Last Christmas eve, we had a rather special cake that is quite popular here in Japan. The name is “Mont Blanc,” pronounced as “Monburan” in Japanese. I’ve never really thought about what the name means, except that it sounds French. We bought the cake from La Cote d’ Azure, one the most popular bakeries here in Tsukuba.

What is Mont Blanc? I tried looking it up in Google, but couldn’t find any comprehensive information about the cake. When I tried searching for related images, I found out that most of the photos belonged to Japanese sites. So I tried searching using “モンブラン ケーキ (Monburan　Ke-ki)” instead. Here’s what I got from Wikipedia, Japanese edition (By the way, if the text below looks trashy, change the encoding of your browser to Unicode (UTF-8). There are Japanese characters below and might not be displayed properly.):

ãƒ¢ãƒ³ãƒ–ãƒ©ãƒ³ã¨ã¯ã€æ —ã‚’ãµã‚“ã ã‚“ã«ä½¿ã£ãŸã‚±ãƒ¼ã‚­ã§ã‚ã‚‹ã€‚å±±ã®å½¢ã«ä¼¼ã›ã¦ä½œã£ãŸã“ã¨ã‹ã‚‰ã“ã†å‘¼ã°ã‚Œã‚‹ã€‚åå‰ã®ç”±æ¥ã¯ã€ã‚¢ãƒ«ãƒ—ã‚¹ã®ãƒ¢ãƒ³ãƒ–ãƒ©ãƒ³ã§ã‚ã‚Šã€ãƒ•ãƒ©ãƒ³ã‚¹èªžã§ç™½ã„å±±ã‚’æ„å‘³ã™ã‚‹ã€‚ãƒ•ãƒ©ãƒ³ã‚¹èªžã§ã¯ã‚±ãƒ¼ã‚­ã¯ 「Mont Blanc aux marrons」 ã¨å‘¼ã°ã‚Œã‚‹ã€‚å°šã€ä¸Šã«é™ã‚Šã‹ã‘ã‚‰ã‚Œã‚‹ç™½ã„ç²‰ç ‚ç³–ã¯é›ªã‚’è¡¨ã—ã¦ã„ã‚‹ã€‚å±±åã¨åŒæ§˜ã«ã‚¤ã‚¿ãƒªã‚¢ã§ã¯ãƒ¢ãƒ³ãƒ†ãƒ»ãƒ“ã‚¢ãƒ³ã‚³ã¨å‘¼ã°ã‚Œã‚‹ã€‚

å…¸åž‹çš„ã«ã¯ã€ã‚«ãƒƒãƒ—ã‚±ãƒ¼ã‚­åž‹ã®ã‚¹ãƒãƒ³ã‚¸ç”Ÿåœ°ã‚„ãƒ¡ãƒ¬ãƒ³ã‚²ã€ã‚¿ãƒ«ãƒˆç”Ÿåœ°ãªã©ã§ä½œã£ãŸåœŸå°ã®ä¸Šã«ç”Ÿã‚¯ãƒªãƒ¼ãƒ ã‚’ãƒ›ã‚¤ãƒƒãƒ—ã—ã€ãã‚Œã‚’èžºæ—‹çŠ¶ã«åŒ…ã‚€ã‚ˆã†ã«ã€ç´°ã„éººçŠ¶ã«ã—ãŸæ —ã®ã‚¯ãƒªãƒ¼ãƒ ã‚’ã‚ã—ã‚‰ã†ã€‚ãã®ä¸Šã«åŠåˆ†ã«åˆ‡ã£ãŸç”˜éœ²ç…®ã®æ —ãŒä¸€ç‰‡è¼‰ã›ã‚‰ã‚Œã‚‹ã€‚å½¢çŠ¶ã‚„å¤§ãã•ã€åœŸå°ã¨ãªã‚‹ç”Ÿåœ°éƒ¨åˆ†ã«ã¯æ§˜ã€…ãªãƒãƒªã‚¨ãƒ¼ã‚·ãƒ§ãƒ³ãŒã‚ã‚‹ãŒã€æ —ã‚’ç”¨ã„ãŸã‚¯ãƒªãƒ¼ãƒ ï¼ˆã¾ãŸã¯ãã‚Œã«å‘³ã‚’ä¼¼ã›ãŸã‚‚ã®ï¼‰ã‚’éººçŠ¶ã«ã—ãŸã‚‚ã®ã‚’ã‚ã—ã‚‰ã†ã‚‚ã®ãŒå¤šãã®ã‚‚ã®ã«å…±é€šã™ã‚‹ã€‚

