Down the Rabbit Hole

Starbucks branch in Pleasant Hill, CA. When Starbucks was still a new coffee shop in the Philippines, my extended family would go there for drinks and pastries after dinner or for desserts after lunch at Lola Bats' house . I used to stop at one of its branches to eat while taking a break from long drives . I also made sure to stop by a branch somewhere in Loyola Heights to have my venti signature hot chocolate with peppermint syrup to drink during my lecture class at the Ateneo de Manila University . In short, Starbucks was my "third place", or a location other than home (the first place) and office (the second place) where people gather to socialise and/or people-watch. In fact, Starbucks was one of the first places I visited with Sherry Lou, a classmate in the BSc Biology program at UPLB, on my first evening in Sydney ! I was culture-shocked to learn that my third place in the Philippines was just a pitstop for many people in the USA. The classy coffee shops I was a...

I have encountered the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum while searching for child-friendly places to visit in San Jose, CA. Some of my co-workers have seen it and only had good things to say. I ran the idea with Val, and he was interested in seeing this museum, so we went there on a Sunday afternoon. Who are the Rosicrucians? The Rosicrucians are a group of people who believe that they hold some secret knowledge handed down from ancient times. This hidden knowledge is a combination of occultism and monotheistic religious beliefs. The Rosicrucian group is symbolised by the "Rosy Cross".  Rosy cross found near Luxor Temple, Egypt.  This cross features a rose in the centre and is estimated to date back to around 100 AD. Reading about the Rosy Cross reminded me of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code due to the connections between the Knights Templar, Freemasons, and Rosicrucians. A brief inte...

April 4–10, 2025 edition of the Asian Journal News I participated as a speaker during the 2013 International Women's Day (IWD) event at IRRI. I was invited as a panel member at another IWD event. Then, there's the IWD video that the Grain Quality and Nutrition Centre's staff produced in 2010. Many years (and a pandemic) passed before I got involved in IWD celebrations. This year, however, instead of being in front of a live audience, I was featured in two articles by Rogelio Constantino Medina! Asian Journal News I was featured alongside numerous women who made a mark in society for this article. Sr Mary John Mananzan is the Superior and Director of St. Scholastica's Academy. She has received many awards for her activism and feminism. Margie Penson Juico served under both Presidents Aquino (appointments secretary for Cory and chairperson of PCSO for Noynoy). Salvie Collado Paparon is the CEO of Sheanne Roll Up Door Construction Services. Crispina Martinez-Belen used ...

My family went to Florida just before the Christmas holidays. I always like to include a historical or nature tour whenever I visit a new place. So, I included in our itinerary an airboat tour of Lake Tohopekaliga to see alligators basking in the sun and a visit to Cape Canaveral for a taste of space flight history. A trip to St. Augustine was perfect for our Florida visit's historical aspect. We took the hop-on, hop-off tram tour (but stayed on it for the duration of the tour) to get a quick tour of the city and learn about its history. It claims to be the oldest city in the USA. The city was founded in 1565 by Pedro Ménendez de Avilés and served as the capital of Spanish Florida. The European settlement in this city was part of the  Viceroyalty of New Spain . Since then, St. Augustine has been continuously inhabited, making it the oldest European-established city in the contiguous United States. It is much older, of course, as Timucuan tribes were known to inhabit this part ...

Shingles Awareness Week 2025 is from February 24 to March 2. I was unaware that such an event existed until—you guessed it—I was diagnosed with shingles during Shingles Awareness Week! The timing is impeccable. Thanks to getting shingles, I am reviewing what I have learned about this condition (in college-level virology and during my PHM training ) in juxtaposition with my experience. What is shingles? Shingles is a disease caused by the Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV). The VZV contains double-stranded DNA, similar to its host (i.e., people). Its replication mechanism is similar to its host, allowing it to use the host's enzymes to multiply. As Dr Jill Hacker (of CDPH's Viral and Rickettsial Diseases Laboratory) said during one of her Virology lectures, VZV (and its cousins in the Herpesviridae family) is a "gift that keeps on giving" because once someone gets it, the virus is with him/her as long as he/she is alive. As it happens, VZV is the same virus that causes chick...

On one of my most recent medical check-ups, my healthcare provider noticed I was getting heavier over time (my BMI isn't what it should be). She said that if we don't start losing weight soon, we'd probably consider taking medications to prevent developing hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart disease, and other chronic lifestyle-linked conditions. I had reduced my double chocolate frappuccino intake to once or twice a month, but I need to increase my physical activity to help burn fat and build muscle. Thus, I currently take (almost) daily walks during my lunch break and plunged into heart rate zone training and reformer pilates over the weekend.  Heart rate zone training I must increase my heart rate to at least 120 bpm while working out to burn calories. Orangetheory monitors participants' heart rates in each class (through a heart rate monitor on each participant), so this was a good starting point for my weight loss. Each participant rotates among two of three sta...

A visit to Orlando , Florida, is incomplete without an airboat ride experience on the Everglades (I've been reading National Geographic stories about the Everglades since I was a child). Thus, I included a Wild Willy's Airboat Tour of Lake Tohopekaliga. Besides, Donan likes seeing animals. He thoroughly enjoyed the safari adventure in Animal Kingdom, so why not add some gator sightings to his memory bank? The Everglades The Everglades is a flooded grassland in Florida. It begins near Orlando (lucky us!). Water flows south from Lake Tohopekaliga to Lake Okeechobee (the largest freshwater lake in Florida) through the  Kissimmee  River. From there, the water flows south until it exits at Florida Bay. The Everglades is notable for its extensive sawgrass ( Cladium  sp.) growth. It is also home to mangrove forests, pine forests,  cypress  swamps, and other tropical trees. The variety of flora in these ever-flowing waters creates diverse environments that various anima...

When I was in grade school, Mommy saw a feature on TV Patrol about how beautiful the Christmas lights were in Imus, Cavite . The whole family got into the car right after the news, and we went to Imus (totally unplanned). I remembered the spontaneity of that family trip when I saw a social media feature about Deacon Dave's light display in Livermore, CA. I thought that Donan would love to see the Christmas lights. Val hadn't been to Livermore (outside of the outlets), so it would be nice for him to experience it, too.  We went to Deacon Dave's Casa del Pomba after shopping at Costco. I was surprised by how popular his house is. The 500-foot queue of visitors went around the corner and into a cul-de-sac! I was worried that it would be too cold for Mommy (she wasn't dressed warm enough for the plunging temperature), boring for Donan (he fell asleep; thank goodness we brought the stroller!), and too slow for Val (he had complained about the long waiting time at Singapore Z...

Since I was exposed to Filipino gastronomy movements , I have visited Filipino-owned restaurants featuring Filipino cuisine in each city I explore. This hobby led me to insist upon dining at Kaya in Orlando, Florida , during my family's trip there in December 2024. Although I had difficulty finding time for our Kaya dinner, there was availability for our group on our last night in the city! (Kaya's signpost by the sidewalk. ) We went to Kaya straight after our gator adventure in Lake Tohopekaliga and arcade time at WonderWorks. The restaurant's façade was a welcome sight: a parol with twinkling fairy lights, kids playing street games in the parking lot, and a party in the front yard. The scene was the closest I could get to a fiesta in the Philippines. It was good that we had snacks before travelling to Kaya because the wait was long! Chef Lo Lalicon and General Manager Jamilyn Salonga Bailey brought over salabat to ensure we were warm and cozy while waiting for our tab...