MEDIUM RARE Fast and furious. That’s how she was. Cecile Licad on piano, playing Tchaikovsky in a slightly faster tempo than I’ve ever heard before, her fingers racing up and down the keyboard to empower her glittering glissandos and thunderous chords. Her audience was struck by lightning as it...
MEDIUM RARE As the man said, music shakes off the dust of everyday living. What is music? The most elusive of the arts, hard to define or even describe, yet nothing like music to touch the heart, refresh the mind, enliven the spirit. The one thing to add to the joy of performing or listening...
MEDIUM RARE If life is a dream, and because most trees live longer than human beings, there must be a message there somewhere from the Creator. As a friend used to say, “Trees are more useful than some people.” And now another friend is saying, “Donate to Gift of a Tree App” and help the...
MEDIUM RARE Easter Bunny. Easter eggs. What’s the connection between an egg and a rabbit? Rabbits don’t pop out of an egg, but since ancient times, the tradition of an egg hunt in spring, particularly after the somber season of Lent, speaks volumes of mankind’s concept of life, birth,...
MEDIUM RARE Somewhere between grade three and four I must’ve missed out on geography as a “must” subject, otherwise I‘d know more about Batangas and its scenic, painterly beauty. After a visit there last weekend, I can now describe one spot in the province as the place to escape to, away...
MEDIUM RARE Of all the places in the world to meet on a Sunday, it had to be in a mall. But exorcists need time out to relax and be in touch with the real world once in a while, too, don’t they? Fr. Joesy Syquia, well-known in the Archdiocese of Metro Manila as an exorcist authorized by the...
MEDIUM RARE When I showed up at lunch one day, there began immediately a smallscale debate on what color I was wearing. Salmon? Orange? No, I said, peach, or better yet, peachy. Color of the year, I added. Thereupon began another debate. Peach is not the color of the year, someone said, it’s...
MEDIUM RARE Like your dentist, the owner of the Hapee brand of toothpaste doesn’t want you to lose your teeth. “What will happen to my business if everybody becomes toothless?” Dr. Cecilio K. Pedro joked over lunch. His brand has become so successful, he said in an aside, that his competitors...
MEDIUM RARE I watched Korina Sanchez Roxas’ conversation with the Philippines’ most celebrated centenarian, Juan Ponce Enrile, and learned what could well be his secret of a lifetime. “I don’t drink cold water,” he said on Korina’s Rated K last Sunday. Doctors should have...
MEDIUM RARE Inflation is a slippery eel. You cannot pin it down. For one thing, down is the wrong word, because inflation means prices moving upwards. Unlike the law of gravity, what goes up doesn’t come down. Inflation is almost a physical law of nature, and it’s here to stay, except when you...
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 Senator Imee Marcos, according to the headlines, denies that she’s gunning for City Hall in the 2025 elections. Manila’s “crowded,” besides which she still has a third term to go as senator. But the Chinese Filipinos who were naturalized by the simple expedient of two...
