Writing With My Mouth Full

Writing With My Mouth Full is the culmination of all my years on the Web. I realized I liked food so much I was willing to write about it, whether it was because of a recipe I tried at home or an experience during my travels I wanted to share with other people.

I once wrote that this site is the grown-up ext212; the grown-up pabulum. If you’re familiar with those two sites, you’ve been following me for a long time. (Thank you!)

A short herstory:

My name is Cia and I’ve been blogging even before “blog” was in people’s lexicons. I’m a Filipino who has been calling New York City–“the big grid of blasted streets and no apologies”–home since 1993. I worked in the fashion industry before the Web taught me most of what I know today.

In one of my past lives, I founded generationrice.com, an online magazine for Asians and Asian Americans.

A list of my internet life up until the pandemic:

» I was interviewed by Condé Nast in honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month (Full disclaimer: I have been a product manager in their product and technology team since 2019)
» I was in Paris traveling when I heard about Anthony Bourdain. It took a while to compile my thoughts, but when I did, I wrote them for Fast Company
» In October 2015, I froze my eggs and wrote What I want other women to know about freezing their eggs after going through it myself
» FoodyDirect published my list of 2014 restaurants, April 2015
» One of my favorite sites, Mint.com, interviewed me about eating and traveling on a budget, November 2014
» I started standing at my desk and wrote about it for Fast Company: My Year at a Standing Desk and Why I’ll Never Go Back, April 2014
» HotelsCheap interviewed me about New York City, September 2014
» A photo I took of Harold’s Chicken Shack in Chicago was used by Food and Wine Magazine for their Best Fried Chicken in the U.S. feature, October 2011
» Photos I took of the Octo-dog were used by Food and Wine Magazine for their Wacky State Fair Foods feature, June 2011
» A photo I took of Ditch Witch in Montauk was used by the New York Observer and Manhattan Magazine for their summer issues, May 2011
» Three of my photos were published in Carolyn D. Johnson’s Harlem Travel Guide, February 2011
» Named one of the Best Travel Sites on the Web by IgoUgo.com (Full disclaimer: I used to work at IgoUgo.com in 2003 and left in 2007 soon after being bought by Travelocity), February 2011
» Included in another SEO tool site; this time the Guide to Culinary Schools’ 100 Best Restaurant and Dining Blogs, December 2010
» Interviewed by a German radio show while eating with the Gastronauts at Txikito, November 2010
» Included in SEO site Guide to Culinary Arts’ Voracious Reading list, September 2010
» Interviewed by Jazz Hotels on where to find cheap food in New York City
» After more than a year of being slow on extra curricular activities, I contributed Food & Design Mash-ups with Rachel Khoo in Theme Magazine‘s #22 issue
» A photo I took of the Jollibee in Cebu City made it in Queens Tribune, March 2009
» I contributed a BBQ tale in Theme Magazine #18 food issue
» Gawker used a photo I took of the Elizabeth Street fire, which Eater and Gothamist picked up
» A photo I took at Pickle Day made it, uncredited, in Driven‘s October 2008 issue
» A photo I took in Barcelona made it in Everywhere Magazine‘s last print edition
» A photo I submitted to Scenic Hudson was selected as one of the finalists. A special exhibition at Muddy Cup Coffee House in Poughkeepsie showcased the finalists’ works August 8-31, 2008.
» Home & Abroad used a photo I took of the Josefa Sudka Gallery in Prague
» I contributed an article about using my farm share to the Stanton Street Harvest (PDF)
» My Reykjavik food photo essay was featured on Everywhere newsletter, June 2008
» I wrote an article about my favorite New York City restaurants for the Philippines’ Manila Bulletin, April 2008
» I submitted my lentil soup recipe to Good Magazine‘s Project 009: All You Can Eat
» a photograph I took in Las Vegas was used on Schmap!! Las Vegas
» some of my Cuba photographs were used in Kindred Media’s video (at 4:01) about artist Juan Alonso
» a photograph I took in North Fork, Long Island was used on New York Magazine‘s travel section
» produced a few videos with chef George Weld of Egg in Brooklyn on how to make the perfect eggs for SeriousEats.com
» a photograph of me taken by The Los Angeles Times was published in one of their travel features, “Nicaragua’s Corn Islands, An Unspoiled Paradise”
» a photograph I took in Bocas del Toro, Panama was published in L!ve Travel Guides’ 2007 Central America book
» I was the project manager for the spoon+fork Web site which won the 2006 American Graphic Design Award for Excellence in Communication and Graphic Design
» “Just Married”, a photograph I took was exhibited in Brooklyn Borough Hall as part of Positive Focus’ Real Brooklyn, a Day in Our Life 2003 exhibit attended by Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz
» I was the co-founder and editor of generationrice which won the Best News and Zines Web site at the 2002 Philippine Web Awards
» I was featured on shift.com, “Rice is Her Vice”, December 2002
» I was featured in “Feeling Homesick” in Pinoy City USA, September 2002
» I was featured in the Manila Girl column of Filipino Express, August 2002
» I was featured in Filipinas Magazine, June 2002
» “The Pimple”, a short story I wrote was published in the 2001 anthology, YELL-Oh Girls! Emerging Voices Explore Culture, Identity, and Growing Up Asian American by Vickie Nam
» I was featured as the “Fun, Fearless, Female of the Month” in Cosmopolitan Philippines Magazine, April 2001
» I was mentioned in Ten Magazine, Spring 2001
» I was mentioned in Yolk Magazine, 2001 Issue No. 5
» I was a guest on Pinoy Radio, 2001
» I was featured in AsiaWeek Magazine, May 2000

Logo

The site logo was created by the talented folks of Spoon+Fork Studio. It’s of a pig because when they asked me for a list of my favorite foods, most of them were made out of pork. It’s also reminiscent of a computer mouse.