This Saturday, I had the pleasure of being a part of the wonderful wedding of my cousin Reena and her new husband Blake in Rodeo and Benicia, California. It was a great opportunity for the extended family to come together and celebrate their love in true Filipino-American fashion — with lots of food, drink, and…
Category: Family
The Joys and Pitfalls of Sobriety in a Drinking Culture
Here's my sister and her boyfriend drinking shots at Mua in Oakland, with the third shot meant for me sitting on the table untouched. We are all celebrating our respective birthdays. I haven't had a full glass of any kind of alcohol for many, many years. I wish I could say it's because of my…
Thankful
About a year ago, I moved to the Bay Area from New York, with some fairly ill-defined goals — more of what Quakers call a “leading,” rather than any kind of concrete plan. I knew that I wanted to be closer to my family. I felt like it was time for some kind of big…
Golden Gate Park “Dim Sum Run” by the Net Zero Running Squad
Yesterday, I went running with some family and friends in Golden Gate Park on a gorgeous Saturday morning. It was one of those days that make you grateful that you live in the Bay Area. We did a medium-difficult four mile run through the park, starting and ending at 30th Avenue and JFK. Afterwards,…
A New Year’s Eve Fun Run to the Golden Gate Bridge
For the last day of the year, my cousins had the brilliant idea to do a casual, 5 mile "fun run" from Crissy Field to the Golden Gate Bridge and back. It was a gorgeous Bay Area winter morning, in the mid-50s, sunny, windless and clear. Folks were out jogging, biking, walking their dogs and…
Christmas 2011 with the Santos Clan
I hope everyone had a lovely holiday, full of loved ones and yummy food. The Santos clan gathered at the home of my Auntie Gloria and Uncle Andy in Hercules, CA. It was a good crowd of about 30-some folks, each of them bringing boatloads of food and drink to the affair. That's lasagna, beef…
My Vegas Trip: A Casino Wedding, Jabbawockeez and All Manner of Excess
I just got back last night from a fantastic little trip to Las Vegas with the family. Definitely my best trip there ever. The excuse occasion was the wedding of my cousin Emily to her long-time boyfriend Sean, which was being held at the Luxor Casino Hotel on the strip. As soon as mom and…
My Sis and I as Disco Robots (video)
Here's a fun little video of my sister Cori and I playing around in this Svedka Vodka photo booth thingee they set up at Club Mezzanine last Friday. You can see the original video on the Svedka site (for as long as they keep it up.) We happened to be there with our cousin Reena…
Watch my little cousin Jazzy destroy this karate kata! (UPDATED)
Check out this awesome video of my cousin Jazzy competing in the SharkCity martial arts tournament in San Jose last week. This really took me back to my martial arts days as an adolescent and in college. I don't think I was this good though. She got Grand Champion in her division! Here's…
Easter with the Santos Clan (pics, video)
Easter with the Santos clan was a very festive affair this year, hosted by the Martin family in their lovely house in Hercules, CA. I had a great time hanging out with the fam, eating a ridiculous amount of amazing food, playing with my littlest cousins, and just relaxing on a gorgeous Easter sunday. Check…