The Filipino Expat Magazine Spring 2023

6 Contributor’s page

7 Editor’s note

15 Profiles:

33

How do we avoid financial scams?

10 MM Milano: An Italian brand with a Filipino heart

22 Cover Story: Mia

Dianda makes a better world in Oklahoma

34

Investing in condominium units in the Philippines

12 Diplomat Off Duty: Consul Maria Theresa Lazaro shows her fun side

30 Business: Allan Bryan Mendros on starting multiple businesses in Calgary

A drummer, a busker, and a poet see the spark and hear the beat

Caram

50

Publisher and Editor-in-chief

Nats Sisma Villaluna

Publisher and Managing Editor

Dheza Marie Aguilar

Graphics and Layout

Alden Joshua Cedo

Creative Adviser Robin Kuijs

Contributing Writers:

Agatha Verdadero, Antonio Montalvan, Francine Alessandra Vito, Myls Rubio, Ricka Perez, Siony Sarabia, Sharon Masler

Contributing Photographers:

AC Maria, Cecil Luna, Chiara Davidson, Pepe Chavez, Susana Vallejo,

The Filipino Expat Magazine

Published 3 times a year

The opinions expressed in The Filipino Expat magazine do not represent the views of The Filipino Expat company. While we have exhausted every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, neither The Filipino Expat nor its editors, contributors and staff will accept any responsibility for any omission, typographical or printing errors, inaccuracies or changes however caused. Our editorial and creative teams reserve the right to edit any material submitted at our discretion. All texts, photos and graphics have been used with the permission of the author or artists. All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be duplicated or reproduced in a whole in any form or by any means without the publisher’s prior written permission.

Comments and complaints should be addressed to: The Publisher

The Filipino Expat Magazine 2e Maasbosstraat 54 3134XK Vlaardingen

The Netherlands

Telephone +31 (0) 39311392

Email editor@theflipinoexpat.com

thefilipinoexpatmagazine@gmail.com Website www.theflipinoexpat.com

Fernando Zobel de Ayala: Portrait of an expat and artist

SIONY SARABIA has made Auckland, New Zealand her home for fifteen years now. An account officer by profession, she finds the Kiwi lifestyle a mix of metropolitan life and nature.

SHARON MASLER is founder and president of Masler & Associates, Inc. She has more than 25 years experience in finance and accounting. Her background includes planning and performing audits, reviews and compilations of financial statements, primarily for medium-sized, privately-held companies in manufacturing and distribution industries.

MYLS RUBIO worked in marketing and advertising before joining the Philippine Foreign Service. A staunch supporter of culture and the arts, she is an alumna of the UST Singers, and a soloist of the Diplomatic Choir of Berlin. Married with three children, she is currently based in Germany. Her family’s shared love for music continues to inspire many through self-produced music videos and live online performances.

RICKA PEREZ A 21-year old still figuring out her purpose in life. Loves to travel, explore, emerge through her thoughts in writing, and engage with different cultures. Your little miss roaming in Rome!

FRANCINE ALESSANDRA

VITO is a writer, serial thrifter, and an advocate of a slow living lifestyle. You can find her sustainable fashion and lifestyle posts on her Instagram account, @francinealessandra17.

AGATHA VERDADERO is a writer and editor from Nairobi, Kenya. She finished her MFA in Creative Writing at De La Salle University Manila and her BA Humanities at University of the Philippines Diliman with honors. While not immersed in her work or playing with her fur baby Sam, she does extreme adventure in the wild.

ANTONIO MONTALVÁN II is a social anthropologist and museum professional who writes opinion essays for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Vera Files, PressOne.PH, and Al Jazeera Digital. He also travels the world occasionally in his study of material cultures.

ALDEN JOSHUA CEDO is a design professional working for an ad agency. If he is not tinkering with Adobe applications, he can be found in the gym or in his pad listening to music.

All at once and in between

NATS SISMA VILLALUNA

The in-flight screen says that we have already flown 2,847 miles from Barcelona and currently 39,000 ft. above Jordan. My seat mate on the left has gone to the toilet while the one on the right is deep in his sleep. 639 miles more and we will make our stopover in Abu Dhabi before a 7-hour flight to Manila. Suddenly, turbulence. From tolerable trembling, the plane becomes more agitated. My hands immediately grab both armrests.

I close my eyes but the more I want to focus my mind on something calm, images from Everything Everywhere All at Once, the last film I saw before flying, keep flashing in my head. If you have seen the film, you know what I am talking about. The chaos, the commotion, the special effects! But if you haven’t seen it yet, think of multiverses and alphaverses. And don’t wonder why such a mad and confusing film can be so beautiful.

The turbulence dies down. When I open my eyes, it seems that I am in a different place. My two previous seat mates are no longer in their seats. Instead, I am sandwiched by two versions of “me”, yes, myself and myself. The “me” on my right is having an online class with my students while the “me” on my left has finally arrived home in Manila, hugging a woman who resembles my mother. Confused and dazed, I notice I have something in my hand that wasn’t there before, a magazine.

Have I jumped into another dimension midturbulence? I take a look at the magazine. It is our Spring 2023 Issue. But this isn’t supposed to be finished yet, I tell myself. We are just about to edit the articles!

On the cover is Mia Caram Dianda, an Oklahomabased Filipino expat and owner of Advanced Behavioral Solutions, a company that specializes in intensive behavioral therapy for children with autism. Mia shares how her passion to help families with autistic children drove her to put up her own company amidst the challenges of living in a conservative place like Oklahoma.

Flipping through the pages, busker Jenika Duran, drummer Tino Lucena Bautista and poet Karessa Ramos show their love for art and music. In the middle of all the rumblings of the world, these artists are able to build their own universes where their thoughts and voices thrive. Writer Antonio Montalván pays homage to a prolific artist and expat, Fernando Zobel de Ayala.

Catalan mom Ester’s touching story of adopting a

boy from the Philippines proves that a mothers love transcends beyond blood relations.

Speaking of “universe-jumping”, this issue offers three destinations to consider in one of the most pleasant seasons of the year, springtime! Myls Rubio, Agatha Verdadero and Ricka Perez rave about their trips to Mexico, Colombia and Rome, respectively, listing down the wonderful things we can discover in these exciting places.

In Expat Living, find out how Siony Sarabia, an Aklan native, changed from being a hesitant expat to being a loyal Aucklander. Finance expert Sharon Masler gives tips on how to protect yourself from being conned.

Francine Vito interviews the owners of Nice-based Khaesarap restaurant, that successfully attracted picky French clients. Dheza Aguilar features a multi-business entrepreneur from Calgary. In our newest sections, we look into investing and the Pinoy expat budget.

As soon as I turn the last page, the plane gives a slight thud and transitions back into flying smoothly. Once the bumpy interruption is over, both of my previous seat mates are now sitting next to me leaving no traces of the two versions of me. The magazine is gone too. Everything just doesn’t make sense.

Well, it does make sense, actually. This is just a fantasy that has kept running in my head the moment the plane took off. For someone like me who hasn’t been home for almost six years, preparing for my flight gave me a mix of fatigue, excitement and anxiety. I bet my fellow Pinoy expats also feel the same: the anxious sensation to temporarily leave your job behind, the thrill of seeing our family again and the fleeting reality of the future while we sit there, waiting to get to our destination, somewhere between two time zones and imagining what is happening on both sides of the world.

As I write this, I am now in Manila spending limited time with my family. And on the day our Spring 2023 issue comes out, I will be sitting once again on the plane on my way back to Europe, where winter is about to end and spring time is making its way through.

Again as always, we hope you enjoy our Spring 2023 issue! Let The Filipino Expat Magazine be the first to greet a splendid springtime!

By Francine Alessandra Vito

MM MILANO:

Most people adore dressing up and shopping for clothes. But the industry that helps us come up with #OOTDs (outfits of the day) that slay, are notorious for practices that harm the environment and for reinforcing unhealthy and unrealistic beauty standards.

“People want to see two-meter tall models or young people on the runway or in photos. But I’d go for an 83-year-old man or a 4-year-old child. It still looks super professional!” Chona says. On their site, you’ll see a differently-abled woman stunning in a metallic black gown and young kids with thick, curly hair, impeccable in their hablon suits. “We want the fashion industry to be less superficial

and show that there are real people in it,” she says.

Chona’s creations are pure fantasy. She can do vibrant jewel-toned gowns with voluminous shapes in one collection, and make delicate, fit-for-royalty gowns in the next. Classics like blazers, shorts, and skirts are elevated with her ingenious use of color and unique patterns. The cohesive force behind all this is

AN ITALIAN BRAND WITH A FILIPINO HEART

the Chona touch- sophisticated, fun, and whimsical. MM Milano has graced the runways of Los Angeles Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week.

Everything is happening fast for Chona and her sustainable fashion label; but getting there wasn’t easy.

The Dressmaker's Daughter

As a child growing up on a farm on the small island of Guimaras, Chona thought her mother, the village seamstress, made everyone’s clothes. It was slow fashion at its finest- clothes were produced locally and made by a human being you knew and could speak to. There were connection, and consideration, elements missing from today’s mass-produced clothing. “I didn’t even know that fashion designers and clothing brands existed,” she says. From the age of eight, Chona was already helping put beads on dresses and familiarizing herself with clothes patterns.

“I told my mother I wanted to study dressmaking after high school. She said, ‘Look at me, do you want your life to be like this?’ We were eight children and our parents were always struggling to put food on the table,” Chona told me. After graduating with a degree in commerce,

she moved to Hong Kong where she worked and started her family. After several years there, they moved to Italy.

Starting from zero in a country where you don’t speak the language and don’t know the culture is disorienting, even for someone as lively and open as Chona.

“I didn’t speak Italian, I didn’t have friends and I got really depressed.” But that initial culture shock and isolation didn’t last long. It was a mixture of Chona’s openheartedness and go-getter personality that shook her out of her rut. “I needed to do something for others and for myself to stay sane.” In 2016, her first business venture, MM Milano, the talent agency was born. Today, it counts some big designer brands and Netflix as its clients. Chona herself appeared in Dolce and Gabanna’s #DGLovesMilano video ad campaign.

Stroke of Serendipity

Working in the entertainment industry means that fashion is always on the periphery. It was a fortunate stroke of serendipity that finally allowed Chona to dip her toes into fashion design. In 2018, one of the designers that her agency represented pulled out of a show. They were left scrambling to look for a way to produce 30 dresses for a runway show on short notice. It was her mother who helped her realize that this disaster actually had a silver lining. “I was panicking during a call to my mom and then she said, ‘Chona, did you forget? Your mom’s a dressmaker. Come home, I’ll help

Chona Bacaoco, founder of MM Milano is disrupting the fashion industry one runway show at a time. With her co-founders Andréas and Martin Volkmar, they show us that fashion can be inclusive, sustainable, and profitable at the same time.

you and teach you more’.” And that was how MM Milano the fashion brand started.

“I was always interested in fashion, entertainment, and the film industry. I wanted to do something different. I wanted people to see my work and say right away, that’s Chona. But to succeed, I knew I needed more connections and contacts, so I worked on that too,” Chona says.

Andréas and Martin were just the kindred spirits that Chona needed to find her place in the entertainment and fashion industry in Europe. “ They are like family to me. Having close ties like these really helps boost your confidence when you feel so alone in a foreign country.”

No To Greenwashing

As the effects of climate change worsen, companies looking to win more customers casually throw around the word “sustainability” in marketing campaigns. MM Milano is one of those brands that actually practice what they preach.

Andréas, the Chief Financial Officer says, “Sustainability can mean so many different things for each company. For us, sustainability is linked to kindness and a sense of community. We also work on reducing waste and supporting suppliers that manufacture fabrics sustainably.”

Inclusivity is an important core value for MM Milano, making sure that everyone, regardless of gender, race, age, or ability is represented.

Chona herself knows what it feels like to be excluded. When she started doing fashion shows, her credentials were criticized. She was bashed on social media by kababayans because she didn’t go to fashion school. It was her relationship with the Volkmar brothers that gave her the power to be confident.

Martin, who’s in charge of marketing and is also the Chief Sustainability Officer, is very strict about sustainability. He says, “We

could spend more on ads or expensive campaigns. But we want to grow the business organically. We want to invest in people and the community first. It’s important for us to prioritize the people who make the clothes and those who buy.”

Chona feared that going sustainable meant a limited choice of raw materials, but it turned out to be just a misconception. “Making a dress is simple. I can just buy any fabric and make it in one day. But with sustainability in mind, I have to think and think. It turns out there are so many ways to be a sustainable fashion designer!” Instead of contributing to the creation of new waste, they use what’s already out there. MM Milano buys from small suppliers who sell deadstock and excess fabric. Chona also uses materials like certified organic cotton and polyester from recycled plastics. Artisan-made, traditional Philippine fibers like hablon feature prominently in her collec-

tions. “If you’re really serious about sustainability, you can find a way to make it happen,” Andréas says.

Martin says that setting impossibly high standards is a common mistake when trying to be a sustainable brand. “You’ll feel overwhelmed and you’ll never feel happy chasing nonexistent ideals. Accept that you should just do whatever’s in your power and don’t feel defeated if a goal doesn’t materialize.”

