Drinks and Their Containers

Whenever I'm at a cafe, I notice how the workers always have to dump huge garbage bags filled with paper or plastic cups. Since landfill space is valuable, many have recommended bringing your own mug to the cafe. Here's the one that I use:I got this mug for free during the Sustainability Conference last year at San Luis Obispo.

Speaking of beverage-related things, when I was in the Philippines a few months ago, I avoided hard liquor like the plague. I just drank beer. But hard liquor somehow found me here in the States when a relative visited:I only drank a small amount to limit its effects. With the ups and downs of life lately, I sometimes feel like I could use a couple of shots of this drink every now and then though. ;-)

Technorati tags: mugs

Native Americans

I recently visited Indian Grinding Rock State Park in Pine Volcano, several miles east of Jackson. The park features a reconstructed (Native American) Miwok village ...... as well as a ceremonial house:
The park also had some limestone beds that the tribe used as mortars that were then used to grind acorns, hence the name Grinding Rock:
Here's some interesting trivia: the park spells it "Miwok" while the casino owned by the same tribe in nearby Jackson spell it "Miwuk". Another bit of trivia: nearby Jackson is named after Colonel Alden Jackson, no relation to former US President Andrew Jackson.

Speaking of Native Americans and guys named Jackson, I happened to watch The History Channel's episode on Andrew Jackson, who was president during the 1800s. The interesting part of that show was when they discussed Andrew Jackson's relationship with the Native Americans. They're apparently not fans of each other. Jackson forcibly removed them through the Indian Removal Act. The forced migration west came to be known as the Trail of Tears. Many tribes like the Cree and Cherokee view Jackson as a traitor and consider him a war criminal. Many refuse to use the $20 bill and have even considered banning the $20 bill at their casinos because Jackson is on that bill. If you get the chance, try to catch the episode if they air it again on The History Channel.

Technorati tags: Indian Grinding Rock

Talking to the Government

For my own enlightenment (hehe), I attended the latest board meeting of a utility company. It started off on a light note. The council presented an award to several contractors for their work on a tunnel. Then they opened the floor to the public. That's when things got interesting. When the first speaker took the stage, I thought Michael Moore was on the mic. hehe. He was a Union representative and he began his speech with a bit of drama by presenting a faux award to the board members. He then proceeded to dig in to the board members. Here's some of his speech:

Raw Video: Debate at EBMUD Water Rate Hike Hearing

More speakers took the stage, including some former contractors whose contracts were terminated by the board. A few pleaded for the board not to rescind their contracts while others dug even more into the Board for things such as rate hikes and the elimination of a payment window. I only planned on staying for an hour, but I ended up staying for an hour and a half. Who knew these meetings would be so exciting? hehe.

Anyway, here's a local news report that covered the part of the meeting where they discussed rate hikes for water. I was caught on camera for this rate hike story, btw. Funny but I already left by the time they talked about this issue so its weird that I'm in the report. I'm at the 0:46 and 1:06 mark of the video, listening intently to the meeting (hehe):

OAKLAND: Locals Protest Announced Hike In Rates By EBMUD [Jana Katsuyama Reports]

Speaking of government meetings involving the public, I know you can't get enough Candy Pangilinan news so here's an update. hehe. She went to Baguio recently and apologized in front of the Baguio City Council regarding her Igorot joke. The council accepted her apology and Pangilinan promised to promote Igorot culture on her shows. Now that that's been settled, the Philippine government and media can now move on to more important matters... like the sex scandal involving two more celebrities I've never heard of. LOL

Technorati tags: Philippine Entertainment Industry

My Dog Has Fleas

I attended a ukulele workshop by Michelle Kiba in Berkeley recently. There were about ten of us at the workshop and we strummed along as she taught us several songs. I specifically liked the song "Island Style". Since I didn't have time to tune my ukulele because I was late, I tried to tune the ukulele in between songs. I also just tried strumming the chords during the song to see if it sounded in tune. It didn't. So I kept fiddling with the ukulele's strings throughout the workshop. I noticed that the guy in front of me slightly turned his head in my direction every once in a while. He probably knew I was trying to tune my ukulele using the "My dog has fleas" tuning technique one too often. hehe. After several songs of an out-of-tune ukulele close to his ear and with about ten minutes left in the workshop, he finally turned around, handed me his electric ukulele tuner and said, "You wanna tune your ukulele real quick?" hehe

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Gwyneth Paltrow

My new celebrity crush is Gwyneth Paltrow. And it's not because she can sing:

Gwyneth Paltrow & Huey Lewis - Cruisin - Gwyneth Paltrow/Huey Lewis

Nor is it because she's bilingual:

Nor is it because she can act, although I did enjoy The Talented Mr. Ripley. I also read she was great in Shakespeare in Love, but I never saw it. Haven't really seen much of her film work.

