Known for her Cocoon furniture series, Pamintuan’s technique of transforming rigid wrought iron into light and flowing woven creations has made her a familiar name in local and international furniture shows. In her Greenbelt ArtPark exhibit, she features 13 life-size sculptures of majestic horses posed in mid-gallop with their steel manes seemingly riding in the wind, creating the illusion of movement and softness.

Continue reading here.

I had the great pleasure of meeting Davao-based metal artist Ann Pamintuan last month for the launch of her public art exhibit at Greenbelt 5 in Makati. Starting out with your usual arts and crafts, she moved on to flower arranging, jewelry-making, and that’s just a step away from metal work. This, however, isn’t her first public art display. It’s not in the Rappler story above, but she mentioned having a giant metal sculpture in front of the Abreeza Mall in Davao.  She’s more known for her iconic cocoon chair, but when you look at her metal pieces, her signature way of welding that creates a weaved net look is distinct.  In the middle of the interview, she handed me one of the many steel rings she had on–which I had half a mind to pocket. But then I realized I don’t wear rings. But the best part was taking home a little Ann Pamintuan piece of my own.

Ann Pamintuan: www.annpamintuan.com

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From Manila Bulletin: As the midday sun stretches over the pristine beach of Anvaya Cove in Bataan, across the distant horizon of the South China Sea, the otherwise calm and tranquil cobalt surface is momentarily interrupted by vibrant flashes of color slicing though the water, weaving in between the tiny islands of the west coast and the giant shipping vessels that ply the waters on their way to the Subic Port. For the participants of the 13^th Philippine Hobie Challenge, a week-long regatta featuring sailors from around the world traveling along the Philippines’ western coast, the shore is the finish line.

Continue reading here.

By the time we arrived in Anvaya Cove, the race was wrapping up and the participants were getting ready for the awarding ceremonies later that evening. The next morning, I had a personal sailing lesson with one of the best Hobie sailors in the world, 68-year-old Australian, Bruce Tardrew. Now all I need is half a million Pesos to buy my own Hobie.

“Sailing is the most fun you can have with your clothes on,” says Roman Azanza, president of the Philippine Inter-Island National Sailing Foundation or PHINSAF. Read my Sailing 101 story on Rappler.com here.

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Approximately two and a half hours away from Manila is Anvaya Cove, Ayala Land Premier’s premium residential leisure development located in Bataan. If you’ve been to Subic, it’s half an hour more towards the South China Sea. With an invitation to witness the end of the 13th Philippine Hobie Challenge–a 250 nautical-mile (500 km) race held from Zambales to the Cove over the course of 7 days and with 16 pairs or participants from different countries riding  hobie cats, the prospect of  a beach was enough to drag me out of my bed at five in the morning to make it just in time for lunch.

It’s a 500-hectare exclusive leisure development with a protected pristine beach, a pavilion with holds the pool, spa, and a restaurant, casitas you can rent, low-rise condo developments you can buy, and opening later this year, a premier 18-hole, par-72 championship quality, and sustainably-developed golf course.  Luxe, the place definitely is.  Electric-powered carts transport guests and residents around the resort, manicured lawns and towering palm trees create a resort feel, and natural elements like wood, foliage, and rocks lets you know how close you really are to nature.

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Jutting out from the north east coast of Mactan Island in Cebu is the Ibiza Beach Club. With its crisp white Ferrari sails crisscrossing over a rosewood deck with white outdoor furniture, a white-tiled Jacuzzi in the center, a glass-enclosed tapas restaurant nearby, and a DJ booth spinning house tracks all night long, this is the star of Cebu’s newest and, arguably, most ambitious hotel yet: Mövenpick Hotel Mactan Island Cebu.

Early this year I had opportunity to interview Cebuano entrepreneur, Manny Osmena for Entrepreneur’s Philippines’ March issue–out now. Literally the name behind the eponymous Manny O Wines, he’s also involved in the airline industry with his catering company that serves Cathay Pacific and Philippine Airlines, among others; as well as the hotel industry with the all new P500 million Movenpick Hotel in Mactan Island, Cebu.

Movenpick is a Swiss hotel management company more known for their ice cream and chocolates. But the Movenpick hotel chain, while not completely known in this part of the world, already has 80 hotels around the world, including 7 in Asia.

