Food For the Gods

Food For the Gods is one of my favorite desserts, but it wasn't until I was an adult that I realized that no one outside the Philippines really knew what it was. Huh? It's not an American/European dessert? But we don't even grow dates or walnuts in the Philippines! 

It's okay to be a tourist

If there's one opinion I have that's going to get me side-eyed, it's this: I like going to "touristy" places and doing "touristy" things. Everyone is always praising the sights and sounds "off the beaten track" and scorning the "touristy" stuff, but for first-timers, I think it's great! They are "touristy" for a reason -- because they are big and beautiful and iconic representations of a place.  

Saint Chapelle

When one thinks of cathedrals in Paris, the two that most probably come to mind are Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur. On this visit to Paris, I visited one that is much smaller, much lesser-known, but arguably more magnificent. The Sainte Chapelle is literally a hidden jewel in Paris' long list of architectural marvels.

Sainte Chapelle (or Holy Chapel) was commissioned by Louis IX and consecrated in 1248.  Its most amazing feature is the Upper Chapel, with thousands of panels of stained glass illustrating more than 1,100 biblical scenes. Spoiler alert: if you plan to visit and don't want to spoil the surprise, DO NOT click on the "Read More" link, ignore the rest of this post and read another one!

Monet's Garden at Giverny

I have loved the works of Claude Monet ever since I was a teenager, and every time I have visited France I have wanted to take a trip to his home and garden at Giverny. But there always seemed to be too many other things to do, and too little time. Finally, finally I got the chance to visit this summer, and it was everything I had dreamed it to be. It was literally Monet's famous paintings come to life! 

Reconnecting with Nature at Yosemite National Park

I've often said that Yosemite is my favorite place on earth. Yes, I know that's something of an exaggeration, because home is where the heart is and wherever my family is has to be my favorite place, but as far as scenery goes, it's definitely my favorite.

But for someone whose favorite place it supposedly is, I haven't exactly been visiting it much. I used to visit around once a year until The Pea was born. After I became a mom, I think we visited the place two or three times, and we haven't been at all for the last 10 years.  A visit was well overdue. We took a short trip to Yosemite this summer, and I was reminded all over again why I say it's my favorite place.

Tips for Road Tripping with a (Neurotic) Dog

Ever since The Pea went of to college, we have been taking road trips to visit her in Santa Barbara. Tim has been on many of those trips. Why take him along? For one thing, it was a great chance for The Pea to see him. Second, we know that spending time in a kennel stresses Tim out, so we try to avoid it unless we are traveling somewhere by plane. Third, kennels are expensive! Fourth, the only kennel that will take Tim is 40 miles in the *opposite* direction from Santa Barbara, so dropping him off before a road trip just makes the road trip longer (unless we are willing to pay for an extra day in the kennels).

As with many things, road trips and Tim don't get along very well. Being removed from his comfortable routine is just the beginning. Enduring a long car ride, staying in an unfamiliar hotel, constantly being exposed to strangers, being left in a car, are all things he hates.  Here are some ways we help minimize his anxiety and make the trip pleasant for him:

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (FINALLY!)

I have wanted to watch Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ever since it first opened in 2016 in London's West End. That year it opened, I tried so hard to get tickets, but it was always sold out. When it opened on Broadway in 2018, I wanted to fly to New York to watch it, but could never make it happen due to cost and family/work commitments (plus, it was always sold out).

Then it opened in San Francisco in 2019, but tickets were harder to get than ever. Then COVID happened, so I forgot all about things like theater.  Fast forward to 2022. I don't know what made me revisit Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, but I decided to finally go for it. I took the boys and we watched it at the Curran Theatre, and boy was it worth the wait.

Dreaming of Newport Beach

If I ever win the lotto, I'm definitely buying a place in Newport Beach. We visited Newport Beach for the first time when dropping Jammy off at UC Irvine, and it has quickly become the seaside town of my dreams.  

Family Time at Disneyland

I recently did a search on my Google Photos account and discovered that I have over 8,000 photos taken at the Disneyland Resort!  The boys were 5 and The Pea was 7 on their first visit, so we have been going there for 15 years. Gosh, we have had some great times at the Happiest Place on Earth. Once they get older, it gets more and more difficult to organize a trip with the kids. Their schedules are all over the place, it gets more expensive (gosh, teenage boys do eat a lot!), and quite frankly, they'd rather visit with their own friends than their parents!  

