What started off as a blog about everything quickly degenerated into a blog about nothing, since I eventually lost interest and stopped updating it. It’s not that I no longer wanted to write. It’s more that my previous attempts had no focus so the blog itself felt scattered, half-hearted, and ultimately, not worth the effort.
Even the most promising section of the blog – He Said, She Said – where my wife Renée and I tried new restaurants and discussed our experiences, was abandoned simply because we felt no one was reading it anyway.
Almost a year had gone by since our last blog post when Ren and I were at our beloved Bacolod Chicken Parilla having dinner, and this couple at the next table turned to us and asked, “Hey, do you guys blog?” Shocked since we had never posted any photos of ourselves, we said “Yes, we do.” The guy then turns to me and asks “so, are you the BHOBL?” For those unfamiliar with our blog, BHOBL was my Renée’s playful term for me in her write-ups. It stands for Big Hunk Of Burning Looooove! 
Suffice to say, this encounter was a revelation and inspired me to pick up the blog again. I realized from all my posts that the only topics I really enjoyed writing about were our food and travel experiences, so I decided to make the entire blog just about that. He Said, She Said is now called Eating Out, since I’ll be the only one writing any reviews from now on. Ren recently promoted herself to editor-in-chief, aka the BSB (Backseat Blogger). 
Barefoot Bohemian is still here, which is the travel section of our blog. I’ve also added Renéelicious Recipes where I post Ren’s many mouth-watering culinary creations. She’s a fantastic cook (as evidenced by my ever-increasing midsection) so what better way to pay homage to her cooking than to share her recipes with all of you right?
So that’s this humble blog’s story in a nutshell. Thanks for visiting us and we hope you enjoy our content and come back often. And to that perceptive guy who put two and two together, I still don’t know what gave us away but thank you for recognizing us. It’s because of you that we’ve decided to pick this up again. A serendipitous encounter? Only time will tell.
Image Source: Big Daddy Nelson’s Flickr page
JB & Ren
This picture was taken at our wedding reception at Antonio’s in Tagaytay in 2005. There isn’t a more appropriate photo to represent us (and this blog) than this. As you can probably tell by now, we both share a love and passion for food. She for cooking and eating, me for eating and eating.
Though we were born and raised in the Philippines and presently reside here (obviously), we both spent a significant portion of our lives in the US.
After graduating with a BA in Humanities from UP Diliman, Ren toiled for a few years at a local travel agency before moving to Los Angeles and working for a posh outfit in Beverly Hills. There she booked weekend getaways for favorite celebrity has-beens such as Leif Garrett, Catherine Kelly Lang (aka Brooke from The Bold and the Beautiful), and Jason Hervey, who played Fred Savage’s annoying older brother Wayne on the hit TV series The Wonder Years (really nice guy though according to Ren).
Despite being in the travel business for over a decade, her heart has always been deeply rooted in the culinary arts, having spent many years as a child watching her mom, from whom she gets her talent, cook these amazing dishes. And now, her life has come full circle. Creating these fantastic dishes is what she was meant to do, and thanks to the blessings bestowed upon us, she now has the opportunity to do so without hesitation.
As for me? I’m just a reclusive dork (but lovable ) who loves to eat, explore, take photos, write and build websites, hence the birth of this blog. I graduated with a BA in English Literature from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, after which I followed my heart to San Francisco, CA and pursued a BFA in Fine Art/Illustration from the Academy of Art. I worked briefly as a web designer for the health care division of Oprah Winfrey’s Webby award-winning website for women, Oxygen.com, before finding my way back home and now working as a freelance web/graphic designer.
No matter where I’ve been, I’ve always enjoyed exploring new places and eating out. I’ve never been into gadgets, fancy cars, or expensive clothing, opting instead to spend my money on interesting food and exciting, new places. And luckily, I’ve now found the person I can share that life with in Ren. She’s my soulmate.
We recently bought a small plot of farmland in the country and are saving up to build our dream house (and Ren’s dream kitchen). There we’ll grow our own fruits, vegetables and herbs, and have a big yard for our beloved pugs Henry and Mona to call their own. In fact, the entire farm will be named after them – Henry and Mona’s Farm. It’ll have a logo, a website, and little stickers with their graphical likenesses which we’ll use to label all the produce we sell.
It’s important in life to have dreams, and I realized the other day that everything I do now is linked, in some form or another, to the fulfillment of that goal. This blog, those group buying websites, the freedom I’ve been afforded with my line of work, even the new DSLR I bought. It’s all about food and travel and the life Ren and I will have in the country one day.
In fact, I often reference the Field of Dreams movie when discussing this blog with Ren. “If you post it, they will come” I jokingly say.
I realize now that there may be a deeper, more profound truth to that than I know.