And its definitely not because she's married to pretentious rock star Chris Martin of Coldplay. hehe. She's my new celebrity crush because she and I are both pseudo-vegetarians. LOL. I found this out when I was watching Spain ... on the road again. She was with chef Mario Batali and they were grilling some fish. As they were grilling, I thought to myself that there's no way she was going to eat that fish. Wasn't she a vegan? But when she ate the fish, I nearly fell off my chair. Well, so much for my presumption. She's a vegetarian alright, but she eats seafood apparently. Her diet regimen must be working though because she looked great in that episode! hehe.
What's with the orange shoes? ;-)

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Taking the Heat

Recently came back from San Diego, where I was expecting the weather to be extremely hot. When we arrived though, the weather was only warm in the morning. It did heat up in the afternoon when we visited the San Diego zoo:
The place reminded me of what a mall would look like if it had a zoo. hehe. The one thing that did surprise me was how small the cages and/or enclosures were. Since its a world-renowned zoo, I thought the spaces for the animals would be bigger.

The next day, we took a hike in the Anza Borrego desert. Since I didn't have a hat to keep cool from the desert heat, I did my impression of Bear Grylls and made a pseudo Berber head dress by borrowing my 1 year old niece's T-shirt (hehe):
We also saw a snake in the rock...

... but I didn't do another Bear Grylls impression by cutting off its head and then and eating it. ;-)

Speaking of taking the heat (hehe), the winner of the Michael Richards Moment of the Week (aka the Foot-in-Mouth Award) is Pinay entertainer Candy Pangilinan. Richards, of course, is infamous for making racist statements during one of his "comedy" shows. Anyway, according to the PEP website, Pangilinan made the following statement during her performance at SM Baguio:

Tao po ako, hindi po ako Igorot.

When I first found out about her comments from Mng. Chyt, I had two reactions. On the one hand, I wasn't surprised that someone in the Pinoy entertainment industry would make such remarks. After all, the people in that industry aren't exactly known for their brains. hehe. On the other hand, who the heck is Candy Pangilinan? hehe. For what its worth, she did issue an apology later.

Technorati tags: San Diego

Wash Your Hands

If I've learned anything from the latest potentially dangerous virus, the swine flu, its that apparently we should wash our hands. Yeah, I know that's a given, but that's the message from the media. hehe. But that's not always possible at some of the bars in Baguio. During my recent trip, for instance, one of my favorite bars didn't even have a working sink in the men's restroom, not to mention a working door knob. That shouldn't be the case in places where food is served. To paraphrase Anthony Bourdain once again, the restroom is indicative of the cleanliness of a restaurant. Based on that criteria, everyone should try out Gecko's on Session Road. They have a restroom with an air dryer to dry off one's hands after washing one's hands from the functional sink. ;-) Btw, Gecko's serves a delicious grilled eggplant sandwich (hehe):
But I digress. My point is that music bars that serve food oughta have a working sink so customers can wash their hands before diving into their delicious meals. :D If not a sink to wash one's hands, how about a hand sanitizer dispenser like this one in California, located right by the front door:
What I like about music bars is that they are great places to relax, listen to live music...


... or pose with the singers like Jun Utleg(hehe):
...while chowing down some food and having a drink. If only we could just wash our hands.

Oh, well. I guess I should just carry my own hand sanitizer. hehe. I just hope some of these hangouts don't become "dive bars".

Technorati tags: Hygiene

The Kite Runner

It may be a bit strange to be talking about a book that came out 6 years ago, but since some commenters recommended The Kite Runner on one of my blog posts, I decided to check out the book. I guess the commenters mentioned the Kite Runner b/c the blog post was about the friendship between a British-Indian reporter and his Pashtun guide, which was an episode of the TV show Locked Up Abroad. The Kite Runner also involved friendship, but this time between a Pashtun and a Hazara, two ethnic groups in Afghanistan. Compared to The Kite Runner, those guys in the Locked Up Abroad episode had it easy. They just spent about a month in a Pakistani jail. hehe. Nobody died in that story, at least. The Kite Runner is a bit different. Characters die (or nearly die) left and right. Definitely lots of sad moments.

The story takes place in Afghanistan, Pakistan and California. I knew a little bit about Afghanistan from the news and from Ahmad Rashid's book Taliban, but its different when a novel is set in Afghanistan and characters created. They just seem more alive in the hands of a good novelist. The frequent mention of Afghan food also made me want to look for Afghan restaurants here in the Bay Area. hehe.

As for the film version of the book, I haven't seen it yet. I might be disappointed though. I checked the movie's official website and I'm already thinking to myself that some of the castmembers don't look like how I envisioned the characters. For instance, I thought the Hazara characters would look more Chinese, for example and that Baba would be fatter ... err... I mean bigger. hehe.