Translated (ok, this is not a perfect translation, but this is the best I can come up with):

Mont Blanc is a cake made using a lavish amount of chestnut. This cake is called this way because it imitates the appearance or shape of a mountain. The origin of the name comes from a mountain in the Alps, called Mont Blanc, which in French means “white mountain.” In French this cake is called “Mont Blanc aux marrons.” Furthermore, the white powdered sugar sprinkled on top represents the snow (found on top of the mountain). Similarly, in Italy, this is called “Monte Bianco.”

Typically, this cake is made of cupcake-shaped sponge cake, merengue, tart, etc. as crust, on top of which whipped cream is added, then dressed with cream made of chestnut made into slender noodle-like shapes, which is further arranged to form a spiral shape (to give it a mountain-like form). On top of this, slices of halved candied chestnuts are placed. There are many variations on the shape, size, and base which forms the crust, but the most common arrangement uses the noodle-shaped cream made of chestnut (or similar flavors).

What is the appropriate word for “making into noodles”? The word escapes me. What is the verb used for it? Noodle-ify? Shucks, my English is sooo rusty. 🙂

My guess is that this cake is popular in Japan because of how the chestnut cream topping resembles the usual “ramen” or noodle. I’ve tried different versions of the Mont Blanc, but so far the yummiest is the one we had last Christmas. Of course I’d be fooling myself if I say that eating it would not add inches to my already-growing waistline. But hey, this is one of life’s little guilty pleasures. Nothing that a little exercise won’t cure. 🙂

Bon appetit!

Found this on the web. Just cute. “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” with a twist. I’m dedicating this poem to the super-programmer in the house, ol’ Baggy dudes. 😉

Twas the night before implementation and all through the house,
not a program was working, not even a browse.
The programmers hung by their tubes in despair,
with hopes that a miracle soon would be there.

The users were nestled all snug in their beds,
while visions of inquiries danced in their heads.
When out in the machine room there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my desk to see what was the matter.

And what to wondering eyes should appear,
but a super programmer (with a six-pack of beer).
His resume glowed with experience so rare,
he turned out great code with a bit-pusher’s flair.

More rapid than eagles, his programs they came,
and he cursed and muttered and called them by name.
On Update! On Add! On Inquiry! On Delete!
On Batch Jobs! On Closings! On Functions Complete!

His eyes were glased over, fingers nimble and lean,
from weekends and nights in front of a screen.
A wink of his eye and a twitch of his head,
soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
turning specs into code; then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger upon the “ENTER” key,
the system came up and worked perfectly.

The updated updated; the deletes, they deleted,
the inquiries inquired, the closings completed.
He tested each whistle, and tested each bell,
with nary a bomb, and all had gone well.

The system was finished, the tests were concluded,
the users’ last changes were even included.
And the user exclaimed with snarl and a taunt,
“It’s just what I asked for, but not what I want!”

– Anonymous

I got this interesting link from Toe’s post. Traveling is indeed addicting. The more places you visit, the more you want to explore. I realized, to my chagrin, that the red areas in my map are fewer than Baggy’s. 😛 But I guess the real winner among us is Aya, who at four years of age has been to almost as many countries as we’ve been to. Another rather astonishing realization: there are still too many gray areas left!

This is my map of visited countries.

And this is Baggy’s map. Why does he have more??? Inggit. 😛

Generate your map here.

I know someone from work who loves to travel herself. She has seen the aurora borealis, went to Macchu Picchu, entered Tut’s tomb, and saw the Great Pyramids of Egypt – you know, the really exotic places. Places that I’ve only heard of or seen in books or tv. Plus countless other countries (but here’s an amusing fact: she’s never been to the Philippines!). She’s twice my age, but apparently being old is no reason to quell the wanderlust spirit in her. As long as you are healthy and you have the resources, well, why not? I can only wish that when I also get to that ripe old age, I would still have the vigor for riding airplanes and going on adventure trips. 🙂 The impetus for traveling to a certain place is simple: “Because you’ve never been there.” It’s much like climbing mountains.

