Down the Rabbit Hole

I've been attending barre classes at Open Barre Fitness Studio in Walnut Creek since I entered my second trimester. Because I've been enjoying the classes a lot, I thought I should share my experiences with my family.  Anna tried it out once with me but decided that isn't for her. Joycelyn said something along those lines too (she had tried it in Martinez and prefers other gym workout regimens). Kuya Allan, on the other hand, got interested when I told him that barre might help him with his leg pain (he gained a lot of weight over the last few months, based on his appearance; he just wouldn't step on a weighing scale). But on the day he was supposed to go with me, he ended up waiting for me in the studio's parking lot. Ate Maddie had tried barre as well, in a different studio, and also preferred other exercise programs. So when I talked about barre with Ninang Trining and Tita Tessie, my two aunts who are doing yoga, they both opted to join me in class. The...

This is Val and my first Christmas as husband and wife and we celebrated it with the rest of the family! Ate Gigi had an ingenious theme set up this year: every family had to arrive wearing pyjamas or costumes based off Disney characters.  While bouncing off ideas with Mommy, I hit a brainchild: why don't we wear something inspired by the Black Panther ? Since Marvel Studios has been acquired by Disney, we could explore those characters. BUT we won't wear the costumes themselves; rather, we'd dig up the African dresses and shirts I got for them as pasalubong and wear them to the party. I told Val about it and he cam prepared with several shirts as well. Ate Maddie, JP, Ninang Trining, and Tita Tessie arrived wearing Star Wars shirts and pyjamas. Yes, the Star Wars franchise has also been acquired by Disney. Ate Sally, Kuya Merlin's sister, went a step further: she actually came in Jedi-inspired attire! Biboy, Barbara, and Gabriel were the Incredibles. Donnell...

Ninang Trining stayed long enough in California to celebrate Christmas with us. Instead of giving gifts, she hosted a family lunch for us. Ate Maddie and I discussed possible restaurant options and decided that introducing the rest of the clan (those who haven't tried it) to Burmese cuisine . Obviously, we still couldn't get over the tea leaf salad and were raring to have the others try it as well.  The restaurant we chose for our family lunch was a restaurant called Burma Unique , which is located in Walnut Creek. The lunch menu already included Jasmine rice, a salad, and a bowl of soup. But because we loved the tea leaf salad, I pre-ordered a few servings of it for the family to share. I just couldn't partake of the salad because I'm not supposed to eat raw vegetables until I give birth.  The kitchen actually ran out of Jasmine rice during the lunch service so the staff started serving us coconut rice and brown rice! I opted to pair my green curry with coconu...

We typically go to Benicia for brunch at least once during the winter because is a great selection of restaurants along First Street. But why we always go there when it's coldest and windiest (the city has a shoreline on the Carquinez Strait), I don't know. For our welcome brunch for our Christmas visitors, we opted to drive to Benicia again. I suggested an Italian restaurant that Val and I immensely enjoyed, called Bella Siena, but Mommy opted for a more Filipino fare. So we took our seats at Java Point Café, described as Benicia's best-kept hole-in-the-wall secret. It would have been nice to dine al fresco but the weather was too cold so we pushed three tables together and got ourselves ready for some really cozy, homegrown goodness.  Soon, our brunch arrived: generous plates of tapsilog, omelettes, and sandwiches. Val is familiar with Filipino food already (after all, he's been in the Philippines for more than 10 years) so he felt right at home with the options...

One of the more exciting occasions for 2019 finally arrived: Ate Maddie graduated magna cum laude from Chamberlain School of Nursing! This is her second undergraduate degree, after finishing a marketing course at De La Salle University in Manila. Ninang Trining flew in from Michigan and was with Ate Maddie for the pinning ceremony (which happened during the graduation itself). This pinning ceremony welcomes the new graduates into the nursing profession. Tita Tessie flew in from the Philippines to witness her graduation with us. Kuya Teddy, another nurse cousin who I met for the first time, drove north from Los Angeles. As the graduation program continued, we learned that majority of the graduating class gained Latin honours. Case in point: three of the graduates were summa cum laude ! Ate Maddie joined the ranks of at least 12 students who graduated magna cum laude . That's one high-performing class right there. Graduating from the nursing program is a big feat in itself; b...

