I've been living in Cebu for almost 3 years… and somehow, sinigang still catches me off guard.
Today, students from the University of San Carlos asked if they could document my food journey, so I took them to Talamban.
A long straight road. Jeepneys passing. Students everywhere.
Then we turned off the road, went up the hill, and ended up at a packed carinderia.
I ordered: pork sinigang, lumpia, gyoza, and rice. They even gave me free kimchi.
The sinigang hit me harder than I expected. Way more sour than I was ready for.
I wasn't sure what to do for a second… and then people around me said, "Try adding soy sauce."
So I did.
Just a little.
It actually worked.
Maybe not the "right" way. But I'm still at that stage where I'm learning from the people around me.
Still learning. Still adjusting. Still letting Cebu teach me.
We were supposed to do the interview there, but it was too crowded and too loud, so I invited them to my place instead.
And that's when the story stopped being just about food.
They asked me why I'm here. About my dream. About building a real bridge between Cebu and Japan.
And about why I say:
"I'll Be King of the Philippines."
I almost asked them to cut that part.
But they said: "No. Say it exactly like that."
So I did.
Not as a literal king, but as someone who wants to become one of the most recognized, respected, and loved Japanese people in this country.
Then I told them the targets:
TV by October 2026. Vice Ganda in 3 years. Netflix in 5.
The truth is, I'm not posting from the finish line.
I failed the first round of a PBB audition. I still get surprised by sinigang. I still have a lot to learn.
But maybe that's exactly why this part matters.
Not the result. The process.
Huge thanks to the USC students for documenting this chapter so honestly. 🙏
Sinigang barua-baboy — pork sinigang, thick with tamarind — hit the back of my throat with a sourness I wasn't braced for. Not sharp like citrus. Something deeper, almost earthy, like the soup had been simmering with the weight of the entire hill behind that carinderia. Free kimchi arrived without explanation. A quiet act of generosity from a stranger who owed me nothing.
The USC students who came with me were different from what I expected. There was a seriousness to them — a focused, unhurried quality I rarely see. Back in Japan, we move fast and second-guess ourselves constantly. These students moved with intention. They asked hard questions and didn't flinch when the answers were uncomfortable. "Say it exactly like that," one of them told me, when I hesitated over the King line. That moment will stay with me longer than the sinigang.
The targets feel absurd if you say them out loud in a quiet room. TV by October 2026. Vice Ganda in three years. Netflix in five. But so did moving to Cebu without a guarantee of anything. The distance between where I am now and where I want to go is enormous — and that's the point. You don't document the process because it's clean. You document it because the mess is the only honest version of the story.
Adding soy sauce to sinigang might not be "correct." But it worked. And the person who told me to try it wasn't a chef or a guide — just someone eating next to me in a crowded carinderia on a hill in Talamban. That's how I've been learning everything here. Not from books. From proximity. From being in the room.
Three years in, I still get caught off guard. And I think that's okay. The moment I stop being surprised is probably the moment I stop paying attention. The process isn't the path to the story — it is the story.
The sourness wasn't the real discovery — it was ending up interviewed in my own living room by students who insisted that I keep the part where I said, out loud, that I want to be "King of the Philippines," and I'm grateful they did.
| Date | April 15, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Location | Talamban, Cebu City, Cebu |
| Event Type | Food Documentation · Student Interview |
| Access Method | Walk-in Carinderia (Off the main road, up the hill) |
| Food Featured | Pork Sinigang, Lumpia, Gyoza, Rice, Kimchi (complimentary) |
| Cost to Attend | Carinderia pricing (budget-friendly) |
| Rarity | 🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜ — A packed hillside carinderia with genuine local character; not hard to find, but easy to walk past |
| Bayanihan Index | Free kimchi from the kitchen, a tip from a stranger at the next table — small gestures, real warmth |
I don't know yet if saying the goal out loud on camera changes anything about actually reaching it — that's still the part of the story I'm living, not writing.