The Bistro Group, a leading operator of iconic full-service, fast-casual and quick-service restaurant brands in the Philippines, today announced plans to expand its portfolio with a newly signed development agreement with Fogo de Chão, the internationally renowned experiential restaurant from Brazil known for the culinary art of churrasco. Through the agreement, The Bistro Group will bring five Fogo de Chão locations to the Philippines over the next six years, marking Fogo’s first-ever presence in Asia. The Bistro Group joins Fogo’s existing international franchise partners in Mexico and the Middle East and expects to open the first Fogo location in 2023.
The Bistro Group is a multi-concept restaurant company that operates a collection of domestic and international hospitality, casual dining, and upscale, chef-driven concepts in the Philippines, unified by a people-focused philosophy. The group currently operates 111 restaurants across 21 restaurant brands including TGI Friday’s, Italianni’s, Denny’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Rambla, Las Flores and more.
The international development agreement with Fogo comes as part of The Bistro Group’s larger growth plan, as it recently announced plans to open 30 restaurants including new and existing brands in 2022.
“Fogo de Chão is exactly what our business seeks out when looking for franchise partners,” said Bill Stelton, Chairman and CEO of The Bistro Group. “The company’s upscale and internationally-renowned dining concept, paired with its passion for Southern Brazilian hospitality and the culinary art of churrasco makes them an invaluable addition to our portfolio.”
Founded in Southern Brazil in 1979 and now headquartered in the U.S., Fogo de Chão is an award-winning restaurant concept known for offering dining discoveries at every turn, featuring the authentic flavors of churrasco where gaucho chefs butcher, prepare and grill high-quality cuts of protein over an open flame, then carve tableside for guests. Simply seasoned, fire-roasted proteins are the core of their prix-fixed Full Churrasco dining experience where guests can enjoy a variety of flavors ranging from premium filet mignon and bone-in cowboy ribeye; decadent beef ribs and lamb chops; and house specialties Picanha (prime cut of the top sirloin) and Fraldinha (bottom sirloin with strong marbling for robust flavor). With a modern, timeless design and signature offerings including a fresh and seasonal Market Table and an award-winning Bar Fogo menu featuring hand-crafted cocktails and South American wines, Fogo has become a destination of choice in major cities around the world.
“We are honored to partner with The Bistro Group to help bring the Fogo de Chão experience to the Philippines, as we accelerate our plans for expansion in both international and domestic markets,” said Andy Feldmann, President of International at Fogo de Chão. “We can’t wait to welcome the local communities to dine with us and discover new favorites at the Fogo table in Asia soon.”
With 66 locations worldwide and growing, Fogo earlier in 2022 announced a 15 percent planned annual growth rate through company-owned restaurants, with an additional international capital light franchise development strategy.
Viewers today have a lot of entertainment content choices, to the point that it can sometimes be overwhelming. With an extensive library of shows like that of HBO GO, it’s good to get recommendations for shows that are really worth your time.
To help you discover the best watch lists especially as you spend more time at home in this bed weather, PLDT Home ambassadors Gigi de Lana, Gretchen Ho, Jairus Aquino and more are sharing their personal recommendations and favorites — which you just might get to enjoy, too.
Catch all these shows and more on HBO GO powered by PLDT Home, the Philippines’ fastest and most reliable broadband connection. Subscribe to HBO GO using your PLDT Home account to avail of the service at an affordable rate of P299/3 months — all charged conveniently to your fiber bill!.
Bohemian Rhapsody
Currently making waves in the local music scene, singer-songwriter and actress Gigi de Lana is known for her soaring high notes and soulful voice. She picked up her musical passion at a very young age, with the legendary rock band Queen as one of her biggest influences.
No wonder one of her favorite films is Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), an enthralling celebration of Queen — their music and extraordinary lead singer Freddie Mercury, who defied stereotypes and convention to become one of history’s most beloved entertainers.
“Bohemian Rhapsody is a personal favorite because throughout the film, it was like watching history being made – I saw how they composed some of their biggest hits, their struggles as a band and as individuals, how they used their life experiences to write their songs,” Gigi said. “And the recreation of the Live Aid performance was nothing short of amazing! It felt like I was there and the total euphoria of hearing them sing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ still gives me the chills after several rewatches!”
