NO CRY

Doctor Florencio Lucero, one of the Philippines’ longest-practicing plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgeons warns of the dangers of Turok Parties.

“Even injections need to be done under clean sterile conditions in the clinic or operating room,” Dr. Lucero advocates. “In the Philippines only physicians are allowed to inject Botox or fillers, but this is violated in many instances where even non-doctors and non-nurses do the injections in homes and beauty parlors.”

He goes on to state that no cosmetic enhancement or plastic surgery procedure is 100% risk free. Even something as minimally invasive as a glutathione shot has its own range of potential side effects and complications. The good doctor says,

“All procedures are risky, so the patient must be duly informed of the possible risks.

Remember: the difference between the beauty and the beast is one millimeter.”

When asked about his advice to people who are considering any form of cosmetic enhancement, Dr. Lucero professes that a thorough background check of the prospective practitioner is key. He says, “To be safe and sure, ask other patients and check the credentials of the doctor. Read the certificates hanging in their offices very carefully. Attendance in conferences is not sufficient. Look for certificates of training. A plastic surgeon’s training takes at least 5 to 6 years and often requires additional years of what we call Fellowship in aesthetic or cosmetic surgery. A few months of training or guided observation in cosmetic surgery is not enough to make

one a plastic surgeon.”

THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL…

…is learning to love yourself. For belting out that powerful line alone, Whitney Houston deserves to be canonized in Vatican. If you are unable to appreciate yourself fully enough to bypass the need for cosmetic enhancement, then at least get the procedure done correctly in the hands of a respected physician, and at a standard that is nothing short of superlative.

Flawed human beings that we are, we may never be able to completely outgrow our vanity, but we can temper it with selfrespect and a healthy sense of dignity. If you must make inarte, then by all means make inarte. Just don’t die for it, darling.

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FEATURE

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#GWAPOPROBLEMS Musings on the Existential Anguish of the Absurdly Handsome

B y > Te a m I l l u s t r a d o

Blessed with physical perfection, the Absurdly Good-looking Man seems to embody mankind’s next step in the evolutionary ladder – the homo sapien superior. It’s not at all difficult to surmise that such a beautiful creature could not possibly have the same problems as the rest of us biological rough drafts, or could they?

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here’s The Cute guy. There’s The Handsome Guy. There’s The Hot Guy. And then there’s the Absurdly Good-looking: men who are aesthetically pleasing beyond all discernable reason and genetic feasibility.

Girls fawn over them, while guys… well, they fawn over them too, albeit in a different and more confounded kind of way. You see them walking towards your general direction and suddenly you go into tunnel vision – the world whizzes by you while are stuck looking at this magnificent being moving in seeming slow motion. Your mind races at a million miles per minute, wondering how it is possible for one guy to possess a world’s worth of beauty. Such is the discrepancy between your looks and theirs that they actually look like they are made of an entirely different organic material. If you are the salt of the earth, they are sugar and spice, oak bark and cigars. They even smell differently - they can never be “stinky,” only “musky.” They glow as if their skin cells are microscopic prisms that bend and improve the light.

Mind you, the Absurdly Good-looking Men are of a rare breed, as is the nature of all absurdities. You can’t just go hunting for them, as they tend to be elusive like unicorns. Instead, they come to you, most often in times when you are the least mentally prepared, so your daze is at an optimum. So seldom is a sighting that when it comes, it almost feels divinely ordained – as if God knew you needed a bit of magnificence in your life, and sent it in

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the form of a 6-foot model with a jawline that could cut stone and shoulders that horizontally extend towards infinity.

Blessed with physical perfection, the Absurdly Good-looking Man seems to embody mankind’s next step in the evolutionary ladder – the homo sapien superior. It’s not at all difficult to surmise that such a beautiful creature could not possibly have the same problems as the

rest of us biological rough drafts, or could they? An inconvenient social dictum: the more handsome you are, the easier it is to have things your way. In as much as we admire the Absurdly Good-looking Men, we also cannot help but resent them because they have advantages that the AverageLooking Populace does not. We have to work and struggle and toil to impress others; all they have to do is, well, exist.

FEATURE

This begs the question: what sort of problems does one face when one’s face is practically perfect? If your good looks borders on the ridiculous, do you also have bad hair days, bad skin days, days when you could not stand to look in the mirror?

Is it at all possible for you to feel physically insecure? What sort of existential anguish besieges the Absurdly Good-looking man?

We can only imagine.

People expect them to always be perfect and polished The sight of great beauty tends to leave a lasting impression in the mind - obviously, because rare is the sadist who only likes to remember ugliness. Once people have marked you for your absurd good looks, they will want you to stay that way forever, or even worse, they will want you to falter, as it has become a bit of a spectator sport to watch gods crash and scorch the earth.

Imagine the type of internal pressure this creates. You can never have a zit, gain a pound, nor leave the house with a bedhead.

People will audit you for consistency. In their minds, your only role in the world is to look perfect and polished – deviate from this, and your value plummets.

It’s hard for them to be taken seriously Imagine you have the prodigious mind of a young Mark Zuckerberg in the body of Tyson Beckford, and you go for your first job interview. You have a boatload of brilliant ideas and a stunning educational background, but all the hiring manager could focus on is how your rock-hard chest is bursting out of your Oxford shirt.

People tend to undermine your intelligence because, someone that handsome could not possibly be brainy, right? Like the famous expression goes, “Hindi binibigay ng Diyos ang lahat,” hence you can only be Absurdly Good-looking or smart - never both.

They are magnets for excessive and unwanted attention Sometimes, you just want to get your business done without having to cause too much of a stir and ruckus – a functional impossibility if you were born with a face that stops traffic. Yours is a countenance that is meant for spectacles, not stealth, so even something as innocuous as rushing to the grocery for eggs can turn into a riot of creepy stares and hushed giggles.

You walk the streets wearing hoodies and dark sunnies to avoid scrutiny. Sometimes you just want to be left alone, but that

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becomes almost improbable as the people around you crowd you telepathically.

You have become a prisoner of your own handsomeness.

They always have to worry about ulterior motives Making a genuinely meaningful connection with another human being tends to be a challenge, because it’s difficult to tell if a person is truly into what you have to offer to the world, or if the person just wants to get freaky. Instead of establishing deep, like-minded bonds with individuals who truly respect your worth and worldview, all you have is a web sticky entanglements that are awkward at best, sinister at worst.

You can never take people at face value, because that would make you naïve and stupid – which would be playing into stereotype. You must always assume that people always look at you with dark and even slightly bestial motives.

One can only go by handsomeness for so long Your stunning good looks may get your foot through the door, but your character, talents, and capabilities will give you the right to stay in the room. Even industries that rely primarily on physical beauty also demand their own specialized set of professional skills. Contrary to popular sentiments, the absurdly good-looking also struggle with the usual daily human gripes such as stresses in the work place, unpaid bills, laundry, and yes – even the occasional bad hair day. Handsomeness can only take them so far. They would have to depend on their wits and ingenuity the rest of the way.

to as eye candy. It may sound flattering but in reality it may mean that some people will not care about the personality and/ or assume that gwapo people are illmannered and have the right to be mean to others, which is not always the case, and I personally find that pattern very shallow.

Automatically, people will perceive gwapo people as snobbish and intimidating; and people always assume that gwapo people do not interact with others who are not at par with their looks. If they do, they’d be called plastic. Gwapo people will always be arrogant to the eyes of the insecure no matter how simple and humble they actually are. It’s as though they just can’t win.

