| MABUHAY
SEPTEMBER DINNER WITH MISS EARTH 2001 CATHARINA SVENSSON: A MEMORABLE
INTERMEZZO - 9.17.2002
INTRO … One of Danish director Lars Von Trier’s most well-known films is “Dancer in the Dark”. The film is about a Czech immigrant to America named Selma (played by eccentric Icelandic singer Björk) who loved Hollywood musicals and dreamed about them to escape the escalating grim realities of her life. How grim? Imagine this: her eyesight is diminishing, and her son has the same condition, too; she worked in a factory to save money for an operation to save her son’s eyesight; her money was stolen; she was then in a situation that led her to be falsely accused of murder; and she was found guilty of the crime and was given the death sentence. Von Trier filmed the musical dream sequences in bright, vivid colors, while Selma’s reality was shown in drab, muted ones. For me, September 17, 2002 was very much like that film. It was a very stressful day at work that day. As the working day drew to a close, I was definitely drained and I needed some relief. THE INTERLUDE BEGINS…
CHICKEN, RICE, AND OTHER DELIGHTS…
The Philippines is a country where the best selling menu item in its top hamburger fast food joints is… a fried chicken and rice meal. So, it’s quite expected that many of the guests in our dinner ordered chicken and rice. However, some of us decided to consume meals that aren’t chicken – I had this meaty, filling “turnip” dish, Kyle had spicy noodles, Boyet ordered some Indonesian beef sate (somewhat like barbecue, but dipped in peanut sauce) and another rich dish, and Catharina had shrimp. Gerry’s personal friend, unaware of Catharina’s “famous” remarks on “fried chicken and rice”, offered to share some of his fried chicken to her. Catharina very politely declined his offer. Of course, we in Mabuhay Beauties had to tackle that remark and good-naturedly teased her about it. Catharina took all our needling in stride and nicely explained that it’s a case of “too-much-of-a-good-thing” – when the host offers you the same “best” food every day, it’s inevitable that you get tired of eating that “best” food and want to try something else. Everyone at the dinner ate heartily, including Catharina. As is typical Filipino custom, we usually encourage our guests to eat some more. Though Kyle is a bit conscious about the food he eats, he encourages Catharina to eat more because “well, you’re already Miss Earth, and you don’t need to worry about your figure anymore. Leave the worrying to the contestants.” Well, Catharina doesn’t seem to be that conscious about the food she eats or her figure that much, she just eats until she gets her fill (which is the right and healthy attitude towards eating, anyway). After the sumptuous dinner at Banana Leaf, what did we have for dessert? Well, first, Kyle and Gerry’s three guests have departed by the time we moved on to UCC. Catharina and Boyet ordered apple pie a la mode, which Catharina had with café au lait while Boyet had an espresso. Gerry had UCC’s famous mango coffee shake while I ordered a kiwi shake. As my kiwi shake was delivered, Catharina looked at it curiously, because it’s odd-looking since it’s a bright green juice – of course she had to ask me what is that thing. I told her what the drink was, explained to her that I loved kiwi, which was why I decided to give this juice a try. I accompanied my kiwi juice with this tall and nutty fruit parfait – which I realized that I should have mixed it up, as I loved my cold desserts to be consistently cold all over, and this parfait has a cold ice cream on top and the other contents are not as cold. It was still delicious, though. Though the Mabuhay staffers split the bill on t he main course at Banana Leaf, somebody picked up the tab for our coffee and dessert at UCC, and for that we are very grateful. Who picked up our dessert tab? Find out in the section entitled “THE MONZONS, THE PICTORIAL SESSIONS, AND JOEY GUILAS”. REMINISCING MISS EARTH 2001…
PAGEANT Q&A
REVELATIONS... After the “What makes you blush?” question, Catharina revealed to us that last year’s Miss Earth pageant was the very first time she had to speak in front of a lot of people. That surprised us, because her fluid and confident delivery during the pageant belied that fact (and that fear) – she sounded like someone who already had experience in public speaking. I have to say I admired her more when she revealed that, because she took what could have been an obstacle and turned it into an opportunity to grow – her victory was probably a testament that she had hurdled the obstacle. Moreover, she thought that it would also be useful to her when she becomes a lawyer, as a lawyer would inevitably have to face and speak to a lot of people at some point in his or her career. Another interesting tidbit about Catharina is about her heritage. Though she was born and raised in Denmark throughout her life, her father is actually Swedish. The way her name was spelled was likewise reflective of her Swedish background, as Swedes spell the name Catharina, while typical Danes will use the name “Katrine”.
