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For chef JP Anglo — owner of Sarsa and Kafe Batwan restaurants and judge on Master Chef
Philippines — conquering his fears and living out his passion take him a step closer to living life to the fullest.
“I got into surfing because when I moved to Australia to work, I lived by the beach and I wanted to learn how to surf,” says chef JP. “My love for surfing started to deepen when I started surfing more regularly. Nothing beats that stoked feeling when you catch a wave — letting go of all the fear. It’s a natural high and it’s infectious.”
The same can be said about his eternal passion for cooking. “Surfing and cooking are similar in the sense that you need to work really hard and have a lot of patience,” he says. “They both come from a place of passion, which for me means time stops and you lose yourself in the process. It might be riding that epic wave or accidentally coming up with a new dish, and that underlines why emotions and energy play big roles in both areas.”
Chef JP now stars in Hungry with Chef JP, a TV show on CNN Philippines and FWD Life Philippines that portrays the exciting interplay of surfing and cooking. The show’s first season airs on CNN Philippines every Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Exploring some of the hottest surf spots in the country, chef JP immerses himself in our uniquely fascinating food culture for this island life-inspired program.
LIVING FOR THE NOW
The initiative to support the show is a unique mix of two of FWD’s passion points: food and sports. With the purpose of encouraging Filipinos to pursue their passions the # GetReadyToLive brand attitude, the show aims to inspire passionate Filipinos to live for the now and strip away all hesitations or fears.
“Our food culture has been very much in the spotlight in recent years. We at FWD support this passion point to inspire this flourishing sector where passionate people like chef JP thrive,” says Roche Vandenberghe, FWD Philippines head of marketing. “Chef JP perfectly embodies the passionate young Filipinos who inspire others to seize opportunities that are given to them, truly living life to the fullest. This is also one of the reasons why we had chef JP as the personality representing the food passion point during our brand launch adventure race ‘Ready, Set, Live!’ in November 2014.”
The initiative to collaborate with chef JP and his team was born out of FWD’s desire to continue changing the way people feel about insurance. “We’d like Filipinos to view insurance as a lifestyle continuity proposition which enables them to fearlessly pursue their passions in life,” adds Roche. “Like chef JP, we’d like Filipinos to know that FWD will be there for them so they can live life without hesitation.”
Each episode is an invitation by the surfer-chef to follow him around the country’s scenic surf spots as he rides the waves and cooks up delectable surprises for every community with fresh and locally sourced ingredients. However, program director Nicky Daez of Seabiscuit Films notes that the show actually dives even deeper than that.
“It’s a show about life. It tackles JP’s journey as a surfer — he may not be the best but he’s definitely hungry to get better,” he explains. “He immerses himself and spends time to cook and eat with the locals.”
The show’s director adds that FWD has been the perfect sponsor for the program because of its philosophy to enable Filipinos to live passionate lives. “FWD gave us the artistic freedom to properly execute the show the way we envisioned it,” Daez notes. “They understood what we imagined for Hungry and trusted that we would make it happen. They made this dream project a reality for us all.”