So when the opportunity arises to go back to the Disneyland Resort with the entire family, you don't think twice, you just take it.

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland

If you are a Star Wars fan (and who isn't??), you simply must visit Star Wars Land at Disneyland or Disney World! The level of attention to detail is simply amazing, and just walking around the place is an experience. You really feel like you have stepped into a galaxy far, far away. Every little corner is crammed with machinery, landscaping, equipment, and characters from the movies.

DIY Mickey Ears Safari Hat

We're going to Disneyland and I'm so excited! We don't get to go as often as we did in years past, so every visit is a blessing... and an occasion to plan Disney-themed outfits! For this visit, I'm going with a Jungle Cruise theme: khaki shorts, collared short-sleeved shirt, and sun hat. But of course it has to be a Mickey ears hat! Check out my Mickey ears "safari" hat. I took an old hat and sewed some Mickey ears on them. To make the Mickey ears, I traced my Minnie ears onto cardboard and onto 4 pieces of black velvet cloth with about 1/2 inch allowance. Then I sewed the cloth together, turned the ears inside out, stuffed the cardboard circles into the ears to stiffen them, stuffed the ears with stuffing, then sewed them shut. Easy peasy! Okay, maybe not so easy. But with patience and a bit of sewing know-how, anyone can sew Mickey ears onto a hat. Jungle Cruise, here I come!

Tim and his clones

Today on our walk we met a dog who could have been Tim's sibling! Same color fur, same curly tail, around the same size. 

Fifty is Nifty

Holy cow, where has the time gone? Growing old is weird. Your skin sags and your hair turns grey and your vision blurs and your joints start to ache. But in your mind, you're the same as you always were, and you think the same thoughts that you did when you were 40, 30, 20, 10.  I've never been big on birthdays, but there is something about this half-century mark that does make people stop and take stock of their life. I have to say, I like where I am, and I like who I am. Here's to everyone, at whatever age, who has finally grown into their own skin and learned to love themselves!

Madonna Inn and the famous restroom I never got to see

image credit: Wikimedia Commons

If you've read my blog for any length of time, you probably know that I am obsessed with themed restrooms. Doing one's business is boring stuff, so I appreciate any effort made to lighten the atmosphere or provide some amusement or distraction. Usually I confine my rave reviews to Disney-themed restrooms; however, the restrooms at the Madonna Inn are so unique and special, they deserve a post of their own.  

The Madonna Inn is one of those well-known places that no-one really understands why they are well-known, until they visit. Given that The Pea has been studying at UCSB for almost 4 years and we drive past the Madonna Inn each time we visit, I wonder why we haven't dropped by sooner. It's right off the 101 freeway in San Luis Obispo, perfect for a bathroom or coffee break (or both). 

The outrageous, kitschy pink decor, the gigantic bakery cakes, the yummy diner food in the restaurant, the lavish souvenir shops, all make this place worth a visit. 

But it's the restrooms that have really captivated people's attention. 

Santa Barbara Zoo

I haven't been to a zoo in decades, but on our recent visit to The Pea in Santa Barbara, we decided to visit the Santa Barbara Zoo. She has developed a passion for snakes (see: her new friend George, the banana python who lives in her room!) and recently became a member of the Zoo. 

We had a great time rediscovering the wonders of the animal kingdom, and the Santa Barbara Zoo is one of the best places to do it. The Zoo is very near the beach, and overlooks the Pacific Ocean. It is home to 414 animals representing 107 different species, spread out over 30 acres. The landscaping is lush and magnificent, with a variety of native succulents and ornamentals. Animals are housed in natural habitats, so they don't seem caged in. 

I lost count of the number of animals we saw: giraffes, gorillas, monkeys, snakes, butterflies, birds, alligators, the list goes on. Our favorite exhibit was the Australian Walkabout, where we got to see wallabies, emus, and kangaroos up close. The area is enclosed and the animals are just walking around!

Other Don't Miss Exhibits:

• Gorillas
• Giraffes
• Alligators

Photo credits:

• By Arnoldus13 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21125578
• By Dakart at en.wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia by SreeBot, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17737045

Camellias at Gamble

Have I mentioned how lucky I am to work where I work?  

Back to life, back to blogging

As you know, it has been a crazy couple of years. What with The Pea going off to college, the arrival of our new family member Tiny Tim, our neighbors starting construction, and my workload at school and at Gamble taking off, I never seemed to get the blog going. Then 2020 arrived. My dad passed away, and I got COVID at a time when people barely knew what it was and it was almost shameful to admit it. Then the world shut down. 