ANYTHING DANISH… When talking to a visitor from another country like Catharina, conversation inevitably turns to how life is like in that country. Here are some lesser-known tidbits we got about her country: Denmark has about 5 million people living in about 43,000 sq. km (the land area I gathered from encyclopedia research). Contrast that to the 12 million people living in the approximately 200 sq. km land area of Metro Manila… Favorite food of the modern Danes these days is Italian pasta. Shows how the free exchange brought about by the European Union is in full effect. Another impact brought about by the European Union is free mobility to any other country in the union. For instance, there are a lot of Danes who now go home to nearby Sweden and troop to Copenhagen for work because they want to avail of the lower tax rates in Sweden. On a more personal note, Catharina mentioned a friend of hers who lives in Sweden whom she could easily visit as the friend lives only 45 minutes away from Copenhagen. Danish movies now imitate the Dogma 95 style initiated by famous director Lars von Trier – shaky camera movements, natural light, etc. Of course, we also talk about those pastries that we call Danish. Boyet mentioned how he had attempted to make his own Danish in the kitchen, and we all mentioned about the ubiquitous, sugary Danish Cookies that are easily found in our local supermarkets. We complimented Catharina on the jewelry she was wearing that night – the cross necklace, the metal bracelet, and the watch. We asked her the name of the jeweler, and we had a hard time pronouncing it that we asked her to write it down on my notebook. It is spelled: DRYBERG KERN. However, to pronounce it is tricky. First, the “Y” sound is pronounced like “ee” in “free”, but you have to round your lips, as if making the “oo” sound in “moon”. Germans usually spell this sound as “ü”, but in Scandinavian languages like Swedish and Danish, this sound is spelled with a “y”. Now, the “ER” sound is not how we would typically pronounce it. The “e” tends to sound like “a” in “an” (and I will approximate it by spelling it as “ae”), and the “r” is not that prominently pronounced – you can still hear the sound, but you shouldn’t pronounce it that much. So it was with great difficulty that I had to attempt to pronounce the name, to the laughter of my Mabuhay comrades. So, try to rep eat after me: Drü-bae(r)g Kae(r)n. THE MONZONS, THE PICTORIALS, AND JOEY GUILAS
CODA… The evening had all the elements of a perfect dinner party – great food, wonderful company, lively and stimulating conversation, and of course a few comedy of errors (like my mangling the word “Dryberg Kern” and Joey Guilas’s situation). Definitely an affair to remember. In many ways, it is very much like a musical interlude in “Dancer In The Dark”, down to the rich wash of colors provided by the visit to Pacific Blooms. But unlike the musical interludes in that film, this interlude happened in reality. Because it happened in reality, I am optimistic that I won’t suffer Selma’s grim fate in that film, even as I faced a deluge of magazines to edit in the coming days (and is a factor why this essay took this long to write). And, unlike Selma, I definitely haven’t “seen it all” (NOTE: “I Have Seen It All” is a song from this film that was nominated for an Oscar – yes, this was the one where Björk wore her notorious “swan” dress). I definitely want more of these in my life. JUST ME! JOSEPH |
Fortunately, there was a 
It’s
inevitable when you converse with a beauty queen that you reminisce about
the pageant that gave her the victory. So, we simply can’t help but
talk about the friends she made during that pageant (India, USA, New
Zealand), how we all loved Miss Kenya, Aqua Bonsu (a graciously humble
lady who fared much better than she thought she did), the chants of
“Misuzu” for Miss Japan – who won Miss Friendship in the contest, the
impish Miss
Netherlands (she
actually loved the country enough to come back here and join a
Boracay bikini
contest), and about how
Miss India, Shamita
Singha, still kept in
touch with some of the Mabuhay staff and might have plans to come over and
