ETCETERA; Thoughts between the lines

  Yesterday, we had lunch in Alabang West to celebrate a July birthday. As always, it was full of stories, laughter, and good food—sashimi, unagi, grilled salmon. We even ended with cake and very expensive but satisfying coffee in a Japanese coffee shop. A few of us shared personal challenges, like sickness in the family, but only in passing. The real highlight was simply being together. Later, I remembered an article I read in The New York Times about a word I had never heard before: Joyspan . It’s not about how long we live (lifespan), or how long we stay healthy (healthspan), but how much of life we actually enjoy . The word was coined by Dr. Kerry Burnight, who says we can extend our joyspan by doing four things: Grow, Adapt, Give, and Connect . Grow. Curiosity keeps us young. One of our friends at the table used to be in a band and now wants to learn the bass guitar. That’s growth! Adapt. We all make changes as we age. We don’t meet monthly as often anymore, but yeste...

  Day 1 – First Taste of Hanoi Our much-awaited family trip to Hanoi finally happened first week of June —all of us together: me, my wife Cynthia, our sons Allen and Paolo, and daughters Nina and Dang, who were home from Australia and took charge of everything—hotel, transport, and tours. All we had to do was show up and enjoy—and we did, starting with our early morning Vietnam Airlines flight. By 1 a.m., we were up and on our way to NAIA. Check-in was smooth, though the lounge was under maintenance, so we had coffee at Starbucks. The 3-hour flight was uneventful. I tried the beef noodles—okay, but nothing memorable. At Hanoi’s clean and efficient airport, our van took us straight to Hotel Allure in the Old Quarter. With check-in at 2 p.m., we left our bags and explored. Hanoi greeted us with heat, humidity, and buzzing motorbikes. The narrow streets were lined with shops, food stalls, and locals lounging on tiny plastic stools sipping strong coffee. We stumbled upon a quir...

 Sometime in 1993 or 1994—it was so long ago, I can’t quite pin down the year—my business partner and good friend moved our office to one of the buildings along Ayala Avenue, Makati. It was a newly bought old building, formerly owned by a bank and sold to another bank. Our company became one of the new tenants. On our floor were two other small businesses: one in trading and the other in freight forwarding. We were in import-export. By daily chance, we’d bump into each other in the building’s cafeteria. Eventually, we started sharing lunch. Tired of the usual cafeteria food, we began exploring the food stalls around Makati Commercial Center, then gradually graduated to restaurants. This routine turned us from acquaintances into real friends. The three of us all lived in the south, and in time, we ended up moving to the same village. Another friend from the north remained part of our group. We kept our traditions alive—celebrating birthdays (with the celebrant exempted from pay...

  Before our two daughters flew back to Canberra after their vacation, they came up with a bright idea: “Let’s do a family pictorial—professional this time!” My first thought? “Why not just do it like we did last time?” You know, good old DIY style. We hung a white cloth for a backdrop, dressed in matching light-colored blazers (medio-forma) and the ladies wore their fine white dresses. We used a tripod, one proper camera, and a couple of cellphones. Not bad at all—the photos turned out pretty decent. I used some of the shots, including a few funny and awkward poses, in our 2023 family calendar. But this time, the girls were serious. Studio shoot. Casual outfits. Real photographer. Real lights. Real instructions like: “Ngeti po, sir.” “Ma’am, tingin po sa camera.” “Lagay po ang kamay sa pants pocket.” “Put your hand on his shoulder.” “Lean your head.” So there we were, gamely posing as a family: ·          The whole gang together...