There is only one place of note that I’ve visited, a place that is rather special for the simple reason that I’ve read about it when I was young (and full of hope). I read about it in an encyclopedia at the bulok public library near the city high school I went to. I’ve been fascinated about it ever since. That place is in Naples – the ruined city of Pompeii. I never thought that I would actually get to visit the place. But somehow the opportunity came, and I grabbed it.

How shall I describe it? Fascinating, sorrowful, exhilarating. How exciting is it to see ruins? I suppose it would not evoke the same feelings for everyone. But for me it was personal. Standing among the ruins not only fulfilled a personal wish for me; it opened to me the possibility that maybe, just maybe, I would be able to fulfill other youthful dreams as well.

What about you, what’s your dream place?

All children go through a so-called “artist” phase. Families have their fair share of drawings on papers, cardboards, walls, refrigerators, and unfortunately, even blankets, sheets and clothes. Aya is also fond of drawing herself. Her scrawly drawings have steadily progressed from incomprehensible doodles to visibly recognizable characters.

Fortunately for us now, we can simply scan the drawings and preserve them in electronic form. I wish this had been available decades ago, when I was also going through my artist phase. Much to my dismay, my mom hated clutters in the house and promptly threw everything away. Wouldn’t it be fun to take a look at some of the stuff that I drew as a child? I bet anyone would be just as curious to see “artifacts” from their growing-up years. After all, we are children only once in our lives.

Enjoy some of Aya’s four-year old drawings below.

The sun is out (just like today), and the flowers are happily soaking in the warmth.

I asked Aya why there is a circle on the girl’s head. She told me that’s because she’s an angel. Huh? Angel? She picked that up from the daycare? I find this quite surprising.

Is it really just five days more to go before Christmas? Tsukuba Center is already awash with Christmas lights and decors. Lately we also noticed that the malls have begun playing Christmas songs, songs that seem to add to the Christmasy ambiance as one goes shopping. Most restaurants we’ve visited lately also have proud displays of Christmas trees of various sizes, as well as different thingamabobs hanging on the wall. But here’s a curious thing: you’ll always find Christmas trees, Santas, reindeers, and other symbols of the season, but never any mangers. It seems as if any reference to the birth of Christ is either insignificant, or just bluntly omitted for the sake of not making the event appear overly religious in any way (and thus not offend anybody). I don’t know. I’ve never really thought of asking around why this is so.

Tsukuba Center at night. Lovely, wet, and cold. Photo courtesy of blumunski.

Pick up any calendar here in Japan and you will find that the 25th is not in red. Yup, it’s not a holiday. When I first came here, this came as a shock. Until that time I’d always thought that Christmas is celebrated everywhere else. Instead, you’ll find that December 23, the Emperor’s birthday, IS a national holiday. So basically this means that if we want to spend Christmas Day as a holiday, we’ll have to take a leave from work. Bummer. That’s what we get for not going home this Christmas season! But well, there’s always next year. 😀

Do I sound so glum? Sorry. I just miss home. Christmas was one of the most memorable occasions in our family, back when my Dad was still alive. It’s just not the same anymore since he has been gone.

Anyway, I think Jose Mari Chan’s song aptly prescribes a solution for expats out there whose hearts are yearning to spend Christmas in the Philippines:

Let’s sing “Merry Christmas

Be always in our hearts

If the spirit of Christmas is always in our hearts, then we can celebrate Christmas wherever we are. Yeah, even here in Japan.

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet.”
–From Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare

I got inspired to quote from Shakespeare, after reading an article which appeared recently on Philippines Today. The article is about a recent mess at the 1st Philippine Festival held in Tokyo last month. Read all about it in the website.

