I love coffee. The stronger it tastes and the aromatic it smells, the better for me. That’s why I always enjoy a trip to coffee shops and coffee-tasting or cupping activities. The Sunday coffee date with select friends from the media and blogging community was one memorable experience if only because we would be tasting coffee in Antipolo. Horray! Tayo na sa Antipolo… known for its manga, suman and kasuy. If you have not been to Antipolo for the last 10 years, like my husband and I do, you will marvel how this area in Rizal have grown by leaps and bounds. There are now more malls around and various business establishments. But the best thing is the road-widening that took place in Sumulong Highway. Coffee buddies and business paertners, from left: Dan Tarraya, Francis Guanco, Joshua Tarrya and Jojit Restauro Because it was a Sunday and our host, PR practitioner Ginny Guanco, provided van service for us, the travel from Cubao was a jiffy. In no time at all, we were ush...

Cute, little bugs bunny! Buck teeth may look cute on young kids. But as they grow older and into the teenage years when their teeth become crowded and misaligned, the once cute Bugs Bunnies automatically become eyesores – and a case of concern among parents.  More so, when they develop facial abnormalities and bad oral habits.   Angeline’s upper teeth started flaring up due to overcrowding. Then her misaligned lower gum due to overstaying baby teeth had caused bad shape to her seemingly undeveloped chin. When we had the courage to have the (2) baby teeth extracted, she already had a lopsided face (or tabingi ang mukha in the vernacular). Worst, her lower gum has resembled the V shape. When Dr. Gamaliel Urbi saw her for the first time at his Green Dental Apple Clinic in Trinoma Mall, Quezon City, he readily offered to have her teeth corrected “on charity” as part of his personal advocacy of helping kids attain their full potential – by ‘giving’ them the bes...

Folk dances reflect the traditional life of the people. All over the world, folk dances are showcased and used as a form of cultural exchange among nations. Folk dancing is usually associated with social activities. That’s why no fiesta or festivity in the Philippines is complete without folk dancing.   Yearly, the Bayanihan Folk Arts Foundation hosts the Fiesta Folkloriada, an international festival of folk dance held in December at the at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). Under the auspices of FIDAF (Federation of International Dance Festivals), The Fiesta Folkloriada of the Philippines, a project of the Bayanihan Folk Arts Foundation in partnership with the Ambassador Alfonso T.  Yuchengco Foundation, gathers a select group of five dance companies from the different parts of the globe to conduct cultural exchanges in various parts of the Philippines, teach and learn from each other and perform in a grand finale with the Bayanihan, the...

Do you know that it’s a French woman who has spawned the act for the protection and rehabilitation of sexually abused girls in the Philippines? Cameleon Association Inc. Founder Laurence Ligier has been living in the country for 24 years and tirelessly ‘adopt’ these girls until such time they are equipped and ready to face the world. Laurence Ligier (seated, leftmost) with Zonta members during the media launch of  No to VAW Campaign  on November 15 at the Diamond Hotel. The gastronomic campaign was held in partnership with several food establishments in the country. “One child is raped every 53 minutes. We have more cases reported now because people are voicing out,” Ligier, who first came to the Philippines for a humanitarian mission in Aklan in 1992, said.  Ligier did another one month mission in 1993 and two years after, she was invited to join the educational program for disadvantaged children in Barrio Obrero, Iloilo, and spent half a year as ...

Healthy, active lifestyle is in.  Goodbye couch potatos and hello to busy, always on-the-go generation!  Herbalife Nutrition, a global nutrition company, has recently released the findings from its Asia Pacific Millennials At Work Survey:  Filipino millennials are adapting a healthy, active lifestyle. The s urvey was conducted in 2016, with 5,500 respondents aged 18 and above, from Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. However, most of these young people believe that their current workplace environment prevents them from doing so. Millennials, or people born in between 1980 and 2000, are opting for a workplace that will encourage them to stay active, if only this will be embedded in every company culture.  According to the survey, about 83 percent or eight (8) in 10 millennials have agreed that they would like their company workplace to adopt a healthy, active lifes...

JC Enriquez (center) with his family, (from left to right) Jovan Enriquez (brother), Crisaldo Enriquez (father), Mareng Vicente (grandmother), Josephine Pronebo (aunt) There are more than two million Filipinos working abroad for various reasons: lack of jobs in the homefront, mismatch and in pursue of bigger pay and greater opportunities in foreign land. The children of these OFWs had gotten used to having absentee parents who miss out milestones and special occasions -- from intimate moments like a baby’s first steps, first words, or first day in school to important events like birthdays and graduations. The separation is painful for both children and parents, but it’s worth the sacrifice as the parents look ahead to the promise of a secure future. John Czarleen “JC” Enriquez knows of these aches and pains twice over. He was in Grade 1 when his father and mother left the country to work abroad as electrical engineer and as domestic worker...