Down the Rabbit Hole

Sometimes it’s not in our power to choose just what we keep and what we lose. And those who can’t see beyond the cost should consider this tale and what was lost. It ought to sway even a doubting Thomas: Better to lose your purse and keep your promise!” - Robert Browning, "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" A glockenspiel clock is a mechanical clock that, during certain times of the day, showcases a set of figurines that reenact scenes from a fairy tale while bells (e.g., carillon) play some really nice, soothing music. When I was in Switzerland , I was determined to see one; only to learn that I was in the wrong country.  (The Rathaus-Glockenspiel, which I saw on the telly when I was a kid, is located in Germany.) Seven years after my Swiss adventure, I found myself in a German settlement in Michigan called Frankenmuth. The city's vibe reminded me of  Solvang, CA  because of the touristy feel and the architecture. While checking out the Bavarian Inn, I learned that there'...

Daddy and I decided that it would be much better for us if either of us drove rather than Ninang Trining (we're more experienced with long drives than her... and driving with a baby too). It's supposed to be a four-hour non-stop trip north from Troy to St Ignace but I opted to have a few stops along the way so we could all stretch our legs and allow my son some wiggle time and allow for diaper changes. I estimated that our trip would be about six hours long with these breaks. Naturally, my first order of business was to install my son's Clek Foonf into Ninang Trining's SUV. It was an easy installation because I'm already used to doing seatbelt installations and the lock-off mechanism of the Foonf is very convenient. I didn't expect that each time my son had to go on it, I had to check if the seatbelt was still in place. With three people riding in the same row, detaching the wrong seatbelt is easy. View this post on Instagram A post shar...

During my family's trip to Michigan, we had the opportunity to visit Mackinac Island, one of the USA's "summer colonies" that have what Filipinos call  bahay bakasyunan . Mackinac Island is found where Lake Huron and Lake Michigan meet (at the Straits of Mackinac). These lakes are members of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Ninang Trining really wanted us to see Mackinac Island and after a day of touring the island, I can understand why. It is steeped in history pre-dating the existence of the USA, has beautiful architecture and landscapes, and provides a glimpse at what life must be like when motor vehicles haven't dominated the roads. The first European settlers were fur traders and Catholic missionaries. In this way, the Europeans built strong relationships with the indigenous peoples who arrived on the island before the Europeans did. Back in 18th century, the French and the British colonials empires were vying for territory; thus, both empires built forts. Fort Ma...

Tull Lake is a man-made lake in the White Lake Charter Township in Michigan. A day after Ninang Trining's birthday , we drove over to visit Kuya Lemuel and Ate Adora. They have a house by this lake and invited us Californians over to experience riding a pontoon around the lake. Their house is a back split-level home. From the front, the house seemed to have one level. However, the backyard is sloping, with outdoor stairs from the deck leading to the lake on one side, and a lower level visible on another. The deck is equipped with lounge chairs. Mommy certainly had a field day relaxing on the deck. The backyard was huge! My son found a patch of garden soil very interesting and spent a good hour there. He had fun putting soil into a toy bus that we discovered during our exploration of the backyard. In the process, he also smeared soil all over his face and clothes; but no matter because he had such a wonderful time playing. The highlight of our visit was the boat ride around Tull Lak...

On COVID-19 's third summer, I opted to bring my son along to my aunt's 80th birthday party. Since the party was in Michigan, we had to fly (we could have driven across the continental USA, but that's way too long for a toddler). And I have learned a thing or two about flying with a toddler. Here I share what I think are the top 12 things to bring when travelling with a toddler by plane. Car seat, travel cart, and gate-check bag For this trip, I opted to take the Clek Foonf over the Diono Radian 3QXT  because the Foonf has adjustable recline settings in its rear-facing mode. I was a bit concerned that he'll find the Radian too upright in the Toyota Highlander we would be using while in Michigan. He was not comfortable riding in the Radian installed in a Toyota Prius, most likely because of the steep angle, and so I decided that having recline angle options would be better. Due to space constraints and the challenges of multiple installations in such a short amount of ti...

I was tapped to speak on behalf of my cousins during Ninang Trining's birthday party. When I first heard about my assignment, I intended to talk about how Ninang Trining helped me get into the sciences. As I walked to the stage to start talking—and a true testament to the impromptu nature of my talk—I decided to change course and ended up saying something similar to this instead: This is a story of a little girl. Lola Bats used to talk about how studious this little girl was in school. She decided to study nursing. Mamang and Papang were there to help starch her uniforms for nursing school. Many years later, she found herself in Michigan, still displaying the studiousness and industry that fascinated Lola Bats so much.  She has been a big influence in the career paths of Ate Liza, Ate Maddie, and Anna, who are all registered nurses. She played the role of a second parent to Kuya Rico, Kuya Allan, Ate Marissa, and Ate Grace. She is a role model of what a Filipino professional workin...

Virtue signalling. Microaggression. Radical honesty. Generational trauma. These are terms mentioned during a virtual seminar I attended today. The speaker, Dr Devon Lee, talked about healing from trauma by (if I understand his presentation properly) addressing these four concepts, among others. Two colleagues who are children of immigrants—one was born in the USA and the other born overseas but immigrated as a preschooler—kept nodding their heads in affirmation as Dr Lee got the virtual audience to participate in the discussion. Honestly, I was just lost in the discussion because I grew up in a different context: I come from a culture in which thriving in adverse conditions is the norm, merits are given where merits are due, and strong family and friendly ties provide moral support and sounding boards that people need to decompress. So here's my attempt at dissecting the topic. Based on how I understand Dr Lee's presentation, an organisation has to provide the space for its emp...