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The City of Angels reveals a different side to FLASH PARKER. I always thought people came out to LA to lose themselves—Hollywood is, by definition, a chameleon’s playground, a place that makes you rich and famous the better you are at pretending you’re someone different. But the truth is there’s more to this city than flash …

NYX MARTINEZ discovers how a group of balikbayans was able to surf to their hearts’ content while teaching local kids about respect for nature. “Have you ever traveled to surf in other countries and noticed that the local children have an interest in surfing but don’t have access to surf boards?” asks Mercy Cormier, one …

NEAL WEBSTER TURNAGE witnesses how Honolulu goes back to the past to find its future. Honolulu is back. Not that it ever went away, only that its identity was temporarily swallowed as the predatory Hawai’ian monster known as Waikiki gobbled up everything in its path. While Waikiki is still a vast stretch of tropical, urban …

Best-selling author PAULO COELHO shares his lessons on how to discover the soul of a place. I realized very early on that, for me, traveling was the best way of learning. I still have a pilgrim soul, and I thought that I would pass on some of the lessons I have learned, in the hope …

There’s more to Laoag than meets the eye. ISABEL L. TEMPLO goes beyond the Ilocos region’s famed churches and takes us on a three-day cultural and culinary sojourn. Mention Laoag or Ilocos and some people automatically think of old churches. This is not surprising, as the region is home to two Baroque churches on the …

CYNTHIA ROSENFELD gives us a tour of the world’s most unique romantic hideaways.   PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES: Ariara On an idyllic island encircled by 600 meters of white sand in the Calamian Islands, one British couple worked with renowned Filipino architect Jorge Yulo to create world-class, laid-back luxury infused with Pinoy charms from the thatched roofs …

The University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center Inc. (UERMMMCI) is a combined campus and health service institution that continues to be a paragon of topnotch medical learning and first-rate service in the Philippines. Starting out as the UE College of Medicine in 1956, right on its permanent place along Aurora Boulevard in …

There’s much to know about the worship of the Holy Child beyond the merriment and festivities. M.G. REYES enlightens us about the Filipino worship of Santo Niño. When the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed forth in 1519 in search of a westward route to the Spice Islands, King Charles I of Spain gave him an …

In some parts of the world, fireworks are not needed to celebrate the New Year with a bang. LEILANI CHAVEZ takes a look at how different cultures welcome the year ahead.   Japan: No Cooking! It’s an old Japanese belief that cooking on the first three days of the New Year brings bad luck. But …

BY PENELOPE GREEN; 2011 New York Times News Service; Distributed by the New York Times Syndicate; Photos © 2011 Tony Cenicola/The New York Times NEW YORK – From the roof of a loft building on East 14th Street, you can peer into a deep brick-lined canyon where the sweet tang of lilies mixes with a …