Modern Day Nonsense 2

Hello again, I have another installment for the Modern Day Nonsense series.
I've decided to just write about 3 topics at one time; so I don't go off on too many tangents =p

Lost Skills:

If you read my previous post about Modern Day Nonsense; then you'll recall how I mentioned that we have become overly dependent on convenience and how we seem to be using less and less of our own brain power. I bring this up because these are 3 of major things that I talk about whenever it's about the difference between generations. 

Cursive Writing-

Remember doing these writing drills?

I would have to do some hard research to pinpoint when the cursive skills plummeted, but it was first brought to my attention; when I was in one of my language courses and I was writing down something in cursive and one of my classmates was astonished 'Whoaaa, you still know how to write in cursive?! I've forgotten how to do that.' Another one of my classmates chimed in and said 'Yeah, me too.' Up until that moment; I wouldn't have thought that it would ever be some sort of issue or even a topic, but it is now. 

I remember all of the lessons that we learned in elementary about printing and cursive. Although my penmanship can sometimes be a bit sloppy; if I'm writing too quickly, I know that I still have the skills to write in cursive. There are some cursive capital letters that I often omit for a large print character, but for the most part; I do find it quicker to write in cursive. I'm fairly sure that these skills are still taught in school though and I hope that it's not going to become an endangered art. Typing is much easier and more legible, but it doesn't share the same intimacy and meaning as a true written sentence, letter etc. 

Telling time the Analog way-

I bet you're thinking 'Hey that looks like the clock from Beauty and the Beast.'  =p

Most people today don't actually use analog clocks; some people just wear watches to accessorize or have grandfather clocks in their houses strictly for décor purposes. I know that some may find analog clocks cumbersome and unnecessary, but you cannot deny the history and the craftsmanship. We've become so accustomed to checking the time on the desktop of our computers/laptops, cell phone faces; that we've lost the skill to read an analog clock. I know that digital clocks tend to be more accurate, but think about the idea of not relying on electricity. If we lose everything digital; you might as well have one skill to give you a leg up. I know that it can be confusing to read an analog watch especially; if it's getting close to the next hour or if your watch doesn't distinguish between AM and PM, but keep on trying. =)

Basic Gardening-

Thank you girls, for giving me hope =)

Prior to the industrial revolution, the world was an agrarian society. We lived off of and worked with the land in order to support and sustain ourselves. Even though there is a resurgence of urban farming and interest in fresh produce markets; we still have a long way to go, until everybody regains the gardening skills of our ancestors. During times of war, the governments would often encourage people to raise gardens and conserve all that they possibly could, but when everything was more stable; people would often abandon them. I always appreciate it when I see people gardening; especially when I see people of the younger generation. It gives me a great hope that the spirit lives on. 

I think that most people who've tasted homegrown produce versus some mass produced crop for the supermarket; would agree that there is no contest in flavor and the homegrown always beats the overpriced market stuff. I mean no offense to the farmers, but when you're trying to mass produce it's obviously a game of quantity over quality. You don't have the same flavor profiles because most of the produce cannot be vine ripened or ripened naturally. They cannot do that because they need to ship it from point A to point B. So most of the produce is artificially ripened, it doesn't get the same tender loving care as a homegrown plant.

Gardening is not an easy thing, but it's also not an insurmountable task either. You just need to start with some basics and you'll soon discover that it's not only fun, but also very rewarding. You may even find that your stress level goes down considerably. We all need a moment to relax and get out of the high-speed lane that we're always on everyday.

I hope that all generations will take time to rediscover some of these skills and really remember why they were and still are important. 

Have a happy and healthful day!

Love,

Jessica

Modern Day Nonsense

Hello again everybody, I hope that you're all doing well.

I started to write another entry a few weeks ago, but had to stop because it was going on and on and seemingly without an end. I may end up publishing it at a later time, but as separate installments. I think this may turn into a series; that may incorporate some of the info from that unpublished essay that I was working on. Anyway, here we go.

Modern everyday life is so backwards sometimes.

