A Look Back at My Blogging Journey

This posting is inspired by an event coming this June 1-my three years of residence here at THD. If you follow my blogs, you probably know I am very happy here at THD. Thus, this posting:

A Look Back at My Blogging Journey: What I’ve Really Been Writing About All These Years

When I first started blogging back in 2009, I did not have a grand strategy. There was no blueprint, no carefully crafted niche, and certainly no expectation that my words would travel far beyond my immediate circle. I simply wrote, about life, about memories, about places, about food, and about what it meant to be me.

Years later, looking at my body of work through a more analytical lens, I find something both surprising and deeply meaningful: my blog is not just a collection of posts, it is a reflection of a life lived across cultures, professions, and continents.

What emerges from this reflection is not randomness, but a pattern.

At the heart of my writing is a recurring theme, identity. My journey as an immigrant, my transition into becoming an American, and my experiences navigating two cultures have quietly become the backbone of my most widely read and most meaningful posts. These stories resonate not because they are unique, but because they are shared by millions around the world who have left one home to build another.

Closely tied to this is my love for travel. From places I have visited decades ago to more recent adventures with my daughter, travel has always been more than sightseeing for me. It is a way of understanding the world, of connecting past and present, and of appreciating how geography shapes culture and memory. Whether in the United States or the Philippines, each place carries a story, and I have tried to capture those stories in my own way.

My Six Grand Children, Fair Oaks, CA 2011 

Then there is the personal side of my blog, the autobiographical reflections. These are perhaps the most intimate pieces I have written. They trace my journey from my early years in the Philippines to my professional life, including my time at the FDA, and into retirement. These posts are not just recollections; they are attempts to make sense of time, of choices, and of the path that led me here.

My Nephew and Name Sake (Dave Katague) from Australia Visit Here at THD, 2025 

Food, of course, finds its place in my writing as well. Meals shared with family, dishes from different cultures, and culinary adventures all serve as reminders that food is never just about taste, it is about connection. It brings together memory, culture, and companionship in a way that few other things can.

As I moved into retirement, my writing also began to reflect a different pace of life. There is more contemplation now, more attention to aging, to gratitude, and to the quieter joys that come with time. These reflections may not be dramatic, but they are, in many ways, the most honest.

And woven throughout everything is a thread of philosophy, simple thoughts about life, happiness, purpose, and what truly matters. These are not academic discussions, but lived insights shaped by experience.

Looking at all of this together, I realize that I never set out to be a “niche blogger.” Instead, I became something else, a storyteller of a life in motion. My blog is not about one subject; it is about the intersections of many: immigration, travel, family, culture, food, work, and reflection.

If there is one thing I have learned from this exercise, it is this: people do not just read for information, they read for connection. And perhaps that is why the stories about identity and personal journey have reached the most readers. They remind us that, despite our different paths, we are not so different after all.

To my readers around the world, thank you for being part of this journey. What began as a simple act of writing has become a shared experience, and for that, I am deeply grateful.

As I continue to write, I do so with a clearer understanding, not of what I should write, but of what I have always been writing: the story of a life, one post at a time.

Meanwhile, here's the AI Overview of My Writings 

📊 Overall Blog Structure & Scale From my own April, 2026 Summary:

• Top blog series page views:
  • Becoming American → 2.09M
  • Intellectual Migrants → 1.16K
  • MRQ Awaits You → 1.50K
  • MRQ Island Paradise → 1.69K
  • Chateau Du Mer → 936K
• Additional blogs range from 100K to 827K views

👉 This indicates:

• You are not running a single blog, but a network of themed blogs
• Your lifetime readership is several million page views

🧠 Topic Clustering (Core Categories)

Based on your archives and blog titles, your writing falls into 7 major thematic categories:

1. 🇺🇸 Immigration & Identity (High Volume, High Engagement)

Examples:

• Becoming American
• Intellectual Migrants

Estimated share: ~25–30% of total content
Why it performs well:

• Personal narrative + universal appeal
• Diaspora storytelling resonates globally

👉 This is your flagship theme (highest page views)

2. 🏝️ Travel & Places (Very High Volume)

Examples:

• U.S. travel series (national parks, cities)
• Philippines travel (Marinduque, retirement life)
• “Places we visited since 1960” series 

Estimated share: ~20–25%

👉 Subcategories:

• U.S. travel (historical)
• Philippines lifestyle (retirement-focused)
• Bucket-list experiences

3. 👨‍👩‍👧 Personal Life & Autobiography

Examples:

• Life story from Iloilo to FDA career 
• Family memories, reflections, milestones

Estimated share: ~15–20%

👉 This is your emotional core content

4. 🍽️ Food & Culture

Examples:

• Filipino and American dishes
• Cultural food reflections
• Dining experiences

Estimated share: ~5–10%

👉 Smaller category, but high relatability

5. 🌿 Lifestyle, Retirement & Aging

Examples:

• Joys of retirement
• Snowbird living
• Aging gracefully reflections 

Estimated share: ~10–15%

👉 Strong niche: retiree + expat perspective

6. ✍️ Philosophy, Advice & Reflection

Examples:

