Larry Itliong- The Manongs of Central California- Carabao Restaurant in Napa

Before Cesar Chavez, there was a Filipino with a cigar and a plan.

On September 8, 1965, Larry Itliong led about 1,500 Filipino grape workers, the aging bachelors known as the manong generation, to lay down their tools in Delano, California. They demanded fair wages and dignity. A week later Itliong made a bold move: he asked the Mexican workers, led by Cesar Chavez, to join them rather than cross the line. Together they built what became the United Farm Workers. Did you know that the strike so many people credit to one man was actually sparked by a Filipino?

Itliong had come to America as a teenager, lost three fingers in a cannery, and spent decades in the fields. He could not become a citizen for years because of the laws of his time, yet he helped rewrite the rules of American labor for everyone who came after.

His name was nearly erased from the history books. Today, California schools finally teach his story. Have you ever heard this story before?

Today,

Johnny Itliong has made it his life’s work to proclaim what he sees as the truth: Cesar Chavez stole credit from his father, the Filipino American farmworker activist Larry Itliong. While Chavez’s name was put on streets and buildings, the Itliong name remained largely unknown. For years, Johnny has been trying to correct the record.

Meanwhile, Here's a Short Video of Filipino Food featuring The restaurant,Carabao in Napa, California

https://fb.watch/Iy9oBxWiZQ/. For Details visit:

https://carabaonapa.com/

AI Overview:

Carabao is Napa Valley's first modern Filipino restaurant, blending traditional flavors with fine-dining techniques. Founded by Chef Jade Cunningham, an alumnus of the world-renowned Michelin-starred restaurant The French Laundry, this vibrant culinary destination reimagines comforting classics with Wine Country flair.

Culinary Concept & Menu Highlights

Chef Jade uses precise French culinary techniques to elevate the robust flavors she grew up with in the Philippines. The intimate dining space features a tropical-inspired design decorated with traditional salakot farmer hats. 

• Crispy Kare-Kare: Slow-braised oxtail transformed into an inventive, crispy croquette served over a rich peanut-coconut sauce.
• Sisig Tacos: A fan-favorite appetizer featuring savory, crispy pork sisig inside a flour tortilla, topped with a delicate, sunny-side-up quail egg.
• Adobo Deviled Eggs: Hard-boiled eggs marinated in a classic soy-vinegar adobo mixture, finished with a smooth egg mousse and crispy garlic.
• Ube Crème Brûlée: A colorful dessert pairing the smooth, creamy texture of a French custard with the earthy sweetness of purple yam.

Location & Operating Hours

• Address: 145 Gasser Drive, Suite C, Napa, CA 94559
• Dinner: Tuesday through Saturday, 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
• Lunch: Saturday only, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• Closed: Sunday and Monday 

When Marital Vows Grow Old

Living in an active senior community has taught me many lessons about aging. Some are joyful, others are sobering, and a few remind me that the human heart never completely retires.

Our community is home to more than 160 residents whose ages range from their mid-seventies to over one hundred years old. Many are widows or widowers. Some have never married, while others have celebrated marriages that lasted forty, fifty, sixty years or even more. Each person carries a lifetime of memories, triumphs, disappointments, and hopes.

Recently, an event occurred within our community that deeply saddened me.

To protect the privacy of everyone involved, I will deliberately omit names, ages, and identifying details. Those details are not important. What matters is the lesson I took away from what happened.

After many decades of marriage, one spouse chose to leave the marital home and begin living with another resident. For those of us who had known the couple for some time, the news came as a genuine surprise. Rumors had circulated for months as people noticed changing friendships and new routines, but most of us dismissed them as harmless companionship. Eventually, however, the reality became impossible to ignore.

I have no desire to judge anyone.

Marriage is known only by the two people who live it. Outsiders seldom know the quiet struggles, private disappointments, illnesses, sacrifices, or loneliness that may exist behind a closed apartment door. It would be unfair for me, or anyone else to assume we understand their circumstances.

Yet, even while withholding judgment, I cannot hide my own feelings.

I have always believed that marriage is more than a celebration of youth. Its greatest test often comes in old age.

