Jessica Zafra's Blog, page 294

The Hidden Life of A Great Hotel

The Peninsula Manila is 35 this year. It is the second oldest of only nine Peninsula hotels in the world (Hong Kong was the first and Paris opens in 2013). To mark the anniversary the Pen is hosting a photographic exhibition entitled 35 Years of the Peninsula. Celebrating the Personal in Portraits. The exhibition consisting [...]

Auntie Janey's Old-Fashioned Agony Column # 30: Your intelligence is not the problem.

Dear Auntie Janey, I am a girl who has looks but has no appeal (my guy cousin told me this). Not bragging but I'm one of the kids from the higher honors list and my mind speaks better than most of the people within my age bracket. In the past I told myself that my [...]

We love the smell of fresh ink on paper.

And new cover designs for old stories and novels. And the texture of paper with a high rag content, and uneven edges. There's nothing like the printed word. Tablets and e-book readers are very useful and convenient. Books are sexy. They're like older guys in bespoke suits and slightly scuffed handmade shoes. Last week a [...]

Revenge of the Nerds part 12: How I became a sports editor

Several months ago, after a discussion on the manliest subject possible (Temptation Island the Joey Gosiengfiao classic), Erwin Romulo asked me if I could write for the Philippine edition of Esquire that he was putting together. I said, Sure. He asked me what I wanted to write about. I knew I didn't want to write [...]

Tropically depressed: typhoon tales

While they were bickering about indecency the obvious problem went unnoticed. * * * * * There was a flood in Jackie's apartment yesterday. Yes it was the height of typhoon Pedring and many areas were underwater—Roxas Boulevard rejoined Manila Bay—but Jackie's apartment is on the 42nd floor. She wasn't at home when it happened. [...]

Remington

Excavated from one of Rene's bodega: a Remington manual typewriter from the 1920s or 30s. In working order. What would you give us for it?

We want to live in the Peninsula Manila.

* Or is it at the Peninsula Manila? The day's schedule had been arranged with the sort of obsessive attention to detail more suited to the invasion of Poland. If option A was not feasible one moved to option B, and if that failed there was option C. Though we much prefer not planning at [...]

Stick a fork in your ear and make it stop!

While reading Worst. Song. Ever. by Akim Reinhardt in 3 Quarks we found ourselves chuckling, grimacing, and composing our own list. (In fact we published a list years ago in Today but don't know where our copy is.) The nominees are… * Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler. Here is the abomination rendered [...]

Philippines bags silver at Asian 7s series Borneo

(L-R) Harry Morris, Andrew Wolff, Joe Matthews attempt to run through the Japanese line. Photo by the PRFU. By Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala with reports by Jessica Zafra No one considered the Philippines a threat in Asian rugby, a field dominated by Japan, Hong Kong and Korea. Despite their three-year undefeated run in the [...]

The Weekly LitWit Challenge 7.1: Curses!

Maleficent We've noticed your fixation on Disney characters, so this challenge is for you. In 1,000 words or less, write us a story about a terrible curse and how it is banished. Something along the lines of "You will prick your finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die before the sun sets [...]