Down the Rabbit Hole

In You've Got Mail , Tom Hanks' character, Joe Fox, said that the move "The Godfather" is a source of wisdom, like the I-Ching. For example, in deciding what to pack for a vacation: "Leave the gun, take the cannoli." And that's my first encounter with this Italian dessert. I've tried it previously with Ate Maddie  but it's been a long time! While in Little Italy , Allan's (the TA) machine learning mentor invited all of us to try cannolis at Mara's Italian Pastry along Columbus St. Anna and I have walked down this road before but I didn't notice the pastry shop (we probably were focused on finding pasta back then). Anyway, the machine learning mentor highly recommended this pastry shop because he loves the cannolis there. And the tiny pastry shop is impressive! There were a lot of goodies to choose from! If we weren't already primed for cannoli, we would have taken a longer time to decide what to eat here! The can...

During class on Feb 23, Janel told me that San Francisco's Chinese New Year Parade was happening that night. It's supposed to be the biggest celebration of its kind outside of Asia. Well, when we got out onto Main St., we found several floats ready to join the cue! These floats remind me of the annual  Good Friday processions in Sta Cruz . The thing is, these floats reflect upon how commercial the parade has become: each float I've seen is embellished with a company name, perhaps to show who sponsored the float. I was with Allan and Nhan (TA's in the data analytics class), Janel (my classmate), and Allan's machine learning mentor that afternoon because we were going to eat out as despedida for Janel at in the North Beach District. After dinner, I was surprised to see the huge crowd that gathered behind road blocks, awaiting the arrival of the floats. Nhan and Janel took off towards Chinatown to join in the celebrations but I was more inclined to go ...

I have been staying in the house despite the good weather because I've been busy working on my school projects. So on the rare chance that I had no project due and I wanted to walk around, I ended up in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park  again. I was surprised to be welcomed by this announcement: It's a good reminder because people at the park are in close proximity with wildlife. A little nudge towards the safe side is always welcome because I was walking in one of the most forested areas in the City (if not the most). While walking on the main path, I noticed that white cherry blossoms were starting to emerge. It brought me back to my tour of Tokyo's cherry blossom-filled suburbs . I wonder if the arrival of spring is also widely celebrated here as it is in Japan. As I walked further down, I noticed more flowers. In other days, I'd rush through the park because I wanted to see museums . But this time, I stopped to inspect the flowers I haven...

I wanted to see the flowers inside Golden Gate Park 's Conservatory of Flowers but for some reason, I always end up going there in winter , when only a few plants are in bloom (and the venue is closed). But on my latest attempt, it welcomed guests so I took the opportunity to have a look at what's inside.  I was surprised that the 140-year old Conservatory actually features tropical plants thriving despite the cold weather! The glasshouse is divided into three exhibits based on habitat: lowland tropical plants, highland tropics, and aquatic plants. I saw bananas, cocoa trees, and rhododendrons... however, I wouldn't have been able to recognise the other plants based on the foliage (I didn't major in Botany) if I weren't guided by a volunteer greeter. It was cool to encounter someone who wants to discuss the different plants living in here (which reminds me of forests in the Philippines). The indoor environmental conditions allows the flowering plants t...