visit our country again (plus Catharina mentioned that Shamita was
reported to also have traveled to England for some modeling
assignments). Boyet also noted how the US delegate, Abby Royce, rubbed some of our local journalists
the wrong way, especially being particular about the photo angles to be
shot on her. Knowing that Abby has been good to us (I actually
interviewed her after the Miss Earth press presentation, and she
graciously answered my questions), and that she answered the question “who
do you think will be Miss Earth?” when Gerry asked her the question in
contrast to the frosty response she gave to a journalist who asked the
same question, we guessed that it might be because Abby doesn’t trust
anyone too easily, and that she’s choosy on whom she trusts. I guess
that’s the most plausible case as I know of people who are like that –
including someone in my office whom my heart holds dear. We also dished on
the girls who were homesick during the pageant: Mz. Kazakhstan, Finland, and probably
Japan (since she could
not speak much English) and their contrasting behaviors – how Misuzu
(Japan) remained sweet and adorable, Margarita (Kazakhstan) stayed
well-behaved and did her best under the circumstances, and Martina
(Finland)… uh, well, Ed Saludes mentioned how she behaved in passing when
we reported on the new Miss Finland – Earth, Elina Hurve, on our messageboard a couple of months ago.
Then, there was also that incident when I made my national costume
presentation review, how Miss Dominican Republic was so miffed that I
misinterpreted her “la
bandera Dominicana”
(Dominican flag) remark as “lavandera Dominicana” (Dominican laundrywoman,
as I understood it). Boyet explained to me that the Spanish term for
laundrywoman is actually “lavadera” (without an “n”), but when we borrowed
the term in our own native language, we added an “n”, hence the
misunderstanding. Anyway, we issued a prompt apology to assuage
bruised feelings at that time. Of course, we also couldn’t help but
talk about the girls who misbehaved – like how some Spanish-speaking
contestants taught one hapless non-Spanish contestant an obscene word, and
how some contestants loved to hustle for screen time. Those “bad
girls” shall remain nameless…
I
didn’t prepare many questions for an interview with Catharina, as: a) I
had no time because of the extreme pressures I was encountering at work;
and b) with the great interview at Global Beauties, plus Kyle’s great
questions, the only questions that I’d really like to ask are updates on
her life, responses on a few rumors, and maybe a few Miss U-type pageant
questions. Moreover, many of the questions I’d like to ask have been
raised by Gerry and Kyle in the course of our conversations, so all I’ve
decided to do for the night is soak everything in… Actually, while waiting
for Kyle and the others to arrive, I did ask Catharina about two things
that were mentioned in the Global Beauties interview: the environmental
summit in South Africa, and the Miss Earth - Denmark pageant. For
the former, the plan for Catharina to attend the summit didn’t push
through. For the latter, they weren’t able to get enough sponsors for this
year to stage a televised contest, so the new Miss Earth - Denmark was
selected through a similar casting process Catharina went through.
The sponsors, having made their marketing plans for the year and were
still reeling from the effects of 9-11, had to decline for now. But
there is hope that a televised Miss Earth - Denmark pageant will push
through next year. Some trolls in the pageant message boards have
circulated a rumor that Catharina is three months pregnant. Well,
seeing her in person definitely dispelled those rumors immediately – she’s
definitely far from being pregnant. Gerry mentioned the rumor to
her, and she reacted with bemusement and, of course, denied the
rumor. This rumor triggered us to pepper her with “pageant-y”
questions and issues that affect other international pageants, such as:
“Do you think a titleholder should be allowed to be pregnant during her
reign?” Catharina first noted that it is explicitly stated in the terms of
her Miss Earth contract that she is not allowed to become pregnant.