We rely heavily on digital technology to communicate with people because we want to stay connected to them, but are rarely communicating face to face. I cannot count how many times that when I've been out somewhere and I've seen people constantly checking their phones even while in conversation with people.There are people that I've seen, who have walked into a store on their cell phones and never gotten off of it for one second, even during checkout. Ughhh.... I do check my phone, but I would never do that while I was in conversation with somebody or shopping; that is just rude.It seems like people don't remember basic etiquette and common respect. Please don't talk or drive while you're on your cell phone. It's just dangerous and unnecessary. Whatever it is; it can wait. We need to work on our patience skills; so that we don't lose it if a page doesn't load within a few seconds or if somebody doesn't text us back straight away.One of the things that I miss most is receiving real cards and letters in the mail. It seems like it's a dying art and it saddens me. I know how quickly we can send emails or texts, but when somebody takes the time to write you personally; it means so much more.  We want to connect to disconnect?

This looks like an exhibit that will be in a museum in the future... yikes!

We buy bottled water out of convenience? People buy it because they think it's the healthier choice over soda or other drinks, but the truth of it is that most bottled water is no better or safer than the regular tap water.There were a bunch of companies that admitted that their so called 'spring water' or 'naturally sourced water' was just regular old tap water. There is so much money, water and energy wasted on producing 1 single bottle of water versus a person using a reusable drinking canister/container. Why do we like wasting so much money and ignore the fact that it is counterproductive both for us and our environment? It's true that we can recycle the bottles, but a lot of people just throw those straight into the regular trash and even with recycling; that still expends a lot of energy in itself. If we all just took the time to use reusable canisters/containers; think of how much we would save and how little waste we would create.

The same idea of reusing applies to shopping bags, the love affair with plastic and disposable has to stop. People are so used to the idea of convenience that they take so many things for granted. If you can reuse something; you should. One of my friends who is here visiting from Brazil, was telling me how she thought it was ridiculous that the general consensus from U.S. environmentalists (according to her and she knows that she would like to do more research about it) in whether to use plastic or paper; is that paper would be the better choice. Paper is better than using plastic, but she said that depending on the instance such as for eating, that it would be better to use reusable items. It's true using a 'disposable' option really should be the very last resort. I told her about how they now sell reusable cutlery made out of highly sustainable bamboo (which would hopefully replace the idea of using plastic knives and forks etc. Short of buying a set of the reusable bamboo cutlery they do sell cutlery made out of plant starch which are compostable. The same goes for some types of plates and bowls which can be made out of plant starch or bagasse; which are the leftover sugar cane fibers from sugar production. Bottom line: waste not, want not.

As I was proofreading this entry, I was reminded of Andy Rooney who spoke his mind in a very unique way. I'd like to think that I do not come off as curmudgeonly as him though =)

Thanks for taking the time to visit and read with me. I always appreciate it.

Wishing you all another day full of goodness!


Love,
Jessica

Let's go to the Movies: Wait...haven't we already seen this one?

Aha, a non-food related post has arrived. 

Where did everybody go? Was it something I said?

I know that I am not the only one who has noticed this, but in the last few decades there have been slew of remakes of older films. I mean they made another Three Musketeers movie and that one has been done countless times already. One of the most ridiculous movies out right now is Battleship; which is supposedly based upon the board game? What? It's been made by the same people who did Transformers, which is clearly obvious aside from the fact that the movie involves alien robots etc. Wow..... My first thought was 'Are they going to make Hungry, hungry hippos, into a movie too? A few weeks ago on SNL Andy Samberg actually made the same point that I had my head about that. Haha =p The copyrights to these movies must have been coming up soon, so out come all the remakes and the re-releases of memorabilia. You can really tell when a movie has just been made for the sake of being made, though; there is no life in them. 

This turned into the movie that is pictured down below???? Okay.....

Whaaaaat?????

Please don't get me wrong though, I know that there have actually been decent remakes of movies out there. One of my favorites is the original Dune directed by David Lynch. When the SciFi (yes it was before they changed their moniker to 'SyFy' which I'm still wondering about....) channel decided to do a remake of it; I was really apprehensive about even trying to watch it. I eventually did  see it and it could really never live up to the original, but they had to work with much different circumstances so; I still have to give them credit. The rest of the Dune series that they did I really did enjoy though. 

