Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!!! This Christmas we greeted faraway families and celebrated with friends as the winter got chillier than ever.

Photo by Jamie Kurihara

Cyrano - not quite on the nose

New York City excels at putting on a show - whether productions are mounted in theaters or on the street. End of the year holiday season is the ultimate climax to bring the whole year to a close.

toasting our Xmas get together

2019 also marks the end of a decade with many of us eager to move into the new year and however 2020 will unfold for us. 

our table on the left at Boucherie

wonder | wander | women love this season best for dressing up to enjoy the city's holiday festivities. 

Inspired by the East: Orientalism at the British Museum (part 1)

"Rather than the manufactured clash of civilizations, we need to concentrate on the slow working together of cultures that overlap, borrow from each other, and live together in far more interesting ways than any abridged or inauthentic mode of understanding can allow." Edward W. Said, Orientalism (1978)

In the Madrasa by Ludwig Deutsch (1890)

wonder | wander | women couldn't wait to see the new exhibition co-curated by the British Museum and the Malaysian Islamic Arts Museum. 'Inspired by the East: How the Islamic world influenced Western art' is more than an exhibition of Orientalist art - it's a dialogue between cultures of mutual influence.

festive feasts

The holidays are officially here. Occasion for wonder | wander | women to eat out and celebrate more. As you can see from our past few blog posts, we are applying ourselves to the task!

Entrance of Ventanas at the Modern, Fort Lee NJ

Patio of Ventanas at the Modern

While our UK half was pining for more Thanksgiving celebrations, Mahala is lucky to be working at a place where they do celebrate with a special spread to celebrate the day.

a bellyful of winter warmers

The chill and the dark of the BRRRR months are fully upon us, and a small fuzzy part of my heart just wants to curl up and go to sleep. But as wonder | wander | women are people and not squirrels or lizards, we still need the energy to get up and go out into the cold.

friends + food = NYC

One of the best perks in life for wonder | wonder | women is sharing a great love of good and interesting food with fellow food lovers.

Penthouse view from Gaonnuri

When we find someone and can keep them engaged for decades, our shared gastronomical delight grows exponentially with the years.

More Than Human exhibition

Even as artificial intelligence dominates the news, it still mystifies the average person. Machine learning, big data, neural networks...how does it all fit into the workaday and interior life of humans? 

TeamLAB's What A Loving and Beautiful World

recreational R & R

wonder | wander | women value the benefits of carving out some time in our lives to go on regular retreats. Retiring to some serene sanctuary for a few days to purposefully separate and seclude ourselves from the material and mundane world.

early morning sun flare on the lake

view from the main hall deck

We have a preference for non-sectarian and non-denominational venues, close to nature and away from crowds. Creating the space to slow down and unplug from regular routine or daily chatter. To reflect inward and listen to our internal rhythm and voice.

be good | be love

In New York Open Center the Integrative Sound and Music certificate program starts its annual course in October. 

A comprehensive multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary and highly experiential approach to the study of sound, music and voice and their powerful effect on the mind, body and spirit. 

Now on its twelfth year, the program is headed by Silvia Nakkach who has been coordinating the program since 2014 as its lead facilitator.

happy camper's happy meals

If there's anything wonder | wander | women love, it's food and good home-cooked meals. One of us is a good home cook, and one of us is...learning. Fortunately I have two magic tools.

planes, trains and automobiles

Usually wonder | wander | women like to rely on our own two feet when moving around. We dislike driving and live in built-up areas where nearly everything we need is in walking distance. But living far apart and liking to explore as much as we do, we've enjoyed many forms of modern transport.

mixed blessings

wonder |wander | women are always eager and excited to honor and celebrate a variety of diverse occasions, traditions or beliefs.

Back home on Negros Island

We were born and raised in a mixed household. Filipino by birth nationality. Spanish on our grand/father's side. Chinese on our grand/mother's side. Benedictine Catholic in education. Taoist in practical application.

