MEDIUM RARE Which television footage did you find more compelling? The airport worker who swallowed dollar bills to hide the theft? Or the baby-faced leader of the allegedly cult-like Socorro Bayanihan Services appearing before the Senate in a state of bewilderment for his 15 minutes of fame? Those...
MEDIUM RARE Johnny Litton’s fans, friends, sponsors of his long-running TV show, “Oh no, it’s Johnny!” came out in numbers to fill a ballroom and pay tribute. But where was Johnny? We all missed seeing Johnny on stage dishing out his one-liners, especially those tainted green and...
MEDIUM RARE While the great majority of us try to understand – or undermine, from a position of non-understanding – the meaning and effect on consumers of that mysterious word “inflation,” the fact is that business has been good for Big Business. Unlike the nay-sayers who don’t like...
MEDIUM RARE Nine months to carry a baby to full term, two years to sit out a virus. At long last, with the health emergency status induced by Covid-19 finally lifted, life is normal enough now to indulge in moments of serenity while reading a book. Specially a book as elegant to look...
The Manila Hotel’s romantic Champagne Room turns into a crystal-and-silver forest for magical times at Benjie Yap’s birthday Images by NOEL PABALATE CRYSTAL GARDEN The Champagne Room setup designed by Manny Samson You have to hand it to bon vivant Benjie C. Yap. His parties always reflect his...
Some of the lucky residents—and their visitors from the lowlands—would whimsically describe the climate in Baguio as Christmas-like Images by the author. PERFECT FOR GOLFERS pro and amateur, Baguio Country Club’s golf course is a landmark While the rest of the tropical islands are sweating it...
Deck the hall with boughs of jolly Images by the author NATIVE, AS IN NATIVITY Santa Claus arrives in a flower-bedecked calesa at Diamond Hotel, where the entrance sports a Filipino theme ‘Tis the season to shine and give off sparks of joy! With hotels and malls leading the way, Christmas trees...
And neither is this book history, though someday it might well be “Chinatown is not a place,” declared journalist-author Jullie Yap Daza to her friends. Now that sentence is the title of her latest book. Technically, Chinatown is one square kilometer in size, an area surrounded by streets whose...
Images by the author THE LURE OF BREAD Bread Basket in Vista Mall, Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Just to get out of the city on lockdown, what could be more fun than a food trip? The price of gasoline kept going up, but since the little car had not been in use for weeks, what the heck? Just board, turn the...
MEDIUM RARE Jullie Y. Daza Is it vaccine hesitancy or aversion? At the rate seniors are avoiding vaccination – so far the only known protection against the killer virus -- you have to wonder where their doubts are coming from. Fear of the needle? Before they got old, they were young, and when...
An intimate portrait of one of the most complicated of human interactions—the mother and daughter relationship Cover design by Jules Vivas In time, daughters become their mothers, although many of them swear never ever to be when they are young. It’s a complex relationship, often constructive...
It’s a series of gardens on a multi-hectare property that might as well be a park Photos by JYD ODE TO WATER Fish caught in stone, perpetually, as if to remind the visitor that Bali, the inspiration for this secret garden, is an island Like a piece of paradise restored after last year’s...
