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Life

Saga Part 4: The path to Pambujan

Ed’s note: This is a continuation of Relative Finder’s “Saga after the storm.” Aunty Marites finally arrived in Eni and met her long lost uncles. Upon her return she gave me colored photos from Chan Bon Kheng with notes at the back describing his return home to meet his long lost family in Iligan City, […]

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Life Overseas Chinese

Chinese and Filipino community in Seoul

 First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest 29, nos. 14-15 (January 17-February 6, 2017): 24,26. Since the 1970s, Seoul has seen different stages of urban expansion. Today, Seoul has three major business districts in the city: the historical city center, the island of Yeoui and Gangnam. A fourth area is in gestation around the Digital […]

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Life

Incheon: A government-built pseudo Chinatown

In an earlier Tulay column (Oct. 8-21, 2013 issue), I’ve written that a true Chinatown is one that is lived and experienced and not built for tourism or business purposes. Dragons, arches and temples do not a Chinatown make. It is the lives lived, the culture experienced, and the history shared by a group of […]

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Life

Home of the Phoenix

The legend goes that the phoenix – feng huang (鳯凰) – lived in the mountains of Hunan province in western China. As the mythical bird – symbol of the empress (the dragon is the symbol of the emperor), it represents longevity since it re- emerges from the flames each time it is consumed by fire […]