Down the Rabbit Hole

A slight fall of rain didn't stop us from visiting the Dole Pineapple Plantation  in Wahiawa, Oahu. During my first visit, I was part of a tour group visiting the island. This time, I drove with Mommy, Daddy, and Donan. I was determined to ride the train to see the plantation (because I didn't have a chance to do that previously). Donan immediately wanted to try the Pineapple Garden Maze when we saw it. Our two-hour scheduled stop was short. We were supposed to find eight stations inside the maze, but we only saw three because it was huge (it is the largest maze in the world, after all) and we were pressed for time. It would take about an hour to find all the stations (accounting for the fact that we also got lost in the maze). We wouldn't be able to catch the train tour if we attempted to complete the maze. The train tour circled around the Dole Plantation's pineapple farm, where we saw pineapples in varying stages of maturity (to ensure that there's pineapple all ...

I used to go on a Visita Iglesia  on Maundy Thursdays . It's a great tradition that combines travel with a deeper understanding of Jesus Christ's sacrifice and a sense of community, especially when done as a family or with a tour group. When I moved to California, Visita Iglesia  didn't occur on Maundy Thursday; instead, my family would visit parishes in the cities we were vacationing in. Donan had his first Visita Iglesia  experience when we stopped by Mission Santa Ines  with Mommy, Daddy, and Anna. Val was not with us at the time; his visits usually don't coincide with Holy Week. This year, with Val in town, I introduced Donan to another Maundy Thursday tradition: the Holy Triduum. It is the three-day period (non-working holidays in the Philippines but not in the USA) which commemorates Jesus' Last Supper , crucifixion , and resurrection . We went to St. Dominic's Catholic Church in Benicia. Façade of St. Dominic's Catholic Church (that's not our SUV)...

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 ...