MARLON SOLIVEN You don’t have privacy anymore. Everybody wants to be near you; everyone wants to be associated with you. All day, everyday, you seem to be crowded from all directions by the most avid fans to the scums of the earth. And it doesn’t end! Being gwapo is the epitome of being a part of everybody.

It’s a gift and a curse at the same time.

We asked some guys for their take on this topic.

Here’s what they had to say!

JONELLE LAYUG TAGBO There is a stereotype that gwapo is nothing but a superficial asset. With this mindset, some do not take gwapo people seriously.

Another downside is that they are referred

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HOW TO TAKE THE PERFECT LIFESTYLE PHOTO By> Nina Peñalosa-Carpio

Don’t lie and say that you are beyond one. Come on, now. We are all guilty of the occasional shameless selfie, or OOTD, or the “kunwari candid” blogger shots. We all have our “Instagram friends” – those poor, overworked souls who ask for nothing in return as they take photos of us pretend-walking nonchalantly down the street, or contorting our bodies into weird shapes as we try to find the perfect angle. Lahat naman tayo luma-lifestyle. #Ayslangyan! But naturally, some do it better than others.

If you really must profess of your beautiful lifestyle, let it be in a manner that puts your aesthetic sensibilities in a good light. In short, gagawin mo na lang din, gandahan mo na! Blogger and style savant Nina Peñalosa-Carpio tells us how.

The perfect lifestyle photo can be the ultimate storyteller. It can tell the story of your life, who you are, your character, your favorite activities, and your feelings at a given moment. I always get inspired when I see pictures of people traveling the world, pictures of people’s fitness journey and pictures of people basically just doing the things they love. It makes me want to get up and do something myself! Yes, a simple picture can be that compelling. It has the power to inspire and encourage.

Here are some practical tips on how to nail the “perfect” lifestyle shot: 1.The Equipment: • Camera - I have two cameras that I use. > A digital camera > A DSLR

• Tripod – I have my gorilla pod which I also use when I’m vlogging. And most of the time I just make use of what is immediately available in my surroundings. I sometimes put my camera on a bench or even on top of a flowerpot.

The Light Natural light is your best friend. It’s my favorite source of lighting as it can make anybody look good and, well, natural! When you’re shooting outdoors try to always shoot in a shaded area. Make sure the light is always facing you and voila! Instant Photoshop! But keep in mind that natural light can change depending on what time it is of the day, weather etc. so make sure to plan ahead.

to take pictures of you candidly. But if you’re on your own with a tripod choose poses that show movement because it looks more natural. I like poses where I’m doing something because it gives the picture some motion. For example, in my OOTD shots, shots I usually pose with one leg slightly in front of the other like I’m walking. And if I’m working out, I time it perfectly so that my jump or my lifting is captured.

2.

3. Moving Pose Try to act as normal as possible. Lifestyle photography is all about capturing reality.

So if you have your own photographer (a friend, sister or husband) ask them illustrado go>16

4. Look Tall and Slim If you want to look taller, make sure that the person taking your picture shoots from

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a low angle. Also, another trick is you can pop up 1-2 inches on your toes when you’re wearing flats. It gives you an elongated look and a better posture. And if you want to look slimmer, shoot at a higher angle.

5. Angle your body Facing the camera straight on is not flattering. Create angles with your body and don’t just stand with your arms hanging loosely at your sides. Stand at a 75degree angle, point your toe towards the camera and place your weight on your back leg.

6. Be confident and smile!

When you feel better about yourself, the better you’ll look.

These practical tips should actually just be secondary when taking lifestyle photos. Getting the perfect shot is not all about how good your equipment is, or whether you put your weight in front of the other, it’s about enjoying what you’re doing, getting motivated and hope to inspire others. If you love what you do and do what you love, trust me it will translate in the picture and eventually your audience will enjoy it with you. illustrado go>17

MY PINOY LIFE IN > Living the dream, loving the world, learning new things everyday

My PINOY LIFE in

To my fellow Pinoys around the world, kahit saan na-iiba ang Pinoy. Show them why we Filipinos are in demand in every industry. Mabuhay po tayong lahat!

B y > A r t u ro P o b l e te J r. , Director for Les Gants Vietnam

I

first came to Vietnam in July 2005 to set up and assist the country director of Les Gants Vietnam. My ability to speak in Vietnamese & Japanese were a plus for me as I officially served as the Japanese and Vietnamese interpreter of the company.

Eventually, I became the director for Les Gants Vietnam in 2006; a post I held on to till 2010.

I live in Danang City, Vietnam, the third largest city in Vietnam located in the central part of the country. Danang City a long

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coast line and as you can imagine, beautiful beaches and many ancient ruins that reflect the Chinese influence on the country. During the Vietnam War, the US military had a large presence here and you can still see the American presence today in the structures that the Americans built. Danang is in the center of famous places here in Vietnam.

It is near to both Hue City and Hoi An, an ancient city province of Quang nam. I think I can compare Danag city to Cebu City, both are ideal places to go on vacation because of its pristine beaches and friendly people.

MY PINOY LIFE IN > Living the dream, loving the world, learning new things everyday

Vietnam

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MY PINOY LIFE IN >

My Community

I guess like many parts of the world, Danang City has a Pinoy community.

There are probably 200 of us, most of whom are engineers, English teachers and professional hoteliers. There are also some entertainers. In our case here, we always meet on Sundays at the Saint Peter, Cathedral. We have 2 Filipino priests here.

My Learnings

I learned something about myself when I moved to Vietnam. I was a very picky eater when I was in the Philippines. I don’t try food that Am not familiar with, but moving here, I learned to eat vegetarian food three

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MY PINOY LIFE IN >

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MY PINOY LIFE IN > Living the dream, loving the world, learning new things everyday

times a week due to the Buddhist practice of not eating meat and non-salty foods. I’ve even learned how to ride a motorcycle; it is the best form of transportation going to work or anywhere near or far.

My Message

To my fellow Pinoys around the world, kahit saan na-iiba ang Pinoy. Show them why we Filipinos are in demand in every industry. Mabuhay po tayong lahat! illustrado go>22

Illustrado Go> Pinoy awesomeness on-the-go for the progressive Filipino.

Get your free copy now!

Available at the Philippine Embassy and Consulate General, as well as in Filipino schools, restaurants and other outlets across the UAE

BEAUTY

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Kagandahan 101

Confessions of a Maarte By> Anna De Leon

B

eing maarte is no longer exclusive to kolehiyalas. Women and men alike, especially if you are Pinoy, you are maarte. But when does your maarte routine become borderline manic? Read and I will not judge you if you tick any of these boxes.

The Kikay Kit. A Pinay’s kikay kit has the following: toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, mouthwash, comb, face powder, eye liner, lipstick, lip gloss, chapstick, blush, lotion, perfume, baby wipes, nail cutter, nail file, pots, pans, iron, ironing board… you might as well carry your house with you!

Last but not the least, and I say this with dead pan seriousness, drop the, “I want to be simple” act. First, it is over used, and secondly, don’t tell me that you don’t want to be a better version of yourself. Having all the products and resources available to you so you can become better is the biggest disservice that you can do to yourself.

When you are tempted not to buy that concealer to cover your dark circles, remind yourself, “wala nang pangit ngayon.” If you are, then you are probably just lazy!”

We asked some of the most maganda (inside and out!) gals we know about the challenges of being beautiful.

Here’s what they had to say!

Our love affair with the Parlor. If you are one of those ladies who can sit in the salon chair for hours while they primp you, high five! I don’t know how you ladies can sit through one hair procedure for hours on end without going out of your minds. Tiis Ganda is an understatement.