So dear to my heart =) 

I had enough room left for this one too ;p

Another one of the remade movies that I was really apprehensive was when they decided to do remake of the 1988 John Water's film, Hairspray. I mean it wasn't too much of a stretch to understand why they did the remake because after all they made a musical of it based on the original movie, but still I thought ' I don't know about this....' I eventually did see the 2007 version of Hairspray, and it is a good movie/musical on its own, but it's hardly anything like the original Hairspray movie; so I couldn't really feel totally let down if it didn't live up to the original. If we have to compare the two, then I would say that the 2007 version is much more chipper and doesn't really get as gritty as the original 1988 version in terms of talking about the issues.

I miss Divine =(

This is a whole different animal!

*I apologize for the weird formatting. I had to copy/paste some text and I am just not in the mood to futz around with the blogger tools right now. =)

Then there is a whole category of films that were remade for the English speaking market. 

Swedish Films:

Män som hatar kvinnor (Men who hate Women), became the American version The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and we all know how well that went over =p

 Låt den rätte komma in (Let the right one in), became the American version Let me in.

The original one was really atmospheric and spooky. I didn't see the American version; so I cannot comment on it.

Japanese Horror:

Who can forget all of the Japanese horror film genre remakes: The Ring series, The Grudge, Chakushin Ari- which was remade into an American version One Missed Call.

Not much to say about them except that yep, they remade them. 

American Horror:

Basically any horror movies that you can think of have been remade: Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, Psycho, 13 Ghosts, The House on Haunted Hill, basically any Vincent Price movie etc

They did a remake of The Wolf Man not too long ago and I really did like that version. I don't think it did well at the box office, but I've never used that as a way to measure a film's merit. 

French Films:

Le Dîner de Cons, which was remade into the American version Dinner for Schmucks in 2010. I watched the original french film quite a while ago and it was one of the most ridiculous and hilarious french movies I'd ever seen. I think that the American version does stand up on its own version of all the insanity and foolishness. You definitely can tell it's an American film, hehe.

Nikita, was remade into the American film Point of No Return.I think that both films have their merits and I wasn't disappointed by any of the differences.

Léon, became the American version The Professional both of these versions are damn good. Jean Reno is always awesome and also to see a young Natalie Portman, perfecting her craft. Good stuff.

And then there are films that have been re-adapted for a different market. Even though foreign films can be released abroad (obviously) sometimes they still remake them. A good example of this is Death at a funeral, the original English film is really funny and Chris Rock saw it and agreed with me ;p No, but he did see it in a theater and was really struck with the idea to remake it for the American audience. They didn't change a lot of the script except for mostly changing the British English to American English. Chris Rock even describes his version of the film as a 'cover version.' Both of them are insanely hilarious and I highly recommend checking them both out.

I couldn't talk about all the remakes from all the countries because I would never be able to leave my computer ever again (I just thought about all the Robin Hood, Phantom of the Opera and Wim Benders movies... arrrrghhh!) and I don't know about you, but I generally think that not being glued to a seat is a good thing ;p

Have a good weekend everybody!

Love,

Jessica

Join me for Merienda: Sautéed King Trumpet mushrooms

Hello again, I do have more non-food posts that are on the way, but I wanted to share this one particularly because it has become one of my favorite mushrooms over the past few months.

