By David Calleja

Martial arts enthusiasts of all levels can now learn from the best trainers and fighters in the industry by watching Martial Arts Odyssey on the Internet.

Hosted and produced by Asia-based New Yorker, Antonio Graceffo, Martial Arts Odyssey has gained popularity by taking viewers into the heart of Asia, providing details of fighting techniques across a range of disciplines. The show also emphasizes the importance of cardio and strength training.

Pinoy and Indonesian fans in Jakarta who can’t get enough of Filipino singer Christian Bautista would be happy to know that their idol will be in the area for a special Valentine concert on February 13. It’s amazing how Christian has sustained the interest of Indonesian fans since his first single “The Way You Look at Me” hit Indonesia airwaves in 2004.

Christian’s concert will be held at the Times Square, Grand Indonesia Shopping Town, Jakarta, at 7 p.m. The singer has a huge following in Jakarta, where he has guested in Indonesian Idol, the opening ceremony of the first Asian Beach Games in Bali, and a number of advertisements for Indonesia companies as well as the San Miguel Corp. Indonesia.

By Antonio Graceffo

Since childhood, I have had the dream of being a movie star. I wanted to be rich and famous. When I read that Elvis had to rent out an amusement park just so he wouldn’t get mobbed by his fans, I said, “That is exactly how famous I want to be.”

I am still not there. Occasionally my family recognizes me, and I do get fan mail from people I owe money to, but I am more famous this year than last year. Since leaving the world of finance behind me in New York, I have published five books. I do get fan mail every single day, but usually only one or two pieces. I earn book royalties and magazine story fees, but not even enough to afford the concrete bunker where I lived in the Philippines.

• Our newest Innerview is on furniture designer Ann Pamintuan. Did you know this know the Davao-based artist never went to art school? Everything, she says, she learned the hard way. “I trust my creative instincts and my love for creating beautiful objects,” …
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It lacked the hubbub usually associated with art auctions. At the Art 40 event, in which 39 paintings by various contemporary Filipino artists were up for bidding, art collectors quietly filled in small slips of paper with their going bid and dropped these into colorful house-shaped boxes.

By 6 p.m. when the winning bids were announced, the silent auction, organized by ABS-CBN broadcast journalist Julius Babao on the occasion of his fortieth birthday, had raised some PhP2.5 million. Along with proceeds of other paintings sold at fixed prices at the event, the money would go into building 25 to 30 houses for the Gawad Kalinga Art 40 Village in Caloocan City.

Artist Wawi Navarroza has two ongoing photography exhibits in Singapore this March. “This Is What She Told Me: A Kaleidoscope of Women” runs until March 31 at the Insead on Ayer Rajah Avenue off North Buena Vista Road.

Another exhibit, “When All Is …