ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?
MAN AT HIS BEST FEBUARY BEST FEBUARY 2016
PHILIPPINES
9 7 7 2 2 4 3
8 4 5 0 0 7
I S S N 2 2 4 3 8 4 0 5 1 9
M A I N E IS ON T O P
M E N D O Z A A R O L L . C A N S H E THIS ACT?
M E N D O Z A A R O L L . C A N S H E THIS ACT?
THE ISSUE IN WH IC H WE PROVE TH AT FUN IS WAST ED ON THE YOUNG
Angel Aquino is a woman of a certain age (and that age is 42) p.74
What Rock Stars Do when they don’t die p.66
Midlife Sentences from three writers p.49
N O I T A R O B A L L O C E R I U Q S E X W E I V E R P S I H T N I S T N A P E H T S R A E W O H W E E S : R I A P T C E F R E P E H T
THE PERFECT PAIR Esquire and Preview partner on yet another style collab—this time taking sartorial coupling to romantic lengths with real-life model couple, John James Uy and Jessica Yang. Have a peek at his-and-hers style featuring Uniqlo’s assortment of stylish pants—perfect pairs, indeed.
CONTENTS FEBRUARY 2016
14 ESQ&A
Margarita Forés, Asia’s Best Female Chef 2016, talks about nostalgic food, Italian mothers, and women in the kitchen.
18 MahB: Drinking
The most pleasant way to end the day is with the tranquility of scotch and a cigar.
20 MaHB: Tech
Fitness trackers are all the rage, but do you need it?
24 MaHB: Cars
Meet the Jaguar XE, the baddest cat on the road.
66 The Case For Fading Away
When the limelight dims: Tirso Ripoll, Manuel Legarda, Kevin Roy, Jett Pangan, and Zach Lucero find peace in older age.
CONTENTS FEBRUARY 2016
22 MaHB: Art
The return of artists Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan has the local art world abuzz with anticipation.
26 MaHB: Books
This month, fall in love with four female heroines (who may be unlucky in love).
27 Style
Store openings and expansions accommodate the growing tastes of men.
49 Notes & Essays
Francis Joseph A. Cruz on film, Clinton Palanca on friendships, and Kristine Fonacier on forty.
74 Woman We Love
Angel Aquino talks about growing up ugly, aging fearlessly, and her favorite four-letter word.
CONTENTS FEBRUARY 2016
60 How Not To Die
Or your money back. (Kidding.)
80 In Dub We Trust
Maine, her men, and the phenomenon that is AlDub defy all reasonable explanations.
88 Snow
A fictional story about things that are cold and lonely, by Sarge Lacuesta.
96 What I’ve Learned
With Gregorio Honasan
108 This Way Out
Esquire October 1972
98 Lighten Up
Turn your wardrobe on its head with of-the-moment pieces guaranteed to punch up a lackluster look.
BEFORE WE BEGIN FEBRUARY 2016
A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
In Medias Res Let’s save the introductions for next time.
Seems only proper, since I’ve arrived in the middle of everything. The middle gets such a bad rap, because it’s so easy to be entranced by the extremes on either end—like revolution, the beginning and the end are both l imned in poetry, while the middle is conducted in the prose of governance. But if there’s anything that all of us should know from these past few decades, it’s that we can’t live on either poetry or revolution alone. It’s what we do in the middle parts that can really show us what we’re made of. Esquire is a magazine that is, in many ways, made f or the man in the mi ddle—not on the sidelines, but in the middle of things, right where the action is. The Esquire Man, we keep getti ng reminded, is someone who has achieved a certain status in life, and who, having done so, can start enjoying life. (I’m avoiding using the term “arrived,” because it sounds so definitive, because it’s in the past tense. But perhaps it’s the right word to use, because an arrival is where all the fun begins— who leaves right after they get there?). Lest people forget, too, Esquire is itself a magazine that’s arrived, having been launched in the Philippines in 2011 and in the US since 1933 . If that doesn’t blow your mind, we’re using italics to help you understand the sheer gravity of that fact. And—here’s more—Esquire is older than rubber tires, M&Ms, canned beer, Colt revolvers, and instant coffee.
The Philippine edition is much younger, though at five years, it’s come into its own quite well, in a way that’s only possible when you’ve seen some shit. Pardon my French, but I mean that as a complime nt: Esquire Philippines has taken some pretty big chances
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over the years, and weathered its fair share of criticism (some good, some bad; some very bad), and that kind of thing makes you grow up, and it gives you character. It’s what has made the magazine you hold in your hands now a substantive publication that has truly made a mark in the industry. It’s undeserved luck on my part to have come into the maga zine after it’s come so far, and for that we have to pause and give credit where credit is due: to the editorial team that has come and gone, headed of course by the estimable Erwin Romulo, and to his stellar cadre of writers and editors. Not enough has been said, however, about those who came and stayed through the transitions— our masthead is filled with the names of the incredibly talented editors who continue to power Esquire Philippines. I won’t name them here, if only to avoid sounding like every flustered awards-show winner, but they deserve recognition in one way or another. Part of my job will be to make sure that they get the space to keep on doing great work, and to get them due recognition. We’ll also save that for another time. This is another problem we have with finding ourselves in medias res. We’re in the middle of it all, but both language and human nature constantly points us to the end. It’s as if, having been done with the beginning, we only have the end to look forward to now. But that’s just nuts. The middle is where it all happens. The middle is where the fun really begins. The middle is exactly where we want to be.
— KRISTINE FONACIER
R A N O C E N I E L H U R F H P A R G O T O H P
