MEDIUM RARE It’s sizzling out there, that is, here in Metro Manila, with maximum temperatures hitting 32C, with no promise of clouds promising rain. But in Tagaytay, temperatures are down by around five degrees – welcome to the coolish breeze and the cooling sight of the lake. The problem with...
MEDIUM RARE Patrick Fernandez, US-based (Orange County) investment banker and Manila-born feng shui advocate, advises ladies of every age and persuasion: “Seize the moment. You are due for leadership roles for the next 20 years.” Attention: First Lady Liza A. Marcos, Vice President Sara...
MEDIUM RARE As expected, Ralph Recto, the new secretary of finance, has a head for numbers. The wonderful thing about him is that he has a way with words also. Add to those two gifts, he’s quite a nice guy – ask Mrs. Recto, aka Vilma Santos – plus he has a sense of humor besides. He’s so...
MEDIUM RARE Two of the nicest people I’ve known have left us, they say for a better place. With them gone, how easy would it be to find two nicer persons to take their place? Portia Leuterio was the little pink lady who lived in a little pink house that I called her teacup cottage. She lived...
MEDIUM RARE Family bonding, a strong element of Filipino group dynamics, but not every individual chooses to have Family to live and get along with. There are those who prefer to live alone and seem to be happy doing so, a conscious and deliberate decision. They don’t need Barbra Streisand...
MEDIUM RARE Responding to President BBM‘s call to memorialize the courage, not only of saints but also of our dear departed, the brave and the bold, as we end a week of holy days and holidays, I beg the reader’s indulgence to let me pay tribute to my mentors in journalism, the only profession...
MEDIUM RARE At the cash counter in the little crafts shop where I bought PH-made stickers and paid ₱400 for four tiny sheets, I told the cashier, “Imagine, stickers costing ₱100 per sheet.” She said, poker-faced, “Everything’s expensive now. Transportation two-way is hurting my wallet,...
MEDIUM RARE Year after year after year, Polytechnic University of the Philippines hits the top spot as producer of the “most employable” graduates. And year after year, few bother to ask why so. After a short conversation last week with Chino Salcedo, who has been teaching in PUP’s San Juan...
MEDIUM RARE More to see, more to love. That’s what to tell tourists looking for a strange new world to visit: They should come and visit and fall in love with the Philippines, or fall in love in the Philippines? Either way, more fun. But, first things first. When the slogan says LOVE THE...
MEDIUM RARE Filipinos go to Bangkok mostly for the shopping, secondarily for the food. There’s a kind of similarity between Thai and Filipino cuisine, so much so that when Conrad Hotel brought in Chef Mink Suraraksa from Bangkok’s Waldorf Astoria for their Legendary Chefs Series with focus on...
MEDIUM RARE Does the Rotary Club of Manila have more fun? They meet every blessed week without getting bored or tired of each other’s faces, but it could also be that I happen to have more friends in this club than in any other. More likely, the truth is that their projects don’t seem to gather...
MEDIUM RARE We arrived for lunch and saw a long table all set and ready for us. What I was not prepared for was the sight of two extremely beautiful, extremely expensive cars, an Audi and a Porsche (model Taycan, spelled almost like Toycar) parked daintily in the dining area, like they were waiting...
