By Cecille Santillan-Visto
THE WORLD is fascinated with food these days. Food blogs, cooking segments, and reality television shows centered on food prove that every gastronomic experience — even the vicarious kind — makes for great entertainment.
In Korea, premiere pay channel, tvN, has popularized the unique reality show genre where celebrities either have to go through the daily challenge of feeding themselves in some remote Korean province (Three Meals a Day) or stars run a Korean restaurant in an exotic Asian country (Youn’s Kitchen) or even grow and source the ingredients for their dishes (Food Diary).
While these tvN specials have their loyal followings, the friendly competition in One Night Food Trip is equally enjoyable to watch. The show wrapped up several seasons in Seoul but has spun off an international edition. Following the successful first Philippine segment with sister-and-brother K-pop idols, Sandara Park and Thunder who were paired against TV host Grace Lee and radio DJ Sam YG, the second season — which will air in July — features Nichkhun of 2PM and Alexander, formerly of U-Kiss, competing with cousins Danica Sotto-Pingris and Ciara Sotto.
One Night Food Trip has celebrities on a 48-hour food escapade in a chosen country. Teams are given various challenges which they need to overcome in order to win stamps. There are also missions that — if successfully hurdled — will give the duo a chance either to gain a certain advantage or to throw a curve ball at the other team. The team with the most stamps by the end wins.
In an exclusive interview with BusinessWorld, Nichkhun and Alexander said they are perfect for the variety show as they are both adventurous when it comes to food.
“I am pretty open when I’m eating. The only thing that I wouldn’t eat are bugs or some things that don’t look good, but when it comes to taste, I am open for any type of taste,” said Nichkhun, one of the vocalists of six-member band 2PM.
The Thai singer-model-actor, who also clinched a modeling contract with a major Philippine clothing brand in 2013, admitted he was initially worried he would not be up to the tasks as he is “not a big eater.”
“I was worried I am not going to be a big help to my teammate. But once I got here, my stomach just opened up… The food just kept going in and it was great,” he said. In a bid to take in more food, he said he and Alexander did “stomach exercises” almost every meal.
For his part, Alexander, who has become a household name in the Philippines thanks to the prime time romantic-comedy series, My Korean Jagiya, said he has a penchant for trying appetizing local food in every country that he visits.
“Koreans usually go to other countries to try Korean food or prepare their own food, like ramyeon (noodles) but for me, I like to try local food whenever I go to every country,” the 29-year-old Korean-Chinese-Portuguese actor said.
During his six-month stay in the Philippines, he has grown fond of some local fare, with sinigang topping his list of favorites.
The two K-pop stars noted that while they had visited the Philippines several times in the past, it was only during the filming of this show that they were given the chance to truly experience fun in the Philippines.
OTHER CUISINES
One Night Food Trip is not just about the idols and Filipino food. Since it is an international edition of the show, the episodes will show Alexander and Nichkhun, as well as Sotto ladies, sampling special dishes from other countries, including Spanish delights.
Nichkhun revealed that during his five-day stay in the Philippines — which included several days in Cebu and Pampanga — he particularly liked Filipino food since its flavors made it feel like he was back home in Bangkok.
Although a fitness buff who consciously watches what he eats, Nichkhun cooks a mean pasta dish and has recently added Thai omelet to his repertoire. Lately, he has not been able to flex his muscles in the kitchen as much as he has been jet-setting from country to country for promotions and projects.
“I live alone so I don’t get to cook as much, and because I am always travelling, I can’t buy too many ingredients and I feel bad just to throw them away (if they spoil),” he said.
When asked about their advantage over the K-pop duo during a press conference, Ms. Sotto, a well-known pole dancer, said “it was easy” for her and Ms. Pingris, who has an online cooking show, as they are “close.” They also complement each other insofar as food preferences.
“I like spicy food but don’t like pork. What I don’t like, I give to her (Ms. Pingris),” said Ms. Sotto, who was ecstatic about her first visit to Coron where her team’s segment was shot.
FUTURE PROJECTS
Both Nichkhun and Alexander have movies under their belts. Alexander had 3 Peas in a Pod while more recently, Nichkhun’s Brother of the Year was a certified hit. The Thai rom-com has been making the rounds in Asia, most recently showing in Singapore.
“I hope that it will be shown in the Philippines. I think I hit a jackpot when I was filming this movie. I didn’t expect it to be huge. I just wanted the audience to like the story, to like our movie. They did like our movie and it became really successful and I am very happy,” said Nichkhun, who has been concentrating on his solo projects, including several charitable advocacies, while other 2PM members serve their mandatory two-year service in the Korean military.
“It’s always fun to work alone but it’s not the same when you are with your members because it’s just like you’re with your family. I enjoy doing work by myself and with the band and I miss them. I want them to come back soon,” he said.
Alexander, meantime, is working on an exciting “collaboration,” the details of which are still under wraps.
“Surprisingly, I told myself I will never do music again but I have a collaboration project and will return to the Philippines soon. It’s an album that it will allow my fans to see me onstage again,” he said.
Both Nichkhun and Alexander agreed that the journey to the Philippines is one of the memorable trips they have taken. It was exhilarating, one-of-a-kind, and challenging, to say the least. But they beat the odds and conquered the food.
One Night Food Trip International Edition 2 will begin airing on July 30 and every Monday thereafter on tvN.