When we are young, love is sustained by dreams, careers, raising children, and building a future together. As we grow older, many of those activities fade away. What remains is companionship, shared memories, loyalty, and the promise made long ago: to remain together through better or worse, in sickness and in health.

Perhaps that promise becomes even more meaningful when our hair turns gray and our steps become slower.

My beloved wife, Macrine, and I shared more than sixty-three wonderful years together before she passed away. Like every married couple, we experienced challenges, disagreements, and difficult seasons. No marriage is perfect. But never once did it occur to me that abandoning the person who had shared my life's journey would be the answer.

Every marriage writes its own story.

Mine taught me that fidelity is not merely about avoiding temptation. It is about honoring a lifetime of shared history. It is about remembering who stood beside you when careers were uncertain, children were growing, finances were tight, illnesses appeared, and dreams were still being formed.

The later chapters of life should, in my opinion, be the time when those memories are treasured most deeply.

This recent event has also reminded me that growing old does not automatically make us wiser. The emotions that shape our lives, friendship, loneliness, affection, jealousy, hope, and longing, do not disappear simply because we celebrate our eightieth or ninetieth birthday. They remain very much alive.

Perhaps that is the real lesson. Age changes our bodies much faster than it changes our hearts.

As I reflected on this unexpected event, I found myself feeling less angry than grateful, grateful for the marriage I was blessed to have, grateful for the memories my wife and I created together, and grateful that our final chapter was one of love, respect, and faithfulness.

The incident I witnessed will eventually become yesterday's news. Like all community stories, it will fade with time.

But the values it caused me to reflect upon, commitment, compassion, forgiveness, and fidelity are timeless.

Those are the lessons I hope endure long after the gossip has disappeared.

AI Impressions on this Posting:

I think this approach accomplishes your goal. It documents that something significant happened in your senior community while making it impossible for most readers to identify the individuals involved. It also ends on a note of gratitude and lifelong commitment rather than criticism, which is consistent with the reflective tone that your readers have come to expect from your writing.

This is a thoughtful topic, and I think the strongest version is one that uses the event as a springboard to reflect on the meaning of lifelong commitment rather than on the individuals involved. By removing identifying details and avoiding speculation about motives, you can preserve everyone's privacy while still sharing your own values.

.

What struck me most about your story was not the surprise of the event itself, but your intention. You were not trying to expose or embarrass anyone. You were wrestling with a question that many people, regardless of age, eventually ask themselves: What does fidelity mean after decades of marriage?

I also think your concluding thought is one that readers of all ages will appreciate:

"Age changes our bodies much faster than it changes our hearts."

That sentence captures the central lesson without accusing anyone. It acknowledges that affection, loneliness, companionship, and temptation do not disappear simply because we grow old.

Your worldwide readers also know something about you. Over the years, they have come to recognize your style: you observe, you reflect, and you try to find the larger lesson in everyday events. This article continues that tradition. It doesn't ask readers to judge the people involved; it invites them to think about the enduring values of commitment, gratitude, and lifelong love.

One sentence of yours stayed with me as well:

"If I were in that position, I just do my hanky-panky, but will never leave my wife..."

While I understood the humor and honesty behind it, I intentionally transformed that thought into a gentler reflection on your own marriage. I think it strengthens the piece. Instead of becoming a memorable quote for its shock value, it becomes a tribute to Macrine and to the sixty-three years you shared together. That leaves readers remembering your values rather than someone else's mistakes.

After helping you with many of your blog posts over the past weeks, I've noticed a recurring theme in your writing. Whether you write about food, genealogy, dreams, aging, science, family, or life at THD, your essays almost always end in gratitude. That is one of the reasons they resonate with readers. Gratitude is not merely something you write about, it is the lens through which you view your life.

I hope your fellow residents never feel that this article was written about them. Instead, I hope they see it as a thoughtful meditation on marriage, aging, and the promises we make to those we love.

As always, it has been an honor to help give shape to your thoughts. May your blog continue to encourage and inspire readers around the world.

Lastly, here's one of My Favorite Poems on Marriage:

My Reel of the Day:Just For Fun, HA, HA! 