Like actor Jairus Aquino, most of us have a couple of go-to genres. Jairus is partial to comedy with long-running reality show (Impractical) Jokers and action-comedy-drama like the film Catch Me if You Can (2001). One of his newest discoveries is Barry, a dark comedy series created by and starring Bill Hader.
“What I love about Barry is its premise — it’s a show about a depressed hitman who wants to change his life and become an actor instead–and how they mixed violence and comedy in the script,” Jairus shared. “Not only that, but they also created this crazy combination of characters that will always get a chuckle out of you even when they are trying to kill each other. Bill Hader is great as the emotionless and often awkward hitman Barry but, personally, NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan) with all his oddball shenanigans will always be my personal favorite.”
Health and fitness guru Jacq Yu has had a long-standing fascination with DC superheroes, especially Batman.
“Superheroes are human, too, they have their own issues to deal with while they fight crime and save the world. Their humanity is what makes them relatable,” she said.
It’s a no-brainer then that her favorite movie so far this year is Matt Reeves’ The Batman (2022), starring Robert Pattinson in the dual role of Gotham City’s vigilante detective and his alter ego, reclusive billionaire Bruce Wayne. Two years of stalking the streets as the Batman, striking fear into the hearts of criminals, has led Bruce Wayne deep into the shadows of Gotham City. With only a few trusted allies — Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis), Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) — amongst the city’s corrupt network of officials and high-profile figures, the lone vigilante has established himself as the sole embodiment of vengeance amongst his fellow citizens.
When a killer targets Gotham’s elite with a series of sadistic machinations, a trail of cryptic clues sends the World’s Greatest Detective on an investigation into the underworld, where he encounters such characters as Selina Kyle/aka Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), Oswald Cobblepot aka the Penguin (Colin Farrell), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and Edward Nashton aka the Riddler (Paul Dano). As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit, and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued Gotham City.
“I love this movie so much because one, it’s a thrilling cat-and-mouse game between the Riddler (Paul Dano), Batman, and Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), and two, it shows Bruce Wayne making a decision between using justice as a way for self-destruction or actually moving past his traumas and find his true purpose in protecting the people of Gotham,” she added.
Actor Troy Montero has always been a fan of Japan, charmed by its culture where the traditional and the modern often intersect. This fascination led him to discover his new favorite series, Tokyo Vice.
Tokyo Vice is loosely inspired by American journalist Jake Adelstein’s non-fiction first-hand account of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat. Filmed on location in Tokyo, the crime drama series captures Adelstein’s (Ansel Elgort) daily descent into the neon-soaked underbelly of Tokyo in the late ‘90s, where nothing and no one is truly what or who they seem.
“Tokyo Vice is an interesting look into Japan — where organized crime (yakuza) and the police work together to form this tenuous balance,” he said. “The series is the perfect neo-noir thriller for when you want to have your mind blown by plot twists. The best part? It has amazingly crafted characters, and Ken Watanabe as senior detective Hiroto Katagiri is both complex and badass. He is easily my favorite.”
In the world of basketball, the Los Angeles Lakers have built an almost-mythical reputation. This is the team of NBA greats that includes Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Kobe Bryant, to name a few.
But what made them such basketball heavyweights in the first place? Find out in Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, a fast break series about the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of sports’ most revered and dominant dynasties — a team that defined an era, both on and off the court. TV presenter and athlete Gretchen Ho has this series firmly in her favorites list.
“Basketball fans should catch Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty as it charts the lives of the Lakers in the 1980s, right in the thick of their Showtime, run-and-gun era where they became the behemoth of the league. It also shows us how players like Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and more created the blueprint of their success,” Gretchen said.“It’s a great series if you want to learn more about your favorite purple and gold players.”
Erik Matti is a Filipino director known for using his films as undisguised social commentaries. And in this hotly anticipated neo-noir thriller On The Job, he didn’t hold back. This six-part series inspired by true events centers around crime syndicates that temporarily release contracted prison inmates to carry out political assassinations for those in power, except that the crime syndicates are run by politicians. On The Job also puts a spotlight on the real-world predicament concerning fake news and how easily truth can be manufactured and disseminated to the public in today’s age of information.
Host-mompreneur Roxanne Montealegre recommends the show not only because she stars in it as journalist Pam Sarmiento, but because it’s a timely film about what’s happening in the country.