Fast forward to now, and it feels like things are finally looking up. We finally got COVID vaccines and boosters, and the world has slowly been opening up. We just came back from a trip to the UK, our first flight in 2 years. It was stressful as heck, and we had some COVID scares along the way, but it's good to be back out in the world. 

One of my New Year's resolutions is to try and get this blog started back up, for a number of reasons. First, it's still a great way for me to share with loved ones what is going on with my life. Second, it's a great way for me to make and keep notes on our favorite things to do and places to go. Third, this is still a great way to keep my freelance writing career up and running! I'm thinking of it as a marketing tool, a way to showcase my awesome writing skills and book some writing gigs.. and as always, I am open to sponsored posts :) 

I know blogging in the age of the Instagram and Tiktok influencer is for oldies, but that's okay. I *am* an oldie. And I know I'm never going to publish the number of blog posts that I did in the 2000's and 2010's, but that's okay. I'm a lot busier nowadays anyway. My focus is going to be on quality, not quantity. If there's anything the last few years have taught me, it is that you should seize the day, spend time with the ones you love, and do the things you love. 

Beaches I've been to

Now that The Pea is planning her dorm room decorations (yes it has been a while but OMG The Pea is going to college where did the time go), I came up with a nice little "housewarming" present: a set of wall photo decals depicting all the beaches she's ever visited. That got me to thinking of all the beaches I've visited.  From the beaches I would spend my childhood summer vacations at to those once-in-a-lifetime trips, each one has their own beauty and charm.

Could I possibly name them all? I've decided I want to try, if only to help jog my memory once I really start to forget.  Many of these beaches are ones I've visited multiple times, and quite a few are beaches I've visited fairly recently, so I have no trouble naming them. But I've been visiting beaches since before I can remember; all my life, I've never lived more than 2 or 3 hours from a beach. When you're a kid, you don't really take note of the names of the beaches you go to.  And I'm sure there are beaches I can't remember visiting. Here are the beaches I've visited that I can remember:

Baybay Black Sand Beach, Roxas City, Philippines
Montemar Beach, Bagac, Philippines
Calatagan, Batangas, Philippines
Anilao, Batangas, Philippines
Puka Shell Beach, Boracay, Philippines
White Beach, Boracay, Philippines
SBMA Beach, Subic, Philippines
White Island, Camiguin, Philippines
a white sand island, Negros, Philippines
a beach in Cebu, Philippines
Alona Beach, Panglao, Bohol, Philippines
Pamilacan Island, Bohol, Philippines
Acapulco Beach, San Fernando La Union Philippines
La Union, Philippines
Carmel Beach, CA
Santa Cruz Boardwalk Beach, CA
Natural Bridges State Beach, CA
San Gregorio State Beach, CA
Daytona Beach, FL
Half Moon Bay State Beach, CA
Pacifica State Beach, CA
Huntington State Beach, CA
King's Beach, Tahoe, CA
Lahaina Beach, Maui, HI
Polo Beach, Maui, HI
Malo-les-Bains, Dunquerque, France
Barry Island Beach, UK
Blackpool Beach, UK
Lulworth Cove, UK
Durdle Door, UK
Bratten Beach, Styrso, Sweden

Can you remember all the beaches you've been to?

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Signs from the San Francisco Women's March, 2018

Today is the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump's inauguration, and the nation celebrated... with protest marches! The second Women's March was held today, and after the insane year we've had to endure, the need to make our voices heard is greater than ever. Just like last year, The Pea and I donned our pink pussy hats and make the trek to San Francisco's Civic Center to join the thousands marching for the rights of women, immigrants, minorities, LGBT, and other marginalized communities. We had a great time having lunch, listening to the speakers, marching and chanting with the crowd. But our favorite activity by far was reading the passionate and clever signs that marchers proudly waved. Here are some of the signs we saw today:

Five things you must know after your teen receives a CA driver's permit

Congratulations! Your teen has successfully passed their written California DMV test and received a learner's permit. He or she is ready to hit the California roads and begin working towards getting a driver's license. In as little as 6 months, your teen could be ready to go back to the DMV and take their behind-the-wheel driving test! You probably know that your teen will need at least 50 hours of behind-the-wheel practice before he or she can take the test. But practice isn't enough. Here are five useful things for parents to know* :