Two flames rise on February 17, 2026—one from the sky, as the first new moon ushers in a new lunar year, and one from memory, as a 60-year celestial cycle returns to a moment many still speak of in hushed…
In many global capitals, a Chinatown signals migration and the stubborn endurance of culture far from its ancestral shore. In Binondo, those currents have been flowing since 1594, making it widely regarded as the world’s oldest existing Chinatown. Across the…
What began as a national showcase at a world exposition in Japan is being recast as a working asset for tourism trade in Southeast Asia, as the Philippines extends the afterlife of its Expo pavilion into a regional marketplace. At…
For many Filipino consumers, buying a Louis Vuitton bag has rarely been about subtlety. The appeal lies in recognition—the reassurance of a pattern that announces itself clearly, carries global legitimacy, and, for many first-generation luxury buyers, confirms arrival. In a…
There is a moment in the Philippines when a meal stops being about what’s on the plate and becomes a quiet lesson in place. It might happen over a sizzling platter of sisig, a bowl of sinigang sharpened with calamansi,…
Designer toys rarely announce cultural shifts—but the crowds usually do. In Metro Manila, long lines, emptied shelves, and meticulously filmed unboxings have quietly turned Pop Mart from a visiting novelty into a familiar name. Over the past year, the brand’s…
December 30 marks the martyrdom of José Rizal, a date often remembered through wreath-laying and recitations of his novels. Yet beyond the pen and the martyrdom lies another Rizal—one who measured land, drafted elevations, and imagined education with the precision…
The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) is marking the start of Simbang Gabi by transforming its main building—now covered in scaffolding and wrapped in ongoing reconstruction—into a luminous Christmas landmark that puts the renovation itself at the center of…
When the Vatican recently declared that the title Co-Redemptrix would no longer be recognized in official Church teachings, the ruling surprised many Catholics and quickly stirred theological debate across the globe. The November 2025 doctrinal note Mater Populi Fidelis, issued…
Swiss luxury watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre’s latest Made of Makers collaboration foregrounds a Filipino creator: Cebu-based webcomic artist Olivecoat (Lily Mae Young-Catan) was commissioned to reimagine the Reverso’s origin as a vertical-scroll, archive-inspired webcomic. The project reframes the Reverso not as an…
