Down the Rabbit Hole

Coloured rice varieties, among other nutritious food, are featured in tonight's episode of Mel & Joey . Aired on GMA-7 (8:30 pm, GMT+8), the Iba Ito segment, produced by Lemuel Lorca, explores why some people choose enliven their rice consumption with black, red, and brown rice grains. The segment producer, staff, and crew visited IRRI to shoot the feature on coloured rices. Here are some photos from the segment taping. rice samples being prepared closing in on paddy rice      dory and fe on cooking rice      final briefing before the camera rolled ... and, action! liz, after prepping the cooked rice display      ferdie watches the interview liz, fe, and dara watching the interview cooked rice on camera crystal eating the red rice ferdie demonstrating dehulling of paddy grains

The Space Shuttle Program of the USA National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is on its final three missions. The first to fly in this program's closing chapter, is Discovery . On this mission (STS-133), it will deliver the crew and various equipment to the International Space Station. One thing I've always been fascinated with on space flights is the way the spacecraft is assembled and then transported from the Vehicular Assembly Building (VAB) to the launch pad. My dream of being close to where these spaceships are became true in 2005 when I went to the Kennedy Space Centre and joined a tour of the facilities. The tour took us to the giant doors of the VAB, which still had signs of damage from Hurricane Katrina (I was there a few weeks after the hurricane had passed), and to the launch pad observation gantry, which had the best views in the house!  With Discovery flying off to space one last time, its final roll-out brought back happy memories of my trip. Here ...

I convinced myself that purifying water at home is much cheaper than buying at the sari-sari store (that's the village version of the convenience store)... more convenient too, since I don't have to lug around a jug of water every few days. And so I ended up buying a drip filtration set (multi-stage filter) at the nearby mall. It has a ceramic filter, which should remove the particulates from the tap water. Apparently, the pores in this filter are so small that even normal-sized bacteria couldn't get through! Then there's this cartridge with several layers: activated carbon, silica, and zeolite. Granular activated carbon and silica are said to trap the off-flavours and off-odours plus some more bacteria that are small enough to pass through the ceramic filter. Zeolite, on the other hand, acts like an ion-exchanger. Because of this behaviour, zeolite is used to attract heavy metals that are harmful to the body. Just before water gets ready to drink, it passes through a...

From the grapevine: the Philippine Rice Research Institute is going to launch the use of molecular biology technology to identify whether released rice varieties are hybrids or not based on their genetic profiles. The idea of using genetic markers is not new, having been used in forensic sciences and in quality assurance (particularly in the food industry). It has also seen a lot of action in agricultural research. This time, it will help ensure the quality of seed material for farmers. Manila Bulletin writer, Marvyn Benaning, went over to PhilRice to cover the story. To read the story, please click on the link: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/303786/philrice-sets-standard-naming-rice-strains

The aerobatic shows and the flight demonstrations were all fascinating enough. However, a big yellow fence kept the audience a distance off the aircraft and the balloons. Thankfully, there's a guided flight line tour during the 16th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta offered by the Aviation Society of the Philippines . For an additional P250, people could walk along the flight line -- or the airplane parking lot, as I called it before the tour -- and learn a few things about what it's like to be pilot. Naturally, I wouldn't pass a chance to join a tour like that, specially since I've never been permitted to walk on a flight line before. Donning the VIP passes (the yellow reflectorised vest), we started the tour with a look at ultralight planes inside a hangar. They all looked like dragonflies up in the sky (when I first saw them in a morning performance) but up close and personal, the simplest ones looked like trikes with wings! There's a more fancy on...

With tendonitis still a thing to work on, I'm planning to resume my routine dirt road runs in March. The first event I'm going to join and prepare for (starting this week) is the 3k run at the sports fest at work. That will help me gauge whether I'm ready for another road race or not. Meanwhile, I'm starting to look around for a race I could join in. Luckily, I saw the Nat Geo Earth Day run ad by the souvenir shops at the balloon festival. Now, I've got a run to look forward to! It's on April 10 this year at the Bonifacio Global City.  Gym, here I come. :) the little sister having a photo op by the Nat Geo Earth Day run ad

Anna and I went to the 16th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga on Feb 12, 2011. The long trip was worth it because the fiesta had a lot of attractions other than the hot air balloons for those who missed the morning flight (which started at about 5.30am).   Since Anna and I watched the balloons fly off from the car (we were still on the queue for parking space), we had commanding view of some of the hot air balloons as they floated off across the road :) But because we didn't see them go up, we stuck around until evening when the balloons were re-inflated and lit. While waiting for the night glow of the balloons, we passed the time while we watched the flight demonstrations, paragliding, skydiving, and team kite-flying on the open fields by the tarmac. We also went on the tour of the of the flight line and behind the scenes of the hot air balloon fiesta.

      ( photos of posters from Disnology ) "Tangled" is the retelling of the story of the Brothers Grimm's Rapunzel, a girl with magically long hair. She is a princess who was kidnapped as a baby by an old lady who takes care of Rapunzel and uses the magical powers of her hair to look young and beautiful. One day, a thief, Flynn Rider, chances upon Rapunzel in her tower and their adventures together begin... until they live happily ever after. I watched this film with Anna and Ate Maddie at the Alabang Town Centre. All I can say is that the 9pm show was worth the wait. The movie was shown in 3D. The animation was superb, similar to cartoons such as Cars, Up, and Toy Story. The dialogue was snappy and quick-paced. The characters had expressive facial expressions. I want to see it again! We were laughing throughout the show because the characters were just too funny! In my opinion, despite the title of the movie being a reference to Flynn and Rapu...

