Marina Benipayo (left) and Ricardo Cepeda —PHOTOS FROM MARINA BENIPAYO’S FACEBOOK
Long-time partners Marina Benipayo and Ricardo “Richard” Cepeda have a full and creative life outside show biz. When they aren’t in front of the camera, they’re meeting up with friends and family, indulging in their hobbies, fostering pets or simply chilling together at home.
Veteran fashion model Marina can still give the younger models a run for their money and is sometimes tapped by designers to take a twirl down the runway. Her favorite thing? Still fashion-related.
“Sewing is my therapy, so my favorite thing is my sewing machine. It’s my best stress reliever and gives me the chance to stay productive. I used to work on my mother’s machine, but then she needed it back. Richard got me a new one para hindi ko siya kulitin kapag bored ako (laughs).”
Marina and the tote bag she made from Richard’s old denim jeans
When she was growing up, she recalled seeing her mother sewing. “She was very skilled at it and I always wished I could be as skilled as her. It never happened (laughs), but I never want to stop using my sewing machine because a lot of my fondest memories of my mom are of watching her sew.”
Interspersed among her recent Facebook posts of get-togethers with friends and pictures of stray cats are some of her newly sewn creations. There’s an upcycled black tote made with fabric scraps “para walang sayang at walang tapon” and a denim bag that she crafted out of a pair of Richard’s old jeans.
Marina has had the white Brother sewing machine for eight years now and said it’s the “star” of her work table at home.
Richard is a known foodie and sometimes makes a big batch of lip-smacking pork adobo that he sells to friends with Marina’s help. His favorite thing is a 30-inch Tefal pan for deep frying.
Richard and his adobo
“I got it at S&R at 40 percent off during their annual sale since I wouldn’t consider buying it at full price. It retains heat and gives a good char to foods that need it. I like its flat bottom for cooking which helps in sauce reduction for intensifying flavor.”
His favorite thing
As a child growing up in Cagayan in the north, Richard and his siblings would often be asked by their mother to help out in the kitchen. He was the only one who enjoyed kitchen duty. From his grandfather, he learned how food should taste—the nuances and flavors that can spell the difference between blah and wow.
Upcycled tote Marina made from fabric scraps
“A funny story is that I was so in love with this pan that I decided to use it to cook almost all my other dishes and get rid of some of my other big pans to save on kitchen space. I tried cooking Arroz ala Cubana in it. I carefully did my usual recipe, with cooking times and heat/simmering tactics. I cooked it to perfection and turned off the heat to allow the dish to remain warm for lunch which was in 15 minutes.”He soon found out that the pan retained heat too well that it continued cooking the ground meat until it was almost burnt. “This made me decide to keep my good old 30-inch wok.”
Work in progress
Still, Richard said his supermarket find and favorite thing has a special place on his pan rack. “It stays in in the No. 1 slot as my most-used pan.”
Richard and Marina are going to play onscreen partners in the upcoming drama fantasy series “Mga Lihim ni Urduja” that is set to premiere next week in GMA Network Telebabad lineup. INQ