NAPA, CA

The family took a trip to NAPA last weekend for our PEP BOD retreat. It was at Lolo dans office. I recruited Nikkie to watch the girls. Amianan played with siena, jaden and mahalaya. i can't
imagine what amianan will be like at their age. they were so cute. nikkie had the girls make princess crowns, bracelets, play games, go outside. she chased after the older girls and bjorned amianan. amianan loves her auntie nikkie!










The Dawn, Allyson, Laya, April and the fams stayed the night in NAPA and in the morning we all got our massage on at st. petes. the ladies had massages while rod watched amianan and mahalaya. after i was done, he went in for his. amianan was asleep the whole time i watched her. she loves her afternoon naps with mom. the massage was alright. i've had better. i just imagined myself back on the cliff in jamaica with rod getting a message. their oil stunk so i had to wash that off in the bathroom before i fed amianan.
Then we ate at the Oxbow public market. had some mini corndogs, sweet potatoe fries, wisconsin burger and some good napa beer. amianan wasn't too fussy this weekend. she was really cool. she cried for 10 mintues while i was in the shower cause she was hungry and sleepy. but that was about it.













This was a picture in front of the market. rod and i used to take pics of ourselves with the camera for the longest time. now we have a third person in our crew..such a trip











THis is Amianan eating her roobies. she's funny. she puts anything in her mouth










Rod and the girls. Mahalaya likes to wake up Amianan when rods not looking. When amianan wakes up, Mahalya says, Amianan woke up on her own with a little smirk. its super cute..hahaha i caught her touching amianas cheeks while she was sleeping then amianan would wake up. mahalaya is such a good manang to amianan.










Amianan started to eat solid food last friday. she started with organic sweet potatoes. I went to babies r us to get her diapers and i ended up buying all sorts of bullshit. i bought her a bumbo chair, diapers, ointment, more breast sheilds, then i was at the food section and i wanted to see if they had a magic bullet so i can make her food but they didnt. so i ran into earths best organic baby food. the veggie w/water. i bought a starter pack to see how she would do with them and so far she likes the sweet potatoes and peas. the next one will be carrots. after the starter ones im going to start making them. along with some filipino food ;) anyone know where i can find the magic bullet?

amianan is almost sitting on her own and she rolls all over the place. she loves her crib though. she's funny when she puts herself to sleep. she would just lay down, play with her blocks for a bit then fall asleep suckin on her lips. is if there is a soosoo there..hahah
i love amianan ;0











This is amianan tanning at Great America water park hahaha

Midnight sun part tatlo

Our Last Day in Alaska (Sunday, July 7, 2008)
We packed early in the morning so we can have a day of gallivanting around with my aunt and uncle.

Wildberry park: our first stop. my sister was craving chocolates and she bought $75 worth of it. the white chocolate caramel almonds are to die for!

Flattop mountain: we drove up a windy road to the foot of flattop. you see so many hikers going to the top. we didnt bring any gear and we didnt have 2 hours to spare to hike up and down that thing. right when we got into the parking lot we saw a 8 foot tall moose on the right and it seemed to look right at us and then started to charge towards the van. OH SHIT!..then it ran right behind us..close call. they are known to kill more people than bears!
at the view point, you can see all of anchorage. we took funny pictures. amianan was crashed out in the van with my aunt the whole time.

Beluga Point: we were driving south of anchorage on this beautiful road to portage. we stopped at Beluga point where you can peep some white beluga whales. that songs been in my head ever since. i sing it to Amianan everyday and she calms down. we looked through FREE telescopes and i spotted a take and a snort of water. it was cool. again, amianan was crashed out in the van with grandma

on the way to portage- yeah i know its illegal, but amianan woke up and she was hella crying. i had to take her out of the carseat to feed her while we drove. we couldn't spare any time cause our flight was at 1am and it was already 3pm. i put her back in the car seat and my sister and i were looking out the window at the waterfalls from the snow ontop of the mountains. then all of a sudden my uncle hit the brakes REALLY HARD! the van skidded for atleast 20 feet and when i looked to the front of the van. i saw this 9 foot moose ass right in front of the van. i also heard this bitch ass scream of OOOOOOHHH SHIIIIT!..coming from rod of course. hahah the mooses ass was as high as van. i guess it was running across the street with its baby moose and the baby moose hesitated to cross so the mama moose stopped right in front of us and ran. that was a close ass call. it was a 2 way highway and there were hella cars behind us. rod loves telling this story.

