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Showing posts from October 14, 2019

When the longing for authentic Pinoy dishes strikes in the U.S., Isla Grand stands ready to transport your taste buds back to the Philippines.

Carmina is traveling to the United States to spend time with her family. My dad planned a family gathering for Mother's Day at their favorite Pinoy restaurant . Since reservations aren’t possible, we arrived an hour early to ensure we could get a table for twelve before everyone else showed up. As my dad approached Isla Grand , the branch we visited in Pleasant Hills, California , the host at the door said they could prepare a table for twelve at five o'clock. Later, the server called my dad's name and guided us to our table. The place was bustling with people enjoying meals and celebrating Mother's Day. On our first visit to Isla Grand, I was captivated by the décor, noticing many native items that gave the place a fancy yet authentic Filipino feel. They usually have a live band, but unfortunately, there was no entertainment the night we went. My family had spoken highly of Isla Grand and encouraged us to try the Filipino dishes we’ve been missing from back home. Lech...

Life Growing Up

In every childhood people grow up with different ways of discipline from our parents. We may have good or bad memories that keep our guard down. We tend to bring that up when you have your own kids. There are people like us who want to break that tradition and give our kids a greater opportunity that our parents couldn't give us when we're young. Like anyone else I didn't grow up with a perfect family. There are up and downs just like a roller coaster. You tend to experience from the right and wrong. While other people are traveling with their families during summer vacation or the holiday. Our cash flow is limited and we don't have the opportunity what may our other friends have with their family. As we grow up we tend to compare what they have and what you don't have. Growing up in the 80's was different we didn't have social media, phones, video games stuff what our kids have right now. I remember going to the library to borrow record or ta...

Bring Out the Old Negatives to Life

As the generation change the technology becomes more challenging to most people who are not use to it. There are some people who are still using a camera just like in the olden days.  I was cleaning out my attic and found some film negatives that I kept away from so many years from my childhood. I had search online to check if there are still photo shops that can still develop my film negatives. All my friends we're laughing at me thinking it is impossible. I started calling photo shops near my area. They had informed me they no longer do it. I didn't want to let my memories that shared my life during my childhood years to become a waste. I couldn't remember my pictures as I was glancing through the film under the light of my laptop. I didn't want to stop searching online. I found out you can actually use a special scanner for your negatives.  I checked online where to buy this sort of scanner. I started checking online to see if there we...