MM Milano is more than just a business. They tell stories through their clothes, talents, and music. Their runway music is composed of original tracks by Andréas. They prefer using the word “talents” instead of “models”. Chona explains that the term model seems to put an emphasis on the exterior and the superficial, while talent relates to something innate that you offer to the world. The agency also mentors talents and troubled teens, holding workshops where they discuss mental health and motivation.

Building a Brand

As a woman of color, Chona wasn’t sure at first that her work would be accepted in Milan, one of the world’s oldest and mostrespected fashion capitals. “But I was accepted with open arms, there were no obstacles at all. I received a lot of support from the Italians. Even during the pandemic, we kept getting online orders. Many shops closed in Italy but it was business as usual for us and I think that also showed people that we

were serious and trustworthy.”

“When I started, I felt like I was crawling on the ground. When you’re new, you won’t get noticed right away. That’s why having an authentic community around you is important. You need to understand how people think, how people behave.”

Rivalry in Fashion

Chona has also found a mentor in Filipino designer Michael Cinco, famous for his couture gowns that have graced Hollywood’s red-carpet events. “I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for Michael. He really played a big part in our success”. Chona says he doesn’t see her as competition. “Kindness is important especially when we’re abroad. It doesn’t hurt to be kind. Michael and I are showing that Filipinos can be united. There’s no need for crab mentality or to pull each other down”.

Despite her wins, she doesn’t let success go to her head. “I always practice gratitude. It keeps me humble.”

Her advice for fellow aspiring designers and entrepreneurs abroad: “What’s important is determination and hard work. Trust your intuition. I also believe in timing. Sometimes, you can work hard but if the universe doesn’t conspire to go in your direction, success won’t happen right away. It will come, but it might take more time. So I’d say success comes from determination, hard work, and a little bit of luck.”

Check out MM Milano’s designs at www.mmmilano-thebrand.com. You can follow Chona Bacaoco on Instagram @chonabacaoco.

By Nats Sisma Villaluna

CONSUL GENERAL MA. THERESA LAZARO

GOING AGAINST THE ROUTINARY

We are used to seeing them in their formal suits, working hard serving the Filipino communities in different parts of the world as members of the diplomatic corps. But what do our ambassadors and consuls do when they are off from work?

Ever since Consul General Ma. Theresa Lazaro arrived in Barcelona in March 2021, she hasn’t really had any holiday at all. Most of her weekends are spent attending activities involving the Filipino community and FilCom organizations, visiting Filipino organizations and engaging them in a kumustahan session, or activities that the Consulate has organized.

But she is not complaining. She is already

so used to her hectic timetable ever since she joined the foreign service 23 years ago.

Consul General Lazaro welcoming guests at the Doce Caras photo exhibit.

For her, talking to people is fun. It helps her become more effective in her job. With her tight schedule, does she have time for herself? Consul General Lazaro tells TFEM how.

What is your weekend like?

If I don’t have any engagement with the Filipino community on weekends, which is very rare, I spend the weekend staying at home and getting some rest or doing household chores. I do squeeze in some time to do retail therapy or going out with friends or some of my work colleagues, or talking to my friends back home. This sounds boring but given our busy schedule at the Consulate, everyone at work would probably prefer to spend weekends getting some rest. I just watch TV or listen to music while doing some chores. I also enjoy interior decorating and I love to experiment decorating my place or even the Consulate. Most of the decors at the Consulate, I do myself.

Any outdoor activities?

When I do not have any commitment or if my commitments are in the afternoon or evening, I try to do some walking for an exercise. I used to go mountain hiking in my previous posting, which I have not done since I came to Barcelona. I also love to eat out, relax and hang out with friends.

What do you do in your free time?

I do different things during my free time. What I don’t do is set a routine. My work schedule is already routinary. I just want to deviate from my work routine. So, normally, I do whatever I want or feel like doing during my free time. Most of the time, though, I just want to walk around the city and explore. Just to chill out.

What do you like doing on your holidays?

I really want to go on a real holiday, but I cannot do it yet. Perhaps, a little later this year. And if I have a chance to do it, I still prefer to go home to the Philippines. I’ve been here for more than a year now and have not gone home since.

What is the best part of living in Barcelona?

Barcelona is a very cosmopolitan city and it is very open to various cultures. People are generally friendly. There’s very little adjustment to make. But I am a very flexible and adaptable person. I haven’t had difficulty adjusting to a new environment, at least in my three foreign assignments.

What I love in Barcelona is that you can easily go to the beach or mountain – the geographic landscape is more diverse than in, say, Madrid. It is a

buzzling city with a vibrant art and culture scene. You can never get bored in Barcelona as there are plenty of things to do and see.

What interesting places in Barcelona top your list?

I love culture and arts, looking at architectural designs. I have always been interested in architecture and history so the works of Gaudi are on the top of my list, particularly the Sagrada Familia. I have visited several of Gaudi’s masterpieces and I would also recommend visiting them. Barcelona is also a foodie destination and there are plenty of good restaurants around town. Food lovers will surely enjoy a food trip in Barcelona.

Can you recommend good restaurants in Barcelona?

I’m actually not very particular when it comes to food. To be honest, I prefer home-cooked meals. For foodies though, Barcelona offers an unbeatable gastronomic feast, from Michelin star restaurants to contemporary casual ones. So, there’s a whole range to choose from. For visitors/tourists, I recommend a visit to La Boqueria which is perhaps the most famous market in Barcelona. It offers a diverse selection of food. For tapas, Vinitus and Ciutat Comtal, I think, are two of the best, at least near my workplace. I’m sure, there are plenty more around the city. For Catalan cuisine, Restaurante L’Olivé, I heard, is also one of the very good ones.

What cultural activities do you participate in Barcelona?

Here in Barcelona, I have experienced the calçotades, where the locals eat grilled spring onions at spring time. I have also experienced their Christmas culture, its street markets, feast of Sant Jordi, among other events. However, in most of the cultural events in the city, I am more of a curious bystander than a participant.

ConGen Lazaro joining a Zumba session with FilCom members.

Seeing the spark, hearing the beat

When the world becomes too loud for comfort, most of us cover our ears, turn away and carry on with our lives. Others allow themselves to be swallowed by the mundane bustle and drown in the process. And then there are those who take refuge in their artistic universe that shield them from all the noise and commotion. They have the power to see the spark, feel the rhythm and hear the beat visible and audible only to them.

The Filipino Expat Magazine has talked to drummer Tino Bautista Lucena, poet Karessa Ramos, and busker Jenika Louisse Duran as they share with us their journey to become what they are now and how they discovered balance and harmony in the midst of chaos that surrounds them.

By

Nats Sisma Villaluna

THE DRUMMER

The bar is teeming with clients and to somebody with sensitive ears, the cacophony of clinking glasses, boisterous laughter, loud conversations and blaring music might be unbearable. For Tino, who was busy serving clients, there was something in the whole humdrum that made him stop in his tracks, as if in a trance

in front of his imaginary drum set. A couple of beats from the bass drum went first, then the snare drum, then the hi hat. Everything was rolling. Right from there, he knew he had just created something in his head. And later on, with some guitar distortions, a little bit of violin and some play on the keyboards, the song Red Lips was born.

Tino Bautista Lucena (31) is

the co-founder and drummer of the Mallorca-based The Prussians band. “One day, my skateboard buddy, Dominic Masó bought a guitar. We met up to jam. From there, we decided to form a band,” shares Tino in our Zoom interview, adding that they chose the name The Prussians, because “Dominic is half-German and he loves the sound of the word.” Tino composes their songs together with Dominic.

They were originally a trio, with

Tino’s brother playing the bass. The band first performed in public in 2009. Soon after, a guitarist and a keyboardist joined in. “My brother left in 2012 and now we are four.” They have toured Germany, Sweden, USA and all over Spain and released three albums. Red Lips was included in their first album Karma, released in 2014. The Prussians boasts of a unique international indie sound. Over the years, it has evolved from indie rock to indie electronic rock to their current sound, indie group soul with black music.

Tino attributes his love for music to his father, Jaime, a guitar player. When Tino was five, he told

his parents he wanted to play the drums after seeing a boy playing on TV. His grandfather bought him a drum set and his parents enrolled him in a music school.

“When I play the drums, I am transported to another dimension. I disappear in the beat. No thinking. No analyzing. It is like driving a car. The drummer is the driver of the band.” He admits though that he is not a machine, he also makes mistakes at concerts. “There is no perfect rehearsal, no perfect concert, no perfect recording. So when I make mistakes, I smile and promise myself not to do it again.”

His parents came to Mallorca in 1988 and although he was born

in Spain, Tino can speak Tagalog and Ilokano fluently. The youngest of three siblings, he grew up as the lone Filipino at his elementary school. His older brothers only came to Spain when they were in their teens. “I was bullied for being different because of my skin and my eyes. But I fought back and sometimes I became a bully too,” adds Tino with a chuckle. “We have a close-knit family. I say po and opo. I also do mano po. I respect my parents but I also answer back when I know I am right.”

At first, his mother was very upset about him playing in a band instead of having a “real job”. “The first time I had a concert with the band, she went to watch even if she was mad at me. When she saw that we had potential, she gave in.” But his father has always been supportive since the very beginning. “My father told me that his dream was in me. He always wanted to be a musician.”

Being in a band- rehearsing, touring and having a job on the sidetake much of Tino´s time that he seldom spends quality time with his family and friends. He is also aware of the temptations that come with the job: drugs, booze and all. “It only takes willpower. I always say no to drugs. But with alcohol, it is a bit hard to resist.”

The saddest part that can happen to bands is when they disband. Tino blames ego as the main cause of these break-ups. “We have different ideas and not all the time my ideas will be followed. We have to learn to give in.” Tino shares how they were close to breaking up but for a different reason. There was a time when they thought they were not going anywhere and considered giving up and focusing on other things. But a new manager came along and put direction in the group. That was when he learned, “Never to

give up on your dreams.”

2023 is a busy year for The Prussians and although the idea of moving to bigger cities sometimes pops up, Tino and his band opt to stay. “We love it here. Mallorca is paradise. It has mountains, beaches and parties. Even Filipino food. We used to go to Barcelona to get Filipino food but now we have a lot here.” The Prussians recorded a song Deia as an ode to their beautiful island.

Tino stays focused. He dreams for his band to reach the top and make more beautiful music. “Also, maybe in two or three years, I will start a family, buy a house,” he shares with a smile on his face, hopeful that the future will be brighter.

“When I play the drums, I am transported to another dimension. I disappear in the beat. No thinking. No analyzing. But there is no perfect rehearsal, no perfect concert, no perfect recording. So when I make mistakes, I smile and promise myself not to do it again.”

THE BUSKER

The autumn air was a celebration of aromas of cheeses, hazelnuts, mushrooms and the world renowned tartufo bianco d’Alba. The annual International White Truffle Festival 2021 was in full swing. In the midst of all this excitement, Jenika Louisse Duran, 29, arrived at Via Maestra street at 4pm. She was on tenterhooks. The sight of Noah standing with his guitar slung over his shoulder, smiling and calm, gave her the comfort she badly needed. Ignoring the noise, she positioned herself in front of the mic and signaled Noah to strum the first chords of the song True Colors.

Her voice floated in the air catching some glances from passersby. Some stopped, others marched on. After several songs, their audience was still sparse. Jenika closed her eyes and crooned the intro of Whitney Houston’s I will always love you and that did it, her audience doubled quickly.

“To sing on the street has always been on my bucket list,” confesses Jenika in our Zoom conversation. That afternoon, her bucket list became one task short. For four hours, she sang her heart out keeping her audience under her spell, even leaving some in tears. “An Italian woman came to me and said, ‘I don’t understand English but your voice pierces through my heart.’”

“It was through a friend’s Instagram that I found Noah, a professional busker from Turin. I sent him my video and when he

saw it, he told me we had to jam,” shares Jenika. They didn’t even have the chance to meet in person before the gig, nor to rehearse. Her mom begged her not to do it, scared of what the reaction of the crowd might be. “I convinced her it was my dream. In my later gigs, my mom would watch me from afar, always excited and nervous.”

Jenika grew up a shy girl, a prey for bullies. To shield herself from all the negativity, she took refuge in music. At the age of six, she knew she could sing. When her mom went to Italy to work, she was left to take care of her two siblings while finishing a degree in Nursing. Soon after, her siblings were petitioned to live with their parents, leaving her to her grandmother. She worked as a nurse at San Lazaro hospital in Manila.

In 2018, she got a job as a caregiver in Malta, a quicker way to be closer to her family. When she got her Maltese residence card, she bought a plane ticket to Italy. “We finally have a complete family photo together,” brims Jenika, who now works as a babysitter on weekdays and a busker on weekends.

