“We might have lost a battle, but we have won our soul.”

 ART TAYO

I am now going around town with three strong-willed, intelligent, lovely women, with millions to spend in my pockets. I am in Hoi An near Central Vietnam where, in their dong currency, a million is equivalent to around 2 thousand Pinoy pesos. In a tourist destination like this, you sometimes win by haggling and, in other times, by just surrendering to the lure of fine food or exquisite craft.

IN VIETNAM WITH 3 WOMEN

Our driver is never without his smartphone. Neatly dressed, with his polo shirt tucked into his pants, he makes sure that his gadget is positioned near the instrument panel of the car whenever we start any trip. Feeling smart, his eyes are glued to Google map or Waze. But alas, we often get lost. He makes wrong turns repeatedly. Not counting the times that the app is acting dumb, too.

THE BRAINS WE LEAVE BEHIND

EJ Obiena getting the bronze in the World Athletics Championships pole vault is a topper for a slew of historic good news happening recently in Philippine sports.

POLE VAULTING EXCITES

SAN FRANCISCO – My sister and her hubby, Jose, live in a hundred-year-old house a short bus ride away from downtown. Its construction and looks are that of the so-called Edwardian era wherein the architects and builders try to marry the functionality of the modern times and the ornateness of the pompous Victorian era.

HABITATS

Two weeks are not enough to validate one’s impressions of anybody, much less of a people - with a deep history at that.

FLEETING IMPRESSIONS

Health professionals strictly advice that seniors like me should have a thorough medical check-up once a year. After ignoring this for more than a decade, I finally heeded the counsel late last year and found out, not surprisingly, that I have joined the ranks of 15 million or so Filipinos grappling with diabetes.

HOW SWEET OF YOU

“Books and all forms of writing are terror to those who wish to suppress the truth,’ say Wole Soyinka, a Nobel Laureate, playwright, novelist, poet and essayist in English from Nigeria. He was a strong objector of his country’s governments, especially of its military rulers. For which he was sentenced to death. Luckily, he had escaped out of his country.

WRITING, READING, DISCERNING

Ensaimada has always been the flagship product of Mary Grace. But lately, it has increasingly been difficult to get this from them. Even their artichoke and dulong dip are not available.

HUNGER GAMES

In a few tulog na lang, I will be scouring shops in the Bay Area and I am sure I would be lost in space in some of them. For one, I am looking forward to exploring the comics shops in Berkeley. If they are still around.

MODESTY ASTRIDE

The Third Zone column by OpinYon columnist, Boboy Yonzon.

Third Zone

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