I’m fascinated with Pinoy names. I often wonder what goes on in each parent’s mind as he or she decides on a name to give a baby. Some prefer the oldies but goodies – sticking with the usual baby names that are commonly used, like Paul, Peter, Elizabeth, etc. Some prefer (not often with success) to combine the names of the parents, resulting to usually ridiculous-sounding names. I had a classmate in elementary who was named “Pergelyn” – a combination of “Perla” and “Eugene.” She had an older sister who was named “Pergenette.” One of our teachers absolutely hated her name, and even told her about it in class. A friendly advice to would-be parents: if it sounds ridiculous, do your child a favor and don’t force it!

Some resort to naming their children with the same initials. For instance, my mom found it cute to name all three of her daughters with names starting with the letter “K.” The reason? So that we would be known as “The Three Ks.” Kapisanan ng mga Kikay sa Kangkungan. 😛 I also have cousins who were all named with “J” names.

When it was our turn to name our baby, we decided that we will stick with Filipino names only. It’s not because we want to be nationalistic or that we want others to get the impression that we are an eccentric couple who want to make a political statement. No, we’re not that ambitious, thank you very much. Combining our names was out of the question (Epiferine? Kathefanio?). So we took a cue from our surname, “Bagarinao,” which happens to be an original Filipino name, just like “Sacdalan” or “Dimagiba.” We therefore decided to give our baby an original Filipino name as well. We chose “Kalayaan.” A friend of mine, who is French (Hi there, D!), found the name really beautiful. He said it sounded like one of those names in the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) book. A name for an elf perhaps?

When my mom heard about it, she was downright furious. Are we out of our minds, naming our baby like that? One of our friends actually commented, “Ba’t di na lang LIBERTY?” Hmm. Does Liberty sound better than Kalayaan just because it’s in English? I beg to disagree. “Ok lang kasi nasa Japan kayo. Pero pag umuwi na kayo ng Pilipinas…” someone remarked as a last-ditch effort, as if to save us from making one of the biggest mistakes of our lives. I was both amused and outraged at how fellow Pinoys thought so little of Filipino names, thinking that it sounds so “baduy” or outdated, or whatever. Ladies and gentlemen, there’s only one reason why we named her with a Filipino name. Because she is one. When she goes into the world “out there,” people will take one look at her name and know that she is a Filipino. The Japanese name their children with Japanese names. So do the Chinese, the Indians, and Indonesians. Why can’t we do the same?

On a lighter side, I myself am guilty of making jokes about Baggy’s name. He happens to be named after his father, Epifanio Sr, as you can tell from his name, Epifanio Jr. But I bet you didn’t know that his mother is named “Epifania.” Perfect. Three Epiphanies, just like the three Magis.

I looked it up in the dictionary, and here’s what I found:

Epiphany
a. A Christian feast celebrating the manifestation of the divine nature of Jesus to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi.
b. January 6, on which this feast is traditionally observed.
2. A revelatory manifestation of a divine being.
3.
a. A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.
b. A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization: “I experienced an epiphany, a spiritual flash that would change the way I viewed myself” Frank Maier.

Just now, I am experiencing an epiphany myself, it’s giving me goosebumps. January 6 happens to be our wedding anniversary. I married Epifanio on the day of Epiphany. What a perfect coincidence!

When I was a small girl, we lived next door to a neighbor whose daughter knew how to play the piano. While sitting outside our house, my Dad and I would often hear that girl practice on the piano day after day. Often, he would tell me how much he wanted me to learn how to play the piano, too. Personally I really wanted to learn how to play the piano, too, but we obviously couldn’t afford it. How in the world could we ever hope to pay for a teacher’s fee, much less rent or buy a piano of our own? I wondered how and when I would be able to play the piano. It was a dream unfulfilled.

The whole set came with mic, headphones, stand, and keyboard cover. Here’s Aya practicing her do-re-mi. Pero ang totoo, props lang yung headphone at mic sa pic na ito. 😉

Mukhang totoo na ba? Hehe! We would like to thank Yamada Denki for the keyboard, and Aya wishes to thank her Ninong Epong for the cute pink outfit (all the way from S’pore!). 🙂

Some years ago, I bought myself an electronic keyboard and engaged the services of a piano tutor. I had to start from zero. A few months into my lessons, I got pregnant and had to stop because I had a very “challenging” first trimester. I never practiced at home, and never got back to playing at all even after Aya was born. Worse, when my mom saw the keyboard that had been gathering dust at home, she convinced me to just donate it to a church in the Philippines. Para naman daw mapakinabangan. I thought for sure that that was the end of my attempts at playing music.

