Gaudy orange leather booths with black-and-white checkered trim? Check. Indulgent amounts of stainless steel everywhere? Check. Twenty-four-hour kitchens, friendly servers and reasonable (-ish) prices? Yup. Oversize greasy portions of all-day breakfast? You betcha.
THE WORLD'S FRIENDLIEST COUNTRY
According to InterNations’ Expat Insider 2016 Index, you’ll likely be welcomed with open arms in Taiwan, Uganda and Costa Rica, which took the top three spots for the world’s friendliest countries, followed by Mexico and Colombia. On the other hand, locals may just give you the cold shoulder in Norway, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. (Oddly enough, Canada, the poster child for being nauseatingly friendly, didn’t even break the top 10.)
Erdogan’s Referendum Victory Challenged by Opposition
It looks like one-man rule. While President Recep Tayyip Erdogan celebrated a narrow victory in yesterday’s historic referendum, Turkey’s main opposition party wants a recount. With 51.4 percent of Turkish voters approving Erdogan’s new constitution, the president gains vast new powers and control of the constitutional court, with virtually unchecked legal and budgetary authority.
I'll fly with you again, United Airlines
"It's the old adage: You can make a pizza so cheap, nobody will eat it. You can make an airline so cheap, nobody will fly it."
--Gordon Bethune
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- I will not hesitate to fly with the United Airlines, commonly referred to as United, again.
One of the first airlines that I learned to like in the United States is United, where my kumpare Chito Ilonggo Macatual works.
NY-based Pinoy chessers rev up for World Open
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Inspired by World No. 2 Wesley So's spectacular victory in the 2017 US Championship in St. Louis on April 10, Filipino chessers based here have started revving up for the 45th Annual World Open on June 29-July 4, 2017 at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Tragedy that refuses to leave our memory
"It's a terrible thing wishing that it can be someone else's tragedy." --JOHN DYER
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- The M/S Don Juan tragedy happened 37 years ago, but it was a maritime disaster that Ilonggos in Negros and Iloilo can't forget.
It was on April 22, 1980 when M/S Don Juan, a commercial vessel owned by the Negros Navigation (NN), travelling from Manila to Bacolod City, was rammed hard by M/T Tacloban City, an oil tanker, and sank hours after leaving the Pier 2 in North Harbor, Manila.
North Korea: ‘Ready to Hit Back’ With Nukes
Is it just talk? As American warships approach the Korean Peninsula, North Korea warned it was “ready to hit back with nuclear attacks” if similarly struck. The message came as the country debuted apparent submarine-launched and intercontinental ballistic missiles in a parade marking founding president Kim Il-sung’s 105th birthday.