Therese is a reporter, writer, and editor.
She's currently the APAC Lead Editor for behavioral insights practice Canvas8, working with experts, journalists, and analysts to identify insights for clients.
She was the culture editor of VICE Asia, where she led the team in winning a Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for Excellence in Arts & Culture Reporting in 2022. As a reporter, she covers K-pop, global pop culture, life, and mental health.
Previously, she was the Manila managing editor for Coconuts Media. She also contributed to Quartz, was a branded content producer for Rappler, and an associate editor for lifestyle website and zine Juice.ph.
She is a graduate of The University of Hong Kong's Master of Journalism program, New York University's Summer Publishing Institute, and De La Salle University-Manila, where she earned an honorable mention for a degree in Communication Arts.
857 likes, 18 comments - viceasia on September 9, 2022: "Oh baby baby baby. Out of all the early 2000s trends, Van Ness Wu (@vannesswu) is happy to see boy bands come back. We sit down with him...".
2,913 likes, 104 comments - viceasia on July 26, 2022: "VICE Asks is back for another season and this week, we meet up with @iwoosung from The Rose. Don't forget to tune in for the full intervi...".
1,226 likes, 62 comments - viceasia on February 4, 2022: "We met up with K-R&B superstar LeeHi (@leehi_hi) and asked her a bunch of random questions for our first episode of VICE Asks. What's her...".
Shin Seung-ho photographed by Chanhee Kim Teens around the world are dreaming of becoming K-pop idols, even as former trainees share their experiences of overwork. This is part of a special series, The Future of Fame Is the Fan , which dissects how celebrity became so slippery.
"Squid Game" is a survival drama about people competing against each other in a series of deadly challenges inspired by children's games. Photo: YOUNGKYU PARK, Courtesy of Netflix
VICE spoke with K-pop girl group TWICE about their new album "Taste of Love," what the past year has been like, and the hope of seeing their fans again.
BIBI. Photo: Courtesy of Feel Ghood Music and 88Rising The South Korean singer-songwriter is living the best of both the underground and pop scenes. VICE K-Pop: Music, fandom, celebrity, and all things K-pop. This month, VICE is doubling down on all things K-pop and Korean music, featuring articles and videos on music, fandom, and celebrity.
In an exclusive interview with VICE, Jae talks about his solo project, the problem with perfection, and finding himself again through music.
LeeHi. Photo: Courtesy of AOMG Ltd. "All the songs in my albums, whether I've written or picked up, are true representations of how I've lived and how I feel." "Singers singing on stage come across as special and seem far away, but in fact, they're just like ordinary people."
Singer sogumm. Photo: COURTESY OF AOMG LTD. "My lifelong dream is to go outside Earth's atmosphere with a spaceship," the 27-year-old singer told VICE with a slight giggle. "I've started investing in related stocks, studying bit by bit. I really hope to go to space."
Day 1 of the band's anniversary concert BTS 2021 MUSTER SOWOOZOO started with a rare close-up of the singer's tattoos.
The show has all the beats of a rom-com but turns the genre's tropes on their heads. Plus it's just really good TV.
Some say the K-pop boy band's performance during the Grammy ceremony has a larger impact than a win.
Photo: Courtesy of Big Hit Entertainment "'Life Goes On' is a little more different. It's a little more weighty ... [It is] our way of providing healing and consolation that life continues to go on."
"When they announced the lockdown, I knew that Poblacion was not going to be the same. It's a community and all the shops will be closed, so that's when I decided, OK, I have to go somewhere."
Photo edit by VICE. Screencap from 'Christmas in Our Hearts' music video on UniversalRecPH YouTube channel. While snowfall or stockings on display mark the holiday season for other countries, in tropical Philippines, it's a song by veteran singer Jose Mari Chan that takes over homes, malls, and parties.
I can't dance. I don't think I'm particularly funny, and I can't make my dog jump over a stack of toilet paper. And yet I thought, how hard can it be? But the attempt quickly became a rude awakening - or confirmation - of my lack of coordination.
A First-Timer's Guide to the World is our bid to make life in quarantine a little less monotonous. Here, VICE Asia Editor Therese Reyes tries random challenges for the sake of content. Bikes demand from their riders a set of attitudes that make me deeply uncomfortable.
This article is part of a wider initiative by VICE looking at the state of the environment around the globe. In Asia-Pacific, each VICE office is examining the main concerns from their territory, in an effort to gauge the health of the planet as a whole and to highlight the widespread need for change.
Samantha Lee is a Filipino writer-director. Her films Baka Bukas (Maybe Tomorrow) and Billie and Emma received various awards in the Philippines and have been screened in a number of international film festivals like the Osaka Asian Film Festival and the Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco.