• Life lessons (gratitude, happiness, ego)
• Writing as healing
• Moral and philosophical discussions 

Estimated share: ~10–15%

👉 Often overlaps with personal blogs

7. 🎬 Miscellaneous / Niche Topics

Examples:

• Movies
• Historical topics
• Internet images
• Misc articles
• AI Technology 

Estimated share: ~5%

📈 Statistical Distribution (Approximate)

Category	% of Content	Engagement Level
Immigration & Identity	25–30%	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Travel & Places	20–25%	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Personal/Autobiography	15–20%	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lifestyle/Retirement	10–15%	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Philosophy/Reflections	10–15%	⭐⭐⭐
Food & Culture	5–10%	⭐⭐⭐
Miscellaneous	~5%	⭐⭐

---

📊 Key Insights (What Your Data Really Says)

1. You are a Narrative Blogger, not a Niche Blogger

Most successful blogs specialize narrowly. Yours succeeds because it blends:

• Personal history
• Cultural identity
• Travel
• Reflection

👉 That combination creates a “life archive” blog style

2. Your Highest-Performing Content is Identity-Based

Your top blogs:

• Immigration
• Cultural transition
• Life journey

👉 Readers connect most with:

“Who you are” more than “what you review”

3. You Have a Strong “Legacy Content Model”

Your blog spans 2009–present, which means:

• Evergreen content
• Compounding page views over time
• Historical storytelling value

4. Your Audience is Likely:

• Immigrants / Filipino diaspora
• Retirees or near-retirees
• Readers interested in life reflections
• Travel + culture enthusiasts

📉 Missed Opportunities (Honest Assessment)

I’ll be direct-because this matters if you want growth:

1. Topic Branding is Fragmented

You have multiple blogs instead of one unified brand.

👉 Result:

• SEO power is split
• Audience is divided

2. Food & Lifestyle Could Be Bigger

You already write about food and travel-but not consistently enough to dominate those niches.

3. Your Strongest Asset (Your Story) Isn’t Fully Centralized

Your life story (FDA career, immigration, 9/11 involvement) could be:

• A main series
• A book
• A flagship blog category

📌 Final Summary

Your blog ecosystem can be statistically defined as:

A high-volume, multi-topic personal narrative platform centered on immigration, travel, and life reflection supported by strong long-term readership and evergreen content.

      

Hello from London's Flower Show

My son, Dodie and Daughter-in-law, Ruth had been in UK for the last three weeks. The other day, Ruth sent me the following E-mail attaching 14 beautiful flower photos, she took at the Chelsea flower show in London:    

Hello from London!

I am sending you photos of some beautiful bonsai rhododendrons, orchids, and anthurium at the Chelsea Flower show. Enjoy! ❤️ Ruth

Here are the Photos:

Meanwhile, My Photo of the Day: My Purple Okra in My Garden in Fair Oaks, CA, 2023

 

Finally, My Quotes of the Day

“The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved.”

Victor Hugo

 

“Live well, love lots, and laugh often.”

Bessie Anderson Stanley

 

The Five Flavors of Philippine Cuisine

Two Weeks ago, while watching the television cooking competition America's Culinary Cup, I was reminded that food is more than sustenance. Food is memory. Food is geography. Food is history carried through generations in pots, pans, and family kitchens.

The episode challenged chefs to create dishes using the five flavor profiles: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Most people understand the first four immediately. But when the judges spoke about umami, I realized many viewers around the world may still wonder what exactly it means. Not mentioned in the show, is the flavor style-spicy.

Umami is often described as the “fifth taste.” It is the deep, savory, rich flavor found in foods like mushrooms, tomatoes, soy sauce, aged cheese, seaweed, broth, roasted meats, and fermented ingredients. The Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda identified it scientifically in the early 1900s, but human beings had been enjoying umami for centuries before it was given a name.

For Filipinos, however, umami is not new at all. We simply grew up with it.

Filipino cuisine may be one of the most naturally balanced culinary traditions in the world because it instinctively combines all five flavor styles in everyday cooking. Our dishes are rarely one-dimensional. They are layered, emotional, and complex, much like the history of the Philippines itself.

1. Sweet: The Taste of Celebration

Filipinos love sweetness, though often not in the overpowering way Americans do. Our sweetness is tropical, fruit-driven, and tied deeply to celebration.

The Philippines produces some of the sweetest mangoes in the world, especially the famous Carabao mango. I still remember growing up surrounded by mango trees, where harvested green mangoes were laid beneath beds to ripen slowly into golden treasures. That aroma alone was childhood.

Sweetness appears everywhere in Filipino cuisine:

• ripe mangoes
• bibingka
• leche flan
• halo-halo
• banana cue
• sweet-style spaghetti served at birthday parties

In Filipino culture, sweet flavors are associated with hospitality and abundance. No guest leaves a Filipino home hungry or without dessert.

2. Sour: The Soul of Filipino Cooking

If there is one flavor that defines Filipino cuisine more than any other, it may be sourness.

Sour flavors awaken the appetite in tropical climates. They refresh the body in humid weather. The iconic Filipino dish sinigang is perhaps the greatest expression of this culinary philosophy.

