Priorato

One of the most difficult to find in Asia, wines from the Priorato region are hoarded for sale mostly in North America.

These wines are one of the most closely guarded secrets of the Spanish vino connoisseur, being among the most consistently rated (92 on wine spectator) internationally. Their charm is also enhanced by the fact that Priorato is traditionally a low-yielding geographic area.

Pictured up close is a 2002 product, which is from the lowest-yielding year of the past ten. We intend to drink this by year-end, hopefully pairing it with pan-seared foie gras.

My 12 Students

They are about to finish the 12-week "Paul Yan Experience" photography course, and I have yet to fulfill my promise to publish their names on one of the publications I write for.. Here are the early mental notes of a dyslexic professor.. Miles. First guy I met in class. Took the trouble of setting up the computer for me on day one. Found out he is a varsity player for baseball. also an avid hobbyist. this early, Miles has shown his own style of portraiture which i want to eventually develop. Miles also knows how to jazz up his presentations to make them more exciting. Also has a good sense of humor. Avi. A person of contrasts. Loves fast cars, but submits a turtle photo for his first plate.. Promised to take him along when I do a Ferrari shoot. Avi loves to present a carefree image but he actually is one of the most astute, showing an excellent attention to details. He is one of the four people in charge of mounting the class exhibit. Avi has a favorite pose that he asks all his models to do. And I haven't the faintest idea why... I think Ill ask him this thursday. Xavier. Music lover. Varsity player. Sees the hand of God in the beauty of the world. Somewhat philosophical even in his music, as he plays instrumental accoustic guitar with a band I helped choose the name for. Acoutistic. cant seem to get the spelling right though.. and yeah, life will suck every now and then. sometimes life also is great and everything just works out. But knowing which one to focus on is the key to being happy and contented. I have always seen myself as a lead guitarist, but I have often gone onstage as a bassist. Turns out Im better on bass. I just never stopped to listen to myself. Wilson. The second hobbyist. he displays excellent traditional compositional techniques. i think wilson will eventually also take a more serious look at photography. I will be spending more time on him. And by the way, I misspelled his name. it should be Wilsonne, after his parents Wilson and Anne. Siebii. The bass player. That is how i remember him. I have seen pictures of his bass guitar, but have never heard him play yet. I would love to hear something, before the class ends. Turns out the bass player isn't Siebii, but Fajah! oh boy! the description was correct though. and he was kind enough to share his special Fajah Techno bass line. and it blew the class away! go ask him for permission to check out his multiply site. Even Ceferino will surely be proud. Teng. The future corps commander. he has a strong aura around him. ive talked to him about leadership and told him my experiences when i was a corps commander. Luck plays a very significant part about what happens to us. And for most of the events in my life, I was lucky to be at the right place and at the right time. Preparation makes sure that when things start going your direction, you are ready for the challenge! Paulo. seems to have excellent potential with technology. understands what a light meter is supposed to do. he is pretty deliberate about doing things. If you notice, i spelled his name the way I spelled my name. Turns out I misspelt it too. Paolo, the cool one. Luis. Takes the time to compose his images. each element is there for a reason. Luis has the ability to copy an artwork even if it was facing a different direction. To him it was just an ordinary skill. To me, it shows his cognitive abilities; about being able to see things for what they are and not for what they seem. And that is a gift. Harveen. loves graphic design. I think ill look at what he does. He hasn't the faintest idea about my graphic design background. maybe ill surprise him. I actually was one-half of an advertising agency a decade ago. hahaha. all my life i had been in art, advertising, animation, music, and design. Harveen seems to have a more than passing interest in the arts and it shows with the craftsmanship he puts into his works. Jasper. Has a grandfather who lives in Amorsolo; the place where my entire professional life revolved around. Even Jasper wasn't spared from my mixup. hahaha. It is siebii who lives in Amorsolo. Siebii, before you were born, there used to be an open creek where the Amorsolo bypass road now is. That's why the area used to be known as "Creekside". Each time it rained, the area would flood up to the knees. and during storms, the water would rise up to waist level! Yeah! And now about Jasper. He also has a gifted hand, and he shows his artistic side every now and then. He prefers to be the quiet one, letting his other groupmates bask in the light. But I know he is the guy that is in charge. And he also thinks fast. and acts fast. Andres. Enrolled because he wanted to experience the fun side of photography. today, he appears to be the most serious about learning the craft. a dramatic but very positive turnaround from the man who was the reason for my very well-received presentation about "all the wrong reasons to go into photography". And if you what to know what was in that presentation, well you better talk to anyone of my 12 students. Andres doesn't know it yet, but I am preparing a final presentation about "All the right reasons to go into photography". I have just finished compiling all the images. I hope i can do a video for them by thursday next week. wait. xavier, avi, miles, luis, paulo, harveen, wilson, andres, teng, jasper, siebii. that only makes eleven students. oh boy.................. who did i forget????? FAJAH, PAOLO, JASPER, SIEBII, I owe you guys a fine art print. I think the person I forgot will be getting a custom printed photograph from me next week.