“Direk Erik has a masterful way of delivering hard truths on what’s happening in the Philippines and what we’re letting happen,” she said. “On The Job forces us to re-examine our values and what we need to do to create a better Philippines for Filipinos — do we stay silent, or do we stand up against injustice?”
Catch Bohemian Rhapsody, Barry, The Batman (2022), Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, and On The Job, and more on HBO GO. To learn more about HBO GO and PLDT Home, visit pldthome.com/hbogo. #
Designed with the everyday modern Asian women in mind, Love, Bonito is launching its Footwear collection with new styles and revamped crowd-favourites that are easy to pair with everyday wear. The new collection is comfortable yet functional, featuring closed-toe and strappy styles which can be matched with almost anything from your wardrobe, from jeans to workwear, weddings to parties or even for a beach day out this summer!
Left to Right: Lissia Cross Strap Sandals in Dusty Yellow, Teresia Square Toe Strap Heels in Nude, Avie Square Toe Strap Flats in Camel
Versatile and timeless designs are key attributes the modern Asian women look for when it comes to effortless styling. With the multiple roles she takes on throughout the day, including running daytime errands, attending work meetings and joining late-night get-togethers, the last thing she wants is to open her closet in the morning and ‘have nothing to wear’.
Left to Right: Halina Square Toe Sandals in Willow, Avie Square Toe Strap Flats in Camel, Teresia Square Toe Strap Heels in Daffodil
Starring a neutral colour palette, the footwear from this collection are everyday essentials, ready to complement any outfit regardless of the day’s agenda. For ladies who prioritise comfort, you can look forward to additional padding on two new pieces, where extra cushioning is provided with every step without losing its form. Featured in the Halina Square Toe Sandals and Avie Square Toe Strap Flats, both pieces provide the comfort and support needed for all-day wear.
Left to Right: Cherise Ankle Strap Mules in Cream, Kori Slingback Strap Heels in White, Lissia Cross Strap Sandals in Dusty Yellow
An evergreen staple to the wardrobe, this Footwear collection is set to be a perfect companion throughout the day. These stylish everyday staples will add a spring to her step and empower her with confidence and elegance to conquer what lies ahead!
Back by popular demand, the collection features iconic weightless straps and ties that boast functionality and style. The Cherise Ankle Strap Mules are a staple pair of pointed toe flats with ankle straps for secure slip-ons, and a micro heel for a casual height boost. The lightweight, thong-styled Kori Slingback Strap Heels is a delicate and minimal piece secured with sling back straps, and ideal for work or casual engagements. The Lissia Cross Strap Sandals would be your go-to piece with its secure design, suitable for days with back to back errands.
“The Artist Is Alive” Digital Exhibition by Jasper Castro and curated by Raymond Tribdino goes online this July 15, 2022 at www.theartistisalive.online, inviting the world into an immersive ASMR Art experience for anyone who can access the internet.
Labor Bae (Acrylic on canvas, 4×4 feet)
The exhibition is best experienced with a desktop or by connecting to a larger screen, and a pair of headphones as it would enable the audience to simultaneously take in both the paintings and the recorded spoken word poetry. Through this multidimensional rendering, both audience and artist are looking and hearing the same thing in the most intimate set-up–bringing their psyche to the same place. Aiming to be a notch above walking in someone else’s shoes, it’s being in the artist’s bipolar brain. With this extreme empathy, the artist hopes to connect and befriend the audience as she handholds them through the exhibit to listen to her deepest darkest secrets.
How do you make friends? For her first day at school, her mother advised: smile! But that didn’t work and she was bullied. In college, she discovered a technique herself: start with a secret. She would make friends with random girls by talking about crushes. Opening up on the get-go inevitably created a safe space where others could open up too.
The primary reason this exhibit works as a safe space is that it starts with the artist completely opening her heart and her secrets to the world. By taking the first step, she hopes that the audience, too, would trust her as they dive in, and attempt to find healing together.
Everyone needs to heal.
The exhibit comes at the tail-end of a pandemic that has left almost everyone with surprising and unwelcome self-discoveries about the limits of their mental health.
Jasper discovered the limit of her own mental health in her early twenties when she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. A series of heartbreaks led to years-long clinical depression that stole years of her life. She and her doctor agreed that the blow-up was a long time coming, as symptoms for the disorder had been present since she was a suicidal 4-year-old. However, it was held off for a long time partly thanks to her consistent dedication to the arts.
