Lifestyle

Last week, I was able to share on how to “survive” the new normal. There are many ways to handle all our anxieties, worries, fears, and sadness. But there are some people who tried different means of managing stress but still could not cope.It is okay not to be okay. Help is available. It is okay to ask for help. There are people who will be there for you.When is the time when you or someone you know is not okay? Here are some signs and symptoms to watch for:> Sleep problems – the inability to sleep, cannot sleep, or early morning awakening> Weight or appetite changes> Excessive anxieties or worries> Social withdrawal> Emotional distant> Feeling depressed or unhappy> Can’t cope with the daily routine> Using alcohol or drugs to cope> Feeling unworthy or guilty> Significant ...

Three down, two more conference days to go. The Visayas Islands Visual Arts Exhibition & Conference (VIVA ExCon) 16 is now in the middle of its virtual conference using the lens of Futures Studies thinking. The Visayan art community is excited about the platform chosen given the limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic.Going into the future studies design and perspective, the main objective is to arrive at a possible, probable, and preferable future for the artist.  The artist group has always been peripheral at best but just tolerated and left alone most of the time.  They tend to feel that they don’t factor in most of society’s general blueprint and would like to create a discourse that shifts perspectives and reassures them that they do have a say in how their future is g...

“King of the Skies” by Suklin Chang Peña*Self-taught artist Suklin Chang Peña*A sketch of her son swimming with the whale sharks in Oslob, Cebu.*A friend’s house in Patag, Silay*Other watercolor paintings by Suklin Chang Peña*A watercolor painting by a self-taught artist and mother of five boys from Bacolod City was part of an exhibit in Japan, recently.The painting of a Philippine Eagle called “King of the Skies” by Suklin Chang Peña was featured in the Japan International Watercolor Institute for the Internet Exhibition of Excellent Paintings.It was also featured in a Philippine Fauna Art Society exhibit called “Sandaan para sa Kalikasan.”Peña, who is into sugar trading and farming, began watercolor painting in 2016.She was inspired by four female watercolor painters...

We are in peculiar times, indeed.The world and how we do things have changed dramatically.While I do not mean to be apathetic to what is going on around us, I also had to ground myself and take care of my mental health more than ever. Stress and anxiety can affect your physical body and it is important to be mindful of the things we consume and how it affects us so that we know how we can address them and make it better, somehow.What resonated with me the most are posts from people who are trying to help in little ways as they can in their field of expertise. Homeschooling communities sharing to (now) work-at-home parents how to maximise their time and make this quarantine season work for the school kids who are now stuck at home; freelancers offering support on how to dig...

‘Memory in Space’ designed by Magaret Therese Hagad*Magaret Therese Hagad*A budding interior designer from Bacolod City, who believes memories are anchored on spatial frameworks, was the champion in a recent national inter-school interior design competition called Estilo de Vida.Magaret Therese Hagad, a student at De La Salle College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) in Manila and the daughter of Felix and Catherine Hagad, won for her entry “Memory in Space.”Estilo De Vida is an annual inter-school interior design competition that gathers “the most promising student designers into a show of creativity, passion and ingenuity.”The competition, co-organized by Philconstruct Events, Exhibitions and Conferences Corp., the Philippine Constructors Association and the Philippine Institute...

The past few months have been challenging for many of us. The pandemic has affected us in so many ways. Some lost their jobs due to the different quarantine levels.Plenty of people were stranded for commercial flights were on hold. A few felt worried and sad to the point that they can not function very well. There were so many changes in this “new normal.”The Department of Health (DOH) identified the paradigm of the “new normal” due to the onslaught of COVID-19. DOH stated that new normal is a new way of thinking about, deciding on, and doing our usual affairs with an invigorated sense to remain healthy.They mandated ways to reduce the spread of this virus by wearing masks, washing our hands regularly, staying at home, limiting mass activities, and many others.Help is avai...

Negrense artist Susanito Sarnate's nativity scene is set in a sugarcane farm.*Ricky Gallaga photos More scenes from Susanito Sarnate's belen*A nativity scene music box*A Bolivian nativity scene*An eastern tradition belen where Mother Mary is seated from Bulgaria*Dr. Ricky Gallaga*The 90 plus year old pieces from the nativity set of Gallaga's mother.*In this belen, each king represents a different Canadian-Indian tribe*A nativity set from Peru*A coconut shell from Peru with a belen inside*A nativity set from Zimbabwe with a lot of beadwork*A doctor, who has a collection of nativity sets from around the world that are on display all year round at his home in Bacolod City, said they are a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.Dr. Ricky Gallaga, the dean of the College of Medic...

Life is too short not to share our experiences and learning.This is what this column is about.COVID-19 has put a halt to many of the things we have been used to. It has grounded planes and cancelled travels. It separated us from friends and loved ones with who we would have spent holidays and special occasions with.Thousands of jobs have been lost, careers stalled, and businesses closing or barely keeping afloat. Conferences and events where people usually come together to learn and bond as a team have stopped.Despite all these, learning cannot be chained. Although traditional institutions are floundering with the new normal, the current situation has pushed education and skill-learning to discover more platforms and adapt for survival.Life is too short not to shar...

The Visayas Islands Visual Arts Exhibition & Conference (VIVA ExCon) 16 that opened virtually on Sunday, November 8, recalibrated itself for the celebration of its 30th year of unimpeded continuance. Given the reality of the 2020 pandemic, the limitation imposed by necessary precautionary measures and the impact of such on the mindset of artists, VIVA ExCon 2020 has recalibrated the festival design to engage creative spirits in a virtual dynamics that is interactive, online and will bring together the creative community to rise to the challenge of the times.VIVA ExCon is a Visayas-wide biennale which was started by the art group Black Artist in Asia in 1990 in Bacolod City and whose hosting has since then toured the Visayan Islands every two years without fail.  It h...

A businesswoman from Bacolod City this week was the first Filipina to win the prestigious Qatar Woman Leader Award in recognition of her contributions to the Middle Eastern country’s economy.Clairevee “Aya” Gamboa, who has founded several businesses in the Middle East, was presented the award virtually by CMO Asia, at the World Women Leadership Award Congress and World Marketing Congress in Qatar.Gamboa, who has been in Bacolod since the COVID-19 pandemic broke, thanked the award-giving body for recognizing her contributions to Qatar’s economic diversity by “advancing a world-class hospitality, brand creations, business development” and her contributions to its “national security during its time of challenges”.“Being the first Filipina consultant in the Middle East to be recogn...