Aleyeska Resort- this place has good snowboarding. when we go back..we're going here to hit the slopes. we also stopped at the jade co. factory and got away with some jade necklaces, and earrings. kinda pricey but alaska is known for jade.

portage glacier. we were able to see the glacier from a distance and you can tell it was melting away. pieces of glaciers were in the bay and we were able to take pics with them. they are sooo blue..

alaska is an amazing state. if you ever want to feel relaxed..fish, camp, snowboard..see 22 hours of sunlight or 22 hours of moonlight.

Art Sudarias house: our last stop. we went to my uncles house. (moms first cousin) they have a daughter named Arlene Sudaria. hahha! they cooked us up some rib eye steak, korean bbq, clam and salmon ceviche, tinapa, more salmon. man..i ate soo much there..=) my relatives know how to cook! it was cool. the younger cousins came over, some more aunts and we ate, talked, and had the younger ones sing for us. it was fun. i wish we stayed for another day just to see more of alaska beauty. my uncles packed 2 50 lbs boxes of wild king salmon. my mom and i had one box each to bring home and give away. once we got back i gutted and cut 2 salmons. im officially sick of it..for now.

i'll never forget our first family trip outside of cali, our family in achorage, the kadwas from FANHS and what i got out of the conference. Anchorage holds a special place in my own Filipin@ american narrative and for some reason it felt as if i was seeing alaska through my grandparents eyes.


















the salmon that we brought home 50lbs of it.




Wildberry chocolate

midnight sun part duex

Filipino American National Historical Society- Anchorage, Alaska

July 4, 2008
So we woke up kinda late, again. it was 4th of july. we asked about fireworks and we were laughed at. Fireworks in the middle of the night? impossible when the suns still out. My mom and sis went gallivanting around Alaska with our Uncle Bening and his lady friend. They went to Portage and Whittier. Rod, Amianan and I went to the conference. We got there in time for the Panel on Ethnic Studies with lolo gonzo, gem daus, oscar p, and Juanita tamayo lott. mad inspiring. its the 40th anniversary since the creation of ethnic studies. i'm grateful for the trailblazers of this movement. i wouldnt be doing what im doing without them. we took a picture with all the folks in the room, left fists up!
oh and i got to meet Gem Daus. a long lost cousin i guess. everyone alwasy asks me if we're brother and sister. i've been asked this since 1999. he has a sister named arlene daus and she was born in long beach. can you believe that?
We broke of lunch and had these sandwhiches longer than Amianan.

after lunch the girls and i headed to allysons room and took a nap. at 3 we headed down for pops/peps workshop on a roundtable of pin@y educators. they played PEPordy and had the teachers talk about their experiences being a pin@y educator. it was great. we had folks compliment the work that we do and told us that folks are watching nationwide.

after we all debriefed and we met about our saturday morning plenary.

we were all hungry. tried to make the 4th of july festival between 9th and 12 street but didnt make it on time. we ate at seafood restaurant close to the hilton and had grilled halibut. yum!

we got back to the house, totally tired from the conference. mom and sis werent back yet. they went to a local baseball game to see my cousin shenlee perform the national anthem. we all had another late 4th of july dinner at my aunts house across the street. 10pm. we had soupas, fried fish, bbq, veggies. met some more aunts and uncles. we have an uncle bong. thats the first in my family. hahahahha!

we went to bed at 2am. my uncles and aunts wanted us to go fishing and clamming with them but we had the conference to go to. they left at 2am with a huge winnebego, atv's and headed 3 hours south for the weekend. we were jealous and kinda irritated that we had 1 more workshop to do. my moms and sis opted out of the trip so they can come with us to the conference and help watch the baby while moms and pops did the plenary. they were tired from their mini adventure around alaska.