Well, fortunately, now that Aya is having piano lessons of her own, I am now motivated to go back to learning the piano once again. There’s a definite perk to being required to attend Aya’s lessons – because I have to sit with her all throughout her lessons, I am having a sort of “refresher” course myself. Well, no, actually it seems to be more like a “beginner” course for me, too. It’s been too long since I last played, I’ve actually forgotten everything I’ve learned back then. Since we started Aya’s lessons, I’ve relearned how to play “Mary had a little lamb”. Pathetic start, but a start nonetheless. 🙂

We also bought a new keyboard. I was amused to find out that the new keyboards nowadays come with different features, such as having ports for television and computer connections. The large LCD display on the keyboard also shows the notes and guides for finger placements. There is also a teacher’s recorded voice that says things like, “Gambatte!” and “Subarashii!” (Fortunately it doesn’t say things like, “You’re hopeless!” or “Find yourself another hobby!”) The keyboard has 500 built-in original songs that can be used for practice and karaoke. Since when did these things get so hitech?!!

For now, this is just a hobby. A nice diversion from just sitting on our butts all day long in front of the computer (for us, hehe) and the tv (for Aya). Who knows, maybe in the future Aya will turn out to be a musical prodigy? 🙂

“In Place of God”

Can secular science ever oust religious belief – and should it even try?

This is the title of the article I recently read at the New Scientist, 18 November 2006 issue, pp. 8-11. This article highlights the key points of a quaint symposium in La Jolla, California entitled, “Beyond belief: Science, religion, reason and survival” hosted by the Science Network, a science-promoting coalition of scientists and media professionals convening at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences. Unfortunately the article is not available at the NS website. I tried searching for it on the internet, and voila! – someone has managed to put the entire article in his blog. You can find the link here . Those who wish to hear more of the debate can access the following url: www.newscientist.com/podcast.ns .

In the symposium, they were asked to address three questions:

1. Should science do away with religion?

2. What would science put in religion’s place?

3. Can we be good without God?

Some of the prominent answers are given below:

Should science do away with religion?

• “It is just as futile to get someone to give up using their ears, or love other children as much as their own… Religion fills very basic human needs.”
  Mel Konner, ecologist, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
• “Religion is leading us to the edge of something terrible… Half of the American population is eagerly anticipating the end of the world. This kind of thinking provides people with no basis to make the hard decisions we have to make.”
  Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith
  
  
• “Religion allows billions of people to live a life that makes sense – they can put up with the difficulties of life, hunger and disease. I don’t want to take that away from them.”
  Francisco Ayala, biologist and philosopher, University of California, Irvine

• “No doubt there are many people who do need religion, and far be it from me to pull the rug from under their feet.”
  Richard Dawkins, biologist, University of Oxford
  
  
• “Science can’t provide a sense of magic about the world, or a community of fellow-believers. There’s a religious mentality that yearns for that.”
  Steven Weinberg, physicist, University of Texas, Austin

• “Science’s success does not mean it encompasses the entirety of human intellectual experience.”
  Lawrence Krauss, physicist and astronomer, Case Western Reserve University, Ohio

• My say: “Science and religion fulfill two distinct aspects of our humanity: science fulfills our intellectual aspect, such as our need to understand the whys of the universe; religion fulfills our emotional and spiritual aspects, such as our need for love and expression of that love. It’s analogous to the human body which consists of various systems that function independently. The thought of substituting say, the heart, for the function of the brain simply does not make any sense. We need science as much as we need religion.”

If not God then what?

• “It is the job of science to present a fully positive account of how we can be happy in this world and reconciled to our circumstances.”
  Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith

• “Let me offer the universe to people. We are in the universe and the universe is in us. I don’t know any deeper spiritual feeling than those thoughts.”
  Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, Hayden Planetarium, New York
  
  
• “Let’s teach our children about the story of the universe and its incredible richness and beauty. It is so much more glorious and awesome and even comforting than anything offered by any scripture or God-concept that I know of.”
  Carolyn Porco, planetary scientist, Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado
  
  
• “I’m not one of those who would rhapsodically say all we need to do is understand the world, look at pictures of the Eagle nebula and it’ll fill us with such joy we won’t miss religion. We will miss religion.”
  Steven Weinberg, cosmologist, University of Texas, Austin

• My say: “The concept of worshipping the universe is just so downright funny! Imagine people at Quiapo making images of solar systems and genuflecting before pictures of the sun. Hello? Okay lang kayo?”

