HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL Held annually on the fourth Sunday of January, the Dinagyang Festival of Iloilo City is a religious and cultural affair held in honor of the Santo Niño. The word Dinagyang is Hiligaynon, and means “merrymaking.” Originally similar to the Kalibo...
Sakagura at One Bonifacio High Street Mall realizes Carlo Lorenzana’s dream project – creating a typical Japanese sake/izakaya bar for Filipinos to enjoy without leaving the country. On the evening I joined Carlo and Jackie, it was for a collaboration with Sagagyu and Mayon Consolidated Inc....
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL The annual World Economic forum at Davos happened last week. If you recall, our President Bong Bong Marcos attended the 2023 edition; and that was a great success in establishing globally what his assuming the office represented, and...
At the Steak & Fries long bar One will encounter the metaphor “salad days” in Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra, as Cleopatra refers to when she was younger, green, and learning the ropes. Steak & Frice (S&F) at Central Square, BGC, is currently in its soft opening phase, with...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL Writing about Philippine tourism over my last two columns, some readers reached out to me and remarked that perhaps I was too critical of what seems to be our game plan, of pointing out our deficiencies when compared to our ASEAN neighbors. To those...
Forget the notion about women authors and chick-lit; here, we have four ladies exploring dark humor, end-of-days SciFi, historical fiction, and outrageous comedy. And our male writers aren’t slouches either; we present a music-related mystery and an environmental social comedy. Happy New Year!...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL In this column last Sunday, I tried to place our tourism efforts within a regional ASEAN context. This was not to belittle what gains we had made throughout 2023; but in the hope that by studying how other ASEAN nations are faring, we might...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL Happy New Year! And here’s to a brighter, better year ahead. It’s good to be optimistic, and I won’t argue with those who say it’s rewarding to think positive with the ‘good news’; but I only hope that we recognize how context, truth,...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL Through our annual Manila Bulletin Sustainability Forum, we’ve been pushing for the recognition that Sustainability is not just about the environment, but also about initiatives that have a social and governance impact - how the 17 UN...
From October 2022, the entrance to Mrs. Saldo’s at Silang Cavite - a dining experience that’s wonderful countryside, and all about food and ambiance First things first, and know that you have until Dec. 31 to enjoy Mrs. Saldo’s at their pop-up at Balmori Suites, Power Plant in Makati City....
The Hokkaido Scallop Salad at Inka, Central Embassy, Bangkok Without a doubt, Bangkok is the undisputed tourism capital of the ASEAN member states, making a remarkable recovery as travel restrictions were lifted in the region. Several of the 50 Top Asia Restaurants can be found in Bangkok. However,...
Photo shows (L-R): Singer-songwriter Jose Mari Chan, Repertory Theater for Young Audiences Creative Director Joy Virata, REP President and CEO Mindy Perez-Rubio, ‘first lady’ of Philippine musical theater Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, composer-arranger Ejay Yatco, award-winning playwright Rody Vera,...