we woke up at 6am. yeah thats early in alaska standards. hungry as fuck. we had to buy breakfast at the hotel cafe.
PEP plenary on how to teach filipin@ american studies to youth.
we were kinda of worried that no one would show up. it was an 830 am plenary. the last day of the conference. people trickled in. and of course 840 we had a room of about 100

allyson started off with the welcome and thank you. cause without all those filipino american historians in the room. we would have nothing to teach.

we played this awesome game of move yo' butt. it was totally intergenerational. from young to old. we had a blast. the elders had some funny ones. move yo butt, ubet, or puett if you eat dinung deng and pinakbet.

allyson, me and franciso went over the PEP structure

then we broke up each participant into groups so they can learn our PEPagogies (social justice, counterstorytelling, decolonization etc) and each group had to come up with an art form to teach everyone when we share. the learning and sharing was amazing. it proved to me that PEP actually does work. from 5 years old to 85 years old. fred cordova even shed some tears. it was amazing to show what we do to these folks. i was inspired.

PEP with the Cordovas. Uncle Fred, Auntie Dorothy and Manang Joanie.

After our panel, moms, sis, me, pop, and amianan headed to the weekend farmers market across the street from the hilton. they had over 300 booths of food and goodies. we walked in and i saw a sign for salmon quesadillas. YUM. we walked throught the different lanes, they sold smoked fish, ulu knives, tourist shirts and hats. everything geared to the tourists. i just wanted to eat. had me some quesdillas, chips and water.


i wanted to hit the zoo or the wildberry park before the banquet in the evening. we had about 3 hours to kill. down the street at the visitors center they offered free shuttles to the zoo. we caught one and headed to the Alaska Zoo. i was thinking san diego zoo, la zoo. clean, paved roads. uh no. shit was all gravel, mosquitos the size of birds. totally wild life. no pun intended. i wanted to take amianan there to see animals. we saw really depressed animals. all laying down and aint doin a damn thing. polar bears, moose, grizzlys, birds, leopards, alpacas. we did a speedy version of the tour. we brought the stroller but rod bjorned her the whole time. try pushing a stoller on dirt roads up hill. not cute.
We got back to the house at around 3pm and it gave us some time to relax and get ready for the banquet at 530. we left amianan with my mom and sister. hoping that she wouldn't go crazy again. we were mad early! we met up with the PEP folks and decided to take pics in front of the hotel.

we were still early, that we went to the bar for some well deserved drinks. the banquet was ok. it started late. there was an emcee who yelled at everyone to sit down and started to call names out. not cute. that was uncomfortable. we also brought the yay to AK. jonell brought a bottle of hen and some beer and we drank like it was noonesbidness. yeah we were lout, yeah we got stares from the folks in around us and yeah we looked like the kids table at an all grown up event. so what. we were celebrating our accomplishments, us being in AK, and shit we were on our best behavior all week . it was time to get loose yadidamean?
rod was mad faded by the time we got back to the house.

amianan was crying again. we had phone calls every hour telling us that she wouldnt stop. my sis bjorned her and took her to the park to swing. they tried everything. when we got home she was cool. i fed her and she knocked out. and so did we. it was a long long day. we had one more day to go and that was our chance to have an ultimate alaskan adventure in 10 hours.

AK day of adventure..next post.. gotta go to sleep..baby wakes up in about 7 hours and i need some shut eye.

Midnight Sun

Anchorage, Alaska is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to! The lifestyle is slow paced. you can tell by their driving, when you go to restaurants, when they go to sleep and when they wake up. It was my first time seeing daylight all night. it was 11pm and it looked like it was 3pm. i didn't feel like sleeping. This really messed us all up. we slept at 1am woke up at 7am. and they're also an hour behind us.

Tuesday July 1
getting ready

we packed 2 bags for the 3 of us. amianan and my stuff in one medium sized suitcase and rod and the pasalubong in another. we totally packed according to the weather online. jackets, pants, longsleeves, layering clothes. i packed amianan pink track suites, hats, onsies, jackets, jammys. brought the boppy for the plane ride so she can sleep on it while i hold her, the bjorn, snap and go stroller, car seat, car seat bag, diaper bag full of her toys, diapers, change of clothes, bibs and punas. rods back pack had conference stuff, computer and breast milk and bottles. HELLA SHIT! i was sweating when i was done packing our stuff. so much to list and cross off, and reminders all over the house so i dont forget her milk, cereal etc etc etc!

