dijon

maribeth goes to
ruby west

Why did you choose Ruby West?

This is my first time coming here, I live in the neighbourhood - I moved into Wolseley about two years ago. I like to support local businesses and a few of my colleagues have recommended it so I thought why not, let’s be outside while we can be outside.

What kind of food do you eat a lot of?

I love Filipino food, I’m Filipino so that’s what I grew up with in my home. Shout out to my favourite food which is sinigang - it’s a bone broth stew dish. That would be my last dish ever. I love all food, I’m so open to trying new things. I eat a lot of burgers, sushi, dim sum, Greek food, I just love it all, I really do. I was really lucky in the sense that my parents were like “try it before you make a judgement on it.”

Do you cook a lot of Filipino food at home?

I’m starting to learn. Filipino food is meat heavy, and I’m trying to be mindful of how much meat I’m taking in, so I’m trying new ideas with cooking some of my favourite dishes.

What kind of food did you eat growing up?

Both my parents cooked in the home so Sinigang, bangus, a lot of fish, a lot of rice and noodle dishes. Lumpia is everything to me. We love our desserts, carioca which are these honey balls, turon which is deep-fried plantain wrapped in a rice wrap and then they deep fry it so the sugars caramelize inside of it. Cassava cake, that’s a favourite, ube halaya, that’s taro root that’s been folded with butter for a while. I was talking to someone who’s in California and they were saying there’s a shortage of ube there because people are just buying it up for their baking lockdown. It’s becoming more mainstream too, people are like, “what is this purple thing?!”

What are your favourite spots around Wolseley?

Vimy park, I love that place and I’ve been spending more and more time there, especially since March. I’ve been dancing by myself in the park. Another spot I’ve been dancing in a lot in is the Nelly McClung park, it’s a tiny park beside a bus stop. I love going down to the river and either walking in the wintertime or just sitting there and finding some peace and quiet. Omand’s Creek Park is so nice, I love the little hill section. I grew up in the North End so to be in this neighbourhood with all these trees and nature is really great. I never felt like I could walk around too much - my parents were quite protective of me, so I make the most of living in this great neighbourhood with great people. 

I love the Tallest Poppy, I’m either hanging out or performing there… The Goodwill is one of my favourite places too. People complain about there being nothing to do in Winnipeg but it’s hard when you live in the suburbs and it takes so much time to bus, bike or drive down here. I love going to big cities and seeing all of the interesting things around, we have that here too - it’s just in smaller pockets.

How did you get into DJing?

I got to a point where I was like, ‘I just want to put on an event, play music that I want to hear and curate a night with featured artists,’ so that’s how I started foraying into DJing. I’ve been dancing for most of my life and I’ve always wanted to learn all of the different elements of hip hop culture. DJing is something I was interested in, I’m a physical person so the thought of music plus doing everything with my hands - of course I would enjoy it. I met Sarah “Mama Cutsworth” Michaelson many years ago, and I joined her DJ class for women and non-binary folks a few years ago.

I DJ’d Sexual de Voyageur with Hunnicut, like all slow jams, I was so excited because when do you ever get to play slow jam love songs at a club? I put so much effort and so many hours into preparing this set, especially because Hunnicut is one of my favourite DJ’s in the city.. And then yeah people started coming up and requesting all these high energy, quick tempo, not love-song songs. They were only approaching me, so it’s like, is it because I’m a woman? Is it because I’m a younger woman? Also Hunnicut has had the no request policy for so long, so they’re like, “well this person will probably play it for me.”

You must miss your social life with everything shutting down.

I do. It’s really important to have time to play as adults, that’s why we go out on the weekends and hang out with friends, whether that’s hanging out at home or out dancing. Clubbing gets a bad rap because they think ‘it’s just for young people and they’re all just doing drugs and drinking’ but I don’t think that’s always the case. Like, for us who are above the age of 28 we’re really just there to have a good time, drink and dance and enjoy the music. Even in the Greek times you had Dionysus who was the god of partying and wine, so there’s something very important for people to let go and be free. And these spaces, which have been forever spaces for marginalized communities have found to be safe spaces. Like the LGBT community or hip hop groups, we’ve been relegated to these spaces. 

What was your most recent Google search?

Haha, ‘weather tomorrow,’ ‘doodle’ because I needed to schedule some meetings and ‘8kg in pounds’ because I needed a kettlebell re-up. 

For someone as busy as you are, what is your morning routine?

I wake up, I really take time to focus on breathing and feeling grateful for another day. I do a few minutes of meditation, probably stand at my window and smell fresh air, I’ll do some light yoga or stretching then get to getting ready. For a long time, I woke up to my alarm clock and it was just a blitz, like ‘what’s next, what do I need to do?’ but over the past two years, I’ve been trying my best to slow down, be present and not worry too much about what needs to get done - cause it’ll get done. I’ve already proven to myself that I can get these things done, so much so that I can overdo it. I got to a point where I almost killed myself in a car accident because I was burning the candle at both end and doing too much. That jolted me into taking better self care.

What was the first album that you bought?

I think it might have been the Backstreet Boys first album on tape. One of the other albums I first bought was TLC’s Fanmail. I was also recording the radio and making my own mixed tapes. My parents loved music so there were always records and briefcases of tapes at home for me to dig through.

What would you say to your teenage self should she present herself in front of you right now?

Keep pursuing all that you’re passionate about, keep surrounding yourself with people you love and who love you back. Learn as much as you can about your family history and culture - especially pre-colonial history because that will lead you down a path that is good and good for yourself but also your community. Keep dancing and making art, too.

So keep doing what you’re doing. Who’s your favourite person?

My parents, they have been so supportive of everything I’ve ever done and I’m so blessed. That’s why I do so much, because they have been supportive of my academics, my sports stuff, my art stuff, learning about my culture - they always made space for me to learn and find joy in that. And they fought for me when people were trying to put me in a box. They gave me independence, like, “oh go learn about Filipino politics and social justice when you’re thirteen and go fly to Toronto by yourself.” I felt respected as a child, and that’s how we should be treating young people.