While we're relying on prepackaged food and gadgets more than ever, limiting waste and conserving energy is still possible while stuck indoors.
I hope people cooperate with the lockdown. It's scary. But even though we're scared we can't do anything about it because we need to work for our families. Riders don't want to be outside but we need to do it, because working helps us, even if just in a small way.
Where we live, we see EDSA, a major highway in Metro Manila that is usually congested. But now, we only see four to five cars at a time. From being a busy area, you can now barely see any pedestrians or vehicles on the road.
This is especially true for countries in Asia where understaffed hospitals have been upended by the rising number of COVID-19 cases. In the Philippines, some health workers are forced to work without protective gear, leading them to beg for some on social media.
While only time will tell if these changes will last, here's some positive news during this dark time.
Illustration by Bobby Satya Ramadhan Singledom has become so popular in the Philippines that women are now reclaiming the term "No Boyfriend Since Birth." This story is part of a wider editorial series. Coming Out and Falling In Love is about the queering of our relationships with others, and the self.
I think about this a lot. Me and five friends huddled around a long table, warmed by sweaters, steam, and soju. We're in Baguio, one of the few places in the Philippines where the temperature drops below 10 degrees. Surrounded by mountains and pine trees, we plan our next trips for the year.
Attending art events can feel a bit intimidating sometimes - especially if you feel unfamiliar with the subject matter. Museums and galleries also often have a vibe of exclusivity to them that could have an alienating effect on people who have just started to dip their toes into the art world.
The original Magnolia Bakery in New York City has, in some ways, become a pop culture icon in itself - it was even filmed in a scene of Sex and the City, and was name-dropped in the film The Devil Wears Prada. Now the bakery is an international brand with more than 10 outlets all over the ...
Food parks and food halls don't usually go for that minimalist chic look - it's usually multi-colored LED lighting, bold colors, and a converted shipping container or two at these kinds of trendy communal food centers. The Grid, newly opened in the new wing of the posh Power Plant mall in Makati, however, is in many ways an ...
Friday's International Museum Day was extra special for Filipinos - the National Museum of Natural History finally opened to the public after months of anticipation. Not even Manila's unbearable summer heat stopped people from standing in line outside the building just to be among the first to snap a photo from inside.
It's the second Saturday of December, just two weeks before Christmas, and shoppers are already in a long line outside Quezon City's Ali Mall, impatiently waiting for the doors to open. People quickly make their way inside once the guard finally unlocks the entrance at 11am, and in a matter of minutes, the lights are ...
It's not the kind of thing you see every day in Italy - hundreds of people queuing in a line that stretched around the block, patiently waiting for a taste of sweetened spaghetti topped with processed cheese and hotdog slices. That, however, was exactly the scene when Jollibee opened in Milan in March, its first branch ...
We know how hard it is to keep up with all the restaurant, bar, and club openings in Metro Manila. Sometimes they're local concepts bringing something totally fresh to our city's F&B scene, other times they're big international brands coming to the Philippines for the first time.
The past week's downpour indicates that summer season is officially over in the Philippines, but most fitness enthusiasts would say that that is no reason to stop going to the gym. It is, however, understandable to want to condense two hours worth of exercising, especially as traffic in Manila gets even worse because of the ...
Makati's Poblacion district is already teeming with trendy bars and restaurants -- but a new addition to the area aims to fill the relatively small but passionate demand for a space in Manila specializing in house and techno music The Void is...
Bonifacio Global City has become the go-to location for international brands coming to Manila for the first time, and the latest to set up shop in the business district is Hong Kong's Elephant Grounds. Filipinos who frequent Hong Kong are all too familiar with the cafe's cozy-but-modern interiors and offerings like single origin coffee, artisanal ...
Fast food - that is, quick and easily accessible food - gets a bad rap. It's usually associated with greasy burgers or carb-heavy, rice-based meals, but a new restaurant in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) is rolling out on-the-go meals that show that "fast food" can be convenient, light, and satisfying.
In the Philippines, merienda is a light snack that's just as important as any other meal. Usually consumed once in the morning and another in the afternoon, they're meant to satisfy carvings before lunch and dinner. Merienda fare isn't showcased much in Filipino restaurants abroad or in the Philippines, which is why Coconuts Manila was excited to try ...
After a stint at a San Francisco Bay Area winery and 15 years of working in a cruise ship as a cellar master, sommelier, and wine educator, Isagani Natividad is back in the Philippines, now as the in-house sommelier for La Petite Parisienne.
The Learning Library is different from other tutorial centers in Manila. This isn't immediately obvious upon entering its branch in Quezon City, an intimate space that includes students from nearby Ateneo de Manila University among it's mostly upper middle class clientele. But a quick glance at the titles on the brightly painted shelves that frame ...