After Alba, Jenika and Noah performed in Turin before a huge crowd. A number of Pinoys came to watch. “It is fun to have our kababayans in the audience. They are a jolly lot so it is easier to attract more people.” The rousing turn-outs for both busking gigs made Jenika an instant celebrity, thanks to the videos of them on social media. Her YouTube channel enjoys thousands of views and her subscribers have been growing. She and Noah were invited to perform at weddings and private

events in other parts of Italy. Last September, she was in Germany for a concert organized by a Filipino group.

One year after her first busking experience, Jenika performed solo at Via Maestra.

Busking alone proves to be a challenge as building a crowd is not easy especially in a cold weather. And once you have the crowd, you work harder to keep them watching. “Busking is not easy. It is unpredictable. Today you have a big crowd, tomorrow, only a few. Money is not the same either. I earn 100-300 euros performing for two hours.”

Busking taught Jenika to appreciate singing on the street and her respect for her fellow musicians has grown even more. “It is a profession and buskers are artists. They also pay taxes. We busk, we don’t beg. We perform because we want to share our passion. the most beautiful thing is, we support each other.” At present, Saturdays are still busking days for Jenika, mostly with Noah and sometimes, solo. And from the streets, she is set to conquer the concert stage this year as offers to be the front act singer in Milan, Rome and Barcelona keep coming.

When Jenika wrote “Do Busking” on her bucket list, she never imagined it would come to pass. She never had a clue that it would be a life-changing experience. That every time she opens her mouth to sing in the middle of a noisy street, there is always one heart that she can touch. “Our life is like a book with different chapters, and if this comes to an end, I can say that I am fulfilled. I have made people happy.”

“It is a profession and buskers are artists. They also pay taxes. We busk, we don't beg. We perform because we want to share our passion.

Karessa Ramos, 38, started speaking when she was only 10 months old. Because of her mother’s job in an NGO, they moved from one place to another leaving Karessa not having a stable set of friends growing up. She would talk to the plants, even to her cats, teaching them the alphabet, telling them stories. Stories that were mostly inspired by the books her mother fed her young mind.

“My mom is a progressive

thinker and strict. She wanted me to be independent so she gave me books. She taught me that it is okay to be alone,” explains Karessa, adding that these books made her think and love words.

We are in La Rollerie coffee shop in Madrid for a chat. Between sips of her cafe con leche, Karessa talks about her childhood “friends”. “My books had girls as protagonists. They were strong and brave characters. I wanted to be like them.” What she lacked for friends, she made up for words. “At a young age, I built my own world through words.”

At ten, she started her diary just like her hero, Anne Frank. Her entries would mostly be in the form of a poem. She also wrote poems for her cousins. “They would hire me to write love letters and I was able to bola their girlfriends and boyfriends. They gave me siopao and sago for my service.”

Karessa wrote in her diary religiously throughout her growing up years, and only stopped at the age of 17 when she came to Spain.

“My mother married my Spanish stepfather and took me to Spain against my will. I was angry. I felt robbed of words.”

Before Spain, Karessa would always sit in the first row in class, asking questions, sure of herself. In Spain, she couldn't speak, she was muted. She also became bulimic. Then her family had to pack their bags back to the Philippines because of work, except her. “I couldn't go because I was still in school. I was left to live in the house of my stepfather’s parents. I was helpless, I felt betrayed.”

She turned to her “friends” for comfort. She read and re-read the books of Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende to brush up on her Spanish. She went back to her diary and this time, her entries were in Castellano. Embracing her new life, Karessa had to deal with the highs and lows of life: from finishing a degree in economics to meeting her now exhusband, to becoming a mother, to getting out of a bad marriage, and to getting in and out a polyamorous relationship.

Lost and disappointed, Karessa found the courage from her poems to defend and accept herself. She took up creative writing in Madrid for a year. “I learned dangerous writing from Gloria Fortín. The technique is to ask myself, how would I feel if my grandmother read a risqué story of mine? If I feel uncomfortable, I have to deal with that,

By Susana Vallejo

expand on that, dig on that.”

During the pandemic, she wrote a lot and posted on Instagram and facilitated online writing workshops for Spaniards and migrants. One of her essays became part of a collection of erotic poems and short stories, Masticando el deseo, published in May 2021. In November 2021, her first book Cosechas del insomnio (Harvest from insomnia) was published.

While the world was asleep at night, Karessa would find herself

awake searching for words to quench her thirst of letting her emotions out. Cosechas del insomnio is a product of her sleepless nights, of her childhood dreams, her teenage angst and her grown-up challenges. With the publication of her book, Karessa feels she has done something significant not only for herself but also for the migrant women. “We don't have representation as Filipinos, the Filipino diaspora. There is a language barrier, and I want to break it. I want to break my own

fear to show we have something to give. Telling them we are also here. I cried and cried when I got hold of my book.”

Poems are a big part of Karessa’s life. And while she is still fighting her emotional battles and working very hard towards self-healing, she takes out her notebook and pen, fills each page with poems and stories that pinch the flesh and pierce through the senses. “When I finish one poem, I feel at peace, like I’m in a trance.

By Chiara Davidson

By Nats Sisma Villaluna

Making a better world in

Oklahoma

Mia Caram Dianda founded a company to help children with autism, proving that you can make the world a better place no matter where you live.

Mia Caram Dianda, (47) loves to multitask. While doing our Zoom interview, she virtually takes me with her as she runs her morning errands: driving her teenage daughter to school, grabbing her morning tea at Starbucks, going back home to eat her breakfast and preparing for her trip to the gym before work.

Mia moved to Oklahoma city last summer. “We used to live in Choctaw, a city 27 kilometers away from here. Living here is very convenient. School is four minutes away, work is just eight minutes.” Oklahoma reminds Mia of her hometown Bacolod,

where getting around is easy. Known for its Southern culture and belonging to the Bible Belt, where Protestant Christianity plays an influential role in the society, Oklahomans are traditional, welcoming and kind. “I like the small-city feel, I feel safe here.”

Although Asians only comprise 4% of the total predominantly white population and with only very few Pinoys around, Mia considers Oklahoma a good place to raise a family. “It is not as crazy as Los Angeles.”

Unfamiliar paths

Mia holds a diploma in Physical Therapy from the Riverside Medical College in Bacolod City. She wanted to

be a neurosurgeon, her mom wanted her to take up nursing. “That was where the money was. But blood and needles did not appeal to me.” In 1997, she passed the board exam making her one of the first licensed therapists from her school.

But the excitement was short-lived. “That time, only one licensed physical therapist was hired to do the program and it was the interns who treated the patients.” This caused stiff competition among the new graduates and made it difficult for Mia to land a job. She went back to Bacolod to work as a home therapist where she saw patients at their homes, those suffering from stroke and aneurysm.

After a year, she went to

Manila and worked for Behavior Management for Autistic Children (BMAC), owned by an Indian family who had a six-year-old son with autism. “I was directly assigned to the boy although I was not that familiar with Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA).

Understanding behavior

As a physical therapist, Mia was trained to work with patients to improve their movement and manage their pain using an exercise-based approach. She didn’t have any experience treating patients with autism. “On my first day, I was like, what was I supposed to do? The kid was screaming at me. I got scared because he was hitting himself. I was more

Mia and her teenage daughter, Micah in their home in Oklahoma.

focused on what he was doing, not on what he was trying to say. Restraining him made it worse.” The boy was non-verbal and could not express himself in a traditional way.

BMAC brought in experts from the United States to train Mia on how to implement behavior analysis. “I learned that as a behavioral therapist, I had to encourage desirable behaviors and reduce unwanted ones. I came to understand how powerful understanding behavior is, that the child was just trying to communicate with me but found it difficult because he didn’t have words to say. Knowing this made it easier to help him.”

After a year, Mia moved to A Child Can (ACC), where she was assigned to do home therapy mostly with children from affluent families. “In the Philippines, there are two therapists for one kid. One takes data and the other does the sessions. Because of this, only few can afford ABA therapy for their children.”

Making it in the US

She had always considered working in the US. When a colleague tipped her about a US hiring team at the Manila hotel, Mia went to apply without any expectations. She was hired the following week and was leaving in two months. “I only paid

USD 800 for everything. They gave me a J-visa which is like an exchange student visa. It was the fastest way to hire us.”

In August 2001, Mia flew to San Jose, California to work as a teacher for kids with autism. Although she did not have a teaching diploma, she was hired because of her previous job experience. She taught kindergarten special education for a few years and was assigned to an autism program later on.

With her new life, Mia learned to get by in a very expensive city. She learned to tighten her belt to make ends meet. Since she didn’t have education units, she took classes to keep her job. “I shouldered all my tuition fees. I also had to buy a car because it was a necessity. On top of that, I hired a lawyer to help me to convert my J1 visa into an H1B visa to allow me to stay and work in the US.”

In 2004, Mia worked for another school. “I was able to do a lot of ABA because all

“I learned that as a behavioral therapist, I had to encourage desirable behaviors and reduce unwanted ones. I came to understand how powerful understanding behavior is...”

Mia attributes the success of her company to her hardworking team.

Below: Advanced Behavioral Solutions (ABS) helps children improve their functional skills

of my kids had autism.” She mentored and trained new teachers in the district to set up their classrooms.

Setting up a new classroom includes the arrangement of furniture, sitting positions and the materials on the wall. “It is important to situate the teacher where she/he can see everything. The kids should not be going through obstacle courses just to sharpen their pencils.”

She also saw kids in groups and worked on their social skills, teaching them conversational skills as well as understanding emotions. “I loved my work so much that it was a hard decision when I had to give it up after ten years.”

In 2006, Mia gave birth to her daughter Micah. Two years later, she married Micah’s dad.

Country living

In 2009, Mia and her family

moved to Oklahoma, in a town where almost all residents were white. They wanted Micah to know her relatives while she was growing, and help take care of her husband’s grandfather. “It was a culture shock moving from California to Oklahoma.”

Mia was anxious but she tackled it head on by keeping herself busy. She didn’t work immediately, occupied by a preschool child and her husband’s grandpa. “I was cooking country food from scratch. Making biscuits from scratch, everything from scratch. There are some areas in Oklahoma where discrimination is obvious. People would look at me differently. Some would even ask me how I got here.”

The task of caring for the house fell on her. “My husband is a contractor and would work late nights and leave early in the morning. Staying at home 24/7 out in the country would drive me crazy.”

At times, she would hear offensive comments like, “Immigrants were taking away the jobs of the locals.” To defend herself, she would reason out that she was a college graduate, working in the country legally and never stole anybody’s job. Given the circumstances, Mia slowly learned to toughen up. “My mother was very strict. Growing up, we were taught not to answer back, take things all in. But people snap. I snapped. I learned to fight back.”

It took a while for Mia to adjust with her life in Oklahoma. “People would stare at me. With my accent, I really stood out when I went to the store. But Oklahomans are not generally rude.”

Starting a career again

After six months, Mia was hired by the Oklahoma Autism Network at the University of Oklahoma. She trained parents

“People would stare at me. With my accent, I really stood out when I went to the store.”

Mia spends fun times with daughter Micah and their Cavapoo, Aspen.

and gave support systems for families. “When I got the job, we moved to our own house, a rented one.” She was once again back on her feet. Bent on working as a behavioral therapist in Oklahoma, she found ways to be certified. “I took online classes at night and studied when Micah was sleeping.” After doing practicum for a year, Mia took the exam and got certified.

In 2014, Mia was hired by Easter Seals Oklahoma where she started the company’s behavioral program. “I trained parents and families here and there.” Oftentimes, she provided free training to families who couldn’t afford it. She then became the Director of the Medical Rehabilitation. Things went sour when she was told to stop giving free trainings and start charging. “It was too expensive for some poor families. This was not the reason why I went to this field.”

Juggling motherhood and business

This was when Mia decided to start her own company. She was scared but she took chances. “I started with the

families I already knew and who trusted me.” In 2017, Advanced Behavioral Solutions was born.

With her new company, Mia aimed to help children to improve their functional skills and adapt to their environment so they can reach their full potential. “My rates were so low and I would offer free training to families. We started with one room and relied on word of mouth.”

From one room on the first floor of a 10-storey building, the company moved to occupy most of the fifth floor of the same building. Mia attributes the success of her company to her competent staff. At present, ABS has twelve employees, working with minority groups especially with Hispanic families.

“It was not easy at first. The hardest part was juggling between motherhood and work. Time management is very important. I couldn’t sacrifice my daughter’s time but she also understood that I had to go, work and come back.”

Mia would pick up Micah from school at three in the afternoon, then off to a grocery shop with a diner for dinner, help Micah do her homework before taking her to her extra classes, then go back to work. “I had to load my car the night before with all the stuff I would need the following day because our house in Choctaw was far from the city center. My husband was busy working so I was really in charge of Micah. I was married and a single mom at the same time.”

Is she a strict mother?

“Yes, I am. Maybe because I work in this field, I tend to analyze people’s behavior,” Mia says giggling and continues, “But I try to have fun with my daughter.”

Birth pains

Mia’s workplace is designed to accommodate the needs of her clients. “There are two reception areas, one for teenagers and for young kids. When the young kids come, some throw tantrums and it makes the teens uncomfortable so we have separate rooms for each age group.” They also teach the children to wash dishes in the kitchen area. From a different room, parents can observe their children. “Ninety percent of my kids have autism, the rest have Down Syndrome or other diagnoses.”