Can we be good without God?

• “The axiom that values come from reason or religion is wrong… There are better ways of ensuring moral motivation than scaring the crap out of people.”
  Patricia Churchland, philosopher, University of California, San Diego

• “What about the hundreds of millions of dollars raised just for Katrina by religions? Religions did way more than the government did, and there were no scientific groups rushing to help the victims of Katrina – that’s not what science does.”
  Michael Shermer, editor-in-chief, Skeptic magazine

• “It doesn’t take away from love that we understand the biochemical basis of love.”
  Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith

• My say: “People are not good just because they are scared that Someone out there is going to punish them otherwise. In the first place, what is good, anyway?”

What about you, what’s your take on this?

In this experiment, Aya learned how to make a “volcano” erupt right at our own kitchen! For this experiment, you will need the following:

1. two small plastic drinks bottles (PET bottles will do just fine)
2. large piece of cardboard
3. vinegar
4. bicarbonate of soda (for those in Japan, look for 重曹 (juusou), which is Nihonggo for baking soda)
5. tablespoon and teaspoon
6. food coloring
7. washing-up liquid
8. large plate or tray
9. funnel
10. pen or pencil
11. scissors, tape

Aya cut out the shape drawn onto the cardboard. This should be big enough to fit around the bottle.

The cardboard will then be bent into a cone, and secured with tape. In this pic, we tried fitting the cardboard onto the mouth of the bottle just to check if it fits.

Using a funnel, the bottle was filled with vinegar until it is about one-third full. Add the food coloring (we used powdered coloring).

Add one tablespoon of washing-up liquid, and set aside.

Pour in three teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda into the other bottle. This should then be placed on a tray because this experiment will surely make a mess!

Place the card cone over the bottle with bicarbonate of soda. Using a funnel, pour in the vinegar and washing-up liquid mixture.

Whoa! A volcano eruption! Our experiment was a success! 🙂

Aya watched with fascination the last of the mixture still managing to ooze down the cone.

Explanation: When the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda mix together, they produce carbon dioxide gas. This, in turn, creates the bubles in the vinegar and the washing-up liquid. This mixture then expands and forces its way out of the top of the bottle.

This morning, we went to see a mini-concert sponsored by the music school that Aya has been attending for the past month. We thought it would be a sort of “happyoukai” or presentation to be performed by older kids at the school. We were wrong. It turned out to be a one-woman performance by one of their staffs. But fortunately, she was very good – and for 60 minutes or so we listened to her perform on the electronic keyboard. She gave us quite a show.

At one point, she mentioned that when she was a little girl, she was made to practice at home for at least 15 minutes by her mother. Since her mother went to work every day, her practice was scheduled every 8-8:15 pm, just after dinner. She stressed the value of practice, and how it was essential to improving her skills.

This brings to mind Baggy’s post about what it takes to be great. As a prime example, Tiger Woods became one of the greatest icons of golfing because he started very early. His father trained him to play golf at 18 months of age! It is thus very important for parents to devote time and effort into developing their children’s abilities and skills while they are young. Discipline is a must. Practice is gold.

In a way, I feel kind of guilty because I haven’t really taken Aya’s lessons that seriously (not yet anyway). Do I just want her to learn how to play the piano just because it’s cool? Or do I want her to excel in piano, or music in general? Do I envision her as becoming one of the greatest musicians of all time? If so, how much of myself would I be willing to sacrifice to achieve that? Attending the school will never be enough. Practice spells the difference between mastery and mediocrity.

I look at my daughter and see so much potential in her. I feel responsible for what she will become someday. I am sure than when she is old enough, she will be able to carve out her own place in the world, in her own time, at her own will.

The path to greatness is a long, arduous journey. As parents, we are responsible for showing our children where to begin.