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Check this gem out: Nostalgia Manila. As you dear readers know, I like to wax nostalgic once in a while so discovering this site was an absolute delight for me. It covers Manila in the 1970s and 1980s, the time I grew up in the Philippines (I left for the US in the early ’80s). They encourage people to submit “photos, stories, news, quotes, music, etc.” from that era. Boy, do I have a few things to share. There are a few pieces of ephemera over here just waiting to be scanned.

Another site I recently discovered is SuperPasyal. It features photos of Manila from the streets. Just looking at them brings back memories of the heat, the pollution, the sights, the scents and the noise of the city. This is the Manila I would’ve wanted to see again, warts and all, during our trip to the Philippines had we not travelled with our three young children.

Of course, Rick’s site Project Manila offers equally interesting photos, albeit through more rose-colored lenses (’cept for the accident pictures. Glad your bro is doing well, Ricky).

On the homefront, the paintings of Philippine masters are being featured at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Pioneers of Philippine Art: Luna, Amorsolo, Zóbel runs from October 20, 2006 through January 7, 2007. I found out about this exhibit early on from the sisters Maricar and Grace at Filipina Soul. Here’s the San Jose Mercury News’s coverage of the event.

Head on over to the newly redesigned thePinoy.net to catch the latest happs in the Philippines. The award-winning site is better than ever. Great job, Ernie!

After a month and a half of non-stop rain, we got a break here in the Bay Area. It couldn’t have come at a better time. It’s the kids’ spring break, you see. I took advantage of the wonderful weather and took the kids out on two separate days.

Last Tuesday, the kids’ cousin from my side of the family joined us to go to the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito. It’s nestled at the base of the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s got lots of little things for children 8 & under to do. The bigger kids had fun anyway.

Once we were done at the museum, I decided to drive up to the Marin Headlands to check out the view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the western side. Could you believe I have not been on that side before? The view was absolutely spectacular.

Yesterday, we headed out to the San Francisco Zoo. This time the kids’ cousin from my wife’s side of the family went with us. We got there pretty late but we covered the entire zoo in two hours. We had fun checking out the animals but we were pretty exhausted by the end of the day.

I chose these San Francisco spots because, first of all, the kids have never been to these places. Secondly, thanks to the internet, I found out that SFUSD’s spring break was last week so there were no big crowds to contend with. There’s also a third reason: these places were actually slightly cheaper than their East Bay counterparts. The online coupon for the museum, for example, helped a little bit.

The older boys are now at my parents’ house. They’re spending time with their grandparents for a couple of days. I heard they went kiting at Berkeley Marina today. It was another beautiful day, I bet.

I’ve all but forgotten about this section of my blog. I’ve taken a few pictures with the T616 over the past six months or so however, and here are some of them:

  
Left: SFMOMA from the Metreon; Right: Son no. 2 mimicking Harold and the Purple Crayon

  
Left: Gundam head and the boys; Right: Easter bunny with the baby

  
These Star Wars action figures suspiciously look too much like this guy. Well, the one on the right looks more like Oscar Goldman, the Bionic Man’s boss.

  
Left: Came across this clever theft deterrent (it’s fake, guys); Right: Receiving respiratory therapy after an asthma attack.

The new Asian Art Museum opens tomorrow in the recommissioned old San Francisco Main Library at Civic Center, closer to the hustle and bustle of downtown San Francisco. My last visit to the museum was at its old home in serene Golden Gate Park during an exhibit of Filipino contemporary artists’ work.