Tag: Michelle Anne P. Soliman

A SURPRISING turn of events as a midwife applies to work abroad, a student’s act of theft turns into viral video, a robot’s friendship and adventure with a young boy, are among the diverse stories that will be told in this year’s Cinemalaya films.

TO MAKE artist performances accessible to everyone at anytime, Filipino music cable channel Myx has launched a new YouTube channel called All Music Myx.

SARA and Callie are out late one evening at NYC’s West Village and share their first kiss. A bystander then viciously attacks them — Sara’s injuries are so bad that she falls into a coma.

SIX choral groups — one from the Philippines and five from Indonesia — will compete at the first Asia Choral Grand Prix hosted by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) on July 21.

IF DAVID BOWIE and Björk had a child, it would be Norwegian singer Aurora (full name: Aurora Aksnes). The singer’s unique evolving sound and track themes in her new album, A Different Kind of Human — Step 2, illustrate why.

HONG KONG has always been a popular vacation destination among Filipinos. Shopping districts, food hubs, the Victoria Harbour, and Disneyland are some of the destinations that come to mind.

IT WAS late one evening when a young woman, along with two friends, was walking through the Paseo de Roxas underpass in Makati on her way home after a long day at work. Mural artist A.G. Saño was painting at the steps of the underpass when she recognized him. She happened to have been a participant at his art and environmental engagement talks at a university in Camarines Sur, Bicol some years before. He then asked the woman and her friends if they were interested in helping him paint the mural. Mr. Saño said that “it is innate among our group to have strangers engage if they want to paint.

HAVING TAKEN a break after its third season in 2016, The Voice Kids returns with original coaches Sarah Geronimo, Bamboo Mañalac, and Lea Salonga.

PAINTINGS by National Artists Arturo Luz, Fernando Amorsolo, and Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera hang on the walls along the entrance hallway of Ivan Acuña’s apartment in Mandaluyong. In his living room, more of his painting collection is stacked on the floor. Across them are pieces of Chinese porcelain displayed above cabinets against the window. The collection of paintings and cityscape view from his apartment are where he draws inspiration for his own abstract paintings.

IT WAS a cloudy morning when the crowd began to gather at the Marikina Sports Center on Saturday, June 29. The line of attendees coming in stretched around the entire perimeter of the venue from the main gate. Unlike the weather, guests were dressed in eye-catching bright outfits -- the colors of the rainbow.

VIRGINA LLAMAS was a homemaker who prepared impeccable signature dishes. Her husband, Carlos P. Romulo, was appointed as the Philippines’ permanent delegate to the United Nations with the rank of Ambassador the day after Manuel Roxas was sworn as the first president of the Philippine Republic. In 1946, the family settled in Washington D.C. — their home for the next 14 years. It was at that time that Virgina introduced Filipino cuisine to American guests and foreign diplomats. Her recipes served as inspiration for Romulo Café’s home-cooked dishes.

IT TOOK around 10 minutes for the tram to get from the Manila Hotel to Intramuros via Bonifacio Drive. It was a warm morning on the country’s 121^st Independence Day celebration and media guests were on a cultural tour from the hotel to the Walled City. First stop (among six locations): Fort Santiago.

IN RECENT weeks, a photo of the bloodied faces of Melania Gaymonat and her girlfriend Chris went viral online. While on a bus ride in the early hours of May 30 in London, the women were attacked by a group of young men for refusing their demand to kiss each other. “They started beating me, I was bleeding all over — I was really bleeding,” Ms. Gaymonat told BBCWorldatOne. According to a report by The Guardian on June 8, a fifth arrest has been made in connection with the attack.

By Michelle Anne P. Soliman, Reporter THEATER REVIEW Beautiful: The Carole King Musical Presented by AtlantisTwenty June 14 to July 7 Meralco Theater, Pasig City THE ORCHESTRA began playing a...

WHEN Kayla Rivera was 11-years-old, she recalls singing to “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” — her favorite Carole King song.

MANY OF the first pharmacies, theaters, and department stores in the City of Manila were found in the district of Binondo. Founded in 1594, the city had a pivotal role in international trade and the place of the world’s first Chinatown in this role is the focus of a new museum.

AS THE Ayala Museum shuts its doors for a year while undergoing a major renovation, art lovers will not miss out as it will be holding mobile exhibits starting this month.

IN A small discreet shop in Serendra is a small staff of “artists” who turn cubes of ice into a mountain of kakigori — Japanese shaved ice desserts. As summer’s heat stifles the city, Shari Shari Kakigori House opened its doors, serving it cold treats to overheated customers.

STRUCTURES tell the story of a civilization. Old churches in the Philippines have survived three colonial periods, earthquakes, and fires. Tourists now flock to buildings that survived World War 2, guides narrating the horrors that took place during that benighted period. Mansions, repurposed as museums or restaurants, tell the economic history of a province. Newer edifices tell us much about nation-building after colonization and war.

CELEBRITIES like Anne Curtis, Vice Ganda, Kris Aquino, Katheryn Bernardo, Nadine Lustre, and Kris Bernal all have their own make-up lines and now pop singer Sarah Geronimo joins the bandwagon with her make-up line called Pop Studio.

RELEASING a makeup line or collaborating with cosmetic brands seems to be the trend among celebrities these days and pop singer Sarah Geronimo is the latest to join the roster.

HAVING staged 257 new works by young playwrights and directors since its beginning in 2005, the Virgin Labfest, an annual theater festival which focuses on unpublished, untried, and unstaged one-act plays, returns for its 15^th year in June.

SALCEDO Auctions will hold its inaugural auction at its new headquarters at NEX Tower along Ayala Avenue in Makati on June 1.