I've always liked mushrooms, all types and varieties. A few years ago I came across a variety called 'Cauliflower mushroom' and really loved the texture of it, but I was never able to find it again. Every now and then I would try and do a search for it, but it just never popped up again. Maybe it had a different name, but I have no idea; if you have an inkling, please do tell me =) 

I'm sure that I'd eaten King Trumpet mushrooms (which can also be known as: King Oyster, Eryngii and Bowler mushrooms) a handful of times, but when I had them a few months ago at a Japanese buffet of all places (I know!) I said' oh yeah...I need to get cooking with these.' If you are a vegetarian, vegan or just somebody with certain dietary restrictions; you'll know that eating out in general is sometimes a chore, but you have ways to make do with whatever is available. I know for me being a vegan; that I can safely eat the all veg sushi rolls, seaweed salad, green beans,  and some other mixed veg dishes if they are available. So; when the manager came by and replaced one of the trays with these sauteed mushrooms and said 'You have to try this. Very delicious type of mushrooms' He then proved it by scooping a bunch of it onto his plate. It is very rare to see just a tray of sauteed mushrooms (especially, if they're not button mushroom). I went ahead and got a scoop of it myself and when I sat down to try them...well.. you know the rest.

I <3 these mushrooms!!! =)

I immediately knew the type of mushroom that they used and some idea of the preparation; so on the way back home I stopped by a local Asian market. I didn't know what they mushrooms were called at the time, but I knew what they looked like and in my head I thought they were called bowler mushrooms because of their shape resembling a bowling pin. I looked them up online to clarify their name and figured out that I got the term 'bowler mushroom' from seeing a canned version of them on the shelves at previous markets. 

They are gorgeous mushrooms and they type that I am using in this recipe are the giant sized ones. I've also seen them when they're medium sized as well, but I wanted to go all out for this one. They are not a cheap mushroom at least where I live. I pay about 2.99 per pound, but I think it's well worth it. They are very meaty and hearty mushrooms. Some people have said that when cooked they are reminiscent of the texture and taste of Abalone, I cannot vouch for this because I never ate any Abalone before I became a vegetarian/vegan. I cooked some for my folks last week and my Mom even said that it tasted like Lobster to her. I did eat lobster before and I have no idea where she would get Lobster from, but whatever. She likes it. 

This is a very simple and satisfying recipe and I hope that you enjoy it.

Can you tell, how much I enjoy these mushrooms yet?

 Let's get down to business:

Sautéed King Trumpet Mushrooms- GF,DF, V

About 1lb of King Trumpet Mushrooms, sliced into half moons

1TB of GF Tamari

1TB of Shaoxing Cooking Rice Wine

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2-3 Scallions, chopped

* Optional- Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste, at end of cooking

The happy bunch, together again.

A King Trumpet mushroom split in two.

Method:

In a heated large pan, sauté the garlic, scallions in a 1-2 teaspoons of oil for a few minutes until they start to caramelize. Add in the Tamari and Shaoxing wine and stir to help cook out the alcohol. It doesn't take very long. Next add in the King Trumpet Mushrooms and stir around to make sure that they get coated with the sauce. Reduce the heat to about medium and let the mushrooms cook down and absorb the sauce. This will take about 8-10 minutes depending on your stove. When the mushrooms are cooked thoroughly you will no longer see any 'raw' whiteness to them. 

Delicious and freshly cooked! =)

I would suggest serving these with some freshly cooked brown rice, but really I could eat these all by themselves. When and if you decide to cook this; I would suggest making a bit extra because this one will go fast, hehe. People who don't like mushrooms are missing out on this lovely stuff. 

Happy Cooking!

Love,

Jessica

Join me for Merienda: Date,Almond, Coconut,Carob Truffles

Hello again,

I made these last week and just did a second batch for this post recently. 

These are very quick to put together and the end result is really delicious. 

Just like this recipe I'm going to keep my blurbs short and simple; so that you can get making this good stuff =)

I hope you enjoy this one and don't forget to look for the bonus recipe ;p

Date, Almond, Coconut, Carob Truffles- GF, DF, V

Ingredients:

1/2C-3/4C Sulfite Free Dates (try to use the ones with more moisture; they will be easier to chop)

1/2C          Almonds

1/4C          Organic, Sulfite Free and finely shredded dried Coconut

2Tb           Carob Powder

Just 4 beautiful ingredients...well maybe 5 if you count Love =)

This is the brand of Shredded Coconut that I use in most of my cooking and baking.

Method:

Add the dates and almonds into a mixer or mini chopper and pulse for a about 5 minutes.  If you don't have a chopper/mixer; you can always practice your  knife skills and chop them manually. I would recommended doing them separately if you are following the manual method.
Step 1

This is what the mixture should look like once it has been thoroughly chopped. The mixture should clump together into a ball.