East Coast, United States

Now that we have relocated to the western hemisphere we added the celebration of Jewish holidays as well. We are all too happy to be celebrating the new year three times each year now - on January 1, on Chinese New Year and on Rosh Hashanah.

London, United Kingdom

Anno Mitsumasa, part 2

We've talked about Anno Mitsumasa's whimsical sense of humour and Western-influenced travel books. This week we look at the illustrator's more traditional work, his sense of drama and awareness of scenic beauty.

healing & good vibes

Last week was dedicated to celebrating vibratory sound at the Shift Global Summit of Sound Healing for wonder | wander | women. 

Sitting with a week long wide range of sound healing therapies - deep listening and connecting with a variety of sessions with leading edge practitioners in the field.

Whether to clear dissonance in our bio field, to harmonize the flow of energy in the body, to restore health with vibratory frequency, and so much more.

Anno Mitsumasa at Japan House

Illustrator Anno Mitsumasa has been creating beloved children's books with incredible detail and a gentle sense of humour since the 1960s. wonder | wander | women were enthralled by his show Anno's Journey in Japan House this past week.

Courtesy of Japan House

seasonal sorrows | at the cusp

Switching seasons in a land of four seasons is something our wonder | wander | women tropical genes have yet to get used to. Even after a decade of life in our adopted homelands it still is a challenging shift we feel in every cell of our body.

this side of the pond - Edgewater NJ

Inside and out we feel invaded by body snatchers, violated and abused. Subjected to wild roller coaster rides and loopy loops - physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Shifting seasons turn us into a rebelling revolt of massive magnitude.

Mahala & Issa - Chiang Mai, 2007

pre-birthday reflections

Before we know it another year has passed and a milestone birthday looms. It's time to reflect over the past year and start building the new one. What will I bring to this next decade of my life?

let SHEdom reign

wonder | wander | women love to share aspects of our lives from both sides of the world. East, where we were born and raised. West, where we have relocated and have our adoptive homes now. 

the language of flowers

Artists and art lovers are always fascinated by visuals with multiple meanings. Layering symbolism into an image can hold our attention for longer, engage our senses and brain, and leave us feeling more satisfied than an image with shallower appeal. Maybe that's why wonder | wander | women take so many pictures of flowers.

Summer in Coal Drops Yard, Kings Cross, London

goOOod foOOod

It has been a while since wonder | wander | women shared a fave recipe with our followers. Here goes.

our homemade dish

We got motivated by posts from dear friends of some food shots.

Manga Month at the British Museum

Being a fan of Japanese comics or manga is different from being a fan of movies or an avid book reader. It can be isolating. There is a language barrier, a cultural barrier - even reading the books involves reading from right to left, undoing your Western reading habits. But despite this difficulty, or maybe even because of it, the manga fan community thrives all over the world.

Cosplay Parade at British Museum

summer reads

Over here in New York City, we have the weird tradition of celebrating Christmas in July.

Maybe it is simply a commercial bid to drum up sales when the city empties out. As folks leave for vacations or are driven indoors by the overbearing heat.

Most stores start purchasing their inventory for the coming Christmas season in July. To make room for new stocks they usually put last year's unsold Christmas items on sale.

summer clouds: look up!

It's finally proper summer in London, but instead of last year's baking blue skies, we have soothing breezes and enough cloud cover to provide relief from the sun.

Niagara Falls | summer fun

Water is definitely our element. wonder |wonder | women grew up on our little tropical island. Happy clams in our beautiful beaches, bountiful oceans, and warm seas.

In June we took a family vacation to Toronto, Canada where we had to visit the wonder that is Niagara Falls. This time last year Mahala and I were there to visit friends and family as well.

2019

2018

Niagara Falls. This name is Mohawk. It means, the neck - the term being first applied to the portage or neck of land, between lakes Erie and Ontario. Red Jacket pronounced the word Niagara to me, in the spring of 1820, as if written O-ne-au-ga-rah. ~ Henry Schoolcraft 

summer (is) social!