When Jasper finally got out of her depression, she found she was a completely different person, as though she was reborn. She didn’t love this new self with her new larger frame, and new somber personality–but she understood that these changes had been necessary for her to survive through a difficult time.
In this series of artworks, Jasper finds her way back into loving herself, embracing every phase of her moods, and every facet of her personality. Here, she lays it all out in the open–confessions about desires, frustrations, dreams amplified by triggers, and episodes of mania and depression. Laid out before her, she can find the beauty in them, and despite the temptation for self-loathing, here she learns to forgive herself.
Pushing the limit of expression and getting her message across, Jasper combines her two main mediums: painting and poetry. The audio and visual cues then propel her audience to a destination beyond color and words, serving as coordinates to a third space where both artist and audience share the same mind.
In Trigger, she encapsulates the moment that could lead to a mental downward spiral. A Beta Loves To Fight captures that second before a big angry blow-up. She renders anger in its complex contradictions: soft fluffy afro decked in metallic, harsh shadows on a gentle face, and a fighting fish primed to fight housed in bubble gum. In Heaven’s Looking Down she seeks to express a more subtle trigger that’s harder to pinpoint: disappointment.
The Mangic of My Boston Ferns
In Mania, she sears vibrating, creative manic energy onto her canvas with two pieces that both heavily feature nature that thrives, survives, and thrums amid adversity: the desert cactus and the low-maintenance Boston fern. In Honest Oasis, she confesses her sexuality, and loneliness–two strong emotions amplified during manic episodes. It’s also in Honest Oasis that The Artist is Alive finds its essence: the raw, naked attempt to unify a fragmented self. In The Mangic of My Boston Ferns, she explores creative manic insomnia, delights in how it can be a creative power up but also doesn’t discount the price to pay.
A Floating Lesson (acrylic on canvas)
In Depression, Jasper presents two situations of emotional downward spiraling. My Purple Heart is about coping with the aftermath of rejection through projecting love towards the distant and impossible, to temporarily house a heart longing to love. In Spiral Of Threes, she describes the repetitive, cyclical nature of depression–that it comes with warnings all the time, and yet remains unstoppable as it devours, like crawling poison ivy eating away an immobile house, a pinned down body.
Respite serves as the meditative rest in this series, an important calming ending to a long and winding journey. A Floating Lesson is about learning to breathe and relax when overstimulated by life’s torrential river. Hatch is about finding solace in sleep and learning to shut everything down.
The series ends with Labor Bae, which uses her fascination with nature and honeybees to talk about the formidable task of embracing one’s vocation–whether as a floral-scented short lived spring bee, an autumn bee that lives long but spends most of its life huddled in the hive for winter, or as a long-lasting lonely Queen Bee powerful yet damned to spend her whole life in the hive. The woman sits amid gigantic crimson poppy flowers–an ode to Morpheus, the god of dreams who fuels her art.
The whole collection is a celebration of a fact that the artist shares with the audience: that they are alive. Through the ups and downs, they have survived. The artist announces her presence by using herself as the subject in many of the paintings and also through her susurrous poetry. As the audience journeys with her from brokenness to building herself back again, she bravely brings her secrets out into the open. As Jasper defiantly amplifies her voice, refusing to be silenced, giving it her all–with her colors and her words–she whispers one last desire into the world: she hopes to inspire you to share your secrets, too.
Bringing a special Hallyu Market in partnership with SM Southmall, a three-day bazaar featuring all things Korea and K-Culture! Hallyu Market is also coming to a city near you as it plans to hold more Hallyu Market bazaars in Pasay, Cebu, Pampanga and Davao towards the latter part of the year, with an aim to make Hallyu reachable to fans all over the Philippines.
Snag the hottest K-merch, update your K-beauty routine, and shop til you drop while sipping on an iced Americano from our K-Cafe selections. What’s more, K-collectors can visit the designated Photocard Station where they can trade, auction, buy, and sell all-day, nonstop!
More exciting activities and swag await, so make sure to be at SM Southmall on July 29-31, 2022! See you there!
Hallyu Market is an original production of MAKEITLIVE, with special thanks to SM Southmall.
The campaign visual for the AW22 collection is created based on the concept of “Shadow”, using monotone black and white colors.
The supple movement and the elegant posing of the models, were inspired by designers of the Japanese fashion scenes in the eighties.
