(Sometimes it is better to be straightforward about your feelings. Sometimes it proves best to have kept your mouth shut and trapped that heartbeat in. A poem I made some 4 years ago.) The view conspires. Cool breeze wraps the night; Table-setting suppresses formality; Waves whisper comfort; Lamps dim monotony; Candle dazzles disruptions. I could…
Your heart beats faster. Your hands shake. You feel cold and start to sweat bullets. Your eyes squint as you keep balance. “Am I getting a heart attack?” This is a normal occurrence for an abnormality known as “panic disorder”. Not many know its name but a good number have experienced it. Some have overcome…
Nakiuso. In English: riding on the “in” thing. So was the general comment when many on Facebook changed their profile photos to the colors of the French flag. There was that skepticism on whether people really understood what the switch in profile photos was for. Was it a matter of fad? Or did it carry…
(Column in Times Focus published 19 November 2015.) Before imaginations go wandering off, I am not writing about procreation or contraceptives. This is about the value of that essential component of a relationship: trust. But let me narrow it down to the context of taxis. Whenever we ride a taxi, the ideal is we comfortably take the back…
(Invited to be a columnist for “Times Focus”. My first entry released today.) For a column head, SUGARFREE appears quite tasteless. It’s devoid of imagination, a plain twist to something mundane. Harmless, you may say. Quite the contrary, in a gastronomic sense, something that is sugar-free is heaven-sent. It can be among the world’s top…
This hotel stands like a queen among creatively restored old buildings that speak much of Singapore’s great multicultural tradition. Its building springs up from the back part of Arab Street where Little India is located, giving a glimpse into the subdued sophistication of service that this hotel offers. Village Hotel Bugis falls right smack in…
Let me start off by admitting that I did have my doubts about Myanmar, particularly Yangon. I thought it was a place of utter disrepair and poverty. I was wrong. It’s a charming place with a wealth of potential. And it is quite developed with wide roads, new buildings, big houses, and patches of development in…
I stayed here for 7 days in October 2014 for the WB-IMF Annual Meetings at the World Bank Headquarters. The exterior and the lobby of this hotel appear quite unassuming. You are given a feel that it is more a business hotel where people would hardly stay long in the lobby for they would be…
First, there was the MIASCOR lounge at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) TerminaL 1. Then came the Sky View Lounge, operated also by MIASCOR, at NAIA Terminal 3 for international departures. What’s in common? Free lounge access for all Citibank Platinum and PremierMiles card holders. Not bad. Consider it your ROI on those scratches…
Before we go calling for another boycott or persona non grata declaration on the Malaysian chef that pulled the rag from under us on the CNN online poll of world’s best dishes, let’s find Master Shifu’s inner peace in figures pointing to Asia’s “most connected” countries. (Read: Report: Malaysian chef says PH cuisine ‘worst in…
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