Down the Rabbit Hole

"Grandparents can be very special resources. Just being close to them reassures a child, without words, about change and continuity, about what went before and what will come after."     –Fred Rogers I was not born early enough to have lots of memories with my grandfathers. However, I had the honour of spending time with my grandmothers. They did not give away cookies, mind you, but they loved to feed me, my siblings, and my cousins with chicken sandwiches, pupur, and bulanglang . Both of them enjoyed telling us what it was like for them back in the day (I compiled some on this blog). I particularly enjoyed going with them when they visited their friends. It's that sense of solid family roots that I wish to impart to my son. And that is why I am always happy to see him grow up with my parents constantly in his life. He may be a toddler, but my family's culture—thanks to how my parents parent my siblings and me—will hopefully be instilled in him and strongly influence ...

There's a recession looming; the Fed has steadily been raising interest rates to temper inflation; the demand for hybrid vehicles is driven by the high fuel prices and supply chain issues. It is definitely NOT the ideal time to buy a new vehicle. My timing, therefore, is not the best. But because the car I've been driving, a 2007 Mercedes Benz C230 , has started showing signs of ageing, my parents and I decided that we need to get a new vehicle. I wish I could have held on a bit longer and waited for vehicle prices to go down (as supply eased), but I couldn't handle the risk of driving a faulty vehicle with my son as my passenger.  And so the search for a new vehicle began. Based on my experience, I'm writing down five tips to snag the car you've been dreaming about in a sellers' market. #1 Determine your credit score. This may not be universally applicable. For instance, I didn't have a "credit score" when I was buying my first car in the Philippi...

"Duty, Honour, Country"... They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn. – General Douglas MacArthur, 1962 Back when I was studying at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, I kept seeing these three words on the university's bluebooks. Three short words that remind students not to cheat during their examinations. I didn't know where the phrase originated until I read an article featuring General Douglas MacArthur's farewell speech in West Point; if I'm not mistaken, this article was in an old issue of National Geographic. The three words resonated in my head once again when I learned that Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom had died on September 8th this year, at 96 years old. She gave a sense of continuity and stability to her realms; she was an image of unity and national identity. The Royal Family boosted the moral...