The quest to be white. This drives me NUTS! I don’t know why Pinays can’t just love the color of the skin that they are born with or the hair color that they are born with. I mean, a little hair colour here and there is fine but to go blonde let alone not retouch the black roots? If you can’t maintain it, don’t do it.

The Glade effect. We Pinoys love being mabango. We take a bath 3 times a day but sometimes a spritz of perfume is more than enough to announce your arrival. If you wanted to make the whole room smell great, bring a diffuser or scented candle everywhere you go.

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KATHY ALBINO I sometimes feel cursed hearing these compliments from people, especially from men. Why?? Because other girls resent me for it. Being notice and having all that unwanted attention make some girls uncomfortable, which leads to bashing. And worse, because of their insecurities they make up a lot of stories behind your back.

Now if people will read this and say I’m “mayabang” coz for them I’m not beautiful and I have an ordinary face, hey I’m basing this from my experience ok?

CHERRY LAO I could name a few challenges. Not that I consider myself as beautiful, but I have been very observant about what’s happening around me. First off, more often than not, you are not taken seriously.

People automatically think you’re just a pretty face with no brains - that you can be a good “front” to other people but would not expect you to engage on meaningful and relevant conversation. You’re nice to look at, like one of your “lola’s” china dolls, but they wouldn’t dare play with you. This also brings another assumption that you’re weak and fragile, and that you are someone who needs to be protected like a damsel in distress. I carry a butterfly knife, know how to shoot a gun and have punched people in the nose – do not mistake me for a wuss (Sorry! That’s my Tondo Girl side talking).

Moreover, people around you assume that you are handed everything, and that you do not need to lift a finger a day in your life. This is certainly not my experience.

I know how to cook, clean the house, do laundry, iron clothes and I have worked my behind off to provide for my family. Lastly you are deemed as snob or a high nose and you cannot be “cowboy” and eat like a construction worker in the gutter. The look on your officemates when they find out how much cups of rice you can eat – Priceless!!!

ONLI IN DA PILIPINS

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Filipinisms. Sometimes awesome. Sometimes facepalm.

H ow can we raise a beauty queen worthy of world comp etition when we don’t even have V enezuela’s fam ed beauty schools with militarylike training? When you’re nurtured with the wisdom of the elderly, the road to the Miss/Mister < insert beauty p ageant> crown—with or without the tsunami walk—is not at all that difficult.

How to Raise a Beauty Queen/King the Pinoy Way B y > A b y Ya p

Presenting some tips in raising a beauty queen/king the natural Pinoy way sans the aid of Vicki Belo and/or Stella Araneta: • For moms, formulate your game plan as soon as you learn you are pregnant. Look only at pretty people and/or their pictures.

This should help you give birth to a cutie baby.

• For dads, never get your preggy wife angry or your kid might look like you.

Again, this is a question of self-esteem.

• Once the baby is born, bury the placenta with a book (Please, pick one that has substance. If you’re a Twilight fan, settle for the dictionary), so she/he’ll grow up smart and won’t make a major, major blunder in the beauty contest’s Q&A portion.

• First beauty enhancement tip for the baby: trim your newborn’s eyelashes within her/his first three months, so they’ll grow long and curly. Think of how much you will save from eyelash extensions later on.

• Keep the child healthy. It’s never too early to take up rigorous physical fitness training, given our daily rice + everything oily diet.

• Pin a religious medallion to her/his clothing to ward off evil spirits. To someone who compliments your baby, say “Pwera usog” to prevent tummy aches. For additional vigor, bathe her/him under the rain come May—only if it’s still safe.

• Make sure that your future candidate doesn’t go home luhaan. Secure her/ his chances of bagging the Miss/Mister Congeniality/Friendship trophy already.

After baptism, display her/his christening gown at the reception for everyone to see so she/he’ll become sociable.

• For excellent oral communication skills that will wow all the judges but gross your kid out, (force) feed her/him a female pig’s cooked genitalia.

• For a pimple-free face that will your earn your up-and-coming beauty queen a Miss Photogenic (and you her disgust), beg her to wipe her first period blood on her face.

Oh, and remind her not to take a bath every time her monthly visitor comes lest she goes crazy. (Can anything get crazier than this?)

• For smooth and sexy legs to wow the swimsuit round, never let your kid walk barefoot or she/he’ll have varicose veins as horrible as the roots of the Balete tree.

• For long, black, and shiny hair that’s the Filipina’s signature crowning glory, don’t allow your child to pluck out white hair— not even a single strand—or it will multiply by 10.

As always, try any of these at your own risk. Good luck and mabuhay!

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ILLUSTRADO STUFF >

Money can’t buy happiness, but admit it - sometimes you just gotta have your stuff! Get a load of these interesting, very Illustrado sundry. Can’t live without ‘em!

BONNE SPA MILK SALT One of life’s greatest joys is feeling how ridiculously buttery your skin is after a body scrub session. But you don’t really have to go to a spa to experience such swankiness. You can do it in the comfort of your own banyo with Bonne Spa Milk Salt.

Just remember not to scrub too hard or for too long, lest you end up “flayed” instead of “fleeky.”

LUSH LIP SCRUBS Matte lipsticks are all the rage nowadays, but nothing’s more alarming (and hilarious) than violently pink puckers that look as dry as the deserts of Ras Al Khaima.

Remember: scrub your lips, moisturize, and then apply the lipstick. We at #TeamIllustrado are huge fans of the Lush Lip Scrubs. They keep your lips soft and bubblegummy, plus they smell good enough to eat!

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NIVEA BRIGHTENING WIPES The vulcanizing shop type of summer weather of the Middle East usually wreaks havoc on all skin types. If yours is dry, it gets even drier. If it’s oily, your face just turns into an oil spill. Thankfully, we have Nivea Brightening Wipes for those quick, mid-day hilamos. This is unique amongst wipes, as it has a sorta rough side that’s great for exfoliation. It’s like a facial that you can do anytime and anywhere.

EVIAN FACIAL SPRAY The scientific term is “Brumisateur.” Try saying that. You’ll instantly turn into Mariah Carey. What this is, basically, is expensive water in a can. Why not just splash water on your face in the rest room, you ask? Well, because… Evian, man. Not only is it great for keeping your face hydrated, it also works swimmingly well for setting your make-up and keeping it in place.

WHEATGRASS JUICE Beauty is not just what you put on your skin; it’s also about what you put in your body. Wheatgrass juice has over 100 of the elements needed by man. If this doesn’t give you superpowers, nothing will. A shot of this a couple of times a week would be great for keeping your body in top form.

SASSY GIRL GUIDE

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Sizzling sisterly advice from one fierce Filipina

SO YOU THINK YOU’RE HIGH MAIN? B y > Tr a c y L e y

W

e all know that one girl – the high maintenance girl.

She ain’t no princess but she walks the world as if she’s wearing a crown.

Boys see her and wish to be better. Her mere presence inspires their admiration and subservience. But in as much as she may seem as royalty, she also attracts a fair amount of negativity. Other girls sometimes see her as a weakling who can’t get her act together without a man. She is seen as narcissistic, needy, and superficial.

You don’t just get into a “relationship” with a high maintenance girl. You get into a business venture.

Far be it for me to judge the moral character of a high main. I believe that there are many ways of being in the world, and as long as you’re not hurting anybody, no one has the right to judge you and the way you choose to live. But I also believe that self-awareness is important, hence it’s worth discussing just what exactly constitutes a high maintenance woman.

You probably do not want to come off as high maintenance when you don’t mean to be – and if you do, well, knowing exactly what you are can only help you become

better at it. Not sure if you’re one of them?

Here are 5 signs.