Add the almond and date mixture to a bowl and combine it with the coconut and the carob powder.

Step 2

This is what the mixture will look like once you've combined everything thoroughly. I used a glove to mix it together because the mixture is quite sticky.
Step 4 

Simply take the mixture and form them into balls. You may want to use gloves again to roll them  since they are still quite sticky. If you let them cool down to room temperature or put them in the fridge for about 10 minutes they won't be as sticky.  Enjoy!!!!!

Step 5

These are a batch of Homemade 'Lara' bars.

Recipe Bonus

The way to make homemade 'Lara' bars is basically the same method as making the truffles. All Lara bars are Date based. The photo shows a batch that I made with Dates, Almond, Flax, Chia and spices. Absolutely delicious and much cheaper than buying dozens and dozens of Lara bars. So, have fun with this and play around with your ingredients.I think I may try to mimic a retired flavor of  Lara bar, it was one with chocolate and also had hot chilies in it as well. Omnomnomnom

Good Health and Happy Cooking!

Love,

Jessica

Join me for Merienda: Jessified Carrot and Green Onion Bhajis

Well, I certainly did take my time, didn't I? Yes, It's been a fair amount of time since my last post. I was initially thinking of doing a show and tell post, but since I haven't transferred all those photos over yet; I thought I would let you into my laboratory aka my kitchen and share a recipe with you.

If you don't know what 'Merienda' means; it's basically like a mini meal or snack time. I'm referring to Filipino Merienda, but you find this in almost all Spanish speaking countries as well. Sometimes my relatives stretch the meaning of Merienda by putting out a whole spread and then say 'Oh, that's just a snack. C'mon eat!'

I made these last night on whim because I had already made a batch of Falafel  ( I had tried 2 different kinds from 2 separate places in the days prior and wasn't satisfied with them. I wanted that perfect crunchy and green ladened Falafel that I had once gotten from the original Steve's Backroom, Harmony Garden and Jerusalem Garden, but wasn't having much luck; so I decided to make my own. I will post a recipe for that another day) and the oil was still hot and I thought why not. 

If you're not familiar with what a Bhaji (sometimes also called Pakora) is; it is an Indian fried snack, somewhat reminiscent of a vegetable fritter or even a kind of tempura type thing. The batter is usually just made with a mix of Besan (chickpea/garbanzo bean flour), spices, mixed with water and then you add in whatever veggies you want to use and voila.

This is the brand of Besan that I used. If you're able to find organic besan or even better mill it yourself, go for it! =)

This is what Besan flour looks like. It has a bit more moisture than wheat flour.

I really don't fry food that much because I don't like dealing with the hassle of the oil sputtering and the potential to get splashback and burns, but for some foods you definitely need to fry them and all the other alternative cooking methods, simply fail to do the food justice. As long as you keep the temperature constant; the foods will come out golden and crisp. 

Jessified Carrot and Green Onion Bhajis- GF, DF, V

*You will need to heat your oil to about a medium temperature.

In order to fry these properly you need at least 2 inches of oil in the pan you'll be using.

I used a blend of Canola and Grape seed oil and it was about 1C all together.

Ingredients:

3/4C Besan Flour

1tsp Baking Powder

3/4-1 C of Filtered Water

Spice Blend- For this batch I used:

Freshly Ground Cumin, Shawarma blend, Turmeric, Cayenne, Black pepper
2TB of Freshly Ground Flax and Chia Seed
1 TB of Sesame Seeds

Handful each of Cilantro and Parsley chopped finely

2-3 Cloves minced Garlic

1/2 C of Organic Carrots finely shredded

1/2C of Green Onions diced

Pinch of Sea Salt to taste

Directions:

In a bowl mix the flour, baking powder, spice blends, sesame seeds, ground flax and chia, herbs, garlic, sea salt. Once thoroughly mixed add in the water. If you want a softer more 'hush puppy' type consistency you can leave the batter a bit drier (it'll resemble a kind of biscuit dough), but if you want a crispier Bhaji you can use more water and bring it to a tad thicker than pancake batter consistency.


