There are no cats in America…

“There are no cats in America/ and the streets are filled with cheese/ There are no cats in America/ It keeps your mind at ease…”
These are the lines of a song I have learned since I was a kid watching The American Tail on Betamax. The lyrics suddenly came to mind while I was on my way to Florida to attend the American Association of Cereal Chemists meeting in Florida (Sept 11-14, 2005). The song spoke of finding greener pastures on the other side of the world.

True enough, when I got to my destination, everything was more abundant, more grandiose, larger than life even. Primarily because I was staying in a tourist spot designed to take everyone’s breath away. The Kennedy Space Center was definitely the highlight of my trip, with all its gigantic machinery that has brought man to the moon and back again. Disneyworld in downtown Orlando was also a sight to see. The hotel I stayed in, the Gaylord Palms, was a great place to stay with the themed restaurants that make you feel like you’re in Hogwarts’ great hall, dining under the sky.

I didn’t feel away from home because the weather was generally like at home. But I did miss my food. After two days there, I couln’t stand not eating rice! I have never felt farthest from home.

…Until I arrived in the Bay area in California. The weather there was COLD… in summer. Well, colder than what I’m used to. I had to wear a jacket the whole day! And the wind was strong! The San Francisco area was just like Makati… only, all the skyscrapers are chucked into a small space with streets just as small as those inside the UPLB campus!

I’ve been there, and now I’m back again. In this trip, I learned that once you leave home to see the world, you’ll find more reasons to stay. :) 

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for dropping by!

Before moving on, please share your thoughts or comments about the post. :)

Thanks again!

Popular posts from this blog

10 things I learned while driving on Marcos Highway to Baguio City

I went on a day trip to the City of Pines, which was around a 700-km drive from my house. I drove  going up there and then from the city to Victoria, Tarlac. After that, my dad took over the driving duties. It was day trip with Tita Ising and Tito Sibing with us. Anyway, this trip was my first time to go to Baguio City with me behind the wheel. As everyone who drives up knows, there are three main routes to Baguio from the lowlands: Kennon Road, which ascends from Rosario, La Union. It was out of my options because it's too dangerous to use that road in the rainy season. The second route is via Naguilian Road, which makes my trip a lot longer because the beginning of the ascent is in Bauang, La Union (further north). The last route, and the one I took, was the Marcos Highway, now known as the Aspiras-Palispis Highway. This 47-km road starts from Agoo, La Union and is touted as the safest route among the three.  As I drove up and then down (on the same day; we were in Bagu
Read more

How MALDI-TOF-MS makes mycobacterium diagnosis faster and more accurate

The laboratory I work in has plenty of instruments that help us characterise and identify microorganisms causing diseases in patients. One of my current projects is to validate an instrument called "matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometer" (MALDI-TOF-MS) in identifying members of the Mycobacterium  species. Many of these organisms are opportunistic, meaning they only cause illnesses in people whose immune systems are not strong enough to fight infections. Mycobacterium leprae  is known for causing leprosy, but we cannot grow this bacterium in culture media, so we cannot isolate it. Mycobacterium tuberculosis  complex, on the other hand, is a group of several species of Mycobacterium  that causes tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a disease that killed 1.6 million people in 2021 alone. It is a leading cause of death globally, second only to COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Identifying the Mycobacterium species that has infected a patient is
Read more

a crash course on traditional Filipino houses

Image
On Dr Jose Rizal's birthday this year, I was back in historic Manila with Ate Bing, Ate Mary , and Manuel . But instead of visiting him, we opted to soak up on Philippine culture. Our first stop: the Cultural Center of the Philippines ' (CCP) Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino .  Aside from the musical instruments, I noticed the dioramas about Filipino homes. Filipinos living by the sea (the 'sea gypsies', Sama Dilaut or Badjao ) have boathouses; those who live in the mountains, like the Bagobos , have developed interconnected houses in the trees; Filipinos who live along the path of the strongest typhoon winds, such as the Ivatans , have developed houses of thick limestone walls; and people who live in calmer conditions used bamboo and nipa to construct their houses, like the lowlanders and the Agtas . Sama Dilaut 'lepa' and houses on stilts (in the background) Ivatan limestone house nipa hut Ifugao 'fale' Maranao '
Read more