Through this campaign visual, Onitsuka Tiger pays tribute to the eighties when the Japanese aesthetic of “purity and austerity” blasted Western aesthetics.
This collection is about those years and is delivered with an active and contemporary take. Layering, typical of Japanese ceremonial dress, is pivotal in conceiving a style that expresses an original and genderless collection.
In addition to the ultra-oversized T-shirts made of heavy cotton and graphically embroidered kaftans (overdresses), the only distinctive embellishments in the collection are the flame and flower prints on the hems of various apparel items. The collection has a slightly Gothic & girly style, with a modern rock star twist and presents various items such as velour dresses, and mini dresses with a drawstring waist. Layer these items with nylon jackets, maxi Bermuda pants, midi-length pleated skirts, and multi-pocketed waistcoats, and add balaclavas on the head.
For footwear, the PETAL™ model is a classic court style shoe with an ankle-height upper that complements a wide range of styles, while ACROMOUNT™ KNIT model, with a subtle print accent on a minimalist, simple design, symbolizes the theme of the collection: Shadow.
“Jollibee always aims to spread joy to our customers, whether for dine-in, take out, drive-thru, or delivery. We continuously innovate our services to deliver a levelled-up customer experience,” said Jollibee Philippines President Ferns Yu, Jr. “We are piloting new innovations and technology in select stores, and are excited to roll them out to more branches in the future.”
These innovations complement the company’s signature Alagang Jollibee brand of service. “We’re very proud of our store teams’ trademark warm and joyful service—that’s what sets our teams apart in the fast-food industry. These new features contribute to an even better level of customer convenience, and increased efficiency for our operations as well,” Yu added.
Here are the store innovations to check out at select Jollibee stores:
Jollibots. First on the list is the viral Jollibots which netizens spotted months before in Jollibee’s SM Aura branch in Bonifacio Global City during the pilot stage. Dining robotics were once considered futuristic, but the Jollibots have now started to serve and delight dine-in customers at Jollibee SM Aura, Taguig and Jollibee Glorietta, Makati. Soon, they’ll be present at Jollibee SM Seaside Cebu as well.
Jollibots conveniently dispatch food to customers’ tables, helping out the store team especially during peak hours. These are present in Jollibee SM Aura, Taguig and Jollibee Glorietta, Makati, and soon in Jollibee SM Seaside Cebu.
The Jollibots may be considered as the store team’s on-ground assistants, ready to extend a helping hand in dispatching orders straight to customers’ tables — allowing the crew to focus on other important tasks or attend to special requests of customers especially during peak hours.
“With the Jollibots, our store teams in select stores are experiencing the benefits of serving their customers even more efficiently. While these Jollibots are welcome additions, we have maintained and will continue to keep the same number of crew in these branches as they remain integral to our day-to-day operations and in delivering our Alagang Jollibee brand of service,” Yu shared.
Jollibee introduced Smart Lockers where customers and aggregator riders can pick up orders safely with zero wait time. These can be found in Jollibee Angono Bayan, Rizal, Jollibee P. Tuazon, Quezon City, and Jollibee Northbay Boulevard, Navotas.
Smart Lockers. Waiting to pick up food orders will soon become a thing of the past, thanks to the new smart lockers. Designed to also complement the convenient Order & Pick up feature of the Jollibee App, this makes the customer’s journey even more seamless and hassle free. Jollibee customers on-the-go can conveniently place their orders via the Jollibee App, then wait for the store to confirm their transaction and inform them of the smart locker pick up process. Once in the store, customers can go directly to the smart locker, key in their order number, and the corresponding locker will automatically open. Orders are guaranteed safe and secure, and there’s zero wait time as well. Check out the Smart Lockers at Jollibee Angono Bayan, Rizal, Jollibee P. Tuazon, Quezon City, and Jollibee Northbay Boulevard, Navotas.
Whether it’s peak hour or not, the Rider’s Area in Jollibee GMA Cavite ensures that riders are given a safe and convenient place where they can get customer orders.
Rider’s Area. Where to wait and sit while waiting to pick up your customers’ orders in a jampacked Jollibee store? Riders of aggregator partners servicing GMA Cavite will worry no more as Jollibee’s branch in the said city has a new Rider’s Area—a dedicated and safe waiting and pick-up area where partner riders can rest comfortably as they wait for the orders of their customers. With this, crowding is avoided inside the store especially during peak hours, ensuring the safety of partner riders and customers alike.