At first, business was tough as insurance did not cover ABA yet, being a new field. Poor families would use their respite vouchers to avail her services. A respite voucher is a voucher payment given by the state of Oklahoma to caregivers so they can pay another person to care

‘‘The hardest part was juggling between motherhood and work. Time management is very important. I couldn’t sacrifice my daughter’s time but she also understood that I had to go, work and come back.”

“I thank God for everything. I work hard and as long as I am doing the right thing, I will be compensated. Let’s always go back to our values. We were raised in a country where values are important.”

for their loved one. In 2018, insurance started paying ABA. “But the problem was we still did not know what documents the insurance wanted. I did the paperwork but since the process was still so new, the insurance companies were not consistent on what they wanted. As a result, I wasn’t getting paid on time.” There was a time when Mia had not been paid for three months but she survived. Her company

grew from three kids to the current 21 kids doing one on one therapy.

Making a difference

Mia knows that she is making a difference in the life of her kids and small miracles are enough to lift her spirit. “Our kids don’t come up to me and say thank you. My job is more of an intrinsic motivation for me. I had a client who was non-verbal. I taught her how to

use signs and then eventually an AAC device, teaching her functional words such as water. I initially pointed to the screen and it would speak to her. I then moved the iPad farther away which resulted to the child speaking words on her own.”

Mia allows parents to be present to see what is going on but she gets frustrated when some families are not involved. “There are those who just

want us to fix their child and go home. The family has to participate in the program for it to be successful.”

The other night, a parent messaged Mia to show her son making pancakes by himself. Mia texted back praising the parent. “We have to reinforce the parents because they live with the kids 24/ 7. And never judge them because we don’t live in their shoes.”

Mia always tells the parents to never give up on their children, that their child is unique and special. “I tell them that their kids learn at their pace. It doesn’t mean that if they don’t learn now they won’t learn at all.” Some parents compare their child with other kids. Mia tells them their child will get there. It might not be today but it will happen later on.

Mia doesn’t dream of a big company. What she wants in the future is to have a consulting component within the company. This is the reason why she is now in her second year of her Doctoral program at the University of Oklahoma. “We want to work more on families at home and train teachers and paraprofessionals at schools because the need is there, so that our kids will be successful, not just in our clinic.”

Mia’s younger sister Menchu describes her as a very determined person. When she sets her mind on a plan, she will do everything she can to achieve it. Mia’s life in the US has been filled with challenges but these challenges shaped her to become the person that she is now. “I thank God for everything. I work hard and as long as I am doing the right thing, I will be compensated. Let’s always go back to our values. We were raised in a country where values are important.”

By Dheza Aguillar

TAKING THE BULL BY THE HORNS

Allan Bryan Mendros (36) does not let money sit still. 2023 is only his 10th year in Canada, yet this young man from a small island in the Philippines already owns three businesses - cleaning services, a bed and breakfast and a restaurant.

Combining hard work, determination, guts and business savvy, Allan built his companies from the tips that he saved up while he was working at a restaurant. After saving up CAD15,000, he invested the money to buy a vacuum cleaner, floor stripping and waxing machine, and cleaning materials. This was the start of

This probinsyano knows that when it comes to business there are no shortcuts. You have to give your best self, just like when pursuing love.

Filipino entrepreneur Allan Bryan Mendros proudly displays the Philippine flag in his restaurant. Right: Allan with wife Andreasand their four chiildren.

MT Cleaning System Inc., and Me-tro Services, an acronym that combines his and his wife Andrea’s surnames, Mendros and Trono. In Calgary, they are known as the Me-Tro family.

Taking the bull by the horns

Born in Tagwak, a small agricultural village in the town of Boac, Marinduque, Allan came to work in Calgary in June 2013, as a dishwasher at Chili’s Grill and Bar, an American chain restaurant with branches all over the world.

As a young boy, Allan remembers sitting on an embankment in a paddy field, looking at the setting sun, asking himself “Is this everything that life has to offer me?” Right there and then he decided that he should improve the lives of his family, especially his parents.

So when he went to Canada, he was determined to stay. Unsure whether his company could give him a permanent residence visa, he resigned mid-contract.

“During that time, the (Canadian) government would send you home once your contract ends. I was worried. What will happen to me? Will I be sent back home? That’s why I decided to look for a company that would process my papers quickly so I could stay in Canada for good. I had guts and

I did my best,” says Allan during our Zoom interview.

While working for Una Pizza and Wine restaurant in Calgary, Allan got his permanent residency and stayed on for another two years. His wife would save up the tips that he would bring home from the restaurant.

Honesty and hard work

At MT Cleaning System Inc, Allan and Andrea would earn between CAD100 to CAD200 per hour cleaning office and commercial spaces, houses and apartments, and industrial warehouses. He spent hours on the Internet learning the tools of the trade. Allan says that in a cleaning company, your body is your biggest investment. While the job is tough, money is easy.

But apart from the income, what he is most proud of is the trust that he earns from his clients, which includes companies and houses of billionaires.

“You talk to them, you have a meeting with them while

many of their employees are not even allowed in their offices. You are not just a cleaner, you are trusted, you are given a key (to their houses), and businesses. If you were a bad person, you could steal from them. That’s why I am so proud of this job.”

Allan is grateful that his wife is disciplined and thrifty. Using the income from the cleaning business, they were able to buy a house and car, and enough money to bankroll the next plan.

Investing in real estate

Allan and Andrea’s family was growing. When the fourth child was born, they decided to build a second house, wanting to give each child their own room, and a big garden to run around. Again, through their savings, they were able to convince the bank to give them a mortgage.

It took a year and a half to finish, and when they moved out of their first house in 2016, they turned it into Metro Casa Bed and Breakfast, located in Coventry Hills, a 5-minute drive from Calgary Airport. Their BnB is enjoying an average score of 4.7 on AirBnB.com. Metro Casa BnB is managed by Allan, his wife, and his brother-in-law. It also doubles as a function room for events and his catering company MT Caterings Services.

“After getting our permanent residency, things went on very quickly. My wife and I always had a plan, even before we started processing our permanent residency. When it came, we were able to implement our plans right away. Be-

BUSINESS AT A GLANCE

Business name: Multi-business under MeTro Inc. (restaurant, bed and breakfast, cleaning services)

Owners: Allan Bryan Mendros and Andrea Trono Mendros

Employees:

17 including the owners

Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Website: mtcleaningsysteminc. ca, fritou130.ca, Metro Casa FB

Industry: Food and restaurant, customer service, travel

Initial Investment: CAD15,000

Recurring expenses: Overhead, utilities, supplies,

Expected ROI: Within three years

Business advice:

‘‘You have to know when you are ready, the nature of your business and your own capabilities when it comes to budget and your skills. Starting a business is like courting a girl. You won’t get a yes right away. You have to show who you are, what you can do. In the first year, you can stop or you can continue. In the second year, that’s when you’ll know if you will earn money. You will have to advertise, maintain your clients, and your community. In the third year, that’s when you will get the yes. You’ll start making new plans, your business will be established. That's the only time when you can say that your business venture is profitable.”

“Starting a business is like courting a girl. You won’t get a yes right away. You have to show who you are and what you can do.”

ing an entrepreneur, we look for other sources of income. So we decided to turn the old house into a bed and breakfast, and it became quite successful.”

Passion for cooking

While his professional background is in the food industry Allan did not invest in a restaurant right away. The opportunity came serendipitously. They were working on a construction site when he chanced upon a restaurant for sale, also owned by a Filipino entrepreneur. The owner, a single mom of three, had a full time job and didn’t have time to manage the business. An employee told him that if the restaurant was sold to another nationality, they would lose their jobs.

“Here in Canada, once an opportunity comes to us, we grab it right away. We don’t let go, that’s why we are successful. In this venture, we hit three birds with one stone. We were able to help the former owner, she was able to help us fulfill our dream of having a restaurant, and we saved the jobs of fellow Filipinos,” Allan says proudly.

Thus, Fritou Chicken 130 was born. It was in this restaurant in Calgary that Allan was finally able to pursue his passion

for cooking. As a hands-on employer, he still does the purchasing of supplies, and stands behind the fryer whenever an employee gets sick or can’t come to work.

The basis is family

Not everything is a walk in the park though. Allan admits that his ventures demand a lot of time and energy. Going to bed at midnight, and waking up at dawn is his usual routine. He sleeps a maximum of four hours a day. His main struggle is exhaustion.

But the care of his wife, and the love for his children keep him going. Since he is the owner of the company, he can easily take time off whenever he wants to take his children out or play with them. For him, the best measurements of his success is when he is finally able to buy his own house and car, his family eats well, he buys proper clothes for his children, and sends them to a good school.

Dealing with clients

Allan also struggles with customer complaints. Since he owns the business, his reputation is on the line. He calls clients who are not satisfied with his restaurant or cleaning job, and makes sure to fix the

problems himself.

But he is thankful for these challenges because he can hone his skills as an entrepreneur. His secret? Staying chill.

Becoming wise

In business, hard work and capital are not enough. Strategy and sharpness are equally important. One of Allan’s strategies is not to hire workers who already have a long employment history.

“I hire people with no experience. They will learn from you, and what they learn is what they will apply to everyday work operations. Those who are experienced, they can make a game on you. They’ve already learned how to cheat their bosses,” he says matter of factly.

Allan tries to give everyone an opportunity in his companies. Among his employees are pensioners, young people, and mothers. Through the years, he has learned the ropes of managing employees and dealing with

clients.

Many Filipino entrepreneurs would patronize the support of fellow kababayans but Allan does not mince words. While he acknowledges the community’s support, he had experienced being bullied by fellow Filipinos. How does he deal with this?

“Simple, just be yourself. People don’t really know you, they don’t really know your investments. If you are already in a good place in life, just smile at them. Because your life is probably much better than theirs.”

The future

The guy who would always choose cleaning over being a restaurant owner plans to retire at 45 and travel the world. But he does not plan to stop. He wants to open his own grocery store in Calgary, to help kababayans sell their own products. He also dreams of building a high end resort in the Philippines.

“Once an opportunity comes to us, we grab it right away. We don’t let go, that’s why we are successful.”

How do you avoid scams?

SHARON MASLER President Masler & Associates

Scams are everywhere. They can be in the form of fake emails and texts asking you to click on a link. It can be on Facebook Messenger asking you to send money to a friend in need, or someone posing as an admirer, threatening voice calls saying you owe the IRS, scary letters or even someone showing up at your house unannounced.

The most common victims of these scams are seniors, immigrants, and students. There can be different types of scams: Covid 19 scams, banking scams, telephone scams, census-related fraud, investment scams, government grant scams, lottery scams, charity scams, pyramid and ponzi schemes, identity theft and ticket scams.

COVID-19 scams

Even during the pandemic, scammers are around calling, emailing or texting people offering certain promotions or benefits that can be attractive to anyone.

Telephone scams Telephone scammers are all about stealing money and personal information. They pretend to be someone who invites you to invest your money, receive trial products, or free grants. These include calls from people pretending they are the IRS saying you owe money and threatening you of jail time or lawsuit.

Charity scams Charity scammers take advantage of people’s kindness and generosity. They pose as charity representatives and will try to get your personal information for a so – called donation. This usually happens during a time of disasters and tragedies.

Banking scams These bank scammers will attempt to log into your bank account. Email scams These hackers will send you a legitimate looking email asking you to click a link that will eventually allow them to hack your contacts and system.

Investment scams

These investment scammers will promise you big returns on your investment. They are very savvy in making everything look legitimate with big believable presentations and they can be in the US and other countries.

Social media scams

These social media scammers will pretend to be you on Facebook messaging all your friends asking for money.

Senior citizens love scams These senior citizen love scams will prey on the seniors and pretend that they are interested in them, getting their attention, giving them praises until the seniors fall into the trap and give their bank information when these so-called admirers ask for money.

Whatever scam it may be, your clue is whenever someone asks for your personal information, unless they are from legitimate institutions, you have to be extra careful. Here are some tips:

1. Do not readily or quickly give out your social security information. If you are a sole proprietor business, apply for a Taxpayer ID number (TIN) with the IRS at www.irs.gov so that when clients or vendors ask for your business ID, you are giving out the TIN and not your social security number.

2. The IRS will never call to threaten you so that should be a big warning sign to watch out for. Initial conversations with

the IRS will always be through physical mail not phone calls or emails. So never entertain any IRS email or phone call unless you get contacted through physical mail first.

3. If in doubt, never give out your banking information, home address, or credit card information to strangers.

4. Watch out for initial deposit requirements for investments. We have seen clients losing millions of dollars who

fell into these investment traps.

5. Be careful about these government grant scammers, they will pretend to give you a grant but will ask for your bank information to “deposit” the grant. Never give out your bank information unless you have verified the source of the grant.

6. When in doubt, never click on an email link. You might just allow these hackers to get into your private system and hack your contacts.