THE KOMISYON sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) has called on colleges and universities to continue offering Filipino subjects and teach courses in Filipino to keep the national language dynamic.

IT WAS a few minutes past 7 p.m. when spectators gathered to watch young Pandanggo sa Ilaw dancers performing in the streets of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro at the 2019 Pandang Gitab (Festival of Lights) on April 27.

FOR 2003 National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario, the role a National Artist is a challenging task.

IN ANCIENT Greece and Rome, roses were associated with the goddesses of love, Aphrodite and Venus. In Christianity, a red rose was associated with Christ’s death and sacrifice. For 21-year-old playwright Junine Ray “Rayne” Jarabo, a rose’s petals symbolize resilience while its thorns symbolize challenges.

AN ARTIST’S work is inspired by many things. It may be his environment, the events in his community, or his personal experiences. For playwright Floy Quintos, current events in his country inspired the creation of what he previously said would be his “swan song.”

TOWARDS the end of Spanish colonial rule, architect Felix Roxas, Sr. designed the San Ignacio Church in Intramuros, Manila for the Jesuits. The structure was completed in 1899 but it, along with the other seven churches of the walled city, were devastated in the Battle of Manila at the close of World War II. When the smoke cleared, only the centuries old San Agustin Church still stood. San Ignacio was reduced to rubble.

LIFE SCIENCE Institute (LSI), a subsidiary of the ROMLAS Health Group (RHG), in partnership with the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM) in the US, is hosting its first Applying Functional Medicine in Clinical Practice (AFMCP) Conference in Southeast Asia in Pasay City at the Marriott Grand Ballroom D from April 29 to May 4.

WHEN catching up with family and friends, most prefer to go out and dine to reminisce about past experiences and talk about how things are going. Nothing beats heart-to-heart talks paired with delightful meals.

IN THE late 1800s, German design professionals envisioned that German companies would be as competitive as those in England, the United States, and the global market. In the 1900s, 12 artists and 12 companies joined forces to establish Deutscher Werkbund.

WITH the oppressively warm weather, one of the last things a person may want to eat is something spicy. But it will not hurt to try enhancing a dish with a dash of pepper sauce once in a while.

“I LOOKED at people, I try to imagine them, and draw them from memory. I never use pictures because I hate pictures,” painter Nemi R. Miranda, Jr. said about his creative process. “What you see my painting is the product of my soul.”

IN CELEBRATION of National Dance Week, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) – National Committee on Dance will hold the 8^th Dance Xchange: The Philippine International Dance Festival on April 26 to 30 in Roxas City, Capiz.

FOR Catholics, religious images are representations of faith. The religious and devotees of patrons wipe cloth on images with the belief that this brings physical healing. In some communities, a statue of the Blessed Virgin is transferred from one house to another after a week. Miracles have purportedly been witnessed in the presence of holy images.

IN AN EPISODE of The Late Late Show with James Corden, the TNT Boys — 14-year-old Kiefer Sanchez, 12-year-old Francis Concepcion, and 13-year-old Mackie Empuerto — were invited to the show and performed Jennifer Hudson’s “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from the film Dreamgirls. As the boys were performing, pop singer Ariana Grande unexpectedly entered the stage to finish the song with them.

BRYAN MCCLELLAND, founder of Bambike, takes a 20-minute ride on a bamboo bike daily from his house in Makati to his office in Intramuros; frequently, young businessman Brian Poe Llamanzares begins his day with meetings at the office, then braves the rush hour to get to the airport to catch a flight for a business trip; hours before an event, stylist Rainier Dagala runs to three fashion houses to pick up clothes in time for his scheduled events. At the end of a busy day, they all get the job done, not in suits, but in khaki pants.

MEMBERS of the press were led to the kitchen before lunch time. This writer remained quiet and very nervous as we walked to the kitchen. We were told that after a short cooking demo by celebrity chef Jereme Leung, we were to recreate the same dish ourselves. Mr. Leung showed the group how to prepare crispy milk fritters, a traditional dessert in Da Lang in Guangdong, China which uses buffalo milk as a special ingredient.

FOUR YEARS ago, visual artist Maris Medina thought of organizing a reunion with her batch mates from the UST College of Fine Arts, Advertising batch 1980. With the help of social media, she was able to rekindle old friendships. Aside from a planned reunion, she spearheaded the idea of mounting a batch exhibit.

THE melody of Ernani Cuenco’s “Bato sa Buhangin” filled the room, the polished notes coming from a Steinway & Sons Spirio player piano. When the recording ended, pianist and composer Raul M. Sunico stepped onstage and performed the same piece romantically with precision.

“IN 1941, Japan was invading almost all the [Asian] countries because of their aggressive expansion... We were still called the Philippine Islands back then. Almost immediately, the countries around us surrendered in a matter of days. The Philippines is the only country that resisted the Japanese. From Dec. 8 when they invaded Philippines, it was only after four months that the Philippines decided to surrender,” Miguel Angelo C. Villa-Real, Philippine Veterans Bank Marketing Communications Division Head, said as he narrated the events of the Battle of Bataan.

AN INTERACTIVE exhibit comes to SM malls as Marvel fans await the conclusion to a series of Avengers films.

“JUST like our beautiful old songs, antique houses, and folk dances, our long standing culinary traditions need to be celebrated and preserved as well, especially since many of our food products and practices are slowly disappearing in the face of globalization of food culture.”

A SATISFYING cup of coffee or a refreshing cold drink paired with a sandwich can keep one occupied before hopping on a plane as Tim Hortons opened its first airport branch in the Philippines at the NAIA Terminal 3.