Dan Villegas’ (with a script from Palanca winner Yvette Tan) first horror film finds its terror in the neuroses of the modern family. “Ilawod” tells the story of dissatisfied journalist Dennis (Ian Veneracion) who mainly investigates supernatural claims. He’s tired of not being taken seriously as a journalist and is trying to get a promotion. But […]
In 1276 AD, Emperor Du Zong (度宗) of South Song (1127-1279) surrendered to the Yuan (Mongolian) army. The minister of Rites, Lu Xiu Fu (陸秀夫), refused to surrender. He left Lin An (臨安, the capital of South Song, now Hangzhou) with General Zhang Shi Jie (張世傑) and other officials, and installed the son of Du […]
News about the gruesome death of Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo, 53, abducted and killed by policemen under the aegis of the administration’s war on drugs, has caught international attention and has been the subject of a Senate investigation. Being an optimist, I did not believe we could sink any lower after the war on drugs or […]
Chinese and German archaeologists believe they have found images of what appears to be Arabian horses on some 2,000-year old cliff paintings in the Yinshan Mountains of North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Over 10,000 ancient cliff paintings have been found in the Yinshan Mountains. Wu Jiacai, director of the North China Institute of Cliff […]
No partner for Valentine’s Day? No problem. Rent-a-partner services provide a quick but expensive solution to young people pressed by families to bring home a partner. Such services increase in demand in China, with prices starting from RMB100 per day and running to as high as RMB3,000 daily. Websites offering “professional” rental services of girlfriends […]
Taiwanese founder of Pengyuan restaurants and the inventor of General Tso’s chicken (左宗棠雞), passed away in Taipei, Taiwan on Nov. 30. He was 98. Peng started out as an apprentice of Cao Jingchen, a famous early 20th-century Chinese chef. After his apprenticeship, he began developing his own takes on Hunan cuisine. Peng first cooked General […]
WeChat, China’s major instant messaging app, came up with a new holiday tradition: sending and receiving red packets via social media. On the eve of 2017 lunar new year alone, a record of 14.2 billion electronic red packets containing gift money were given and received, with people born in the 1980s being the most active […]
Hokkien, on the tongues of Tsinoys, has grown and evolved, taking on a life of its own. Sometimes words simply fail us. With some creativity, Tsinoys have strung together words to form colorful phrases that simply hit the bull’s eye. Here are some expressions unique to Hokkien as favored by Tsinoys. 長脚骨 teng k’a kut […]
Are you worried about your heart? Don’t feel blue. Go red, and eat red food for your heart. This novel idea comes from the American Heart Association, which recommends that men and women eat red-colored food to protect their hearts. However, America’s short list of red food includes cherries and pomegranates, which are rarities here […]
Xiangqi (Chinese chess 中國象棋) has moves similar to western-style chess (國際象棋). The chessmen of xiangqi are written in Chinese characters whereas those of the western-style chess are carved as figures. Xiangqi is a game for all ages. It is played widely in Asian countries especially in China, where people play the game in public places, […]