The most common victims of these scams are seniors, immigrants, and students. There can be different types of scams: Covid 19 scams, banking scams, telephone scams, censusrelated fraud, investment scams, government grant scams, lottery scams, charity scams, pyramid and ponzi schemes, identity theft and ticket scams.

By Dheza Aguillar

5 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE INVESTING IN CONDOMINIUMS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Despite the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Philippines real estate industry has remained strong and is expected to remain resilient in the coming years. According to a report released by Colliers, a real estate service investment company, 166,400 condominium units will be available in Metro Manila in 2024, a 17% increase compared to 2021. Majority of these will be in the Manila Bay Area.

Investing in a real estate property, particularly in Manila is even more tempting, especially for Filipino expats with expanding families who regularly go home for vacation. But before you invest your hard-earned money, ask yourself these five questions.

Why are you buying?

Investing in a real estate property in the Philippines is a big financial decision. When Irene Ulayao-Ilagan, a restaurant owner in Barcelona decided to buy a condominium unit in Manila, she and her husband asked themselves this question. A house in Manila will not be really useful for them since they are only in the Philippines for short vacations. So they opted for a condominium unit. In addition to using it as an accommodation for their travels instead of staying in expensive hotels, they expect to earn a minimum of Php2,500 per day by renting it out. For them, buying a condominium unit is also a source of additional income.

Is your budget realistic?

Property value increases each year, but so does the cost of construction, maintenance, property tax, insurance, utilities, etc. Downpayment and monthly amortizations are only the initial expenses. Do you have the budget for this? How would you adjust your income and expenses to cover the costs?

When *Robert Villanueva, a Filipino expat based in Switzerland, bought his condominium unit in Makati, he opted to pay it in five years. The mortgage was so high that he was working three jobs while paying for it, while also sending remittances to his family in the Philippines. He was also

burdened with other costs such as repairs and monthly community dues. Finding tenants was challenging. Looking back, he would have chosen to buy a house instead or a unit in another location.

Can you find a trusted real estate broker abroad?

Both Irene and Robert say that finding a trusted real estate broker and real estate property agents is very important when buying a condominium unit in the Philippines. For his part, Robert says that the sellers weren’t very transparent when it came to additional costs. He advises not to be lured by sales talks and decide based on your own plans.

Research the property developer of the condominium complex that you are planning to buy. Do they have a good and long history of property development? What is the current state of their properties? Do they partner with reliable financial institutions when it comes to payment? Google and social media sites like Facebook are a good place to get independent reviews.

Check whether your broker is licensed via the Philippine Regulation Commission (www. prc.gov.ph). In the Philippines, real estate brokers need to get a degree in Real Estate Management, register at the Professional Regulation Commission and pass the Real Estate Licensure Exam. They also have to be registered at the House and Land Use Regulatory Board. Also check whether they are members of the Philippine Association of

Real Estate

Boards, Inc (PAREB)

(parebmls. com) or the Real Estate Broker of the Philippines (www.rebap.com.ph).

A real estate broker is different from a real estate property agent. They can both sell and buy properties for you but real estate brokers have more in-depth trainings than real estate property agents.

Do you know Republic Act No. 4726?

When buying a condominium unit, you automatically become a shareholder of your condominium corporation. This is stated in the Section 2 of Republic Act No. 4726 also known as The Condominium Act. As mandated by Section 11 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 68 or the Corporation Code of the Philippines, corporations cannot exist for more than 50 years.

To protect consumers, Section 8C of the Condominium Act states that before an entire building or project could be sold or demolished, the building must be more than 50 years old, must have no value and the majority of the unit owners does not agree to repair the building anymore.

So it becomes even more important to find units that are built by trusted property developers that do not sacrifice the quality and sustainability of the units for maximum profit.

Are you ready to pay 32% rental income tax?

If you are planning to rent out your condominium, you are required to pay taxes. Rental income tax is paid when a property owner, who does not have other types of income in the Philippines, earns at least $1,500 or more or less Php 64,000 a month for leasing their property. The lessor must also not have an existing mortgage in the Philippines. Rental income tax can go up to 32% for earning more than $10,000.

While investing in a condominium unit is a good financial decision, Robert thinks that buying a piece of land from a trusted seller is also a good option. He advises potential buyers to make sure that they are aware of all the costs and consider all possible risks, including getting sick or unemployed, before jumping the gun.

*some names have been changed as requested by interviewees.

WAS ABLE TO BUY A HOUSE FROM MY EARNINGS AS A WORKING STUDENT."

In Money Talk, we ask our kababayans about their income and expenses. Paola C. used to work as an au pair in the Netherlands before becoming a working student in Belgium. From her income as a working student, she was able to invest in a house in the Philippines, and pay for her Master’s degree.

Tell me about your investment

We lived in my Lola’s house together with the siblings of my parents. And you know in the Philippines, when the parents die, issues about ownership surface. My Lola passed away already so the house is meant to save my parents from future issues. I bought a house and put it in my parents name. I pay Php15,000 so that’s my remittance of €280.

You don’t send remittances?

My parents don’t require me to send money, only when it’s absolutely necessary. They are very supportive and understand that I am a student so they don’t pressure me to send money to them.

I studied in La Salle on a full scholarship with allowance so I was never a burden to my parents. My younger sibling was also on full scholarship but because of Covid, her current scholarship is only 50%, which is about Php25,000 per month, including tuition fee increase. My youngest sister is also going to senior high and her tuition fee is around Php30,000.

When I finally have a job here, my goal is to bring them to Europe so that they can study here.

How did you become a working student?

After my au pair contract, I really did not want to go back to the Philippines anymore. So I made Plan A, B, and C. I applied for different master’s programmes in different schools. My first choice was Erasmus Mondus, another was in Maastricht, and Leuven University was my last choice. My Plan D was to go home.

I got accepted in all programmes I applied to but in Erasmus Mondus, I had to spend the first year in the United Kingdom, and there’s no scholarship. I needed to pay around £18,000. In Maastricht, I was eligible for a 50% scholarship but the remaining tuition is still €9,000 for international students. That’s still too expensive for me. So I chose KU Leuven.

The university offers scholarships to

By Dheza Aguillar

Paola C. (24) Leuven, Belgium

Monthly income €800-€900

Monthly expenses

Rent €390

Remittance €280

Transport (public) €20

Utilities (gas, electricity, water) -€0

Groceries €30

Insurance €9

Telephone, tv and internet €0

Subscriptions €0

Insurance €0

Shopping -€0

rice pack from the Asian store and that’s good for more than a month.

You don’t pay for telephone subscriptions or utilities?

I stay in a student dorm with 38 students. I have my own room and a shared kitchen, shared bathroom/ shower. So gas, electricity and water are all included. My boyfriend pays for my mobile subscription but it’s only €15 per month.

Why do you have a debt?

That was from the time I went to a South African game reserve for a school research. I needed extra money so I borrowed €200 from friends. The trip was a requirement for school and I paid for it with my own income. But my boyfriend helped me and paid one month’s rent so that I could save up for the trip. The plane ticket was paid by the school but I had to pay the accommodation of €320 and some pocket money.

What are your future plans?

students from the Global South.

So instead of €7,000, I only pay €1,250 per year, that’s automatic for students from the Philippines. My tuition fee is even cheaper than my siblings!

Holiday €20

Other expenses €50

Savings €0

TOTAL = €799

Debt €100

You earn €800-€900 monthly. What do you do?

I work in a fast food company. My contract is 10 hours because students in Belgium are only allowed to work 475 hours per year. But I need to pay my rent every month so I talked to the HR to allow me to maximize my hours and earn at least €400 per month to pay my rent. I earn €13 per hour.

You splurge on going out with your friends and scrimp on groceries? How often do you go out?

I just try to limit my budget to €20 whenever I go

out with friends. I ask them to come to Leuven or we go to Brussels. A return ticket to Brussels from Leueven is only €7,20. I go to the Netherlands every other week to be with my boyfriend. That’s my work-life-love-balance. With groceries, I only buy the most essential items like milk, cereals, pasta, and because I also cook, I also buy garlic, onions and those things. The nice thing about my work is that I can eat there for free, and sometimes I can bring home free food. I buy the 5-kilo

I am really planning for the future of my siblings. One of my sisters wants to become a nurse so I am gearing her up to learn German. I already know people who took Ausbildung, so I am encouraging her to come to Germany as an au pair, and study nursing at the same time. It’s cheaper than paying Php60,000 of tuition fee per semester for a 4-year nursing course. At least here, she’ll be recognized as a nurse right away.

If you won €1 million, where would you spend it?

Buying a house for my family, insurance, paying off family debt, savings if any left

What’s the best thing that money has given you?

Life experience (traveling) and emotional satisfaction (eating out with friends, shopping)

What’s the one thing you think that money cannot buy?

Relationships with other people. Good attitude. Kindness. Contentment.

"I

By Siony Sarabia

AUCKLAND, NOT AKLAN

An Aklan native

Coming to New Zealand was purely accidental.

I had never imagined living abroad leaving behind a comfortable life, a stable job and my elderly parents. When my friend applied to migrate to New Zealand, she did not want to do it alone so she loaned me Php15,000 to pay for the nonrefundable Expression of Interest cost (EOI). In a strange turn of events, my friend’s application was denied and mine approved.

Back then, my father was in and out of the hospital. It took me two years to process my papers and get a sixmonth Skilled Migrant Visa on the condition that I had to find a permanent job within six months. I only decided to give it a try two months into my approved visa. With four months left, I filed for a holiday leave from work and told my friends I would be on vacation in my hometown Aklan, not Auckland.

I arrived in Auckland in June 2007 and stayed with a Pinoy friend who lived a bit far from the city center. Besides the ubiquitous graffiti, the gigantic trucks that looked like transformers in sci-fi movies

first caught my attention.

Find a job and winter boots

I spent my first week buying winter clothes, opening a bank account, a Kiwi Saver account (a voluntary savings scheme that is equivalent to our Pag-ibig Fund and my IRD Tax Number. New Zealand’s

most popular employment marketplace, seek.co.nz, was such a big help. I was so desperate to land a job that I ticked the box asking if I had any work experience in New Zealand. “Bahala na”, I told myself.

Days later, I was in my newly bought cheap winter

boots walking for almost an hour to reach the employment agency where they gave me written and typing exams and an interview. Within that week, I finally got a job offer as an account assistant of a data computer software distribution company. The salary was low but I didn’t care.

found herself in Auckland, New Zealand and is not planning on leaving anymore.

Slow

living in Auckland

Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city. Also known as the City of Sails, it is surrounded by hundreds of boats and yachts anchored and moored in its marinas. Compared to busy Manila, it is a calm place where the air is fresh, noise pollution

is unheard of and traffic congestion is not a daily hell.

I live in the suburbs where I enjoy a slow-paced life. Auckland is gifted with pleasant and balanced weather all throughout the year. Right outside my window, I have a good view of Mt. Wellington.

Whenever I need a beautiful distraction, I just glance out of the window and admire nature´s beauty.

Living among the Kiwis

In the beginning, I found the Kiwi accent a bit difficult to understand. Little by little, I warmed up with their common expressions and sense of humor. Although I sometimes hear some locals complaining about the growing numbers of immigrants “stealing their jobs”, they are generally friendly and laid-back.

At work, I immediately felt at ease with my coworkers who came from different cultural backgrounds. Everybody was nice to me. When my father died three months after I arrived and couldn’t see him for the last time, my colleagues tried to console me and made me feel as if I was with my family. When a creepy guy followed me for days, my boss picked me up and drove me home for

a week and accompanied me to the police to file a complaint.

Kiwis are generally thrifty. They save a lot and don’t spend too much on branded goods. Most of my Kiwi friends go to Salvation Army or second hand shops. But throughout the years, a growing number of shops selling luxury brands have drawn multitudes of shoppers.

After work, Kiwis march to their nearest pubs to enjoy the happy hour between 4pm and 7pm. My friends and I like to hang out at our favorite bar, Dr. Rudi’s Rooftop Brewing Co., overlooking Auckland’s Viaduct Harbor to enjoy a glass of beer and mussels.

Locals love to eat healthy. When you go to one of their parties, they serve vegetable salad although they are also fond of barbecue or “barbie”, where the meat from the supermarket goes straight to the grill.

Not only is Auckland culturally diverse, it also has

The author enjoying the breathtaking Mt. Creighton South Island.

One of the most popular places in Auckland, the Viaduct.

The big fish of Gore South Island.

There are more Filipinos here than in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital. An estimated 60,000 Filipinos live in Auckland and the number is getting bigger. The common problem of Filipinos is their visas. They come to New Zealand with their family after selling everything in the Philippines.

The iconic SkyCity in Auckland.

a rich natural bounty making the city a paradise in itself. With 50 or so volcanoes and plentiful bodies of water, Aucklanders can’t be expected to stay indoors. While I see locals grab a chair, a book and an apple and head off to the nearest beach, I also see our kababayans go to the beach with loads of food and drinks. Whenever I have time, I go mountain climbing and island hopping with friends or when I need to be by myself, I drive away from the hustle and the bustle of the city to enjoy the breathtaking views along the way.

