Soulful Sojourns
/Transformational travel is not the usual route one takes when one wants to see as many places within a prescribed time period (say, a two-week vacation from work) for cheap. You have travel deals, tours and cruises for that.
Transformational travel is intentional and immersive, with the goal of deep learning -- the place's culture and spiritual growth for oneself. In other words, meditation, not selfies; solitude, not crowds; communion with the divine, not imbibing the spirit of alcohol. Which is what writer and teacher Rene J. Navarro directs us to in his travel story "Pilgrimages" this week. "That is the apotheosis of a pilgrimage. Your soul is touched, and you are not the same again," he writes. Would that we all experience such a rare travel gift at least once in our lifetime.
Fanny is not the name of just one woman. It is an all-female rock band, three of whom are Fil-Ams, who were big in San Francisco in the late '60's and early '70s, and hadn't been heard of in the decades since. Now, the group is resurrected and touring in California, and is the subject of a documentary called "Fanny: The Right to Rock," streaming here until June 19:
https://www.pbs.org/video/fanny-the-right-to-rock-bn4llg
We are reposting the Center for Asian American Media's (CAAM) feature on these remarkable women, elderly now yet still feisty and lively. And definitely rockin'.
A novel about a boy from Batac (Ilocos Norte) witnessing the rise to power of another boy from Batac won Manila's recent National Book Award for Best Novel in English. Its author, Patrick Everhard, is the first foreigner to win for his fictional/historical novel, Snakes in the Grass. PF Correspondent Criselda Yabes, whose novels have also won awards, tells us about the book.
Regular PF contributing writer Ian Layugan relates one of the most memorable experiences in his young life. It involves a nun, torrential rain and a mountainous foot path. "Sister" is a story of unexpected caring.
Stories This Week
Pilgrimages by Rene J. Navarro
Fanny And Their Ongoing Legacy In Redefining Rock by Lauren Lola
About A Boy – From Batac by Criselda Yabes
Sister by Ian Layugan
[Make It Again] The Happy Home Cook: Buko-Pandan Gelatin (Young Coconut-Pandan Gelatin)
[Video of the Week] The Voice of Our Lady
[Partner] The Invisibility Of Asians In America by Sunita Sohrabji
In The Know
DoT wants more halal-friendly food, services nationwide to attract Muslim travel market
In the Philippines, Chinese-Filipino Couples Face a Great Wall
Apparently, South Koreans Are the Top Tourists in the Philippines
Teresita Basa Died Under Sinister Circumstances, Then Her Ghost Solved the Mystery
Northern California farm draws on Philippine and Hmong ancestries
Catch a glimpse of Old Manila at these restored buildings and ancestral homes
