Jinri's Choice: Thoughts On Having Her Own Book!

Ed's note: We caught up with Jinri at the official book launch of The Jinri Experience, which was held at the Robinsons Galleria Activity Center last Sunday, August 5. Our resident columnist reveals, among others, how her latest project with photographer Jay Tablante came to be. Read on!

The Jinri Experience! Like this book, everything was unexpected and unplanned. I didn’t expect to be a model; it just happened. With the DJ thing, it’s kind of the same situation. They actually saw me on FHM – it really helped me a lot – and Rico Robles, one of the DJs in RX, suggested me to the bosses. So I went to audition, and they actually liked me. Who knew I would be a DJ and an FHM model, right? And who knew I would have a book named after me?

It all started off when we started working on a cosplay calendar last year.  Jay Tablante and I were just playing around, and we decided to print the calendars. It grew real big. Next thing we know, we were making shirts based on that. And then we talked about making a photobook or something. We didn’t expect it to be picked up by Rawr Books; it was all for fun, thank gawd they liked it, so that’s how it came about.

I think the book is a collaboration between us because I wanted my image to sort of feel like the girlfriend type or the girl next door, sort of like the girlfriend experience. Because most of the celebrities here are kind of intimidating, they seem so far away. I’m a DJ so I’m not really a celebrity per se. I wanna be someone you could feel close to. I think that was the whole concept of how we came up with it.

I couldn't have done this without Jay. He’s so many different things to me. He could be my friend, where I ask his thoughts on whatever new project I’m doing. He’s also sort of like my manager, because he manages my career on my modeling gigs as well. He’s a mentor of course. He’s one of my favorite photographers. I think my career grew with him. Of course FHM helped me a lot, and I believe that to be the launch of my career. That was the highlight. When I came out in the magazine, everything started to go uphill.

But when I met Jay, that’s when I experienced the different aspects of what I could do. Like cosplaying – I’ve never heard of cosplay before. I would never expect in a million years thought that I could do cosplay. But because of him, I went on to do it. You know, the one where I portrayed Psylocke. And because of it I went to Italy for a cosplay convention for free! They invited me because of that one picture.

And of course the gravure, the one we did for The Jinri Experience, came from him, as well. I had no idea what gravure is, but he introduced me to it and I became the first gravure model in the Philippines. Another one would be the geeky side of him. I play online games, but because of him I got to know more about comics. When I started doing different projects for these kinds of clients, my market grew. The geek market started liking me, and it worked for me in so many different levels. He did a lot for me. A lot! Many thanks Jay!

So what's next after this? I think I’ll just go with the flow. I’ll see how it goes from here but after doing this I would love to do more acting in the future. Comedy works best for me because I enjoy being funny and making a fool of myself in a way. Fingers crossed for more career opportunities! But for now, I'm just glad the book finally came out. Grab a copy, will you?

The Jinri Experience is now available at all National Bookstore outlets for P195.