GRACEFUL MOVES Skilled Tausug dancers showcase their skills during the Pangalay competition, an activity under Zamboanga City's Summer Verano Festival (Zamboanga City LGU photo) Recently a lawmaker friend called to consult me about the cultural mapping of her district. All I could say was,...
Hamachi crudo Among the greatest culinary inventions of all time, chocolate can be traced back to the Aztecs. The ancient civilization regarded chocolate as the elixir of love and even used cacao seeds as currency for barter. Today, this confection is much enjoyed everywhere as a romantic present...
The rising price of white sugar, coupled with seasonal scarcity, has led Filipino consumers to wring their hands helplessly, confessing that there is nothing they can do to remedy the situation. The same is not true in the provinces, where in place of sugar, folks use a more nutritious, cheaper,...
I once took a trip to Singapore with zero plans, as in nothing scheduled, nothing I wanted to do, except to sleep, eat, maybe shop a little, and read a lot. I booked myself a room at a cheap hotel, not so cheap that it would be uncomfortable, as I was prepared to spend much of my four-day stay in...
Roasted Crispy Pork Pata Throughout the month of June, The Manila Hotel’s Café Ilang-Ilang will showcase a range of delectable dishes featuring the exceptional quality and flavor of local Kurobuta pork. Kurobuta, a type of pork from the English county of Berkshire, is a Japanese word that means...
Super typhoon Mawar signaled the coming of rains and a relief from sweltering summer heat that reached 40 degrees in some areas. The cool nights and rainy days were perfect for homemade Filipino snacks that warm the body and the heart. Nothing beats arroz caldo The first merienda that comes to mind,...
FLAVORS OF THE SOUTH EAST From left: Beef percik with lauk pauk or side dishes When food expert Angelo Comsti, in his desire to bring together chefs young and old, established and emerging, came up with a personal passion project called Asian Culinary Exchange (ACE), it was in fact only a logical...
OFF TO CLARK Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) COO Marga Nograles (third from left) formally sealed a partnership with the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) president and CEO Agnes VST Devanadera (second from left) by signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to host the MICECON 2024 at Clark...
In the bustling area of Metro Manila that is Bonifacio Global City, the aptly named Shangri-La always felt like a luxurious oasis that one can quickly escape to. I have a fondness for hotels, even when I’m not traveling. You get that feeling of escape the moment you enter one. Yet, what truly sets...
Tsupet by Lou Russell Fajardo Tsupet, a photo documentary series on the interesting lives of Filipino gays who staff beauty parlors, was showcased at the 2nd Quanzhou International Image Biennial at the Fujian Huaguang Photographic Art Museum in China. Themed “We Learn the Rules in Order to Break...
IN SHAMBLES The Relief Map of The Philippines should have been spared at the very least by Republic Act 10066, which protects built structures 50 years and older from modification or demolition until the NCCA lifts the presumption of significance When abroad you walk thousands of steps to bask in...
In his acceptance speech at the Nobel Prize banquet in 1954, which the American ambassador to Sweden at the time read in his behalf, Ernest Hemingway wrote, “Writing at best is a lonely life.” It’s ironic that in order to connect with the world, a writer has to be alone through torturous...