My only quibble with the book is that it had one too many twists and turns. ***Warning: Spoilers ahead. Oddly enough, the book mentions that Afghans don't mind spoilers. In fact, they want to know the ending of a film or book, whether the guy or girl in the film finds happiness in the end. hehe. But as I was saying, I think the story could've ended with Amir and Sohrab leaving Afghanistan. Sohrab attempting suicide was too much. I didn't think it was necessary b/c I think the story is about Amir and his chance to be a good person again and he already did that by risking his life to rescue Sohrab. End of Spoiler***

Other than that, I liked the book. Specifically, I liked the theme of redemption. Baba and Amir trying to redeem themselves through their actions -- Baba through his generosity and Amir by trying to rescue Sohrab . It's better than simply writing a happy ending in a novel like that character Briony in Atonement did. What is it about characters who are writers having a dark past? hehe.

Anyway, here's some quotes from the book that I liked:

1) For me, America was a place to bury my memories. For Baba, a place to mourn his.

2) But the Bay Area's smog stung his eyes, the traffic noise gave him headaches, and the pollen made him cough.

3) It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime, Amir.

4) We may be hardheaded and I know we're far too proud, but, in the hour of need, believe me that there's no one you'd rather have at your side than a Pashtun.

5) How could I, of all people, chastise someone for their past?

6) Sad stories make good books.

7) "Why didn't you leave?" I said. "Kabul was my home. It still is" [, replied Rahim Khan].

8) ... a boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything.

9) And that, I believe, is what true redemption is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good.

10) ... better to get hurt by the truth than be comforted by a lie.

Technorati tags: The Kite Runner

Byutipul Baler

Just got back from the Philippines a few days ago. The only things I did on my trip were to eat, drink and be merry. And surf:

Or wipe out. Whichever. ;-)

The video above was shot in Baler. I've been wanting to check out Baler's surfing spot and I finally got the chance last week. I made sure to read up on Baler before heading there. I had my outdated, 9 year old travel book. hehe. I also searched the internet and read blogs like Ivan Henares' and Tin Tin's blogs. I even emailed Tin Tin for some tips on getting there.

I originally thought my fellow travelers and I would have to transfer at Cabanatuan before heading to Baler, but my Uncle later told me that there was a bus that went directly from Baguio to Baler. That was great. Unfortunately, if you know the bus system in the Philippines, there's no such thing as a quick trip from point A to point B since they are always picking up or dropping off passengers along the way. So the trip ended up being quite a haul. We took a 5:30 am bus in Baguio, and arrived in Baler at 2:00 pm. Whew! Its accessibility (or lack thereof) could explain why I didn't see too many foreigners.

It was well worth it though. If not for the sunrise ....

... there was the warm water. Its always great to surf without the need of a wetsuit to fight off the chilly water. Baler's waters, however, can be deep. It was the first time I surfed at a place where I couldn't just stand up if I fell off my board. In some cases, I would still be under water unless I stayed afloat by wading or swimming to my board.

One last thing: internet info on accomodations aren't always accurate. For instance, the Aurora Province website recommended MIA Surf and Sports Resort. It turns out MIA was true to its name. When we got to Baler, we were told that MIA no longer existed. hehe. Another popular resort, Bay's Inn, was fully booked, so we just walked around till we found lodging for the night. What we found was, well, a bit spartan, but that's alright. hehe. Still had a great time though. Can't wait to go back to this surf spot. ;-)

Technorati tags: Baler

Identity Theft

I was reading witandnuts' post about cash in bank accounts and I commented how I'm reluctant to keep money in the bank b/c I had my identity stolen a year or so ago. What's fortunate for me is that I happened to check my bank account and I noticed the charges. If I never checked my bank account, who knows when I would've discovered the unauthorized charges? And how much more charges would've occurred?

Anyway, after finding the charges, I filed a police report and told them who could've possibly stolen my identity based on the last time I used my ATM card. But nothing came of it. I think I read somewhere on the police report that they will contact me only if they pursue the case. They never contacted me so I assume the cops are busy with other things .... like citing people for jaywalking, rolling stops and illegal left-hand turns. hehe. Again, I kid the cops. ;-)

But seriously, one needs to be careful these days. For instance, you should probably encrypt an email if it contains credit card or other sensitive information. However, identify thieves are clever and many people become victims. In my case, my bank covered my loss thankfully. Other people aren't so lucky. For instance, I heard on the Sarah and Vinnie radio show how one crew member nicknamed "Icky" lost at least $16,000 when he had his identity stolen. From then on, he just cashes his paychecks and pays things with cashier's checks. No more bank accounts for him. When he said he lost that much money, I thought the bank would cover the loss. But maybe there's a limit to how much they'll cover. Or maybe it just depends on which bank you have.

Technorati tags: Identity Theft