Monthly Archives: May 2013

“The Grounds” in Rural Alexandria

I hit ‘The Grounds’ running, straight off the plane from Manila, and was astounded, in my jet-lagged stupour, to discover this rustic café located in semi-industrial Alexandria, only minutes from the airport, the site startlingly at odds with its surroundings. … Continue reading

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Farewell Tea

The bane of expat life is the constant ebb and flow of friends. Every year, about this time, I start deleting names from my cellphone, as a clutch of my old mates disperse to new postings, and the talk revolves … Continue reading

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Memories of Manila (1)

Jennifer Gordon-Russell, a.k.a. Jenny Wallum, first arrived in the Philippines in the early 80s with her economist husband Peter Wallum and younger daughter. These were the years of martial law and the Marcos’s sovereignty; the days when traffic was light … Continue reading

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Mother’s Day in Manila: saccharine or sincere?

…yet though you dance in living light, I am the earth, I am the root, I am the stem that fed the fruit, the link that joins you to the night. ~ Judith Wright from ‘Woman to Child’ This year … Continue reading

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La Cocina de Tita Moning: Stepping Back in Time

In the San Miguel District of Manila, once Manila’s most elegant district,  and just around the corner from Malacanang Palace, Lory Vi Valdes had a childhood brimming with family, where aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents lived in a row of … Continue reading

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The Inn at Cliffhouse: a romantic escape

The Inn at Cliffhouse: a secret destination in Tagaytay – so secret we drove past it three times. That’s the way owner Jennifer Dee likes it: discreetly tucked away behind an unassuming entrance just off the General Emilio Aguinaldo Highway. … Continue reading

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