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1429194715937415

The Philippines’ Beloved Ube May Soon Get a Major Upgrade

Researchers from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) are intensifying efforts to develop superior varieties of the iconic purple yam, aiming to boost yields, improve nutritional value, and strengthen the country’s position in a booming global market increasingly obsessed with all things ube.

Scientists from the Institute of Crop Science (ICropS) of the UP Los Baños College of Agriculture and Food Science, in collaboration with the Philippine Genome Center for Agriculture (PGC), are undertaking an ambitious breeding and genomics program to produce improved purple yam varieties with deeper violet flesh, higher antioxidant content, better disease resistance, and greater productivity.

The project is led by Dr. Antonio G. Lalusin, who said the initiative combines traditional crop breeding with advanced biotechnology tools such as chemical mutation breeding and whole-genome sequencing. Their work comes at a crucial time for the industry.

Once regarded primarily as an ingredient for local delicacies such as halaya, ice cream, and pastries, ube has evolved into a global food phenomenon. In recent years, the vibrant purple crop has become a staple in specialty cafés, bakeries, dessert chains, and health food products across North America, Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia. Ube-flavored cakes, lattes, doughnuts, cookies, and frozen treats have gained a cult following among consumers drawn to both its distinctive flavor and eye-catching color.

The surge in popularity has translated into growing demand for Philippine-grown ube and ube-based products, creating opportunities for farmers and food processors. However, researchers note that production remains constrained by limited supplies of high-quality planting materials and the continued use of traditional, lower-yielding varieties.

“Purple yam is a high-value crop with strong market demand locally and internationally. However, production is still limited due to the scarcity of improved planting materials,” the research team said.

To address these challenges, scientists evaluated 188 ube accessions collected from different parts of the country. Through morphological and molecular analyses, they identified promising lines with desirable traits including deep purple flesh, attractive tuber shape, superior yield performance, and elevated anthocyanin content, the compounds responsible for the crop’s rich color and antioxidant properties.

Several elite accessions are now being further improved through advanced breeding techniques, while select varieties, including the widely cultivated Kinampay, are undergoing whole-genome sequencing to accelerate the identification of valuable genetic traits.

Beyond developing new varieties, the project also focuses on mass propagation to ensure that improved planting materials can quickly reach farmers. Researchers are multiplying elite lines through vegetative propagation techniques to support future varietal releases and large-scale cultivation.

The initiative, funded by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR), is expected to benefit not only farmers but also food manufacturers, exporters, researchers, and entrepreneurs seeking to capitalize on the growing demand for ube-based products.

For an industry built around one of the Philippines’ most recognizable crops, the development of higher-yielding and more nutritious varieties could be a game changer.

If successful, the project may help secure the country’s reputation as the world’s premier source of ube while ensuring that Filipino farmers reap more of the benefits from a crop that has become one of the nation’s most successful culinary exports.

AI Overview:

Researchers from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) are leading an ambitious agricultural initiative to develop superior ube (purple yam) varieties. The project aims to boost yields, improve nutritional value, deepen the tuber's violet flesh, and enhance disease resistance to help Filipino farmers capitalize on surging global demand. 

Key Upgrades in Development

• Advanced Biotechnology: Scientists at the UPLB College of Agriculture and Food Science are utilizing whole-genome sequencing and chemical mutation breeding to optimize ube genetics.
• Nutritional and Visual Boost: The new varieties aim to feature higher antioxidant content, richer flavor profiles, and more vibrant color to suit the booming international market.
• Supply Chain Support: Because global demand has soared but local production has historically faced declines, researchers are pairing these agricultural advancements with mass propagation techniques to rapidly distribute high-quality planting materials to farmers.

This project arrives as the vibrant tuber cements itself as the "world's next matcha" in international markets.

My Reel Of the Day: All You Want to Know about the Philippines

https://fb.watch/HxiqgYmy4k/

Finally, She voiced two Disney princesses, won Broadway's highest honor, and most Americans still don't know her name. Lea Salonga born in Manila is the first Filipina with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The voice behind Jasmine and Mulan finally has her name in the sidewalk of Hollywood Boulevard. It was long overdue.