I was not feeling well the past two days. I rarely have it, but once in a while, I suffer from hyperacidity. Those who’ve experienced it know how draining and uncomfortable it can be. The upper part of my abdomen stung and I could not hold down my food. I had a mild fever and just felt really tired, but the worst part was not being able to stand the smell of the soaps I made last weekend. It made me realize that when we’re sick, we cannot enjoy the things we normally take pleasure in. I feel a bit better today, and I also feel grateful for my health that I sometimes just take for granted.
It has been a week and a half since I came back from my trip, but have been lazy about blogging. I have already been soaping though because I have orders from my in-laws and from my own family for their Christmas give-aways. Before going back to blogging about soap, I thought I’d share snap shots of my recent trip.
Honolulu was an all-expense paid trip care of the state of Hawaii, or rather, their sponsors. A friend of mine, Chef Marco Anzani, was invited to take part in the annual Hawaii Food and Wine Festival – a week long food bonanza featuring Hawaii’s bounty prepared by dozens of chefs from different parts of the world. Chef Marco invited me and another friend, chef/restaurateur Raki Urbina, to be part of his team. You can imagine no the arm-twisting for this opportunity? 🙂
Waikiki Beach, just a few minutes walk from our hotel, The Modern Honolulu
Having a light moment in the kitchen of The Modern Honolulu with students from the Kapi’olani Community College. That’s me on the far left. The really tall Italian is Marco Anzani.
Our lobster roulade with asparagus, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and goat cheese, ready to be plated.
Fresh Hawaiian fish.
Posing with more fish. The trio from Cebu, Philippines (L-R): Marco Anzani, Me, Raki Urbina
Star struck me with Hubert Keller, Ming Tsai and Allan Wong.
It is approximately a 10 hour flight from Manila to Honolulu, so I thought, why not just add 5 more hours to go to San Francisco to visit my sister?
San Francisco’s iconic cable car.
Soaps sold at the Ferry Building. I made sure to take photos of soap!
Thick, fluffy pancakes with fresh peaches from the Alexis Baking Company in Napa.
Heirloom tomatoes at the Napa farmer’s market.
Carmel beach on a balmy day.
So cute.
The 250-year old Lone Cypress Tree at Pebble Beach.
