The Fine Points of Aging

The Fine Points of Aging

Yes, there’s a silver lining beneath your silver hair.

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Yes, Boracay

Yes, Boracay

I consider myself very lucky to have seen Boracay at its pristine state. In 1984, I was with friends seeking relaxation from a frenzied weekend in Kalibo for Ati-atihan, when we decided to drive over to the coast of Aklan (which I know now as Caticlan) and take a motorized banca to an island that shimmered like an emerald in the sun.

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Waking Up in the Philippines

Waking Up in the Philippines

How easy it is for one’s mind to revert back to how it was when the world was still unknowable and magical. How strange to still be bothered by childhood fears.

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The Joy of Delicadeza

The Joy of Delicadeza

The book is 7 x 5 inches small and a mere 133 pages, perfect for carrying in your purse for when you need to wiggle out of an awkward social encounter, or for slipping surreptitiously into another’s bag when that person needs an etiquette reminder.

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No Turkey for Thanksgiving

No Turkey for Thanksgiving

Give me a good book, tinolang manok and pancit anytime, with leche flan and turon on top, and I’m a happy camper.

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That Awful Four-Letter Word

That Awful Four-Letter Word

Hatred, after all, begets hatred and its weapon of destruction could easily turn in our direction. We, as people of faith, are better and bigger than that. 

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Paternal Instincts

Paternal Instincts

We loved and fought with equal ferocity, each of us unsure of how we should play our roles yet conscious of the need to assume multiple ones to keep the family ship on an even keel.

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Par for the Coarse

Par for the Coarse

What no one prepared them for was that they were entering Filipino macho-land where the rules of conversation and social engagement are different.

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