The Batchoy Diplomacy

If anybody wants to know what freelancers (i.e. me) are usually up to, it is this: watching YouTube videos while getting ready for their work bucket at 7am in the morning. Then again, maybe that’s just me.

In between brushing my teeth, washing my face, and mulling over what to have for breakfast, YouTube recommends a gem from Quartz about “Gastrodiplomacy”. What is it exactly? If you’ve noticed numerous cafes or restaurants with foreign cuisine opening up in your neighborhood, that’s it in a nutshell.

But more than simply having Thai or Korean food easily accessible to you now than in previous years, it is a brilliant concept of politics, business, tourism, and soft power. Countries like Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, and Lebanon, have been promoting their food to wider palates abroad – and reaping economic rewards in the process.

Who hasn’t eaten samgyupsal and not dreamed of visiting Seoul, for instance? Exactly.

The Most Expensive Kind of Paper

I’m not sure precisely when it happened – probably it was during that night at the hotel room I shared with my mother, the day of my graduation spending spree; or perhaps it was after I spent my very first paycheck on that knife set (which we still own – yay me!) – but there came a time when I in fact, became good with money.

True confessions of a freelance editor

Everybody loves a good gossip – especially if it involves insider information about an everyday job most folks would classify as…uneventful. Sure, you’ve probably read your fair share of ‘confessions’. But were they really?

As a freelance editor, I have a love/hate relationship with my own kind. Believe it or not, we editors also have editors. No, I don’t mean our supervisors (they take care of the scolding and paycheck – not the actual editing). So if you think we’re tough on you, just imagine how we are with each other.

Once in a while, we do set down our red pens, notepads, and glasses to ‘try’ and enjoy each other’s company. However, current circumstances (i.e. the digital age) forbid us to enjoy the usual tea or coffee at The Ritz.

So in the advent of social media, editors had to resort to blogs or online channels to read about each other’s unfortu – I mean, interesting circumstances. For instance, inspired by my recent readings on ‘confessions’ by photographers, make-up artists, teachers, and ghostwriters, I went ahead and made a search for ‘confessions’ by freelance editors.