But in the hypothetical scenario that there was no explicit clause
regarding that, it would depend on the timing and the responsibilities
that the titleholder has. For instance, if it happened early in her
reign, it would be difficult for a titleholder to attend to her
responsibilities when she’s already approaching labor; if it happened
during the last three months of her reign, the titleholder can probably be
allowed to keep her crown as the early trimester of a pregnancy would not
really be in the way of a titleholder’s duties. “If you were a contestant
in this year’s Miss World pageant in Nigeria, would you boycott the
pageant because of the Amina Lawal
controversy?” Catharina said yes without batting an eyelash, because
the death sentence on Amina Lawal is inhuman and barbaric. “Why is Earth called
‘Mother’?” This
question was the final question asked in this year’s Miss Earth –
Philippines pageant. None of the Miss Philippines finalists was able
to answer it as fluidly as Catharina: “Man needs his mother because the mother is the one
who provides for you and takes care of you. In the same way, Earth
is called ‘Mother’ because it provides for us and takes care of us.”
It only has to be as simple as that… “What makes you blush?” This question actually floored Catharina, and she
commented: “Good
question…” Catharina gave a revealing answer: “When I speak in front of a
lot of people, I sometimes couldn’t breathe…” How revealing was that answer? Read in the
next section entitled “REVELATIONS” Anyway, only two people e-mailed us
with additional questions they would like to ask Catharina, one sent to
Kyle’s e-mail, and one sent to mine. Kyle’s e-mail sender was the
equivalent of a prank caller, as his question was an absurd “How are
you?” I had a more “serious” e-mail sender by the name of
Rheinald Joel
Biscaro, who sent me
four questions. Two of his questions relate to comparing this
pageant with other pageants, which I think Catharina is not in a position
to answer, so I decided not to ask them. One question, I think, was
actually tackled and covered by one of Kyle’s questions, so I decided not
to ask that one myself anymore. Now, here is the last, “personal”
question by Rheinald: “What do you think is the ideal diet to maintain a perfect figure
and still get the right nutrients needed for proper
health?”
Catharina responded that she thinks she’s not the best person to answer
that question, as she eats anything she chooses. So we forwarded the
question instead to Boyet, who over the past few months slimmed down to
normal weight: “the
diabetic diet, with no sugar.” 
As
the main dinner drew to a close, the heads of Carousel Productions (producers of the Miss Earth pageant) Ramon Monzon and Lorraine
Schuck-Monzon came over
to visit us and check on how the evening was progressing. We greeted
each other warmly and they seemed to be happy with how it’s turning
out. They would proceed to UCC after dinner and we would meet them
there. After Gerry paid the bill at Banana Leaf, Gerry & Boyet, and
one of Gerry’s banker friends, conducted a pictorial with Catharina at
Pacific Blooms before taking coffee. Gerry knew the owner of the
flower shop, and secured her permission. The striking results of that
pictorial session are seen in this website. Kyle and I marveled at the
wonderful, European-style décor at Pacific Blooms. And we both shared the
same reaction: “Mom would love this place!” In my Mom’s case, add
several statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, and various
saints, and you get my Mom’s dreamhouse. Kyle and Gerry’s three guests had
to go after the pictorial session was over. Gerry & Boyet took a few
shots at the nearby lamp shop with Catharina before we finally proceeded
with dessert and coffee at UCC. Lorraine and Ramon had some guests
with them – including a congressman who is spearheading some environmental
programs, and so Catharina joined them for a little while. While
Catharina conversed with the Monzons’ guests, Boyet, Gerry, and I account
for our shares in the Banana Leaf meal. Then, Joey Guilas finally
arrived. Since the RPN 9 crew wasn’t with him, he decided to conduct
his interview with Catharina in behalf of Men’s Zone magazine
instead. After Catharina was through conversing with the Monzons’
group and returned to our table, Joey proceeded with his interview.
As always, Catharina responded fluidly and still had enough energy for it.
At around 11 PM, the wonderful evening had come to an end. We bade
Lorraine and Ramon goodbye and we learned from the UCC waitress that they
also paid for our coffee and desserts. We felt so grateful for that
gesture. Of course we also bid Catharina goodbye, as she also had
some other meetings to attend to with Carousel Productions the following
morning (I think it’s a visit to Unilever Philippines, if I’m not
mistaken). Catharina bussed all of us on the cheek as we all went
our separate ways.