This entry consists of two parts. The first part is my column today in Manila Standard Today; the second is the full text of an e-mail forwarded by my brother-in-law, Buddy.
First, the column.
Conversation with the househelp
WOW Philippines describes the province of Zamboanga Sibugay as “blessed with an impressive range of excellent tourist destinations—interesting mountain formations, [...]
Continue reading 'It’s matter of attitude' →
So, she writes in her column:
The difference between a journalist and a blogger is that journalists have to adhere to certain guidelines that govern the freedom of speech. And whatever a journalist chooses to write about—be it popular or unpopular—we do not hide behind an anonymous name and are resigned to the fact that we [...]
Continue reading 'Malu Fernandez, again' →
A 17-year-old mass com student bungled her Q&A then went on to win the Bb. Pilipinas World title. See the video of Janina San Miguel’s question and answer interview here and Ruffa’s reaction here. Ruffa was a runner-up in the Miss World pageant a generation ago. Her title was “second princess”, a glamorized synonym for [...]
Continue reading 'Ruffa Gutierrez is wrong about beauty pageants' →
In the comment thread of the obesity entry, Ben and I had a little discussion about how easy it is to subsist in a country where just about anything grows. The climate is kind to plants, no winters when almost nothing grows on the soil, and all it really takes is a small patch of [...]
Continue reading 'A vegetable garden' →
Although the exact cause could not be pinpointed, a new research says many children from low-income families are overweight. The first thing that crossed my mind was that I have never seen an obese child from a poor family in the Philippines. Fat babies, yes. But overweight children above the age of 7, I don’t [...]
Continue reading 'Obesity will not be a problem for poor Filipino kids' →
The following article appears on today’s opinion page of Manila Standard Today.
We were on our way home on Sunday evening. In a quiet section of Antipolo about 10 minutes from our house, there was a man walking in the middle of the street. My husband honked his horn but the man barely moved toward the [...]
Continue reading 'The pedestrian’s right of way' →
I have two pairs of eyeglasses — one for medium distance (computer) and another for long distance (driving). I don’t need one for reading, go figure. Over the Christmas break, the screw that connects the left temple to the rim of my computer glasses got loose and fell off. I didn’t even notice until the [...]
Continue reading 'The effect of the rising cost of fuel on my not so perfect vision' →
On the evening of June 12, 1998, we were crossing a flyover in Edsa. I can’t remember anymore which one but I do remember that we stopped, and so did other drivers, cops included. Somewhere in Manila, some government committee in charge of the centennial celebrations had started lighting up fireworks. Who could resist the [...]
Continue reading 'I love fireworks; I loathe firecrackers' →
A third of what’s been written about me is true, a third is half-true and the rest consists of drug-induced hallucinations. I suppose I’d better let me, rather than them, tell you about me, this blog and a few irrelevant things as well.