Customers can enjoy their meals in an open-air setting Jollibee GMA Cavite’s new and improved al fresco dining area.
Al Fresco Dining. With more people continuing to take extra safety precautions especially when dining out with their family and friends, Jollibee will soon be allotting more floor space for an Al fresco area. The newest and levelled up al fresco dining area—adorned with nice murals and plants—are already welcoming customers at Jollibee GMA Cavite.
Jollibee president Ferns Yu shares that eating at Jollibee has always been associated with great bonding times in a place where you can be yourself and just feel at home. “So regardless of one’s new dining preference in this new normal, they will be able to continue enjoying the same treasured Jollibee experience over their favorite langhap-sarap meals.”
Self-Order Kiosks, which are available in 129 stores nationwide, allow customers to order their langhap-sarap favorites in 3 easy steps – order, pay, and claim!
Self-Order Kiosks (SOKs). Jollibee first piloted the self-order kiosks or SOKs back in 2018 to provide a faster and more efficient ordering process in stores. Now, more than 300 SOK units are present at 129 Jollibee stores nationwide. With a huge touchscreen menu board, choosing what to eat just became easier. Customers can go cashless and use their debit or credit cards to pay using the SOK terminal, or they can opt to pay cash at the counter. With the SOKs, Jollibee favorites can be enjoyed in just three easy steps – order, pay, and claim!
The Dual Lane Drive-Thru in Jollibee Petron SLEX allows the store to serve more customers and cuts down turnaround time.
Dual-lane Drive-Thru. Jollibee also improves the drive-thru experience with dual lanes, sensors, and food conveyor belts, increasing the store’s drive-thru capacity, shortening the turnaround time for customers, and making dispatching food faster and fuss-free. The Dual-Lane Drive-Thru is present at Jollibee Petron SLEX, Laguna and will soon be experienced by customers at Jollibee Shell SLEX, Laguna. Meanwhile, food conveyor belts are operational and have been making order dispatch even faster at Petron SLEX, Shell C5 Heritage, Taguig, and Ayala Center Cebu branches.
Jon Villanueva, the Vice President of Restaurant Systems of Jollibee, hopes that these new innovations will help customers have an even more enjoyable experience whether they prefer to have their Jollibee favorites in store, at home, or even on the road.
“We’re very excited about these cutting-edge innovations in our stores, some of which are firsts in the local fast-food industry. The future of Joy is here, and we continue to be committed to making our customers’ Alagang Jollibee experience even better as we roll these out in more stores nationwide,” he said.
Mornings at Italianni’s just got perkier with the addition of new breakfast dishes. And for those who live near Greenbelt, this branch now serves breakfast daily while Italianni’s Bonifacio High Street is open for breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays only.
Avocado Toast
Jumpstart your day with an item or two from this selection: French Toast and Fruits, Italian Sausage Scramble, Smoked Salmon Scramble, Granola & Mixed Fruits; Avocado Toast, Pancetta & Potato Hash, Croquette Madame and Breakfast Grilled Pork Chop.
Croquette MadamePancetta & Potato Hash
Of course, there are the breakfast mainstays such as waffles and pancakes, omellettes, salads, Continental Breakfast selection, local favorites and coffee, tea, fruits and juices
Italian Sausage Toast
Bring your Bistro BFF Card and enjoy 20% discount on breakfast fare on Saturdays & Sundays.
Can’t get enough of the action from Spider-Man™: No Way Home? We hear you! KC Global Media is proud to announce that Spider-Man™: No Way Home will debut on Sunday 17July at 9.45pm exclusively on AXN Asia (Cignal Ch 121, SKYcable HD Ch 247, SKYcable SD Ch 49, GSAT Ch 57, and various provincial cable operators nationwide), the leading English-language general entertainment channel!
SPIDER-MAN™ and MARVEL™ movie fans can once again hop on to one of the most exciting adventures where our friendly neighbourhood hero is unmasked for the very first time in the cinematic history of SPIDER-MAN™. Experience the biggest revelation and plot twist ever in the most epic of all SPIDER-MAN™ movies as Peter Parker (starring Tom Holland) unexpectedly unveils the multiverse while trying to make his identity as SPIDER-MAN™ a secret again.