The mirror is your best friend Of course there is nothing wrong in checking if your make up is on point every now and then, but if you do this obsessively, Houston we have a problem.

There’s nothing more annoying than lunching out with a friend who picks up the mirror, reapplies her lipstick and checks her hair and make-up every 2 minutes.

Money talks High maintenance girl will find comfort and happiness in money. Money can satisfy you, but it can’t buy happiness.

High maintenance girls do have expensive tastes. They follow new trends, always need new shoes and justify their addiction to designer bags by calling them “investments.”

Bling bling When you are a high maintenance girl, you like your bling. Often times, you want and need shiny things to get noticed. In short, you like extravagant jewelry

Expensive gifts High maintenance girls love gifts - and I’m not talking about symbolic, “it’s the thought that counts” gifts, but rather the stupendously lavish ones that you would need to take out a bank loan for. If you find yourself getting annoyed by the cutiepatootsie trinkets that your man gives you because you think you deserve more, then you should consider the possibility of you being a high maintenance glam doll.

What you like, you gotta have Most high maintenance girls always get what they want and they don’t take no for an answer. You don’t like to be refused, you believe you deserve what you want and you will stop at nothing until you obtain it. But bear in mind that not all men like to be with a high maintenance woman. There is a very thin line between being a confident woman who likes expensive things, and being a gold digger who only wants a man who can pay for her extravagant lifestyle.

Is being high main a good thing or a bad thing? I’ll leave the answer to that question up to you. One thing’s for sure, though: there’s nothing wrong with a woman who knows her value.

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Filipino Progress & Diversity

at the work place >

with students between 3 and 20 years of age from various nationalities, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds. Fifty percent of the students come from UAE and the other half comes from about twenty nationalities.

HAVEN HAMILTON A. VILLAPANDO

Art Teacher-Future Center for Special Needs Abu Dhabi, UAE My Job Working as a teacher is always a challenging experience, no matter how young or old your learners are. Being an art teacher at the Future Centre for Special Needs for 3 years now (FCSN-Abu Dhabi) is very pleasant and rewarding career as it lets you help your learners express their feeling through art. I am also the in-house artist of the school during special events like Gala dinner, exhibits and others. I work

My Work Day I usually arrive anytime between 7:20 and 7:30 am at the school campus. After having a cup of coffee, I always go straight to my workshop to prepare the room for the art activities of the day. After an hour of preparing the materials, it’s time for me to facilitate our morning assembly with the students at the gym. That includes roll call, singing of UAE National hymn, warm-up exercise and dancing with action songs and nursery rhymes.

There are days in a week where I go to different classrooms to conduct the art class especially for the learners with walking disabilities, but for those who are more able, they usually come to my workshop with their teachers. I also cater individual painting session for the selected students at the centre for more advance lessons. I am an advocate of

and assets of the Mazaya Portfolio in UAE. I am also responsible for creating and improving policies and procedures within the FM Department for the smooth flow of all operations. Being the Manager also requires the patience and leadership skills to lead a team of FM Executive, Coordinator, Technicians, and various FM Contractors.

JEFFREY S. VALERO

Manager, Facilities Management – Al Mazaya Real Estate FZC Asst. Secretary – Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers, UAE Chapter Club President – PSME UAE & Associates Toastmasters Club My Job Being active not only in my workplace as well as in our community gives me an opportunity to take various responsible roles. I work as a Facilities Manager at Al Mazaya Real Estate which is one of the most promising companies in the real estate industry in the MENA Region. Being a Facilities Manager, I am the overall in charge of the maintenance of the facilities illustrado go>28

Apart from my regular day job, I have also been given a responsibility as an Officer (Asst. Secretary) of the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers – UAE Chapter. Our main objective is to uplift the profession of our fellow Mechanical Engineers in Dubai and Northern Emirates by conducting professional enhancement activities and organizing general membership meetings.

We also aim to uplift the communication skills of our mechanical engineers, which pushed the birth of PSME UAE and Associates Toastmasters Club. As President of this club, I collaborate with the Executive Committee in ensuring that all of our organization’s objectives are met in a solid and satisfying way.

My Work Day I start my work day by checking emails and taking action where needed. Then proper

recycling/up cycling since high school back in the Philippines - that is why if there is an opportunity, I incorporate recycling in most of my art lessons. I also promote environmental awareness thru my Facebook Page, “Hearty Art Project” and Art exhibits.

With my 8 years of professional experience in both mainstream school and special needs centre in the UAE, I can say that I am truly grateful. I have been faced with a lot of unique frustrations but at the end of it, the rewards of teaching make it all worthwhile. It is my goal in life to have a tangible difference in the lives of others. As a teacher, I can see the fruits of my efforts everyday.

Career Advice To my beloved and equally-talented kababayans, our Creator above has blessed us with a lot of gifts and skills. It is our duty to share these blessing to others. Filipinos are naturally talented. Let us always be a channel of love, hope and inspiration of our fellow kababayans and the world as a whole. Tayo ay mga Pilipino, angat at naiiba kahit kahit kanino!

communication with staff follows to secure that all operations are running smoothly. I consider myself as a hands-on manager.

I try not to be complacent, as I believe that a leader should guide and develop his people into becoming leaders themselves.

Communication is very important in my job and being a Toastmaster helps me immensely in establishing connections with all the people I work with.

I usually end my day spending productive and fruitful time with my wife and two kids.

I consider a gift and a stress reliever after a long day at work.

Career Advice There is a big reason behind why we ended up working here in the UAE. You may call it fate, or you can call it destiny.

But good fortune is not enough. We need to harness our skills and work harder. But most importantly, we have to be thankful for all blessings that God give us. I believe that when we share our blessings, we will receive more blessings in return.

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RIHANNE GOES HOLLYWOOD By> Excel DyQuiangco

N

ot many children can brag about working with Asian actor John Cho but for young Filipina Rihanne Quionn who starred with him in Star Trek Beyond top billed by Chris Pine, it was not just another day at the park.

“It was a fun experience,” says the six-year old who initially wanted to become a pastry chef and open her own bakeshop but now wants to become an actress. “I had a great time with all of them.”

The young actress first had her taste of auditions when her mother, Carla, responded to a casting call posted on a social networking site. After being asked to audition, the line-up was whittled to only six Asian girls and finally, to two.

Interestingly the other girl who was chosen aside from Rihanne became her body double. “I thought there will be two

daughters of Sulu (Cho’s character) but apparently, there was only one and my daughter was it. We feel so blessed that she was able to experience all of these.”

First day of shooting involved Rihanne playing with Cho and his onscreen partner.

“I think she was more interested in meeting the aliens and in doing costume changes than in actually delivering her lines,” says Carla. “They had so much fun running around the set that Cho even asked my daughter if he can be her onscreen daddy.

Of course Rihanne said yes!” Carla adds that Cho and her real dad even looked quite similar.

One of the most memorable moments in the movie was when John Cho had to carry Rihanne back and forth for about fifty times to get the right shot for the film. “It was still a lot of fun,” says the young actress.

Her mother chides, “For me it was such

an exhausting experience seeing them go the same route over and over again. But my little girl did it and she wasn’t a tad bit complaining. She didn’t even use her body double.”

Part of being in a Hollywood movie also involved getting absent from school for a day or two. Rihanne remembers that she had an attendance of 98% the whole school year – one absence when she had a fever and the other during the first day of the movie. Carla also had to excuse herself from her employer. “I told my boss that my daughter will be in a Hollywood movie and I don’t want to miss out on this opportunity,” she says.

In the near future, Rihanne wants to be involved in a lot of films where her acting prowess can be displayed. “Maybe play a baker onscreen,” she says.