Wednesday July 2
to SFO
sis michelle ferrer picked us up at the butt craka dawn. 515am for our 730am departure. we got to the airport and we were super haaaaannngry! rod and i bought breakfast, ate and then waited at the gate. we met a woman and her 9 week old baby from seattle. we chopped it up. moms have an unspoken connection.
we put the car seat in its bag and stroller by the door and we settled into our seats. i had the window and rod had the middle. it was 2 hours to seattle and i was able to breastfeed amianan before takeoff and she knocked out till 830. she was awake for an hour, had one diaper change and was entertained by the guy next to us. he put on kunk fu panda for her to watch. :0

Seattle- ANK
seattle airport is huge! took us 10 mintues to get to our next gate. we waited about half and hour and we boarded our plane to ANK. we requested aisle to window seats. it wasnt a full flight. i had her on her bjorn and before we took off she fell asleep. the flight attendant said that i would have to take her out and carry her on my lap because it was dangerous to keep her facing forward. whatever. it annoyed me that i had to take her out and wake her up cause she was so comfy and sleeping. so i decided to wait until they shut the cabin door to take her out and 4 flight attendants came by and told me the same thing over and over. and i kinda gave them a firm look and said I KNOW! before they said anything else. of course when i took her out she was awake for 2 of the 3 hours. she slept the last hour. right before we landed, i looked out the window and i saw the mountains covered in snow and the ice glaciers. WOW!

Anchorage, Alaska
My sister was already in ANK since monday and my mom was on a flight that was arriving 10 minutes after ours. i was glad i was able to make this a family vacay out of the FAHNS conference. my uncle jopan and auntie linda (my moms first cousin is auntie linda, her dad and my moms dad are brothers) picked us up. they lived 2 mintues from the airport. we had good salmon sinigang! my mom brought a 50lbs box from so cal full of filipino vegetables. they pay top dollar in ANK for vegetables since they cant grow it there. we decided to rent a car so we didnt have to bother my aunt and uncle transporting us to and from downtown. we rented a dodge caliber and we were off to wal mart. i had to get diapers for the babe. there were hella pin@ys there. they even sell patis there. once we got back we ate some more and napped all day all night. the flight zapped us. i met 2 of my cousins Franz and Shenlee. franz is 7 and shenlee is 10. WE PACKED THE WRONG SHIT! why the weather forcast said 50-60 degrees with rain all week? it was 75-80 sun was bright for 22 hours of the day! it was hot and humid. amianan had the wrong clothes and all i brought were jeans and tops. lucky i had slippers!








Thursday, July 3
My mom, sis, rod, amianan and i got ready in the morning and went downtown to get some breakfast and then check into the conference. we ate at this little cafe that had the best eggs benedict and reindeer sausage. i didnt eat it but they did. they said it tasted like hillshire farms kelbasa.
we checked into the conference at the hilton right next door and we saw soo many filipino american pioneers, trailblazers, community folks, academics! pep rolled 12 people deep to ANK! plus mahalaya and amianan. we got there at the end of the 1st plenary of alaskeros. then it was lunch. we walked around down town, in and out of shops, took pictures with stuffed animals and then ate a brewery next door. had some alaskan ale and back to the conference. we saw a panel with dawn mabalon who spoke about filipinos in angel island, then melissas panel where she presented her research on 2nd gen filipinos. we went back to the house and ate some gooooood ass filipino speghetti my auntie made and left amianan and the fams
behind so we could go to the book reception at the hilton. after that we kicked with cordovas, emily lawsin, their friends, pep folks on the 14th floor guest lounge. had free food, drinks and a view of the sleeping lady. had to get back cause my baby was crying her eyes out and grandma didnt know what to do. we headed back. sis and rod were faded. that was the end of day 2 in alaska.
to be cont. day 3-5 to come.