Once the oil is to temperature, drop spoonfuls of the batter into the oil. I wouldn't do more than 3 at a time. The Bhajis need space to turn and also you don't want to drop the temperature of the oil otherwise you'll get soggy and oily Bhajis instead of light and crisp Bhajis. It can take anywhere from 3-5 minutes, you will need to flip them over once to insure even browning. Place the cooked Bhajis to rest on either a plate with some paper towel on it or a wire rack sitting over a sheet pan with some newspaper underneath it. If you want to season the Bhajis a bit more this would be the time to add a bit more salt or whatever spices you want. The heat will help adhere the salt of whatever you use in order to liven up the Bhajis. I personally don't usually add anything extra because I think these are flavorful enough. 

Bhajis are the ones in the forefront. In the foreground you can see some of the Falafel I had made earlier.

This is what the interior of the Bhajis look like. It reminds me a bit of a mosaic =)

Traditionally, these might be served along with a raita or chutney.

If you want to keep the Raita vegan you can substitute the yogurt for a coconut yogurt.
Here is a recipe for Raita off which you can build.

http://www.food-india.com/recipe/R001_025/R003.htm


A chutney recipe

This is one for a Mango chutney, but chutneys can also be savory as well; so feel free to search around for any other type of chutney

http://www.food-india.com/recipe/R001_025/R009.htm

It's best to eat these Bhajis after being freshly cooked, but if you need to store them and reheat them for another day; it is possible. I do not recommend reheating them in a microwave because they will just turn tough. I would say the best reheating method would be in an oven. You're not looking to cook them again so just use a low heat like maybe 200F for maybe about 10 minutes. Just place them on a baking sheet and put it on timer and when it starts beeping, make sure to wear your oven mitts (If you've never seen the movie 'Grandma's Boy' you're missing out, haha), take the tray out, let it cool for about 5 minutes before digging in once again =)

I hope you give this recipe a try. Let me know how they come out for you.

Happy Cooking to you all!

Enjoy,
Jessica

We are all connected

If you follow this blog; then you know that I do not have a set pattern or schedule for entries. Nor do I have a set list of topics upon which to write =) Originally, I thought that the next entry would be a show and tell with photos, but I've decided to write about how we are all connected instead. Perhaps, it's because we've just begun a whole new year (if you believe in the concept of time and calendars ;p that is) that has me reflecting on what unites us all.

Back when I was growing up my family was one of the few families who were not white/Anglo-Saxon/Caucasian and as such we came under more scrutiny than the other families. Basically everything you did seemed a bit strange to people who didn't live in your household. To be fair though I remember when I started Kindergarten that most people didn't speak more than one language. I thought it was normal to be at least be bilingual if not multilingual.I remember my brother Jonathan and I packing Siopao (a Chinese style Bao steamed bun filled with meat or vegetables) and everybody saying 'Ewww what's that you're eating... are you eating raw dough? gross.' I think we did try to explain to them what it was, but I don't think they listened because we would hear it time and time again.

Check out the link to the site where I got this photo for more information about Siopao =)

I know that my family did try to share information on about the Philippines and about Pilipino Culture whenever they had a chance to; such as when it was near the Holidays. I remember building a parole ( a star shaped lantern, something traditional that you see during the Holidays in the Philippines)  with my Dad. We also made tambourines by flattening bottle caps, using a hammer and nail to punch a whole through the middle of them and sliding them on a hanger bent into a circle.They came by the school dressed in Barong Tagalog and Butterfly dresses. During some Music class my Mother came in to show our class how to dance Tinikling ( a dance not for the poorly hand eye coordinated =) It requires lightening quick reflexes while dancing and jumping through clacking bamboo poles) and I helped demonstrate it too. I think the most memorable part though for my classmates and perhaps the teachers as well as us bringing Lumpia Shanghai (Pilipino Eggrolls).