life's simple pleasures

One of the many things I am thankful for is the strong influence the French Culinary Institute has had on my wife. Her take on gastronomy has decidedly veered towards Old-World flavour and presentation since coming back from culinary education abroad. This is what we had for dinner at home yesterday. Leg of lamb encrusted with a parsley accented rub of breadcrumb & mediterranean sea salt, served with seasonal green salad with seedless grapes, blue cheese, and walnuts over a lemon tarragon dressing. The wine of choice for the dinner was a new world cabernet sauvignon. being a relatively young wine, the tannins competed quite well with the gamey flavour of the lamb. Dessert was a single 10-gram block of Nama dark chocolate infused with Henessy, which was hand-carried by the people of Royce from Japan. No, we were not celebrating any special occasion. It was just a regular Sunday dinner at home. My wife often says "who else among your friends regularly have fine-dine dinners at home?" And to this I now reply, "who among your friends have their husbands import Nama chocolate by Royce?" oh, life's simple pleasures... again.

Music From the Summer Palace

Music has always had a refreshing and beneficial quality to it.

Especially for a medium such as the internet, which is multi-media enabled, music is becoming an essential partner for more and more browsing activities.

so, just to challenge the mind, let's see if a good photograph can actually get you to think of a song...

incidentally, the image is from my series "unseen details in a once-forbidden city".

My finger-lickin' moments...

If there is anything I really live for, it is food. Good food. Exceptional flavours. Exotic ingredients. Blissful aromas. Funny when you realize that some of the best meals I have had were the ones I had at home. Funny, because one of the reasons why my wife and I travel is to sample regional cuisine in their own exotic locale. Funny also, because our home-cooked meals have often been gourmet delights in their own little way, but which just goes unnoticed mainly because for us it is just another private meal. And if i were to list some of the most memorable ones, this would probably land in the top ten. In terms of breakfasts, one of the best I have ever had was a home-cooked one with a couple of seriously exotic (and expensive) food items. I remember it was some time in december, about a week after i was invited by Avida Land to give a speech on the beauty of Manila, during a commemoration of their topping off activity at the San Lazaro towers, when i woke up to a blissful aroma of fried meat... Following the hugely inviting smell, I walked into the kitchen where my wife was just about to flash-sear foie gras as topping to a wagyu beef salisbury steak! So, how else do you ever top that for breakfast? (well, you top it with lots of fragrant steamed rice! hahaha)

The Impertinence of Youth

Yes, we all went through it. Yes, we were once young. And yes, I never, never remember ever behaving that way. No sense of courtesy. They don't even bother to return your messages or calls. even emails. No sense of time, other than their own. No sense of responsibility. They just ignore you. Filipinos have a colloquial term for this behavior. They call it "DeadMa". Who raised you to be that way anyway? I hope it comes back at you when you are at your weakest. Let's see how you grasp at straws. To hell with you.

December moonrise, San Juan.

Another Intermission.

Feel free to scroll through the details of this photograph i took in December 2007.

One of the chief causes of eye fatigue is a reduction in the number of blinks we take once we are on the computer.

Although I am sure you will be trying to figure out which buildings are featured, please try to count to five, and then blink once. then count again and blink. To help you out, the buildings are Tiffany, Jafer, LPL Goldland, Eisenhower, and Swire Elan. now, blink again.