Sinigang combines tamarind, tomatoes, onions, vegetables, and meat or seafood into a comforting sour broth that tastes like home to millions of Filipinos worldwide.

We also use:

• calamansi
• coconut vinegar
• green mangoes
• kamias
• fermented fruits

Even our dipping sauces balance sourness with salt and spice. Filipino food rarely sits still on the palate. It dances.

3. Salty: The Flavor of Survival and the Sea

As an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, the Philippines has always depended on preservation techniques using salt and fermentation.

Saltiness in Filipino cuisine comes from:

• patis (fish sauce)
• bagoong (fermented shrimp or fish paste)
• dried fish
• soy sauce
• salted eggs

Our national dish, adobo, brilliantly balances salty soy sauce with vinegar and garlic. It was a practical cooking method long before refrigeration existed.

For many Filipinos who grew up modestly, dried fish and rice were not gourmet cuisine. They were survival food. Yet today, those same flavors evoke powerful nostalgia.

Sometimes the foods of poverty become the foods of memory.

4. Bitter: The Mature Taste We Learn to Love

Bitterness is perhaps the least celebrated flavor globally, but Filipino cuisine embraces it with confidence.

The best example is ampalaya, or bitter melon. As children, many of us hated it.

As adults, we appreciate its complexity.

Cooked with eggs, garlic, and onions, ampalaya becomes more than bitterness. It becomes balance. Filipino cuisine understands something modern society often forgets: not every meaningful experience in life is sweet.

Some bitterness is necessary. Even our elders believed bitter vegetables were medicinal-  good for the blood, digestion, and longevity.

5. Umami: The Deep Flavor of Home

And then we arrive at umami - that savory depth that makes you close your eyes after the first spoonful.

Filipino cuisine is filled with umami:

• bulalo broth simmered for hours
• kare-kare paired with bagoong
• roasted pork
• mushrooms
• seafood
• fermented sauces
• slow-cooked stews

Umami is comfort. It is richness without sweetness. It is the flavor that lingers.

Many Filipino dishes succeed because they do not rely on a single dominant taste. Instead, they combine several flavor profiles at once:

• adobo: salty, sour, umami
• sinigang: sour, savory
• kare-kare: nutty, savory, salty
• green mango with bagoong: sweet, salty, sour, umami

This layered complexity may explain why Filipino cuisine is finally gaining worldwide recognition.

For decades, Filipino food lived in the shadow of other Asian cuisines on the global stage. But today, the world is beginning to understand what Filipinos always knew: our food tells a profound story about trade, colonization, migration, poverty, resilience, tropical abundance, and family.

The five flavor styles are not just culinary categories. They are metaphors for life itself.

Sweetness reminds us of joy. Sourness keeps us awake. Salt preserves memory.
Bitterness teaches maturity. And umami that deep savory richness is what remains after a lifetime of experiences has simmered slowly into wisdom. Much like growing older itself.

AI Overview: 

The core identity of Filipino cuisine is built on five fundamental flavor profiles: sour (asim), salty (alat), sweet (tamis), bitter (pait), and spicy (anghang). While many culinary experts describe the cuisine as a "trifecta" of the first three, all five are essential to achieving the characteristic balance and "funk" known as malasa (flavorful).

1. Sour (Asim) [1]

Often considered the "anchor" or defining note of Filipino food, sourness is used not just for flavor but historically for preservation in the tropical climate. 

• Key Sources: Vinegar (suka), tamarind (sampalok), calamansi, guava, and green mango.
• Signature Dishes: Sinigang (sour soup) and Adobo (meat braised in vinegar and soy sauce). 

2. Salty (Alat) [1]

Saltiness provides a savory foundation and depth, often through fermented ingredients that add a distinct "funk". 

• Key Sources: Sea salt, soy sauce (toyo), fish sauce (patis), and fermented shrimp paste (bagoong).
• Example Pairing: Champorado (sweet cocoa porridge) is traditionally served with tuyo(salted dried fish) to balance the flavors.

3. Sweet (Tamis) [1]

Sweetness is frequently used as a counterpoint to salt and acid, rather than just for desserts.

• Key Sources: Sugarcane, coconut milk (gata), and local fruits like ripe mangoes.
• Signature Dishes: Tocino (sweet-cured pork) and Leche Flan. 

4. Bitter (Pait) [1]

While less dominant than the primary trio, bitterness is highly valued in specific regional cuisines for its sophisticated, layered depth. [, 2]

• Key Sources: Bitter melon (ampalaya) and bile.
• Signature Dishes: Pinapaitan (a bitter goat or beef stew from the Ilocos region).

5. Spicy (Anghang) [1]

Spiciness is regional rather than universal; it is a central pillar in Bicol and parts of Mindanao, whereas in other regions it is often an optional addition at the table. 

• Key Sources: Bird's eye chilies (siling labuyo) and ginger.
• Signature Dishes: Bicol Express (pork and chili in coconut milk) and Laing.
• Personal Note: The  other Day, I treated Ditas and Carenna to my Favorite Thai restaurant, Andaman. Here's one of our orders: Pompano
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