The open air all-white lobby, itself, is already something behold. In the center sits a circular bar and above it hang white Ferrari parasails that create a  modern fabric sculpture of crisp lines and soft shadows. Accents of turquoise and aqua give the otherwise austere and sterile lobby a much-needed burst of color. But the key feature of the hotel is the Ibiza Beach Club. A short walk beyond the beach on a wooden deck, leads you to an open-air space with low tables and chairs, a bar, 2 dining options, and performance space, and DJ’s booth, and the water just a few meters below you.

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The island off the shores of Manila known for its giant guns and war memorials has long been known in history classes as having played second fiddle to more prominent historical locations in Philippine history. It is, after all, just an island. But a new walking tour seeks to explore the beauty and cruelty, the mysteries and conspiracies of the island once known as “The Rock.”

Some 48 kilometers west of Manila is a stretch of land that, for centuries, has welcomed both friend and foe on their journey to the shores of Manila Bay. The island that was once a vibrant check point, a military reservation, a little piece of America on Philippine soil, and a massacre site, now sits silent with only the wind sweeping through its lush forests belying its past.

Read the whole story here. Photos by Leandro Ignacio.

At five in the morning on a Sunday, I peeled myself from my bed trying to make an 8am departure time at the CCP Bay Terminal in Manila. There are only a few things in the world that would make me want to wake up that early on a weekend: the promise of good food, a natural calamity, or an adventure. Fortunately, this one fell in the latter category.

I’ve never been to Corregidor, I don’t remember anything from my history classes about Corregidor, and–up until this trip–I had no idea where Corregidor was. I blame my history classes inundating us with mindless dates and names. But with Ivan Man Dy, the founder and lead guide of Old Manila Walks, an educational tour company that gives cultural and historical-themed tours in and around Manila, the experience proved to be very enlightening, and not mind-numbing at all. Different from the usual tram tour already being offered on the island, Old Manila Walks’  tour of Corregidor lets participants off the tram and walk through the infamous ruins of the former American military base and trudge through the original roads now in the middle of lush vegetation.

Ivan Man Dy has long been known for his tours in the Manila district. His Big Binondo Food Wok remains to be his most celebrated one. “It’s a cultural-culinary-historical ‘wok’ around Binondo, Manila’s historic Chinatown,” he says when we first met for a story I was writing for Entrepreneur Magazine, “The whole experience revolves around tasting different specialty treats around Chinatown at the same time learning about the stories and heritage of the food as they relate to the history of Binondo. I call it a guiltless food binge and history lesson by way of your stomach.” Then there’s his tour of the walled city of Intramurous, the Chinese Cemetery, and the San Miguel-Malacanang Palace Walk where participants dine at a colonial mansion and eat heirloom recipes. But it’s his Corregidor Tour that finally takes him out of Manila.

And while the haunting ruins of Corregidor are what most people know about the island, the stories behind them are even more riveting. In it’s prime, the island had every luxury the American troops wanted. But when World War II began, it became the target for the Japanese planning to invade Manila. “Essentially, we think of this island as one bastion of the war,” says Ivan.  ”But as you’ll discover while walking around the island, Corregidor was, at one point, a paradise island, as well. There are many ironies on this island; what you see may not be what you think it is.”

“Of Bombs, Big Guns and Lost Gold: WWII Tales Declassified” is a collaboration between Corregidor’s main logistical and tour provider, Sun Cruises and Old Manila Walks. The fee of P1750 per head is inclusive of the guided tour, ferry transfers and entrance fee. It starts in February 2013 with initial runs every weekend on Sundays. E-mail fun@oldmanilawalks.com for details, or visit www.oldmanilawalks.com.

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“MANILA, Philippines – “That should be me,” says Karylle, pointing to Ballet Philippines’ principal dancer Katherine Trofeo who will play Sita in the 4th revival of the hit pop ballet musical “Rama Hari” to be shown in November at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

“I feel bad because Katherine used to be my classmate in Ballet Repertory. I stopped dancing ballet when I was in high school and my heart has always been broken about it because I would quite literally have dreams about dancing ballet, and in my dreams I was really good — not as good as I was in real life, but it has always been something that I do when I see a big stage.”

Read the whole story here.

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I never had the pleasure of meeting or learning from Doreen Fernandez, perhaps the foremost expert on food writing in the country. I was still in gradeschool when she passed away. And my only encounter with her was of the third degree in the form of a big portrait of her hanging in one of the conference rooms in the old Communication Department of the Ateneo during one thesis consultation. I’ve never read a more depressing description of a burger.