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SCRAPBOOK >

OSCAR “OZKI” RIALUBIN Doha, Qatar

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SCRAPBOOK >

RANNIE BOOTS TOMALON Riyadh, KSA

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By> Nicholo Jallores

I

t is an accepted dictum in modern medicine that the strongest mnemonic device out of all the 5 senses is the sense of smell. A whiff of the known and familiar could bring back a greater flood of memories than any sight, sound, taste, or tactile experience ever could. Warm pineapple and sugar reminds us of holidays back home. Grilled fish takes us back to barbecues by the sea with the family. The nose knows, it is said. Human beings in general are tenderly susceptible to the visceral and often jarring impacts of nosestalgia.

Filipinos in particular are an olfactory sort. We spend a lot of time and money on ensuring that we smell good, or at the very least, that we don’t smell bad. According to Eden Strategy Institute’s Emerging Middle Class 2014 Survey, 4 out of 10 Filipinos cannot live without soap and shampoo.

Personal hygiene figures highly in the Filipinos’ list of priorities, along with mobile phones and internet access. According to the report, most of us would rather forego health insurance and job security than lose our toiletries – in other words, it’s perfectly fine to be in the dirt, as long as our dirt doesn’t stink.

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Our innate obsession with smelling good is hugely evident in Filipinos living in Middle Eastern countries. The sweltering heat of the Arabian peninsula offers the perfect environment for cultivating all sorts of maleficent odors, but amidst the stink clouds of hot acid and sulfur that urbanites have to contend with on a daily basis, the Filipinos manage to smell as fresh and dainty as young roses.

But what exactly is behind our propensity and dedication towards smelling good?

What are the factors that define our relentlessly systemic approach to personal hygiene?

We have a few working theories.

1.) Filipinos generally don’t eat a lot of red meat.

Back home, beef is considered a premium item. Most of us grew up subsisting mostly on vegetables and white meats, with calderata and bulalo appearing only on the weekends or special occasions. Red meat is notoriously difficult to digest. Too much of it is likely to cause excessive perspiration and overproduction of surplus proteins and lipids, which can ultimately lead to body odor.

2.) Our food is not really all that spicy.

Compared to other cuisines, Filipino food is relatively rudimentary in terms of flavor compositions. We are comfort eaters, more than anything – we appreciate simplicity, heartiness, and sheer abundance in our food, with very little to almost no regard for flavor sets and textural diversity.

Overloading on spices leads to excess sulfur in the body, which will eventually be eliminated through sweat and the breath.

3.) We’re all just water babies, really

The Filipinos come from a land that offers plenty of access to bodies of water. We have 7,107 islands – it would be safe to surmise that we also have around the same number of beaches, in addition to a stunning multitude lakes, rivers, brooks, and waterfalls. A typical Filipino family weekend getaway would be an afternoon outing at the beach. Filipinos just love water – a natural extension of which is that we love bathing. Other nationalities are even known to scoff at our insistence on taking daily baths. Imagine their consternation when they find out that some of us bathe twice a day – with plenty of “hilamos” and touch-ups in between.

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Most of us would rather forego health insurance and job security than lose our toiletries – in other words, it’s perfectly fine to be in the dirt, as long as our dirt doesn’t stink.

4.) We tend to be overly conscious of other people’s opinions

5.) We are sensitive of other people’s needs and comfort levels

Filipinos are very considerate and thoughtful – flip side of which is that we sometimes take self-consciousness to a ridiculous extreme. As a rule, we do not air our dirty laundry in public. We keep them locked up inside, and smother it with fragrances so the neighbors don’t notice.

Our self-esteem tends to be heavily reliant on the opinion of others, so we go the extra length to make sure that we are pleasing in all respects, including the way we smell.

It is often mentioned that we Filipinos are the preferred employees because of the level of loyalty and compassion that we are able to display through our diligence and hard work. The same can be said about our commitment towards maintaining a high degree of personal hygiene. It would be a matter of great tragedy for us to ruin another person’s day by walking into the room reeking of warm garbage. We take care of the way we smell mostly because it pleases us to please others.

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FASHION >

SunKissed PHOTOGRAPHY: DOC MARLON PECJO STYLING: REY SANTOS ASSISTED BY: MARITESS SANTOS MAKE UP: FATIMA RABAGO HAIR: MELANIE VASQUEZ MODEL: RED DELA CRUZ

Swimwear by Eric Delos Santos; gold bangles by Vanity Accessories; neckpiece from Vero by Gladys Young

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FASHION >

Gorgeous summer and swim wear with fierce detailing are all the rage for a smoldering season for honey-loved sun worshippers.

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FASHION > Sun hat from DNA by Chris Jazler; cape

by Jun Escario topped sweetheart tube swimwear by Mikee Tejano; bangles from Vanity Accessories; green straw lace handbag by Adante Leyesa

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FASHION >

Cape by Jun Escario; neckpiece

by Adante Leyesa; swimwear by Eric Delos Santos; gold ring from Vero by Gladys Young; gold cuff

by Vanity Accessories

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FASHION > Sicilian Dropped earrings by Adante Leyesa; white sheer haltered top by Badj Genato paired with printed trouser by Eric Delos Santos; pumps by Privileged Shoes; bangles from WWW (What Women Want)

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FASHION >

Printed one shoulder asymmetrical dress from DNA by Chris Jazler; bangles by WWW; neckpiece by Rencie Santos illustrado go>39

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

>

Celebrating Filipino artistry, passion, and cleverness.

WYWY Band

The Middle East teems with talented Filipino musicians, but every once in a while, an act rises above the crop and proves to be of a different, more transcendent and audacious sort of mettle. Case in point: WYWY. Take it from this quick profile, penned by lead vocalist “X.” OUR BAND The band name is inspired by The Beatles song ‘Within You Without You’ from the album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The lyrics of the song inspire us to continuously create special things in our lives. “Special” just happened to be music.

X Alvarez –vocalist, samples and xylophone. I also sing lead for Visqueen from Tse Tse Fly Middle East, a sound art & noise experimental community in the UAE. I am a mentor of Rock Camp for Girls UAE. By day, I work as a Marketing Coordinator in an oil & gas company.

Mckie Alvarez – guitars and synths. He is also known as Madd Star Sounds (Reggae dub producer & DJ) Our music is classified as ethereal wave, shoegaze and trip hop.

OUR ART Before the two of us met, Mckie was the bassist of one of the well-known reggae band in the Philippines, ‘Collieherb,’ and I was a bedroom musician. I called myself ‘Bedroom Musician’ because I had a lot of compositions at home that I kept only for my hearing pleasure.

When we became a couple in 2006, we started creating music together and posting videos on Youtube and Soundcloud just for fun. We got married in 2010, and up to this day we continue to do what we love. We even got our son involved in a music video. Music has become a family

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hobby.

OUR JOURNEY In 2013, we started an electronic dream pop trio band called Parallel Sound System.

It was my first ever band in Dubai. Through this venture, we had the chance to travel and perform in some parts of the Middle East. It helped us gain more experience and connected us to the right people in the music scene. WYWY started in 2015. In the same year, we released our first original song ‘That Changes Everything.’ We didn’t expect good feedback from listeners, but to our surprise, it was featured in different international music blogs and aired on radio stations. We were also invited to perform as front act for international artists that visited Dubai.

We are very grateful for how far our work has come. The support that we get from the international music industry inspires us to continue and get even better at what we are doing. Our tracks are played in radio stations here in Dubai, Singapore, Philippines and Poland. Hopefully, our music reaches more countries soon.