Some of the more modern type of Paroles, check out the site where I got this photo to learn more about them. =)

In Kindergarten, it was the first time I encountered the feeling of being something different when one of my classmates referred to me as the 'Chinese girl.' Which to me felt obviously wrong because I was well aware of my Pilipino roots. My Kindergarten teacher actually made us talk about it during a sitting circle the same day it happened. If that had happened today; I probably would have been able to succinctly tell them why it felt strange to me to be referred to as the 'Chinese girl', but then go on to explain how we are really all related in the world.

This photos is pretty darn close to what the Lumpia Shanghai that we brought to numerous functions looked like! Check out the link to read more about them as well as to get a recipe =)

Click on the hypertext to see a cool youtube video of the Leyte Philippine Dance Company dancing Tinikling =)

I think the original site where this photo came from is gone, but you can find tons by searching for Filipino Butterfly dresses =)

Check out the original site where I found this photo for more information about Barong Tagalog =)

All through school I would get the question whether politely or rudely 'What are you?' 'Yes, I know you're American, but where are you really from?' Probably my most memorable moment was being so offended that I made somebody list all the Asian countries that they knew and kept on making them try to think really hard.... I think they kept on repeating the same 3 countries over and over again and at the end of it I just said 'I'm from Germany' and walked away.

Now, that was supposed to be some kind of quip from me, but honestly, there's no reason why I couldn't be German. Nobody can say that they 100%  this or that and that they come from one single place or country. Our Ancestors traveled  all over the world and through diaspora and colonization we kept on mixing it up again and again.

I think we all have our hands and feet in so many different cultural pools. On my father's side his ancestors originally migrated to the Philippines Islands from the Fukien Region in China. On my mother's side we have ancestor's that originally came Spain and Mexico. My Mother's side of the family are often referred to as Mestizo or Mestiza because they tended to have much lighter skin than the other Pilipinos.

Growing up I never thought I looked like either of my parents, my oldest brother and I look similar, but my 2nd oldest brother looks more like my Dad's side of the family. When I went to the Philippines to visit relatives in 2004, I was introduced to one of my Mother's Aunties to which whom I said 'Kumusta kayo po' and she took one look at me and slapped me hard on the face. It was a truly powerful slap because I was stunned and thought maybe I said something or did something wrong, but the she said in Ilocano the equivalent of 'Son of a gun, you look just like your Mom and Dad.'  =p

My oldest brother and I always get asked if we're Hawaiian, Indian or Native American and my response would always be, 'Well, my Parents are originally from the Philippines, but you know everybody is related in the world; so I really cannot say no.' Most of the time the people will smile and say something like 'Yeah, you know, you're right.' I do get the occasional person who kind of looks at me like I'm a bit kookoo, but that's okay. At least it gives them something to think about for later =)

I am fascinated to think about all of our ancestors and how we all came to be at this point.

If you believe that Earth was once 1 continent named Pangaea; then you know we most likely started all together. Scientifically, if you understand what Carbon Based Life form means then you know that basically we are the universe and the universe is us. Moby tried to tell you all about it in his song 'Stars' =)

'People they come together, people they fall apart, nothing can stop us now, we are all made of stars...'

Whether you not you believe that; I think that when we all mourn or rejoice together; it's because we see each other in ourselves. We have the ability to achieve good and positive things together; if we choose to do so. We also have the potential to create great harm and I always hope people choose to be positive.

Through events in history; society has tried to devise ways to divide people into groups or classes. The most famous societal invention is the idea of 'race.' Whenever I talk to people and this comes up in conversation I often refer to the American Anthropological Association's Statement on 'Race.'

http://www.aaanet.org/stmts/racepp.htm

I remember sitting in class when my Anthropology professor was discussing it and seeing so many people's jaw's dropping in amazement. I think that the idea of 'race' is so deeply ingrained in society that it seemed like a revelation to them. Anyway, read through it yourself and let me know what you think.

It's hard to let go of preconceptions; no matter what the topic may be, but you just have to  realize that people are people; so we should just respect one another.

Let go of the prejudice and just embrace one another.

We are all connected and together we are all family.

Love,

Jessica