Tag: Susan Claire Agbayani

CRÈME BRÛLÉE, custard, honey, Yakult, banana, mango, M&M, Gummy Bears, cappuccino, mint, root beer float, Coke, Sprite. Name it, they have it. From a survey of online sites alone, to date, there are over 15,500 flavorings to choose from among e-cigarettes the world over.

FILIPINO-AMERICAN freelance editor Reine Arcache Melvin flew in from Paris for just two days to receive one of two grand prizes at the 69^th Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature at the Rigodon Ballroom of Peninsula Manila on Friday night.

SOCIAL MEDIA Consultant Chat Shaw (not her real name) was enrolled in SLU Girl’s High when she watched the all-male band Neocolours at the University of Baguio in Baguio City in 1989, three decades ago.

PHILIPPINE CINEMA is 100 years old and despite challenges in the industry, it is time to celebrate.

YOU LOVE TRAVELING. You don’t go to just one destination at a time. You are adventurous that way: exploring (or maybe, even doing business) in different cities in different parts of the world at any given time. But then, switching currencies can be such a hassle. Once you get home to the Philippines, you get “bill shock” over the additional charges you had incurred due to multiple conversions from one currency to another.

UNLIKE PREVIOUS years when the Philippines’ contribution to the International Silent Film Festival (ISFF) were experimental films, this year it will be a 37-minute documentary filmed in 1913 on the Cordilleran Kalinga tribe titled Native Life in the Philippines. It will open the 13^th ISFF at SM Aura in Taguig on Aug. 30.

CZECH? German? Japanese? Indian?

TEN years ago, as the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) was preparing for the celebration of its 40^th year, then CCP President Nestor Jardin approached former First Lady Imelda Marcos at the CCP ramp and asked her, “Where did you bury the time capsule?”

ALTHOUGH recent events have made locals paranoid about the seemingly overwhelming presence of Chinese in certain areas of the metropolis, one needs to remember that Filipinos and Chinese have been working side by side even before local recorded history. For centuries now, Filipinos been trading with the Chinese, proven by archeological excavations over the last hundred years or so.

ERIK MATTI’S BUY BUST, a “zombie-like action” film about the current administration’s war on drugs, won Best Picture and three technical awards (Cinematography, Production Design, and Music) at the 42^nd Gawad Urian awards night on Tuesday at UP’s Cine Adarna.

“GAME!” This was the reply of Skarlet Brown — the artist previously known as Myra David-Ruaro — when Emelee Nicart, her successor as Put3Ska band vocalist asked if she was ready for the much-awaited reunion of the Philippines’ premier ska band at the Music Museum on May 24.

IT HAS BEEN the dream of Ryan Cayabyab, National Artist for Music, that Filipinos become less “dependent on imported songs and imported music.” He envisions a huge collection in the future of “music literature by young people in each community that we touch.”

LAST WEEK, in a span of three days, the Philippines experienced strong earthquakes that had everyone shaking in fear, from the possibility of another quake or aftershocks. The earthquakes affected all three major island groups of the country.

HUNTING and deforestation are the two major causes of the decline in the number of Philippine eagles, said Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) Director for Research and Conservation Jayson Ibañez during the Q&A portion following a screening of the multi-awarded documentary Bird of Prey at Cine Adarna of the University of the Philippines recently.

THE Cold War lasted for 45 years, and ended in 1990. Throughout those years, the portrayal of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics by Hollywood affected the mind-sets of not just two generations, but the progeny of these generations as well.

Maybe it is best that people learn about road safety at a young age -- perhaps as early as grade school.

IN KEEPING with the advocacy of the Tofarm Film Festival — “bring the stories of farmers to Filipino as well as foreign audiences,” according to the fest’s managing director Joey Romero — the cast and crew of the six finalists shot their films in the countryside and experienced first-hand what it was like to be a farmer and be at the mercy of the weather. It rained for most of the shooting days, and this proved to be a challenge to the film crews. The film productions continued to be haunted by rain during the gala screenings at the Trinoma Cinema; and Typhoon Ompong (international name: Mangkhut) exited the country on the day of the awarding ceremonies at the Shangri-La Manila.

SOME actors can work their entire lives and never get anything bigger than a supporting role, but sometimes all it takes is one breakout role.

VETERAN performers Nora Aunor and Cherie Gil play grandmothers in the GMA drama Onanay. While this is not a new role for Ms. Aunor who essayed the role of Kris Bernal’s grandmother in another teleserye, Little Nanay, and is a grandmother in real life, this is all new for Ms. Gil.