adventures in neverland

(a beautiful rainbow appeared in tacloban days after yolanda hammered the coastal city (and parts of the visayas), flattened houses and buildings, claimed lives and ravaged the once bustling capital of leyte.) of course we all love our lessons. don't we? since we were kids, we were taught to learn from anything -- fairy tales, a bad injury after crashing our bicycles, an accident that included falling off a tree, leaving our coloring pencils at home, doing poorly in an oral or written exams because we opted to watch teevee instead of studying our lessons. nobody can underestimate the value of lessons. we live, we learn. if we don't learn anything from anything, then we are better off dead. nobody wants to live as a zombie. &&&&&&&&& more than a week after the strongest typhoon to ever hit the earth crashed all our dreams, mahatma gandah hopes for our sakes that we learned something valuable from that nightmare. countless lives ...

we were outside of the then sparklingly new robinson's shopping mall waiting for a taxi, when out of the blue (maybe i was concerned that we ran out of things to talk about; or i am just like everyone else, uncomfortable of the long silences between conversations), i asked my sister why she loves living in this coastal city of tacloban, where she spent more than half of her life. she studied and graduated at the university of the philippines - visayas. when she got married, she and her husband decided to live there to raise a family. in contrast, i have always been a big city person. i love getting lost and dizzy in the labyrinthian but chaotic streets of a metropolis, as well as in maze-like giant shopping malls, in unfamiliar places inhabited by people speaking in strange tongues, in walking or traveling on well-groomed and seemingly endless roads, and in being dazzled by city creatures in their fineries with some looking straight out of a fashion magazine no matter what th...

the soft buzzing of my antique sony ericsson mobile phone woke me up. instinctively, with eyes still closed and my brain and whole body still asleep, i reached out for it at the top of the tiny table beside the bed. barely opening my eyes, i clicked on the small icon (a photo of a closed envelope) to open the message, still wondering what time it was. "don't worry about us. we are fine." it was my younger sister. last night, i sent her a message telling her to leave their bungalow house and stay in a hotel for a night or two just to be safe from the floods that could be triggered by the strongest typhoon to ever hit the earth. sadly, my hometown and parts of the visayas region will be directly hit by the raging storm. i said, never mind the appliances, furniture, what is important is you and your family are safe. those things can be replaced. &&&&&&&&& a few hours later, i was at the hotel's restaurant, famous for its tasty ...

NEVER underestimate the power of pop culture as an effective marketing tool to bolster tourism in a country. Take the case of South Korea. The government is now betting on the international fame of Psy, who rocked the world with his “Gangnam Style” last year, and television soaps like Winter Sonata to lure tourists. “The Korean wave of popular Korean dramas and, of course, Psy are among the factors that keep tourists coming into the country,” said Hwang Seong-un, director of the Korean Cultural Center in Manila, in an interview at the sidelines of the launching of the Korea Winter Travel Fair recently. Of course by now, we all know who Psy is and how to dance and dress up in the none-too-subtle “Gangnam Style” fashion—unless you have been living in another planet. Pop superstars all over the world including Madonna have gone crazy over Psy, now among the country’s top exports, and one of the most recognizable South Korean brands along with Samsung and Hyundai. Who can for...

(a panoramic view of the city from the victoria peak on a bright and sunny summer day.) the former british colony is full of contradictions. sleek, modern, high-tech steel and glass skyscrapers compete for limited space with old buildings that don't even have a lift, buddhist temples where the faithful prays and offers fruits, parks where tired yayas bring their wards to play while they get busy texting, a barbershop, and even wet markets. where high-end shopping malls such as the landmark and ifc co-exist harmoniously with street vendors selling the cheap knockoffs of signature items (lv, gucci, coach) such as wallets, bags, suitcases (and even pirated movies on dvds) from china or anywhere else. it is a city where the rich and the poor congregate. where the richest man can afford to buy the most expensive art in the world, while an old woman can be seen looking at trash bins for something that she can sell afterwards. it boasts of the most expensive and chic restaurants a...

the last several nerve-wracking months, i have been watching a few really good coming of age taiwanese films. i am so drawn to this genre because it reminds me of my own follies. when the most trivial things would put me on the edge, would mean a life and death situation. or maybe that's just me, the  drama queen  even before lindsay lohan coined the words. chos! %%%%%%%%%% anyway, for cineastes out there who are looking for a little diversity, i highly recommend these films. they are well written, well acted and the young actors are really gorgeous. they are all about first love, first crush or first infatuation, among other problems of the fabulous young. blue gate crossing . quiet, charming, elegant. soulful. i love! the brilliant young actress -- gwei lun-mei -- who played the main character with such gravitas and a heartbreaking perfection is now a big star not just in taiwan but in hong kong and china as well. winds of september . ...

the rain was relentless             like a virgin longing eager for his first kiss                                                    under the green lush tree                                                                    one stormy summer day.. where the shades of blue shatter   crumble like a memory that's not true if the rain should fade              and we don't have to brave                                        the angry winds             ...