Talk in De La Salle University and Miriam College

It's like oral exams all over again! :) Except I'm talking about food and leadership rather than Theology and Philosophy.

I'm off to Baguio later for my birthday weekend celebration! :) But before I head out, let me share with you my experience in giving talks in De La Salle University and Miriam College High School.   

There were a lot of firsts for me yesterday. It was my first time to step inside La Salle and it was my first time to talk about food blogging. I really felt honored that I was invited to the Nomnomnom Food Blogging Talk by the Writers' Guild of De La Salle University. 

Aside from me, they also invited fellow food blogger, Trixie of http://eatstrixie.com. (Nice to see you again Trixie! When are we eating out again?) 


She gave a run down of some of her food blog entries which gave us a peek into her life in Bacolod and her family's deep relationship with food. Her story truly shows how food can play such a vital role in our human experiences and memories. 

My talk, on the other hand, focused on tips on food blogging and a sharing of my love story with food as written in my blog, Everyday Sweet Notes. 


It's funny how different my blog looks like now from how it started. My blog captures how truly, madly, deeply I fell in love with food. It's a continuous snowball effect obsession with food that only started with a small section dedicated in finding restaurants for special occasions. Now the whole blog has turned into one big food blog from kitchen adventures, food books, food trips, food maps, etc. 


And now, I can't wait to see food through different lenses as well: food photography, food styling and also baking science. :) Those things deserve a whole new section altogether! 

Since there were a lot of firsts for me yesterday, I was so nervous the entire night and the whole morning prior to my talk. Good thing RJ came along with me! He must have suffered some hand bruises since I kept squeezing his hand whenever I felt like running away. Haha. 

But really, I had a great time. The members of the Writers' Guild made it really easy for me to relax and have fun. They were also very active so it felt more like a dialogue rather than a hard core talk. Thank you once again to Stephanie for inviting me! 

Last February, I was also invited to go back to my Alma Mater, Miriam College High School, to give a Talk on Leadership for a freshman class. It's been awhile since I went back to my high school and I haven't talked about leadership since I graduated from college. 

I kept it informal and interactive as I shared to them my stories as a student leader and my experiences of leadership since I graduated. Of course, I had to share with them some of my funny Knoller stories. ;) I ended my talk with a few leadership tips and tips on taking on leadership roles while they're still in school. 

I gave the talk around the time that they were campaigning for batch officers so the candidates were extra bibo during my talk. Haha! It was so easy to elicit responses from the class. 

So thank you to Mrs. Hernandez for giving me the opportunity to talk to my fellow Knollers. I really hope a lot of them would step up and take on leadership roles, even small leadership tasks. :)

Wish me a safe trip to Baguio tonight! :) Have a great weekend guys!

PS. Miriam College High School feels a little different now from how it used to be. Aside from the new classrooms and the amazing NEW LIBRARY (booo! ang daya :P), I didn't see too many familiar faces. Where did my teachers go? 

Nonetheless, I was happy to be back and I wanted to run up and down the spiral staircase (a.k.a. the Double Helix staircase) and kiss the bamboo trees in the middle of the huge green field where we used to replicate the Meteor Garden field pose. 

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Are you looking for a nice restaurant or a vacation spot? I'll be more than willing to help! Go to "Ask Smarla" section and check out my Food & Travel Map. I'll do my best to help you out. :) 

~It's the little sweet notes everyday that matter~