the heart of home

Tucked into the lush landscape of Negros Island, the Gaston ancestral home in Hacienda Santa Rosalia was built in the 1930s. Constructed by descendant Jose Gaston, married to Consuelo Azcona - it is the home where they raised their eight children amidst a bustling sugarcane plantation. 

This decades old Filipino French villa has undergone several striking transformations through tumultuous years in the tropical climate and fraught history of the Philippines. The Gaston generations have since struggled to honor its heritage by opening its doors to the public - sharing their gracious home and life history with us. 

Hacienda Santa Rosalia - where stories live & roots run deep

The project seeks to preserve the site’s original structure - retaining key historical elements and preserving its old world grandeur. It remains a spacious, secluded retreat that has accommodated a large growing family while maintaining the soul of the original owners. 

heart finds, soul food

It's been so long since wonder | wander | women were back on our native island. We have truly adopted and been adopted by our new homes abroad, so it's taking us a while to relearn island living.

There's one thing that never fails to make us feel at home. Food, of course! Ilonggo (or Hiligaynon) food is distinctive from other regions of the Philippines. Each province has its own native flavours.

Time travel: Venice, 2005

Back in the days before smartphones and easy sharing, even digital pictures took forever to transfer and convert to a web-friendly format, and film was just a headache to digitise. Even with the few I posted when Facebook appeared, all the pictures I took stayed in my archives, like buried treasure.

San Giorgio Maggiore (under maintenance)

Nearly a decade before wonder | wander | women, I went on a trip to Italy with my cousins. We had just stepped out of the train station and got our first good look at Venice. 

Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute

Season's greetings, social distance style!

Like many other people who celebrate Christmas, wonder | wander | women changed plans this year to celebrate at home. Like many other Filipinos, we're used to spending the holidays away from our families, and have our own long-distance traditions. 

My favourite window: sun in the daytime, Christmas lights at night

our island home

In past years this is the time when wonder | wander | women usually fly back to spend the holidays in our home island of Negros, in the Philippines. 

local sugarcane plantations are sadly being replaced by subdivisions

As we prefer not to risk it in these COVID times, we are made acutely aware of missing it this time. Fortunately, a new website launched recently highlights major Negrosanon arts and cultures, heritage and handicrafts, people and food.

inspiring hope and resilience locally

natural progression

The recent Ancestral Healing Summit hosted by the Shift Network was  five days of revelation and insight that led wonder | wander | women into deeper conversation about our own lineage and heritage. 

We'Moon 2020

What constitutes a family really? In cultural anthropology this varies across the globe depending on a variety of factors including subsistence practices and economic behaviors.

Flathead family (United States)

Family defines obligations that group members have to one another, both economically and socially. Generally, family members live together, but that is not always the case.

building community

wonder | wander | women are proud to announce our 2020 sound healing workshop schedules at the Graf Center for Integrative Medicine in Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.

Inside the Graf Center, Englewood NJ

The community holds a special place in our hearts. Englewood, New Jersey was the first place our extended family considered home here in the US when we came to visit our sister/aunt and her husband.

Russel & Angelica Berrie Center for Humanistic Care at the hospital complex

They kept a home here for over 20 years and the Russell and Angelica Berrie Foundation donated the building that currently houses the integrative medicine wing at Englewood Health.

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

celebrating Anya

Today is Anya's birthday. Our families are truly grateful and blessed to have her in our lives!

blatant BHAKTI birthday

wonder | wander | women are great adherents of celebrating occasions well - especially birthdays.

When our birthday came up recently, we chose to celebrate with gusto - declaring to be blatantly Bhakti - we toasted the day with a specially rendered calligraphy by Mahala. 

Issa's declaration & Mahala's rendition

The words come alive in the bold brash strokes, matched by the bright festive colors that magnified our thrill and joy.

family movie date at iPic

Love going to the movies but are loath to leave the lap of luxurious comfort at home? Now we may not have to give one up to gain the other. 

Hamid Hashemi's dine-in theater, iPic Hudson Lights, may be the answer to a pampered movie going experience away from even the best home theater. 

Happy Independence Day!

Fourth of July celebrations this year were spent at our home away from home - The Colony, at Edgewater, New Jersey.

More so than at any other time in our lives, celebrating Independence Day, especially with our loved ones, grows more valuable for us here at wonder | wonder | women.

island paradise: twin celebrations!

This month wonder | wander | women are finally together again. And what a place to be together!

Two beloved family members are celebrating their birthdays within a week of each other and the whole family is gathered on the tiny, gorgeous island of Koh Yao Noi in Thailand.

Thank you Global Nomad for this ten day spree of fun in the sun. What an extraordinary adventure!

season's greetings

Greetings and blessings this holiday season...

...from us and ours at wonder | wander | women ...

...to you and yours.

sharing London, part 1

This month the wonder | wander | women have been unusually blessed with a steady stream of visitors! Our London contingent has had three different guests in as many weeks, and it's fun to go back to my first years here.

View of the Thames from the upper-floor cafe of the Tate Modern

A Roman Holiday

Roman View from the top of the Spanish Steps

Ancient and modern, timeless and current - all cohabit in the central capital of Italy, Rome. 

Beginning our ascent up the Spanish Steps

Whether drawn here by its history and heritage, its art and architecture, its views and vistas, its food and fashion – Rome will seduce you.