MEDIUM RARE As a post-Valentine treat, I watched “Wuthering Heights” in its latest cinematic version, expecting it would not look, sound, or feel modern as it was meant to be a costume picture. No skyscrapers because there would only be windswept moors, no traffic on the streets because there...
MEDIUM RARE Now the hard work begins. Again. For the rest of the year. The dragons have danced under exploding firecrackers. The lion has had its eyes, nose, and tail dotted in red paint. Loud, heartfelt greetings of “Kong Hei Fat Choi” have been exchanged. The Flaming Fire Horse has made its...
MEDIUM RARE While some girls and ladies have their so-called sugar daddies, I have what I call a paper daddy, in the person of the supplier of paper who was responsible for the printing of 18 editions of my book, “Etiquette for Mistresses.” As much as it was a publishing phenomenon of the last...
CALANASAN, Apayao – Forest guards in Apayao province, along with personnel of the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO) in mountainous Calanasan town, discovered clusters of thriving rare wild jade vine, or most commonly known as Tayabak (Strongylodon macrobotrys), in remote...
MEDIUM RARE What a lovely word. Say it again. Illuminating. It’s the word of the year. That’s according to Patrick Fernandez, feng shui scholar whose profession in California, USA, is banking. Not to put words into Patrick’s mouth, but I suppose that means we push lies and deception to the...
At 43, Angiellie Talavera Frias had a life many would call full—three children who brightened her days, a home under construction that promised future memories, and a stable career in government service. Anne, as she is known to family and friends, thrived on the rhythm of family routines. But in...
MEDIUM RARE Once upon a time, on the top floor of the old Hilton Hotel in Malate, Manila, waiters served lunch (or sometimes a very late breakfast) to a group of four gentlemen whom they referred to as the “knights of the round table.” They were not knights and it was not a round table, but...
Quite by accident, I came to within inches — better yet, centimeters! — of one of PBBM’s official cars, an unguarded Mercedes-Maybach S600, sometime last week. I didn’t know it then, but there are a few other cars for his official, exclusive use in Malacañang’s garage. (Google lists a...
MEDIUM RARE Said his best friend and sidekick: “He’s been planning, planning and going over the menu since December 26. He’s changed it three times, maybe more.” That’s Benjie Yap, all right, as described by Fermin Reyes. Meticulous to the last tiny drop of sequin (or ruby, or diamond),...
Two hours up in the air on an airplane and you’re in Taipei. The same as riding in a car from Quezon City to Parañaque! But then time is relative, on the ground or up in the air. The best thing about flying to Taiwan at this time of year is that it’s winter – a mild one without the snow –...
MEDIUM RARE For many years when we were of school age the rumor going around was that good girls and boys did not use the abbreviation for Christmas, C’mas, because it was an attempt by evil forces to remove Christ out of the story of his divinity. Apparently, none of our teachers in religion or...
MEDIUM RARE “Mader” Ricky Reyes, who brands himself as GRR – Ganda Ricky Reyes – is wearing a choker of rubies framed with diamonds around his throat and a single star, also ruby, on his left ear. Unlike most days and nights when he’s in black, dazzling with a ton of sparkling-white...