Cost of living

Compared to the other cities in the country, Aukland’s standard of living is higher. A salary of NZ$70,000 a year will be enough to get by but doesn’t include extra expenses on non-basic things. To save money, I share the flat with three other Filipino friends and the flat costs NZ$850 a week. A car is a necessity although buses and trains are convenient

and efficient.

Auckland has an extremely low crime rate. But lately, there have been several ram rage incidents with thieves raiding and smashing their cars into shops. This is alarming but according to the police, the situation is under control.

Typical Filipino problem

There are more Filipinos here than in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital. An estimated 60,000 Filipinos live in Auckland and the number is getting bigger. The common problem of Filipinos is their visas. They come to New Zealand with their family after selling everything in the Philippines. When they arrive here, they can’t find a job. If they find one, their job is not related to their qualifications which affects their points for their work visas. Most of the time, it is too late to change jobs because their visas are about to expire. Sadly, some of them are sent home.

I always tell my friends not to bring their families yet

and to make sure first they get the right job for their qualifications.

Perfect place for retirement

It has been fifteen years now since I landed in Auckland with only NZ $2000 in my pocket, a box of Nissin Ramen and paying

NZ$ 250 a week for a room. I am still with the same company. Looking back, my journey has been bumpy but I managed to thrive and be happy. At my age, I don’t want a complicated life. Life here is slow, simple and calm. New Zealand is a good place to retire.

A weekend on Motuihe Island.

MY CHILD FROM ACROSS THE OCEAN

A Catalan mom adopts a Filipino child

“You don’t wake up one morning and then ask the social worker for a kid to adopt. Ours was an idea that had been with us for seven years. We had thought of this even before we had our two biological children,“ explains Ester on why she and her husband decided to adopt a child.

In early 2011, when their sons were five and two years old, they finally felt ready to welcome another member to their family. “My sons had been raised knowing that they had a brother from another place.”

After taking a series of psychological tests, seminars and interviews at the El Institut Català de l’Acolliment i l’Adopció (ICAA), a government adoption board in Catalonia, Ester and her family were granted the Idoneidad in December 2011, which certified them capable and suitable to adopt a child. Their application was processed through the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Manila, the Catalan adoption board and a certified international adoption agency in Barcelona.

They originally looked into the possibility of an international adoption in China or a local one in Spain. That year though, both countries had temporarily stopped accepting applications. Adopting in the Philippines was never considered at the start, but Ester is glad that they eventually did.

“The Philippines is the most demanding country in the world as far as adoption

is concerned. But it is very transparent and organized.” While waiting, they had to renew their application every year, update their personal information, send photo albums to be sure they hadn’t changed their minds.

Dreaming of her son

One afternoon in 2014, Ester’s phone rang. A call from the adoption agency in Barcelona. “Are you sitting down, the woman asked me, because you have now been assigned a 4-year old boy.” Ester had to sit down and cry. “She asked me if I would like to know his name? I said yes, of course I do!” Upon hearing about the big news, his sons ran to their father, shouting, “Papa, papa, we have a boy! His name is James!”

Ester remembers the first time he saw James from the photos sent by the orphanage. “He was so handsome. He was sitting on a swing beside a nun in a garden. Another photo showed James standing beside a growth chart ruler on the wall.”

Ester applied for family reunification or the reagrupación familiar

certifying that James is part of their family. His Spanish visa came next. “I made him a crocheted teddy bear as a gift which he still has.” At the same time, the people at the orphanage were

preparing James, telling him about his new family. When a strong typhoon hit the Philippines, Ester couldn’t stay put. She wanted to contact the orphanage but was not

allowed to. “It was terrible, I spent time checking the news from the Philippines. Every night, I dreamt of my child on the other side of the world.”

Hola, Mama Ester

On 20 March 2015, the day arrived to finally meet their son. Despite the long journey from Barcelona, Ester and her family couldn’t wait to see James. When they got to the hotel, another van pulled over. Ester’s heart was pounding, she knew her child was in the other van. “I remember getting out of the vehicle and ran straight to the other van and hugged my son. I told him, Hola Sweetie, how are you? and he said, Hola Mama Ester. My husband

and the kids joined us in the huddle. Hola Papa Carlos, Hola Kuya Alex, Hola Daniel, he said,” Ester tries to hold back her tears. According to the social worker assigned to him, when James was three years old, it was clear to him that he wanted a family. James showed them his room and when he saw his friends, he grabbed his father’s hand and told the other kids, “This is my father, goodbye.” They went to Jollibee for their first lunch together as a family.

Getting to know each other

Flying back to Barcelona, James decided to put on a show at the airport at 3am. “He took off his shoes and once he did that,

“The Philippines is the most demanding country in the world as far as adoption is concerned. But it is very transparent and organized.”

Ester and James share a strong mother and son bond.

we knew that it meant a whole big drama. Just imagine a European family with a wailing Filipino child in the queue at the immigration officer. I was so nervous but luckily the officer just let us through.”

The first few days went fine as everybody was not yet busy with work and school. The real challenge came when James was left with his mother alone at home. “I took a 4-month maternity leave to be with him. The kids were in school and my husband was at work. It was when he realized that he was no longer in the Philippines.” Mother and son had problems with the language. James couldn’t express himself well and during the first three months, tantrums were common.

“He would shout, cry for hours. The only thing that I could do was to talk and hug him. He would hide under the table, crying. I would whisper

to him that I love him so much, that he is my son. I would sometimes show him his photos at the orphanage with the nuns and his friends, he would calm down.” Three months later, James was already speaking Spanish and Catalan fluently. When he went to school that September he could already express himself.

Little by little, James had adapted to his new environment and his tantrums became fewer, but being a child as he was, Ester still had to deal with his “threats” of going

away. “When he got angry he would say, ‘I am going to find another family’ but when his suitcase was “ready”, he would say, ‘I have thought that this family is not that bad anyway. I am staying’,” shares Ester, laughing out loud.

Best decision

I met Ester in 2018 when she was looking for a teacher to give her classes in Filipino. She wanted to learn Tagalog as James had joined the Iskwelang Pinoy, an educational program organized by the Centro Filipino in Barcelona, teaching third generation Pinoys Philippine culture. “At his first Christmas party at Iskwelang Pinoy, James had fun eating rice, pansit and other Filipino food for the first time since he came to Spain. He told me, ‘Mama, the food is like in the Philippines’.”

James, now twelve, has grown into a boy with a tender

heart. Ester attributes this to how the nuns had raised him. His bond with his family has never been stronger. “Of course, there are some quarrels with his brothers but they love each other very much.”

From time to time, people tell Ester how lucky James is to have them as his family but she always corrects them, “The lucky ones are us for having him in our lives.”

Adoption is hard and long, like pregnancy but instead of nine months, it took Ester five years to have James. She believes that the big problem is not giving birth, rather, the biggest challenge is the moment one decides to be a parent. That adoption is not a secondary motherhood. That it is not the parents who have the right to have kids, but it is every child’s right to have a family. “I can’t imagine my life without James, he is one of the best decisions in my life.”

“The lucky ones are us for having him in our lives.”

James and his Kuyas the first time they saw each other in the Philippines.

ROME’s

UNUSUAL BUCKET LIST

Discover Rome’s hidden gems and off-the-beaten track through a walking tour by a Filipina tour guide living in the Eternal City.

Migrating to Italy back in 2018 was life changing for me. I had no friends; culture shock was at its peak. My only coping mechanism was stepping out of our house and exploring this city, which is now my home.

One day I was talking to an older Filipina on my bus ride to the city center. She has been living in Rome for almost 30 years, and she never gets to explore the city. “I have never been inside the Colosseum,” she told me. This conversation motivated me when I started my tour guide services Rome Rome Tours. I wanted to show the city to tourists and fellow Filipinos.

Rome isn’t only about the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, and Spanish steps. My walking guided tour will show the city’s hidden gems and secret places, which will make you love the Eternal City’s rich culture and history even more.

Exploring Rome requires a lot of walking so wear comfortable walking shoes. I always begin my tours at Castel Sant’Angelo. Also called Mausoleum of Hadrian, Castel Sant’Angelo was built in 135 A.D., and is known as

By Ricka Marie Perez

Keyhole of Rome. Photo: Daniele Tofani via Unsplash

CasteldÁngelo. Photo: Angelo Casto via Unsplash

the longest papal fortress in history. According to legend, when Rome was plagued with a deadly pandemic in 590 A.D., Pope St. Gregory the Great asked the intercession of the Archangel and saw him on a vision atop the tomb overlooking the city, sheathing his sword. When the plague vanished shortly after, the pope ordered the statue of St. Michael the Archangel to be put on top of the fortress.

A three-minute walk from the starting point is Arco dei Banchi, a secret passage famous for its bright blue ceiling with an oil painting of the Virgin Mary. Here you can also find the oldest existing flood plaque in Rome. Inscripted on the plaque was the date and level of the terrible flood of River Tiber in November 1277.

Then we go further to Arco degli Acetari, my favorite spot in Rome, a picturesque medieval courtyard hidden behind a residential neighborhood near Campo de’ Fiori. This spot was once used to store and deposit acqua acetosa, or vinegar water sold at Campo de’ Fiori.

Extending from Arco degli Acetari, Campo de’ Fiori is a medieval square and home to one of Rome’s most famous markets. Every morning a variety of local goods are being sold here. Its name literally means field of flowers but it has a dark history. Back in the Middle Ages, this square was a meadow where witches and non-believers were burned alive, including Giordano Bruno, the Dominican friar who supported the theory of the great scientist Nicolaus Copernicus that the Earth revolves

around the Sun. The friar was burned alive, and now his statue stands in the center of the square, facing the Vatican.

After the market, we can find Passetto del Biscione, a hidden passage connecting the street of Grotta Pinta to Piazza del Biscione, which was used as an exit of Teatro di Pompei, one of the first Roman theaters of the Orsini family, one of the most influential Italian nobles.

We will continue our walk to the Jewish Ghetto in Rome, the neighborhood was built through the order of Pope Paul IV to segregate the whole Jewish community from the rest of the city. The synagogue Tempio Maggiore was also built in the quarter in 1904 but in 1943, the Nazis raided the community and arrested up to 1,023 Jews who were deported and executed in Auschwitz. Only 16 of them survived.

To commemorate each victim deported to concentration camps, stolpersteine, or brass-plated sampietrini, Roman bricks, with full names of the victims who never returned to their homes, were installed on the streets of the Jewish Ghetto. You can adopt a stolpersteine during the Holocaust Memorial Day. My heart is always heavy each time I visit the Jewish Ghetto.

To end the tour, we will go up Aventine Hill, pass the doors of the Priory of the Knights of Malta to find Buco della Serratura or The Keyhole. This secret keyhole gives you a most spectacular view of the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica. Although it is not so secret anymore because there is always a queue of people in front of

the villa’s unassuming green door. The villa is only open to the public on Fridays, and by appointment only. But this place is perhaps every tourist’s favorite spot, worth saving the best for last.

There is always part of me that wants to keep all these amazing gems by myself. But Rome is always more. Rome is a continuous discovery and every part of it deserves to be “eternally” cherished.

I hope that you will find me on your next trip to Rome so that I can personally show you these amazing places that all have a special place in my heart.

YOU CAN ALSO FIND THESE HIDDEN GEMS IN ROME:

La Piccola Londra or Little London

Ever heard of Notting Hill, in Rome? Resembling a part of the now-famous London’s Notting Hill, this hidden gem mainly attracts local tourists. The gated street was built in 1904 by architect Quadro Pirano, at that time when Rome aspired to become a true European metropolis. But the aspirations never went beyond this short street.

Pasquino or The Talking Statue

Romans back in time expressed their freedom of speech through statues. Inventing a new way of protesting and not getting caught, they started to secretly hang their criticism and epigrams on Pasquino. Until today, 2023, Pasquino is still covered in anti-government poems and complaints about the community.

Cimitero Acattolico or NonCatholic Cemetery

Back in 1716, ecclesiastical laws of the Catholic Church didn’t allow protestants to be buried on Catholic grounds, so this private cemetery was built to bury them. There are notable personalities like poets, sculptors, painters and authors buried here so it continues to attract tourists.

St. Valentine's skull

If you are not creeped out easily, visit the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin (near the Buco della Serratura) to see the skull of St. Valentine, the patron of love who was decapitated on February 14.

Camp di Fiori market.

Photo: Grabiella Clare Marino via Unsplash

By Myls Rubio

WANDERLUST IN

Travels and discoveries of a UST choir member across Mexico.

In 2000, right after graduating from the university, I became part of the UST Singers, the official choir of the University of Santo Tomas, under the direction of Professor Fidel Gener Calalang, Jr. Not only did this opportunity make me enjoy and grow with my music, it has also opened doors to experience the world, different peoples and cultures. Since then, until six international concert tours later, there has been no rest for this chorister wanderlust.

The UST Singers were given dulces tradicionales in talavera plates as gifts.

While the choir’s sojourn often led us to Europe and the United States, we were happy that we would be performing in Central America in 2001. The UST Singers were set to attend their first choral festival in Mexico, in the beautiful city of Puebla, southeast of the nation's capital.