When I saw the billing that Al Pacino was one of the cast members, I decided to include  The Irishman  in my Netflix watch list because I loved his performances in The Devil's Advocate (1997), Scent of a Woman (1992), Angels in America (2003)... and Ocean's Thirteen (2007). Yeah, even when he played a caricature of his other characters, I enjoyed watching him. And then, I saw that Robert De Niro was also in The Irishman's cast. I loved his endearing father figure roles in The Intern (2015) and Stardust (2007), and the way he portrayed an expert safe-cracker in The Score (2001). So I thought that I should watch The Irishman as soon as I could. Then, I read that Joe Pesci was also top-billed. I've seen him play one of the comedic villains in the Home Alone series. I fully expected him to play another villain role in The Irishman but  I did not expect it to be slapstick because the movie poster did not have that vibe. Oh boy, what I saw in The Irishman was beyond what...

For the past few years, I formed this habit of shopping for Christmas in different countries, wherever I went for a conference, a training program, or for a personal vacation. Val's like that too, it turns out. For example, he bought me a pair of suede loafers in Montpellier and a silver ring in Dublin. Anyway, for this year's shopping, Val and I made an early start this year by doing our first round of gift-buying for family gifts in June and bought few pieces here and there.  Discount Stores (Pleasant Hill and Concord) Val and I scoured TJ Maxx, Ross, Home Goods, and Burlington for shoes, bags, and clothes. The items we got were of designer brands but because of the deep discounts, we were able to buy more things within our budget. The discounted prices in these stores stopped us from buying items in Manila or in Singapore because we had to pay full price there. For example, I had paid SGD 75 for a pair of white and pink Adidas faux leather sneakers in Singapore in 201...

In the US, Thanksgiving is a nationwide holiday, traditionally centred about giving thanks for a bountiful harvest. It's akin to the religious  Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Quezon but Thanksgiving is more secular and less colourful in nature. Typically, a Thanksgiving dinner has roasted turkey as a centrepiece. This year, we didn't have turkey. Instead, we had grilled ribs, baked macaroni, bread, mashed potatoes, and vegetables... and ice cream! Our family has a lot to be thankful for this year. We're particularly blessed because (among many other blessings) Gabriel has given us so much happiness for the past year; Ate Maddie is graduating magna cum laude  from her nursing program; Daddy's working as a stationary engineer; Kuya Allan started working in his dream job in San Jose; and Tita Babie and Tito Donnie finally got their church wedding. Not everyone is in this picture because our family's big party is Christmas.

Week 1 The doctor had told me, during my last check-up, to start drinking pre-natal vitamins with folic acid to allow my body to create ample nutrient stores, just in case Val and I become successful with getting pregnant. Anna and I went to Walgreens and I purchased a bottle of Rainbow Light Pre-Natal tablets prior to flying out. During my vacation in the Philippines, I started drinking it. Week 2 The ClearBlue digital ovulation prediction test kit showed a positive result! What a timing: Val and I were travelling by airplane and I was wondering if the stress of flying would affect my hormones. It must have, because I was quite emotional during our trip. One day, I noticed that there's a dark spot on my cheek that I haven't seen before. I dismissed it as some uneven skin colouration because I have been under the sun a lot the past few days; the skin peeling off my shoulders and my dark arms were proof of that (first, the hike in Korea, then the walking tours in Sing...

I was excited to try out the food in Bali because I've always dreamed of popping in for a gastronomic adventure at Locavore, one of Asia's 50 best restaurants. Lest I be dubbed as a food snob (i.e., only going to the internationally renowned restaurants), I also like to state that I also enjoy eating in restaurants whose food provide a more home-cooked feel. I felt that I could not make a boring food decision in picking a restaurant in Bali because this island is a a melting pot of a lot of Asian cultures. It's my chance to try the southeast Asian version of the Indian-Chinese food fusion (my first taste of this was in West Bengal ) further mixed with lots of influences from other Indonesian culinary traditions and from Balinese gastronomy as well.  So, as soon as Val and I finished working (we're hardwired to bring our laptops on vacation... I wrote parts of a book chapter on gastronomy for my consultancy work while he worked on an economics paper or a presentatio...

