Where one’s Christian faith rests on
THEY were five strong Catholic women who shared with me their faith via conference. They prayed the Rosary fervently and revealed the boldness, tenacity, and joy of their faith. One…
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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Glorious moments of grandmothering
“If you want to civilize a man, begin with his grandmother.” -Victor Hugo SO, one moment you’re just a mother, and before you can blink and think you can relax…
Scary MIS-C in kids
IN our column last week, we briefly mentioned a new hyperinflammatory toxic shock syndrome discovered among children after getting COVID-19 infection, first reported in the United Kingdom on April 26,…
Fil-Am books to read during summer 2020
NOW entering two months into stay-at-home orders, individuals across the country have found ways to fill their “free time,” whether through baking, sewing masks, or completing puzzles. Another method has…
Tourists, beware: Foreign visitors’ travel health pandemics
by Carmen Heredia Rodriguez IT was evident that the fever, nausea and loss of appetite Vlastimil Gajdoš felt on his wedding day was not a mere case of cold feet….
PAL schedules 2 flights to LA, SF for stranded US citizens
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines recently announced that it will be assisting stranded American citizens in the country by mounting two separate flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco this week….
Prayer and spirituality as ‘essential’
ONE of the American spiritual writers in the 20th century who contributed to the depth of spirituality of many Christians was a monk named Thomas Merton. In his book, “A…
In loving memory of my beloved brother, Ruttie Lu
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that counts, it is the life in your years.” RUTTIE was the youngest among our family of 10 siblings. He…
The sterling world of nurses
YOU see them with a grateful heart as they walk on hands, and do somersaults with a patient’s extreme despair, suffering life-altering trauma, joys, rage and despair. Ordinary people have…
Where are we now?
After 60 days of lockdown, where are we now? For sure, we are nowhere near being set free. And it seems we have wasted two months because we had a…
COVID-19 update
MORE than 90,000 The total global cases of COVID-19 in 212 countries (Antarctica zero case) is about 4,300,000, and almost 300,000 deaths. The healthcare front liners infected with COVID-19 worldwide…
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital named as official charity partner for CAAMFest Online
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® is celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) as the official charity partner for…
Showbiz circles mourn passing of Gallaga, Parsons
THE movie and music industries in the Philippines are saddened deeply with the loss of scriptwriter/director Peque Gallaga and singer/actor/councilor Sonny Parsons as both passed away within days of each…
NAIA reopens to some international flights on assigned days this week
INTERNATIONAL arrivals into Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport resumed on Monday, May 11 following new guidelines. The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) released a Notice to Airmen over…
Asian Americans #MakeNoiseToday through social movement
#MakeNoiseToday launches a social movement encouraging Asians to stand up, stand out, and speak up. The COVID-19 crisis has propagated a surge in racism and attacks toward Asian Americans and…
Dr. Carmencita Abarquez Agcaoili’s fundamental laws of her giving, compassion and generosity for others
“My wife is a woman of grace, a woman of character, a woman of strength. She is very generous in spirit and her capacity to tolerate, to accommodate, to forgive…
Testing leadership
MY friends, this coronavirus pandemic has challenged and tested not only our faith, health, and our nation’s strength but one’s leadership. When I talk about leadership, I don’t just mean…
I remember mama
ON this big production called Mother’s Day, a whole nation of sons and daughters paused to remember their mothers. My first knowledge of the world about life came to me…
Kapamilya, Kapuso stars express support for ABS-CBN after shutdown
CELEBRITIES from ABS-CBN Channel 2 (known as Kapamilya network) and its rival, GMA-7 (known as Kapuso network), expressed their support for the former as it shut down its broadcast after…
Marijuana and COVID-19
THE target organs of the SARS-CoV2 virus (COVID-19), which eventually kills patients, are the lungs. While this deadly viral infection also affects other organs in the body like the heart,…
Post COVID travel
WITH our children based abroad, we always look forward to the annual trip to the U.S. for the Christmas holidays. But this year, we plan to stay home. For one…
This National Nurses Week, remember the Filipino and Fil-Am nurses providing care and risking their lives daily
by Momar G. Visaya and Christina M. Oriel In honor of the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale, the World Health Organization declared 2020 as the “International Year of the Nurse…
On God’s silence
I’M praying that you continue to be strong in faith amid this pandemic. Like you, I often ask God to make his will and presence known, to put an end…
My life, writing in pandemic times
As one famous author said: “The ability to spin cocoons of language out of nothing.” It redefines news, the way it is reported, published and read. I MEASURE my life…
Debunking COVID-19 myths
WITH novelty comes misinterpretation, misinformation, and myths rapidly disseminated via social media around the globe. This is what is happening with the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV2 virus, the cause of the…
The Fork Initiative & Feed Our Warriors: Fil-Am groups in New York unite to feed the front-liners
For the past few weeks, we have seen small Filipino businesses and organizations come up with projects to send food and drinks to front-liners and first responders. Kabisera in the…
One and only Philippine cinema Superstar Nora Aunor turns 67 on May 21
SUPERSTAR Nora Aunor, who now resides in the Philippines, will celebrate her 67th birthday on Thursday, May 21. La Aunor, internationally known as the one and only Superstar of the…
The power of kindness
“Kind people are the best kind of people.” WHAT does it cost to be kind to others? We often think that being kind costs us something — whether it is…
Historic Filipina-owned Bay Area restaurant reopens for business
LOCATED along Bayshore Boulevard in Brisbane, California is a restaurant with a 162-year history that includes surviving the 1906 earthquake, the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak and the Great Depression in…
Despite the pandemic, Fil-Am chef Ria Barbosa’s Petite Peso opens for service in downtown LA
WITH the city of Los Angeles’ stay-at-home order that took effect nearly two months ago, restaurants have been limited to take-out and delivery, or faced the decision to close. Opening…