Puebla is Mexico's fourth largest city, after Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara. The city boasts of an amazing history, a great temperate weather, a delectable cuisine, and a rich and colorful cultural scene. Puebla is home to a picturesque well-conserved colonial architecture, it is a UNESCOrecognized historic center, and its regional dishes are iconic, which makes it a must-visit on any Mexico itinerary.

It became a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987.

Puebla de los Angeles, also known as Puebla de Zaragoza, was founded in April 1531. It is believed that it was the first city in Mexico built entirely from the ground by Spanish settlers. According to legend, the beautiful city´s blue print was created by angels, meant to be enjoyed by mortals.

Here are snippets of what I fondly remember of my Mexican adventure:

Catedral Basílica de Puebla, a renaissance-era structure, has tall bell towers and overlooks the central square, called Zócalo. This Roman Catholic cathedral is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, and is a treasure of colonial art. Built in 1575 and completed in 1664, it was designed by Francisco Becerra and Juan de Cigorondo, and became the second-largest in the country, after the Mexico City Cathedral.

Zócalo (Plaza de Armas) has existed since the founding of the city in 1531. Throughout history it has been a meeting place and social center of the city. Today, Zócalo is a tree-filled plaza adorned with a large number of sculptures.

Teotihuacan

During one of the festival days, we traveled to Teotihuacan, a vast Mexican archeological complex, northeast of Mexico City. The site was once believed to be a flourishing pre-Columbian city. It links the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, the Pyramid of the Moon and the Pyramid of the Sun, the latter two with panoramic views from their summits. Artifacts in the Museum of Teotihuacan Culture include pottery and bones.

Food

Puebla is known for their iconic regional dishes like mole poblano, which is traditionally served with chicken or turkey as its main protein covered with a dark sauce called mole, which is made out of ancho, mulato, pasilla chiles (dried poblano peppers), and chocolate. Mole is typically served over rice, meats, burritos, enchiladas or as filling for tamales. The taste is somewhat sweet, with some smoky and earthy notes. This dish was said to have been originally created in the kitchen of the Santa Rosa Convent in Puebla for a visiting bishop in the

1680s.

Chalupas is one of the more popular Mexican street foods which you may also find in some of their upscale restaurants. These are small thick tortillas covered in red or green sauce topped with shredded pork or chicken meat and chopped onion, and then fried in lard. They are generally consumed as a snack but sometimes served as an appetizer. And in every meal, the Jalapeño, a Mexican staple, is ever-present. Jalapeño is Spanish for "from Jalapa", the capital city in Veracruz, Mexico, where it was first cultivated.

The local government gifted the entire choir with dulces tradicionales (traditional sweets) which included, to name a few, dulces de camote (pureed sweet potato), and jamoncillo (a fudge which may contain cinnamon or vanilla and garnished with pecans), packaged beautifully atop a colorful Talavera (local traditional pottery) plate.

Talavera Pottery

Talavera, which is both a Mexican and Spanish tradition, originated in Talavera de la Reina in Spain and was first introduced by the Spanish during the first century of the colonial era. The cities of Puebla, Atlixco, Cholula and Tecali, all from the State of Puebla, are known for this type of pottery. Typically decorated using white and blue, most of the ceramics now come in more vibrant colors. This, along with other local keepsakes may be purchased at the Mercado el Parian or the El Parian Artisan Market, located a few blocks from Zócalo.

Mariachi

Music is very much a part of Mexican culture. The mariachi is a genre of regional Mexican music, it can also refer to someone who is part of a small Mexican folkderived musical ensemble. They are symbolic of their country´s music and culture, and an integral part of any celebration, big or small. Their music speaks of passion, history, legends and love for the country.

By Agatha Verdadero

Filipinos can travel visa-free to Colombia for 90 days. It’s time to put it in your bucket list.

My first time in South America was when I visited Colombia, without needing a visa prior to arrival. Colombia is among the very few countries in the world where Filipinos can visit

visa-free for 90 days. At the airport, the immigration officer at Bogota airport chatted with me about Manny Pacquiao. A short plane ride took me to Cali, the birthplace of the most famous Colombian writer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

THE COLOMBIA

I CAME TO KNOW

Photo: Koby Mendez via Unsplash

The Colombia I came to know in the three weeks I was there was not the Colombia terrorized by drug cartels or FARC guerrillas. It’s a country that shared our cultural idiosyncrasies and celebrated their public spaces by filling them with art and beauty. My visit was life-enriching and I was determined to visit the continent again and explore other former Spanish colonies. I wanted to see how much we differ and match their current circumstances.

Here are top 10 discoveries I made in Colombia that fellow Pinoys might find interesting:

Efficient transport system

Their public transport system is efficient. Trains ran on time and were generally clean. The long-distance buses my friends and I rode had interiors similar to that of a commercial airplane. They had unique forms of travel like escalators and cable cars up a hillside neighborhood. And it was all inexpensive.

Street art

Colombia’s street art scene is a beautiful explosion of lines and colors. They can be found everywhere. In cities as well as the countryside, graffiti festooned buildings, bridges, posts, etc. They weren’t just random tags of some streetgang initiates but emotive expressions of life in the country.

Ice Buko

Colombians have their own version of ice buko called paletas de coco. My friends and I couldn’t believe our eyes when a vendor strolled by and held in his hand something in the unmistakable shape and color of the frozen snack. True enough, it was ice buko, which we greedily bought and feasted on.

Mate de Coca

Their popular tea called mate de coca has a low amount of cocaine. In the United States it is illegal in its original form, and it might

show up in a drug test. My friends and I were offered a cup each prior to our ascent to a mountain on the Andes range. It was supposedly an effective counter to highaltitude sickness.

Pablo Escobar

In his city of Medellin, Pablo Escobar is a legend and a hero. My friends and I joined a small van of tourists that went on a Pablo Escobar tour, crisscrossing the stronghold of his once powerful cartel. People paid their respects at his and his family members’ graves.

Former neighbors spoke fondly of the community activities and projects he paid for. His surviving older brother, Roberto, who also had a USD10 million bounty on his head at one point as the cartel’s accountant and co-founder, narrated their exploits like a troubadour would Robin Hood’s.

Museum of Sea Dinosaur

Museo El Fosil in Villa de Leyva has just the one item to display, the almost-complete skeleton of an extinct sevenmeter long sea dinosaur, but people still come in busloads to view the oddity.

Coffee haven

Colombian coffee is one of the best in the world. It is nutty in taste, less acidic, and has a virile but curvaceous aroma to it. It’s always offered black in the countryside or tinto as they call it. Order “cafe con leche” if you want to drink it with milk. They call it perico in Bogota, or pintado in other parts of the country.

Public plazas

Colombians love their expansive public plazas. Every city or tiny town has at least one, where people enjoy walks, sit-down chats, and wheeled activities like skateboarding. Where many growing urban centers choose to shrink such public spaces in favor of buildings,

Colombia has maintained the original acreage of most, if not all, of them. The people, in return, show their appreciation by frequenting the plazas and not packing themselves into massive shopping malls to escape the tropical heat.

Dog-friendly country

They allow dogs in their airports—and they definitely abound in great numbers. As a dog person, I was speechless when I arrived at El Dorado International Airport and was immediately surrounded by packs of canines in every shape, size, and color. It looked a lot like doggie heaven to me.

Ms. Universe country

They are as crazy about beauty pageants as Filipinos. In Barranquilla, a major Colombian city by the Caribbean Sea, there is a Miss Universe office, and the pavement fronting it is decorated with the faces of former winners. My friends and I may have spotted Gloria Diaz and Margie Moran among them. A short walk from it is a museum that documented the Colombian version of the Spanish Inquisition. The juxtaposition of women praised for their beauty and persecuted for their “witchcraft” within a few blocks of each other couldn’t have been more jarring.

Photo: Coffee with Joshua via Unsplash

Photo: Jorge Gardner via Unsplash

Photo: Reiseuhu via Unsplash

THE EXPAT WHO BECAME

A FAMOUS PAINTER

University. Arriving in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he bought himself a box of oil paints. He had no formal art training but was being pulled by the two worlds of painting and writing. In the summer, he read Federico Garcia Lorca and translated Amor de don Perlimplin con Belisa en su Jardin. The manuscript with Zobel’s caricatured drawings is now at Harvard’s Houghton Library.

By Antonio J. Montalván II

In the Philippines, the name Zobel de Ayala is almost synonymous with the Makati urban scape. Few know that one Zobel, born in Ermita, Manila in 1924, made a name, not in real estate but in the field of arts and letters. “Made a name” is rather imperfectly prosaic.

Fernando Zobel de Ayala y Montojo Torrontegui’s memory is celebrated in heroic proportions in Spain. A high-speed train station and a secondary school are named after him. In 1983, King Juan Carlos I awarded him the Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes. No other Filipino artist has been awarded with two retrospectives by two of Spain’s premiere museums, the Museo Nacional Reina Sofía in 2003, and Museo del Prado, which is currently exhibiting “The Future of the Past’’ with his works until March 2023.

Zobel’s life as an expat had taken both focused and

serendipitous twists. The man, whose artwork Hattecvm was sold at a Sotheby’s Hong Kong auction in 2013 for P43 million, did not begin as world caliber.

The birth of the Zobel high art was morosely somber. After graduating high school in Baguio in 1940, he enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas for preparatory medicine but the invading Japanese would soon turn UST into a war camp.

He had been suffering from a spine problem since childhood. Confined at the National Orthopedic Hospital, he was confronted with his first horror vacui.

“For a whole year, I was bedridden. I had all the time in the world to think and it was then that I started to consider the idea of becoming an artist,” he related in 1972. Then the Japanese army seized the Zobel home in Manila and the family was forced to seek refuge in the Batangas countryside.

“It was as if, all at once, the

clock had stopped ticking. There was nothing to do.” The family not only waited out the end of war, but soon a tragedy lay in wait. His father, Enrique Zobel de Ayala died in 1943 when the young Fernando was only 19 years old.

The worlds of painting and writing

When the war ended, Fernando left Manila to study Humanities at Harvard

At the end of 1946, he met painter Reed Champion and her husband, Harvard fine arts professor, James Pfeufer. He became a novice under their guidance. But of the paintings that he had produced from 1946 to 1949, only two survived. He destroyed most of them, haunted perhaps by the insecurity and uncertainty of being a novice artist.

In 1949, he graduated with a dissertation on Spanish poet and playwright Garcia Lorca and was awarded the Latin honors of magna cum laude. He returned to Manila after graduation, but Harvard beckoned. He went back to the US on the pretext of enrolling at Harvard Law School, only to quit and work as assistant to the curator of Harvard College Library’s Department of Graphic Arts.

The job introduced him to engraving and experimenting with pen, etching, dry point, boxwood engraving and xylography. The fundamental Fernando Zobel had taken shape. His paintings at this time had connotations of fierce social criticism and satire. He exhibited his first two collective exhibitions

“For a whole year, I was bedridden. I had all the time in the world to think and it was then that I started to consider the idea of becoming an artist.”

Fernando Zobel in Museo de Arte Abstracto Español de Cuenca in 1966.

Photo: Harvard Magazine

Casas Colgadas in Cuenca.

Photo: April Tijam/Ayala Museum

at Boston’s Swetzoff Gallery that year, and in the next, his works were exhibited alongside those of Klee, Chagall, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso and Cézanne.

After holidaying in Spain, he returned to Manila to start work at Ayala y Compañia. It was at this time that he developed close friendships with artists Arturo Luz, H.R. Ocampo, Anita Magsaysay Ho, and Vicente Manansala. In 1953, he was elected president of the Art Association of the Philippines, signaling his full integration into the Philippine art world.

On a trip to the US in 1955, the Rhode Island School of Design invited him to stay as a resident artist. Abstract expressionism was then trendy in the US. The works of Mark Rothko, the Latvian-born American abstract expressionist, bedazzled him. Rothko’s works were “huge, horizontal blotches of color completely flooding the canvas.” A mesmerized Zobel would visit the Rothko exhibition at the Providence Museum everyday. He began to paint along the Rothko style.

In Manila, he taught art history for a year at the Ateneo de Manila. Spain appointed him Honorary Cultural Attaché for its Manila embassy in 1956. He used the position to obtain scholarships to Spain for Filipino artists Arturo

The hanging houses of Cuenca

In 1958, he moved to Madrid and opened a studio on Calle Velázquez 98, later on Calle Fortuny 12. He formed friendships with artists Gerardo Rueda Salaberry, Antonio Saura, Eusebio Sempere, Martin Chirino, and Antonio Magaz. The turning point was imminent: he began collecting Spanish abstract paintings. In 1962, he began to plan what he called the “Toledo Project” -- what to do with his rapidly growing collection and where to house them.

Together with Rueda, he went to Toledo in 1963 in search

of a place for the collection, but they found nothing pleasing. His friend Gustavo Torner, Spanish painter and sculptor, invited him to the city of Cuenca. There something developed. The mayor of Cuenca offered him the Casas Colgadas as a possible home for his future museum.

