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Arts & Culture

Best Places to Celebrate Your Chinese New Year’s Eve 2020 in Cebu

by Chrissy Grey Resaba

Metal Rat Goes Into the Hole of 2020! Outgoing, cheerful, and sociable – these are some of the facets the Rat characterizes. True to the Chinese zodiac, Rat’s personality can get along well with different people and friends are visible around them. They can also harvest success due to their quick wit and response to outside changes thus, they are alert, adaptable, and observant.

As we bring closer to the Spring Festival in which the Year of the Rat with Metal of the Five Elements, people born in this year are quite positive and active about life and their persistence rarely gets frustrate in circumstances. Moreover, there are places here in Cebu that you will attend as you welcome the beginning of the Chinese Lunar calendar which coincides with the first sign of Chinese zodiac animals.

Usher in welcoming the Year of the Metal Rat as Maayo Hotel and Uma Restaurant prepares a festive buffet as we welcome a brand new year.  It is priced at Php 750 net per person during lunch and Php 870 net per person during dinner. Promo runs from January 23-25, 2020.

Crimson Resort and Spa welcomes the first day of the year of the rat with a Wushu performance at the resort’s porte cocher then dot the lion and dragon’s eyes to start the dancing and festivities. Crimson’s culinary team also is laying out an elaborate Chinese, Oriental, and Asian selection at Saffron Café. You may ask the chefs at the live station to make noodles and other dishes the way you like them. Attract more good luck with tikoy and rice pudding with Mandarin sauce.

Elevate your dining culture into incorporating technological innovations in this iconic restaurant! Not only, Ding How Dimsum House offers palatable Chinese food for Cebuanos to enjoy but it introduces the new digital ordering system. Individual screens allow one to view the Ding How menu, place an order, and engage in trivia, history, and multimedia visuals. With this, it upgrades customer convenience when ordering by allowing the diner to order at their own pace. It also informs the diners of the waiting time before food is served.

Join Shangri-la’s Mactan Resort and Spa as they welcome the Year of the Metal Rat in celebration of the Chinese New Year. Ceremonies will commence at 9:45 in the morning on Saturday, January 25, 2020, at the Main Wing Lobby.

Feast yourself with Prosperity and Fortune in a dinner buffet at one of Cebu’s best, Cebu Parklane International Hotel’s Manuel’s Restaurant for only Php 1,050.00 net on January 24 and 25. Beandate also offers Merienda Chino – a variety of merienda treats and Chinese snacks Cebuanos love for only Php350.00 net on January 25th only.

Prizes from the Tree of Fortune awaits to those diners who purchased a minimum of Php 3,000.00 net. The Tree of Fortune offers:

  • One overnight stay at Parklane Room with Breakfast for Two
  • Two Gift Certificates for a Lunch or Dinner Buffet for One
  • Four Bean Date Mugs
  • Four Complimentary Homemade Cakes
  • Ten Parklane Pencils
  • Two Bottles of Wine

For inquiries and reservations, call 234-7000 local 7249 or visit www.parklanehotel.com.ph/reserve-now/

Arts & Culture

Queer Coding in Cinema: The Best Shows to Binge for Pride Month 2025

compiled by Edge Javier

As Pride Month 2025 goes into full swing, the best way to celebrate LGBTQIA+ voices is with a binge-worthy lineup of shows that center queer stories, joy, love, resilience — and yes, of course, drama. From groundbreaking recent series to must-watch staples and fan favorites, here are the top shows to stream this June that reflect the vibrant spectrum of the queer-coded experience.

1. Heartstopper – Season 3 (Netflix)
Nick and Charlie are back, and the coming-of-age sweetness is stronger than ever. Season 3 explores deeper emotional territory while keeping the wholesome tone fans adore. Expect more queer joy, nuanced relationships, and tearjerker moments that feel like a warm hug.

2. Drag Me to Dinner (Hulu)
Hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, this chaotic culinary competition pairs drag duos in a battle to throw the most fabulous themed dinner party. With outrageous challenges, surprise twists, and plenty of camp, queens serve up equal parts food, flair, and fierce shade. It’s RuPaul meets Top Chef—served with a side of sequins.

3. Queer Planet (Apple TV+)
Hosted by Janelle Monáe, this visually stunning docuseries dives into queerness in the animal kingdom and parallels in human identities. It’s smart, groundbreaking, and perfect for those who want to feel seen—and informed.

4. Fellow Travelers (Paramount+)
This period romance-drama set during the Lavender Scare continues to grip audiences with its tragic beauty and sharp historical insight. If you missed Season 1, now is the perfect time to catch up before the highly anticipated Season 2 lands later this year.

5. The Buccaneers – Season 2 (Apple TV+)
The unapologetically queer period drama returns with more scandal, sapphic yearning, and feminist rebellion among American heiresses navigating high society in 1870s London. Think Bridgerton, but with more edge and better sapphic representation.

