On the occasion of the Month of the Francophonie, the Alliance Française of Manila in collaboration with the Romanian Embassy presented the screenings of two Romanian artistic feature films. The
Several years ago, while studying in Alliance Francaise, our instructor joked that the French are the Filipinos of Europe—they’re both noisy, always arguing, and seldom obey the rules. He might as well have added that they both love good food.
In its full Art Deco glory, La Maison Rose (The Pink House) is eye candy amid the chaotic urban center in Cebu City.
After the brouhaha over the voting out of Deanna Ongpin-Recto as board member and president at Alliance Française de Manille (see “Coup d’etat at Alliance Française,” Inquirer Lifestyle, June 9), and the perceived bullying of the board’s Filipino members, which had several Filipino artists (including National Artist BenCab) canceling their scheduled exhibits with the French cultural organization, sources say another Filipino board member is set to quit.
It all began for me, decades ago, in one of the rows of the old Makati Supermart. Amid the clutter of the magazines section, I spied an item I had never seen. It was a comic book I knew immediately was quite special.
The arts circle is abuzz again with news that Alliance Française president Deanna Ongpin Recto was voted out of the Alliance board last week, after having served Alliance as president for three years. Recto is in the process of curating a milestone exhibit of Sanso, Betsy Westendorp and Cesar Caballero.
After lunch, some Sundays, my son and his wife take me to a Thai massage place called TonTon, a quiet oasis in the neighborhood. Uniformed girls with powerful arms who take you over remind me of a DI in Rose’s studio. His name was Jiggs and he had a girlfriend who was a masseuse.
How else to celebrate the inclusion of the French Gastronomic Meal in Unesco’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity than with exactly that—a gastronomic meal. And where else to celebrate it here than at Alliance Française de Manille (AFM) which advances French culture and language.
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