Frances Marie Leones

The finest of Chinese cuisine is laid out in an elegant flower-themed setting for guests at Okada Manila’s Yu Lei restaurant. With “Beyond Flavors, A Feast for the Soul,” Chef Mikiya Imagawa presents a gustatory feast that is to be celebrated with each bite. Elegance as well as taste are combined in exquisitely crafted dishes that are as pleasing to the eye as they are to the palate.

At Okada Manila’s Japanese Kappou Imamura, guests are transported into the heart of Japan’s culinary traditions where the elegance of Kappou ryori meets the finest seasonal ingredients. The restaurant’s menu evolves with the seasons, incorporating special ingredients that highlight the best of what Japan’s culinary landscape has to offer. This dedication to excellence allows guests to enjoy a continuously changing array of flavors, reflecting the rich diversity of Japan’s gastronomy.

Words by Frances Leones
Photos by Althea Catipon
Cookies are the perfect snack for when you’re craving something comforting. Some like their cookies soft and chewy, reminiscent of their mom or Lola baking in the kitchen and the aroma of butter and sugar filling the air.

Words by Frances Leones
Photos by Frances Leones and Nadine Bufi
Pandesal — the quintessential Pinoy bread. It’s perfect for when you’re in a rush to get to school or work and can’t sit down long enough to eat a full breakfast meal, as an inexpensive snack, or, in the case of N.V.M. Gonzalez’s short story, The Bread of Salt, as a literary symbol or plot device. However you look at it, pandesal is a Filipino staple that we love to make sandwiches with in place of the typical sliced white bread.

Words by Frances Leones
Photos by Caitlene Lee Uy
I’ve had Japanese-Filipino and Japanese-American fusion, but never Japanese-Peruvian fusion, nor did I have any idea what Peruvian food tasted like… until Nikkei.

Words by Frances Leones
Photos by Joshua Go
Lasagna–Garfield’s favorite food, a leaning tower of pasta with beef, tomato sauce, and cheese sandwiched between layers of al dente noodles and topped with even more cheese. What’s not to love about this delectable dish?

Words by Frances Leones
Photos by Frances Leones
When you have a health issue that can’t be easily fixed with medicines, it can be a struggle. If you’re born with or diagnosed with a physical condition that imposes certain limitations on what your body’s allowed to do, it can make you feel left out. Sometimes, you can’t help but feel like a total wimp and ask yourself, “Why am I so weak?”

Words by Frances Leones
The Philippines has the longest Christmas season among all other countries. And, honestly, it’s great to be getting into the holiday spirit so early in the year. Christmas is a time for family, love, and celebration so getting the opportunity to spend more time with family and friends, spread love and good cheer, and have fun earlier than other countries is pretty cool.
But, of course, the fact that our country has the longest Christmas season in the world means that some...

Photos by Franchesca Collantes, Gilbert Jacob Que, and Frances Leones (edited by Justin Francia)

Last August 3, my entire family woke up at 5:30 AM as per my younger brother’s request. His reason? We had to go all the way from our town of Santa Rosa, Laguna to Fun Con 2019 at Glorietta in Makati, where they were selling the newly-released Darna and Jolibee Funko Pops.

Words by Frances Leones
Even before the school year starts, college students already feel the stress when they enlist for their classes. For freshies, it’s a daunting prospect of having to fight for slots. You’ll need lightning-fast reflexes to click on that class with a good schedule or a legendary prof before anyone else does. While the rise of online enlistment has made signing up for one’s classes easier compared to the days of old, a student can still encounter problems.

Words by Frances Leones
 
 
During the months of October and November, it’s common for our local TV stations to do horror specials that focus on famous Philippine ghost stories. As a predominantly Christian country with a rich history, the presence of ghosts and other supernatural entities has become ingrained in our cultural memory in the form of superstitions we learn from our elders as well as horror films like Shake, Rattle, and Roll.

 
Most of my childhood Halloween and Undas memories invo...

Growing up, I was always told by my parents to do my best in whatever I set out to do. If I failed, it was okay. Just do better next time and try harder.

June’s a pretty special month. Aside from Pride Month, the official start of the rainy season in the Philippines, and the start of school for most people, June also happens to be the birthday month of one of the most iconic video game characters ever.