6. Our Flag Means Death – The Finale Special (Max)
This fan-favorite pirate rom-com wraps up with a one-hour finale special airing this June. Whether you’re rewatching from the start or jumping into the last hurrah, this show remains a shining example of queer love told with heart and humor.

7. This Is Me Now… The Series (Prime Video)
Following Jennifer Lopez’s genre-blurring film-musical hybrid, the series version delves into themes of love, identity, and self-acceptance, and features cameos by queer icons and allies. It’s campy, messy, and made for Pride Month mood-boosting.

8. Sort Of – Final Season (Max)
This critically acclaimed dramedy about a gender-fluid millennial navigating love, grief, and identity in Toronto comes to a close with an emotionally rich final season. A thoughtful and often hilarious story that never loses its beating heart.

9. Red, White & Royal Blue – Limited Series (Prime Video)
After the hit film adaptation, the beloved queer romance returns in a serialized format, expanding on Alex and Henry’s story with new twists and deeper character arcs. It’s romantic escapism, elevated.

10. POSE: The Legacy (FX/Hulu)
This documentary miniseries honors the cultural legacy of POSE and the real-life ballroom legends who inspired it. Featuring interviews with cast, creators, and icons from the scene, it’s a must-watch tribute to queer history and resilience.

Whether you’re looking for laughter, tears, romance, or revolution, these Pride Month picks for 2025 offer it all—while honoring the complexity and beauty of LGBTQIA+ lives. So press play, turn up the volume, and let queer stories shine this June and beyond. Happy Pride! 🏳️‍🌈

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Arts & Culture

Chaos and Clarity: Zen Aesthetic in Oj Hofer’s Art

by Jing Ramos |

Oj Hofer, our fashion contributing editor, is a Fine Arts graduate from the University of the Philippines. Though he began painting at the age of eight, his artistic journey took a transformative turn in 2013. While volunteering as a costume designer for Siddhartha: The Musical, he encountered Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s One-Stroke Calligraphy, sparking a deep devotion to Japanese sumi-e painting and kanji calligraphy. Over the years, he refined his craft, using his art to share the Dharma through exhibitions while supporting the Hsing Yun Educational Foundation. In 2022, his spiritual path deepened at Nan Tien University, where he embraced Zen and Humanistic Buddhism, shaping his artistic philosophy.

“Plum Blossoms in Moonlight.” Serigraphy on abaca.

In his recent works, Hofer merges traditional calligraphy with serigraphy, drawing inspiration from his friend Charles Lahti—an internationally recognized New York-based painter and printmaker. Lahti, known for his collaborations with post-war American artists like Robert Rauschenberg, Donald Judd, Andy Warhol, and LeRoy Neiman, introduced Hofer to silkscreen techniques. Through a workshop Lahti conducted in Cebu—arranged by their mutual friend Greg Urra—Hofer integrated silkscreen into his Zen artworks, particularly those on abaca.

“The Circle of Harmony” Serigraphy and Calligraphy on abaca.

Hofer’s cross-disciplinary approach challenges conventional Zen aesthetics. His layered paintings on abaca may seem far from tranquil at first glance, but closer contemplation reveals a meditative core. His serigraph of an Enso circle, for example, initially appears chaotic, filled with Tang Dynasty poetry and overlapping, repetitive forms. Yet, by focusing on a single calligraphic element, the viewer experiences a moment of clarity—a glimpse of awakening within the visual complexity.

“Monkey Mind” Serigraphy and Calligraphy on abaca.

Even more engaging is his diptych Monkey Mind. At odds with the traditional Zen emphasis on negative space, this piece is deliberately busy, reflecting the restless nature of the mind. A distracted viewer may struggle to find a focal point, but one attuned to emptiness and presence will perceive clarity amidst the seeming disarray.

Ink and intention—creating calligraphy in support of one of my advocacies.

By fusing Zen philosophy with the discipline of serigraphy, Hofer invites his audience to look beyond surface impressions and discover stillness within movement, balance within complexity. His art does not merely depict Zen—it embodies the paradoxes at its core, offering a path to mindfulness through the act of seeing and the experience of doing.

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Arts & Culture

What is Sappia? The Rice Myth Goddess of Bohol Who Helped Feed the People During a Great Famine

by Emma Gomez

The story began when the people of Bohol started to experience hunger and famine. All the livestocks were inedible and the fields were dried out leaving only weeds planted on the ground. The people prayed to the goddess of mercy, Sappia, to ask for food.

Sappia, the rice myth goddess of Bohol

Sappia, from the heavens, heard the cries of the people. She saw the dense population of weeds and offered to help them. Sappia thought of nourishing the weeds to be edible and healthy for the people of Bohol. Straightaway, she sprinkled the weed with milk from her bossom. She emptied each breast until blood came out. Before she left, she whispered to the weeds that they may be nourished and be able to feed the people.

When harvest season came, the people of Bohol quickly gathered the nourished weeds. They observed that the ones sprinkled with milk were white, while the other were red. They called the new plant rice and they replanted these in honor of Sappia, and for the people to devour.

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