The spectacular Las Casas Colgadas – Hanging Houses – is a series of 500-year old houses perched on a towering cliff overlooking the Huécar River. Zobel was instantly taken.

He wrote to his American friend Paul Haldeman in 1963:

“My big project is a Museum of Spanish Abstract Art in the city of Cuenca, two and a half hours from Madrid, in the renowned ‘Hanging Houses’ which the kindhearted, forward-looking mayor has let me rent for thirty years at something like 1.50 dollars per

annum.”

The Museo de Arte Abstracto Español, inaugurated on 30 June 1966, was Zobel’s magnificent obsession to provide a home for Spain’s abstract artists. It was a pioneering initiative – until the 1980s, Spain barely housed contemporary arts in a standard museum setting.

The museum attracted international media attention, eliciting articles in Time Magazine, Architectural Forum, Herald Tribune, and other prestigious magazines and newspapers. In 1978, a library specializing in Spanish contemporary art was added. Two years later, Zobel donated the entire museum to the Fundación Juan March. The grateful city of Cuenca named its secondary school the Instituto Nacional de Bachillerato Fernando Zobel.

On a trip to Rome in June 1984, Zobel died from a heart attack. His remains were brought to Cuenca and buried at San Isidro cemetery, a narrow pass overlooking the Huecar River. Cuenca posthumously awarded him its Medalla de Oro de la Ciudad.

In 1996, UNESCO inscribed the medieval fortress town of Cuenca as a World Heritage Site, including the famous Casas Colgadas, “for its outstanding universal value as an exceptional example of a preserved original townscape remarkably intact.”

Luz, Cesar Legaspi, José Joya, and Nena Saguil.

A Zobel painting: San Idelfonso, 1962. Photo: Bonhams

Zobel’s “Hattecvm (1959) Sotheby’s.

Fernando Zobel in Manila (1953).

Photo: Museo de Arte Abstracto Espanol

Ube Halaya with coconut milk

Preparation time:10 min

Ingredients

500 g Buenas grated purple yam

400 ml Buenas coconut milk

50 g butter

Melt the butter, in a pan over low heat.

Cooking time: 90 min

1 cup condensed milk

Half a cup grated cheese

1 tablespoons brown sugar

Combine the Buenas coconut milk, the condensed milk and the brown sugar in the heated pan. Stir until well incorporated and the sugar is dissolved.

Add the Buenas grated purple yam, continuously stir until well combined. Set the heat to medium and cook for 30 mins until it thickens. Keep on stirring to avoid burning and sticking to the pan.

Remove the pan from the heat source and transfer the dish to a greased pan or mold.

Sprinkle with grated cheese for toppings, serve and enjoy.

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Step 1. Step 2. Step 3. Step 4. Step 5. Step 6.

KHAESARAP: AUTHENTIC FILIPINO DINING IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE

On a cold winter night in Nice, France, I had a Bumble BBF dinner date with a FilipinaAmerican who was traveling around Europe. She was homesick for some Filipino food while I came with an intense craving for their lechon kawali, so I invited her to try Khaesarap, a newly-opened Filipino restaurant in the South of France. Their Instagram photos make one’s mouth water on the spot and dream of the last time you had a bite of this crispy juicy goodness back home.

By Khaesarap

By

AFrancine Alessandra Vito

Khaesarap is a few minutes’ walk from Nice’s main train station, tucked in a quiet, residential neighborhood. The interiors are minimalist and elegant, predominantly white with touches of black. A closer second look reveals details that make you feel like you’re in a restaurant in the Philippines. The white jacquard tablecloths. The utensils on the table are fork and spoon only, no knife. Overhead, a large TV hangs. “Do you think they have karaoke?” My friend asked excitedly. We’d have to find out. On the walls are framed paintings of Jose Rizal, Whang-od, and Emilio Aguinaldo. There’s a cheery chorus of laughs and Tagalog. Mika, one of the owners, is armed with her pen, paper, and a big smile, ready to take your order.

Young and Driven

Khaesarap, which opened in September 2022, is the brainchild of a young Filipino couple, Mikaëla Magpantay (26) and Rico Paul Fabroa (31). Soon to be joining them as the assistant chef is Mark Lee Fabroa, Paul’s younger brother.

Mika was born and raised in France but she’s extremely close to her Filipino roots; the proof is in her flawless Tagalog and extensive knowledge of Pinoy culture and quirks. She puts her marketing degree to work in their business, taking care of communications and

advertising. Paul is the main chef, in charge of orchestrating the menu and making sure the beef pares, sisig, kinilaw, and other classics are always perfect. Paul and Mark are originally from Tuguegarao and moved to Milan, Italy at ages 18 and 17 to join their parents working there.

Paul started cooking when he was a child, then it quickly became a lifelong passion for him. Since

arriving in Italy, he has worked in restaurants, experiencing all roles except for one: that of being a manager. Mark worked as a sushi chef in Italy and was reluctant to make the shift from preparing raw fish to handling hot sizzling pans. Today, he says he can’t wait to be part of a team that introduces Filipino cuisine to the French.

While living in Milan, Paul was amazed at how the number of Philippine restaurants grew over the years. From one restaurant to a few, to now over a dozen of them. When he came to France to be with Mika, he saw that there was very little Filipino culinary representation. “I was inspired by the Filipino food scene in Milan and I hope we can do that here in France, especially in the region. We want to do two things: satisfy our kababayans’ cravings for Filipino food and introduce the French to our cuisine. We want them to really get to know the authentic, home-style version of it.”

With Mika’s business and marketing know-how and the brothers’ talents for cooking, they thought that opening a restaurant as a family would be a viable idea. They may be

Don’t expect a basket of baguette in this Filipino restaurant in Nice, France.

Khaesarap owners couple Rico Paul, Fabroa and Mikaela Magpantay with their daughter Khaella, and chef Mark Lee.

young but they know what they are doing. The restaurant interiors, presentation and quality of the dishes, customer service, the website, down to their business cards are all well thought-out and carefully executed. Everything is “impeccable”, as the French like to say.

Passion and Action

Age has not been an obstacle in realizing their dream of opening a Filipino restaurant in one of Europe’s glitziest cities. The secret? “Passion and action,” Paul says. “It wasn’t always easy and we faced challenges during location hunting that almost made us give up. But if you have enough passion, you’ll do your best to find a solution to make it work.”

Family is also an important factor in their success. It’s their source of inspiration and support system. Mika and Paul named their restaurant after Khaelle, their lively two-year-old kid. Mika’s parents help take care of Khaelle while the couple works, allowing them to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

They love the creative freedom that comes with being an entrepreneur but admit that owning a busi-

ness comes with a lot of pressure- to be consistent, to make a good impression, and to ensure the stability of the business. Paul says, “It’s not always good times, and there have been some days that we don’t have any customers at all. The important thing is to stay positive, use that time to be productive, and remember there’s always tomorrow!”

Both agree that the best reward for all the challenges is to see customers go home satisfied. They get a mix of Filipinos and French diners, with many becoming repeat clients. They already have over 50 5-star reviews on Google, an impressive feat for a newly-opened restaurant.

Mika says the superstars of the menu are the kare-kare and lechon kawali. For those uninitiated to Filipino cuisine, Mika would recommend our national dish, adobo, and get praise for it. They have three words to describe Khaesarap’s food: it’s siksik (generous), authentic, and homemade. After eating there on several occasions, I firmly agree.

A Cultural Experience

There are stark differences between French and Filipino cuisine.

Mika, who grew up with the best of both worlds, describes some of these. For everyday meals, the French prepare meals “à la minute”, or on the spot. Philippine food involves advanced prep because many dishes need to be marinated. The famous baguette is a French mealtime staple, but at Khaesarap, don’t expect a bread basket on your table. Mika says, “Sometimes, French customers look for bread. I explain to them that we don’t serve it on the side because we want to offer an authentic Philippine dining experience.”

Even the ways we eat are different. In French restaurants, you order a “plat” or a meal for yourself, and sharing food isn’t common practice. In contrast, Filipino meal times are all about openness and exchange. “Simply sharing your plate of food with someone opens up the vibe and invites conversation, offering a more convivial experience. We want to give foreigners a glimpse into this as well, so we encourage them to order for sharing if they come in groups,” she adds.

Filipino restaurants are a boon for kababayans living abroad. They’re temporary portals to home, transport-

ing us back to Lola’s kitchen, barangay fiestas, or our favorite carinderia. And of course, nothing beats the ambiance of being in a room filled with the chatter of a familiar language and that laughter that Filipinos are known for.

That night at Khaesarap, my friend and I were not disappointed. The lechon kawali was perfect. Crispy on the outside, light and juicy on the inside, dissolving on the tongue. The lumpia was siksik, perfectly rolled, and golden. The adobo hit the spot with its tangy garlic-y goodness. We wanted to order one dessert each, but we were full thanks to the copious servings of the entrées. We stayed reasonable and shared a leche flan instead. The leche flan was creamy smooth, sweetened just right, and covered with a warm, rich caramel syrup. We thought there couldn’t be a more perfect ending to a meal. But shortly after, it looked like my friend’s earlier wish was about to come true. Mika turned the TV on and brought out a microphone. Videoke time! We capped the night off by belting out some OPM hits, hoping we didn’t disturb the peaceful neighborhood too much. The perfect soirée à la Philippine.

“We want our kababayans’ cravings for Filipino food and introduce the French to our cuisine. We want them to really get to know the authentic, home-style ver- sion of it.”

The Filipino Expat Magazine partnered with different individuals and organizations to launch several events in Barcelona.

DOCE CARAS PHOTO EXHIBIT

Barcelona-based Filipina filmmaker and events photographer AC Maria held her first solo photo exhibit entitled Doce Caras at the Philippine Consulate in Barcelona last 21 October 2022. Doce Caras (Twelve Faces) are the twelve hour numbers of the clock represented by eleven photographs of selected kababayans whom AC Maria had worked with previously as a photographer. All photographs depicted different facets of a migrant ´s life, his/her struggles and triumphs, dreams and frustrations. Organized by The Filipino Expat Magazine in collaboration with the Philippine Consulate General in BarceIona, Doce Caras ran from 22 October until 10 November 2022. Photo: Cecil Luna

LAUNCHING OF BONGGA BAGS

“Ang Bag ni Bong”, a bag exhibit was held last 9 December 2022 at the Philippine Consulate General office in Barcelona. The bag collection of Filipino designer Bernie “Bong” Velasco, called Bonga bags, are all made from authentic Spanish leather, handmade by Catalan artisans in Barcelona. Each design has a personal story. Bong named each bag after the people who have mentored, inspired and accompanied him in his life’s journey. The name Bonga is a play between the feminine form of his name Bong and the Filipino slang word “Bongga” which means fabulous. The exhibit ran until December 23, 2022. Photo Cecil Luna.

PARTNER WITH US FOR YOUR EVENTS

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Or do you need a media and marketing partner for your upcoming events?

TULIPA DOCUMENTARY SCREENING IN BARCELONA

The Filipino Expat Magazine in collaboration with The Philippine Consulate General in Barcelona and Bahaghari Bcn organized the successful screening of the short documentary Tulipa in Barcelona last 14 January 2023 at Casal del Barri Folch i Torres. Tulipa is about Filipino LGBTs who sought life outside the Philippines.It features personal experiences and life stories about survival, hope, and continuous struggle of Filipino LGBTs living in the Netherlands. One of the most pressing campaigns explored in the film is the call to pass the SOGIE (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression) Equality Bill, which aims to legalize measures to prevent various acts of discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression. The event was graced by the film’s Executive Producer and founder of Filipino LGBT Europe Chris Sta. Brigida Kopp and activist and one of the featured individuals Kaye Candaza. Photo: Pepe Chavez.

Send your event ideas, details, posters or materialscampaign to editor@ thefilipinoexpat. com and we will post them on our social media accounts or in our next issue!

THE LOST CAT IN BARCELONA

Filipino artists Dianne Ico and Coro Kudyapi made the Filipino community in Spain proud for being part of the big Opera production La Gata Perduda (The Lost Cat) produced by Liceu Barcelona last 5 & 7 October 2022. La Gata Perduda tells the story of a cat (the symbol of Raval neighborhood) and its residents (a mix of locals and immigrants) depicting their colorful history, diverse cultures and values. Dianne Ico played the role of La Gata and Coro Kudyapi joined almost 300 artists at the prestigious Grand Teatro del Liceu which just celebrated its 175th year. Photo: AC Maria.

PAMPINAY IN LONDON FASHION WEEK

The iconic and cult Filipino fashion brand PamPinay successfully showcased its latest collection of wearable and sustainable clothing at the 2023 London Fashion Week’s House of Ikons on 18 February 2023 at Leonardo Royal Hotel London St Paul’s. Founded during the height of the pandemic in 2021, PamPinay is the brainchild of multi-awarded visual artist Pamela Gotangco, who is based in Switzerland, and graphic fashion designer Christian Belaro, who is based in England. The collection is artisanally made by women seamstresses and weavers in the Philippines, and features handwoven fabrics from different Filipino tribes from Abra in the Mountain province to Lake Sebu in Cotabato.