Sting is currently on the Symphonicities tour around the world. Unable to watch him live, I opted for the next best thing: buy the Live in Berlin album. I bought the pack that contained both the concert DVD (ring-side seats to the concert!) and the companion CD (perfect for easy listening in the car). I've enjoyed watching the DVD (there'd be an encore sometime this week) and the CD is my current playlist in the car.  That concert featured Branford Marsalis, saxophonist, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of the energetic Steven Mercurio. With them, Sting's songs, performed along with his band, were just magical! What can I say? It's a two thumbs up for me! FYI: I bought my copy of Sting's latest album at Odyssey Music Store (SM Calamba City). It's quite on the pricey side at P550 but it's a great buy, especially for Sting fans. To listen to how different the songs are from their originals, please click the link . That'll bring y...

Yummy! Delicious!  Ugh! Yucky! These are some of the first words we hear (or exclaim) as we take our first taste of food. As we continue munching on it, we dissect what makes the food pleasurable or revolting in our mouths. How do aromas, flavours, and textures contribute to the sensory experience of the food?  As we ponder how to describe the food, we initially come up with textural dichotomies like hard or soft, sticky or slick, rough or smooth. At the same time, we figure out the individual flavours of the food that sum up to the overall taste; how saltiness, bitterness, sweetness, sourness, and umami contribute to the roundness of the food; how the aromas leave an aura to the dish, heightening the sensory experience. Often, this is where we hit a dead end. For instance, without further prodding, we stop describing food at "hard". What do we mean by "hard" food? Is it firm? Is it tough? Does it even matter? After all, the antonym of these three adjectives (to...

In the future, I'll be investing in real property.  As a friend told me once, it wouldn't hurt to look around now even if I am not yet in the financial position to buy property; this is so I could get a feel of what I want in a house and in a community. So one day, Anna and I went out "house-hunting" with our aunt who wants to look at interiors of model houses.  Since we were pressed for time, we only had a chance to visit two gated communities in Laguna. The first one, Madison South , developed by Excelsis Land, Inc., is located in Calamba City. The second one, Pramana Residential Park , developed by Greenfield Development Corporation, is located in Sta Rosa.  Madison South Located close to the Batino Exit of the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), this gated community offers easy access to the industrial parks of Laguna. The developer offers to its clients their very own piece of the American suburban lifestyle. What I found, however, was quite different....

Hachiko, an Akita Inu, is the subject of the 2009 film " Hachiko: A Dog's Story ". It's directed by Lasse Hallstrom and stars Richard Gere and Joan Allen. Of course, this movie is based upon the life of the real Hachiko of Japan and his devotion to Professor Hidesaburo Ueno . The story began, as any dog story does, when the man meets the dog. In this particular movie, a professor (played by Gere) formed a strong bond with an Akita Inu puppy named Hachiko. This bond was so strong that as an adult dog, Hachiko accompanied the professor to the train station on his way to work, went back home to wait, and then came back to the train station to accompany the professor back home in the afternoon. One day, Hachiko went to the train station to wait for the professor, but he never came back. He had died while teaching a class. Despite his passing, Hachiko continued to go to the train station to wait for the professor until he died ten years later. The movie ended, as ext...

At this month's First Friday Mass, the Gospel focused on the story of John the Baptist's fate. Herodias had her chance on Herod's birthday, when he gave a dinner for all senior government officials, military chiefs, and leaders of Galilee. On that occasion, the daughter of Herodias came in and danced; and she delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want and I will give it to you." And he went as far as to say with many oaths, "I will give you anything you ask, even half my kingdom." She went out to consult with her mother, "What shall I ask for?" The mother replied, "The head of John the Baptist." The girl hurried to the king and made her request: "I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist, here and now, on a dish." The king was very displeased, but he would not refuse in front of his guests because of his oaths. So he sent one of the bodyguards with orders to bring...

It's absolutely chaotic in Egypt at the moment. CNN is showing live feeds from Tahrir Square, Cairo: the fighting between pro- and anti-government people, the absence of police and military forces, flames and smoke all over. There have been deaths and serious injuries already as the fighting turned more violent. I tuned in a week too late. The fighting has been going on for a few days already, and it's the first time I've stopped to have a closer look at the news. I still need to catch up on what the protests are about. Luckily,  Wikipedia has summarised the events leading to today's CNN broadcast.  When I first read about this event, I thought that it would be similar to the more peaceful EDSA Revolution (1986) that installed Corazon Aquino as the Philippines' first woman president. However, the Egyptian protests became bloody and violent in Cairo as can be seen in this video (from CNN). I hope that the clashes are stopped soon and peace is reestablished. 

As the credits started rolling, I felt that "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" had lots of similarities to other films. Thanks to these elements and to the effective portrayals of the actors, I enjoyed watching the movie so much that I forgot that today is a weekday... I felt that it was a Sunday.  So anyway, back to the movies that had a similar feel to the Prince of Persia... Aladdin (1992) The protagonist, Dastan, was born a street rat, just like Aladdin. The antagonist, Nizam (played by Sir Ben Kingsley), reminded me of Jafar. Perhaps it was the expression in the eyes; definitely, the hair and the headpiece kept the two characters distinct. In both movies, the opposing characters were after a specific object: in Aladdin, it was the magical oil lamp that contained the Genie; in Prince of Persia, it was the magical dagger that could be used to go back in time.  300 (2007) Jake Gyllenhaal (Dastan) had well-defined abs in this film, just like Gerard Butler...