I’m not religious, but I pray the rosary every day. When something good happens to me, I pray. When something bad happens, I also pray, but not as freely. I hold back a bit. Somehow I know prayers can’t save me, not from pain, not from sorrow, not from danger, not from death. I'm...
If the Philippine presidents, from Emilio Aguinaldo to Ferdinand E. Marcos, all lived in one house, what would that house look like? Maybe like the Arlegui Guest House at San Rafael Street in Manila, within the Malacañan Palace complex in the San Miguel district. A...
Image from FREEPIK I’m a misogynist, having grown up in an almost all-female household in which the women did not have sex, did not go to the bathroom except to wash their skin and their hair, did not make any untoward sound like burping or passing wind, did not sit with their legs wide apart, or...
A DREAM COME TO LIFE Flower Mulan Nyonya Café's interior gives a glimpse of Penang's simple beauty through its oriental decor and homely vibes I don’t think I can write about Penang without doing something worthy of James Hilton’s Lost Horizon or Paradise Lost . It isn’t my first time...
Illustration by OTEPH ANTIPOLO The Philippine Airlines’ president and COO, also the first pilot to be on top of the flag carrier since 1963, is now also president of SKAL International Makati. SKAL International is a professional club of movers and shakers in global travel and tourism. Operating...
How much time do we devote to eating, especially when we are out there experiencing the larger world? No such thing as a brief meal to me, or even eating on the run, though I have done both on very, very few occasions. Often, it’s either I eat properly—and leisurely—or I don’t eat at all....
GO EAT YOUR HEART OUT Pick from a multitude of top quality sushi bowls You just have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. That’s what George Lucas said, who added, “Put blinders on and plow right ahead.” And that’s exactly the motivation behind this new dining concept Go,...
Imagine there’s no heaven, as John Lennon once did while dreaming up peace on earth. There’ll be no hell. There’ll be no morality. No good, no bad, either. Imagine how free we would be. Or how lost. Or how doomed. I remember the first time I witnessed sex in public. It was at the good, old...
Zenaida Rustia Tantoco It was a shock to hear of Zenaida Rustia Tantoco’s passing. I have only recently learned to call her Nedy, on her request. It was quite a challenge to wean myself off the tendency to always address her formally, calling her Ms. Tantoco. Nedy was a force for good. Being the...
A NIGHT OF SENSE AND SENSIBILITIES Guests were treated with an entertaining and captivating evening that touched on all their senses Hello, Dragon! What have you got for me? I’ve read conflicting reports, but I have faith in what my feng shui guide, my fortune guru, my career adviser, my friend,...
On Friday, Feb. 9, it will be the eve of the Chinese New Year when, regally, the Dragon, the only mythical being in the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, gallops in, wings unfurled for balance, and, with hope, brings good tidings. That is what I have in mind when, together with other members of the...
A JOYOUS OCCASION Dancers perform in honor of the Santo Niño as part of a Dinagyang Ati tribe competition (Photo Mark Balmores) There’s a different ring to the loud screams of “Hala Bira!” in this year’s celebration of Dinagyang, held over the weekend, from Jan. 26 to Jan. 28, in Iloilo....
