Vigan, the capital of Ilocos Sur and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is rife with cultural and historical heritage, being home to ancient churches and ancestral houses and Casa Lourdes—a microbrewery and restaurant.
Casa Lourdes and conceived by five friends over dinner that lasted through the next morning, captures both the feel and the culture of Ilocos. It has three factions: a brewery (Calle Brewery), a wine and tapas bar, and a degustation reflecting a fine dining experience.
By: Tom Choy
Vancouver, British Columbia
“I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality.” Frida Kahlo
And for the award-winning young filmmaker, Kathleen “Kat” Jayme(30) it was her own fascination with basketball since she was a kid and her idolizing the basketball game of former Vancouver Grizzlies star Bryant “Big Country” Reeves that led her to write and produce her award-winning documentary “Finding Big Country.”
But even before her love of basketball her eyes and destiny were already pointed towards films. Her lolo (grandfather) on her mother side, Danilo Santiago was a filmmaker for the Premiere Productions in the Philippines. It was in her blood so to speak.
Kat was a tiny child when she started shooting hoops with her older sibling. And her brother admitted how great a basketball player Kat is.
Kat would be a regular fan watching Big Country Reeves and the Grizzlies play at the Roger’s Arena. Only a little kid then in the mid-90s, Kat would see Bryant compete against the great player Michael Jordan when the Bulls visited Vancouver.
Kat’s Finding Big Country won her three awards namely, “Channel Zero Best Canadian Film” or “Video Award Winner” (2018), Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival; “Audience Must See BC Award” Winner(2018), Vancouver International Film Festival; and the “SuperChannel People’s Choice Award(2018).
Finding Big Country was shown in several Vancouver theatres to a sold out audience. The NBA channels featured the movie as well. Kat has made a significant stride in filmmaking. Her eyes are set on other projects now.
She also made another documentary film “Paradise Island” in 2015 about the Filipino kids who built sandcastles for money and the harsh realities of living in the world-famous beaches of Boracay, Philippines. This won Kat the Eco-Tourism Award in 2016. This film was also featured in the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
Kat was a University of British Columbia(UBC) Film Production alumna and the H. Norman Lidster Prize Scholarship recipient honoring an outstanding documentary student.
Paradise Island is when life imitates art. Kat is an environmentalist and when she showed this film in Vancouver’s Vancity Theatre, 100 percent of the proceeds went towards Surfrider Foundation research and beach cleanups in Vancouver.
In 2011, Kat wrote and directed two award winning short fiction films, “Little Big Kid” which won a Leo Award for Best Student production in BC and “Liz” which was among 20 films selected to play in Air Canada flights.
After UBC, Kat got an internship at the National Film Board of Canada and was later offered a full time job.
If Kat is not making movies, she is also a motivational speaker and a high school basketball coach. She played point guard in the Little Flower Academy( high school team Angels).
Her next project is a daunting task—a documentary about the Vancouver Grizzlies. Remember Shareef Abdur Rahim, Mike Bibby, Byron Scott, and Greg Anthony? They all played for the Vancouver Grizzlies in the mid-90s. The team was moved to Memphis and is now known as the Memphis Grizzlies. Most likely these fomer basketball stars will be featured in this next big project of Kat.
Kat is on a roll while she is just getting warmed up. She is only 30 and it seems sky is the limit for her success in film-making. She has the education, training, experience and awards that will bring her more successes in her future.
Filipino student-chef Valery Jane Rodriguez Anthony ranked fifth out of over 50 competitors from around the world in the recent Young Chef Olympiad held in India.
The YCO 2019, organized by India’s International Institute of Hotel Management, in association with United Kingdom’s International Hospitality Council, tested not just the “cheftestants” mastery of skills, but also their expertise, creativity, techniques, and innovation in two-pre-qualifying rounds held across various key cities in India.
Interacting with whale sharks or butanding may be reason enough to visit Sorsogon. But aside from these gentle giants, there are more must-see destinations and must-do activities in this province in Bicol Region.
Each of the 14 towns of Sorsogon boasts unique characteristics and treasure trove of tourism gems.
Giordano Ladies launches its spring/summer 2019 collection inspired by the charm of constellations in the night sky.
Inspiration takes form in abstract geometric or linear details, manifested as contrasting black and white or an interplay of varied shades of lightness and darkness.
The latest collection focuses on simple, clean, modern classic clothes for the modern-day Filipina.
The Giordano Ladies spring/summer collection is composed of asymmetric pieces, culottes, pleats, knitted tops, and cardigans, with colors and patterns that resemble the dramatic and romantic night sky and the stars.
Just as the moon’s soothing light shines through the dark, the collection offers a mesmerizing and striking opposition of light and dark. The contrast trim cardigan, boat neck knitted tank, and geometric blocking pleated knitted skirt ensemble has an unexpected, surreal cut-out detail just as how the moon shies away from the long top.
Embracing the starry sky, the constellation-print cotton dress, paired with cotton dobby side-slit culottes and wingtip leather brogues reworks the elegance and timeless beauty of a modern Filipina.
The late chilly breeze and the eloquence of the night inspired the combination of the airy cotton blended swallow tail woven tank and cotton blended maxi culottes.
Stars are glistening in this new collection as tiny reflections of micro sequins are attached to the long cardigan paired with a double-knit tank top and cotton dobby side-slit culottes.
Another palette in the collection is inspired by the shimmering reflection of moonlight on a quiet lake with the watercolor-print asymmetric dress.
Finally, the lake jacquard cotton knitted top with matching jacquard knitted pencil skirt projects one of the countless ways on how the brand reinterpreted the starry skies.
Visit Giordano Ladies at SM Aura Premier, SM Megamall, The Podium Mall, The Shoppes, Solaire Resort and Casino, and at Ayala Cebu this April.
NEW YORK (AP) — Goldman Sachs pinned a poll to its Twitter account asking what its employees should wear to work now that the investment bank has relaxed its dress code.
The winning choice? “Hoodie & sneakers” at 38 percent. But “suit” came in a solid second place at 28 percent. Least popular was “midtown uniform,” a look so ubiquitous that it has its own Instagram account .
There is a new sexual assault case involving R. Kelly.
After reports surfaced on Wednesday that the R&B singer was under investigation in Detroit for allegedly having intercourse with a teenage girl almost two decades ago, Detroit Police Chief James Craig tells ET "we are aware of the allegations made against R. Kelly that possibly occurred in 2001."
