Halloween: Treats and Treats

I love Halloween. 

When I was a kid, my sister and I used to go trick-or-treating around our village. I remember I usually got so much candy from those to last me an entire year (though the best chocolate bars would be gone within a week!) I don't remember dressing up back then, though I found this photo of me and my sisters recently.

I'm a witch, @karentiuseco a clown, and @ktiuseco a skinny Ate. What randomness. #nationalsiblingsday #nsb

A photo posted by Katherine (@kaichypoo) on Apr 11, 2015 at 5:37am PDT

For thirteen years or so, my friends and I dressed up and went trick-or-treating at one of the private villages in our city, where one of us lived. In the beginning, we used to show up in whatever we had wanted; but during and after our college years, we came up with fun themes like Geeks, Cartoon Characters, Nationalities, and Crayola (these were the most recent that I remember.) That fizzled a few years ago when our host moved to Paris. Boohoo. Now, only our friends with children keep the tradition alive.

I even made us Mario and Yoshi costumes for 2010

So I was thrilled when I had the opportunity to dress up at last year's Halloween party at my home box, CrossFit Greenhills. I went as Nikki Minaj, another pink-haired friend went as Katy Perry, I hung out with a Starbucks frappe, and one of my favourites was a very convincing Beetlejuice! 

I even choreographed a short Thriller copycat!




This year, I'll be missing all the festivities because of a gig out of town (I'm not complaining, work is good!) I'm just a little bummed I won't be able to join our box's party, and some of these special promos and events in the city.

First, the Pumpkin Spice macarons are back for a limited time. Its warm and earthy orange hues give me the feeling of autumn, even in the Philippines. I love these pumpkin shaped, cinnamon-spice filled cookies; and this year, you can get one for free when you buy the Ghost Fluff. What is ghost fluff? It's a 3-layer moist chocolate cake with salted caramel ganache, coated in ghost fluff, errr, I mean marshmamaw... I mean marshmallow! I've had it, and it was everything it said it would be. I especially loved the texture of the salted caramel, a little chewy and nougatine. If you come in costume on the 31st, you also get a free treat. 

Mrs. Graham's Cafe
51-C Scout Rallos, Quezon City
Facebook: facebook.com/MrsGrahamsCafe/
Instagram: @MrsGrahamsCafe

In another part of the city, a different kind of Halloween will be celebrated with Trick or Turtles. There will be a reading of a new book out called, "The Legend of Juan Pawikan and the 7,107 Islands" to promote marine conservation and sea turtle awareness. Guests are encouraged to come in ocean/sea-themed costumes, and there will be art activities, games, and prizes. If you want your kids to get all the fun that comes with Halloween, but with an educational twist, you wouldn't want to miss this. The event is hosted by Celine Fabie, sea turtle advocate and creator of Juan Pawikan.

October 31, Saturday
3:00 pm
Powerbooks, Greenbelt 4
Facebook Event: Trick Or Turtles
Instagram and Twitter: @JuanPawikan
#AMarineKindofHalloween

I hope everyone has a memorable Halloween for the books!

Reading/Drawing/Styling

If there's anything that can be done one day at a time, it's learning. I advocate the thinking that anything can be learned, even skills that people insist are dependent on talent, like singing, dancing, and writing. Sure, talent makes it so that there is a predisposition to a skill, but with enough attention to the right procedure and plenty of practice, I think every skill can be developed. 

I've always envied visual artists, those that can replicate the world around us, and especially those that can transfer their own imaginings onto canvas. I've often wondered how it would be like if I could just draw or paint all my thoughts! Wild. 

I don't think I'm terrible at drawing, in fact I can draw enough to give semblances to my target images; but I have obvious problems with proportions and depth (and, well, patience.) Last weekend, over sandwiches and beer, my friends and I got to talking about arts and crafts. I somehow had shared that I wasn't good at visual arts, and was frustrated by drawing. Chris started to excitedly describe a book, whose author supposedly guarantees that everyone can learn how to draw, and draw well. He gave a very rough gist, but enough to pique my interest, because here I am two days later, on the third chapter.

After a short introduction on the basis of the teaching technique (which read like a research journal or some other academic paper,) it went on to listing the materials needed for the drawing exercises. The first exercise, however, only needed a pencil and paper. I had to draw a 1) self-portrait, 2) a person from memory, and 3) my hand, to serve as a point of comparison when tracking my progress (a ka, "before" drawings. Forgive the scans, I recycled lyric sheets from past productions.)

Self-Portrait: It looks like a person, but it doesn't look like me

Person from memory: Ryan, who ended up looking like Marcos =/ So bizarre, I'd just seen him minutes before, but I couldn't remember a single detail vividly when I tried to bring his face to mind

My hand: strangely disfigured

I think I've proven a point about my drawing skills, or obvious lack of it. I'm hoping I belong to the demographic that this technique works on, and that I'll actually see improvement in my "after" drawings. In the meantime, I'll document this entire project for posterity. 

I've been consciously working on my visual creativity lately, and I mentioned having dabbled in food styling a few weeks ago. Here is the first finished product, as posted on the Chef's Classics Facebook page. It took a leap of faith in myself to accept that project, long hours in the kitchen studio to get things right, and what a great feeling to see it come to fruition. I have so many things to refine, like my taste and my eye for composition; but what's important is I tried it, I learned from it, and I'm willing to do better next time.

Cooked and styled this one-pot Chicken Pilaf to show off @chefsclassics cookware with detachable handles 👌 Entirely new skill set for me, but the guys of @videobybelle made it enjoyable! #LetsCookPH #food

A video posted by Katherine (@kaichypoo) on Oct 5, 2015 at 5:18am PDT

Reading Dangerously

That morning light and tree-cast shadows

It was a combination of I-Couldn't-Put-It-Down and The-Traffic-Is-Stressing-Me-Out that made me whip out the book I'd been reading. I had reached the plot twist, and it was making me antsy. At the climax of most books, I have this bad habit of glancing ahead, wanting to find a word or phrase to lessen the weight of not knowing what's about to happen... and then I feel guilty the moment I glean exactly that, regretting I did not wait for the proper build up. 

I finished it this afternoon. I really liked this book, "Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore" by Robin Sloan (you can find it on my Shelf in the sidebar,) maybe because it hit close to home, despite it bordering on fantasy. Those first couple of pages describing the protagonist, Clay, was painfully familiar, because I saw myself in his shallow day to day; and then his dull life transformed slowly, just when his life needed an upgrade. I'd like to think that sort of thing could happen to me, but then I don't think I have the curiosity and daring to get involved in an adventure like he did. 

Many parts were actually too predictable, too convenient for my taste, especially how each character was set up to respond to Clay's every obstacle, but it soothed me. The author blended books, languages, technology, a little bit of history (however fictional,) and even knitting (very briefly) -- all things I love -- so effortlessly and humorously, that I remained in that world for a little bit longer, even hours after putting it down. 

Now, all I can think about is immortality...