[COLUMN] Remember the wonder
YEAR after year without fail at around this time, December days and nights seem to slip from our grasp like fine grains of sand. The hours seem to hurtle through…
Category: Life & Style
Covering the week’s most noteworthy life & style news stories impacting the Filipino-American and Global Filipino community.
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Simbang Gabi: A revered Filipino Christmas tradition
Contributed by Manny V. Ilagan SIMBANG Gabi, which literally means “evening or night Mass,” is a Filipino Christmas tradition. As a devotional practice in the tradition of the novena, it…
[COLUMN] Greetings!
WE’RE in the fourth week of Advent, and it will be Christmas next week! Are you prepared? Prepared to welcome the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus? As…
Daniel Corpuz finds the sweet scent of success after ‘School of Chocolate’
LIKE many others in the food and hospitality industry, Filipino American Daniel Joseph Corpuz lost his job as the global pandemic began to wreak havoc last year. “Inisip ko kung…
[COLUMN] Miss India Harnaaz Sandhu is new Miss Universe
MISS India Harnaaz Sandhu, a Bollywood actress and model, was crowned as the 70th Miss Universe Pageant winner in rites held in Eilat, Israel on Sunday, December 12. She becomes…
California reinforces indoor mask mandate amid COVID surge
STARTING Wednesday, Dec. 15, California will require face masks and coverings while indoors following a sharp spike in coronavirus cases since Thanksgiving. While individual counties — like Los Angeles and…
How LA, calling the shots on school vaccine mandates, can lead the way on COVID rules
ON March 31, 1977, as a measles epidemic swept through Los Angeles, the county health department issued an ultimatum to the parents of the county’s 1.6 million schoolchildren: Get your…
[COLUMN] A Christmas story: The Innkeeper’s untold tale
JOSHUA was excited with his new job at the inn. It sure beats having to herd sheep this time of the year when the cold nights chilled his bones on…
Experience a true Filipino Christmas: Celebrating the festive spirit of home with the joyful mini parols
In the Philippines, Christmas is always a reason for vibrant celebrations. This serves as the time of the year when people often come together to catch up and enjoy the…
[COLUMN] How we can be joyful
JOY! It’s the theme for this Third Sunday’s Advent Liturgy. As a matter of fact, the third Advent candle symbolizes hope. And so, this Sunday’s Scriptures speak loudly about it….
[COLUMN] Cruelty to our planet
IT does not take an Einstein to understand that clean air, pure water, and unpolluted environment are conducive to health and longevity. In certain parts of the world, like in…
Should travelers cancel holiday flight plans? US tightens travel measures amid omicron
THE coronavirus omicron variant couldn’t have come at a worse time for travelers planning to hop on planes for the holiday season. The highly contagious COVID-19 variant has made its…
US tightens travel restrictions over omicron variant
THE United States is going to require all air travellers entering the country to show a negative COVID-19 test performed within one day of departure in an attempt to slow…
[COLUMN] The second candle of the Advent wreath: The light of faith
WE are now journeying into the Second Sunday of Advent. Last week, we lit the first candle that symbolizes hope—hope for the world and the Church in these challenging times!…
‘It’s about time’: Filipino spot Tambayan opens in 128-year-old Reading Terminal Market
Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Market is one of America’s largest and oldest public markets. It began operation in a National Historic Landmark building back in 1893 and has become one of…
US plans to tighten travel restrictions over Omicron; NYC advises residents to mask up
THE United States is going to require all air travelers entering the country to show a negative COVID-19 test performed within one day of departure in an attempt to slow…
[COLUMN] Edu confirms relationship with Cherry Pie
ACTOR, TV host and politician Edu Manzano confirmed that he is in a relationship with actress Cherry Pie PIcache. Prior to the admission, there was a lot of speculation from…
‘It is OK to ask for help. It is not a weakness’: Addressing the holiday blues and persevering the second Christmas in the age of COVID
LAST year, Charlene Fernandez had a Christmas she would rather just forget. A fourth-year animal science student at Cal Poly Pomona, Fernandez, 23, spent Christmas Day alone in her dimly-lit…
PH suspends testing, quarantine protocols for travelers from certain countries
THE Philippines has temporarily suspended its lenient testing and quarantine protocols for countries or territories classified as “green” starting on November 29, according to Malacañang. Acting Presidential Spokesperson and Cabinet…
[COLUMN] Whatever happened to happily ever after?
(Excerpted from the conclusion of a 3-part article) … There is news of suicide that hits you harder because you personally know the person who took his own life. By…
PH to allow entry of fully vaxxed foreigners from certain countries starting December 1
FULLY-VACCINATED travelers who don’t need a visa to enter the Philippines can now enter the country starting December 1, according to Malacañang. Acting Presidential Spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles…
Beating holiday blues in COVID era
By Mark Hedin / Ethnic Media Services LA County offers mental health aid, urges trying it We all want to be at our best with family and friends over the…
[COLUMN] Reflecting on a grateful heart
Nick Ortner of The Tapping Solution writes this story: “A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign…
Angela Dimayuga on ‘Filipinx’ and her mission to help drive Filipino cuisine forward
Chef Angela Dimayuga wanted to explore Filipino food seriously as a professional cook but when she was just starting, she was told that that Euro-centric cuisine was the way to…
CDC approves COVID-19 boosters for all adults
ALL fully-vaccinated adults in the United States are now eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccine boosters, giving them more protection amid the pandemic. Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control…
[COLUMN] Great medical news
A cardiologist friend of mine in Indiana, who had referred countless patients for open-heart surgery to me in the 80s and 90s, had a freak accident at home that broke…
[COLUMN] Internationally known boxing champ Manny Pacquiao heads list of famous December birthday celebrants
FOR the merry month of December, internationally known boxing champ, Philippine senator and presidential aspirant Manny Pacquiao heads the list of prominent celebrities who will be celebrating their birthdays this…
[COLUMN] Two magical words
Part 2 of 2 (Continued from last week’s issue…) Let’s do a reality check. So okay, your partner is the consummate slob and you have to pick up after him….
COVID-19 vaccine-or-test requirements increase work and costs for governments
Amanda Kostroski, a 911 dispatcher in Madison, Wisconsin, leaves her busy job once a week to go to a county health clinic to be tested for COVID-19. She’s been making…
Why you can’t find cheap at-home COVID-19 tests
WHILE developing a rapid test that detects the coronavirus in someone’s saliva, Blink Science, a Florida-based startup, heard something startling: The Food and Drug Administration had more than 3,000 emergency…