Bali is quite famous for its coffee. The island grows two species of coffee trees: Coffea canephora  (robusta) and C. arabica  (arabica). Our driver, Jek, brought us to a coffee farm called Hidden Garden Agriculture  nestled in the lush mountains in the central part of the island. I'm not a coffee drinker but I was a sensory evaluator for instant coffee when I was still working as a quality assurance supervisor at the Antonina Industrial Corporation (many years ago). So this visit piqued my professional curiosity. Val's not a coffee drinker either but he was game to taste what the coffee farm had to offer. The tour guide walked us through the different steps for processing coffee. I was familiar with these because I used to spend summer holidays in Padre Garcia, Batangas  when my grandparents' farm used to produce coffee. However, I was amazed at how Kopi Luwak, or coffee beans that has been "processed" (i.e., coffee cherries were eaten and ferme...

Our last stop during our tour of Bali, Indonesia was Tanah Lot . In the Balinese language, it means "land in the sea". It is home to the Pura Tanah Lot, where the deity named Dang Hyang Nirartha is worshipped by Hindus in the area, along with the main sea god of the Balinese. Our driver, Jek, wanted to make sure that we arrived in plenty of time before sunset because there were so many things to see before we even saw the temple. For instance, this candi bentar  (split gate) was already a show stopper. It is guarded by two giant statues of characters from Balinese mythology, although I don't know who they are. The candi bentar itself is intricately adorned. Seeing it reminded me of Prof. Zafaralla discussing the various elements of Earthquake Baroque while my Humanities II class stared at the façade of the Paoay Church . I was amazed at the detail of the Balinese statues. For some reason, they reminded me of the temple guards I've seen in Jeongeungsa Temp...

This was our second Bali "temple run" stop. It was a gorgeous temple set against one of the most beautiful landscapes I've seen. The mountains surrounding the crater lake Lake Beratan reminded me of the towering mountains of Kualoa Ranch in Oahu. On the lake's shores is Pura Ulan Danu Beratan , a water temple that is also one of Bali's UNESCO Heritage Sites .  And, just like in Pura Taman Ayun , we weren't the only tourists there. The difference was that in Beratan, we saw tourists who weren't covered up enough. Many women were clad in beach attire and some men were actually walking about shirtless! Val and I found this attitude disrespectful because this is an active temple... worshippers were actually just inside the inner sanctum. Tourists could easily cover themselves up in sarongs while they were here. But that's hardly "Instagrammable". Anyway, this temple felt more extensive than Taman Ayun. There were a lot of split gates...

Our first stop during our Bali "temple run" was the Pura Taman Ayun , which was built in 1634. It is unique because it has extensive gardens and a moat surrounding the inner temple compound. I learned prior to our trip, that this temple is actually a UNESCO Heritage Site !  On the day we visited, the gate to the inner sanctum was open. Our driver, Jek, explained that our visit coincided with a big religious festival, which was why the temple was very crowded (not counting the tourists who flocked the area). It does look like it because there were many offerings near the feet of Balinese deities everywhere we went.  The gardens reminded me of Intramuros, particularly of Fort Santiago  because they were so green and lush. It was easy to forget that Bali was hot and humid because the gardens and the fountains had a cooling effect. Under the wantilan  (cockfighting pavilion), we saw children all dressed up... the equivalent of Christians wearing their S...

After touring Singapore, Val and I flew (with Leonce's family) to Bali, Indonesia where we took on a more cultural bend (and rural) on our adventure. We planned to visit several temples which are included in the UNESCO Heritage Sites list, to walk along the famous rice terraces of the island, and to eat our way through Balinese gastronomy. But before we could do all that, we had to check out the accommodations that Val arranged for us. A few minutes from the airport and we were already in the coastal town of Sanur and we stayed at Peter and Helly's AirBNB called  Joglo View Villa . It's a cozy resort that I didn't expect to find so close to the hustle and bustle of the airport.  The garden fronting the  joglo  (the old teak wood house) was small but beautiful. And the exteriors of the joglo was very well-maintained. Traditional carvings lined the eaves while wooden carvings served as accents to glass windows. An old bicycle leaning on the wall fu...