Recently, we were invited to play at the Fete dela Musique in Manila, which is a big music event in the Philippines. We played on 2 different stages in one night. It was one of the best gigs we ever had.

OUR PROCESS All the songs from our upcoming album are based on real life experiences. You may call it “hugot” songs. Most often, we are struck by inspiration in very random situations

- like when we get stuck in traffic in the Dubai- Sharjah road or in Al Khail Road.

Sometimes, even the most plain instances can give you the most visceral flashback of the events that hurt you, or made you happy – and then you just have to give in to the moment. For us, bad traffic is a great catalyst. We come up with the lyrics and melodies inside the car, record it in a cellphone and then arrange it in our home studio. That’s how we do it.

OUR WAY FORWARD We are working on our first album ‘You’re Blessed.’ It was supposed to be just an EP but we decided to make it a full album, as we were able to come up with the requisite numbers of songs. We want to make it worth listening to and give the audience eargarms. We are planning to launch our album this year in a small venue with an intimate crowd. Let’s see where the wind brings us. We hope it will take us to different places - not only in the Middle East, but across the universe.

TO OUR FELLOW ARTISTS Be yourself. Don’t mind what other people say about you. Just do what you love and what makes you happy. When someone tries to pull you down, you pull them up!

Connect with WYWY! FB: https://www.facebook.com/ WYWYMusicOfficial/ SC: https://soundcloud.com/wywy-music https://wywy-music.bandcamp.com IG: @wywy.music TW: @wywymusic

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

>

We are very grateful for how far our work has come. The support that we get from the international music industry inspires us to continue and get even better at what we are doing.

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FASHION >

DAN DELIMA

DAN DELIMA

DAN DELIMA

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FASHION >

PHIO ENAJE

PHIO ENAJE

BESSIE BESANA

BESSIE BESANA

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FASHION >

LEO ALMODAL

LEO ALMODAL

illustrado go>44

TIM TEJARES

FASHION >

YEN

YEN

YEN

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FASHION >

SHERWIN DARREL

SHERWIN DARREL

JOSEPH DOMINGO

JOSEPH DOMINGO

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FASHION >

GARIMON ROFEROS

GARIMON ROFEROS

GARIMON ROFEROS

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REAL STYLE, REAL PEOPLE

>

Authentic, street-level suave and swankiness.

JHOYSI CAASI www.thethrifttrip.com

top picks this week!

Fresh fashions from the freshest Filipino fashionistas online! Check out our

JIM JOQUICO www.fashionchameleon.ae

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REAL STYLE, REAL PEOPLE

>

BUTCH CERVANTES www.fashionwhoreffic.blogspot.ae

Authentic, street-level suave and swankiness.

MARJ REYES www.bohowanders.com photo by> Patrick Caldito & Anjo Mercado illustrado go>49

REAL STYLE, REAL PEOPLE

>

PATRICIA PRIETO www.itsparadigma.com

MICHAEL MACALOS www.contemporaryboy.com

Authentic, street-level suave and swankiness.

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WEARING IT WELL

>

How to work it when you wear it coz you’re worth it.

JESUS SINDAYEN FAS H I O N D E S I G N E R

What role does fashion play in your daily life?

It plays a huge role. For one, fashion is my line of work.

But more importantly, it is my medium of expression. I use it to define and present myself to the world. It is a manifestation of my individuality. It’s as essential as eating and breathing to me.

Do you consider the regular you a fashionable person?

No. Stylish? Yes. Artistic? Yes. But I wouldn’t use the term “fashionable,” because it implies that I am devoted to trends.

Trends come and go, but style and art are forever. I do not want to be limited by what the industry defines as “hip” and “in the now.” I prefer to be free to express myself, the way I see fit.

What do you typically wear daily?

I have a very unorthodox sense of style, so it’s quite

hard for me to find ready-to-wear clothes that jive perfectly with my aesthetics. So instead of buying clothes, I make them myself – at least most of the time, especially for important social gatherings.

Feeling ko tanggal ang worries at stress ko kapag nakakapag-outfit ako.

What is your fashion philosophy?

I believe that fashion has to be daring. It takes courage to go out of convention, buck the norms, and provoke change. If it’s not pushing the standards in any way, it’s not really fashion.

Can’t live without…

My sewing machine.

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MONEY

>

Make money. Maintain that money. Money pa more!

The Spirit of Financial Planning By> Francisco J. Colayco

w

e are often asked questions on investment options.

There’s nothing really wrong with the question. But with many options available, it’s hard to choose the right one. The trick is simply to know your financial objective.

Your financial objectives revolve around three things: Purpose, Target, and Time.

Purpose is the reason for investing. Target is the desired amount to reach. And time is the period you have to achieve your target. Knowing your financial objective helps choose the best financial instrument.

However, at the heart of proper financial planning lies a spiritual essence that many ought to discover. Religious or not, one must realize that money is also a spiritual matter to be dealt with. Knowing the spiritual aspects of financial planning will help you realize its importance more profoundly.

Separation from money When we do financial planning, we are actually separating ourselves from money.

To separate means not desiring money for its own sake. When planning financially, you are telling yourself not to seek money for itself. Seeking money for its sake

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can corrupt the human soul. Money is a powerful ally to wealth but it can distort you when not handled properly.

Purpose-driven money Once you have self-mastery over your need of money, it should be clear why you need it. Any financial endeavor without a clear purpose can be likened to blind spending. On the other hand, money with a clear and noble purpose can help achieve the ultimate end of human life: to live an authentic life in accordance with the divine will.

When you do financial planning, you make your money help you become a wellrounded person. The same expectation applies when you use your money to help people around you.

The impermanence and giftedness of money Lastly, financial planning reminds you of money’s impermanence and giftedness.

Like everything else, money is temporary.

It will eventually decay regardless of the physical protection it offers.

Nevertheless, money is also a gift.

It may be a man-made invention to purchase goods, but it is essential in

daily living. The fact that you are able to obtain it legitimately makes you realize its importance in life. You are given opportunities to earn and grow it so that you can utilize it better.

Financial planning helps you value your money in a proper way. Because money is not permanent, it’s important to know how it should be used. At the same time, you become obligated to grow it. You are responsible to grow your God-given gifts and to live authentically. Money, at its innermost essence, is God-given. You are given legitimate opportunities to earn and grow it.

To see with new eyes Planning is a vital aspect in any endeavor that you take. It’s not just about making everything clear and specific; it also involves continuous reminders to the important aspects of life. This is what financial planning does. It may look like a dull and boring process, but the challenge is to look at it with new eyes. There’s much more to financial planning than what meets the eye. In knowing its spiritual aspects, you empower yourself further to reach your true wealth.

LAW

>

Get right with the rules. Here’s how.

Handling Hard Times: When Debt Becomes Unmanageable By> Barney Almazar, Esq.

A

re you regularly spending beyond your budget? Are you living from payday to payday?

Are you unable to meet rent payments? Are you always paying only the minimum credit card bill? Are you not aware how much your total debt is? Have you maxed-out more than 2 credit cards? Are you consistently paying bills late? Are you hiding your debt situation from your spouse?

• Longest installment term and how much is the monthly payment?

• Minimum payment to release the police case, and what would be the payment terms for the remaining balance?

Once you have agreed on a settlement option, request for the settlement letter.

Make the payment as per the settlement letter. Do not make any payments unless you have the settlement letter. Get the

Release/Clearance Letter once you have complied with the payment terms. If you have a pending case, secure clearance from the bank’s lawyer. Present the clearance to the police station so your records can be cleared from the police and immigration systems.

For more information on Central Bank rules on debt collection, readers can visit www. gulflaw.info or call 04-4492016.