“One of the most pedestrian meals we have ever had on a flight was in the first class section of Philippine Air Lines, some days ago. Would you believe hamburger? And not a juicy, luscious, tender kind of hamburger, which would have been a perfectly acceptable snack on a 1 1/2-hour flight, but a rather hard, uptight one with no juice, topped with a stolid triangle of cheese that didn’t even have the grace to melt.”

“The Filipino celebrates with food, welcomes with food, expresses thoughtfulness and concern with food, is nostalgic about food, and when abroad just about relates his homesickness for his native land to his homesickness for native food.

“Surely our one international airline could reflect this appreciation and interest?”

Click the image to zoom in.

Photo from Doreen Fernandez’s Facebook page.

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While this newest collection still holds that color-blocked preppy vibe  the brand has used the past few years, together with new creative directors Noel Crisostomo and Stef Valdez, the collection also includes an interesting foray into digital prints.

A preview of things to come.

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Advertising, meanwhile, has begun to catch up with my expectations of this century. With local glossies coming out with their own augmented reality covers and features (in cooperation with tablets), electronic billboards showing moving models, and social media bringing advertising into the home and every aspect of our daily life, some efforts to get us to contribute to the national GDP  have become more interesting than ever.

While not in the Philippines, this one certainly makes me hope for more kick-ass things to come. They call it interactive which, if you really want to be technical about it, really isn’t since all you have to do to “activate” the ad is to click the play button on your tablet while it sits behind the printed ad. But who cares when you can watch that car on your magazine zoom through a dark city horizon with fireworks and pumping music in the background. According to Mashable, “A Lexus 2013 ES changes colors, turns on its headlights and exposes its interior as throbbing music plays in this highly interactive print ad in the Oct. 15 Sports Illustrated.” Too bad you can’t tear it out.

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I spent a good week of my life nearly a month ago watching the complete first season of Homeland which stars Claire Danes as a bi-polar, neurotic, and tenacious CIA agent obsessed about an Iraqi prisoner-of-war returned home played by Damian Lewis–who, I just found out, is actually British–who Danes suspects has been “turned” into a mole by his former captors in an elaborate plan to conduct an act of terrorism in America. My run-on sentences aside, the series is a suspense thriller stretched out over a period of twelve episodes. And what a great twelve episodes those were.

And while Danes and Lewis completely deserve their Best Actress and Actor in a Drama Emmy, I still maintain that Danes has the ugliest crying face I have ever seen on screen. I could not look at her as Cosette in Les Miserables, and now, in Homeland when her superiors start ripping away her entire fangirl wall dedicated to Lewis’ character. She does this some kind of turtle face that, initially, doesn’t really make you commiserate with her despite the fact she’s supposedly crying. But the show’s so good, I can let that pass.

From Homeland (2011).

From Les Miserables (1998).

From My So-Called Life (1994).

The second season begins in the States on Sunday (Monday in the Philippines) which now gives me one more reason to like Mondays (first reason is Downton Abbey). Damian Lewis gives an interview with GQ for their November issue and talks about the complexity of his character, what to expect this new season, and his panty collection. After reading the whole interview, my initial reaction was, “WTF?! He’s British?!” So he’s a Brit playing an American, pretending to be a patriot, appearing to be Christian, but is actually a Muslim convert (is Anglican in real life), and an Al Qaeda mole?! He’s as complex as the Higgs Boson.

GQ: How do they, um, celebrate you?
Damian Lewis: They send me their panties. [Laughs] This is an old story now, but it’s very entertaining. About five or so years ago, the members decided to send me their panties for my birthday. This one woman coordinated it, and about forty women responded. I got sent this Victoria’s Secret’s box full of underwear from as far away as Australia. There were little tags attached to each one, with a name and age and hometown. So, for instance, an enormous pair of Granny pants, saying “Hi, grandmother of 17 from Minnesota.” And then a lacy g-string: “Hi! I’m 19. My name is Kimberly and I’m from Australia!” I had them strewn around my bedroom—I mean, how often does that happen? And after about 48 hours, I remember thinking, You are a sick bastard, you better clear these knickers up. So I throw them in the trash and put it outside for collection. I go out and come back later that night—at this point, I lived in Camden Town, on the same block as Amy Winehouse, and it’s an old, cobbled street, very Dickensian, and it had been raining, and the moon was hitting the cobblestones in a very picturesque way, and I turn onto my street, and I think, What is all that shit in the road? And I get closer to it and I realize it’s all the panties, all in a line, going around the corner, like Hansel and Gretel’s bread crumbs.

Read the full interview here. Spoilers ahead.

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