While the US is celebrating Independence Day, summer finally comes to London after a long season of rain, cold wind and grey days - and with summer come other visitors!

urban living | nature & nurture

As city dwellers wonder | wander | women struggle as we straddle the divide between our concrete jungles and our love of nature and most things natural.

Summer is always a trial. Blue skies beckon. Warm breeze blows gently. Pulling at every cell and memory in our bodies. Raising our longing for the tropical tidal pools of our childhood beaches.

fire and earth: exploring Etna

Visitors flying in to the Italian island of Sicily will see its magnificent volcano Etna breaking the horizon.

AGO mon amie

This June found the US part of wonder | wander | women back in Canada for a family vacation with our niece, nephew and their kids. 

AGO facade from their website

Warrior with Shield by Henry Moore

On our one day away from them the sisters walked over to the Art Gallery of Ontario which Mahala and I visited last year and where we fell in love with the Inuit art of Kenojuak Ashevak and her nephew Timootee (Tim) Pitsiulak.

wonder | wonder | women, 2018

Italian food trip!

Italian food has always meant comfort food to wonder | wander | women, but we forget it's had years of being Americanised before it arrived in the Philippines. My earliest memories of eating 'Italian' were declaring that pizza was now my favourite food after watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Genius Kitchen - Sicilian Calzone

wet & wild weather

As Spring moves to Summer this Memorial Day weekend, wonder | wander | women tumble like dandelion fluff through weird weather fluctuations.

room with a view - on a blue vs a gray day

Sudden thunderstorms have us panting in greenhouse tropical heat and humidity one minute. The next moment we are chilled and clammy, shivering as temperatures drop drastically.

Sing, O Muse: Greek Theatre in Sicily

Before going to visit Sicily, wonder | wander | women had no idea what to expect. Wine? Oranges? (The Godfather?) We ran into some amazing examples of the unexpected: Ancient Greek culture.

The theatre of Syracuse, overlooking the sea

MAY feasting flavors & festivities

Only on our eighth day of May and wonder | wander | women have been celebrating each day with fun and festive feasts.

May 1 - May Day, Beltane, US Labor Day 

Archeology Goes Graphic at the Louvre

The Petite Galerie in the Louvre is a fully accessible exhibition space designed to introduce new and inclusive audiences to the broad themes of the famous museum. This year's theme is particularly close to the heart of wonder | wander | women : relating archeology to graphic novels.

rise of a changing voice

wonder | wander | women are aswirl amidst waves of causes near and dear to us. 

Angelica Berrie celebrates Easter focused on local art and heritage.

We dedicate this post to the women who surround and sustain us. In our lives, our families, our communities. Throughout history and from every walk of life. 

WoaWomen spend summer along the Hudson River

Women's History Month in March. The March on Science on going all over the world. World female literature writing. 

Women of our family + dad.

the bells of Notre Dame

Devastated at the news of the Notre Dame disaster. It's difficult to believe that just a few weeks ago wonder | wander | women were in Paris to pay tribute to that iconic silhouette.

Pinoy Food | our cultural fabric

“Philippine food was shaped by the land in which it was born, and so were its cooking processes, ingredients, meal patterns, flavor principles, ways of serving and social functions…land, history and society have been the determinants of Philippine food. And it is the story of our country.” ~ Doreen Fernandez - Palayok: Philippine Food Through Time, on Site, in the Pot

Pinoy adobo is best eaten the day after over fresh steamed rice.

It has just been declared that Filipino Food Month will be celebrated every April according to Presidential Proclamation 469. Why it took this long for food to have its own declared holiday boggles every Pinoy mind.

Pre-Colonial Kinilaw - sour, salty, sweet,
refreshing with a sprinkling of duldul, traditional salt.