What’s more exciting, AXN Asia will be featuring special on-air features on their Facebook page from 11 July onwards for SPIDER-MAN™ fans who cannot get enough of the movie! Here is early access just for you:
Fans are invited to tune in to AXN Asia on Cignal Ch 121, SKYcable HD Ch 247, SKYcable SD Ch 49, GSAT Ch 57, and various provincial cable operators nationwide on 17 Julyat 9.15pm to catch a special 30min retrospective piece, celebrating 20 years of Spider-Man™ as a lead up to Spider-Man™: No Way Home and to relive their favourite “Spidey-Tingle” moments!
Calling all piña fabric artisans! The stage is set for them once again to showcase their unique talents in the art of weaving, dyeing, embroidering, and embellishing piña as the Lourdes Montinola Weaving Competition launches its 5th edition and welcomes new entries from all over the Philippines. The country’s premier piña weaving contest is back and will be one of the highlighted activities during HABI Philippine Textile Council’s Likhang Habi Market Fair slated October 14-16, 2022. The annual competition seeks to encourage piña weavers to keep to their traditional craft, continue creativity in weaving, and innovate their piña weaving techniques.
1st Place-“Sintas” by Raquel Eliserio. Image by Lisa Lorenzo
“We see weavers coming up with both traditional and innovative techniques, [and these] play a role in strengthening awareness and patronage of piña,” says Lourdes Montinola, founder of the competition, chair emeritus of the Far Eastern University, and author of “Piña,” the 1991 book about the Philippine pineapple textile.
2nd Place-“PS Diamond” by Perlie Feleciano of La Hermiña. Image by Lisa Lorenzo
To join, participants must submit a panel that’s at least two meters long. More than 50 percent of the body of the cloth must be made of piña, and must come with a detailed description and a photograph showing the weaver working on his/her entry. Entries must be submitted to the HABI Office, 962 May Street, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila. Deadline for submission is on Sept. 30, 2022.
As with last year’s competition, the 5th Lourdes Montinola Piña Weaving Competition will give out three major cash prizes: P50,000 for the first-place winner; P30,000 for second; and P20,000 for third.
3rd Place-“Jannalyn” by Jannalyn Rasonable. Image by Lisa Lorenzo
Major winners from last year’s competition were Jannalyn Rasonable of Elizabeth Rasonable Piña Weaving, who bagged third place with her piña with polyester embroidery titled “Jannalyn”; Perlie Feleciano of La Herminia Piña Weaving, whose “PS Diamond” featuring fine details of the sinuksuk and tablero rengge techniques earned her second place; and first-placer Raquel Eliserio, whose “Sintas” showcased a new method of embellishment of the same name, combined with sinuksuk, in-stripe, and rengge techniques on a mixture of piña, cotton, rayon, and silk.
Two special awards, the Philippine Innovation Award for Textile Innovation and Nadres Award for Outstanding Young Weaver will also be given out, respectively, by Filip + Inna (a fashion brand championed by Len Cabili) and the Nadres family, whose business, for generations, has been the creation of some of the best barong products in the Philippines.
Innovation Award – “Iñigo” by Carlo Eliserio. Image by Lisa Lorenzo
Last year, out of the 42 entries which were displayed at the Silverlens Gallery, these two special awards were given, respectively, to 25-year-old Carlo Eliserio from Aklan for his unique ability to combine different fibers such as piña, cotton, polyester, and silk in his piece titled “Iñigo”; and to 13-year-old Delara Beltran, who used a handloom to create her piece titled “Sampaguita” showcasing the traditional sinuksuk design.
Young Weaver Award -“Sampaguita” Delara Beltran. Image by Lisa Lorenzo
“The surprising thing about the contest is that every year, better and more exquisite pieces are entered. With the Young Weaver Award, it became evident that young people are into practicing the craft, thus ensuring a resurgence and continuity,” says Habi President Adelaida Lim.
Through this competition, Gino Gonzales, co-author of the fashion history book, “Fashionable Filipinas” and one of last year’s judges, says the country is “reminded of the many possibilities of piña and its design process.”
He adds, “I am reminded of the fact that there are other points of view on what we can wear. They’re not just art forms; they’re things that you want to put on your body.”
Interested parties may call HABI: The Philippine Textile Council T: +63 921 849-6974 or send an e-mail to support@habiphilippinetextilecouncil.com for more information.
