by Jeanina Santiago | Jun 18, 2014 | My Swedish life, Racism/Prejudice, Sarimanok
Through the years, I’ve bumped into racists in different countries. I never really liked talking about it. It felt embarrassing – to have been insulted and treated so badly. But now I’m sharing this. I don’t need pity. I just clamor for a more...
by Jeanina Santiago | Jun 18, 2014 | My Swedish life, Sarimanok
I met Idol-Jens for the first time four years ago. Back then, he was 17, a carpenter who aspired to be a singer. He was ruggedly good-looking sporting a white or beige shirt and a vest. He looked like Star Wars’ Hans Solo. I noticed back then that there was...
by Jeanina Santiago | Jun 16, 2014 | My style, Sarimanok
by Jeanina Santiago | Jun 14, 2014 | Sarimanok, USA
For one whole day we visited Hollywood. I expected a glittering city, but it’s not all that. I guess what makes the city glitter is not the place per se, but the movie stars that abound here. Hollywood is the home of the entertainment industry. Hollywood is in...
by Jeanina Santiago | Jun 12, 2014 | My Swedish life, Sarimanok
I learned to sass the ass and run in high heels at Mrs Murphy’s School of High Heels. It’s crazy! We were 16 women, different personalities and ages, who that evening went to a two-hour workshop at a dance studio in Wallingatan, Stockholm. I actually...
by Jeanina Santiago | Jun 11, 2014 | My style, Sarimanok
by Jeanina Santiago | Jun 8, 2014 | Sarimanok, USA
The color blue is what I think of when I remember the beachfront city Santa Monica in California. The skies and sea were blue, the façade of Four Sisters Inn, a top bed and breakfast, where we stayed was a blueberry color, and our matching clothes were light blue...
by Jeanina Santiago | Jun 7, 2014 | My Swedish life, Sarimanok, Sweden
Assignment: To write about a documentary film shot in Gunnes gård, a Viking yard in Upplands Väsby, Sweden. It was a nice summer day a couple of years ago when I came during the shooting of the film. I took my daughter along and she had a lot of fun meeting...
by Jeanina Santiago | Jun 7, 2014 | My Swedish life, Sarimanok, Sweden
We just wanted to see the ghost who wouldn’t haunt but ended up seeing more, plus realizing that we were in Sweden’s oldest museum: the Royal Armory. My expectations were not high. All my six-year old daughter wanted was to see the exhibit of Spöken...
by Jeanina Santiago | Jun 7, 2014 | My Swedish life, Sarimanok, Sweden
I’ve always liked Kungsträdgården in Stockholm. It’s always festive there. And you can hang out in the cafés and restaurants, or just sit on the grass. And when in Kungsträdgården, there’s no chance of being underdressed or overdressed. People there...
by Jeanina Santiago | Jun 7, 2014 | My Swedish life, Sarimanok
I treated the family for lunch at the food fair at Kungsträdgården today. The atmosphere was warm and festive. Bananas walked around. And we discovered Bubbies! The whole Kungsträdgården was crowded. And queues to certain food tents were long. We found out though that...
by Jeanina Santiago | Jun 7, 2014 | My Swedish life, Sarimanok
A man ridiculed me as a journalist and said: My wife who is a journalist has interviewed the kind of people you’d never meet in your life. Oh he said many bad things, painful words that could make one’s eyes light up in fire. What he meant that my job was...
by Jeanina Santiago | Jun 6, 2014 | My Swedish life, Sarimanok, Sweden
Today is Sweden’s National Day. We decided to celebrate it in Sundbyberg to see Yohio perform. The celebration was held on Golfängarna, near Lötsjön in Sundbyberg. The municipality celebrated ten years of hosting National Day by giving the crowd the androgynous...
by Jeanina Santiago | Jun 6, 2014 | My Swedish life, Sarimanok, Sweden
Hornsbergs strandpark has just turned two years old this spring. It reminds me of a beach park in Berlin, but smaller and less crowded. There’s a part in Berlin where people sit at a park overlooking the waters and observe boats sailing by. Hornsbergs strandpark...
by Jeanina Santiago | Jun 6, 2014 | My Swedish life, Sarimanok, Sweden
Bergian Garden in Stockholm is huge, but unlike many huge parks and gardens, it’s quiet in this area, which I like when I feel for a calm day out in the green. When we come here, we go park hopping, since it has different themes. There’s the Italian...
by Jeanina Santiago | Jun 6, 2014 | France, Sarimanok
Flirtatious men, mime artists, outdoor restaurants as people-observation decks, dog poop on the streets and the music of Edith Piaf in the air. Oui, that’s Paris for me! I was in Paris, the world’s fashion hub, summer 2005. Going there without a...
by Jeanina Santiago | Jun 1, 2014 | Sarimanok
The image of Nigeria in my mind is painful: filth, maimed beggars, teeming streets and corpses on the side of the road. I stayed in Nigeria for almost a month in 2004 to do several reports for P1 Sveriges Radio, SR (Swedish radio). I was to write about the famous...
by Jeanina Santiago | May 31, 2014 | Sarimanok
Lagos in Nigeria is known for its high crime rates. But it’s also known for its music. It has many of Africa’s best musicians. It was an honor to meet some of them. I stayed there for a month to do radio reports for P1, Sverriges Radio, SR (Swedish...
by Jeanina Santiago | May 31, 2014 | My style, Sarimanok
I tried walking around in Sweden in my Frida-Kahlo-inspired look back in 2005-2006. You know, big skirts, big accessories, but without the monobrow. It wasn’t really appreciated. Ironic, when her fashion sense is perceived legendary. I received strange –...
by Jeanina Santiago | May 31, 2014 | Philippines, Sarimanok
A first time trip to Manila should always have Intramuros in its itinerary. It should be passed through on kalesa. Intramuros, also called the walled city, is the oldest district in Manila. It was from here that the spaniards governed the country, when the Philippines...
