It wasn’t at all stuck up. At least to us, that was the atmosphere at the Malacañan Ceremonial Hall during the traditional Vin d’ Honneur last Friday. It was a welcome change from the stereotypical, stiff Malacañan Ceremonial Hall functions we’d covered in the previous decade.
A very dear relative, who was here recently for the Christmas holidays, gave me this recipe for an upscale grilled cheese sandwich. Upscale, perhaps, is the operative word here. Unlike the classic grilled cheese sandwich which uses plain cheddar, this one is made with mozzarella and Gruyère, Italian and Swiss cheeses. But the real surprise in the sandwich is the mango jam. Tart and sweet, it harmonizes with the cheeses to create a perfectly balanced and delectable flavor.
From the sun-kissed, white-sand beaches and clear, blue waters of Hawaii and Bohol, our holiday vacation was truly blessed with wonderful weather, unforgettable memories and exciting adventures. “Island life” was the theme of our Christmas holiday.
Dentists keep the darkest secrets in the world. They know how many teeth every patient has left. When told by someone that they saw you smile and admired how your teeth were so well-preserved, they keep mum, never claiming which part of your smile is their handiwork.
We get it—you’ve spent the past weeks running around like a headless chicken. You were buying gifts, wrapping gifts, herding your family from one reunion to another, slaving over Noche Buena and Media Noche, being stalked by inaanaks and dancing “Gangnam Style” at Christmas parties. Now all that is over and you still have a few days left before your kids head back to school.
Discovery Shores Boracay soars high with flights of Christmas fancy—heart-warming holiday treats and surprises throughout this merry month of December.
The Christmas holidays are probably the most stressful time of the year, as the pressure to give presents and the lack of time to go shopping looms over many of us. The few who anticipate the rush early enough beat it by starting their gift-buying as early as September or October, but most of us join the madness at the very last minute.
Around three of five Filipinos (64 percent) expect a “happy” Christmas, while money, good health and family togetherness top the list of gifts Filipinos “would most like to receive” this year, according to the latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
At Boracay Garden Resort, specifically, which bills itself as “the only property in the island where guests may take leisurely walks around the breezy, tree-lined property.” That luxury, quite scarce in Boracay where most establishments consist of tightly packed concrete structures, comes courtesy of the resort’s enviable size—some 1.5 hectares of open space big enough to accommodate three swimming pools side by side with landscaped gardens, cabanas, a poolside bar, and wide patches of either grassy or tiled open space for walking around.
There are many things to hate about the holiday season: Crowds, unbearable traffic, the proliferation of snatchers. You can be hated, too, if you’re one of the following.
September is birthday season in our family. My two boys, my mom and I all celebrate our birthdays just days apart. Two of my favorite aunts, Mary de Leon and Cory Alindogan, are also Virgo ladies.