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, you really need to re-examine the way you handle your finances.

Police Case

Civil Case

Applicable Law

Article 401 of the Penal Code

Article 272 of the Civil Code

SETTLING DEBTS 101

What is the complainant asking the court?

For the offender to be punished for issuing a bounced cheque

For the debtor to pay the amount owed

Contact the collections department of your bank and advise you would like to make a settlement. If you have defaulted on several loans within the same bank, inform the collections officer that you would like to settle all your loans. For example, if you have credit cards, personal loans and car loans issued by the same bank, you should settle all loans in one agreement—because the bank can still file a case against you for the other loans which you did not settle.

What is the punishment?

Jail term and/or payment of fine/penalty (not the amount of the bounced cheque)

Payment of loan obligation plus damages or imprisonment if unable to pay

What offices are involved?

Police, Prosecutor, Criminal Court

Civil Court

Can I leave the country?

No.

Yes, unless the bank files a travel ban

Can I cancel/transfer/renew my visa?

No. You can process your visa once you have served the jail term/paid the fine or settled your loan.

Yes.

Can I renew my passport?

Yes, request the police or court

Yes, request the court

Will I be deported?

No

No

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR BANK: • How much is the outstanding balance per account?

• Have they filed a police case against you?

If yes: • Which police station?

• What is police case number?

• When was it filed?

• How much is the value of the bounced cheque?

• What are the available settlement options?

• Minimum settlement amount for one-time payment?

Can it be filed even if I’m not in UAE

Yes

Yes

Will service of sentence erase my debt?

No. Your bank can still file a civil case for collection of the amount you owe.

Yes, your payment of the amount ordered by the court will extinguish your loan obligation.

Will imprisonment erase my debt?

No. Imprisonment will only clear your case for issuing a bounced cheque.

No. Only payment of the amount owed will erase your debt. Creditor can still request a travel ban even after you have served your jail term.

Can I enter into a settlement during the trial?

Yes, as long as no judgment has been passed. The case will be dismissed if you will pay the amount demanded by your creditor.

Yes, you can enter an amicable settlement at any time, even after judgment has been rendered.

Will I go to jail even if I surrender my passport to the police/court?

No, during the trial. Yes, after the judgment (if you are proven guilty).

No, during the trial. Yes, if you cannot pay after the judgment.

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ANNIE B CHRONICLES

>

T h e a d v e n tur e s a n d mi s ad v e n tu re s o f a ‘ n o t s o a ve ra g e ’ P in a y tr y i n g to make i t i n th e c o s m o po lita n c ity o f Du b a i

“Pitness Preak”

S

ummer is here na talaga! Time to put my purr coat and velvet knee high boots to rest and increase my lotion’s SPF – 15 may not be enough for my bukid-bred skin – so the higher the fairier! But since I got here in Dubai, I noticed that I’ve added a lot of pounds already. Now how do I fit again into my summer skinny clothes without looking like a suman? This dilemma is the reason I decided to sign up and join the popular gym – Pitness Pirst.

Based on experience, I learned that to be able to stand out, you must be surrounded by oldies and the fatties. That way, litaw ka sa iilan lang na bata and obese. Most of the people who visit the gym during the mornings are the wranglers (guwrang) and the fatness firsts – those who are serious about fitness, since they really dedicate time and effort into being healthy. While around 10am upto 3pm, the treadmills and aero classes because of their free time and boredom.

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During the night, after office hours beginning at 5:30pm, the cute and physically fit guys start to arrive and display their hardworked bodies while flirting with girls of their same types. It is a big mistake to work out during this time if you don’t posses a Jennifer Lopez figure because all the guys around you already have their six-pack abs winking at all the sexy girls inside the gym. You wouldn’t want to be seen sweating like a pig with your tongue out while gasping for your last breath among gorgeous guys habang nakikipag-patintero ka sa treadmill, div ah?

Therefore my Pitness Pirst schedule will be like this: super work out in the morning before coming to the office. This way I can take my shower at the gym – tipid sa tubig from my flat, wala pang pila-pila for my turn, di vah? And after office hours, go back to the gym para dumispley at magpa-cute sa mga boys –ahihihihihihihihi!

So dizzizit!!! To my spaghetti strapped tops, tube and mini skirt – see you in a few weeks as Annie B. goes back to the fashion scene with her summer outfits.

May my fairy gadmadir help me in this battle of divulge – I hope that my workouts be fun-filled and pain-free. Not to worry though, as my other friends, Salonpas and Alaxan, are always on standby. And sana may bonus na one cute guy with this battle of divuldge. Pang-consuelo de bobo man lang – pero sana naman smart, funny and witty sya. Please fairy gadmadir help me and I will do the rest. As they say, “No fain, No Glory.”

So watch out Dubai, I’m bringing sexy (not siksik) baaaacckk!!!

ENTERTAINMENT

>

Because there’s no business like showbusiness. Boom panes!

By> Kristine Abante

Muhaisnah Four drops summer track “Signal” Filipino Indie music producer, Cromwell Ojeda, the driving force behind Dubaibased electro outfit Muhaisnah Four, has just released their second single “Signal”, a track off their upcoming debut album “A Memoir”.

Ojeda, also known for his work in bands Parallel Soundsystem, Goddamn Electric and as session bassist for international band Juliana Down, describes his latest work as a collection of personal stories from his experiences as a struggling musician in Dubai.

Signal, which also features New York-based artist Veblen Good of the band Turbo Goth, dishes out a wistful summer soundtrack great for the desert weather.

Laced with synths and peppered with just the right dose of handclaps, the song also hints of 70s-disco Manila sound upgraded to match today’s current hipster sensibilities. Other songs in the upcoming album will also be featuring international talents, including UK-based singer Melissa Le Rue. Fans of indie-electro music can check out more on www.muhaisnahfour.com Photo by Oscar Cablao

Filipino Actor Jake Ofrasio tapped for Star Trek Dubai-based Filipino actor Jake Ofrasio recently revealed that he was among those tapped to play a key role on the current film franchise hit Star Trek Beyond.

The 33-year old video editor and parttime model recalls his excitement on being shortlisted for the role of Hikaru Sulu’s husband in the highly-anticipated remake of the legendary Science fiction film. “I didn’t expect it. I mean to be part of a Hollywood production, and an iconic film no less, was already incredible and then I found out it was for the key role of playing Sulu’s Husband I was even more ecstatic”, Ofrasio shared.

The role was eventually given to the film’s co- writer Doug Jung but for Ofrasio to be considered for the role was a big honor.

“I wasn’t disappointed. I was just honored to be considered for such a significant, and maybe even controversial role, and for me it was really just an amazing experience to be part of a Hollywood production,” the actor adds.

Apart from the occasional film roles, Ofrasio has modeled for several TV commercials in the gulf and has been acknowledged in the Philippines for his stint on Independent films Numbalikdiwa (2006), Rakenrol (2011) and Putot (2006).

Photo by Danabelle Gutierrez

New Artist Therese Malvar gains International Recognition After gaining attention from the American crowd in the recently concluded New York Asian Film Festival, where she received the Screen International Rising Star Asia award, GMA artist center’s teen protege Therese Malvar also impressed the Russian audience who favored her the Silver St. George Best Actress award in the 38th Moscow International Film Festival for her performance in Ralston Jover’s drama film, ‘Hamog’.

‘Hamog’ features the story of young delinquents who commit crime in order to survive everyday life. Therese plays the role of “Jinky”, a child of the street, strong and confident yet cunning in her ways in order to survive. Her portrayal highlighted the piercing story that tells the sometimes sad and shockng reality of street kids in the Philippine society.

