MEDIUM RARE As every culture vulture knows, Cultural Center of the Philippines won’t be alive with the sound of music, drama, and applause for the next two years. The 52-year-old lady needs a bit of cosmetic surgery to keep in step with performers’ demand for a home worthy of their talents...
MEDIUM RARE The last time I was with Boysie Villavicencio was four months ago, December last year. That was when I lost another friend with the same initials, Butch Valdes. (Another coincidence, the two BV’s lived a few blocks from each other.) Boysie, 73, started his rise to fame as a fashion...
MEDIUM RARE With the merger of Development Bank of the Philippines and Land Bank, it was a natural question to ask Tessie Sy-Coson if a union of Banco de Oro and China Bank was in the offing. “No,” she said, as all around us alumnae of Immaculate Conception Academy reveled in the happy...
MEDIUM RARE When I wrote about bookstores (April 14) as a casualty of the cyber age, the idea was to use it as an introductory paragraph but I got so carried away it became the whole piece. The real intention, then as now, is to say that every book published is a celebration of sorts, of the...
MEDIUM RARE They have been partners for 48 years, with “not a single fight” to mar or fray the relationship. At Mader Ricky Reyes’ birthday party a few nights ago, the ultimate compliment was paid by Father Anthony, who described his kindness, generosity, and compassion, quoting Cris...
MEDIUM RARE As civilization advances, is the bookstore about to beat a hasty retreat? When was the last time you were in a bookstore? How much of the past did you miss there, standing among the loosely stacked shelves and remembering the not-so-long-ago? Bookstores have cut down their branches,...
MEDIUM RARE Among other things, he is a Papal Awardee for serving Mother Church through his charity works, as he is also well known near and far for his love of music (and unstinting support for up-and-coming musicians). He sings in church as regularly as he jogs around the ancestral home built by...
MEDIUM RARE Not a full moon, only a half-moon. It was a romantic enough touch to make Symphony at the Terrace memorable and, truly, one of a kind. But then Ed Yap, who deals in currency rather than music, is used to producing out-of-the-box events. A Christmas choral concert inside a church. Music...
MEDIUM RARE Summer – it may be hot and dry, but there’s no better time than now to bite into a crunchy fruit sweet with the juices of nature. Cook is ecstatic that singkamas are so cheap, ₱40 for a bundle of six pieces, that she finds it a mystery that not more people are buying them. Too...
MEDIUM RARE It’s a small world with big players and extensive influence. And not all that democratic. At their last election recently, 830 delegates cast their votes to represent 168 chambers. Cecilio Pedro of Hapee toothpaste smiled all the way to the top as president. He ran unopposed, which...
MEDIUM RARE What an awesome surprise, to land in the National Museum and discover that it’s no longer a museum piece but an elegant building that has aged graciously and acquired a rejuvenated life all its own, with 29 salons (or galleries) painted in modern bold colors, a network of handsome...
MEDIUM RARE Have you ever seen a cache of money laid out before you in the hundreds of millions and billions and billions? Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman opened her eyes wide and affirmed, “Yes, yes, when I was with the central bank!” At home, where she lives with her parents as an only...
