Maniolas

Aerial shot of the province of which was heavily damaged by super typhoon Yolanda (MNS photo) TOKYO (AFP) – A supertyphoon on course to hit Japan over the weekend is as powerful as the deadly storm that ripped through the Philippines in 2013 killing thousands of people, meteorologists said Wednesday The monstrous storm, named Vongfong, was picking up speed as it churned through the far west of the Pacific Ocean. “Its strength is very much similar to Haiyan,” which ravaged the Philippines in November, said a meteorologist at the Japan Meteorological Agency. Haiyan left nearly 8,000 people dead or missing when gusts of around 300 kilometres (190 miles) per hour tore through the country, generating giant waves that swamped coastal communities. Vongfong was registering gusts of the same strength, according to the Japanese agency. Satellite images of Supertyphoon Vongfong show a perfectly formed eye in the middle of a gigantic swirling disc of cloud that appears to be sucking up weather systems from across the Tropics. Its present course will see it smash into Japan sometime over the weekend, just days after another typhoon whipped through the country, leaving 11 people dead or missing and causing travel chaos. Vongfong is expected to continue strengthening over the next 24 hours but could lose some steam as it heads north. “Normally, typhoons are strongest when they are in the Tropics. They start to gradually weaken as they move into the subtropical region and the temperate zone,” he said.

Godinus Executive Producer Becca Godinez and PAE Live Producer Ted Benito are the producers of Ballet Philippines’ performance in the California area. Los Angeles, 08 October 2014. – The Philippine Consulate General welcomed the arrival of Ballet Philippines (BP) in Los Angeles. Ballet Philippines is headed by its President, Ms. Margie Moran-Floirendo and known for winning the second Ms. Universe crown for the Philippines in 1973. Godinus Executive Producer Becca Godinez and PAE Live Producer Ted Benito are the producers of Ballet Philippines’ performance in the California area. BP is in its 45th season this year and is touring in the United States and Canada to exhibit the world-class talent of the oldest surviving ballet company in Southeast Asia. BP founder, Ms. Alice Reyes was named a National Artist this year. Photo above shows (standing 9th frm L-R) BP Artistic Director Paul Alexander Morales, Consul General Leo Herrera-Lim, PAE Live Producer Ted Benito, Madam Fides Herrera-Lim, BP President Margie Moran-Floirendo, Godinus Executive Producer Becca Godinez and BP Ballet Master Victor Usabia with members of Ballet Philippines. — at Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Ballet Philippines kicked-off its month-long US tour at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on 04 October 2014, after a 15 years hiatus since the company’s last performance in the U.S. The BP inaugural performance lasted 90-minutes showcasing its best works, was attended by the luminaries of the Filipino-American community, with the likes of Apl.de.ap, Lou Diamond Phillips, Sony Pictures Entertainment Senior Vice President of Worldwide Publicity Fritz Friedman, Nia Peeples, Ms. Susan Ruttan, and Ms. Janine Tugonon (winner of Miss Universe-Philippines Read More …

Gretchen Ho admits she and Robi Domingo have talked about marriage but it’s not going to happen anytime soon.

Secretary Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization, shows the effect of the coco infestation “Aspidiotus Rigidus” to coconut trees at the sidelines of the launching of “Sama-samang Aksyon ng Gobyerno, Industriya at Pamayanan sa Malawakang Pagsugpo ng Pesteng Cocolisap” (SAGIP) program on Friday (June 20) at Barangay Potol, Tayabas, Quezon. (MNS photo) MANILA (AFP) – The Philippines has pushed back its 2013 target to attain self-sufficiency in rice production by another two years, an official said Tuesday, adding that the country will likely have to import hundreds of thousands of tons next year. “We’re pretty set at 1.7 million metric tons” of rice imports for this year, said Francis Pangilinan, an adviser to President Benigno Aquino on food security. Asked if the Philippines planned to import even more than 1.7 million tons next year, Pangilinan said: “That’s a possibility”. He said the Philippines is now aiming to end rice imports in 2016 – three years later than its original 2013 target. Last year the Philippines imported a million tons of rice, making it the eighth largest importer in the world, according to the US agriculture department. During the global food crisis in 2008, the Philippines imported a record 2.34 million tonnes of rice, the largest for any country. Bad weather, including frequent typhoons and floods, had repeatedly stymied the country’s efforts to produce enough rice, Pangilinan said. The Philippines suffered from supply tightness in 2013, forcing the government to resort to more imports in the Read More …

Tostadas de Pato: Crisp tortillas topped with slow-cooked duck mole and blueberry I have always known myself to be an old soul. Deep down inside I know that I have led many past lives. As esoteric as it may sound, it is for me the only logical explanation why I feel such an affinity for certain cultures. Not just because I am fascinated but a true, deep sense of connection — when I step foot in a foreign land and feel that, in fact, it is not so foreign. Where I feel right at home and the blood coursing through my veins resonates with the cosmic vibrations of the ground I walk on. It is in this way that I am as much Filipino as I am Mexican. My first encounter with Mexico was as a young child at the age of nine when I accompanied my mother on a trip. I remember climbing up the steps of Teotihuacan, tasting my first sip of tequila and Mezcal, plus enjoying the company of my first ever babysitter who was a young stage actress and whom I wrote to through snail mail. But nothing could beat the feeling I had when I set foot in Plaza Mayor in Mexico City some 14 years later — truly impressive, with a massive Mexican flag emblematically waving in the wind and brimming with people.  There were the doomsday sayers, native Indian dancers, witch doctors, priests, families with children blowing bubbles, young lovers, laughing teens, and Read More …