Photo from GMA artist center

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REST FOR THE WICKED > For the Young, Single, and Hungry

By> Nicholo Jallores

SOY GLAZED SALMON + SESAME SOBA NOODLES

This is one of my favourite meals two cook, for two reasons: 1.) it’s ever so quick and easy, I can make it even when I’m knackered from the gym, or after a particularly gruelling day at work, and 2.) it’s not that bad in the way of healthfulness for something so rich and indulgent (if you’re willing to forget that you’re using quite a bit of soy sauce and brown sugar).

Oh and another thing, you will use almost the same exact ingredients to flavour both the salmon and the soba noodles – the economy of scale can be a real winner, especially when you’re cooking just for one.

As for the salmon, you can use a fillet cut as shown here, or a salmon steak. Either will work, but please: use the best, freshest salmon you can find. Don’t go for those sad little salmon trimmings that are sold in the corner markets. Salmon is one of those items that would be a bit ridiculous to have on a daily basis, so on the rare and special occasion that you do have it, don’t shortchange yourself. Go for the real deal.

This meal serves one person.

FOR THE SOY GLAZED SALMON YOU’LL NEED: A fillet of salmon. Nice and fresh, and deboned.

4 tbsp. of soy sauce (the Japanese kind works best here in terms of flavour profile, but go for whatever you have or want.)

1 1/2 tbsp. of dark brown sugar A few good grindings of pepper HOW: 1.) Place the soy sauce and dark brown sugar in a zip lock bag and swish around for a tad, making sure that most of the sugar has crumbled into the liquid. The sugar won’t actually dissolve in the soy sauce, but that’s fine. Now put the salmon inside the bag and leave to marinate for a few minutes.

2.) To cook the salmon, place it flesh side first on a hot non-stick pan. No oil, please.

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The salmon has plenty of oil already, but to be safe, use a non-stick pan. Leave it to cook for about a minute and a half in medium heat.

Turn to the other side and leave for another minute and half. The times will vary depending on the thickness of the cut, but please don’t overcook your salmon.

Treat it like steak, in that it should be succulent and tender inside. If it ends up flaking too easily, you’ve overdone it.

3.) Bung in the salmon marinade into the pan and let the salmon braise in it for about a minute and a half in low heat until it forms a nice thick glaze. If you want this saucier, you can add a bit more water.

4.) Plate and serve with the Sesame Soba Noodles.

FOR THE SESAME SOBA NOODLES YOU’LL NEED: 150 grams of dry soba (buckwheat) noodles 3 tbsp. soy sauce (Whatever soy sauce you used for the salmon, use it here as well. No point in switching to another kind.

1 tbsp. dark brown sugar 1 tsp sesame oil 1 tsp. white cane vinegar 1 tbsp. sesame seeds, lightly toasted 1 1/2 tbsp green onions, chopped A few grindings of pepper HOW: 1.) Cook the soba noodles slightly more than al dente in a pot of boiling water and about a teaspoon of salt. Drain and rinse with lukewarm water. You can even let the noodles sit in a bowl of iced water and then

drain only when you’re ready to assemble everything. This dish is quite lovely when served cold.

2.) Make the dressing by mixing together the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and cane vinegar. Pour it into the soba noodles along with the sesame seeds and green onions.

Toss, making sure that every strand of soba is doused with the dressing. Serve with the Soy Glazed Salmon.

Prep and cooking time: roughly 20 minutes. Maybe even 15, if you’re organized.

A note on the chronology: If you’re going with this pairing, start by marinating the salmon first. Finish making the noodles, put it aside and then proceed with the salmon. The noodles do not have to be and are not supposed to be served piping hot, so it doesn’t really matter if you let it sit for a while whilst you prep the protein.

What to do yani?

ILLUSTRADO CALENDAR

>

K. Here.

2016

AUG

onward

s

A night at the circus Cirque Du Soleil returns to Dubai with Varekai – a breathtaking show that promises amazing acrobatics and world class production values for the young and young at heart. The show runs from September 16 to 24.

Tickets are available at Tixbox.com.

Luxuriate in some classical singing Very few things in the world are as elegant as a night at the opera. Being headlined by “The King of Opera” himself, Placido Domingo, only makes the prospect even more irresistible.

Experience his music on the 31st of August, at the Dubai Opera.

Get into the spirit of dance!

Dubai seems to have a festival for everything, and the art of Dance certainly deserves such a spectacle. Get into the swing of things on 8th to the 16th of September.

Explore the world of Modhesh The annual edutainment spectacle comes back to the Dubai World Trade Centre from June 27 to August 27 to bring the families an exciting host of activities.

Since Modhesh World is the most popular family destination during the season, it’s a must to explore it.

Shop ‘til you drop at DSS 2016 The Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) returns to the city this year with a huge offering of amazing bargains at over 6,000 participating outlets across the emirates. Aside from shopping, the muchawaited DSS is also full of astonishing raffles and exciting entertainment programs that thrill the mall goers.

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BLOG

>

Battling loneliness in the Middle East By> Les Fiestan-KSA

H

omesickness & depression are very common among OFW’s.

Living in the Middle East can be even harder if you don’t know how to handle the occasional bouts with loneliness. It certainly doesn’t help that restrictions on recreational activities abound in this region. Some ME countries have clubs, theaters, public beaches and all sorts of establishment where one could pass the time freely. The case is a little different here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. One’s leisure time is always spent in malls, restaurants, parks, and museums. Unmarried couples couldn’t hang out in public, and mixed gatherings are almost always frowned upon unless you are in a private residential building or a rented villa we commonly refer to as “esteraha.”

If you are used to the openness of Manila culture, battling loneliness and depression can be a tough challenge here. However, there are ways to fight it – sensible ways; ways that do not involve getting yourself in debt or other sorts of trouble. These are some of the solutions that I recommend.

1. Hangout with friends – Gather up friends or even co-workers and have a good conversation. Watch movies. Play games. Eat in a nice restaurant. Have a

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strong support system of like-minded colleagues.

2. Meet new friends – Internations. org is a worldwide organization for expatriates. They have meet-ups and organize gatherings & fun activities for members.

3. Get a pet - Having a pet is a stress reliever. If you can’t afford to buy one, then adoption is a great option. If you know anyone in Riyadh who wants to own a pet, point them to OpenPaws.org.

4.Get physical - Exercise is known to be good anti-depressant. You don’t have to join a gym if it’s out of your budget. There are plenty of free resources online that you can learn from.

5. Take a short vacation – Go to a different city or even country, do your research and look for promotional tickets.

Taking a break from your usual environment makes you more productive when you get back to work.

6. Learn/ Develop your hobby – Find that one thing that you are most passionate about and work on it religiously on your free time.

7. Join a club – There are several clubs around catering to your needs, passions & interests. Some are for women only but most are mixed. Ask around particularly from those who have lived in the country for long. They would know or at least point you to someone who can.

8. Study – Education is a never-ending process. Enhance your computer skills by taking up a few short courses. Comsofil (Computer Society of Filipinos) is a Filipino organization that conducts Technological & Electronic-related classes for OFW’s since 1995. Lessons are conducted at Philippine Schools.

We Filipinos are known for our ability to adapt quickly to our environment. Most of us will succeed at this, but there will always be those who simply cannot cope with the changes and end up going back home.

Well, to each his own. But for those who have decided to stay but are still having trouble adjusting, please find a way to get help before deciding on anything drastic.

Reflect and reach out to someone. I find that the easiest way to cope is to talk to a trusted friend. Do not underestimate the power of prayers. Be strong.

Follow Les - http://lesfiestan.daportfolio. com/

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